The flashing line at the top of the screen in called the Vertical Blanking Interval, I beleive. Its the closed captioning, and other analog leftovers. It usually shows up when you have your TV set to DOT for DOT mode with no overscan. Set the TV to vertical stretch, or Normal, to include the normal 5% overscan, and you wont see those. Most stations equipment is set to automatically do that for you, so you dont have to, since most people no-a-days, use flat screen monitors with no overscan, but AETN doesnt. You have to do it yourself.

SteveKen, yea, IM me on Yahoo Messenger and Ill send the file to you.

The flashing line at the top of the screen in called the Vertical Blanking Interval, I beleive. Its the closed captioning, and other analog leftovers. It usually shows up when you have your TV set to DOT for DOT mode with no overscan. Set the TV to vertical stretch, or Normal, to include the normal 5% overscan, and you wont see those. Most stations equipment is set to automatically do that for you, so you dont have to, since most people no-a-days, use flat screen monitors with no overscan, but AETN doesnt. You have to do it yourself.

SteveKen, yea, IM me on Yahoo Messenger and Ill send the file to you.
apparently don't have you on yahoo...only aim.

Same screen name as here.

Looks like AETN 1 right now has the Aspect Ratio with the black bars on the side. If your watching with a Widescreen HD or Digital TV, or 4 black bars all the way around on a analog tv with converter if you like widescreen mode. Like I do! This is what I call the 4:3 analog ratio!!!!

I'm on the Fringe of KTEJ and KEMV! I usually watch KTEJ! Its pixilated right now! These two usually don't work at my house in Thayer MO of a daytime!

Hey, Dave, you think there is any possible way I can get a copy of The Middle season 1 episode 9 from you? The one called "Siblings"? I can't seem to find it on the Internet and figured you might have a better copy of it anyway.

For What its worth, the KATV delayed showing of "The Middle" Saturday morning at 3:30am *WAS* in high definition...so I wont be so concerned now, as they obviously do have the capability to delay high def programming now. Why "Wheel" isnt in HD, I dont know, but "The Middle" was.

Wheel is in HD here, in both the FSM/FAY & Springfield markets.

Does anyone know if KTHV is still using their Hot Springs translator? I don't think I have seen them I.D. it for a while.

Wheel is in HD here, in both the FSM/FAY & Springfield markets.

Yeah...I've got both KFSM 5.1 and KATV 7.1. We watch wheel on KFSM because of HD. Not sure what KATV's SD version is all bout:confused:

Does anyone know if KTHV is still using their Hot Springs translator? I don't think I have seen them I.D. it for a while.

K13HP the former channel 13 KTHV translator is not only silent, its no longer in the FCC database, I checked for them the other day. It more than likely went off the air right before KETG-DT (RF channel 13) signed on their digital signal several years ago, and its license was expired or turned in. Its doubtful that Gannett wanted to rebuild K13HP (move to a different frequency). I remember years ago a translator for Monroe LA [edit, that one was W02AW]* being part of the ID for KTVE station ID, but that one is also gone to the graveyard. Keith who used to be active on the Little Rock and Sherveport/Monroe boards said some time ago that the KNOE translator for El Dorado, K18AB (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=48977) was still active and even broadcasting a digital signal from its KNOE parent signal.

Translator callsigns have a number, that has stood for the actual channel number that it operates on. Some LPTV's also use that format--the TBN LPTV station that is currently silent in Little Rock (K34FH) but still licensed.

This is the link to the FCC database for all US TV Broadcast stations.
http://www.fcc.gov/mb/video/tvq.html


* "KTVE also operated a translator station W02AW on Channel 2. The transmitter was said to be located south of Monroe, Louisiana. This translator was removed when KTVE increased its tower height."
--Source: Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KTVE), [disclaimer, I'm not the biggest fan of using Wikipedia as a reference at times]

Anyone with Conway Corporation lost their KARK (4), KATV (7) and KTHV (11) clear QAM channels?

I thought maybe they shuffled them around, but just did a re-scan on both my HDTVs and can’t seem to find them. They were working fine last night.

Anyone with Conway Corporation lost their KARK (4), KATV (7) and KTHV (11) clear QAM channels?

I thought maybe they shuffled them around, but just did a re-scan on both my HDTVs and can’t seem to find them. They were working fine last night.

Do you still have KLRT and KASN via clear QAM?

Do you still have KLRT and KASN via clear QAM?

Yes and AETN.

Edit: So I noticed in Conway Corp’s monthly newsletter I received today they mention upgrading digital signals to the 700Mhz spectrum this month. I e-mailed them regarding KARK, KATV and KTHV HD missing. In all likelihood, they’ve encrypted them at their new frequencies.

I wonder if it was by mistake or by design? I’ll post back what their response is. I find it somewhat hard to believe that they would encrypt them on purpose now considering they’ve been available unencrypted since they launched HD years ago.

Unless something has changed, its a violation of the fcc rules or law to encrypt local channels. They are supposed to be available without a converter box. Of course, as much as the fcc changes their rules, it might have changed.

Unless something has changed, its a violation of the fcc rules or law to encrypt local channels. They are supposed to be available without a converter box. Of course, as much as the fcc changes their rules, it might have changed.
Which is the exact reason I am glad the comcast maintenance guy removed the filters. I told him that I was legally supposed to be able to receive locals in HD via ClearQAM. He looked up the freq's on his laptop and saw that they are in the 66MHz range, said "Yeah, those filters are going to block them out", then removed them. Was real nice about it and didn't argue about it. :)

Yea, and since they charge extra for HSI if you DONT subscribe to cable tv, you are really paying for lifeline cable anyway :)

Keith who used to be active on the Little Rock and Sherveport/Monroe boards said some time ago that the KNOE translator for El Dorado, K18AB (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=48977) was still active and even broadcasting a digital signal from its KNOE parent signal.


When I was in El Dorado for Thanksgiving, the KNOE translator on CH 18 was still sending out a digital signal (in 1080i HD) from the main transmitter.

Yea, and since they charge extra for HSI if you DONT subscribe to cable tv, you are really paying for lifeline cable anyway :)
Well, yeah, but good luck convincing them of that. LOL Plus, they charge an extra $3 a month plus tax for that lifeline that way. :)

My point was not to suggest you wire your house for cable tv and not pay (who wants analog cable anyway)...the point was, they are ripping off HSI only customers.

My point was not to suggest you wire your house for cable tv and not pay (who wants analog cable anyway)...the point was, they are ripping off HSI only customers.
Yeah, I know they are. It's insane, but maybe with these new things coming around in the next month all these HSI only customers might be a little more happy about how much they have to pay. It was hinted to me that these DOCSYS 3 modems are going to start becoming a lot more useful. ;)

And not all the channels on the lifeline are analog. Especially if you get an installer who realizes he is breaking the law putting the filters on. :)

Well, it's been a week and Conway Corp still hasn't contacted me regarding the missing KARK, KATV and KTHV HD clear-QAM channels.

Just did a re-scan and they've put up the SD versions of those, but the HD versions are still missing. KLRT, KASN and AETN (KETS) HD are all still there.

Tomorrow, AETN is not airing an episode of Nova. The title is "The Spy Factory" and it deals with "An Examination of the National Security Agency". MPB across the river airs it at 7pm. AETN viewers will have to DVR the thing or stay up til 12AM on Sunday morning to watch it (and its via the "national" PBS overnight feed).

Meanwhile a Frontline dealing with a religious topic gets a two hour airing at 8pm tomorrow, (plus a couple overnights via the National feed that AETN is airing since its near the holidays). Its unusual that AETN airs Frontline in pattern, but....

Anyhow, MPB won't lock here tonight and I would have preferred to watch Secrets Of The Dead (dealing with the 1918 Flu epidemic) to that AETN's rerun of the talking-head panel discussion on H1N1 that happened to preempt part of a Nova episode some weeks back. Oh, BTW pledge drive is over.

Oh, there was a pledge drive? Guess I missed it. Shucks.

Oh, there was a pledge drive? Guess I missed it. Shucks.

I avoid pledge drives like the plague...

Chicago's WLS activates UHF transmitter (http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=7091863)

I thought WLS fired up UHF 44 a while back?

All last week AETN and OPT were begging for money!!!!

And I can't believe AETN's ------------------------ at the top of the screen has not showed up so far this Morning! Keep are fingers crossed!!!! And so far the 16:9 ratio HD programs and the 4:3 ratio SD Programs are showing up right! Also keep you fingers crossed on that too!!!!

Chicago's WLS activates UHF transmitter (http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=7091863)

Hopefully the trend will continue. It is really stupid to have one holdout station in a market cause all viewers to buy a much larger antenna, when a smaller one would be just fine if all were togther on UHF. There is enough confusion about "HD-Ready" antennas which is a meaningless buzz phrase.

Like um, WMC Memphis on LOW VHF - what herb are they smoking over there? Or any of the AETN stations in Arkansas for that matter...

I thought WLS fired up UHF 44 a while back?

They did last month...I saw the link on another list, and assumed it was more recent. My bad.

For the rest of the board since its getting close to 2010....

Odds on which station will take the HDTV News plunge in Little Rock for 2010?

And if yes, which month?

Ho Hum... Half of KARK's national news clips are squeezed to 4:3 now. Ill say KARK followed by KLRT. Whenever the sweeps are...in the spring.

Dunno about LR, but rumor has it that KYTV will likely be next in line to do local HD news in the Ozarks.

KOLR is another possibility. But since they're stuck on VHF at an anemic power level (and the FCC won't let them increase power), few in Northern Arkansas can receive them very well without annoying dropouts.

Tomorrow, AETN is not airing an episode of Nova. The title is "The Spy Factory" and it deals with "An Examination of the National Security Agency". MPB across the river airs it at 7pm. AETN viewers will have to DVR the thing or stay up til 12AM on Sunday morning to watch it (and its via the "national" PBS overnight feed).



Just finished watching "The SPY Factory" and it will scare the bejesus out of anyone, and make them think twice the next time they pick up the phone or send an email....Highly recommended viewing. Boo AETN.

In yet another preemption, KATV again took off "The Middle" to show basketball.

Unfortunantly, ABC New York switched from DVB-S to DVB-S2 encoding, which I cant receive without an upgrade to my OTA receiver, so a little searching turned up WPRU ABC in HD from Puerto Rico... So now I have backups for ABC, CW, CBS, NBC, and FOX... Gotta love satellites.

The Middle was a rerun, however, as are the rest of this years episodes. Screen shot below:
http://i50.tinypic.com/xdt36x.jpg

Would that be the WPRU on Galaxy 16/3845H/15030?

dmatch

In yet another preemption, KATV again took off "The Middle" to show basketball.

Let me guess Arkansas Razorbacks Game?

If so?

KAIT Channel 8 Jonesboro AR done the same thing! But their re-airing all the stuff they cut over with the ballgame on Saturday at NOON!!!!!

Would that be the WPRU on Galaxy 16/3845H/15030?

dmatch

Yea, subchannel 6 (Its in HD). There is also WPRU SD on the same transponder.

Believe the HD one is Vpid 1537 Apid 1538 PCR 1537

They did last month...I saw the link on another list, and assumed it was more recent. My bad.

For the rest of the board since its getting close to 2010....

Odds on which station will take the HDTV News plunge in Little Rock for 2010?

And if yes, which month?

KTHV

they already run their newcast ads in HD
I predict March*
*no reason other than that's the month of my birthday

KTHV

they already run their newcast ads in HD
I predict March*
*no reason other than that's the month of my birthday

I had the same thought awhile back, in fact, I expected them to go HD back when they added the 6:30 newscast. But what I realized is, having one HD camera and an HD editing system in the promotions department is not nearly the same as having the studio cameras and switcher updated to HD. If you watch primetime shows on THV you'll see that some of the promos are in HD, and they are shot on the set, but not in the traditional desk positions. Other topical promos, with the anchors at the desk are in SD. As a photog/editor myself, with newsroom experience, I can tell the difference in what was shot with the studio gear, and what wasn't, and right now it appears they have an HD camera, HD editing gear, and obviously HD insertion, but not an HD ready newsroom. That's not to say they're not in the process of getting it ready though, so they could still be the first one out there.

Well, looks like Comcast has released into the wild their new speeds on HSI. When I do a reliable speed test from a place like testmy.net I see my bandwidth meter on my menu bar stay around 1.5MB/s to 1.6MB/s pretty steady. Thats with files over the "powerboost" helper range of like 10MB. I am doing a 50MB test file.

Anyway, if you take 1.5 * 8 you get 12Mbps like they advertise people on Performance should be getting now instead of the 6 you used to get. Back on the 6Mbps plan, my meter would top out at about 800KBps or so. So, yeah, I think its safe to say I have the 12 now. I was informed by someone in the Nashville office when I called to put my new SB6120 modem on my account that the 50Mbps service will run something like $99/month.

There are a few other speeds under that and above the 12Mbps speeds too, but I don't remember what they were or what they cost. That information was in a text file on my wife's computer that was stolen on Tuesday when we got broke into, so if you wanna know anything about those speeds, you will have to call Comcast up and ask.

Oops, was going to put in a link from the speedtest.net results that I got when testing with the Ft Worth server. Pretty nice with the power boost on. :)
http://www.speedtest.net/result/657267100.png

Quote from: http://tvdxseark.blogspot.com/
Stupid Ball Games: Cowboys/Saints NFL Game Tonight Not On OTA TV

I read where this will be the last year you will be able to watch any of the New Years bowl games on OTA TV. From what I read (and I forgot where I read it), starting in 2010, all the games broadcast rights have been sold to a cable channel (not sure if it was ESPN or another one).

So, I am looking at new TV's since mine got liberated from my cruel clutches, but I am not sure what to get. I think I have settled on a 52" LCD at about 120Hz, but there seem to be quite a few options. Looks like the Samsung LN52B630 might be what we want, but I haven't actually seen or touched one yet. It seems to have everything I want in a good location for a good price. The only thing making me unsure is the fact that the 32" samsung that I have takes a long time to turn on...like 5 secs or so after you hit power, it will play the startup tones. I wonder if that will be a problem on this one I am looking at. That is a kind of annoying feature and might be a dealbreaker. Anyone have any experiences or advice on this?

Yes, it appears to be ESPN that snatched the BCS games.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3710477

dmatch

Check out the new LED TVs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LED-backlit_LCD_television before you settle on a LCD. If you watch lots of movies (which all seem to have LOTS of dark scenes, the contrast ratio on the new LEDs is unbeatable. Other than that, go to Best Buy and Sears, put your hands and eyes on whatever looks good. And make sure it supports 1080P/24 if you have DirecTv. My Sharp only has 1080p/60 which wont accept DirecTvs 1080p/24 signal (reverts to 1080i). HDNA is also an up and coming feature which should be supported by DirecTv in the near future, if that stuff interests you.

Personally, if I was buying one today, I would get a Sony LCD or one of the LED backlit models. My boss bought Sony, and the picture is totally amazing.

Edit to add: This appears to be a really good deal, if you can find one: http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=446956&pCatg=14489

I do want me an LED someday:D Right now I have the sony sxrd. Just replaced my lamp about a month ago. It had 8,300 hours on it, about 2 years or viewing. Lamp was $180. The thing about the lamp tvs like the SXRD, when you replace the lamp, its just like a brand new tv again. Wow, was there ever a huge difference in the brightness and PQ when I replaced mine. You just dont notice the PQ degredation over time....but when you put in the new lamp....you notice it big time.

Check out the new LED TVs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LED-backlit_LCD_television before you settle on a LCD. If you watch lots of movies (which all seem to have LOTS of dark scenes, the contrast ratio on the new LEDs is unbeatable. Other than that, go to Best Buy and Sears, put your hands and eyes on whatever looks good. And make sure it supports 1080P/24 if you have DirecTv. My Sharp only has 1080p/60 which wont accept DirecTvs 1080p/24 signal (reverts to 1080i). HDNA is also an up and coming feature which should be supported by DirecTv in the near future, if that stuff interests you.

Personally, if I was buying one today, I would get a Sony LCD or one of the LED backlit models. My boss bought Sony, and the picture is totally amazing.

Edit to add: This appears to be a really good deal, if you can find one: http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=446956&pCatg=14489

Well, we ended up getting a Samsung LN55B650T1 at Best Buy. It's a regular 55" LCD with 120Hz refresh. I don't know what any of that about the 1080p/24 stuff means at all. That's over my head.

I was looking at LED ones, but there is just such a price premium on them right now, it didn't seem to be worth it really. For the money it would take to get like a 46" one of those, we were able to get that 55" regular LCD one. Plus, it was $1000 off as well. I guess cause they are coming out with new ones soon.

We looked at a bunch of them in Best Buy while we were there as well as looked in Wal-Mart too. They all just really appear to be able the same overall when you compare LCD to LCD. It's just the connections, placement of the connections, and price that you get in comparison over really. The Samsung had a nice bright picture, nice colors, and had connections we wanted at a spot on the unit where we wouldn't have to change any other equipment around, so we went with that. Looked like a solid unit, plus we have liked this 32" Samsung. I think we will be happy with it in the long run.

Just curious, did you get a signal/quality meter with that TV, or do only cheap converter boxes have them?

dmatch

I have no idea. Hasn't been delivered yet. Free delivery and setup with purchase? I'm not going to pass that up over trying to find a way to cram it in my car. LOL I would assume, if its like all other samsungs, its got a rudimentary meter in it.

... I have the sony sxrd. Just replaced my lamp about a month ago. It had 8,300 hours on it, about 2 years or viewing. Lamp was $180. The thing about the lamp tvs like the SXRD, when you replace the lamp, its just like a brand new tv again...There was a class action suit against Sony for defective SXRD TVs. (Google: SXRD blue blob lawsuit ) My SXRD eventually got the dreaded blue blob and Sony allowed me to order a replacement KDL 52W4100 direct view for $800 with free shipping. At the time I ordered it, that model was selling for over $2500.



@dmatch,
Some newer generation TVs have been stripped of some features. I was surprised to find out recently that Samsung and some other brands, no longer have a "channel add" feature on some models of their TVs. It wouldn't surprise me if the signal meters get omitted, too, although I can't see how this would help contribute to any cost savings

Shop carefully.

We don't need no stinking channels. Wonder what brain trust came up with that one? So you would have to do a full channel scan anytime a new station in your market fires up. That would be a deal-breaker if you wanted to DX.

Guess they think everyone has cable or dish. Bad call.

My Dynex (mainly a computer monitor) doesnt had "channel add" but its channel scan doesnt erase channels already in memory either. Guess you have to manually delete them if one went off air.

I've been very fortunate so far, I've never had either problem. I'm not sure what causes the green blob. The blue problem is caused from an optical block issue. Eventually I'll get a newer better hdtv, but I'm going to ride this one out as far as I can go, and so far I've been fortunate and only had to replace the lamp once.

[QUOTE=arxaw;17764714]There was a class action suit against Sony for defective SXRD TVs. (Google: SXRD blue blob lawsuit ) My SXRD eventually got the dreaded blue blob and Sony allowed me to order a replacement KDL 52W4100 direct view for $800 with free shipping. At the time I ordered it, that model was selling for over $2500.

Just curious, did you get a signal/quality meter with that TV, or do only cheap converter boxes have them?

dmatch

that would suck. A tv without an ota signal meter is a major headache with weaker signals. The Vizio in my bedroom has no sig meter and you cannot retain previously stored channels if you want to re-scan for a second market.

Example:
I can get the LR (east) and FS (west) markets via OTA. With the Viz, if I re-scan for FS stations, the viz wipes the memory clean of any previously stored channels suchas the LR market. Your only hope is to re-scan on a good night where things are coming in from both directions (not very often). Then and only then can you store all the channels. I like Vizio, as far as PQ, they are very good inexpensive HDTV's. But they've really dumbed down many features on their units to the point that one cannot even tweak things such as successfully storing channels from two opposite markets.

My son recently bought a Vizio (32") after much investigation and price comparison. The manual that he found on-line before he bought showed it to have both a signal meter and an extended EPG. He got it and it had neither of them. Boy was he miffed. He finally got thru to a rep who explained that the manual was incorrect but they hadn't changed it because they were a "Green" company and didn't want to use the paper required for manual reprints. Doesn't explain the on-line manual being inaccurate though. What a bunch of crap!

dmatch

I would return it.

Any TV I would consider buying must have:
1. Signal strength meter.
2. Ability to add new channels without deleting the list of previously found channels.
3. Ability to zoom, regardless of resolution (480, 720, 1080).

Interesting...I dont think Ive ever used the zoom on any of my TV's... You dont secretly work at AETN do you?

I didn't say S-T-R-E-T-C-H. Just Zoom, and only occasionally, usually to get annoying graphics off the screen.

Tonight preemptions:
ABC - You miss Scrubs and Better Off Ted for those Razorsnacks

PBS - You miss NOVA and get to again see FRONTLINE: From Jesus to Christ: The First Christmas which hopefully will be in HD, since they are actually showing it at the SAME TIME as PBS National.

All the other Real Network affiliates are showing what they should be.

ME: Im recording Nova in HD, and watching ESPN college football.

Sorry to blog here, but I dont have a Blog Spot, and would probably get in trouble if I did :)

Courtesy of WLBT 3 in Jackson...

Get Ready to Re-scan
Posted: Dec 10, 2009 11:15 AM CST Updated: Dec 10, 2009 11:24 AM CST

TV viewers in the Central Mississippi area are about to see some big changes in a landmark local station.

In the coming weeks, WLBT will be moving their primary digital signal from VHF Digital Channel 7 to UHF Digital Channel 30.

The move is intended to expand the coverage of WLBT's over the air signal as well as lay the foundation for expansion into emerging digital technologies.

"The FCC has approved WLBT moving to a better channel, we are increasing our transmitter power and putting up a higher, more powerful antenna. These upgrades will allow more people to receive WLBT over the air. In addition, moving to the UHF spectrum will give WLBT a digital ready channel for new emerging technologies, specifically mobile television", according to General Manager, Dan Modisett."

Construction crews have been working for several weeks on the additions. Tower crews are now working on installing the new antenna.

"Right now, we are hoping to transition in the next few weeks. The crews are working tirelessly, but weather is always a factor" said Modisett.

Once the new signal is being broadcast, viewers who receive WLBT over the air, either through a digital television or a digital converter box, will need to re-scan their channels in order to pick up the new signal.

This change will help out those of us in the Jackson market that have problems with WLBT on CH 7, but with the higher power on CH 30, this move could possibly cause problems for viewers in the SE portion of the LR DMA, especially during tropo.

Haley, I'd be a little worried ;)

Courtesy of WLBT 3 in Jackson...



This change will help out those of us in the Jackson market that have problems with WLBT on CH 7, but with the higher power on CH 30, this move could possibly cause problems for viewers in the SE portion of the LR DMA, especially during tropo.

Haley, I'd be a little worried ;)

Doubt it.

Now the folks in Monticello, Dumas--that's the ones that could be. I was told earlier this year by someone close to the cable co in Monticello that the head-end in Monticello could not receive KARK-DT over the air reliably there because of WABG. Last year, I did some portable reception by "hilltopping" on top of both "Montongo Hill" and "Five Mile Hill" just north of Monticello with a converter box and yagi and was able to pull in KLRT, but not KARK. Twenty miles to the Southeast will make a difference.

What could happen here is that there could be periods during intense tropo that KLRT will not lock (just as with KATV and KETK). But I'm not that concerned since most tropo occurs during non-peak viewing periods and won't bother with primetime FOX programming.

WLBT won't be hurting by moving to UHF, and will gain more OTA viewers. Its a win-win for them.

Sorry to blog here, but I dont have a Blog Spot, and would probably get in trouble if I did :)

I'm waiting for the winter E skip to show back up, doesn't look like it will. What was unusual about yesterday morning's tropo, the high power channel 5 signal from WMC locked (on an antenna that isn't *supposed* to receive it), but WHBQ didn't on channel 13. Wait a minute, channel 13 from Memphis seldom locks during tropo... :eek:

My son recently bought a Vizio (32") after much investigation and price comparison. The manual that he found on-line before he bought showed it to have both a signal meter and an extended EPG. He got it and it had neither of them. Boy was he miffed. He finally got thru to a rep who explained that the manual was incorrect but they hadn't changed it because they were a "Green" company and didn't want to use the paper required for manual reprints. Doesn't explain the on-line manual being inaccurate though. What a bunch of crap!

dmatch

Sounds as if Vizio is aiming at the pay TV market and ignoring OTA. Why else in 2009 would a TV manufacturer not place a signal meter is beyond me. There of course is no fall back to the old method of using a equally-powered analog signal to peak the antenna with. A case can be made that signal meters are more vital than before.

Sounds as if Vizio is aiming at the pay TV market and ignoring OTA. Why else in 2009 would a TV manufacturer not place a signal meter is beyond me. There of course is no fall back to the old method of using a equally-powered analog signal to peak the antenna with. A case can be made that signal meters are more vital than before.

I'm sure they think the average customer doesnt even use an OTA

Sounds as if Vizio is aiming at the pay TV market and ignoring OTA. Why else in 2009 would a TV manufacturer not place a signal meter is beyond me. There of course is no fall back to the old method of using a equally-powered analog signal to peak the antenna with. A case can be made that signal meters are more vital than before.
Well, if you think about it, how many people these days are willing to do all this crap to watch TV? It's an even more lost art than ham radio is anymore. There are just way too many sources to get TV with little or no aggravation that people are not willing to mess with it. It's the stamp collecting of TV. :) I know it's fun when you can get TV signals you aren't supposed to or to have more options than the gubment wants you to have, but its just a very very select audience that wants to screw with it. It's just easier to have only a handful of models that will have a signal meter or the like that most people won't use than to make sure they have a good, reliable, accurate meter that people just won't use.

Well, XM might be in trouble...Directv is dropping them next year http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/article.jsp?assetId=P6590007

Well, XM might be in trouble...Directv is dropping them next year http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/article.jsp?assetId=P6590007
Yeah, saw that on Twitter. Kinda makes me wonder. I don't think many people actually listen to music from DirecTV anyway, so it might not make that much of a difference.

I don't have DirecTV any more. But when I did, I listened to XM/Sirius quite a bit. However, it eventually got really annoying with increasing talk on the music channels. Good riddance to it.

Merry Christmas, y'all.

Well, I was thinking more on the line of revenue flow from DirecTv to XM than actual listeners.... Id hate to have XM go bankrupt while I have a lifetime sub :)

Merry White Christmas to you up there in Eureka Springs as well.

My dad got me one of those Sony HD tuner's for christmas. It is pretty neat. It has a 20 station preset memory for FM and I have filled it up and still have a few more that I wanted to put in there. :)

On AM is where I noticed the biggest difference. I put it on KARN and it was static filled and just a miserable experience. Then I moved the antenna to get the digital signal from it. WOW!!! The static just went away. It was a tiny bit more tinny sounding (not near as bad as traffic stations on XM), but it was a hell of a lot easier to listen to. If I care about sports enough to listen to it, HD is the way I would do it.

On the FM side, I could tell the difference when it switched from standard FM to the HD FM. It goes a tiny bit quieter, but is a bit clearer. I think the frequency range in songs is actually broadened using it, but I am not sure. It sounds pretty close to the same.

I like the extra channels you get. Like, on that KHLR hallelujah station or whatever it is, their -2 channel is like soft jazz or something like that from what I could tell. It was kinda nice. KUAR's -2 is mexican music from what I can tell.

Overall, the XDR-F1HD is a pretty nice unit. I wish it had autoprogram for the presets, but its not too bad doing it by hand. Still not sure if its something I would buy for myself, but its nice to get as a gift. :)

Well, if you think about it, how many people these days are willing to do all this crap to watch TV?..Evidently, more & more people, since the analog shutoff.
"Rabbit ears make comeback in digital TV era" (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-rabbit-ears25-2009dec25,0,3882718.story)

Tom-FM HD2 plays commercial free music 24/7. I listen to it every night when I go to bed. Its great.

Evidently, more & more people, since the analog shutoff.
"Rabbit ears make comeback in digital TV era" (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-rabbit-ears25-2009dec25,0,3882718.story)
That is a fairly good article and a fairly good example of people going back to OTA. That kind of change back to OTA viewing is not really a good indicator for our area. That article is from LA. That in itself makes it completely irrelevant to around here. There are far more options around there than will ever be here. There aren't even as many people in the entire state of Arkansas as there is in LA alone. Hell, only 11% of the entire U.S. even watch OTA, much fewer have actually switched back. THAT is why television manufacturers don't give a rats ass about putting in signal meters in their sets.

Given our area and the ability of the local stations to do OTA digital broadcasts right, and the possibility of another broadcaster coming around that can send out pay channels via a subscription OTA model being slim to none, I think that this kind of switchover from cable or satellite just won't happen in our DMA. There just isn't the selection of sources as there is in a "big city" that would make people want to jump ship and go OTA only.

I, personally, would love to see people say screw comcast or the satellite companies. Maybe if more people switched over to OTA and online only, the companies would see the expanded competition and might consider decreasing prices to entice people to come back. If it were possible to get some of the networks that I watch OTA in some way (maybe like the subscription service Sezmi Corp. is trying to roll out), I would most definitely say goodbye to DirecTV.

Unfortunately, articles such as that one simply don't mean a hill of beans around here. The way people have gotten accustomed to the current providers they have, their lack of interest in putting up antennas, the lack of alternate sources other than the big 4 locally, and the general lack of knowledge about how any of this works, it just is extremely unlikely to occur any time soon. It would take a much bigger education effort than anything we have seen before to get people interested, willing, and able to ditch their providers and go for other alternatives like OTA and online viewing.

We can cite stories and studies on how people are successfully making the switch all we want, but the truth of the matter is that given the overall population in ANY given area, that demographic that has switched to OTA is going to be just a small sliver out of the over all pie of providers. That fact alone is what keeps the major manufacturers of televisions in particular focused on the one main gravy train they are accustomed to and that they know the biggest profits come from......the coaxial demon that is cable and satellite. Again, given that only approximately 11% of the U.S. views TV OTA, why bother doing anything to help those few people out? It is as relevant of a revenue stream to them as people who use Linux only as their operating systems is to the game developers who make the best games.

I am not trying to belittle anyone or negate anyone's point of view, I am just trying to be realistic and trying to help you understand why we don't get the features we would like or find useful on our TV's.

Decisions made by any broadcasting company boils down to one thing.....money. Prime example. In larger markets such as the Russellville area, Sudden link cable co has for several years now been switched to digital cable. They offer not only a whole slew of channels but also internet. Sudden Link also serves/screws Yell county ....we still have the same old analog cable system and package that has been here for 30 years. A rep recently told me that this system in yell county would never been upgraded because the customer base was not large enough to justify the cost. The Russellville area on the other hand does justify the cost and was a profitable move for the company to offer all the bells and whistles to those customers. Like I said, its all boils down to money.

On a side note:
I've been hoping Arkwest would upgrade to HD so I could tell Directv to get lost......however Arkwest seems to be dragging their feet. They are a great company overall, but I disagree with how they've handled their IPTV system. With todays technologies and advancements in HDTV's, it is to the disadvantage of both the customer and the supplier to not offer HD. IPTV is very nice on older standard tv sets that only utilize 480i......but HDTV's will expose and display all the lag, pixeling/marcoblocking of an standard IPTV system.

A rep recently told me that this system in yell county would never been upgraded because the customer base was not large enough to justify the cost.

But look at all that pretty scenery you get to look out the window at :) Who would need TV out there? How come you want to get rid of DirecTv? Any HD cable system they put in out there would be just as expensive with fewer channels. My only gripe with DirecTv is the price they charge for everything...but I recently listed out all the channels I actually watch, and checked Comcast for a comparable package with comparable equipment, and it would have been $50 more expensive and wouldnt have several of the HD channels or Major League Baseball available. I refuse to let AT&T near my property for ANY service :) I might try FIOS, if they ever get around to North Little Rock, but I doubt it would be any cheaper/better than DirecTv.

I am not trying to belittle anyone or negate anyone's point of view, I am just trying to be realistic and trying to help you understand why we don't get the features we would like or find useful on our TV's.

Were you in the debate club in high school? :)

Overall, the XDR-F1HD is a pretty nice unit. I wish it had autoprogram for the presets, but its not too bad doing it by hand. Still not sure if its something I would buy for myself, but its nice to get as a gift. :)

Its a good tuner from the reports I've seen. That and the Sangean HDT-1 series tuners are very popular with the dx crowd.

Now if you could get the XDR-F1HD connected to a nice FM yagi (stealthy attic-mounted of course... ;) )

Shhhh...Dont tell anyone....but AETN has "NOVA - What Darwin Never Knew" scheduled at 8pm Tuesday night... Shhhhh.

But look at all that pretty scenery you get to look out the window at :) Who would need TV out there? How come you want to get rid of DirecTv? Any HD cable system they put in out there would be just as expensive with fewer channels. My only gripe with DirecTv is the price they charge for everything...but I recently listed out all the channels I actually watch, and checked Comcast for a comparable package with comparable equipment, and it would have been $50 more expensive and wouldnt have several of the HD channels or Major League Baseball available. I refuse to let AT&T near my property for ANY service :) I might try FIOS, if they ever get around to North Little Rock, but I doubt it would be any cheaper/better than DirecTv.

true, it is very pretty up here in yell county:) I guess the real advantage for me if Arkwest were to go HD is the lower overall cost. Arkwest lets you have up to 6 rooms with not extra charge. I have 4 rooms I need tv service in, currently with Directv I only have two rooms with service and only one with HD. Also, Arkwest offers the Triple play packages that consist of TV, Telephone and Internet service all rolled into one. I can get the Premium Package for $140.95/mo and that would include your choice of two premiums like HBO, Cinemax, Starz, Showtime. After checking the site again, it now appears that they are offering 71 channels in HD. Heres a link to Arkwest packages.

http://www.arkwest.com/arktv/tv.html

Just checked off the list you provided....They carry Starz Encore HD, ESPN-U HD, CNN Headline News HD, and MSNBC HD, which DirecTv carries in SD only.

DirecTv carries Fox Sports SW HD, MTV HD, VH1 HD, Nat Geo HD, and Speed HD, which Arkwest has only in SD.

The Speed HD channel was the deal breaker with going to the Comcast Triple Play for me as well. GOT to have my NASCAR in HD. There are toss ups to both. Arkwest does have a nice HD lineup, assuming its not compressed to hell and back. But DirecTv is going to have an entire new empty HD satellite in service in three months, and should be adding all those channels currently missing in HD that Arkwest is carrying. Thats assuming the rocket goes up OK Monday at 6pm on channel 775 (or 755, I forget). I could REALLY save a lot of money if I switched from Comcast Internet to DSL, but since I use Vonage, and also download a lot of VOD and stream lots of music, I just dont think a 1.5 DSL connection would be sufficient...Not worth the $25 Id save. I could really save a bunch on DirecTv too, except to get SPEED HD, I have to sub to the second from the top package. Only the Premier package with ALL the movie channels costs more. Its all good though. I have a lifetime DVR service, so save $7 a month there, and DirecTV doesnt charge an outrageous amount for additional DVRs, same $5 a month regardless, so I get 4 rooms for the price of two Comcast DVR rooms. DirecTv is soon to release a whole home DVR solution, so you will only need one DVR anyway. HD receivers are free once a year (current subs). I cant complain. Its all expensive, but so is grocery shopping. Guess thats why I work :)

Well, the thing is Dave, with my current setup, Directv cost me around $115/mo...and my Phone and Internet service cost me $94/mo. Thats $209/mo. By the time you add taxes to the $140 package at Arkwest, its gonna be around $150. Its going to be about a $60/mo difference which would save me $720/year. Now, if the HD turns out to be crap, that would be a deal breaker. Arkwest doesnt require any committments so it would be easy to cancel after a month if I didnt like it. I'm done with Directv either way. Over the past year I've had some pretty bad phone conversations with them and my reciever has gotten super slow. When I press the guide, it takes 4-5 seconds for the reciever to respond. When changing channels, it takes 4 seconds for standard channels to appear on screen and 10 seconds for HD channels to appear. I can almost instantly hear them thru my Home theater which is connected via optical cable. But the Pic takes an annoying amount of time to appear. Also, Directv is trying to tell me I'm on some oddball 36 month committment to them even though the longest term they offer is 24 months...and they admit that too. But for some reason they say their computers show me as a 36 month commit.....the kicker is that I have recieved no new equipment or upgrades since I started with them in August of 2007. I figure if Arkwest dont work out, it'll be back to Dishnetwork for me. Most of my issues with them was about the HD channels back when HD Was going thru changes from Mpeg 2 to Mpeg 4 and so forth. I had the 811 reciever and when all the newer HD channels were available, they told me I needed the newer HD reciever to get them and it was gonna cost me $200. So I went to Direct and was happy with them until the Phantom 36 month committment and the fact that they wont upgrade existing customers for free. Back to Arkwest for a minute.....the HD they are offering is something new. I figure they will add more HD channels as they advance their system capabilities. As for the channels in HD that Directv offers and Arkwest currently does not have, only Fox sports SW is of any interest to me, and I dont watch that channel much. Its really hard to figure out whats best for you, both Directv and Dishnetwork offer pretty good overall service. Arkwest is an option that most country folks dont have. I like to do business local first, so if they can deliver the goods that make me happy, I'm going to give them first shot.

Dave, is the HR23 the new HD-DVR (4 room) from Directv? supposed to have 260-480 hours of recording or something like that.

Dave, is the HR23 the new HD-DVR (4 room) from Directv? supposed to have 260-480 hours of recording or something like that.

HR23 is their current top of the line DVR with a 500GB hard drive. You can add an external eSATA drive up to 2TB.

HR23 is their current top of the line DVR with a 500GB hard drive. You can add an external eSATA drive up to 2TB.

I'll have to check all of this out. A 4 room solution is very intriguing.

Just checked off the list you provided....They carry Starz Encore HD, ESPN-U HD, CNN Headline News HD, and MSNBC HD, which DirecTv carries in SD only.

DirecTv carries Fox Sports SW HD, MTV HD, VH1 HD, Nat Geo HD, and Speed HD, which Arkwest has only in SD.

The Speed HD channel was the deal breaker with going to the Comcast Triple Play for me as well. GOT to have my NASCAR in HD. There are toss ups to both. Arkwest does have a nice HD lineup, assuming its not compressed to hell and back. But DirecTv is going to have an entire new empty HD satellite in service in three months, and should be adding all those channels currently missing in HD that Arkwest is carrying. Thats assuming the rocket goes up OK Monday at 6pm on channel 775 (or 755, I forget). I could REALLY save a lot of money if I switched from Comcast Internet to DSL, but since I use Vonage, and also download a lot of VOD and stream lots of music, I just dont think a 1.5 DSL connection would be sufficient...Not worth the $25 Id save. I could really save a bunch on DirecTv too, except to get SPEED HD, I have to sub to the second from the top package. Only the Premier package with ALL the movie channels costs more. Its all good though. I have a lifetime DVR service, so save $7 a month there, and DirecTV doesnt charge an outrageous amount for additional DVRs, same $5 a month regardless, so I get 4 rooms for the price of two Comcast DVR rooms. DirecTv is soon to release a whole home DVR solution, so you will only need one DVR anyway. HD receivers are free once a year (current subs). I cant complain. Its all expensive, but so is grocery shopping. Guess thats why I work :)
I had no idea they were putting up a new satellite today. Glad you mentioned it. And the "whole home DVR" thing they are rolling out will only be of use if they were willing to give people the boxes they want/need to utilize the service. I am still kinda peeved about them not giving me a networkable receiver like they said they would. As of right now, I STILL only have 1 box that can do MRV and thats the HR20-700. My H20-100 won't and my son's slow as molasses H16-100 won't either. I just don't think I should have to shell out a lot of extra money to get newer, more up to date equipment instead of crap thats like 4 years old. Anyway, one day it will happen, just not soon.

As of right now, I am on the Premier package on DirecTV. I think I have like 3 more months of that cause the move. The price I was paying for the next to top package, HD Extra Pack, and Sports Pack was only like maybe $5 or so less than the Premier. I thought about getting premier a bunch of times, but I found out you have to pay extra for DVR service and extra for HD I believe it was if you got it. Might be one or two more extras to pay for in there too. To me, it seemed those should be part of the package in the first place, so until they truly give you everything for that outrageous price, I will just go ahead and keep mine the way I have it. Just doesn't make sense for them to nickle and dime you.

Arky, I bet if you talked to the right person at DirecTV, they could explain the extra 12 months you are supposedly on. There have been reports about people calling up the CEO's office and actually getting some very good results from them by complaining about being treated poorly. But, you can also think about it this way too, you signed up for service in August 2007, so you are already 2/3rds done with your "contract". You could just suck it up and stay with them. By the time you are done, you might see better things that make you want to stay.

As far as your box being slow, you might want to try to see if there is a firmware update for it, or get in on a CE one weekend. That might do something to help with the slowness. I would think you have already done a RBR, so I won't suggest that. I would say it might have to do with your TV or stereo if you have it hooked up that way, but if its something that has turned up recently, that might not be it. Or I could say it might be the connection method, but again, the recent thing. What you are experiencing, though, is not really all that normal and can probably be fixed. Unfortunately it will take an effort that you probably don't wanna put out.

You might also try making a twitter account and bitching about it on there. Most of the time these big companies have people that monitor twitter for people bitching about them and have their reps bend over backwards to make you happy. Comcast does that I know.

BTW, Dave, 577

Arky, I bet if you talked to the right person at DirecTV, they could explain the extra 12 months you are supposedly on. There have been reports about people calling up the CEO's office and actually getting some very good results from them by complaining about being treated poorly. But, you can also think about it this way too, you signed up for service in August 2007, so you are already 2/3rds done with your "contract". You could just suck it up and stay with them. By the time you are done, you might see better things that make you want to stay.

As far as your box being slow, you might want to try to see if there is a firmware update for it, or get in on a CE one weekend. That might do something to help with the slowness. I would think you have already done a RBR, so I won't suggest that. I would say it might have to do with your TV or stereo if you have it hooked up that way, but if its something that has turned up recently, that might not be it. Or I could say it might be the connection method, but again, the recent thing. What you are experiencing, though, is not really all that normal and can probably be fixed. Unfortunately it will take an effort that you probably don't wanna put out.

You might also try making a twitter account and bitching about it on there. Most of the time these big companies have people that monitor twitter for people bitching about them and have their reps bend over backwards to make you happy. Comcast does that I know.

Dave gave me an email to contact about the extra twelve months. As for the reciever, I reckon I've gotten all the updates. I stayed on the phone one night for about an hour with Direct while they were supposedly updating my system. I've had a few weird things happen with Direct lately. I ordered the Fox sports Pak and only the SD channels would come in. All HD channels in that package gave me the 721 message that says you are not subscribed. After about another hour on the phone and multiple re-hits and such, I finally got the HD's to come in. I guess its always possible that the problem could be the reciever itself. Its an H20-100 and I've used it heavily. Sometimes those boxes just get to the point they go out on ya or start doing weird things like mine is doing.

Steve, how did you like the HD on the IPTV system you had for a while? How did it compare to Direct or Dish HD? I may go with Arkwest new HD IPTV system, but I kind of want to know what to expect. I had their service for 1 month about 2 years ago when all they offered was standard def. Channels like History, Science and movie channels like Hbo all looked pretty good most of the time. In fact, I thought their Standard version of most channels looked much clearer than any directv or Dish standard channels I've seen to date. However, the deal breaker for me was channels like ESPN which showed live sports or fast motion scenes. Sports was almost unwatchable thru an HDTV using the standard version of IPTV. I'm hoping that the HD will get rid of this problem. Hoping your going to tell me you liked your U-verse HD setup. Thanks:)

Dave gave me an email to contact about the extra twelve months. As for the reciever, I reckon I've gotten all the updates. I stayed on the phone one night for about an hour with Direct while they were supposedly updating my system. I've had a few weird things happen with Direct lately. I ordered the Fox sports Pak and only the SD channels would come in. All HD channels in that package gave me the 721 message that says you are not subscribed. After about another hour on the phone and multiple re-hits and such, I finally got the HD's to come in. I guess its always possible that the problem could be the reciever itself. Its an H20-100 and I've used it heavily. Sometimes those boxes just get to the point they go out on ya or start doing weird things like mine is doing.

Steve, how did you like the HD on the IPTV system you had for a while? How did it compare to Direct or Dish HD? I may go with Arkwest new HD IPTV system, but I kind of want to know what to expect. I had their service for 1 month about 2 years ago when all they offered was standard def. Channels like History, Science and movie channels like Hbo all looked pretty good most of the time. In fact, I thought their Standard version of most channels looked much clearer than any directv or Dish standard channels I've seen to date. However, the deal breaker for me was channels like ESPN which showed live sports or fast motion scenes. Sports was almost unwatchable thru an HDTV using the standard version of IPTV. I'm hoping that the HD will get rid of this problem. Hoping your going to tell me you liked your U-verse HD setup. Thanks:)
Then what I would do is find a way to get that box swapped out with a "newer" one. I say "newer" because you will probably get a refurbished H20-100, but it might not have as much use as yours had. I would suspect something like a power spike or something might take it out. ;)

As far as the HD IPTV, I didn't like it. It didn't look near as good as DirecTV. The only good thing about it was Travel HD. The picture looked heavily compressed and just didn't look near as clear as DirecTV does. Especially high motion looked bad. And that was AT&T too, so if they can't get it right, imagine what ArkWest will have. Maybe they will be better, but I wouldn't count on it.

Then what I would do is find a way to get that box swapped out with a "newer" one. I say "newer" because you will probably get a refurbished H20-100, but it might not have as much use as yours had. I would suspect something like a power spike or something might take it out. ;)

As far as the HD IPTV, I didn't like it. It didn't look near as good as DirecTV. The only good thing about it was Travel HD. The picture looked heavily compressed and just didn't look near as clear as DirecTV does. Especially high motion looked bad. And that was AT&T too, so if they can't get it right, imagine what ArkWest will have. Maybe they will be better, but I wouldn't count on it.

I imagine that Arkwest might actually have a better set up than At&t did. Arkwest has always been on the cutting edge of the latest technology and they are a company that tries to provide the best. We've been all fiber optic here since about 2000. I'm kind of hanging my expectations on the character of the company knowing that they pride themselves on being the best. With that said, it may just be a fact that IPTV just has limits that small dishes do not have to deal with. If the HD marcoblocks, I sure wont be happy. I guess the only way to truly find out is to find someone who already has it and watch it a bit on the HD channels.

If they are installing an entirely new system, then perhaps it will be 100% digital, which would expand their available HD bandwidth by quite a bit over most systems like Comcast, which still use 1/2 their bandwidth for crappy looking analog service.

If they are installing an entirely new system, then perhaps it will be 100% digital, which would expand their available HD bandwidth by quite a bit over most systems like Comcast, which still use 1/2 their bandwidth for crappy looking analog service.

They installed their system in 2007, its all brand new from the Huge 30 foot oval type dish to all the guts of the system. I'm assuming its 100% digital as they have never offered tv service until this new IPTV system was installed. Here is a link/article about them choosing Entone's IPTV VOD solution

http://blog.itvt.com/2006/08/11/arkwest-selects-entones-iptv-vod-solution/

OH, ok. IPTV. Wont matter then...thats a totally different beast.

OH, ok. IPTV. Wont matter then...thats a totally different beast.

Dave, can you explain? By being a totally different beast...is that good or bad?

It's Internet Protocol TV over your phone line. Like AT&T's U-Verse, only it's probably better than their offering.

Dave, can you explain? By being a totally different beast...is that good or bad?

Don,t know, Ive never seen IPTV. I was just saying I couldnt measure the bandwidth of a cable system vs a IPTV system, since they are totally different. IPTV systems appear to be able to offer many more channels than a cable system, however, I dont know enough about it to know if there is a limit of the channels...The only limits I am aware of, it the actual bandwidth limit into the home from the headend. When I stream HD from my server across my home network to another room, and watch it on my media extender, thats basically a home based IPTV system, and Im only limited by the amount of disc space on my server, so each file on my server could be considered a "channel". In practice, in my home, I can stream 1080p easily to 4 tv's using a gigabit switch, and a P4 2.4ghz server with XP and two 2 TB drives, with no breakups of loss of quality. No reason the phone/cable company couldnt do the same, if their phone lines (your phone line) supports the speed required. We all know the farther you are from the headend, the worse the throughput gets. So it could be better or could be worse. Guess it depends what they use from the headend to your house :)

FYI, Clear-QAM local HDs have been restored for Conway Corp.

FYI, Clear-QAM local HDs have been restored for Conway Corp.

Did your channel numbers (actual, not "virtual") move?

It's Internet Protocol TV over your phone line. Like AT&T's U-Verse, only it's probably better than their offering.

Yes, I knew it was Internet Protocol TV. I just wasnt sure and still am not sure how its quality should be compared to other types of delivery systems. I had Arkwest Triple Play package for one month back in 2007. I was happy with most of the SD PQ on my HDTV at that time except for the motion problems which happened mainly on sports.....and I watch lots of sports so that just wouldnt fly with me. That was an all SD box back then. Now they have the new HD-DVR boxes. One of my friends that installs their stuff told me that he was very upset with them when they did not order HD boxes from the beginning. He said Arkwest had all the capabilities of delivering HD to the customer back in 2007. They just did not have the boxes to send it to the tv. Now they do have HD boxes, so I think I probably need to hook them up and see how it goes. They are like cable when it comes to billing, its month to month, no committments.

Don,t know, Ive never seen IPTV. I was just saying I couldnt measure the bandwidth of a cable system vs a IPTV system, since they are totally different. IPTV systems appear to be able to offer many more channels than a cable system, however, I dont know enough about it to know if there is a limit of the channels...The only limits I am aware of, it the actual bandwidth limit into the home from the headend. When I stream HD from my server across my home network to another room, and watch it on my media extender, thats basically a home based IPTV system, and Im only limited by the amount of disc space on my server, so each file on my server could be considered a "channel". In practice, in my home, I can stream 1080p easily to 4 tv's using a gigabit switch, and a P4 2.4ghz server with XP and two 2 TB drives, with no breakups of loss of quality. No reason the phone/cable company couldnt do the same, if their phone lines (your phone line) supports the speed required. We all know the farther you are from the headend, the worse the throughput gets. So it could be better or could be worse. Guess it depends what they use from the headend to your house :)

All I know about the head end is this. The main room with their equipment in Danville is about 5 miles from my home. Because of Fiber optic cable, the company has junction boxes about every mile or so. These junction boxes are where their amplifiers are located that virtually eliminates attenuation and supposedly gives them unlimited capabilities of delivering the same picture quality 10 feet away or 10 miles away. The key is supposed to be the fiber optic junction boxes where the cables are linked and amplified. My friend told me that before we dig in Yell county, its extremely important to call Arkansas One Call and have them stake all underground lines. He said that if you cut fiber optic lines, they must be replaced from one junction box to the next...the whole line, says its possible to splice them but that splicing can cost more than just replacing the one mile of intact line. Said the cost is about $10,000 to repair a cut. If you contact Ark One Call and they dont mark Arkwest or anyone elses lines, you are not responsible if you accidentally cut them because Ark One Call was supposed to make sure that did not happen by informing you and physcially marking it with flags. If you fail to contact Ark One Call and cut their lines, you as an individual are financially responsible for the bill....Ouch!:eek: I also get my DSL speed upped to 768/256. I'm currently at 512/256. Not sure how it will work with the HD DVR boxes from Arkwest, but when I had them 2 years ago, they put one modem in my living room for my internet and then ran 2 additional tv's off that one modem. Then they installed a second modem in the back two bedrooms to run those 2 tv's. I was told that 1 modem would run an internet connection (for your computer) and 2 tv's. Or, you could run 3 tvs off one modem. As I learn more, I'll post all the info I can find out.

I know one problem we had the first time was a line running from our drop to our home ( bout 100 feet) The line was damaged underground and a new one had to be installed.....yes they dug up my yard. Before the fix...one of the guys was checking the numbers on his handheld computer checker and he kept saying he was only getting an 8-10 reading....said they wanted at least 26-30...eventually they got a 36-38 with the new line installed. These readings were for streaming the video and audio in. Maybe that will tell you what they were trying to achieve.......not sure it that was Mbps or what?

768/256 is extremely slow for a DSL connection, so if thats their MAX speed to your house right now,( vs your personal choice in speed vs cost), then I think your IPTV is gonna suck. That is not enough bandwidth good HD.

768/256 is extremely slow for a DSL connection, so if thats their MAX speed to your house right now,( vs your personal choice in speed vs cost), then I think your IPTV is gonna suck. That is not enough bandwidth good HD.

Actually, its not extremely slow.....extremely slow would be the 256/128 I was on about 2 years ago:p Thats my max speed for internet browsing unless I want to pay more per month. Arkwest offers at least 1.5m/256 to residential customers, but I'm not sure what they are actually capable of. Heres a link to their advertised speeds and prices to the public.

http://www.arkwest.com/internet/high-speed.html

As for the new HD they are offering, I know they spent the last year working out all the bugs and trying to get it right before they offered it to customers. I talked to one of the top guys there about 2 months ago and he told me personally they were about ready to offer it but were trying to get it right so everyone would be happy with it. So, apparently, they've found a way to deliver it if full HD. Now what they did to get it all worked out over the past year is beyond me. I'll have to do some asking.

I meant slow for HD. Unless they have a lot more bandwidth reserved for IPTV than they are using for DSL.

I found this link which talks about IPTV bandwidth requirments. Scroll down about half way to find the chart listing bandwidth requirements.

http://www.ccpu.com/news/articles/200709-iptvbandwidth.html

I meant slow for HD. Unless they have a lot more bandwidth reserved for IPTV than they are using for DSL.

Yeah I know, I'm just hassling ya:D check out the link that I just put up above about IPTV and bandwidth. Arkwest very well may have much more bandwidth for their IPTV system. Like I had mentioned before, they wanted about 30+mbs coming into the house to feed the modems. When they put in my new line, I was showing about 38 coming into the house. Before the line was replaced, 8-10 was all that was at the house and the picture on my living room tv would actually freeze up requiring a reset of the reciever box.

I found this link which talks about IPTV bandwidth requirments. Scroll down about half way to find the chart listing bandwidth requirements.

http://www.ccpu.com/news/articles/200709-iptvbandwidth.html

This is what I was talking about: >>>In an extreme case, for a subscriber with two HDTVs and DVRs and a third SD TV, 26 Mb/s can be required for IPTV alone, with any amount for residential broadband or phone service on top of this. This level of bandwidth can only be delivered to subscribers with a very short loop length, not as a broadly deployable solution.<<<

If you have 30+ coming in, then you are golden *IF* they dont overcompress to compensate for those customers that DONT have 30+ :)

Compare to DirecTV. I record 4 HD streams at once during peak sports seasons...Thats 20 Gigabytes per hour on a IPTV system. Thats some serious bandwidth.

This is what I was talking about: >>>In an extreme case, for a subscriber with two HDTVs and DVRs and a third SD TV, 26 Mb/s can be required for IPTV alone, with any amount for residential broadband or phone service on top of this. This level of bandwidth can only be delivered to subscribers with a very short loop length, not as a broadly deployable solution.<<<

If you have 30+ coming in, then you are golden *IF* they dont overcompress to compensate for those customers that DONT have 30+ :)

Compare to DirecTV. I record 4 HD streams at once during peak sports seasons...Thats 20 Gigabytes per hour on a IPTV system. Thats some serious bandwidth.

In my case, I have 4 HDTV's and want 4 HD-DVR recievers + phone and internet service. However, I believe that Arkwest may have upped their bandwidth coming too the home since 2007. They told me that most good connections where I'm located should get 30+ and in my case they said I was pretty much a steady 38 with the new line. But since all of that comes from their equipment room to begin with, I'm hoping that is part of what they have been preparing, more bandwidth to the customer to cover the HD requirements. Heres the thing with me. I know most of these guys and some of them are my friends. I took out their service in 2007 and then dropped them like a hot potato when it didnt meet my standards. I just hate to take out their service again and then not be happy and drop them after one month again. But, I bought my HDtv's for their capabilities, and if Arkwest doesnt deliver, I will drop them after one month again....just hope I dont have too.

Surely they will have a HD setup in their office to demo? I know AT&T does around here.

Here is a link to Arkwest coverage map. I am the purple between Danville and Havana. Is this considered a short loop and is this map what would be considered a small area by IPTV standards? The farthest service area from Danville would be Ola at 15 miles.

http://www.arkwest.com/arktv/iptvmap.html

Surely they will have a HD setup in their office to demo? I know AT&T does around here.

I added the Arkwest coverage map above....I forgot to link you....sorry.


Yes, they do, but it isnt hooked up yet. My wife and son went by their office yesterday to see the HD in person. I'm gonna want to look at it myself too before I sign up. The lady who they talked to called a service man and he said they'd have it hooked up in a few days for subscribers to see. My son said the SD reciever was still hooked up and the HD-DVR was sitting on the table beside the HDTV. He said the HDTV was about a 32 or 37 inch and that the SD just looked ok in his opinion (my son is 20 and is HDTV PQ savy) so I trust his take. I have to consider the small hdtv they will use as well because my living room tv is 60 inches and we all know that smaller screens often cover up PQ problems that larger screens will expose. So, we will need to check that out before we buy. BTW, that was a great suggestion Dave, many folks may not know that you can go in and check out PQ and equipment before you buy from most carriers.

768/256 is extremely slow for a DSL connection, so if thats their MAX speed to your house right now,( vs your personal choice in speed vs cost), then I think your IPTV is gonna suck. That is not enough bandwidth good HD.I would love to have 768K DSL. It would be better than verizon's crap 3g service.

Is this considered a short loop...Loop length is the length of copper wire between your house and the nearest fiber terminal. The length of the fiber is irrelevant.

Did your channel numbers (actual, not "virtual") move?

Actually no. They've just become "unencrypted" again.

I would love to have 768K DSL. It would be better than verizon's crap 3g service.

Loop length is the length of copper wire between your house and the nearest fiber terminal. The length of the fiber is irrelevant.

Fiber Terminal? Would that be the junction boxes I mentioned or the little green box in the end of my yard? Arkwest ran me a new line from the little box in the yard to my home in 2007. Sorry for so many questions guys, I'm just trying to figure all this stuff out.:)

Not sure how this applies, but here is an article on Arkwest choosing Latens for their IPTV system. Some type of security issues.

http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=136127&print=true

In my case, I have 4 HDTV's and want 4 HD-DVR recievers + phone and internet service. However, I believe that Arkwest may have upped their bandwidth coming too the home since 2007. They told me that most good connections where I'm located should get 30+ and in my case they said I was pretty much a steady 38 with the new line. But since all of that comes from their equipment room to begin with, I'm hoping that is part of what they have been preparing, more bandwidth to the customer to cover the HD requirements. Heres the thing with me. I know most of these guys and some of them are my friends. I took out their service in 2007 and then dropped them like a hot potato when it didnt meet my standards. I just hate to take out their service again and then not be happy and drop them after one month again. But, I bought my HDtv's for their capabilities, and if Arkwest doesnt deliver, I will drop them after one month again....just hope I dont have too.
I'm not real sure how Arkwest does it, but on AT&T you didn't need to have 4 different DVR's to record multiple channels at once. Now, granted, when I had it, the best you could get was 2 HD and 2 SD channels recording simultaneously, but still, I didn't need 4 different DVR's. AT&T was supposedly working on it where you could record 3 HD's at once with their equipment, but, since it was all copper, you had to live real close to the node before you could get that. If Arkwest has anywhere close to a similar setup, you shouldn't need that, but only a whole home DVR kinda thing where one box streams to the others via your Cat5e in your house.

I would love to have 768K DSL. It would be better than verizon's crap 3g service.

Loop length is the length of copper wire between your house and the nearest fiber terminal. The length of the fiber is irrelevant.

1.5M DSL makes life tolerable in rural Lincoln County AR. This neighborhood was one of the last areas that CenturyTel upgraded to be DSL capable before the merger with Embarq and the new "CenturyLink" company. There is a "remote unit" about 1/8 of a mile from here. Of course faster speeds are desired, but I do not miss dial-up AT ALL (good riddance).

FWIW, No cable companies come with any service within 3 miles of the house.

Almost all the independent telcos out in the state are putting in DSL like gangbusters.

Meanwhile, at&t sits on its ass. I cuss 'em every time I drive by the fiber optic remote terminal that my phone is connected to, about a mile from my house. I'm hoping they sell off all their land lines out in podunk, to someone like Ritter, Windstream or CenturTel, etc.

1.5M DSL makes life tolerable in rural Lincoln County AR. This neighborhood was one of the last areas that CenturyTel upgraded to be DSL capable before the merger with Embarq and the new "CenturyLink" company. There is a "remote unit" about 1/8 of a mile from here. Of course faster speeds are desired, but I do not miss dial-up AT ALL (good riddance).

FWIW, No cable companies come with any service within 3 miles of the house.

I'm not sure if its because of such a small population or what, but my 512/256 Internet I currently have is extremely fast. I used to have dial up and this DSL is just a whole differnt animal than dial up was. I can download a 10mb video in about 1-2 minutes. When I had dial up, It would take 3-4 hours to dowload such a file and many times my internet connection would time out and I'd have to start over....very frustrating back then.

I'm not real sure how Arkwest does it, but on AT&T you didn't need to have 4 different DVR's to record multiple channels at once. Now, granted, when I had it, the best you could get was 2 HD and 2 SD channels recording simultaneously, but still, I didn't need 4 different DVR's. AT&T was supposedly working on it where you could record 3 HD's at once with their equipment, but, since it was all copper, you had to live real close to the node before you could get that. If Arkwest has anywhere close to a similar setup, you shouldn't need that, but only a whole home DVR kinda thing where one box streams to the others via your Cat5e in your house.

Just called Arkwest. They said I will need a Set top HD-DVR at each TV, so I need 4 total. They also told me that they now have their HD-DVR box hooked up at the showroom for potential customers to come view before signing up. My wife and I are headed down their in a bit to check it out.

Almost all the independent telcos out in the state are putting in DSL like gangbusters.

Meanwhile, at&t sits on its ass. I cuss 'em every time I drive by the fiber optic remote terminal that my phone is connected to, about a mile from my house. I'm hoping they sell off all their land lines out in podunk, to someone like Ritter, Windstream or CenturTel, etc.

Not so sure Century Tel is the most reliable in the world either. My wifes sister lives in Pope county between Atkins and Hector. They still have dial up service with no sight of DSL in their near future. For whatever reason, Century tel has deemed their area as too small to justify upgrading. Thats pretty low if you ask me. A company like Centruy tel should service everyone who is under their umbrella the same. Like it is now, I know many folks in pope county who have been left out in the cold by Century tel.

We here in Yell county are very fortunate to be home to Arkwest Communications, formerly known as Yell county Telephone. They pride themselves on bringing the folks of our area cutting edge technology. Its not often you find a company that really does put the satisfaction of their customer base over everything else. Arkwest is one of the few companies left in America today that serves people and wants you to view them as an extended member of your family. The people who own and work there are good people

Just called Arkwest. They said I will need a Set top HD-DVR at each TV, so I need 4 total. They also told me that they now have their HD-DVR box hooked up at the showroom for potential customers to come view before signing up. My wife and I are headed down their in a bit to check it out.
See, that is really silly to me. They are spending all that money putting all those DVR's into homes when they could do like AT&T did and make the one box feed multiple receivers. That is the one area where AT&T got it right when the total home DVR got going. Oh well, their money. :)

And as far as the showroom setup, just try not to go in there with your hopes too high beyond what you saw when it was SD. I can almost promise you that it will not be as good as what DirecTV offers. Before I got AT&T, I went into their showroom, flipped around a bunch of HD channels (like I am sure you will), and saw a lot of macroblocking and just a general soft looking picture across the board. It wasn't nearly as pretty and sharp as DirecTV has. There was a fishing show on that had a lot of motion in the water and stuff like that and I saw blocking everywhere and it just didn't look good. I knew I wouldn't be happy with IPTV then. I just let them do it cause that was the only way I could get Internet from them. Their Internet was just too cheap to pass up. :)

I just don't think that IPTV is up to par yet to be rolled out on a broad scale to provide to a lot of users. I think that until everyone is able to get at least a 50Mbps fiber line to their house, it just isn't going to be able to pump enough bits to get a great picture. It really has nothing to do with how many channels they have or how many people they serve because their nodes and other equipment should be able to feed all those people in theory. It completely depends on the max bandwidth they can get into your house. If they can really get you into the 30's or so Mbps wise, then MAYBE you might be able to get a good looking picture if they limit you to only like 2 HD streams at once MAX. HD just uses way too much bandwidth. To me, if its 6Mbps or lower, you are out of your mind if you think you are going to get a good picture. You really need 8Mbps or more PER CHANNEL to have a nice, clear, blocking free picture.....even at 8 you are pushing the blocking free. :) There is just too much compressing going on I guess. I just know that I was very unhappy with the quality of the picture I was seeing and I am probably about as picky as your son when it comes to HD. DirecTV is even not very good to me at times because I can see the macroblocking on it. And if you have a 60" TV, you are going to notice it too. :)

This is all where satellites have it made....well, except for Dish, and we all know they try really hard with the limited equipment they have since that one bird didn't get all the way up into orbit. The satellites are equipped with good stuff in the first place to be able to provide enough bandwidth per channel and not have to worry about running all over the countryside upgrading copper or fiber or fixing up older equipment boxes. They are just able to push out a lot of data per channel that IPTV just won't be able to come close to for a while until quite a bit more upgrading can be done.

I am just trying to help maybe explain stuff from when I was reading, hearing about, and experiencing the IPTV from AT&T. The broadband in this area through copper just, to me, doesn't seem to be where the people deploying it thinks it is because I couldn't get this or this wasn't looking very good compared to that, and just junk like that. I know Arkwest could be doing a lot different and have things a lot better. If so, great! I hope they really do have a good setup. I can't wait to hear your thoughts on what they have.

All my opinions is just that with HD and my being picky about HD, IPTV just wasn't up to snuff when I had it. Plus, the fact that AT&T was missing some of my stuff and couldn't even promise me I could get FS Midwest, well, that made me not like them that much more. :) It was all about what channels I wanted to get and the aggravation of not knowing if I could get them from AT&T because no one up there knew what was what.



EDIT: WOW! That was a lot of smiley's, huh? hehe

Steveken, I appreciate all the input, its really helpful.:) I was hoping you would go into some detail about your experience with U-verse so I could keep my eyes open for some of the problems you experienced with your setup. Unfortunately, we went to Arkwest and they still did not have the HD box hooked up. The lady apologized because she thought they hooked it up yesterday afternoon. We will have to go back another day and check it out I guess. I'm gonna call one of my friends tonight who lives about a mile from me, he installs the IPTV for them and will probably have it at his house. Maybe I can go over their and check it out. Hes a straight shooter, so he'll tell me if there is something he doesnt like about it. Of course if I go over there, I'll let my own eyes be the judge. If the IPTV doesnt work out, I guess I'll need to start checking out what is available from Directv and Dish.

They had DirecTv and ATT side by side in the ATT showroom, and I dont know why they did that. They had the DirecTv on ESPN from the old 101 satellite transmitting mpeg2 :) Of course, I changed the channel to 206, the Mpeg4 version, and made their IPTV look horrible :) Like Steveken pointed out, lots of macro-blocking on moving objects, soft picture, especially around text. Look for things like blades of grass during close ups of a football game, moving water (waves), strands of hair sticking out from people on talking head shows. Text scrolls on the bottom of news shows.

Steveken: I recorded the 1920x1080i feed of the opening of NOVA, at 13mb/s, 12, 11, 10, 9, and 8. When playing back the recordings, anything lower than 10mb/s gets very blocky. Only the 13mb/s recording looks like the original, and even the ORIGINAL has some macro-blocking on one scene, and thats using half of an entire satellite transponder.

If they use Mpeg4 compression, and have fibre right up to the front yard, he will probably be able to get some good HD.
I really dont think anyone can beat DirecTv though reports from some Fios users say its the same, and the SD channels from any IPTV system should look better than DirecTv, since they are compressing the crap out of the SD channels.

and thats using half of an entire satellite transponder.

If they use Mpeg4 compression, and have fibre right up to the front yard, he will probably be able to get some good HD.
I really dont think anyone can beat DirecTv though reports from some Fios users say its the same, and the SD channels from any IPTV system should look better than DirecTv, since they are compressing the crap out of the SD channels.

I personally thought the SD channels on Arkwest IPTV looked much better than any SD content I'd seen before. The main problem was motion. Sports was intolerable in SD.

As for the Fiber Cable, I do know that they laid the fiber cable in my front yard. That paticular cable was huge, bout the same size as a 5 inch Drill stem. How it all works is beyond me. I dont know if I have fiber up to my box in the yard and then about a 100 foot of copper from there to the house, or a copper cable run from the junction box a half a mile away.

just talked with a guy from Arkwest about the HD. He said he had seen it and it was a whole lot clearer than what they had before. He said to give the required bandwidth with HD, they run two more pair wires from the terminal to the house. They are dedicated to the HD. Thats all I know at this point.

I personally thought the SD channels on Arkwest IPTV looked much better than any SD content I'd seen before. The main problem was motion. Sports was intolerable in SD.

As for the Fiber Cable, I do know that they laid the fiber cable in my front yard. That paticular cable was huge, bout the same size as a 5 inch Drill stem. How it all works is beyond me. I dont know if I have fiber up to my box in the yard and then about a 100 foot of copper from there to the house, or a copper cable run from the junction box a half a mile away.
If the cable you saw being laid was as big as you say it was, that was NOT fiber. Comcast came and ran the same exact thing to the splitter thing in front of my house. Its just a really fricken huge coax. :) I guess its that big so that it can handle a lot of traffic on it. Fiber isn't ever that big I don't think. That is unless they are running it to a crapload of people. Then, if it is fiber, it still has to have a distribution block of some sort I believe. They have to terminate the fiber into a powered hub kinda thing before it has a usable signal. Besides, you are out in BFE, I seriously doubt anyone would run fiber out there. That crap costs an arm and a leg. lol

Just in case I haven't mentioned something in particular that you might wanna know about the AT&T setup, just ask. I just might be able to answer it. LOL But like Dave said, you will notice the soft picture cause its pretty painful.

Dave, good to know about the different bandwidths for the opening of NOVA. Glad I wasn't just talking out of my ass again. LOL

If the cable you saw being laid was as big as you say it was, that was NOT fiber. Comcast came and ran the same exact thing to the splitter thing in front of my house. Its just a really fricken huge coax. :) I guess its that big so that it can handle a lot of traffic on it. Fiber isn't ever that big I don't think. That is unless they are running it to a crapload of people. Then, if it is fiber, it still has to have a distribution block of some sort I believe. They have to terminate the fiber into a powered hub kinda thing before it has a usable signal. Besides, you are out in BFE, I seriously doubt anyone would run fiber out there. That crap costs an arm and a leg. lol

After talking to an Arkwest service man, it appears that the huge cable I saw was actually a conduit to put the fiber inside of. I remember when they went thru my yard, one of the guys told me it was a complete change over from their old system to all fiber optics. They built little houses that look like well cinder block well houses every half mile or so. Bottom line is, I guess I dont know what the heck I have up here. I'm going to find some folks who have it hooked up and view it before I buy. I may just give it a rest for a few months and see what the feedback is as well. I was told at Arkwest today that they just started hooking folks up on the HD stuff a week or so ago. Currently they have done 13 HD installs in Danville. At this point, maybe it would be wise to just give it some time and get a little more educated on it first.

Talk em into running the fiber all the way into your house, and you will have FIOS :)

After talking to an Arkwest service man, it appears that the huge cable I saw was actually a conduit to put the fiber inside of. I remember when they went thru my yard, one of the guys told me it was a complete change over from their old system to all fiber optics. They built little houses that look like well cinder block well houses every half mile or so. Bottom line is, I guess I dont know what the heck I have up here. I'm going to find some folks who have it hooked up and view it before I buy. I may just give it a rest for a few months and see what the feedback is as well. I was told at Arkwest today that they just started hooking folks up on the HD stuff a week or so ago. Currently they have done 13 HD installs in Danville. At this point, maybe it would be wise to just give it some time and get a little more educated on it first.
Oh, yeah, I didn't think about it being a conduit. That would tend to make a little more sense. hahaha And you didn't mention the little houses before now, so I was just going by what I thought.....boy is that always a bad idea or what. LOL You probably do have fiber optics run through there. I had no idea how far fiber could go without needing to be amplified, but I thought it might have been a bit farther than half a mile or so. They might have only done that to ensure the signal when it gets branched off for the houses. I still think its kinda funny that Arkwest is willing to do that and yet the bigger companies with deeper pockets won't do it around here. Just shows who values their customers more, huh?

Yeah, I don't know if I would be willing to get HD IPTV installed if they have only done 13 people so far. I think I would like to let them get a little more wet behind the ear than that before I trust them to get it right. You ever get anything more from DirecTV? Are you still getting bent over the barrel by them?

Talk em into running the fiber all the way into your house, and you will have FIOS :)
LOL, wouldn't THAT be nice!!!

Oh, yeah, I didn't think about it being a conduit. That would tend to make a little more sense. hahaha And you didn't mention the little houses before now, so I was just going by what I thought.....boy is that always a bad idea or what. LOL You probably do have fiber optics run through there. I had no idea how far fiber could go without needing to be amplified, but I thought it might have been a bit farther than half a mile or so. They might have only done that to ensure the signal when it gets branched off for the houses. I still think its kinda funny that Arkwest is willing to do that and yet the bigger companies with deeper pockets won't do it around here. Just shows who values their customers more, huh?

Yeah, I don't know if I would be willing to get HD IPTV installed if they have only done 13 people so far. I think I would like to let them get a little more wet behind the ear than that before I trust them to get it right. You ever get anything more from DirecTV? Are you still getting bent over the barrel by them?

I should have clarified in some of my earlier post. These houses were what I was referring to as the junction boxes. Arkwest is kind of an odd company. They are very good about looking down the road and trying to arm themselves for the future. Most large companies dont care about the customers as long as they get their money. These guys are our next door neighbors and these are all small towns. I live in a place where you still get told about it if you aint doing something right. You'd be hard pressed to find a large company that has the character and Integrity of Arkwest.

Arkwest is kind of an odd company. They are very good about looking down the road and trying to arm themselves for the future. Most large companies dont care about the customers as long as they get their money. These guys are our next door neighbors and these are all small towns. I live in a place where you still get told about it if you aint doing something right. You'd be hard pressed to find a large company that has the character and Integrity of Arkwest.

I wish those guys would take over Charter here in Benton (and AFAIK in Maumelle.) Here we are, a couple of large Little Rock suburbs, and we don't have ANY DVR's or HD channels available. I get around it by using a TivoHD and Sony HD-DVR, and using OTA for the locals. They have added Internet in the last couple of years, but these folks are seriously stuck in the past.

I wish those guys would take over Charter here in Benton (and AFAIK in Maumelle.) Here we are, a couple of large Little Rock suburbs, and we don't have ANY DVR's or HD channels available. I get around it by using a TivoHD and Sony HD-DVR, and using OTA for the locals. They have added Internet in the last couple of years, but these folks are seriously stuck in the past.

I can understand no Cableco DVR or Cableco HD channels in Star City, but Benton and Maumelle--WTF???

Last week, I did a rescan on my parent's QAM-equipped SDTV Tube set, and discovered that KASN and KLRT were finally added to the clear QAM digital channels in Pine Bluff. WEHCO also threw a bone of some music channels in the clear (in the 74.00 range). All of AETN's digital channels (including the radio reading), as well as KATV's RTN and Accuweather and KTHV's THV2 were included. Their tv is one of those horrible sets that require one to "switch modes" from analog cable to DTV/QAM so they seldom view the digital channels. They've even talked about getting another TV in the future--that is HD. With their luck, WEHCO would probably encrypt all the digital locals though.

I wish those guys would take over Charter here in Benton (and AFAIK in Maumelle.) Here we are, a couple of large Little Rock suburbs, and we don't have ANY DVR's or HD channels available. I get around it by using a TivoHD and Sony HD-DVR, and using OTA for the locals. They have added Internet in the last couple of years, but these folks are seriously stuck in the past.

I've heard that complaint from several folks who live close to a metro area but no directly in it. Most companies are hell bent on serving a certain population base so they can line their pockets....they're moto is "screw your satisfaction" We are indeed lucky to have Arkwest. RockyF, I wish you and all the small town folk like myself could have a good company like Arkwest Serving you. Unfortunately, companies who care about customers hardly exist these days. I'm just fortunate enough to live within a coverage area where one does still exist.

Went ahead and signed up for Arkwest HD today. They hooked up their HD-DVR at their office. We went down and checked it out. They are showing it on a 47" Hitatchi HDTV. All the HD channels looked great. No boxing pixeling or nothing. Watched two bowl games. The Sun Bowl on Channel 11 KTHV, Oklahoma vs Standford....it was crystal clear. Watched ESPNHD, Texas Bowl, Missouri vs Stanford....extremely clear. Got back home and started watching ESPNHD and I wont hesitate in saying that Arkwest was definitely clearer and sharper than Directv's ESPNHD. I'd say KTHV is about the same on both systems. We will see if they can deliver that quality to my house. I'm hoping it works out. From what I saw today, Arkwest overall HD quality seems to be even better than what I have with Directv. They also had the HD box hooked up via component at the office. They said that if you have an HDMI cable, it looks even clearer. Now I've been around cables and I havent seen much difference in what a component can delvier vs HDMI. However, they said on their IPTV system, the HDMI delivers a clearer PQ than the component hookup they did at the office. We shall see. I was willing to take out their service even if the HD wasnt quite as clear as long as all the pixeling was gone. As it turns out, I may get the best of both worlds. PQ seemed sharper, not soft at all and absolutely no blocking. I watched both the games I mentioned above for about 10 minutes. Then I went to ESPN2HD and watched a basketball game....up and down the court they went and clear as a bell.....then I went to ESPNUHD which was running some type of football competition...once again clear as a bell......I must admit I was very shocked to see such an Awesome PQ with no artifacts at all.

Well, if they really are as good as you say, then go for it! I hope it does work out for you. I find it funny that their ESPN is clearer than DirecTV's, but I guess its possible. I still see crap on DirecTV's HD streams all the time. Oh well, maybe DirecTV will be able to clear theirs up too now that D12 is up there. We will finally get Travel HD, ESPNU HD, and a few other HD channels too in a few months when its settled in its slot.

I found using my Aquos to do the upconverting from 1080i to 1080p (My sets native res) looks better than letting it upconvert the Directv box's 720p output, so I put everything out the Diretv box as 1080i and the TV deinterlaces it only. Makes ESPN look much better for me. Depends how good your TVs scaler is. Apparently Sharps 720p to 1080p isnt as good as the broadcom chip in the Directv unit.

After I got back home, I actually saw a bit of pixel thru Directv on both bowl games I watched at Arkwest. Only time will tell if I'll be happy with Arkwest and if they can actually delvier to me what I saw in their office. heres keeping my fingers crossed as it would be cheaper and a lot more convienent only having one bill. Appreciate all you guys help. I'll keep you all informed and as soon as I get the Arkwest hooked up, I'll let you all know what I think about it here at the house.:)

Dont know if you guys read it or not, but arkwest told me they would run two more two pair wires from my box to the house to be strictly dedicated to HD Video. Internet and phone will run on what already exist to the house.

That explains why you get multiple dvrs vs ATTs single DVR...they are gonna double the available bandwidth to the house that way...Very smart. Will also double the recording space. Sounds like they really want to make this work.

That explains why you get multiple dvrs vs ATTs single DVR...they are gonna double the available bandwidth to the house that way...Very smart. Will also double the recording space. Sounds like they really want to make this work.

I'm on the verge of being happy:D but I dont want to count my chickens before they hatch:) I wish I could explain some of the info the Arkwest folks have given me in better in technical terms than I have. You guys probably know all the tech talk that I dont and If I could use the rigth words, you could come to your conclusions alot easier. I apologize for not being able to use the right terms which would make your understanding of the IPTV system up here much easier. Either way, from what I've seen PQ wise, and what you guys have explained to me about this stuff, its sounding more and more like Arkwest may being actually doing this IPTV thing the right way.:) Appreciate all you here in the LR thread trying to help me figure all of this out. Its greatly appreciated.

I don't understand why some of these channels show HD stuff stretched out to look like SD content. For instance, TBS HD is showing the last episode of "My Name is Earl" right now and doing it 4x3 stretched to 16x9. You would think that they would be better than that. I mean, this show was DEFINITELY 16x9 cause I was watching it when it was on. Why in the hell would they wanna go and pull an AETN on people???

I don't understand why some of these channels show HD stuff stretched out to look like SD content. For instance, TBS HD is showing the last episode of "My Name is Earl" right now and doing it 4x3 stretched to 16x9. You would think that they would be better than that. I mean, this show was DEFINITELY 16x9 cause I was watching it when it was on. Why in the hell would they wanna go and pull an AETN on people???

I guess they actually dumb enough to believe they are tricking people with the stretched shows. But everyone who see's it knows its dont look right. I think some of that has to do with the original format when filming the shows and then the broadcast companies try to make it fit the screen. I prefer 4x3 shows to be shown in that format with black bars on the sides. I'd rather watch 4x3 in its natural format than have them making the choice to stretch it for me.

In this case, like I said, I know for a fact that the episode of "My Name is Earl" was shot in 16x9. There are quite a few shows that TBS plays that are 16x9 shows. Hell, they do it to movies that you know for a fact that there are widescreen versions of. The only shows that aren't shot like that are like "Friends" and "Seinfeld" and old stuff like that. I wrote to them once about it, but don't remember what they said. It had something to do with the standard blowing me off bit. I just think that if the sh*t is shot 16x9, show the da*n thing 16x9! :) I guess that's the very reason I don't watch TBS very much, huh? :)

Its easy Steve... They do that so they only have to pay the rights for the SD version of the show. Probably cheaper than the HD version. Anything Turner is screwed up, always has been.

checking resolution settings on my Directv h20-100, I noticed that I now have a 1080p option in the resolution selection screen. I do have my reciever hooked up HDMI to the TV, However, when I select 1080p I get this message from my TV in box in the left hand bottom corner.

Unsupported Signal
Check your device Output

Then this message pops up from the directv reciever

Your TV doesn't support Directv's
1080p broadcast but you can view
this in another HD resolution.

Now, Blu Ray and HD-DVD work fine on my Sony SXRD HDTV which is full 1080p. So whats up? What is the conflict between my reciever and HDTV? Noticed Star Trek was being offered in 1080p on PPV.

Is the HDMI versions causing a conflict? such as 1.1, 1.2 , 1.3

Love the popping during the music and singing on "Live from Lincoln Center" tonight on AETN. Thought it might have been because of the clearQAM when I was watching it through the TV's tuner, but then it was there on DirecTV as well. Haven't tried OTA yet. All I know is it detracts from the music when you hear popping.

checking resolution settings on my Directv h20-100, I noticed that I now have a 1080p option in the resolution selection screen. I do have my reciever hooked up HDMI to the TV, However, when I select 1080p I get this message from my TV in box in the left hand bottom corner.

Unsupported Signal
Check your device Output

Then this message pops up from the directv reciever

Your TV doesn't support Directv's
1080p broadcast but you can view
this in another HD resolution.

Now, Blu Ray and HD-DVD work fine on my Sony SXRD HDTV which is full 1080p. So whats up? What is the conflict between my reciever and HDTV? Noticed Star Trek was being offered in 1080p on PPV.

Is the HDMI versions causing a conflict? such as 1.1, 1.2 , 1.3

You have the same problem my Sharp Aquos has. It supports 1080p/60 frames per second, however, the DirecTv broadcasts are 1080p/24 frames per second (same as movies). Your TV needs to support a multiple of 24 for a scan rate. 24*3 = 72 (over 60), however, if your TV supported 120hz (24*5) it would work. Another screw you for being an early adopter. FWIW, you cant tell the difference between a 1080p/24 and a 1080i/60 with 3:2 pulldown, at least *I* cant.

Love the popping during the music and singing on "Live from Lincoln Center" tonight on AETN. Thought it might have been because of the clearQAM when I was watching it through the TV's tuner, but then it was there on DirecTV as well. Haven't tried OTA yet. All I know is it detracts from the music when you hear popping.

Stealing from Trip's tag: I hope AETNs New Year's resolution is 1920x1080...

You have the same problem my Sharp Aquos has. It supports 1080p/60 frames per second, however, the DirecTv broadcasts are 1080p/24 frames per second (same as movies). Your TV needs to support a multiple of 24 for a scan rate. 24*3 = 72 (over 60), however, if your TV supported 120hz (24*5) it would work. Another screw you for being an early adopter. FWIW, you cant tell the difference between a 1080p/24 and a 1080i/60 with 3:2 pulldown, at least *I* cant.

thanks for the info. Your right, my tv is 1080p/60. My mom and dads LG flat HDTV I got them last year is 1080p/120. I noticed some of the newest HDTV's with LED's are sporting 240hz

Stealing from Trip's tag: I hope AETNs New Year's resolution is 1920x1080...

Hah, I was wondering if anyone would notice that... :D

- Trip

Hah, I was wondering if anyone would notice that... :D

- Trip

Yea, when I read that I actually busted out laughing. Good one.

Good morning 2010....

A check of AETN (KETS) shows that its in T N T H D/stretchovision mode with some instructional fare at 5:53am. Decided to check after reading the posts from last night. Slept through the tape-delayed NYE shows last night.

Good morning 2010....

Slept through the tape-delayed NYE shows last night.

I watch CNN Live with Griffin and Anderson Cooper. They are live in Times Square, And also in Key West (drag queen in slipper lowered from second floor hotel balcony with drag queen Cher singing), and Las Vegas strip. Forgot Central time zone tho, guess no one in Central does anything bizarre.

Just saw an ad that Fox16 will be expanding their 9pm newscast to 10pm also. That should really cause some concern for the other big 3.

Just saw an ad that Fox16 will be expanding their 9pm newscast to 10pm also. That should really cause some concern for the other big 3.
Yeah, that is if crappy newscasts around here made anyone worry about anything. LOL None of them are really worth anything, so having yet another one won't do any harm.

No, but Fox16's moving to 10pm will be a real cut into the ratings for either KTHV or KARK...I figure all the people that watch KATV will probably stay there. Be interesting to see the numbers after the first quarter. If Fox were to make it HD, or even widescreen, it would be a slam dunk.

According to Trip's site, Sezmi is broadcasting in LR, LA & Seattle.
Is Sezmi available in LR yet?

http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=sezmi

Can't answer the availability question, but there are extra "unknown" PIDs associated with the 3 stations listed at Trip's site that could potentially be used for video.

According to TSReader:

Channel 44 -> 3 ~ 1.5 Mbps of "unknown usage" + enough Null packets for maybe 2 more. Potential for 5 channels

Channel 36 -> 4 ~ 1.5 Mbps of "unknown usage" + enough Null packets for maybe 3 more. Potential for 7 channels

Channel 39 -> 3 ~ 1.5 Mbps of "unknown usage" + enough Null packets for maybe 1 more. Potential for 4 channels.

So there could be the potential for up to 16 channels on those 3 stations, with only 10 currently being broadcast.

This is interesting.

I wonder if Sezmi uses h.264 so as to get the most out of the limited bandwidth?

Edit: I say ~1.5 Mbps. They range anywhere from 1.1 to 1.7 Mbps. Also, found the answer to the h.264 question (yes) here:

http://www.nab.org/xert/scitech/pdfs/tv121409.pdf

dmatch

The official site is very lacking in real information. Go I gather this will take HD bandwidth from the stations to provide an OTA "cable system" of limited channels for its subscribers but will also need a HSI broadband connection as well to download content?

If they provide ESPNHD ESPN2HD SPEEDHD in real time, I might be interested :)

Yep, that's the way I read it too. It does appear that a local Sezmi would explain the existence of those "unknown" PIDs that are associated with only 3 local stations (KARZ/KASN/KKAP). None of the other local channels have those "unknown" PIDs in their transmission streams.

Edit: No ESPN for you. That would run the cost up quite a bit, so I could see why they would avoid it and Disney.

dmatch

NO SALE then... and when viewers start complaining to the Congress about crappy HD quality on the regular channel because the stations are stripping their bandwidth for subscription services, the whole network/affiliate mess might come to a head and they might actually let the networks go to nationwide "cable Channel" distribution, and that will finally be the end of the 1957 OTA free TV model. Bring it.

I know you like good quality HD content. I doubt that there are very many people who value it as much as AVS forum members do though. I am somewhere in the middle. If a video is widescreen without blocking or other noticeable artifacts on my 32" LCD I am okay with a softer "lower" resolution. As a matter of fact I inflict lower resolution on many videos that I store and share with others on our little wireless network here in the boonies. Of course, I am using h.264 re-encoding to lessen the impact of the compression to the 1-2 Mbps range.

If ATSC had allowed for h.264 encoding there could have been effectively twice the available bandwidth for use with things like this Sezmi system and there would be even less chance of complaining to the FCC about picture quality, but that water has already gone under the bridge.

dmatch

ATSC actually has an h.264 spec, but it was developed and approved by the ATSC committee far to late to make it into the government mandated switchover. There is nothing, however, from stopping one or more of the local stations from switching to the h.264 encoding, other than the fact there are no receivers (except my Pansat ;), that are capable of decoding them.

And yes, you are correct, the PQ on my 37" Polaroid looks much sharper on some channels than the PQ on my 46" Aquos, especially on 720p channels. If they do start softening the PQ, I might actually have to downsize the screen to compensate, because I cannot STAND a soft looking PQ. Fox football games look like crap compared to CBS and NBC, to me anyway.

I know what you mean about the soft PQ. Actually, when I downres and use h.264 I also apply a sharpening filter that helps mimic a higher resolution. Over-applying the sharpener though can cause it's own artifacts.

BTW, here is a list of what "cable" channels were to be offered in the LA Pilot for Sezmi:

From http://www.multichannel.com/article/389094-Sezmi_Tells_L_A_Story.php

TBS, TNT, USA Network, Bravo, CNN, Headline News, Discovery Channel, Comedy Central, Planet Green, MSNBC, VH1, Cartoon Network, Oxygen, CNBC, MTV, Nickelodeon, TLC, Science Channel, Syfy, Animal Planet, truTV, Boomerang and TCM.


Edit: There are actually 4 channels in there that I would/used to watch.

dmatch

$24.95 per month? Thats a whopping $5 a month less than DirecTv's Family. It might be ok for those households with kiddies and who work their butt off and dont watch much TV, but for that price, Ill stick with DirecTv. There are 3 channels in that list that I actually watch, and NONE of the sports channels. I believe Comcast has a basic tier cheaper than $25 a month. What a non-starter. As for VOD, use a lot of that and Comcast will probably throttle your connection to dial up speed or raise your rates. Ill pass on this one, and for future reference, Ill be passing on 3D flat screens as well.

DirecTv Family is very slim pickings. There are exactly 0 channels in that lineup that I would watch, so something like this has me *slightly* interested. However, I'm so cheap I'll probably stick with my $0 per month package (equipment not included) as long as it lasts.:)

dmatch

What that article didnt say, was how many of those listed channels will be in HD...
It sounds like a "lifeline" lineup for the poor, unserved, satellite blocked, apt dweller. Might make a go, if there are enough of those around (should be plenty in rural arkansas) who can pick up a good OTA signal from the players involved.

Speaking of DirecTV, just got the yearly email telling how much they are going to be screwing me over come February 9. Go here to see it:

http://www.directv.com/email/30896-0_PriceIncrease_2010_Final.pdf?CMP=EMC-MQ-CS&ATT=120-FV-V1-100103final&m=

Speaking of DirecTV, just got the yearly email telling how much they are going to be screwing me over come February 9. Go here to see it:

http://www.directv.com/email/30896-0_PriceIncrease_2010_Final.pdf?CMP=EMC-MQ-CS&ATT=120-FV-V1-100103final&m=


How do you consider that getting screwed? They are going to add capacity for 80 more HD channels. Besides the cost to build and launch the satellite, Im sure the cost to carry the extra channels wont be cheap. Seems a pretty fair price hike. Comcast raised my bosses home rates $7 a month, and they arent added squat.

How do you consider that getting screwed? They are going to add capacity for 80 more HD channels. Besides the cost to build and launch the satellite, Im sure the cost to carry the extra channels wont be cheap. Seems a pretty fair price hike. Comcast raised my bosses home rates $7 a month, and they arent added squat.
Screwed in the respect that the price goes up every single year. Even when things aren't added. Look, don't get all nit picky or literal over words with me. LOL :) All I know is that every single year, without fail, it goes up. Before you know it, you will be paying over $100 for a mid-range package and won't be watching half of it. Like, I get the Plus HD DVR package right now for I think its $72.99 and they are raising it up to $79.99. That's a big jump, but if they add channels I wanna see with D12, then it might be okay. Or if they are going to get rid of that HD Plus thing for $10 a month, that might be okay too.

And they are jacking up the DVR prices to $7 a month for what exactly???? Are they going to send me a newer DVR that does cool crap that I want? No. Are they going to send me a newer DVR with a bigger hard drive in it that I really really need? No. Are they going to send me a newer receiver that has a network jack on it so I can take advantage of MRV? No. So, why are they jacking up the DVR service fee to $7/month? That one doesn't make any sense to me.

I can't wait till they get to the point they can just charge us for the things we want to pay for and not huge ass packages. I would love to reap the benefits of being able to get rid of crap channels like all the shopping, church, and "women's" channels. You know, the stuff I don't wanna watch. :) I just wanna be able to pay for the like 10 channels I do watch. I figure I would wanna pay maybe $5 per channel. That would be worth it to me I think. I just am not a fan of paying for channels I don't watch at all. Maybe if they did that, these other channels that are not popular at all would just go away freeing up bandwidth for even cooler stuff. :)

Anyway, I just am not too crazy about how much the packages and services are going up is all. I figure they have enough customers out there, it couldn't possibly hurt to keep rates where they are. Especially if they don't wanna lose customers because they can't afford to keep their service if the rates go up. I guess thats what customer retention is for, huh? :)

Might make a go, if there are enough of those around (should be plenty in rural arkansas) who can pick up a good OTA signal from the players involved.The flaw in LR is the channels they are on. They aren't all located on the same hill.

Which brings up another "oh no" kinda thing. Since I moved and they bumped me up to the premier package, I wonder if I will be able to get my Plus HD DVR back since its a discontinued plan. I hope so. I don't wanna have to pick out a new package all over again.

Edit: Just noticed on my package listing since I am on premier it lists DVR service. It shows DVR as $6/month. I guess I didn't realize it went up from $5/month. Oh, and evidently I got HD Access (a ******** charge at this point to me) and HD Plus backwards on pricing. HD Plus is only $4.99/month.

What that article didnt say, was how many of those listed channels will be in HD...
It sounds like a "lifeline" lineup for the poor, unserved, satellite blocked, apt dweller. Might make a go, if there are enough of those around (should be plenty in rural arkansas) who can pick up a good OTA signal from the players involved.

The weak link is the use of KKAP, and KASN with that OTA-Pay service. KKAP although stronger in the digital era is still the weakest "full power station" in the market (36-1 during channel surfing is a hit and miss as decoding go downstate). KASN's coverage is less going Northwest and North.

IMHO, Semeo is will be a repeat of US Digital.

Thats Ok Steve. Im guessing the DVR programmers wanted a pay raise. Call Dish if you want to see how getting screwed is... Extra for eSata, pay for each DVR, oh, and they are raising their prices too. Comcast? Nope, they just raised their prices. Would cost me $40 more a month for 1/2 the channels with them....Least they dont charge up front for DVRs, they just charge a huge fee each month for their crappy huge no hard drive space box. BTW, my company just raised our price too, so get ready to pay more for coffee at Starbucks, tea at McDonalds and Taco Bell, or Espresso at the book store :)

No, but Fox16's moving to 10pm will be a real cut into the ratings for either KTHV or KARK...I figure all the people that watch KATV will probably stay there. Be interesting to see the numbers after the first quarter. If Fox were to make it HD, or even widescreen, it would be a slam dunk.

I'm all for another choice at 10pm, given the stagnation in this market. I think that KTHV will have some losses. The hard core KATV loyalists will always stick around their camp, but may lose some of their younger 10pm news viewers. KARK will probally remain third or even drop down, its not helping that Leno has the lead-in.

But in all honesty, I would rather have a local 7-9am newscast than another one @ 10pm-- KLRT could have a larger impact doing mornings long-term. There is no local news in this market after 7am for late commuters (the 9am show on KTHV is aimed more at retirees it seems), and not everyone wants to see the latest "missing white girl" stories or celebrity gossip, or tie ins/recaps of previous night's reality shows especially on GMA, Today, or The Early Show.

According to Trip's site, Sezmi is broadcasting in LR, LA & Seattle.
Is Sezmi available in LR yet?

http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=sezmi

It's not available yet to potential subscribers, but they're running the feeds OTA to test in Little Rock.

Can't answer the availability question, but there are extra "unknown" PIDs associated with the 3 stations listed at Trip's site that could potentially be used for video.

According to TSReader:

Channel 44 -> 3 ~ 1.5 Mbps of "unknown usage" + enough Null packets for maybe 2 more. Potential for 5 channels

Channel 36 -> 4 ~ 1.5 Mbps of "unknown usage" + enough Null packets for maybe 3 more. Potential for 7 channels

Channel 39 -> 3 ~ 1.5 Mbps of "unknown usage" + enough Null packets for maybe 1 more. Potential for 4 channels.

So there could be the potential for up to 16 channels on those 3 stations, with only 10 currently being broadcast.

This is interesting.

I wonder if Sezmi uses h.264 so as to get the most out of the limited bandwidth?

Edit: I say ~1.5 Mbps. They range anywhere from 1.1 to 1.7 Mbps. Also, found the answer to the h.264 question (yes) here:

http://www.nab.org/xert/scitech/pdfs/tv121409.pdf

dmatch

Yep, those are the feeds. They're both hidden and encrypted, I'm told.

The flaw in LR is the channels they are on. They aren't all located on the same hill.

The weak link is the use of KKAP, and KASN with that OTA-Pay service. KKAP although stronger in the digital era is still the weakest "full power station" in the market (36-1 during channel surfing is a hit and miss as decoding go downstate). KASN's coverage is less going Northwest and North.

I'm pretty sure they chose those signals to test with on purpose, to try a worst case scenario sort of thing.

Also, they're planning on using a Smart antenna that adjusts itself for best reception of each channel. So towers not being co-located would not be a huge problem for those using indoor reception.

IMHO, Semeo is will be a repeat of US Digital.

That remains to be seen, but it will be pulling video over the Internet in addition to OTA, so it's not completely dependent upon it.

- Trip

But in all honesty, I would rather have a local 7-9am newscast than another one @ 10pm-- KLRT could have a larger impact doing mornings long-term.

Yea, probably, but I am so used to waking up and hitting play on the DVR, watching the 6am newscast at 7 when I get up, and fast forwarding through all the BS for the weather, then heading off to work. It would kill me having to actually sit through all that crap for the new and weather.

Since I rip on screw ups, I guess I should give Kudos where kudos are due...

Way to go Comcast. I returned from work today to find a flier in my mailbox from Comcast. It said they had doubled my high speed internet speeds with no increase in price. All I had to do was reboot the modem. So I figure this is just some scam to get me to sub to one of their higher speed packages, but nope. After I rebooted the modem, my speed was doubled. Instead of 6Mbps/1Mbps, my speed test now shows 15Mbps/2.5Mbps on the speedboost test, and sustained download speed of 12Mbps/2 Mbps for large files. I am impressed. Guess they want us to reach our caps quicker :)

Since I rip on screw ups, I guess I should give Kudos where kudos are due...

Way to go Comcast. I returned from work today to find a flier in my mailbox from Comcast. It said they had doubled my high speed internet speeds with no increase in price. All I had to do was reboot the modem. So I figure this is just some scam to get me to sub to one of their higher speed packages, but nope. After I rebooted the modem, my speed was doubled. Instead of 6Mbps/1Mbps, my speed test now shows 15Mbps/2.5Mbps on the speedboost test, and sustained download speed of 12Mbps/2 Mbps for large files. I am impressed. Guess they want us to reach our caps quicker :)
Did I not mention that on here like a week or so ago? I thought I might have. Maybe it was just talking to my Dad. Anyway, yeah, they upped it.

But even better news is if you get a new Docsis 3.0 compliant modem like the SB6120, you will see speeds MUCH better than that during the powerboost phase. I get peak speeds of like 30Mbps during the powerboost portion, then sustained of 12. I know its 12 cause I watch my menu meter that I have and it stays stuck pretty well at 1.6MBps which, if you do the math, is 12Mbps. The higher speeds is a result of the channel bonding on the receive side that the 6120 is capable of doing. It is really great!


EDIT: Yeah, I did mention it on the 19th. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=17749614&highlight=#post17749614 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=17749614&highlight=#post17749614)
In any case, glad you are finally seeing the faster speeds. You will enjoy it. And, yeah, I think they are WANTING us to hit the caps now. :)[/URL]
[URL="http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=17749614&highlight=#post17749614"]
(http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=17749614&highlight=#post17749614)

Must have missed it. And I have a eMTA HSI/Digital Voice modem. Not sure what Docsis is. The modem itself says ARRIS, but I see no model designation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOCSIS

Mine is DOCSIS® 2.0 and PacketCable™ 1.1/1.5 compliant design. Tested all the way to the cap limit though, so guess it doesnt matter unless I had one of the "super" speed packages. I just have the standard one. Besides, after using 1.5M/128k ADSL, this is like T3 lines.

Mine is DOCSIS® 2.0 and PacketCable™ 1.1/1.5 compliant design. Tested all the way to the cap limit though, so guess it doesnt matter unless I had one of the "super" speed packages. I just have the standard one. Besides, after using 1.5M/128k ADSL, this is like T3 lines.
Well, I am just saying, if you get one that is 3.0 compliant, you will get bursts much higher than the 15Mbps you are seeing. It's worth it on the smaller files I download periodically.

EDIT: Curious, did you look at the .png file I had included in that other post I referenced? Those kinda speed test results are nice. :)

Hmm, just looked at my DirecTV account page and see this at the top:

Thank you for being a loyal DIRECTV customer!
It's because of viewers like you that we've become America's favorite satellite television provider. Stay tuned for future anniversary gifts - it's just our way of showing our appreciation.

What exactly does that mean? I have never seen that before.

On your subscription anniversary, they give you a free gift. I got 3 free months of GameLounge, others get 3 months of Showtime, Some have gotten a $10 credit for 3 months. Just depends what the computer picks for you.

Hmm, wish I remembered when my anniversary was. :) Wonder what they will give me.

And, you might not know, and I might have already asked, but I am wondering what is going to happen to my account when my 5 months of Premier is up. Since they don't offer the Plus HD DVR anymore, will it just go to the equivalent they have now which is the "Choice Xtra + HD DVR" I think? Well, I know it won't go automatically, but I have to call in and do it. I am just wondering if I will be able to get the same package I had. I haven't really compared the channel lineups (don't think I could if I wanted to), but I am just assuming they renamed the one I was on to that Choice Xtra bit. Anyway, just kinda started wondering about that.

Hmm, looks like it was 9/6/07 cause that is when I got the HR20-700. Dunno why I would get that notice now cause its past my anniversary date.

You will have to pick one of the current packages. Thats why they are giving away Premier cheap on moves, and HD upgrades, so people will take them up on it, and lose their grandfathered packages. I aint changing mine for ANY reason. I have Total Choice Plus, with Lifetime DVR. Im saving $10 a month over the comparable package+HD DVR.

Speedtest maxes out at 23down, 3 up using speedboost. But thats way higher than that 15/3 Im supposed to be getting.

Wait, I have been with them longer than 2 years now. At least I think I have. Is there any way you can check online when your anniversary date is? Oh well, I don't guess it matters in the grand scheme of things really. Just was wondering about all that. Wish they still gave me credit for being with them since around 99, but since I took that year with Comcast it screwed it up.

Off topic: rant: Ok, Google has their new Nexus "Droid" phone out, unlocked, for close to $600... Great, thats $400 cheaper than a Apple Iphone 3GS unlocked. But they catch? They "accidentally" left out the electronics to cover the frequency band AT&T uses for 3G, so the best it can do with an AT&T sim card is Edge (2G). WTF?

I have to use AT&T because thats what my employer requires. I have a broadband unlimited account. I have a old smartphone. I want to upgrade, but CANT, because AT&T requires the account holder to do the upgrade and renew with a new two year contract. They wont sell me one, because Im not the account holder. Google leaves AT&T 3G off their new phone. What the hell is wrong with these people? You pay the fricking bill, have the account, why do they give a rats butt what phone you use?

So instead of Google (or AT&T) getting $500 from me, they arent getting squat, because I cant upgrade my phone though them. The entire cell phone industry should be taken to court for price fixing. Even DirecTv allows you to buy a receiver or DVR without extending your contract, or lease through them for a substantial discount with the 2 yr extension. Why cant the cell companies do the same?
/rant

Off topic: rant: Ok, Google has their new Nexus "Droid" phone out, unlocked, for close to $600... Great, thats $400 cheaper than a Apple Iphone 3GS unlocked. But they catch? They "accidentally" left out the electronics to cover the frequency band AT&T uses for 3G, so the best it can do with an AT&T sim card is Edge (2G). WTF?

I wouldn't say accidentally. They chose to use the 3G bands that the rest of the world uses for GSM. But, yesterday at CES several Android based phones were announced for AT&T in Q1 of 2010. You can always pick up a phone on E-Bay that is built for AT&T and Rogers when they come out.

The US cellular industry has always done its own proprietary thing compared to the rest of the world. Same as DVB-T vs. ATSC etc.

The NAB commercial part of this is airing on serveral local channels in my area!

x6ig40qlNw8

This commercial in not just for the places mentioned!! This video is for the whole USA!!!!

Contract your local senators and congress and express how important OTA is to you!!!!

FCC contract is for all of the USA!

Personally, I would rather get my "big 4" directly from New York like every other channel I get. No weather maps or scrolls ruining the show, proper aspect ratios, dolby digital sound. OTA was a great idea in 1957. They are wasting an incredible amount of bandwidth right now. Let the Cell companies have the bandwidth, provided they offer enough free access for citizens to get their "news, weather, sports". All the local news is today is a 30 minute advert to "log in to our web site for more information" anyway.

I honestly don't think there is a chance in hell that OTA TV for free will ever go away. The people at the FCC and in Congress all know that there are enough old people left who use it as the only source of information, and that absolutely refuse to pay for TV (whether they have the ability to get it other than OTA or not), that they won't do anything to make it anything other than free. Plus, there are just too many people out there who can't afford to pay for TV, so they can't make it a subscription service either because of things like that "commercial" said where they need it for basic safety information mainly.

After all that crap that Congress and all the TV stations just went through with the whole switch to digital, the odds of them making it pay only just won't fly. There will be so much hate mail, drops in ratings of TV channels, and just plain noise raised if they make it anything other than free, no one in their right mind would be willing to do that and deal with all that crap! You know what I mean??

This all just sounds like a big giant scam by some organization that doesn't know what the hell they are talking about trying to go out and scare everyone. It just feels like one of those emails you would get that says "if you forward it to 2000 people, you will get $2M from Bill Gates" kinda things. I mean, doesn't it to you?

I just think that if something like this were to be done by any kind of lobbyist on behalf of any television corporation, there would have been some kind of study or focus group or something done to establish whether the marketplace would let something like that happen. I can't be the only one to think this.

They are just running scared cuz the FCC chairman is in bed with the cell companies, and they are wanting to buy more spectrum in the high UHF range. I say, sell it to em. I mean really. If they could run the entire country on analog and digital at the SAME TIME, they obviously could get rid of at least 40% of the TV bandwidth easily. Get rid of all the religious and satellite rebroadcasters tying up a channel for a 2 watt transmitter no one can get, and you could sell off 50% of it. Im not saying to get rid of OTA, Im just saying they dont need all the bandwidth they are tying up for it. Sell channel 2 thru 5 for long distance public safety, give channel 6 to the FM band for a digital only band, so IBOC wont interfere with the two channels next to it, and take 7 thru 13 and shove em where the sun dont shine, someone will buy them. Then move everyone higher than channel 40 down, and sell off 40-59 to the cell companies, with a provision they provide at LEAST a minimum of free public wireless internet access to compensate the citizenry for losing the "space".

I honestly don't think there is a chance in hell that OTA TV for free will ever go away. The people at the FCC and in Congress all know that there are enough old people left who use it as the only source of information, and that absolutely refuse to pay for TV (whether they have the ability to get it other than OTA or not), that they won't do anything to make it anything other than free. OTA probably won't go away completely, but it's certainly feasible that broadcast HD might disappear and become a subscription-only service. Remaining programming would be "basic TV" - low quality 480i, broadcast as multiple subs on a single channel. IOW, free TV would become the TV equivalent of analog AM radio.

Sadly, this would likely not bother many people who still use OTA for their only source of local and network TV. Most probably wouldn't even notice. The bulk of people who can spot the difference between SD & HD (and care about such things) are subscribed to some subscription service anyway. Of course, there's a small minority of OTA fanatics like us, but they're small in numbers. Most stations probably don't want to see their 6mhz taken away, but OTOH, most would prefer you pay someone to watch their programming. They could get more money from their ever-growing retrans agreements, because loss of OTA HD would give them that much more bargaining power at contract time.

There are a lot of people in the Ozarks who would probably be pissed if HD OTA disappeared. For many, OTA is their only source of Arkansas news/sports programming, due to the screwy DMA rules. They're not all old or poor, either. If broadcast HD goes away, the FCC would need to loosen up the significantly viewed policies. At the very least, let satellite and cable play by the same rules for "locals" carriage.

Well, I didn't mean it would disappear per se. I meant that I didn't think it would change from free to pay. I am not sure if they would switch to your "basic TV" model either. I would like to think the engineers at these stations would throw a hissy fit if their quality went down to multiple sub channels with poor quality. Oh yeah, most probably don't really care either, right? They are just there to do what they are told and make some money. Oh well. Anyway, you are probably right. If that happens, they will still hear about it from a lot of people.

And yeah, I forgot about NW AR. I forgot that Jed, Ellie Mae, and Jethro need OTA cause the way they are clumped in with the people from MO. :)

Dave, you are dreamin man. They won't chop it up like that. Wouldn't make any sense to people with knob TV's. :)

"Please Act Now To Keep Over The Air Free TV in are Future!!!!."

If the future of free TV depends own the person that wrote that then where out of luck and are chances our very slim of keeping it.

I can understand that a quick post in a forum might contain an error or two but .... Oh, well, maybe Jethro Bodine wrote it.

dmatch

Maybe I dont uderstand the economics of OTA, but would this not cost the networks billions of dollars of Tower and antenna investments to broadcast their signals? KATV just erected a new tower and antenna a year or two ago. I saw a chart once and if I remember correctly, there was still a huge amount of households in America that were strictly OTA dependent for television. I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but I do have common sense and this just sounds like greedy hands reaching in the OTA bandwidth cookie jar to me. Trading TV bandwidth and losing HD just to have more space for Cell phone service is not something I'd ever be interested in. Cell phones are one of the biggest scams going in America today. They have their uses, but just like drinking too much, everyone and their dog abuses them and boy do the cell phone companies love to charge you for everything under the sun. If they get free/STOLEN bandwidth from the OTA spectrum.....they'll charge all of us out the Ass for it! Screw the cell phone companies, they continually charge more and more for less and less. I'd much rather have my free OTA and HD! Call me selfish, but I have a lot of freaking money tied up in OTA equipment. If they steal the band width, I may show up on white house lawn with a bunch of used OTA equipment demanding a refund! Not to mention what all of this would do to OTA vendors....it would kill millions of dollars in sales each year......leave it up to our so called Government to do something that would actually make the economy worse....truth is, senators and reps are rich and dont live in the same harsh world the rest of us do, they live sheltered lives and suck the blood out of all of us who actually work for a living.

Actually the reason they want the bandwidth is to comply with the government request that they (wireless co's) provide wireless broadband to 100% of the country...

A bunch of channels could be eliminated. Most are redundant shopping, religious, indie or other special interest programming that 99% of us skip on the way to what we actually watch. Since sub-channels can now be created, there is really no reason for a tiny station to occupy a whole channel. Larger stations could have a stream of revenue leasing out sub-channels, and the small stations don't have the expense of a transmitter/tower facility & personnel. Most sub-channels are play-toys for the station - not much attention is paid to them overall. One obstacle would be networks unwilling to accomodate the "competition" at their stations.

Above scenario only applies if we are faced with the choice of either compromising, or free OTA gets yanked away. I'd prefer full channels (with no subchannels) & superior picture quality any day.

UHF Channels 52-69 were auctioned off when the switch to Digital occured! Whenever the buyer decides to use these low power analog has to get off them!

UHF Channels 70-83 were auctioned off back in the 1980's I believe!

So these channels are no longer used for Broadcast Television!

They can have VHF 2-13 because they screw up when trying to watch DTV!

But they can't have UHF 14-51! Broadcast Television belongs here forever!

But you can't operate more than one HD channel on a frequency because it degrades it!

But you can't operate more than one HD channel on a frequency because it degrades it!

If they hadnt been in such an all fire hurry, and used h.264 (which is now in the ATSC spec), they could have run two full HD streams on one channel.

If they hadnt been in such an all fire hurry, and used h.264 (which is now in the ATSC spec), they could have run two full HD streams on one channel.

That would have been cool!!!

Its always best not to hurry some things! Mistakes occur when ya do!!!

But you can't operate more than one HD channel on a frequency because it degrades it!

It can be and has been done with mixed results. Alexandria Louisiana's KALB runs both NBC and CBS in HDTV on its channel 35 DTV channel. NBC is on "5-1", and CBS on "5-2". And yes I have seen it in action in prime time during a tropo opening (NBC had Sunday Night Football, and CBS was running Cold Case at the time of logging back in December). However, the streams were run with a stat muxer which was able to balance and distribute the bandwidth variably when needed.

Two other examples....Sherman Texas' KXII runs two HD streams, and last year KWBF ....ahem...attempted it (bit-starved stretchovision on "42-1", and bit-starved KATV "HD" on 7-1 which was orignally "42-3") and a RTN SDTV feed to boot.

I for one would love to see a national ABC, CBS, FOX feed on Dish Network (and also DirecTV and the local cable cos) that is not subject to the local gatekeepers. That said, I would have no issue with local stations being able to program their schedules as pleased PROVIDED that the national feeds were available to all cable and satellite customers.

I also don't want to see local TV go away, and yes, its a quaint media to us with HD satellite/cable packages, high speed Internet, etc. In times of emergency (and I'm not talking about silly news) the local broadcast stations have replaced the local radio stations (which nearly all are voice tracked or bird fed save for morning and afternoon drive) as the go-to source for infomation especially in times of severe weather.

I do see down the road the wireless/celllphone industry getting more frequencies (money tends to talk in Washington) and if OTA had to pair down...this is what might happen ideally in Little Rock in a WORST CASE SCENARIO.

A collation of broadcasters decide that the two best frequencies in the Little Rock market (channels 22 and 30) are to be assigned to OTA service.

KATV would retain ownership of its ch 22 transmitter and lease to three other broadcasters. Because of the limitations of the original ATSC standard, the OTA service would become SDTV only (although there could be a widescreen SDTV service in 480i or 480p)

KATV 22 (7-1) ABC SDTV WS
KTHV (11-1) CBS SDTV WS
KETS (2-1) PBS SDTV 4x3
KARZ (4-1) MNTV SDTV 4x3

The other transmitter left, channel 30 (KLRT) would host the following

KLRT 30 (16-1) FOX SDTV WS
KARK (4-1 ) NBC SDTV WS
KVTN (25-1) Ind-reg SDTV 4x3
KASN (38-1) CW SDTV 4x3

This would cover everyone except KKYK-CA (a low power station) and KKAP which is a 24/7 satillator with a basic OTA service in a worst-case scenario. Of course this is assuming that The CW, MyNetwork TV, and NBC are still viable networks at that time. There could a folding of any of those three which would free up some space for another station's subchannel or another AETN feed.

That said, I would prefer that OTA would stay the same as it is, with the option of permitting national network feeds ala carte on cable/sat available to all subscribers.

That wouldnt be a bad deal either, Haley, as anyone who can afford HD can afford subscription tv. None of the local stations originate any HD programming.

If the FCC wanted it to happen, all they would need to do, is get rid of SHRIVA, and allow everyone on subscription tv to pay $5 a month more for the stations from New York and LA. When I had access to those, I always watched them, and only switched to locals for the news. News is SD, and could all be crammed onto 2 channels. There is a station in LA running 6 SD subchannels on one channel, so with statmuxing, I could see where this would be a great idea. Not to mention, with fewer channels, they could quadruple their power (cost share the electric bill), and get out WAY farther than they do now. I would imagine with FULL power, even channels 4 through 6 would be somewhat viable. Imagine a 100KW digital on channel 6. 2 and 3 are so prone to tropo, I doubt they would ever be viable unless the FCC kept a good 400-500 mile buffer between them.

Well I'll tell you what sucks. We all buy HDTVs which breathes life into the economy. Then our Tax dollars pay for converting everything to digital including the ability to broadcast HD.....then the Gov decides that after we've all spent hard earned money on an HDTV and paid our taxes.....that we can all jump off a cliff. We can shove that HDTV we bought where the sun dont shine and if we want HD access on our previously purchased HDTV, well even though we paid our taxes and paid for it once already, we can pay monthly for HD access the rest of our lives even though by law we the people own the technology.....cause we paid for it. Its all BS. IMO, local networks being able to broadcast prime time shows and sporting events in HD for free to the American citizen is in a way paying us back for our support and contributions (taxes) of making a successful analog to digital switch over.

Dave, the assumption that most folks who can afford HD can afford subscription tv was true 5 years ago, however I dont see it as true today. One can hardly buy anything but an HDTV these days so basically everyone will have the ability for it regardless of their wants or income. Just about all tv's sold today are HD capable. I know several folks right now who have recently bought HD capable tv's yet cannot afford a monthly charge to feed it. I believe that OTA as we know it today should always be available for those who cannot afford small dishes or cable to enjoy the same High Quality television entertainment on their HDTV's via antenna as someone who can afford to have directv, dishnetwork, some cable system, IPTV or whatever the case. Afterall, we all pay taxes and the analog to digital switch over was funded by each and every tax paying American. Most HDTV retailers have also pimped their product to the public based on the ability to offer FREE OVER THE AIR HIGH DEFINITION TV by simply plugging in your coax to the tv's ATSC tuner and scanning for locals. I'm sorry, but if OTA goes by the wayside, I'm going to want a refund check in the mail and I feel that most hard working Americans who pay their taxes would feel the same.

Its the affiliates who are causing the problem. The networks pay big money to produce HDTV shows, and the affiliates time shift it in SD, scroll weather maps over it, dont show it at all (Victoria Secret).... Its the networks that want to be able to do a "cable tv" distribution method, so they can recover, via subscription fees, all the money they are putting into producting the HD shows in the first place. Combine THEIR willingness to jump on the bandwagon, then the Govt realizes it can make MORE money by selling off spectrum, and that leaves the NAB crying foul with ads telling us free TV will go away if we dont act. Well, get the affiliates to SHOW THE FRICKING SHOWS without ANY crap over them, IN THE PROPER TIME SLOT, and maybe all this wont materialize at all. If the affiliates keep doing what they are doing now, I dont see them being around in current form 10 years from now. Just my take on it. Most people have the option to turn their antennas to view alternate sources of a program, in Little Rock, we dont. Im sick of seeing a winter storm watch for Bentonville covering up 1/3 of my program.

Its the affiliates who are causing the problem. The networks pay big money to produce HDTV shows, and the affiliates time shift it in SD, scroll weather maps over it, dont show it at all (Victoria Secret).... Its the networks that want to be able to do a "cable tv" distribution method, so they can recover, via subscription fees, all the money they are putting into producting the HD shows in the first place. Combine THEIR willingness to jump on the bandwagon, then the Govt realizes it can make MORE money by selling off spectrum, and that leaves the NAB crying foul with ads telling us free TV will go away if we dont act. Well, get the affiliates to SHOW THE FRICKING SHOWS without ANY crap over them, IN THE PROPER TIME SLOT, and maybe all this wont materialize at all. If the affiliates keep doing what they are doing now, I dont see them being around in current form 10 years from now. Just my take on it. Most people have the option to turn their antennas to view alternate sources of a program, in Little Rock, we dont. Im sick of seeing a winter storm watch for Bentonville covering up 1/3 of my program.

I understand your frustration with the weather maps. I dont understand the maps to begin with. THV has 11.1 and 11.2. On 11.1 they run an HD broadcast and run the all news/weather on 11.2. If you can get 11.1 you can get 11.2. For this reason alone, I cant understand why locals dont run all maps and warnings on the secondary channel and leave the primetime HD broadcast unblemished. Do you know why the locals do this? I always thought their secondary standard channels like 11.2 were meant to carry such maps and warnings:confused: You would think the locals would re-evaluate their traditional practices of map overlays since they have two channels to broadcast info from.

If you can get 11.1 you can get 11.2.

Unless you're watching 11.1 on satellite, or on analog cable without a digital cable package or receiver...

- Trip

Basically what Trip said. But those people can also get The Weather Channel :0 The biggest reason, is MONEY. Peter does it, so Paul has to do it better, so Mary has to top them all. Then they pat themselves on the back for weeks after a weather event in adverts...whatever floats their boat.

Im watching the Haiti earthquake coverage on CNN right now (saw some VERY upsetting pics of dead kids being stacked in the bed of a pickup truck on cnn.com/ireport, and watching the text xxxxx to yyyyy to help haiti scams already flying on twazzup.com. Really strange world we live in these days.

Its also interesting to note...CNN and other news outlets are getting their coverage from Haiti from FACEBOOK and TWITTER and SKYPE. Now, tell me the internet isnt going to not only be the source of news in the future, but is already looking like its the ONLY LIVE method for getting the news OUT.

Unless you're watching 11.1 on satellite, or on analog cable without a digital cable package or receiver...

- Trip

And on some cable systems (such as Pine Bluff's WEHCO that my parents sub to) the digital subchannels are not encrypted and available to anyone with a modern TV having a QAM tuner and regular "analog" cable.

The lack of carriage of 'THV2, RTN, etc on E*, D*, and rural cable systems is one reason that some local stations are reluctant to carry local football/basketball or "Razorback Specials" on the subchannels instead of preempting the main channel where network HDTV programming would air. The pay TV industry doesn't want to carry all the local subchannels because in some markets the TBN, Ion stations want to run 4-5 subchannels of offal that is of little interest of viewers and those broadcasters would insist on carriage of all those channels on cable and therefore limit channel space on the lower tier channels.

Unless you're watching 11.1 on satellite, or on analog cable without a digital cable package or receiver...

- Trip

I was just referring to OTA. Interesting, the IPTV Arkwest is going to install in a few more days does carry the sub channels of the arkansas locals. Whats nice is that I'm also going to get LR and FS locals via the IPTV. I hope the HD looks as sweet at my home as it did in their office.:D

Got to sit through a U-verse install at my boss' house today. When all way said and done, I was quite impressed with the HD picture quality, and MORE impressed with the SD picture quality, which was twice that of DirecTv SD. If Arkwest is even as good as ATT, you will like it.

Got to sit through a U-verse install at my boss' house today. When all way said and done, I was quite impressed with the HD picture quality, and MORE impressed with the SD picture quality, which was twice that of DirecTv SD. If Arkwest is even as good as ATT, you will like it.

Glad to hear it, thanks for that info Dave:) I was very impressed with what they had in their office. The first time I had them 2 years ago, the standard PQ was very impressive on most channels, only sports suffered with pixeling issues. I'm looking forward to the IPTV. Only downfall is that they have only one PPV channel and its not in HD:( They do offer VOD, but I dont know if you can get it in HD or not. Maybe it will depend on the movie since I will have an HD DVR

Regular cable bill plus HD upcharge is kinda like having a phone bill in the 70's & having to pay extra if you wanted Touch Tone (I think it was 2 or 3 bucks extra for a very long time.)

Yea, and a friend at the phone co said it cost them so much more to maintain the rotary dial decoders than tone decoders...so it was a blatant rip. No wonder the govt broke up ATT.

Anyone with a FTA KU dish...CNN has the first live satellite uplink from Haiti, on:
Horizons2
11789
vertical
3700
Widescreen Standard Def

Click the link below, read it and then you'll understand why I think so much of Arkwest Communications (formerly known as Yell County Telephone) and the people who work there and serve our small area. Good people.:) I had 3 of them in my front yard this morning laying in my new line for the HD TV, they all acted like it was a privledge to have the opportunity to serve us. Integrity is almost dead when it comes to companies these days, I'm going to applaud it and point it out when I see it, the fine folks at Arkwest are Golden. I live in a small area where most big companies give us bottom grade everything and crap on us. Our local cable co. Sudden link still offers the same crappy analog singals we've had since the 80's, they also informed me that they would never upgrade my area because it wasnt worth it to them. Arkwest could do that as well but they choose to give us cutting edge technology instead....I for one thank them for giving us the best of service because they simply want too.

http://www.arkwest.com/about/default.html

KATV has lost its picture on subchannel 2 (RTV). It now has audio only. Not much of a loss since the picture quality has been poor lately with horizontal streaks on it. Also, there was the bogus EPG data that has never been fixed.

Edit: Picture is back, but it still has horizontal streaks.

dmatch

KATV has lost its picture on subchannel 2 (RTV). It now has audio only. Not much of a loss since the picture quality has been poor lately with horizontal streaks on it. Also, there was the bogus EPG data that has never been fixed.

Edit: Picture is back, but it still has horizontal streaks.

dmatch

Just checked that out. Guide says Emergency is on right now but its actually Magnum P.I. It looks like something on an old reel projector that we watched films on in school back in the 70's. Also kind of reminds me of watching an old VHS tape where someone taped a tv show using a cam corder. RTV in the lower right hand corner has no color either. The R&V are white and the T is Black/Gray like an old black and white television

The RTV network changed its logos a few weeks back to what you are seeing now (black and white).

I was thinking the same thing about those streaks. They look like analog artifacts. They are not on the RTV/KATV feed so it must be getting messed up after downlink.

dmatch

Well I'll tell you what sucks. We all buy HDTVs which breathes life into the economy. Then our Tax dollars pay for converting everything to digital including the ability to broadcast HD.....then the Gov decides that after we've all spent hard earned money on an HDTV and paid our taxes.....that we can all jump off a cliff.

http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/articles/2009/12/the_end_of_high_definition_broadcasting.php

http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/articles/2009/12/the_end_of_high_definition_broadcasting.php

gonna be a lot of pissed off American tax payers if they take OTA away. I personally have no faith in our Government system any longer, I honestly believe we are no longer a country based on democracy, but instead a Socialist country. Everything that has happened since the Bailouts is socialism. The majority of the people in this country are just now starting to wake up and realize it. The Gov has purchased just about every major corp in America. Here is the real problem, they think they own everything they've purchased thru bailouts, but in fact its "We The People" who own all of it. The Gov is nothing more than our elected officials, "We The People" put them in their office....The Gov says they Bailed out all those businesses and that is the face reported by media to "We The People" but in reality....who bailed those companies out?.....Thats right "We The People" did! I think its time for "We The People"" of the United States of America to clean house in Washington and put honest people back into office instead of all the crooks that have completely corrupted the whole system and forsaken "We The People"

but instead a Socialist country.

OR...

Maybe it's fascism:

http://www.google.com/search?dq=fascism+definition&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=H2X&defl=en&q=define:fascism&ei=xcZQS7qkD4qk8Aau87yZCw&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title&ved=0CAoQkAE

Whatever it is it isn't exactly on topic, but then that happens sometimes.:)

dmatch

OR...

Maybe it's fascism:

http://www.google.com/search?dq=fascism+definition&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=H2X&defl=en&q=define:fascism&ei=xcZQS7qkD4qk8Aau87yZCw&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title&ved=0CAoQkAE

Whatever it is it isn't exactly on topic, but then that happens sometimes.:)

dmatch

All I know is......whatever it is, it aint what it used to be. Makes you really stop and think, do I really want to pay social security and honestly if I get no part of it down the road, why should I? IMO, the social security system was the birth of socialism in the USA. The SS system forces one to pay money against their wil....and it is the first universal I.D. System. Funny how an OTA discussion can turn into a discussion about the Gov, but thats what happens when they want to control everything we do.

BTW, I did email Genachowski and voice my displeasure with the FCC wanting to do away with OTA, probably wont do any good but I did it anyway.

Well, I would imagine the FCC will probably listen. They are a fairly small agency. Seriously though, and not trying to be a smart butt, but if 100,000,000 people want cheap, available, and 100% coverage broadband service for their blackberrys and Iphones and netbooks, vs 60,000 people who want free HDTV (numbers made up, I have no idea what the actual makeup 5 yrs from now will be), who should the FCC allocate the spectrum to?

I see the FCC just considering catering to the masses, while somewhat foresaking the minority. While it appears, since the players are all so well hated (Government, ATT, Verizon, Sprint, etc), and the apparent victims are hometown tv celebs and news anchors, how it could appear to be a government takeover, but I honestly believe there are LOTS of people who would use the broadband spectrum and very few who really NEED it for television.

ARXAW is a good example, he can pick up tv stations from three markets, duplicated and duplicated, but cannot log onto the internet with his computer without jumping through hoops (satellite or dial-up). Ill bet a $50 a month 4G network card would be really handy for him.

ARXAW is a good example, he can pick up tv stations from three markets, duplicated and duplicated, but cannot log onto the internet with his computer without jumping through hoops (satellite or dial-up). Ill bet a $50 a month 4G network card would be really handy for him.

See, there's 900 MHz unlicensed spectrum available for that, and now 700 MHz licensed spectrum as well. Do you seriously expect them to even build out that 700 MHz stuff for rural users like him and me even if they totally eliminated OTA TV?

The talk of killing OTA TV has nothing at all to do with rural broadband. Same as talk of white space had nothing to do with rural broadband.

- Trip

The talk of killing OTA TV has nothing at all to do with rural broadband. Same as talk of white space had nothing to do with rural broadband.

- Trip

Its urban bandwidth they are running out of.

Memphis and Jonesboro coming in this morning. Seems there is a new channel (23) in Memphis...Cant quite decode it.

Memphis and Jonesboro coming in this morning. Seems there is a new channel (23) in Memphis...Cant quite decode it.

WTWV was on channel 14 until the transition.

- Trip

Memphis and Jonesboro coming in this morning. Seems there is a new channel (23) in Memphis...Cant quite decode it.

WTWV on RF channel 23 is a religious broadcaster.

Just home for a quick lunch, noticed that KARZ has the "Big 12 network" syndicated CBB (TTech@KS in a SDTV squash match)...Razorbacks in HD via KATV/"SEC Network" and a slight lead w/14 minutes remaining.

I'm selfish, I'll admit it. going from analog to digital HD and then having it took away would be like someone saying......hey arkyman, look over there...then stabbing me in the back when I look. Does not Directv have their own satellites? What if the Gov stepped in tomorrow and said, thanks for the extra bandwidth direct...now get lost. I personally think in todays age, there should be a way around this for broadband, instead they'd rather take the quick fix and ruin free tv which has been a part of every americans lives at some point in time. Its nice to know that when you cant afford other services, you can invest one time into an antenna and get free channels and get them in HD quality. Satellites are much more unreliable than OTA and cable systems just flat out give you sucky service then break it off in ya when the bill comes in. Its nice to have options and that is what OTA offers many people. In the end, I know an old country boy like myself is the farthest away from the FCC's concerns. Like I said once before, if they ruin my ota, I'm going to box up all my anteanna equipment and ship it to the white house with a bill attached to it. I think every other American who has invested $$ into the economy base on OTA equipment should do the same. I've probably got $2-3K worth of stuff, I'm sure to our Gove that would be like flipping me peanut or something.:rolleyes:

WTWV on RF channel 23 is a religious broadcaster.

Just home for a quick lunch, noticed that KARZ has the "Big 12 network" syndicated CBB (TTech@KS in a SDTV squash match)...Razorbacks in HD via KATV/"SEC Network" and a slight lead w/14 minutes remaining.

wonder what mbits they were running the Ark/Bama game in today on KATV? I noticed some mosquito crawl on the court much like you see in the grass on football games. Noticed when they swapped over for the end of the Kentucky/Ole Miss game, the mosquito crawl was gone and the PQ seemed to be a bit sharper. Nevertheless, the Ark game still looked very good.

I watched my OTA all day long today.

at 1pm I watched the Ark/Bama game on KATV HD

3pm watched NFL on Fox New Orleans/Arizona HD (very good HD)

at 7pm, I'm going to watch the Colts/Ravens on CBS HD

Given the Choice, I always choose to watch my locals on my OTA system which has a sharper PQ than the Directv's local HD. Anyone know why this is? Maybe the Networks pushing the 18- 22mbits range while Direct is squashing it into a 14-15?

They wouldnt need the entire OTA spectrum to implement nationwide broadband. I really dont know where the NAB thinks its going to be the end of Free HDTV. Might be the end of 20 satellite rebroadcasters tying up bandwidth in large metro areas, but I really dont envision the FCC cutting out OTA. Count the number of unused channels where you are (and you get two markets), and see how much bandwidth is just wasted and sitting there.

And yes, I am sure lots of people would be pissed off if the government revoked the broadcast spectrum from DirecTv. They would just move their operation to Mexico, and broadcast anyway, especially considering the tax money Mexico could collect from them ;)

That said...I wonder what would happen if the big 5 networks were to get authorization to put a satellite up that covered channels 2 through 6. Point your OTA antenna south, and up a little bit, and get all the networks from satellite using ATSC. Wonder if that would be possible?

KATV came in this morning in Thayer MO!!! 85-98% on the DTV Pal Plus!

KARK, KLRT, KARZ 69-73%

KASN 58-71%

KTHV 60-70%

I even seen a pixilated KETS 7 I couldn't believe it!

But all died about 11 AM! Darn!

Given the Choice, I always choose to watch my locals on my OTA system which has a sharper PQ than the Directv's local HD. Anyone know why this is? Maybe the Networks pushing the 18- 22mbits range while Direct is squashing it into a 14-15?

Without any better description and technical ignorance on my part, what you say is certainly true, i.e., OTA HD is superior to DIrecTV's local HD. When watching sports that are available on local OTA, I've compared it to DirecTV's local channels and it has always been significantly better on OTA.

Without any better description and technical ignorance on my part, what you say is certainly true, i.e., OTA HD is superior to DIrecTV's local HD. When watching sports that are available on local OTA, I've compared it to DirecTV's local channels and it has always been significantly better on OTA.

Not sure if this is true, but Directv is probably compressing those channels slightly below the HD standard where as the Locals do not have too. Dave can explain this far beyond what I can.

Something that really bugs me with the Directv feeds is the 5 or 6 second delay vs OTA. I know it shouldnt matter, but since I know it exist, it just bothers me that I'm not watching it as live as possible thru Direct. I know there is nothing that can be done about it, but it bugs me. When it comes to Live sports, I cant handle knowing its delayed......shows and movies dont bother me because they are previously recorded anyway. If you listen to the razorbacks on the radio, then watch the game OTA, the delay is minimal. If you listen to the radio and watch the direct broadcast, its a very annoying lag...somewhere in the 10 second range, sometimes longer. It sticks in my head that its not truly "Live"

Thats funny. It takes about 2 seconds to go up to the satellite and down to ya. If you were to watch the sports event from their uplink truck, then the OTA signal would be 3 or 4 seconds behind. Nothing is ever live, unless you are getting it via fiber.

Live (only available with fiber feeds from the source to the network, and fiber to your affiliate)
3 seconds from uplink truck to network
3 seconds from network to OTA station
3 more seconds to go to DirecTv and get reencoded to mpeg4 and sent back to you.

As for DirecTv not being as good as OTA, I really havent noticed any differences. OTA of course, is Mpeg2, and DirecTv reencodes it to Mpeg4, so there is probably some minimal loss there, but it sure saves a lot of disk space on the recorder. CBS sports macroblocks annoy the crap out of me, FOX and ABC sports fuzzy 720p bugs me, but not as much as CBS sports. NBC's 1080i which used to be the pits, is now the second best to TNT's Live 1080i in my opinion. Whenever I start getting to critical though, I pop a VHS tape in the box, and get a reality check :)

Whenever I start getting to critical though, I pop a VHS tape in the box, and get a reality check :)

yeah..I did that a while back....and man oh man WORLDS of difference. Hard to watch 280i now

I wonder what would happen if the big 5 networks were to get authorization to put a satellite up that covered channels 2 through 6. Point your OTA antenna south, and up a little bit, and get all the networks from satellite using ATSC. Wonder if that would be possible?

If the hams can do it with Oscar satellites on 144/420 Mhz, so can the networks. I think it's a cool idea.:cool:

Arkwest installed their IPTV-HD at my home today. 4 rooms, 4 HD-DVR's..all working great at the same time....PQ is sweet! Cant really say if its better than Directv's HD, but it looks just as good so I'm satisfied.:D One of the installers said that Arkwest HD's varied on quality. Said most of them are 20 megs but a few are 15 megs.

Cancelled my Directv Sub. Finally got someone who acknowledged the 36 month commit was BS. One thing that stumped me, I thought after the 2 year fulfillment that I owned the directv recievers:confused: Not according to Directv....they are sending two boxes for me to return them in. Dave...is that right?

You don't own crap anymore from them. I don't understand why, but they want the crap back even if its 20 years down the road.

Punishment,;) and perhaps if they don't get their stuff back you will get a nice charge for old equipment?:mad:

dmatch

Cancelled my Directv Sub. Finally got someone who acknowledged the 36 month commit was BS. One thing that stumped me, I thought after the 2 year fulfillment that I owned the directv recievers:confused: Not according to Directv....they are sending two boxes for me to return them in. Dave...is that right?

Yep, you NEVER own a DirecTv box (with the exception of the HR21PRO), but on the bright side, you never have to pay to replace them when they break either. Make sure you write down the FedEx tracking numbers, so if they claim you didnt return them, you can prove them wrong.

Thats ONLY for DirecTv boxes tho. If you have older ones like RCA, Hughes, Sony, etc (the before HD boxes), or any of the DirecTV Tivo units, they ARE owned by you. If the model is D-xx, H-xx, HR-xx, its pretty surely owned by DirecTv.

Punishment,;) and perhaps if they don't get their stuff back you will get a nice charge for old equipment?:mad:

dmatch

You can bet they will, at about $400 - $600 a pop. And they will draft it right out of the credit card you used to sign up with. Thats why I always keep my tracking numbers when I return something to them. Ive seen to many peoples boxes "lost" between their house and DirecTvs warehouse, or IN direcTVs warehouse :)

Here is a link to the company (that alongside Sprint), is attempting to build a nationwide "Hot Spot", with 4G coverage currently 4 times faster than AT&T's 3G speed, and uses 2.5GHz (just about the frequency used by in home broadband routers). The following two sites are interesting reads, for those interested.
http://www.xohm.com/discover
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9116844/Sprint_s_4G_Xohm_WiMax_How_fast_is_it_?taxonomyId=15&pageNumber=1

The second article is somewhat dated. As you can see from the coverage map in the first link, it has expanded well past the one city mentioned in the second article.

Thanks for the advice Dave, I'll write down the tracking numbers......

Interesting note: Channel 9 analog low power in Downtown Little Rock, has lost their satellite signal, or so says the banner being transmitted all day. I thought the FCC had some requirements regarding monitoring of a transmitter??? Maybe not.

Does Lightning affect IPTV signals? Ever since it started storming and lightning, my IPTV keeps pixeling when it flashes and making sounds similar to what you here via OTA during a lightning storm. Anyone know?

Sure it does...Remember when you would be using a old phone, and hear the static pop on the phone? Same thing. Lightning causes power spike (noise) in the amps. At least yours just pixeling... DirecTv probably "Searching for Satellite" :)

Sure it does...Remember when you would be using a old phone, and hear the static pop on the phone? Same thing. Lightning causes power spike (noise) in the amps. At least yours just pixeling... DirecTv probably "Searching for Satellite" :)

yep, I do remember that. Yes, even though its a little annoying, for the most part, Arkwest remained very watchable throughout the storm. In the past, anytime a dark cloud would blow up in the south, I'd lose my Directv signal almost everytime. Moderate rain would do me in until it quit. I sure dont have anything against Directv, they treated me pretty well for the most part and their HD Quality was excellent. Since Arkwest HD seems to be equal so far, its just a better set up for us, especially since its locally owned and we can actually call someone we know if we have problems.

BTW, was watching "The Human Target" on KLRT, when the storms started rolling into the state, they put up all their maps and logos and then shrunk the HD picture to about 3/4's its normal size. I told my wife....."there was no need for all of that"... one small Ark logo in the bottom corner would have been sufficent for a warning.