Well the time is growing near. This will most likely be the last update without having high definition broadcasting here in the Lowcountry.

To the particulars:

Channel 2 (DTV 50) - They are having structural problems with the main tower out in Awendaw. Therefore they now have plans to broadcast a lower power high definition signal from the tower adjacent to their facility in Mt. Pleasant. Expected range is only 30 miles. This should be accomplished within the next 30 to 60 days. Full power broadcasts won't be possible until structural work is completed at main tower.

Channel 4 (DTV 34) - Local station personnel Unresponsive. Haven't started work for full power transmissions at tower.
Please send e-mail or call them to inquire about status.

Channel 5 (DTV 47) - Don't know how many of you receive updates from station engineer, but he continues to provide updates and progress. Had a problem with a manufacturers vacuum tube that pushed back on air date to the end of the month or so. Definitely the class of Charleston in regards to communication and desire to bring the community HD. I'll post to this thread when they go on air. Will finalize a date for tour of facility in Awendaw soon as well.

Channel 7 (DTV 49) - Haven't had much conversation with these people but they are piggy backing on Channel 5's tower and equipment. Expect May 1 date will be met.

Channel 24 (DTV 40) - Began low power 480i only transmissions on 11/1/02. Their full power facilities are located with Channel 2 so not sure when full power HD transmissions possible.

Channel 36 (DTV 35) - See Channel 24.

COMCAST - Comcast not planning on getting into HD market until 4th quarter of this year, 1st quarter of next year. But local management is knowledgeable and interested. Corporate is tackling high priority conversions of acquired ATT markets.

If anyone has anything to add, please do so.

Thanks for all the updates.... You seem to have good contacts with all the stations.

I will be happy to email channel 4 and show some interest. Can you give me a good email address to use?

Also I emailed Directv regarding adding HDnet Movie channel but they have not responded. Hdnet told me they were very interested but Directv was the hold up and it is currently only out on Charter Cable.

Billy

I'm going to go ahead and post today's update from the engineer at Channel 5.

"It's that time again. We have some good news this week. The work at the top of the tower is done.

The factory engineer has come and set up all of the processing equipment in our studio building, and it is working. The only thing left to do at the studio end is to get the controls working for the switch that switches between CBS High Definition programming and our upconverted programming (for when CBS is not sending anything). We received the software drivers for that this morning, and I don't expect that to take more than a couple of days. Even if we don't get that working right away, we can switch this manually. It won't look as nice at the switch, but it won't slow down our progress.

The factory engineer for the transmitter end is still on site, and as "at least one more week" of work to do. I am expecting closer to two to three weeks, but he may surprise me.

We have developed one other problem. There is a problem with the microwave path that carries our digital signal from our studio to the transmitter. We don't know what the problem is yet, so we don't know what it will take to fix it, but the factory engineer is supposed to come in tomorrow to work on it. I have hopes that it will be fixed before the transmitter is ready to go on the air.

Thank you all for your continued interest and your patience with us. "


In regards to contacts at Channel 4, check here for e-mail info

Link (http://www.markuyak.com/schdtv/schdtv.htm)


Things are looking up for local DTV 47 - maybe even in time for Grammy's.

KTrout
Thanks for the inside information at 5 and a synopsis of the other local stations. It looks like we will can soon start complaining about signal strength in the near future. :) Which, by the way might not be a bad idea to help others determine what to expect in the lowcountry area, once they are transmitting. I will talk with the engineers in the near future and volunteer to test some of their signal strengths.

Keep those updates commmmmmiiiiiiinnnnnnngggggg!!!!!!!!!!

I also got the email from Eldon Brown at WCSC and since I had some questions for him I replied, and also told him about the forum here. He wasn't aware of it but says it made for some good reading. It is nice to see that at least one of the stations in Charleston, is both serious and professional when it comes to working with the new technologies.

I am looking forward to WCSC coming up hopefully in time for March Madness and the Masters in HD.

Of course, I now have to make the jump. I was thinking of going to DirectTV (I currently have Knology "Digital" cable) since they seem to have some additional HD programming (HDNet). I have priced some packages from American Satellite that includes a Samsung T160 HD decoder. Anyone have any experience with either this STB and DTV HD.

I too, am looking forward to using this forum to discuss programming, signal strength, etc, and not just waiting.


Andy

Got an e-mail from an engineer at SCETV and they indicated plans to be broadcasting sometime this summer.

AndrewG,
If I were you, I would maybe wait to find out if DirecTV is going to carry ESPN-HD at the end of March before deciding on a satellite provider. Seems like you are a sports fan like myself, and I'd hate to see you sign up for one years service and have DirecTV decide to not carry ESPN-HD until December. Since the Final Four doesn't start until March 20th there's a good chance DirecTV will have announced their intentions by then.

I have a Toshiba DST-3000 so I can't help you out with the Samsung. Perhaps someone else here locally will.

AndrewG
I do not have the Samsung information you are requesting. I do have 2 STB's that are (Sony's HD- 100 and 200) and we are currently getting digital signals but not HD. I am currently able to pull in the digital signal of 24 Fox and 36 UPN and on Directv we get the HD signals of HDnet, HBO-HD and SHO-HD. Ktrout is correct in mentioning you might want to wait before signing up for a long term commitment in satellite programming. ESPN-HD is going to be huge when it comes on line. I can't believe that Dish and Directv will not both be on board at the sign-on date but you never know. That way you can get the best system and provider that has the most programming that fits your interest (Sports). Good Luck in your choices!! Don't get antsy in your purchase, when you get the positive info (Programming choices) you need, you can purchase the STB thats fits that profile and get a signal within hours of purchase

HDSC

The good news continues to roll out of Channel 5 - Eldon indicated that the microwave path problem he brought up in his update has been corrected.

Soon, we will benefiting from their hard work.

Posting message from Eldon regarding Channel 47. We're so close, let's hope FedEx can get through customs and bring that puppy here prior to the Grammy's next Sunday!!

Here's Eldon's update.......

"It's time once again for "good news - bad news".

The good news is that our transmitter / tower / antenna is ready to go. We have been testing our transmitter into a test load for three days now with no problem. Our microwave link between the studio and tower is up to full spped. We were hoping that we would be able to put our HDTV signal on the air this Monday afternoon after our final tests.

Then the bad news hit. The switcher that switches between CBS HDTV and our local upconverted signal has died. Fortunatly it's under warrenty, but we still have to wait for a new one. It was shipped to us from the factory in Canada yesterday. By the time it clears customs, etc. it will likely be late next week before we receive it. Right now, it looks like the earliest we can expect to be on the air is late next week. Unless FedEx delivers quicker than I expect, I think a more likely time frame will be early the following week."

Stay tuned and have a good weekend.

Lets keep our fingers crossed and give way to the Fed-Ex truck in your rearview mirror. :)

Not really an update, but just wanted to let everyone know i posted some pictures of the antenna equipment etc. provided by Eldon on the website....link (http://www.markuyak.com/schdtv/schdtv.htm)

Just found out about this yesterday morning, but apparently Channel 5 is doing a short informational series on High Definition coming to the Lowcountry during the 6 O'clock news.....

Just throwing it out there for anyone interested......

Hope that FedEx truck had snowtires on.

I got an chance to catch the HDTV segmets hosted by Manual yesterday and today. They were at the Video Warehouse in West Ashley for part of the segment. They are basically announcing HDTV is coming, then getting consumer reaction to the picture quality and summarizing the things that are required to recieve an HD signal such as STB, monitor, antenna, etc.. The aerial shots of Charleston on the bigscreen looked really good with the Yorktown in the background and the sun reflections on the water. They interviewed Eldon tonight and he made general comments about HD. It is a real positive step in getting HD to the lowcountry. I guess I will have to change my tag on the bottom of my signature, since we are now getting what them big city boys have already got :)

With all the excitement and anticipation (at least around my house) for the beginning of HDTV in Charleston, I thought it would be a good time give the local cable companies an inquiry regarding cable-based HDTV. I have written to both Comcast and Knology, I am currently a Knology "digital" cable sub in West Ashley. So far I have heard back from Comcast, a semi- form letter. It stated that they had no planned date for HDTV in my area, and then had a couple of paragraphs on HDTV and why you will want it when it arrives. A slap in the face. So i don't hold out hope. I can't imagine Knology will be providing it either, since Comcast already has HD cable boxes all over the country, and they aren't supporting our small market.

I am waiting for Direct TV to announce ESPN-HD, so I can buy a STB, and sign up, I have heard that DishNetwork has announced that they will definitely be carrying it, I can't imagine that DTV wouldn't because I would guess that HD-sports and ESPN-HD will be the "killer apps" of HDTV. I have seen it in other cities and foot ball was truly amazing in HD.

Andy

Well I guess I will go get my STB box now ! Eldon has been also sending me the updates and has been very informative and I appreciate it very much !

Also for you others in the Charleston area what kind of antenna are you people using ? There are just so many different ones I don't know which to get !

I just received an update from Eldon, They are having some problems and he has his hands full it sounds like. He is great to keep us informed like this and is working really hard for us! His email to me follows....



I thought we would be up by now, but it was not to be.

We received the new switcher from Canada, but it does not communicate with our controlling computers. We are in the process of engineering an interface for it.

We have developed a leak in our transmission line. For those of you that don't know, this is the oversized coax cable (seven inches in diameter) that carries the signal from the transmitter up the tower to the antenna. We pressurize this line with nitrogen to keep moisture and oxygen out, and we are losing nitrogen. This is an irritant that will not keep us off the air, but once we find the leak, we will have to go off the air for about two days to fix it. I have called a tower crew in to fix it, but don't have their schedule yet. In the meantime, we will just go through a lot of nitrogen.

We had to replace a pump on the transmitter that had a bad seal, but the new one also has a bad seal. This won't slow us down, however as each cooling system has two parallel pumps in case of a failure. We will just run off the standby pump until we can get this pump replaced.

The day before yesterday our remote controls for the digital transmitter died. We cannot legally operate the transmitter without remote controls. We have them back up at the transmitter end, but not at the studio end yet.

The transmitter itself seems to be working fine except for a few times when it shut itself off for no apparent reason. We are thinking now that power bumps from the power company is the culprit, but we will have to put some recording devices on the line to confirm this.

The bottom line is that the biggest hurdle we have to cross right now is repairing the remote controls. Everything else I think we could work around, but we have to have control to turn it on. My best guess at this time is that we will be up and running early next week.

Thanks for your patience with us,

Eldon Brown

Planenut:
Thanks for posting Eldon's update today. He does have his hands full. I have seen the transmission line and finding that leak will be no easy chore. I'm glad they will go ahead and transmit without that being corrected.

JeffD:
I found a bowtie at the Radio Shack in Summerville about a year ago and bought it then. Don't know if there are any left in the area or not. It's my understanding RS quit stocking them, but it might be worth a try. Can't tell you about performance yet as I'm too far away to get Fox's lame low power signal. If you have a simple set of rabbit ears (VHF/UHF) that can pick up Channel 5 OTA, then I would try them first for Channel 47, you might not need anything.

AndrewG:
I've talked on a couple of occasions with the general manager of the Comcast office about HD. He is knowledgeable about HD and recognizes it as a viable product, but has his hands tied by corporate. He indicated that it would probably be this time next year before they would get into the HD market. Corporate is spending its resources right now updating large former AT&T markets (Boston for example) where people there did not even have high speed internet access. It's purely a financial decision that unfortunately cannot be ignored. When you can maybe add at least 500,000 people at $40/month, providing HD set top boxes for the 106th TV market in the nation is not a huge priority. Believe me I want Comcast to get HD as much as the next guy, but I couldn't whine too much after he explained that to me.

Spread the word about HD, we need to make it profitable for these stations.

Hopefully my next post will include a signal strength for Channel 47.

JeffD,

I have a channel master 4228 mounted on a 20' pole above my 2 story house (however my steet is in a hole compared to surrounding property). I have a 100 signal from FOX/UPN but they are probably only about 4 miles from my house. Will update strength once Channel 5 is broadcasting.

By the way Wholesale Electric on East bay is the local dealer for Channel master and they got mine from Columbia in 1 day but I had to pay shipping. pole from Home Depot.

Bill

Eldon and the Channel 5 crew, appear to be doing everything they can to get us on line by next weekend. That is a refreshing HD experience given the last couple of years with the battles from Capital Hill down to my house.

JeffD:
I am using a round oval sailboat antenna because of the aesthetics in the neigborhood. I am able to pull in the WB and Fox signal. I live W. Ashley.
Drawbacks: Unable to direct your signal reception but I think it will work fine in our area as the majors come on line.

Good Luck -
HDSC

Thanks for the help everyone ! I'm also kind of looking for something I can just sit in my attic and hopefully get a signal .

Where is the Fox/UPN tower located ? You think I might have a problem getting a good signal is Goose Creek ? Also I'm getting ready to pick up my HD satellite very soon haven't decided which one yet i'm leaning toward the Sony HD200 .

JeffD:

Fox/UPN are transmitting off of the "tower" adjacent to their station. It's on ARCO Lane Adjacent to 26 (see attached link)


......Fox/UPN Station Location (http://http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?size=big&mapdata=3Y5TK1Lw1y%2fX7kz1CGuiHkqzV5psXCK5gLN%2fYMAV%2bux7YT LiRoVVKxDKveCcahSD2CWaiAyNnZgBksajDcD8UfRt5m7cyHcBEylCU0b%2b zMrHLoxp%2bm2vWoZ34K7zF4QmJNZGRuuzCz%2fpnTbbnbApsQglsljPXmW3 2AYYZxyFZiWN%2bU60dHvF%2fTW%2bOdll2wxDQuJ15FknhsvcF%2bxJGY1w 9%2fnWwVeuOUVFXUV4ItQEugOIEDwhpjg%2f6t3mGLBNanQDG0vGUCNjFor6 cpDoYiA3WAPcX1XrjvDcc1EAAfQ9MvmkTDlxvDkCDp0KI3l9YC73UbVySfwR cqXDMczy3mnylsO1wsTBiRDMgb9J28xZg1AgVGU6b4CNYst8IELQy2Iz)

When they go full power, it will be from WCBD's tower in Awendaw.

I've read really good things about the CM 4228 if you need an antenna. If you want some other suggestions, go to www.antennaweb.org and select it based on your location etc

Good Luck

Hope I can get a siginal down here in Beaufort. WSAV (NBC) ch 39 and WTOC (CBS) 15 come in here but both have audio problems. Only one Sav station (ABC) had stereo and now it is catching up with them.
I have a CM 1160A on 36 ft tower and found that a Rat Shack U-75R UHF ant works good on Sav stations 33 miles from here.
Jim

JeffD,

I forgot to mention that the CM4228 is directional (I think 30 degrees either side) so depending on your location you may have to rotate it to get different stations...

FOX/UPN is temporarliy transmitting from their location on Arco lane off of montague near I-26.

Link doesn't work, here's gif

Again thanks for the help everyone ! Just wondering does anyone have any pics of their antennas ? I looked at antennaweb.org and I must not know how to use it right :o . Just about all the HD stations show in red for me , it shows I need a medium directional atenna .

Anyone have a link so I can see the CM 4228 ?

Here is a link to Channel Master..

http://www.channelmaster.com/pages/u1.htm

JeffD:
I punched in GC's zip and it looks like you did antennaweb exercise correctly. However, antennaweb.org has all signals originating out of Awendaw, which obviously isn't the case right now. I think being in GC you have the same directional issue that planenut has, but I think you will both be OK. Hope so at least.

pic of my antenna...

Thanks for the pic ! I still am up in arms as to what I want to get ! I did get my HD Sat the other day , ended up getting the Hughes from Best Buy .

Yeah!!!

This just in from Eldon Brown, please let those of us not up how things look, Andy

The time is here! We went up with a digital signal at 2:30 PM today. Right
now it is just a test signal. We plan to go to programming at 5 PM going
into our newscast. CBS is not sending any HD programming tonight, but CSI
tomorrow night should look great!

Please let me know how we look. If there are any problems, I would love to
hear about them. We are still having some problems with one of our
amplifiers, and the manufacturer is coming back in next week to work on it,
but we hope to keep this work confined to the daytime so prime time
programming is not interrupted. I will let you know how this goes.

Thank you all for your patience with us.

Eldon

Well I went and got a small antenna from Circuit City to see if it works and i'm getting a 100% signal on WCSC . However the other channels I can only manage to get a 20% oh well . It looks pretty good on my end right now i'm watching the local news right now on the digital 5 - 1 station .

Got WCSC HD on 5-1 and WCSC SD on 5-2. Eldon will get back to me with exactly what is going on with 5-2.

100% signal strength in Mt. P

Please e-mail Eldon with how channels are showing up on your STB and also give him signal strength. It's how we can help him figure out performance. And that helps everyone.

No HD material this evening - recommend CSI tomorrow night!!!

I e-mailed Eldon about my reception and all . I went and got a Silver Sensor antenna from CC and i'm getting a 100% sig ! Bring on C.S.I. ! It's not strong enough to get the other HD stations that are very low power . Moving it around the house I have managed to get 70% on FOX .

I'm in Texas but had my son enter 5-1 and get nothing. I think my antenna is pointed correctly (I set it before I left and gave up FOX/UPN since they are not in the same direction from my house). I am only about 8-10 miles away so I hope it is something simple I am not doing correctly.

Planenut:
Check your personal e-mail

Looks like I need to repoint the antenna for the correct location in Awendaw... Thanks

HEY Guys thanks for the info.

I just remapped 5 which is (47) to 5.1 (programming) and also 5.2 which is the WX radar (Super Doppler 5000). I am showing a 94 signal strength on both, and I live W. Ashley about 5 SE of the studios.
For Information: I am getting a 92 signal strength on 24.1 and 36.1.

Thanks Channel 5 and a special thanks :) to Eldon for his communication to the members on the Charleston thread !!!!

Ktrout:
I have not been communicating with Eldon. Could you pass my numbers to him? Thanks HDSC

Just to let everyone know I did another channel scan and I got 47 - 2 to show up for channel 5 . It's also running as 5 - 1 and 5 - 2 SD . I am at my wits end with Fox/UPN I can't get a signal over 52 ! I guess I might have to wait til they go full power to watch their digital programming .

HDSC if you would like to e-mail Eldon his e-mail is ebrown@wcsc.com .

I am getting 5.1 and 5.2 here in Beaufort. I am about 70 miles from tower. I have a lot of wet trees but still have good signal.

oljim,

What kind of antenna are you using and how high is it? that is pretty good from 70 miles out.....
Thanks

I have been following this board, and particularly various threads about HD in Charleston for several months now. Want to thank you guys for the helpful info, and also let you know that I picked up channel 47 in St. George last night. For those that don't know, It's about 50 miles up I-26 towards Columbia. Just plugged it up to my existing large RS UHF/VHF antenna in the attic, and tuned to CH47. Got 5-1 immediately, with about 60% signal strength. Haven't tried the sub channels yet. I am using the Zenith HD-420 OTA only receiver, which I picked up from CC. They had several more open box units yesterday, if anyone's interested in saving a few coins.

I have a CM Quantum 1160 w/amp and a CM 9521 rotor. Ant is on a 36 ft tower. I have found ant pointing is important with DTV. a few deg. can kill sig. This week I was able to get 2 stations from Jax FL 150 miles and 2 from Orlando 250 miles. The weather has a lot to do with DTV. I can get 3.1 3.2 and 11.1 from Sav all the time. The ones from Jax and Orlando are on and off. I just checked my map and I am about 79 miles from ch 5 tower

Daryal:
Welcome to AVSFORUM! I know what you mean about "following the board" before posting. I am sure many will be interested in your signal strengths based on your geographic location to the towers. I can't think of a better first message than replying about your Charleston HD experience. It has been a long time in the making for those of us who have been ready to see HD for years.

JeffD: Thanks for the address!

If anyone is looking for a UHF ant. try the Rat Shack U-75 for around $20. I could pick up the Sav stations 33 miles with it in my living room. As soon as the rain stops I will turn it around and see how it works on 5.1/5.2 I have it on the side of my tower 20 ft up pointed towards Sav.

Good to hear about the great signal from WCSC! I am curious about others reporting 50-60 signal for the Fox / UPN low power signal. Is that strong enough to lock and receive broadcasts?

Thanks

Andy

I am about 1.5 miles north of the airport in Hanahan. I have a Hughes HIRD-E86 set top box and a channel master 4228 mounted on a twenty foot pole on top of my two story house. I am getting a 100 percent signal. I might get a non directional antenna and try that so I can get FOX/UPN also and all VHF signals.

The volume level drops a little compared to the Comcast signal. Changing between local cable and satellite the volume is mostly the same but the the digital 5-1 signal drops some. I need to adjust my Onkyo level down up from around 45 to 55. It shows as a Dolby D 2/0.

I am a pilot and I LOVE the doppler radar on 5-2. I had something similar with channel 101 on Comcast Digital but gave up that for the satellite with HD.

At first I had my antenna pointed in the wrong direction but once I got it pointed East and figured out how to scan for channels it worked great. I tried typing in 5-1 or 5-2 before doing the scan and it wouldn't work..

By the Way,

Who do we contact to have the programming show up on the program guide from Direct TV?

I must say CSI and Without a Trace looked wonderful tonight in HD ! My wife and I watched and she says to me " I can't tell a difference " I about fell on the floor . I kindly switched the TV to the digital cable feed when she wasn't looking . And a few minutes later she says " what happened to the picture ? It was clear now it looks grainy . " I let her in on the secret .

planenut Direct tv can only give the info if station is on Direct TV. The local can put sched info. My Samsung T 151 has a guide button on remote, this brings up a list of all ch that is in my ch mem. I only get sched from 3.1 and 3.2 WSAV in Sav GA. They must send out the info with sig. With my STB I can see what in on 3.2 when I am on 5.1 or 5.2.

oljim,
my guide shows the programming for the local channels once I told the stb that it had an antenna connected. Programming shows up for ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS. FOX and UPN. Cable channels just show up as "regular schedule" without programming. I even get a 2-1 for a DT transmission from NBC that is not transmitting yet. Are you sure it doesn't have info from Directv about OTA local signals?

every thing I have read it comes from local station and most do not put it on. I have 2 from Jax 2 from Orlando and 2 from Sav.The only on that gives program sched is Wsav in Sav. the rest just say no info. All the stations that are stored are listed in guide.. I can also get info from sat guide for neworks because I get ABC and Fox on sat from NY stations

Random news:

Planenut has an update from Channel 2 that he will be posting soon I hope.

Also got word from 10137two that he saw a show that could be described as "Over Charleston" at 4 pm today and it looked great!!! He's asked Eldon about it, and when more info is available I'll be sure to let everyone know. I'm anxious to see it myself.

Of course the real question is why was that slackass at home this afternoon and not working???

On a more serious note, Eldon let me know that a tour of the tower and equipment in Awendaw would be possible in Mid March. So tentatively, I'd like to throw out Saturday the 15th at 1 pm. How does that sound??? Please let me know.

Thanks

I just received this update from Jack Becknell at Channel 2 today....



We are installing the system now. It seems like there is another new box needed
about every week, with a few more wires to add, software to install etc. We are
installing a few critical pieces, and when they are all in, everything fits,
everything works, nothing goes up in smoke etc. I'll have a better handle on the
exact date. I'll e-mail you in the next few weeks when we start testing the
tranmitter on-air, and use you as a test point if I may. I also have part of the
HDTV gear here, and it will be up pretty soon too.


Jack Becknell
Operations Manager
WCBD-TV

Thanks for the news planenut !

Planenut If you look ot the March Jacksonville update, they have some info about Drect TV and guide. Jim

Tuned in WCSC digital last night just for kicks and giggles. 55% ON MY DISH 6000 from 87 miles out. Some dropouts, not really watchable here but the signal is apparently very strong. Using a CM4248 with CM7777 preamp.

Scott

Regarding the guide:
Eldon has indicated that the guide information is very labor intensive, has to be manually entered every day and is not yet an automated process. Right now the concentration is on the correct operation of the equipment, which to date has been great. The HD source feed change is an automated process so we don't have to worry about the proverbial "switch" being thrown for the HD info by the station's engineers.

Scott:
Thanks for the information. I'll pass it on to Eldon. I contacted an antenna manufacturer a long time ago because I was thinking about picking up ABC out of Columbia for the Superbowl and was told that 80 miles was about the limit for reception of a reliable DTV signal. Might be a little bit of a factor of safety in that number............

Et All:
Haven't had a lot of feedback on the Awendaw tour, just want to make sure people know about it. If you are interested please PM me.

Think we'll keep this February Thread through March since there's so much info on it.

Hey Ktrout:
Can you edit the tread to include March? If not we can live with it. I thought it might be nice for any newbies who stumble on to AVSFORUM and are just getting into HD to see current information. Of course we are the pioneers who have hung by every FCC filing from Charleston in the past so a February thread in March is a minor :) thing. On another note: It is nice to see the numbers we have had on this thread and the interaction with the viewers and the engineers. We really are getting "HD IN CHARLESTON!"

Just received word from an authority at WCBD's parent company that Channel 34 could be on the air any day now, but they won't officially announce it until after a couple of weeks of testing.

Sounds like I might start the occassional prime time Digital channel scan in the very near future. Maybe Thursday night during ER???

Anyway, I consider this news combined with the UPDATE Planenut got from the operations manager to be good news.

Might double our OTA selections.

Have a good week.

Great news everyone, and it sounds like HD is looking good. I am curious about how the upconverted SD signal looks. Is it better than the current analog signal?

KTrout,

Just thought you might like to know...I tuned in last night. 70% and no dropouts on WSCS digital.

Also, I own a house on Black River in Georgetown. I plan on setting up a DTV receiver there soon and hopefully I will have some good reception numbers to report from that location.

SCott

Anybody else notice a switch to 4:3 signal during the last segment of CSI: Miami last night on WCSC? Appears that it jumped back to the upconverted analog, rather than native HD. I am wondering if it was the station, or my equipment...


Also, a comment on the HD quality, for what it's worth. I did not see the amazing difference that I hoped for last week during CSI, probably in large part due to my equipment. An LCD projector on a 100" screen does not like the many dark scenes in that episode. My next opportunity was last night, and I thought the sitcoms really highlighted the benefits of HD. I actually did some back and forth switching during Raymond, and it was easy see the difference.

Daryal.

Daryal,

Was the 4:3 jumping you saw on CSI during the commercials? That was the only jumping that I saw and we will see that for a while (until they start broadcasting commercials in ATSC).

KTROUT - Is the WCBD 34 station coming on in HD (when available) or just digital? Do you know if they are going with the auto-switching to (and from) HD like WCSC?

AndrewG - The digital signal does look a little better than the analog, however I cannot watch it because it is 4:3 and I have no stretch ability with digital signals. I would not recommend anyone else watch the 4:3 digital signal without stretching it either --> BURN-IN!!

Per an email from Eldon Brown, he suspects that the signal was switched to the upconverter for the local commercials, then didn't get the switched back to HD at the end of the commercial break. He was not sure, however. What I was refering to was not the normal change to 4:3 for commercials, but rather the fact that after one such series, it did not change back to 16:9.

I also am interested in any available update on WCBD, and would also like to know when FOX will go full power on the Awendaw tower. Anybody have an update? My analog reception of 24 is very poor, so even SD will be a step up, if I can pull it in.

Daryal

Does anyone know what the "cutoff" is for Signal Strength for receiving the digital signals with a good pic?

I know that it is pretty much an "all-or-nothing" with receiving digital but I am wondering what the cutoff is between "all" and "nothing"?? (30% ?? 40% ??)

Ooops, my update on WCBD had their digital station as 34, it should be 50. Hey, it was late.

Anyway, WCIV's (ABC) parent company gave me a five word response to my build out status inquiry, "Late Spring is our target" I guess it's better than a four letter response, but not very committal.

101372:
WCIV's operations manager indicated a long time ago that their signal would be high definition when it goes on air. Since they are utilizing WCSC's transmitter I might tend to believe it. Good luck trying to find out something, might give austin a ping and see what he has to say about it now that WCSC is transmitting. Don't have a clue on the switching.

Daryal:
I also noticed the Thursday night CSI show wasn't quite as sharp as I expected, but got better with well lit scenes. I was only able to watch the first 20 minutes so didn't get a real good look at it. Some of the other sitcoms have looked better, JAG tonight is supposed to have good quality to it, so I will probably check that out as well.
Didn't watch CSI-Miami last night so can't comment on 4:3 switching. Although I did happen to notice that the program that came on at 8 pm was initially in 4:3 as well. Guess I'm not too clear on exactly how automatic the automatic switching is.
WCBD's parent company indicated they could be on the air any time now. Again a wait and see situation.

In regards to FOX....... my guess is that you should go ahead and start asking Santa Claus for it as a Christmas gift. The tower in Awendaw requires structural modifications before it can be equipped with full power transmitter.

That's all for now

Daryal, you were correct, and Eldon sent out an email explaining the 'non-switching' switching of the HD signal:

Not sure if you got this or not, so here it is:

FROM ELDON:
Several of you have noticed that we had a switching problem during CSI Thursday night. It was traced back to an operator error. We have a computer automation system that controls our analog switching from program to commercials and back to program. The "playlist" this computer uses is built by our traffic department each and every day as commercials change, and segment times of programs change. We do our best to make this playlist accurate to 1/30th of a second to avoid cutting off the start or end of material, and to avoid a lot of blank time between material.

We are using another channel of this same automation system to control the switch from HD to upconverted video for our digital side. Since we are only concerned with the transition into and out of CBS HD material, this playlist is much shorter (one page verses around 50 pages), and the master control operator is building these playlists each day. As we build each one, we are also building a template for each day for the operator to use next week, so as long as the programs don't change, they will only have to edit the times for the switch into and out of HD. Once these times are inserted and the playlist started, it all happens automatically. Unfortunatly, during CSI the operator forgot to enter that one transition time, so the computer didn't switch back to HD, and the operator didn't notice it. In his defense, this task is one more that has been added to his already busy schedule. We have changed the digital monitors in that room to try to make it easier for him to notice such problems.

I also wanted to let you all know that we plan to be working on our transmitter tomorrow morning. The replacement for the leaking pump is supposed to arrive today and be installed tomorrow. We will be off the air while this is done, and should be back up sometime in the afternoon.

Thank you for your patience,
Eldon

10137two,

Thanks. I got an email from Eldon yesterday, and then the "broadcast" from him with the longer explanation that you posted above.

On another note, was JAG on Ch 47 last night? I walked in a few minutes after 8, looking forward to seeing it in HD, flipped on an analog TV, and saw Billy Graham. Was so disappointed (not that I don't enjoy his messages some time, I was just pumped for JAG), that I did not even check the HD signal. So was Ch 47 an upconversion of the crusade, or JAG?

Daryal:
JAG wasn't on here but www.hidefguide.com listed it as being on at 8 pm, so I'm not sure if it was pre-empted here or not.

No JAG on WCSC but it was on WTOC Sav.
Jim

Just a few pieces of info that you may or may not know:

As an alternative to HIDEFGUIDE, here is the weekly CBS Primetime HD schedule. Programs shaded in tan are HD. --> http://www.cbs.com/info/hdtv/


All four rounds of the masters in 1080i on CBS (42 HD cameras!) Here is more info --> http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=234669

Even though I am not a golf fan I will be checking this out in HD when it's on ! I bet this will be absolutely beautiful content for HD .

Well I've got tickets for the opening round on Thursday at the Masters, so I'll let you know if it's just like being there.

Glad CBS officially announced it!!!

Did any of you guys have signal strength issues last night (Thursday)?

I had "no signal" during prime time. Meter showed about 40-50%, verses a previous reading of about 60%. For those who were asking how much strength is enough, 50% seems to be the low end for my Zenith 420 receiver. I'm hoping this was weather related, but I can't be sure, as I did not use the system since Monday.

I had signal dropout till about 10 PM, went to 5.2 and saw a big yellow and red glob between here and Charleston on the sweep.

Thanks oljim. Times were screwed up last night, with W talking earlier, but I think it was past 10 PM and I still had no signal. I checked 5-1 and 5-2, but got nothing. Weather was real bad in my area. I have not fine tuned my system yet. Initially, I got lucky, it came right up when I connected the receiver to my existing RS antenna. Looks like some fine tuning/antenna aiming may be needed to minimize the effects of weather.

Same here......40% signal after the 'W' speech and then turned back about 10:20'ish and it was fine.

Probably had something to do with Eldon's explanation of setting up the timing of the "automatic switching" to HD. No one knew how long the Prez was going to talk so he couldn't program it.....

That still wouldn't explain the signal strenght issue though.
Just a thought.

I don't believe it was weather related. I normally peg out at 100 and had signal issues last night as well and I'm relatively right next to the tower.

New date for tour of the Awendaw facilities is Saturday, March 29th at 1 pm.

Eldon has indicated he will try to bring a 42" plasma to the site for demo purposes.

Really haven't had much feedback on this, but Eldon is willing to take his own time to meet us out there. It would be a good chance to meet him and also discuss any technical questions you might have. It's not the air and space museum in Washington DC, but more than I expected.

Please let me know if you are interested. Those that have already PM'ed me please do so again because of the date change.

Thanks....

I have a HDTV-ready Sony 40XBR800 TV, and digital cable from Comcast, but I understand that Comcast will not carry local station HDTV signals until perhaps next year. In the meantime, I will have to pick up local HDTV from over-the-air signals. My neigborhood has restrictions on outdoor antennas, so I will have to install an antenna in my attic. I live in a two-story house west of the Ashley. Does anyone know of a brand and model antenna that has been successfully used, in an attic installation, west of the Ashley, to pick up WCSC HDTV signal?

I looked on antennaweb.org, and they indicate that I will need an outside antenna, medium directional, to pick up the signal. But their recommendation is probably based on 100% certainty of success.

I have looked at the Terk TV55 antenna on the internet. Is anyone familiar with that antenna, and do you think it would adequately pick up you signal? Would appreciate information or opinions. Thanks.

Everything i've ever read on here about Terk has been nothing but negative . I went and bought a Silver Sensor antenna from Circuit City it's an indoor antenna and have no problems picking up WCSC . I live in Goose Creek and get pretty much full signal strength with it . As far as picking up FOX and UPN that's a different story . I can move the antenna around and get maybe a 50 - 60% signal but that's about it . It's enough to get a picture and sound but alot of drop-outs . Go to Circuit City's web site and checkout the Silver Sensor , the local store is sold out at the moment .

The FCC law about 8 yrs ago, they can not stop you from putting an outside ant or dish under 1 M Terk is over priced junk.

Why is a guy from Florida posting here?

I grew up in Georgetown and my Dad and sister still live there. Having an HDTV and STB box for three months I've been all aglow with reports for them. My Dad's 10 year old Zenith 32" is dying (slowly, which is good), and he keeps asking if he should get an HDTV-so I follow this thread to let him know whats up. Unfortunately, his analog cable is so in and out, I'm afraid he'll hate a new set.

It looks like by Summer you guys may have all the majors up, and at full power-then I'll be heading up for an antenna primer (he's agreat engineer of things-but can't imagine getting all his channels over UHF). Plus, he should be able to get the Florence/Myrtle Beach stations, meaning two antennas, combiners, etc.

Everyone needs to beat your Fox affiliate with sticks-no, 480p widescreen isn't as good as CBS, but Nascar on a widescreen is great.

Having a resource like Eldon is great-the locals, even the independents are mostly at full power here, but tend to ignore enthusiasts, other than some employees who are enthusiasts to-even they are often taken by surprise at the actions of their employers.

If my Dad wanted to go on the Awendaw tour on the 29th, is there someone to contact to reserve a spot? or should he just show up? Where is the site exactly? (my memory of Awendaw is more of a signpost than of a town-no offense)

Robert

Originally posted by rkdavis
I have a HDTV-ready Sony 40XBR800 TV, and digital cable from Comcast, but I understand that Comcast will not carry local station HDTV signals until perhaps next year. In the meantime, I will have to pick up local HDTV from over-the-air signals. My neigborhood has restrictions on outdoor antennas, so I will have to install an antenna in my attic. I live in a two-story house west of the Ashley. Does anyone know of a brand and model antenna that has been successfully used, in an attic installation, west of the Ashley, to pick up WCSC HDTV signal?


I live in West Ashley, Northbridge Terrace, and I used a RadioShack standard combo antenna in my attic to pick up locals when I had Dish Network. I think it cost $29. I have only heard bad things about Terk. Mostly that they are very overpriced and most designs are gimmicy but designed to be visually pleasing. For HD you would only need a UHF antenna, and they have one for about $22 for suburban/fringe which I am considering which should fit in the attic no problem (Outdoor Antennas for UHF-Only $21.99 Catalog #: 15-2160). For the money of a Terk you could buy a top of the line Channelmaster with a preamp. But I think the Rat Shack antenna will be your best choice, and if it doesn't work they will take it back.

Keep us updated with what you use, since I will be in the market as well very soon.

I also want to agree with the above post, the FCC law prevents home owner's associations from forbidding antenna's and dishes. Of course, I think there are other benefits to installing in the attic, especially installation and non-exposure to lightning strikes ;)

Andy

rlundy:
I'm kind of organizing the tour and there's no need to reserve a spot. you are correct in that there is not much in awendaw. I was planning on having everyone meet somewhere prior to heading to the antenna site since it's a little awkward trying to describe where it is. just keep checking this forum for information or send a PM with an e-mail address and I'll be sure to extend more information to you.

rkdavis:
welcome, glad to see another participant. i'll have to agree with everyone else regarding the Terk products. i have read good things about the silver sensor and more importantly JeffD's is working well. Rat shacks return policy makes an antenna from there a pretty safe bet as well. 10137two lives in west ashley as well, but I can't remember what his antenna situation is.

thanks for the responses on the tour. please invite anyone you think might be interested, it's a very informal gathering, the more the merrier.

by the way, my next "project" might be a fundraiser for the Dolby E decoders and Dolby digital encoder that WCSC needs to start broadcasting in 5.1

we'll see about that though, might be one of those never hurts to ask situations.

Ktrout
I will send you my next SS check LOL good day for DTV I am locked on to 4-1-2 10-1 and 13-1 in Jax fl 150 miles Has anyone had any luck with the Sav stations? try DTV ch 15(11-1) and 3-1/3-2 ch39
Jim

I just found this site and have read the current posts. Very interesting!! I am ignorant on the HDTV aspect. I bought a widescreen HDTV last year and would like to educate myself on what I need to add for HDTV. I have Dish Network, an external antenna, and run through a Harmon-Kardon amp. Suggestions on where to start?. I just called the store where I bought my TV and I believe that the salesman knew less than I do, if that is possible. All suggestions appreciated.

Randy

Randy what TV do you have.

Jim,
It is a Mitsubishi WT-46809, 46" widescreen. It has high resolution inputs on the back. Two are marked 480i/480p. One is marked 480i/480p/1080i.

Randy you should have 1 input marked DTV, that is the one used for the stb
I sent you a msg with more info.
Jim

Thanks to all of you for the information and suggestions regarding antenna for West Ashley area. I will purchase and install one in the near future and will advise this forum about the reception capability.:)

I bought the Radio Shack UHF antenna #15-2160 this afternoon and installed it temporarily in my attic. It would not pick up UHF channels #24 # 36, although it did a fair job of picking up VHF channels 2,4,5 & 7.

I have a HDTV-ready TV set, as described in a previous post, but have not yet bought a HDTV decoder for over-the-air signals. I was waiting for a local station to begin broadcasting in HDTV before I bought the decoder, because the decoder costs several hundred $ and I wanted to first be sure I could pick up the signal.

Inasmuch as I could not pick up UHF channels 24 & 36 with the Radio Shack antenna that I tested, I have to assume that it would not pick up the channel 47 WCSC HDTV signal.

Has anyone in West Ashley been successful in picking up UHF broadcasts without an outside antenna? I will install an outside antenna if that is absolutely the only solution, but I prefer to have an attic antenna.

Any suggestions or information would be appreciated.

Attic antenna:

Just a thought, I live at Bonneau Beach so everyone has to run external antennas. I have had several neighbors recently complaining about the poor picture quality on 24 with the VHF quality being good. In each case I have loaned them a spare cable amplifier and that solved their problems. Some of them had a cable run of less than 50 feet but they were unable to get a good picture until they amplified the signal.

Maybe that might help.

Randy

rkdavis
What cable do you have from 2160 to TV I am 70-80 miles away and get 24 and 36. with same ant. and get no VHF ch
Did you have it pointed towards TV towers?
I have always said TV inside, ant outside

With regard to the previous two posts, I used 75 ohm coaxial cable. The run was only about thirty feet from attic location to TV.

I manually rotated the antenna 360 degrees trying to pick up a UHF signal, rotating it about 5 degrees at a time.

This is a "UHF Antenna", so I don't understand why it picks up the local VHF stations fairly well, but does not pick up even the faintest of picture from UHF channels 24 & 36. Antennaweb.org says I am in the "red zone" for these stations, and the label on the antenna package says it picks up in the "red zone". Of course I tested it in the attic and not outside, but I would have thought that I would have picked up at least a faint image, and from that point I could have experimented with antenna location and direction to try to improve the picture. Antennaweb.org says that channel 24 is 74 degrees from my house, and channel 36 is 111 degrees from my house, and I have aimed the antenna in both of those directions.

Hopefully I will hear from someone who lives West of the Ashley and benefit from their experience in picking up UHF stations.

Have you set your TV tuner for ant. If it is set for cable it will not pick up UHV chs.

Originally posted by rkdavis

I have a HDTV-ready TV set, as described in a previous post, but have not yet bought a HDTV decoder for over-the-air signals. I was waiting for a local station to begin broadcasting in HDTV before I bought the decoder, because the decoder costs several hundred $ and I wanted to first be sure I could pick up the signal.


Just for information WCSC Channel 5 CBS is broadcasting in HDTV . If you go to http://www.hdtvgalaxy.com/broad.html it tells you what programs are simulcast in HDTV on CBS . I am using a Silver Sensor indoor antenna and it works just fine to big up the HD signal from channel 5 . I get 90% or better signal strenth .

Success! Success! Success!

The problem was in my internal TV setting, not in the antenna. The TV tuner was set for cable input; I changed it to ANT, and now the pictures on both 24 and 36 are razor sharp, and the antenna is in my attic. I am confident that I will be able to pick up a strong signal from channel 47, so I will now buy a HDTV decoder. I will report results back to the forum as soon as I get the the decoder and hook it up.

Thanks to everyone for your information and valuable suggestions.

GOOD, then you should get WCSC HD. my ch 24 and 36 are crap, ch 5 is not good 4 is crap and no 2 at all most of the time, but WCSC ch 47(5-1 and 5-2) look better than a DVD
Jim

You guys in Charleston are luck to have a station like WCSC. They have the new DTV working as good as it is. I have been watching WTOC ch 11 (15) from Sav. they have been on air for 5 or 6 mo. and still have mono sound most of the time, many times NO sound for 5 to 7 min after station brakes. Not much fun watching CSI with no sound. Sav. also has NBC on ch 39 3-1 HD and 3-2 SD they also have big sound bugs and have been on the air for some time.
Jim

oljim:

you are correct about us being lucky to have a station that's had so little trouble during "burn-in" (knock on wood). that's why i might be willing to throw a few bucks at a decoder, although WCSC might already have the equipment they need and might only be waiting on the CBS provided stuff that Eldon indicated they needed. anyway...

great catch on rkdavis's antenna issue..... sometimes it's the simplest of things that get you.

I leave town for a few days and you guys go wild with this message board. I would like to address a few of the issues: Late is better than not at all. Well, I making my post anyway.
OUTSIDE ANTENNA: I have one which I put up over a year ago. When HDTV came on board, it would not pick up the signal without (ghosting) (shadowing) or bounce affect, pick your term. The picture was terrible so I bought a silver sensor and it locks on great. I live West of the Ashley and the signal strength is in the 85 - 89 area.
COMCAST: Maybe in the future.
STB: Time to buy one if you have a HD ready TV.
WCSC: Dolby: - Fund Raiser: Maybe we could hold a windshield cleaning for donations at the stoplights of GLENN McConnell and Magnolia (WCSC is nearby) to gain funds and help them get dolby.
WCBD: They say they will be on-line soon. DOLBY???
WCIV: Fund Raiser: Maybe we could donate our cars which now have freshly cleaned windshields for donations so WCIV can buy a transmitter.

KTrout: Not sure of the 29th, I will PM you.

Has anyone in the Charleston area had their TV ISF calibrated by any of the local places that do it ? If so what all did they do ? I'm seriously considering getting it done . I'm just trying to justify the $400 .

I have come back to the well for new information or suggestions.

After having my antenna problem solved, I went out to buy a HDTV tuner. I have a Sony 40XBR800 HDTV-ready TV. I had decided on a Sony SAT-HD200 tuner because it is apparently state-of-the-art.
Circuit City had one in stock, but said they could not sell it to me unless I signed a contract for DirectTV. I then went to Tweeter, and they said the same thing.

I have Comcast digital cable at the present, and do not want to change to satellite if Comcast is going to broadcast in HDTV within a reasonable period of time. Right now, I only want to be sure I can pick up the local HDTV over-the-air signals.

I would appreciate recommendations for a tuner that some on you have found to be satisfactory. My TV has a DVI input, so I believe I should have a DVI output on the tuner. Also, my receiver has a slot for an optical digital input for Dolby, so the tuner should have an optical digital output.

Would appreciate any suggestions. I am new at this. Thanks.

JeffD:
I had an ISF calibration performed by someone at Audio Warehouse a couple of years ago. I paid $300 dollars for it. I'm not sure that I can fully recommend it, unless the $400 includes geometry adjustments. I purchased AVIA's disc and ran through the all the basic adjustments (color, sharpness, etc........) and the values I came up with were nearly exactly what the ISF calibrator said I should use. And I'm by no means an expert, but I'm also not super particular either. The one thing that the calibrator did that I could not have done myself was adjust my red push. It was a little bit high and he brought it down towards the magic 6500k. I would check forums to see if your unit has a problem with red or blue push from the factory and then maybe make a decision based on that.......

AVIA's disc also indicated that my set overscans slightly and is a little bit offcentered, however, I haven't gotten into the service menu yet..... saving it for a really rainy day.....

Hope that was helpful.

rkdavis:
I would suggest that you look into either the Zenith or Samsung OTA (Over the Air) receivers. They are both $399 at Circuit City. They're used only for local signals and are not associated with satellite reception. They both have 5.1 digital output, but don't have any DVI interface. I don't think the DVI interface will be a problem because by the time that mess is figured out you should have a box from Comcast.

You'll get High Definition from CBS and hopefully soon ABC and NBC with these boxes. You might get digital only signals from FOX and UPN depending on where you live.

Not sure which of the two boxes is better, I would suggest checking out other areas of this forum and ***************. Cnet.com and epinions.com might have consumer or electronic ratings on them. usually I put the part numbers into Google.com and search for reviews from home theater or electronics magazines. it can be a time eater, but i don't like to throw money at lemons....

hope this helps.

Thank you very much. I will check these out. I have also just run across a Panasonic tuner on the internet, and I will check it out also. It looks like any of these could fulfill my primary requirement, which is receive local OTA HDTV broadcasts.

rkdavis:
found a samsung at www.onecall.com that has dvi interface. i'm not up on the new STB's since i'm pretty much set.

here's the link www.onecall.com/PID_16973.htm

First, I would not recommend Audio Warehouse to do the ISF. I went there and talked with the ISF tech and he only got out of ISF school about a year ago. He also does not do the following during an ISF: Clean anything, Manual focus, electrostatic focus (he actually didn't even know what electrostatic focus was!!!!), and grayscale. They also charge $400 for only ONE INPUT (i.e. 1080 input, but not 480p or 480i)! If you want two inputs it is $599! RIDICULOUS for what he does, and an additional $200 for each other input.

Based on that info, I have been in contact with one of the best (I would probably say the best that I have read about) ISF Techs in the country...downside is he only does Mitsubishi's. He is a very down to earth guy that will not do the cal unless your TV is ready for it and will be brutally upfront with you with what you want out of your TV. If you are a member of the SPOT and own a Mits, you know who he is.....Craig Miller (username: CRAIGM).

I want to get my TV ISF'd by him, however he has asked me if any other Mits owners wanted a calibration to make it worth his time to come to Charleston. He lives in California and travels around the country once per year to calibrate hundreds of Mits TV's. He is currently in Florida and will be making his way up here (hopefully to Chucktown) by mid to late April.

Anyway, see for yourself by going to ***************.COM and do a search for CRAIGM. You will find numerous threads about the experiences other people had with his calibration technique.

Here are the specifics of his calibration --> http://www.***************.com/htsthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB10&Number=310566&Forum=UBB10&Words=%24750&Match=Entire%20Phrase&Searchpage=0&Limit=25&Old=6months&Main=310566&Search=true#Post310566

If you have a Mits and are interested in his cal, or if you have any questions, please PM me. It is a little costly ($750) but if you think about how much you spent for your RPTV, you want it to look its best and you should get the most out of it. This price includes travel costs and everything (except Duvetyne if you want it).

If you are in doubt, please go to the Spot and read up on Craig's calibrations.

What kind of HDTV does everyone own???

Found that WITV, Channel 7 (DTV Ch. 49) has requested an extension from their May 1, 2003 on air date to August 2003.

They share the tower at WCSC but had problems with funding the other equipment needed.

Anyone stumbled across any rogue Digital Transmissions from WCBD???

HDSC: remark about WCIV right on the money!

10137two:
How about spending that money you're thinking about getting an ISF calibration with on a place of your own so I can park my car in the garage again?

TW56x81, DST-3000

I was just thinking about checking with this group about their TV models to inquire about potentially getting a ISF calibration. I have a Toshiba 50H82 and read the Toshiba forum on the *************** all the time. There are a number of excellent calibrators who are contribute to the forum and a lot of members have highly recommended the ISF calibration even if you do a lot of tweaks your self. If anyone has an Toshiba and is interested in improving their picture consider joining the HomeTheater SPot and reading their tweak sections. I can highly recommend it.

I have done a lot of tweaks on my set in addition to the standard AVIA settings. I have done electronic and mechanical focus, geometry adjustments and service level convergence. It seems like the most important part of getting a ISF calibration would be to have the grey scale adjusted to the correct level, something that requires advanced equipment to do correctly. Even some of the people who have done most of the tweaks to their sets really appreciate professional calibration.

10137two: What you say about the Audio Warehouse calibrator is interesting because based on your list of what he doesn't do, what does he do, geometry adjustments? Those are one of the easiest things to do. I guess you also read the Spot so you know what the pro. calibrators do and how highly recommended they are.

I am still debating having my set calibrated, because I want to next buy a STB and setup for receiving the new HD signals in Charleston first. So I have been shopping around.

rkdavis: If you are interested in a STB with the potential for DirectTV eventually and a DVI input now Tweeter had the Samsung SIRTS160 for $599 when I checked last week. There was no requirement to sign up with DirectTV for that price, so it could be used as a OTA receiver and if you wanted add DirectTV later for HBO-HD or (hopefully) ESPN-HD in the future you would be ready. KTrout's idea of the OTA box is also good, but it sounds like it will be at least a year before Comcast has any plans for HD in Charleston. I have written to them two times and I think we are just too small of an area. Personally, I am hoping that DirectTV will announce plans to carry ESPH-HD and then I will be able to buy my box.

Andy

KTrout and Andy thanks for the replies ! I guess i'll do a little more thinking on the matter .

Tomorow I'm getting my new speakers via UPS ! I ordered some JBL S38II's and S36II's also speaker stands and an equipment rack so I don't have to stack it on the TV anymore ! I'm also getting ready to order a SVS 20-39PCi sub to finish off my theater soon . My wife is gonna love it when she sees it ;)

Anyways here is a list of my equipment :
TV Toshiba 50H81
rec: Pioneer vsx811s
fronts: Eosone RSF600
center JBLScenterII
rear: won't even talk about them :p
center rear: polk center channel
sub: Velodyne CT12
HD Tuner : Zenith DTV460
DVD : Pioneer DV414
antenna : Silver Sensor

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/demum/theater.JPG

Andrew: Audio Warehouse basically calibrated your HD input (1080i) with a signal generator to ensure colors were correct (including sharpness, contrast, etc.), geometry, calibrate the 100IRE (not grayscale, just 100IRE), Convergence (can't remember if he did Service Level Convergence, or just fine User Convergence???), etc.

The reason they make money doing this is because they have the signal generator that can produce a 1080i signal with calibration standards (like AVIA producing a 1080i signal), and it is tough for you and I to do this; however I do remember something with connecting a VCR in the middle of your DVD and RPTV to produce a 1080i from Avia, but I will have to go back and read up on that again.

Put it this way, Audio Warehouse said it would take 2-3 hours to do the calibration, where an EXPERT ISF should take up to 10-12 hours if they really care about your TV (CraigM takes 12-14 hours). The extra money you spend will definately be worth it in the long run.

KTROUT: If I use the $$ to move out of the garage, can I still split and run a 4 mile coax to my new place? Maybe Eldon will rent me some space under the tower so that I can pitch a tent .....I would be sure to get 100% signal strength then!!

By the way, I have a 2003 Mitsubishi 55511 (55-inch, 511 model)

Some details:
Integrated OTA tuner - Can receive and process OTA and QAM cable 1080i signals with no STB (but I do also use a Hughes E-86 HD STB)
Firewire - Allows connection of 1080i recordable devices (such as HD-VHS), Too much other stuff to explain with Firewire, if you are interested, PM me and I will give you more info (See DVI vs. Firewire)
Netcommand - Universal remote (i.e., MX-500/700) that controls everything
HAVi - Works with Netcommand to change inputs on AVR and turn ON/OFF applicable components, based on the Device watching.

Panny RP-82 DVD Player
2 STB's (Hughes E-86 HD, and another Hughes non-HD for PIP/other rooms)
Sony STRDE-935 AVR
PS2 (that I never use, but should cause I bet it looks good!!!!!)
Cerwin Wega Speakers all the way around
Typical el-cheapo VHF antenna in the attic

I think that's it...........

You know you couldn't get that El-cheapo antenna before the NAFTA agreement a couple of years ago

JeffD - I am assuming that the 'Pioneer vsx811s' AVR is a 6.1ch receiver since you have a rear center speaker. How many DVD's (or other material) is out that broadcasts in 6.1? I am looking at going that route but didn't think there was much to offer in 6.1. I think they even have 7.1 out now (in receivers that is, prob nothing broadcasting 7.1 yet)

JeffD: Nice setup, I bet you are glad you are getting the rack as I would be nervious with those components balanced on the TV.

I have my 50H82 in a corner and I built a shelf unit above it to hold my components and attached the speakers to it to keep everything away from my toddler. I will post a picture and update my list asap.

But, I really have a question about your Silver Sensor. I see it there in the pic, just aimed at a wall. And you get good results right. Is that an outside wall, or does it matter. You can't be any closer (as the crow flys) to the antennas than i am in West Ashley. I might use this as an add on, I actually have a window near by i was planning on mounting in? I am curious about your results.

Andy

Any one ever see it your stb would out put 1080 to TV and 480 from S jack to a SVHS VCR or std TV at the same time.
Jim

Originally posted by oljim
Any one ever see it your stb would out put 1080 to TV and 480 from S jack to a SVHS VCR or std TV at the same time.
Jim

Oljim: if I understand your question, the Samsung 160 has all outputs active according to their literature and talk on other forums. The new Zenith/Sony does not.

Andy

Oljim,
I concur with AndrewG. My Zenith 420 offers 1080i,720p,480p OR 480i, but only one at the time. It gives a warning before switching to 480i that you will lose video if you do not have the composite/s-video output connected to a monitor.

Have any of you guys found a cost effective way to receive OTA and DirecTv? My concern is that if I go to a combo box (Zenith 520, etc) that the DirecTv subscription is then not available to other TVs while that particular box is being used as an OTA receiver. I currently modulate DirecTV to Ch 30, so any other TV can view it, while the primary "TV" gets the direct video feed from the receiver. If I' m watching OTA, someone else can use the Sat receiver. I hate the idea of an extra $5 for every TV, and really dislike knowing that if one of the receivers is a combo box, then it sits idle at times while I pay yet another $5 for an additional TV.


Is there a way around this that I am missing?

Daryal.

Daryal,
I am not sure that I fully understand your question, so if I am way off base here, let me know.

It depends what inputs you have on your TV. For example, I have ANT-DTV (internal OTA HD tuner), and then ANT-A, and ANT-B (for analog OTA SD). If you have this configuration it is easy......but I have a feeling you don't have that.

Let us know what Inputs you have on your TV, and do you have a LOOP OUT on the back of your TV?
Let's just assume that you have atleast one S-video input (we'll call INPUT 1), one component 1080i input (we'll call DTV input), and one analog antenna input (we'll call ANT-A).
I would run the OTA into a splitter (yes you are decreasing the signal strength but by only 3dB....just don't split more than once), run one end of the splitter into the combo STB (for use with OTA HD) and run the other end into the ANT-A of the TV. Then run the Satellite line into the STB, with an S-video (for SD) and component (for HD) coming out of the STB into INPUT 1/DTV respectively. Finally, come out of the STB from SAT OUT with a coax and run to the other rooms (via a splitter system or whatever you have). NOTE: If your STB only allows one output at a time, I hate to say it but I think you are screwed.

This way the only time you need the STB to watch OTA on the main TV is for HD, and if you are not watching HD then the other rooms can watch whatever they want (SAT or OTA). If you want to watch SAT in the main room, the other rooms can watch analog OTA, BUT CANNOT WATCH ANOTHER SAT CHANNEL (you would need 2 STB's for that).

Currently I have 2 STB's for the exact reason that you are discussing (watching other Sat channels in other rooms and MORE IMPORTANTLY to watch 2 different satellite channels on the SPLIT SCREEN. i.e. NFL Sunday Ticket)

Hopefully that helped at least a little...sorry so lengthy.

10137two,

Thanks for the reply. I poorly worded the initial question, so let me try again. Do you know of a set top box that can decode both OTA HD and DirecTV at the same time, to two different outputs. Currently, if I am watching OTA HD, others can use my Hughes DirecTv receiver, which is modulated and sent house wide. If I trade my Zenith 420 OTA-only HD receiver for a 520 (or similar box) that does both OTA and Sat, then I think I will lose this capability. The only answer I know of is an additional DirecTv line. I know it's only $5 a month, but still a waste if the primary line is not being used. Any thoughts?

For what it's worth, my "TV" is a little strange. I use a Sony VPL-VW10HT projector. I tune local analog TV with a VCR, and use a middle of the road Sony A/V receiver for switching. HD receiver video is direct to the projector via one of two DTV inputs. Analog sources are composite or S-video, via the receiver. "Split Screen" is via a cheapo 27" TV.

thanks again for your help.

Daryal

Originally posted by 10137two
JeffD - I am assuming that the 'Pioneer vsx811s' AVR is a 6.1ch receiver since you have a rear center speaker. How many DVD's (or other material) is out that broadcasts in 6.1? I am looking at going that route but didn't think there was much to offer in 6.1. I think they even have 7.1 out now (in receivers that is, prob nothing broadcasting 7.1 yet)

Yes it is a 6.1 receiver . You can checkout http://www.dtsonline.com/home/available.shtml for a list of titles that come in DTS 6.1 . Also it has a feaure where it will run in 6.1 all the time , it's just matrix mode . I usually leave it on that it sounds pretty good . But there is still no substitute for actuall discrete 6.1 .


Originally posted by AndrewG
JeffD: Nice setup, I bet you are glad you are getting the rack as I would be nervious with those components balanced on the TV.

But, I really have a question about your Silver Sensor. I see it there in the pic, just aimed at a wall. And you get good results right. Is that an outside wall, or does it matter. You can't be any closer (as the crow flys) to the antennas than i am in West Ashley. I might use this as an add on, I actually have a window near by i was planning on mounting in? I am curious about your results.

Andy


Oh my goodness you better believe I am happy to get the rack ! But stacked on the TV makes an interesting conversation piece :D . And for the antenna it does just fine pointing to the wall ,it is an outside wall and my house is brick . That is the direction towards Awendaw from my house and it's where I get the strongest signal which is good 90% - 95% strength . I can get Fox and UPN if I move the antenna around the little , like putting it in the window but then I lose reception of 5-1 . It's weird I can't get all 3 channels at one time but I can move the natenna to pick them up . A friend of mine bought one also and he gets a great sig from WCSC too .

And also I sent you a PM in regards to doing tweaks on the Toshiba TV's .

Jeff

Did find out my Samy T151 will output 1080 and 480 at same time. Did anyone have 5-1 dropout last night just before 10 PM?

Daryal
I have not found anything that will put out Both at same time, same thing with duel tuner PVR from Direct and dishnetwork, the new(not out yet) Dish 921 Will be a HD 2 tuner PVR, it will out put 2 Sat ch at same time but not OTA and sat at same time and will not record OTA

I watched JAG, only one drop out, which is rather good for my reception area. Was not watching at 10.

Did anyone notice audio sync problems during JAG? I thought it was my receiver, and rebooted, as this usually seems to help. No change this time. I did notice that the commercials seemed to be in-sync. This would indicate to me a possible problem at either WCSC or CBS. Obviously, if no one else had problems, it's probably an issue with my equipment.

Daryal.

I am not sure about the sync problem, I went to the Sav CBS when WCSC went out. The Sav station was way off on sync. WCSC seems much better than Sav. WTOC I will compare the 2 tonight and see.

Did not have audio sync problems during the first 20 minutes of JAG (Had some work to do).

Did have what seemed like a "source" dropout of 5-1 and 5-2 last night during the 10 pm hour. I say source because my signal strength was still good, it was just acting like the transmitter had no "information" to broadcast.

That is what I had, must have been something at WCSC, I went to Sav. WTOC and it was ok

Well I tell you I don't think it gets any better than this. I find it hard to believe that another station in the country would be so interested in the public. We really owe a lot of thanks to Eldon and staff.

I'm particulary encouraged by the news regarding the HD broadcasts at the end of Eldon's update. I had wondered whether WCSC would be allowed to do this "mulit-casting" (for lack of a better word right now).
Anyway, enough babbling, here's Eldon's update........

"Some of you noticed a problem with our signal last night. One of the computers at the studio that processes the signal locked up and had to be rebooted. Unfortunately, it happened after we had gone home, so one of us had to drive back in to take care of it. The transmitter was still on the air, so there was plenty of signal strength, just no information on the signal. Once we rebooted it, it seems to be working fine, but we'll keep an eye on it. I am sorry it took so long to get it back up, but it took a while to figure out what was wrong.



On another point, the engineer from the transmitter manufacturer is in town to try to get our second amplifier working right. While he is working on it, he will be turning it off and on quite a bit, but we are trying to confine this to daytime. He told me today that he would be here through Friday.



I also have a CBS programming note. CBS will only be sending select NCAA basketball games in HD, and this game may not be the game assigned to us, however, we have been given permission to air whichever game is sent in HD on our digital side regardless of the game we are assigned on the analog side. We may not have the same game on both digital and analog, but we plan to air an HD game on the digital side whenever possible.



You are probably aware that we plan to air the Masters on Saturday, April 12, and Sunday, April 13 in High Definition. It gets better. CBS will send us coverage on Thursday and Friday, the 10th and 11th, and we plan to air this on our digital channel while others can watch the soaps on the analog channel.



Thank you all for the feedback you have given me.



Eldon



WCSC sure is putting the bar way up there.

Think it might be time to start pinging the other stations again.....

I just found out about this forum today and love it!

I just got a Mitsubishi w/integrated tuner and love 5-1. But I can't get DTV 35 or 40. Right now I have a set of RCA rabbit ears on top of the set with and antenna amplifier connected to it.
I get 5-1 and 5-2 pretty much no matter what I do with the rabbit ears; with or without the amplifier.
I have a 18" Directv dish right now and have thought about buying one of those antennas that mount on the dish but have never heard much positive about those antennas. I would mount a good antenna in the attic but my Mitsubishi is on the first floor of my 2 story house and I'm not quite ready to tackle the job running a cable from the attic down to the first floor.
Does anyone have experience with receiving DTV with one of those Directv antennas or does anyone know of a good set-top antenna that might pick up DTV 35 or 40 in Mount Pleasant? And my homeowners assoc. frowns on rooftop or outside antennas, and definitely not on poles.

Thanks!:D

LuvThatHTTV:
Welcome. Not sure what part of Mt. P you live in, but I don't get 35 or 40 either and don't think that even an exterior antenna would help. Their temporary broadcasting tower is so short the signal only goes so far and we're out of luck here in Mt. P for the time being. Conversely, someday all of the signals will originate out of Awendaw so signal strength won't be an issue with us once everyone gets permanent full time installations completed.

Not sure if you saw in earlier threads mention of the tour of WCSC's facility in Awendaw on the 29th, but you are welcome to come. I will be making a map here in the next week or so with directions, don't think it will be that hard to describe.

LUVThat HDTV look at picture on top of this page, Jeffd has one on the right of his TV. The dish clip on are over price junk.

LUVTHATHDTV:
When did you get your Mits? Did you get the 55511?
Not sure how familiar you are with an ISF calibration, but I am trying to get one of the country's best (prob THE best) Mits ISF Tech to Charleston, but he needs more business than just myself.
Let me know if you are interested?

KTrout:
I'm near Dunes West. I thought I might be out of range because they're only low power, but since the antenna amplfier does so well with analog OTA SD I thought I might have a shot with DTV. But I can wait until they all go high power in Awendaw, especially since WSCS has done such an outstanding job so far. I also saw the threads about the tour. If I'm not working I'd love to check it out.

oljim:
Thanks, that's all I've heard about the clip-ons. I think I'll stick with my rabbit ears for now; especially since all the high power antennas will be nearby.

10137two:
I had the 65611 delevered last Wednesday so I haven't had near the minimum time I should have before getting it calibrated. Plus, so far my live-in girlfriend doesn't think it's worth the money. I've read in Sound and Vision magazine all about ISF calibrating and I've tried explaining what they do and why it's worth it, but she doesn't want to spend the money right now. She thinks the Video Essentials DVD is good enough. I'll keep working on her and let you know if she changes her mind.

LuvThatHDTV:
Hope you enjoy the 65611....I heard it was a great TV~!
If you love this site, you will love the *************** even more. It is another site like this, but there are more Mits owners in that forum than anything else (where this site's members generally don't like the Mits.....everyone is entitled to their opinion!!). You can join for only $25 and gain access to the Tweaks section which will tell you how to do manaul/electro focus, geometry, it tells you how to get in the service menus and convergence menus (default) and adjust for "red-push", EVERYTHING!

Here is the link: http://www.***************.com/htsthreads/ubbthreads.php?Cat=

I am not having very good luck with Mits owners and ISF cal in Charleston for bringing Craig here....maybe we can try again next year when you will be ready (keep pushing it on the girl-friend). Just for your reference, this is what he does during an ISF:
http://www.***************.com/htsthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB10&Number=310566&Forum=UBB10&Words=%24750&Match=And&Searchpage=0&Limit=25&Old=6months&Main=310566&Search=true#Post310566

If you don't have Netcommand set up yet and have any questions setting it up, let me know.

Have you guys checked the WCSC web site lately? They now mention their upcoming NCAA tournament HD coverage, and THIS FORUM on their home page. They have a link that brings you directly to the beginning of this thread. Just another sign of WCSC and Eldon's commitment to their HD customers.

Daryal.

A friend of mine found that link on the WCSC page when he was checking the weather, and he asked if I was the AndrewG. Eldon is already getting new people interested in local HDTV, we certainly are lucky to have such an person with an interest in HDTV. Great news about the Masters and March Madness. I thought I had a chance at getting a RCA DTC-100 for $200 that I was going to use for OTA until we find out about ESPN-HD and a sat. commitment, but the store seemed to have problems. So I am trying to make a decision about what to do, I will DirectTV would announce their intentions soon.

10137two: Would you be interesting in considering another calibrator who does Mits and Tosh. There may be additional interest in the area then. There are a number of good ones recommended in the Toshiba area of the Spot. I know you are really interested in your guy but it may be worth considering.

Eliab gets good press in the forum and his company:

http://www.avical.com/Director-RPTV.htm

has different packages and I know he does a lot of "tours".

Just something to keep in mind.

Andy

Nice catch Daryal....very interesting.

Maybe we should start 'pinging' the other non-HD broadcasting stations in the area with the WCSC homepage or the link to this forum. I don't think they understand the number of people that are waiting on them, and how WCSC has blown them away in providing for the Charleston public.

On a serious note.....Thanks to KTROUT for starting the Charleston threads and for his dedication to HD. ELDON FOR PREZ and KTROUT FOR VICE!!! Maybe if we just showed Al Queda (and the Iraqis) the wonderful world of HD, they would all come out of their caves! Everyone knows you can't receive UHF in the mountains!!!
(KTROUT - Hollar down to the garage when dinner is ready!!)

Kind words don't pay the rent....... and once again.... NO SOUP for YOU!!

I went live tonight with HDTV.

I had wanted to buy a top-of-the-line tuner, the Sony HD200, but neither CC nor Tweeter would sell it without a DirecTV contract. It was priced at $799.

I read user reviews on the internet of alternate units such as Samsung, and found some satisfied users, but also many unsatisfied users who reported inherent technical problems.

I decided to go the simple route to try to reduce potential for technical problems, so Tuesday I ordered a Panasonic TU-DST52 tuner from Crutchfield. It sells for $399 and only has OTA capability, and does not have DVI output, which is a feature that I would have preferred. But I wanted to get something "up and running", and I have been satisfied with Panasonic reliability in the past. All of my other equipment is either Sony or Panasonic.

The Crutchfield website showed the Panasonic was out of stock, and would not be available until March 24. I placed my order around 2 PM, expecting to wait two weeks for the shipment. However, they shipped it the same afternoon, and I received it this afternoon. Slightly more than 48 hours after placing the order, I had the unit set up and running. Setup was relatively easy, and the user manual is well written.

I decided to test a Silver Sensor inside antenna, which I purchased from Circuit City, and I am receiving an average 85 signal strength in West Ashley, so there is no need to install an attic antenna as I had originally planned.

I watched CSI this evening, and am delighted with the sharpness of the picture. I had expected the audio to be Dolby 5.1, but I received Dolby Pro Logic on the CSI program. Is the program supposed to be in Dolby 5.1? I might have a problem somewhere in my receiver settings.

rkdavis : Welcome to the wonderful world of HD ! WCSC is not able to broadcast in 5.1 yet , only 2.0 .


Andy : A friend of mine got the Zenith 520 and he loves it ! Plus you know directTV is gonna get ESPN-HD so you mine as well go ahead and break down and buy it ! :D

I have only found one station with DD5.1 WSAV NBC Sav. GA and 2 with IPG WSAV and WLTX CBS Columbia SC.
Jim

10137two:
Thanks for all the info, I will have to check out all the links. Especially the tweaks section. And I love the 65611. I couldn't justify going all the way for the 711 when the 611 looked so good. And it looks even better in the house.
And thanks for the offer about the Net Command but I got it setup. It took longer than I was ecpecting. But it works great, except it doesn't like my JVC VCR. I can control the VCR with the slider switch at the top but the TV won't turn it on. Then again, JVC has about 7 or 8 different codes, unlike most OEM's which only have 1 or 2 so I'm not surprised. But my girlfriend definitely loves it. Especially since my Sony receiver only has one Coax digital input and it's labelled DVD. And now the TV is connected there.
Thanks again for all the help.

I think I read this somewhere else but just wanted to pass on this information since I just witnessed it for myself:
HDNET has a 1080i Test Pattern on at 10:00AM for 3 minutes every morning.

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah.....I don't work Friday's.....so what am I doing?? Playin' with the TV!!

10137two
move your ant around and try 3-1/3-2 in Sav Ga. Not a good day for DX, I can not get Jax Fl or Columbia.

WCSC won't have 5.1 until later this year. Eldon is at CBS's mercy waiting on delivery of a new decoder. And we're pretty low on the totem pole.

lately I have been losing some of the guide info on my Hughes E-86. I have to unplug it and then it will reload the guide data.

What do you think, is my Hughes going bad or is is a problem from Direct TV?

Is there a way to refresh the guide without unplugging the box?

Planenut
I saw some posts on the guide/ direct TV, I will see if I can find it and get back to you. I think the said it was direct tv and had a number to call, not normal CSR
Jim

Anything new to report on Channel 2?

Looking forward to the Masters and March Madness in HD, thank you WCSC!!! I can wait for 5.1

Planenut
It is in the Jacksonville March thread pg1 03-01-03 call 1-800-531-5000 and select option for technical assistance. This may just be an issue local listing for citys that have locals on direct, but I would call and ask. I know some one that has dish with jax locals and the get listing for 7 ch in Jax.
Guide on non dish/direct comes from the stations and of the 19 I have picked up only 2 have listings

I hooked up my STB and antenna today. I was disappointed the 1080 mode locks my Pioneer into Full Mode. Anyway, this afternoon about 5:30 I caught what was what I think was a HD demo show filmed here in Charleston. Has anyone else seen this? It looked AMAZING!!!

What was it called and when will it air again? Anyone know?

I finally got to see the over Charleston demo ! I've seen the aquarium one several times now , it was on before the over Charleston demo . It looked great ! The onlt time I've seen the demos on were around 4:30 and into the 5 o'clock hour . Just like today I turned on the TV at 4:45 and the aquarium was on so I watched it then it flipped to Over Charleston a little after 5 .

I currently get Channel 5-1 which is CBS and 5-2 which is NBC but that's it. What other channels can I get? Why is my channel 5-2 only showing the doppler radar screen?

DarrellC
5-2 is the SD feed from WCSC. WCSC is currently only using 5-2 for doppler 5000.

When WCBD goes online, NBC will be on 2-1.

If you have an outside antenna etc., you might get WTAT FOX (24-1) but their signal is really weak right now.

I agree with the others, the over Charleston Demo was awesome. Saw it for the first time today.

Both are from WCSC ch 5, NBC is not on yet NBC will be on DTV 50 and show up as 2-1

How can I find out when it will be on again?

Why does TitanTV say The District in HD should be on but it is not. Everybody Loves Raymond is on 5-1 instead. Help me!!!

Not sure if we're eligible for "regionalized" coverage of games on Friday, March 21st, but games that we should get (unless disrupted by war) follow:

Friday, March 28th - South Regional, 3rd and 4th round games.

Saturday, April 5th - Ntl. Semi's, 6 - 11pm

Monday - April 7th - Final, 9 - 11pm

If our market is considered part of the Birmingham, AL region then we would also be eligible for four games on Friday the 21st. I sent an e-mail to Eldon to see if he knew about our chances on those games and will let everyone know.

Invite people over, show off HD, and bring more people into, as ESPN says in their ad, "the revolution of resolution".

ANDREWG: I looked at Eliab's calibration page and he is talked about in the Mits forums on the SPOT also. Just a personal preference to me though, I would like to stick with Craig to do my cal. I have to feel confident that (1) the $750 is worth it and (2) the calibrator will do an AWESOME job. Not saying that Eliab won't do a good job, I just feel more comfortable with Craig. Thanks for the option though.

OLJIM: Haven't had a chance to play with my antenna yet, probably won't for about a month...have too much other "honey-do's" going on! But I will let you know if I get anything when I do move it around.

PLANENUT: The same thing used to happen to my guide on my E-86. The only way I could fix it was to "RESET" (unplug for 30 seconds) the receiver. I just connected my phone line last week and haven't had a problem since. Not sure if that fixed it or not??? Do you have your phone line plugged in? Also, not sure if you are aware but you can get the local guide (via the DirecTv guide) on the OTA stations (Ch. 2, 4, 5, 5-1, 7, 24) by entering your zip code in the SETUP menu. I just found that out when I was trying to get 5-1 a couple weeks ago.

Just want to throw in a note about signal strength for everyone......I just rearranged all of my equipment and added a Monster 1000 Surge Protector/Power Conditioner and in doing this I had to add some coax to/from the Surge Protector. After I was done, my signal strength on HDNet went from 86 to 26 and on WCSC from 93 to below 60. <WHAT THE HECK!!!!!!>
Anyway, I found out that I mistakenly used RG-59 coax vs. RG-6. I thought it was RG-6 because it was stamped with "SERIES 6" and I assumed that meant RG-6...well I guess it does not because when I swapped that coax out with an "RG-6" stamped coax, signal strength came back to normal.
LESSON LEARNED: Make sure you use RG-6 for best transmission of digital signals; and if there is any doubt, throw it out!!!

Not sure if you saw this on the home page or not but here is some info about the Mega March Madness that DirecTv is putting on for the NCAA tournament. Hopefully we won't have to worry about this because we should be getting these from WCSC OTA. Anyway here is the article:

EL SEGUNDO, CA, March 17, 2003 - DIRECTV, Inc., the nation's leading digital multichannel service provider, announced today that it will offer select NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship games in high-definition, through the MEGA MARCH MADNESS subscription on the DIRECTV service.

Beginning March 21 on DIRECTV Channel 198, DIRECTV will broadcast up to eight CBS-produced and regionally shown Tournament broadcasts in high-definition format (1080i) from Birmingham, Ala., (March 21st and 23rd) and San Antonio (March 28th).

DIRECTV customers eligible to receive these games in high-definition include:

Residential and commercial DIRECTV customers with a 2003 MEGA MARCH MADNESS subscription and high-definition receiving equipment. These customers will receive the high-definition feed at no additional charge.

Residential DIRECTV customers with high-definition receiving equipment but without a 2003 MEGA MARCH MADNESS subscription. These customers can purchase the high-definition produced broadcasts via pay-per-game ordering for $24.95 a game.

Beginning March 20, DIRECTV customers who purchase MEGA MARCH MADNESS will receive up to 37 out-of-market CBS-produced broadcasts from the first three rounds, including the Sweet 16, of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship for $49.


What genius came up with the $24.95/game or $49 for all games???
Also, if DIrecTv has the bandwidth for this (and Pay-per-view), they should get rid of the HD Pay-Per-View and use that channel for ESPN-HD. What's the hold-up??

This just goes to show you that DirecTv IS INTERESTED in carrying HD content (i.e. ESPN)! DirecTv, you got two weeks to say you are carrying ESPN-HD or you will lose ALOT of business!

Is anyone esle getting lot of drop puts lately ? It seems i'm getting atleast 2 - 3 dropouts per show now . It's really annoying ! I e-mailed Eldon about it and he said he would look into it and re check some stuff .

RELAY from Eldon:
Here is the latest on the NCAA games. The only games this weekend that will be produced in HD will be those played in Birmingham. There will be four games on Friday and two games on Sunday produced in HD. Our plans right now are to air these games on the digital side regardless of which games we are assigned on the analog side. Also, please be aware that the war may affect any or all of these games. That said, as of right now, here are the games we have been assigned for Thursday and Friday. We have not received the assignments for Saturday and Sunday yet.

Thursday March 20. (no HD games available)
12:25 PM California vs North Carolina State
2:45 PM Oklahoma vs South Carolina State
7:10 PM Illinois vs Western Kentucky
9:40 PM Duke vs Colorado State

Friday, March 21
12:30PM Kentucky vs. IUPUI
2:45PM Wake Forest vs. East Tennessee State
7:20PM Louisville vs. Austin Peay (simulcast in HD)
9:45PM Maryland vs. UNC-Wilmington

Games produced in HD (we plan to air these games on the digital side):
Friday, March 21
12:30PM Texas vs. UNC-Asheville OR Texas Southern
2:50PM - LSU vs. Purdue
7:20PM - Louisville vs. Austin Peay
9:40PM - Mississippi State vs. Butler

SUNDAY, MARCH 23
2:20PM Mississippi State/Butler vs. Louisville/Austin Peay
4:50PM Texas/Winner of UNC Ash/TX Southern vs. LSU/Purdue

I hope you all enjoy the weekend!

Eldon

NOT SURE IF I AM WASTING SPACE HERE OR NOT.....Does anyone NOT get Eldon's emails? Are they worth replicating on this site?

I, for one, do not get his emails. I appreciate you relaying them.

Randy

I feel that we should put information from Eldon on the forum. More people will join this forum and I think it's important for them to see WCSC's dedication to HD in this area. It's pretty rare to get so much involvement from a station engineer.

That being said, all those interested in getting the e-mails directly should e-mail Eldon @ ebrown@wcsc.com and simply request that he add you to the HD mailing list.

Guess i'll ask again .

Is anyone else getting lot of drop puts lately ? It seems i'm getting atleast 2 - 3 dropouts per show now .


KTrout : I sent you a PM about the Awendaw Tour a few days ago and have yet to hear anything . What's the word are we still on , where are we going to meet and all that good stuff .

JeffD:
Sorry to not get back to you.

I don't have a comment on the drop-outs because I haven't had a chance to watch much TV lately.

The tour is still on and I've created a map on how to get there. I went out there last weekend and realized it's not really that confusing, i mean, on one stretch of highway 17 you see the damn thing right in front of you. But the turn is a little tricky because you lose sight of the tower because of trees. I will post it early next week with a reminder that it's still happening (it's on the website if you're really curious). Unless of course activities overseas prevent Eldon from being available. I will check on that sometime this weekend as well.

To all:
Chance to tour WCSC's broadcast tower in Awendaw and see both analog and digital transmission equipment. Including new power source, combiner, cooling system etc. The magnitude of the tower is quite impressive. This is happening on Saturday the 29th at 1pm. I will post a similar message early next week.

JeffD,

I had probably about a half dozen dropouts during JAG Tuesday night. About half were quick enough that I just lost A/V to the projector, the other half were long enough that the receiver gave up and sent the "no signal" message to the projector. In all cases, it came back up within 5-10 seconds. Keep in mind that I live way out, and still have not fine tuned my antenna, so I am probably more susceptible to environmental effects than some folks are.

Daryal.

Just got the following from Eldon:

I hate to tell you all this, but I have just been informed that because of copyright issues, we are not able to air games on the digital side that have not been assigned to us. No one in this building is particularly happy about this, but we can't leave ourselves open to legal action against us. This means that the only true HD game we will have is on Friday, March 21 at 7:20PM, the Louisville vs. Austin Peay game. We have not received our Saturday and Sunday assignments yet, so we may get the two Sunday HD games. We also don't yet know what the war coverage is going to do to us. We will have to take that as it comes. This also means that we will not be allowed to carry the games on the digital channel if CBS preempts the analog channel for war coverage. We will be forced to carry the same thing on both analog and digital.

I apologize for this, but we really weren't given a choice.

Eldon Brown

Daryal.

Got this e-mail from Eldon :
FYI,



We have gotten the transmitter up to speed. We are now at full power. Please let me know if you notice any difference.



Have a great weekend!



Eldon



And I guess im not the only one not getting the AP vs Lou game in HD . Someone flip the switch ! Please !

I'm watching the Austin Peay game and it does not appear to be in HD. Anyone notice this?

Yea, SD. Not sure if CBS isn't broadcasting, or WCSC didn't program the switch. A little bit frustrating considering I have guests that were looking forward to it being in HD as much as I was.

Me too. I sure look dumb since I invited some guys over to see what I have been bragging about. ARRRRGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a let down I too invited some friends over to show but ofcourse no HD game .

I missed the game so I guess I didn't miss much after all. But I got the Sony SAT HD 200. HDNet looks amazing.

Got a note from Eldon today and there was a lot of confusion this weekend in regards to what could be aired etc.... he was out sick all weekend and didn't really get a chance to keep up with what was going on. Things will be better in the future, and lets face it there was a lot of changes being made because of the war. I'm going to e-mail and see if the games that Ken H. has posted for next Friday and Sunday from San Antonio will be available to us. I'll be sure to fill you in unless someone finds out before me.

Anyway, he also asked about how many people will be attending the tour this weekend and he was excited about it. For those that don't know, this Saturday afternoon (29th) at 1 pm we've arranged for a tour of WCSC's facility in Awendaw. It's their main broadcast tower and contains both the digital and analog transmitters. It's also an opportunity to meet Eldon (and others here on AVS) and ask any questions that you might have. There's no tickets, just show up and bring anyone that you want. I've invited a few people from work and hope to drag my wife as well.

Anyway, I hope that people can make it out. It's not that far out of town and not hard to find. I've attached a map below, and if it's not clear or you would like additional instructions just PM me and I'll make sure you can find it.

Have a good week.
Mark

Sorry that I must go to NC sat and miss the WCSC tour, I am not sure about who can carry what, but all the games were on HD from WTOC -CBS in Sav. Did FOX 24 change anything? have been getting it down here for the last few days.
Jim

OlJim:
Sorry that you won't be able to make the tour.

I tried to pick up 24 this evening without any luck. I'm not sure what you're getting down there. Any chance it's not originating in Charleston?

It was Fox 24-1, tonight I got 19-1 19-2 /25-1 25-2 /57-1 from Columbia.

You must have a heck of an antenna ! I'm no more than 20 miles from the Fox antenna and get about 60% signal strength !

Jeff
I have a CM 1160 VHF/UHF w amp it is 190 in long on 36 ft tower. Also use a CM 9521 rotor that reads deg and can program 69 positions. So for I have located 21 stations. as far as Orlando Fl. 250 miles

oljim:
that's a pretty impressive set-up. i can't even pull in Fox here in Mt. Pleasant, but only have indoor antenna. If i had known you could pull in stations that far away before the Superbowl i might have put up something outside to get ABC out of Columbia.

You should give it a try, ABC is 25-1/25-2 DO not use your ch scan when looking for other stations, use the add/del and try one ch at a time, this way you will not drop any you have in mem.

Here's programming info from WCSC

Here are the games we have been assigned for Thursday and Friday, 3/27 and 3/28:

Thursday 03/27/03
7:10PM Kentucky vs Wisconsin
9:57PM Duke vs Kansas

Friday 03/28/03
7:27PM Texas vs Connecticut
9:40PM Syracuse vs Auburn

Neither of the games on Thursday are available in HD. On Friday, only the games out of the Alamodome in San Antonio are in HD.

Eldon

I believe the game on Sunday from San Antonio might be in HD as well.

DARN!!!!!!
I was hoping they would show the Oklahoma State game!!!!





((((((Sorry Kilgore....had to say it.))))))

which of their two SUCCESSFUL national championship games were you hoping to see???

Im new to the forum and am really lookin forward to the tour on Saturday..hope to pick some brains and learn mor about HD. I have a Hitachi HD tuner..have not bought a set top box..as of yet

Hey guys I got this e-mail from channel 2 if anyone is interested !


The current plan is to start on-air testing on or around April 11. I would like to hear from you after we begin the test.

Thanks for watching Count On 2,

Jack Becknell
Operations Manager
WCBD-TV

That's good news about Channel 2. I'm interested to see if OlJim will be able to get their signal, my guess is yes since he zoned in on Fox's.

We'll see today firsthand WCIV's progress (or lack thereof). I really would like to see some Stanley Cup action this year in HD.

Thanks to Eldon and Mike for showing us the facilities yesterday at the tower. I learned a little bit more about how this all works and comes together. For all those that could not attend here's some items of note.

1) WCSC Engineers are aware of the drop-outs but haven't been able to trace their source to date. Seems the problem is sporadic and cannot be linked to a certain piece of equipment. They are still trouble shooting and hope to resolve the problem soon.

2) The war and CBS's coverage of it has caused a lot of confusion regarding what was able to be broadcast in HD for the NCAA tournament. Unfortunately, this may carry over into the Masters as well pending our involvement in the war.

3) A tour of the WCSC's main station will be set-up for the near future.

4) A broadcast time for "Over Charleston" will also be set-up in the near future as well.

Might be posting some additional pictures from the tour on the website.

Have a good week,
Mark

By the way..... WCIV does not seem interested in bringing HD to the Lowcountry. I understand that it is a financial strain, but at the same time the FCC did mandate the technology be made available (by 5/1/2001) and many of us have purchased equipment specifically to enjoy it.

Please contact WCIV's parent company representative at jfritz@allbrittontv.com and ask when they plan to begin broadcasting a high definition signal.

The last correspondence I received indicated their target date was late spring. I don't believe they can make that date and now I'm even concerned that next years Monday Night Football games might be in jeopardy.

Thanks for your help.

Sorry I missed the tour but I got called to work ! Sounds like it was interesting ! And I'm glad to hear something about the drop-outs . I thought it as my antenna ! Because with a 90% or better signal I was getting drop - outs that's why I asked the question last week .


And as far as WCIV I've sent an e-mail a day to the 3 people on your webpage KTrout for the last 2 weeks and no one has responded yet ! Unbeliveable , I thought someone would atleast repsond and say something . I guess I will have to send 2 a day to those 3 individuals .

Anyone have any drop-outs during the basketball game yesterday? I can't remember any. Also, my STB is providing programming info. Anyone else getting this as well? Eldon indicated that they weren't doing it at WCSC and that it must be info passed through by CBS.

Another observation, my center channel seems a little low at times during the Bball. Might just be a way my receiver is passing the 2.0, but wondering if anyone else is experiencing this? Crowd noise made play by play announcer hard to hear at times.

Have a good week. Have NCAA semi's on Saturday and Final Monday night to look forward to on 47. Do those honey do's early on Saturday.

Mark

Originally posted by KTrout
Also, my STB is providing programming info. Anyone else getting this as well? Eldon indicated that they weren't doing it at WCSC and that it must be info passed through by CBS.


A friend of mine told me he was getting program info on his as well . I however am not because my HD box ( Zenith HD420 ) does not have the capability to do it .


Originally posted by KTrout
Crowd noise made play by play announcer hard to hear at times.

I noticed this too when I watched Friday . I kept turning it up but the crowd got louder and the announcers did not !

I second (or third) the programming info on the guide (STB is Hughes E-86) for 5-1 and the low announcer's voice.

Actually, it really annoys me because my TV cannot "stretch" the SD Digital picture so when commercials come on I have to switch the channel to analog 5 so that I don't get burn-in from the black bars (4:3)...I may be a little paranoid, I know. Anyway I have to turn the volume up pretty high on 5-1 and then during commercials when I switch to analog 5 the sound is VERY LOUD (and clearer). It is not just your receiver.

OH.....THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS WE ALL SUFFER THROUGH to watch HD. :-)

Update from Eldon. Also he points out a calibrator will be in town.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I just received a note from CBS about the Final Four. They tell me that the Final Four Show from 4PM to 6PM will be upconverted, then the games from 6PM to 11PM (approximate) will be in HD. They also said the game on Monday night from 9PM to 11:30PM will be in HD.

I have to be out of town for these games, so I won't be able to watch them. I hope the weekend goes well for everyone. On another note, Tony has asked that I forward the following about Gregg Loewen:

This guy Gregg Loewen is on a Calibration Tour and claims he is coming thru Charleston in the summer. I have seen his name on Home Theater Forum and other forums and he gets glowing reviews of his work. I contacted him and was wondering if you could pass on his web site on your next correspondence to other interested parties on your mailing list. http://www.lionav.com This guy is the real deal and would be a good opportunity for us to get tweaked.


I'll pass on audio observations to WCSC.

Anyone getting any responses from WCIV?

Mark

I asked WCIV about their plans for HD and Jerry Fritz replied with this message "Thank you for your inquiry regarding WCIV's digital television plans. After some unanticipated delays, we are expecting WCIV's new digital transmitter to be delivered from the manufacturer within the next two weeks. Once it is in, we will commence installation with a target to be on the air by mid-May. We appreciate your patience."

I got the same e-mail ! Glad someone is atleast answering them ! I know WCIV won't you have to go to the parent company which is pretty sad ! Good news is though we will get to see Monday Night Football this year !

Im due to receive a Direct TV satellite pkg on Friday. Can anyone suggest a good installer? Im also thinking of buying a Terk TV-55 indoor/outdoor antenae. Anybody have anything good or bad to say abouth the Terk TV-55?

I generally consider myself a positive person, but here's why I don't think mid may is possible for WCIV

In July I was told 1st Quarter 2003
In October I was told December 3, 2002
On December 6th I was told the equipment was ordered and they hoped for the end of January.
On January 20th they were waiting for delivery of transmission line, transmitter and microwave equipment and hoped to be on the air in a few months.
On March 4th "Late spring is our target".

We saw first hand at the tower that construction has not yet started.

Again, I don't mean to be so negative, but after getting the run-a-round............

I REALLY wanted to see the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year in HD and I guess that after communicating with the FCC about their channel change requests and trying to help out I figured it just might happen. Perhaps that's why I come off as a little bitter. Enough therapy.

Please prove me wrong WCIV. Need some help running conduit, hauling pipe around let me know. I'd like to help........I just want to watch a little Stanley Cup.

Do I sound pathetic or what?

Keep writing, it does make a difference.

antennaweb.org shows WCIV live date as May 1 , 2003

http://antennaweb.org/aw/stations.asp

that's only because that is the date of the second 6 month extension that some stations were granted by the FCC. WCIV asked for an extension in December but didn't state until when.

Shuttlermaker
Forget the Terk 55 they are over priced junk. You can do just as good with a coat hanger.As for your Direct TV, easy to do your self.
Jim

My Direct TV package arrives tomorrow...im so pumped. Probably wont be able to get it running till Saturday morning. Thanks for the advice on the Terk 55

shuttermaker:
be careful when you hear oljim say something is easy :p
he's installed an automated 36' high antenna system down there in beaufort that could probably pick up a signal from the moon

he's right about the terk.
good luck saturday am.

on another note, we might have some news regarding WCIV. another AVS member will most likely be posting some news (hopefully good) soon.

I am the proud owner of a new Samsung Ts-160 and a DirectTv subscriber had my install today and watch my first episode of CSI tonight in HD. The picture was incredible :D

I have a small combo RS antenna I bought a few years ago in the attic. I aimed it the other day in the general direction of the Awendaw towers and I got WCSC today at >95 signal strength. During the channel scan I also got FOX and UPN DTV stations as well. Some signal loss from FOX but i am getting about 63% signal.


I also have a Hughes Director in the bedroom which was part of the deal for the Triple LNB dish install. D* is fine on that receiver but had a D* had a problem with my access card for the Samsung (it was new!) and so I haven't seen HDNet or HBOHD, should be up tomorrow since D* is FedEx a new card overnight. Will report then.

Andy

While doing some scans I found WCBD-DT (2-1) on the list. No signal, but something that causes the STB to find it. I hope this is a preview of something good to come.

Andy

Andy glad you got your stuff and finally enjoyed some HD programming ! And as far as WCBD I have them programmed in my box and check signal strength daily to see if something will pop up . And with FOX and UPN with my Silver Sensor I can get either Fox or UPN I can't get both no matter how much I move my antenna !


KTrout come on spill the beans about WCIV !

I'm not one to hold my tongue. Info regarding WCIV is not coming from me, we'll have to wait until someone else makes contact and has some information. I try not to out people unless they want to be involved. Believe me that's the whole reason I'm checking the forum now. I'm anxious to see the results of the conversation.

AndrewG:
Congrats, sounds like you're up and running. I saw that WCBD-DT (2-1) back in January and still am not sure why. At first I thought they were doing testing, but I think DirecTV has it programmed for some reason as a viable source. I remember that it came up after I entered my zip code for the source parameters.

Originally posted by KTrout
Congrats, sounds like you're up and running. I saw that WCBD-DT (2-1) back in January and still am not sure why. At first I thought they were doing testing, but I think DirecTV has it programmed for some reason as a viable source. I remember that it came up after I entered my zip code for the source parameters.

That makes sense, it came up after I redid my zip code submission and rescanned and let it download the guide info. I never got any signal power.

Who has the WCIV news !

Does anyone have a Series 2 TiVO and Direct TV ...working together...as theyre supposed to...cause mine isnt?

"USA Networks will make its first foray into high-definition television next week by carrying the first two days of the Masters"

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hollywoodreporter/television/brief_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1855872

Satellite 101 (A) signal strength is 92
Satellite 110 (C) signal strength is 91

No signal at all from Satellite 119 (B). I had this system "professionally installed" by Affordable Cable Svcs. Can anyone help with Satellite 119(B) ?

shuttermaker:
Is yours a Triple LNB dish? I just installed mine about 2 weeks ago and initially had zero signal strength on Sat B and A and C were around 85. I Only got B once I rotated the dish correctly. (Clockwise or counter-clockwise). Single LNB dishes (18" round) only cared about Elevation and Azimuth but the newer Double and Triple LNB dishes also need have the rotation of the dish adjusted. The settings for Mount Pleasant are an Azimuth of 233 degeres, an Elevation of 40 degrees and a Rotation of the dish of 53 degrees

It is a triple LNB.. Azimuth is at 232 Elevation is at 45.8 and Tilt is at 52. Setup has the dish as an "Oval Dish 3" my zip code is 29455

If I change my setup as an Oval Dish 2...I get a signal of 90 on Satellite 101 and I get a signal of 90 on Satellite 119 ..where as if i set the configuration as an Oval Dish 3 i had no signal on Sat 119

shuttermaker:
Can you get near your dish to see if it looks like it's aligned correctly? There should be markings on the dish and mounting pole which should show how it's aligned. This of course assumes that the pole is level to begin with. Do the LNB's look like they are about 53 degrees off of the horizontal? When facing the dish the right side of the LNB mount should be higher than the left side. (see attached photo)
If all the mounting looks good than it may be a hardware issue. Such as a problem with cabling or with the 5X4 multi-switch or even the receiver. My receiver is setup for Oval - 3 satellites.
Is your dish similar to mine where the multi-switch is combined with the LNBs at the front of the dish, or is your multi-switch separate and you have 5 cables going from the dish to the multi-switch? It's it's separate it could be a problem with cabling between the LNB and multi-switch.
Or it could simply be an alignment issue. I had to move my dish further away from the house with the new dish because the 6" wider dish was partially blocked by the house and it wasn't before?
Other than that I don't know what to tell you.

My dish appears to be positioned just like yours...and the switch is combined with with the LNBs.. i am beginning to think that the roof is blocking part of the dish. I have the installation guy coming back out tomorrow

I tried the WCIV contact via phone on Friday and left a message. He returned my call later in the day but I was'nt home. I Will try again Monday. Sorry guys

shuttermaker:
i've got the oval dish and bought the sat-c kit so i'm not any help. had bridge run company in this weekend so haven't had a chance to visit until now. installer should correct problem, he might not have been familiar w/ 3rd LNB.

guess "deepthroat" is out of the bag. planenut will run down questions at WCIV.

don't forget that this Friday is when WCBD is supposed to begin broadcasting. Please check reception, feedback is helpful.

Just wanted to let everyone know that all satellites are coming in strong. Satellite 101 signal of 98 to 100 Satellite 119 signal of 96 and Satellite 110 signal of 98. Thanks very much for everyones help and advice. We ended up moving the dish about 40 ft from its first location. Now, to work on the over the air reception.

shuttermaker: Congrats and Enjoy!

I have started to experience a problem. On lots of channels that i watch thru DirecTV i get intermittent color prisms and then a black screen that usually lasts just a second or two. I dont think im experiencing what ive heard referred to digitizing. Anyone familiar with this..Am I making sense?...lol

Sounds like it might be rain-fade

The problem im experiencing appears to be like the chroma bug i used to have with my previous DVD player.

Problem fixed..i had my component cables from the satellite receiver going into the component inputs of my surround receiver then out of the surround receiver to the HDTV monitor...ran them straight to the HDTV monitor...problem fixed.

Information from a phone conversation with Tony Ukrainzow at WCIV Monday morning:

They will be using the Channel 5 antenna and tower.

The transmitter is supposed to arrive this Wednesday.
Studio equipment for them to receive HD and DD5.1 is scheduled to arrive on 4/28/03.

DD 5.1 from day 1.

Construction to begin the end of April 2003.

Transmission to begin before May 15th 2003.

SD upconverted during the day and automatically switching back to HD during HD programming.

Low power only for a while due to expense of High power but signal is expected to go beyone Summerville.

Tony was very friendly,
His email is tukrainzow@wciv.com if I did not get all the questions answered.
Sorry this was so late, I just got back from Flying all day.
Billy

shuttermaker: congrats as well and hope you had your OTA in time for tonights game. if not, there's the masters at the end of the week.

planenut: thanks for the update. i'm glad to hear that tony was receptive to answering inquiries. again just proving that corporate is where the problem lies. now if only they can get things up before Lord Stanley's Cup is challenged.

Hey all. Very informative stuff. I have a question though - are the local Charleston channels available from DirecTV? DTV says that I need a waiver from the local stations to get any local service at all. From what I have read here, it sounds like you are receiving the local channels from DTV in high def. Please let me know how I can do this. Thanks in advance!!!!

Khristie

Nope, no local from DirecTv, only OTA

khrishoge : The only way to get locals through satellite is getting a waiver from the local stations . But your more likely to hit the Carolina pick 5 than get a waiver .

The only true HD channel so far is CBS channel 5 . Fox is broadcasted in their enhanced 480p widescreen OTA . Also channel 2 reports they will start testing their OTA HD starting April 11 , let's hope this goes through ! And as far as channel no time soon !

Channel 2 dtv channel 50 : Start testing April 11th

channel 4 : ???????????????

Channel 5 dtv channel 47 : Now live HDTV

Fox 24 dtv channel 40 : now live , enhanced 480p widescreen

upn 36 dtv channel 35 : nowlive

This may sound like a dumb question but, is there a better way of aiming an OTA antenna?

shuttermaker:
you can go to www.antennaweb.org, enter your address and then see which direction to best "aim" your antenna. however, that is only applicable to Channel 47 (CBS) as Fox has temporarily mounted their digital transmitter at their studio location on Arco Lane (approx. intersection of I-26 and 526).

Other than that, child labor is cheap if you need someone to "adjust" the antenna.

I just push a button on my rotor remote.

:p

Any good unidirectional antennas? I don't really want to put a rotator on mine but I would like to get FOX as well as CBS. I gave up FOX when CBS came on and just get FOX via cable.. I currently have a CM 4228.

Khrishoge
Waivers will not help with locals, You must live in the DMA of a city the that has locals on Direct TV or Dish (about 70 miles) If you live outide the 70 mile,grade B area you can get or try to get waivers for distant networks from NY and LA. Only other way to get networks is with an RV waiver. I am in the Sav. GA DMA but still had to get waivers from Charleston and Sav. I did get waivers for ABC and Fox a few yrs ago. Direct TV is going to add Columbia some time this yr. but that will only be for someone that is in Columbia DMA.
Jim

Ive been trying to get my satellite signal to pass thru my Series 2 TiVo. I have an OTA antenna signal and an Oval Dish 3 signal from DirecTV, both these signals come into my home thru a diplexer. The only signal that I can successfully get to show up thru my TiVo is the OTA signal. If I cant get BOTH the dish AND the OTA signal into my TiVo then I would prefer that I receive the dish signal. After trying numerous wiring configurations, the only signal i can get to come into the TiVo is the OTA. I have a Series 2 TiVo.....Hughes HIRD-E8 Satellite reciever and a Hitachi Ultravision HDTV monitor. Any suggestions?

How do you have the TIVO hooked to TV?

I have composite cables out of the TiVo in to the TV...that set up gives me no signal...if i run coax out of the TiVo int the TV i get only OTA signal

Thanks for the quick response

Mike

component not composite ...sorry

How do you feed the direct TV to TiVo

component cables out of driect tv in to the tivo input and coax from the antenna out on the direct tv to the RF in on the TiVo

WCBD Update
I was included in a group mail of trash talking Syracuse fans and happened to notice an e-mail address of someone from WCBD in the group. So I emailed and asked if they were going to be broadcasting in HD on Friday. He replied that they hope to be up this evening, but definitely by the end of the day tomorrow. I don't know this person, but his lingo leads me to believe there may some validity to it. Might be worth a try this evening.

shuttermaker: waiting for HD Tivo, can't help, sorry.

KTrout: excellent news