Greetings .....

I thought I saw or heard where the major Montgomery TV stations would have a 30-minute joint telecast on the Digital TV Switch. This special program was to air on Monday February 16th at 6:30 PM Central (7:30 PM, Eastern).

Is that program still going to air as scheduled ???

Thanx-A-Lot, Frank-0-Video

That has been cancelled due to the "recent improvements" made to the transition. Basically all MGM stations are going at different times:

The BIG 8: 12/1/08 (FIRST in Stereo, FIRST in Digital, LAST in color)
12: 6/12 (They are only authorized for 1.1kw right now and didn't want to chance it; they believe their 30kw will be approved by 6/12)
20: 2/17 (at last! 460kw from Grady but directional to the north)
26: 2/17
32 (and CW22): 4/1 (88kw from Gordonsville for 32. Might be "elusive".
67: Never (at least at this point)

Greetings ...

Thanks WAKA-8.

If WSFA does indeed get the OK on 30-KW power, how will that help them in-so-far-as coverage area is concerned?

Also, I was under the impression that maximum transmitting power for a given digital channel would be only 20% of what the maximum would be in analog? Under that assumption, channels 7-13 could transmit digitally at a max of 63-KW (20% of 316-KW in analog). Is that assumption correct or not?

Thanx-A-Lot, Frank-0-Video

20 is going to 460kw??? Can that be right? From the weakest to the most powerful by a factor of 5 times more powerful than the next hightest?

Greetings ...

Thanks WAKA-8.

If WSFA does indeed get the OK on 30-KW power, how will that help them in-so-far-as coverage area is concerned?

Also, I was under the impression that maximum transmitting power for a given digital channel would be only 20% of what the maximum would be in analog? Under that assumption, channels 7-13 could transmit digitally at a max of 63-KW (20% of 316-KW in analog). Is that assumption correct or not?

Thanx-A-Lot, Frank-0-Video

No. The FCC has a sliding scale of allowed power that varies with height above the average terrain. WSFA has applied for the FCC limit of 31 kW for their given height.

I have a calculator of that power level on my site: http://www.rabbitears.info/calc.php

20 is going to 460kw??? Can that be right? From the weakest to the most powerful by a factor of 5 times more powerful than the next hightest?

They wanted 1000 kW but the FCC wouldn't let them have it due to interference concerns with Dothan and Montgomery.

But yes, though WAKA-DT will be at 1000 kW, so shouldn't that be even better? :D

- Trip

20 is going to 460kw??? Can that be right? From the weakest to the most powerful by a factor of 5 times more powerful than the next hightest?

HEY! Don't forget the BIG 8 will be at 1MW...not only the station with the happy difference but the biggest :o

HEY! Don't forget the BIG 8 will be at 1MW...not only the station with the happy difference but the biggest :o

Biggest WHAT? Stick? :p

So if WSFA 12 is currently broadcasting at 600kw on uhf 14 and I get a 90% signal in Montgomery, I can expect a much weaker or no signal when they transition to vhf 12 @ 31kw?

So if WSFA 12 is currently broadcasting at 600kw on uhf 14 and I get a 90% signal in Montgomery, I can expect a much weaker or no signal when they transition to vhf 12 @ 31kw?

Assuming you have a VHF antenna, the signal might actually be stronger. VHF requires much less power than UHF to cover the same area, and propagates better as well.

- Trip

Greetings Trip,

Assuming that WSFA gets approved for 31-KW transmission power, will their digital-12 coverage area remain the same as analog-12 or not? FYI - I am in the Phenix City/Russell County area.

Thanx-A-Lot, Frank-0-Video

Greetings Trip,

Assuming that WSFA gets approved for 31-KW transmission power, will their digital-12 coverage area remain the same as analog-12 or not? FYI - I am in the Phenix City/Russell County area.

Thanx-A-Lot, Frank-0-Video

Theoretically, assuming no outside interference, the coverage should be equivalent or larger, assuming the appropriate VHF antenna is installed. Indoor antennas may suffer more regardless of power level. (One station is doing 85 kW on channel 7 and has requested a move to UHF because people were unable to receive it reliably on indoor antennas.)

- Trip

From the horse's mouth, channel 12 will leave on their analog transmitter.

Although I have no experience with this I have read that UHF antennas should be able to recive high vhf channels. For those of us with UHF only outdoor antennas should we still be okay with WSFA when they move the digital from UHF to VHF 12?

For those of us with UHF only outdoor antennas should we still be okay with WSFA when they move the digital from UHF to VHF 12?

What antenna do you have? A CM4221 or CM4228 should still pick up VHF- hi pretty well.

From the horse's mouth, channel 12 will leave on their analog transmitter.

FCC targets some TV stations shutting analog
2/12/2009, 5:25 p.m. CST By PETER SVENSSON The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — The Federal Communications Commission has told a Mobile TV station and 122 others that were planning to stick to the Feb. 17 cutoff date for analog broadcasts that they will have to justify not extending their transmissions for four months.

Other affected stations are in or near Santa Barbara and Bakersfield, Calif., Dayton, Ohio; Eugene, Ore.; La Crosse and Madison, Wis.; Billings, Mon.; Lincoln, Neb.; Sioux City, Iowa; Topeka and Wichita, Kan.; Waco, Texas; Pensacola, Fla.; and Providence, R.I., among others.
These are areas where all of the major-network stations have applied to turn off their signals on Feb. 17, the commission said in a statement late Wednesday.

Full-power TV stations have been planning for years to turn off analog signals on Feb. 17 to make room for more efficient digital broadcasting, two-way wireless data services and emergency communications.

But as the deadline loomed, funding ran out for the program that subsidized digital TV converter boxes for older sets. Concerned that households were not sufficiently prepared to tune in to digital broadcasts, Congress passed a bill giving stations the option of waiting until June 12 to turn off. President Barack Obama signed the bill into law this week.

That sent stations scrambling to figure out when to turn off, and 491 of the country's 1,796 stations applied to the FCC to keep the Feb. 17 date, partly thwarting the intent of the bill.

The FCC has asked the targeted stations to certify by Friday that at least one station in the market will continue to broadcast information about the transition and local news in analog for at least two months. They will also have to, individually or together with other stations, operate call centers and walk-in centers to help viewers tune in to the digital transmissions.

The commission will waive these requirements for stations that have other strong reasons to end analog broadcasts, like the loss of their antenna site.

The commission will waive these requirements for stations that have other strong reasons to end analog broadcasts, like the loss of their antenna site.

Like the analog transmitter is in the dumpster and hauled off about 2 weeks ago. :)

That was a good move. Bet the other stations wish they had done that.

What antenna do you have? A CM4221 or CM4228 should still pick up VHF- hi pretty well.

It's an AntennasDirect long range UHF (forget the model number). I should be okay.

Like the analog transmitter is in the dumpster and hauled off about 2 weeks ago. :)

That was a good move. Bet the other stations wish they had done that.

Hey Jim how are things on that side of the hill? I finially have everything working in the HT. If you would like to check it out holler at me. :)

What was that website that you could watch Primetime TV shows?

Hey Jim how are things on that side of the hill? I finially have everything working in the HT. If you would like to check it out holler at me. :)

Will do. Check your PMs.

Ok

What was that website that you could watch Primetime TV shows?
I just use network web page Fox CBS ABC NBC . Some in HD:D

What was that website that you could watch Primetime TV shows?

http://www.hulu.com?

I just use network web page Fox CBS ABC NBC . Some in HD:D


Download them to your Popcorn Hour too. :)

The reason I asked is because my wife likes Ghost Whisperer on CBS. 2 weeks in a row I have dropped the ball on recording it for her because of recording conflicts and I'm in the dog house. All I can find is clips.

Does anybody with Dish know when the Montgomery locals will be avail. They were apparently uplinked on the 21st of Jan.
steve

Does anybody with Dish know when the Montgomery locals will be avail. They were apparently uplinked on the 21st of Jan.
steve

I've heard that it should be early March. However, don't count on anything with Dish.

I've finished the first phase of the CBS audio changes, let me know if anyone notices any audio issues, loudness problems, etc.

Russ

For what it's worth, when the end credits come up after a CBS primetime show (when switching from 5.1 to stereo), the sound level jumps greatly...like 6dB louder. I'm listening to the AC3 through an AVR. I understand, though, it will work that with the way CBS had you set it up. :)

the way CBS had you set it up. :)

Having worked very closely with another network on their audio..one who manages to provide everything in 5.1 all the time, even if it is upmixed..
CBS could do this much better. But who am I to question them?

CBS could do this much better. But who am I to question them?

Fox isn't bad at all. At least they up-mix it properly. But ABC doesn't (at least WNCF). Maybe it's a temporary thing (fingers crossed), and CBS will resolve it. Or maybe if they won't listen to their affiliates' engineers, they'll listen to viewer complaints. ;)

I don't think they would have made these changes as a recommendation from Dolby. I think the previous setup was the best (at least what WAKA had). The production delivery standards and/or spot playback configurations might could be modified to include a pad to allow the viewers' decoders to lock to the new audio mode. I know Dolby recommends 2 seconds, but my low-end AVR (which came out at the turn of the century) takes less than a second to lock when switching between 3/2L and 2/0 streams. The pad could be between the spots, built into the spots, or both, etc., and the commercial breaks would be just a tad longer.

Ultimately, DTV audio should become standardized and follow the Hollywood audio that viewers are already accustomed to. The methods by which to do it flawlessly just haven't been implemented/developed yet.

My 2 cents. :)

For what it's worth, when the end credits come up after a CBS primetime show (when switching from 5.1 to stereo), the sound level jumps greatly...like 6dB louder. I'm listening to the AC3 through an AVR. I understand, though, it will work that with the way CBS had you set it up. :)

Honestly, its so bad that I have to mute the system and leave the room. How can anybody think that's not going to irritate a viewer is dillusional. I think advertisers want their audio levels to be louder, but at some point any sane person with money to spend is going to be cussing their product, not buying it. ....and to think, the net result is the advertiser spends large sums of money to so that viewers are imprinted with a "do not buy" message.

Uh, not...

February 17, 2009...much awaited date by dupes who thought the government meant what it said. Thank you Commandant Obama for knowing what is better for us.

Considering I had my Dish contract scheduled to expire at the time of the *original, government sanctioned* digital transition to which federal department do I send my bill for the next four months of Dish??? Would it be to the bloodsuc..., uh, powers-that-be that are controlling the "stimulus" money or to the croo..., er, powers-that-be that are controlling the "bailout" money?


...as I, a lowly taxpayer, crawl back under my rock.

...as I, a lowly taxpayer, crawl back under my rock.

You should! ;) If this transition would have happened on schedule, millions of people would have been denied their Jerry Springer and Maury Povich..and thus never knowing hoodabaybeedaddibee. And that in itself is a travesty.:rolleyes:

Not that it will be much different come June 13th..

I thought some of the Montgomery stations were to go full power today and drop analog. I know WAKA has already done that. Is anyone else doing it today or are they all forced to wait until june now. I also thought the CW digital would be live today. I rescanned this morning and didn't find any changes. Will these things happen later in the day?

Yea, I'd also like to know which channels are making the switch today. Which channels should I rescan for today?

InTheSwamp:

Be patient. Stations that are switching today have until the end of the day to move. If there's still nothing tomorrow, then complain. :)

- Trip

The status of digital television viewers on February 17, 2009:
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n153/intheswamp00/DESERTED-ISLAND.jpg

I was reading the article on the Advertiser's website about the "muddled" digital transition, and noticed a post by a reader in Pike Road at the bottom of the article. This guy said that he has had DirecTV for 10 years, and he noticed yesterday that DirecTV is finally carrying the Montgomery locals.

I know that his post is not an "authoritative source", so I searched DBSTalk, DirecTV's website and this website and I didn't see any mention of it anywhere. Can someone here (network guys or anyone else) either confirm or refute that guys post? I have not heard anything about DirecTV carrying locals here prior to this.

Thanks in advance!

I was reading the article on the Advertiser's website about the "muddled" digital transition, and noticed a post by a reader in Pike Road at the bottom of the article. This guy said that he has had DirecTV for 10 years, and he noticed yesterday that DirecTV is finally carrying the Montgomery locals.

I know that his post is not an "authoritative source", so I searched DBSTalk, DirecTV's website and this website and I didn't see any mention of it anywhere. Can someone here (network guys or anyone else) either confirm or refute that guys post? I have not heard anything about DirecTV carrying locals here prior to this.

Thanks in advance!
DirecTV does not have the infrastructure in place to provide Montgomery locals.

I thought some of the Montgomery stations were to go full power today and drop analog. I know WAKA has already done that. Is anyone else doing it today or are they all forced to wait until june now. I also thought the CW digital would be live today. I rescanned this morning and didn't find any changes. Will these things happen later in the day?

The only station slated to move today is WCOV, I believe they plan to sign off late tonight and sign on 20DT tomorrow morning when they complete the changes. APT will be turning off their analog, but their digital will stay the same.

Russ

The only station slated to move today is WCOV, I believe they plan to sign off late tonight and sign on 20DT tomorrow morning when they complete the changes. APT will be turning off their analog, but their digital will stay the same.

Russ

What about WNCF? I thought someone posted earlier that they would switch today and the CW subchannel would go live. Any updates?

What about WNCF? I thought someone posted earlier that they would switch today and the CW subchannel would go live. Any updates?
I believe I heard this morning on WSFA, that WNCF 32 would convert on 4/1.

What about WNCF? I thought someone posted earlier that they would switch today and the CW subchannel would go live. Any updates?

At one point, WNCF had announced that they would be shutting down their analog today and moving their digital to 32, but they changed their minds. I think I heard that they are planning to switch in April. Neither WNCF or WBMM are listed as terminating on or before Februrary 17th on the list that the FCC released yesterday.

Russ

DirecTV does not have the infrastructure in place to provide Montgomery locals.

That's what I thought, but I was wondering if I had missed something. I guess the wait continues. I'm not sure what that guy from Pike Road was seeing, unless he has a receiver that will integrate OTA locals and he didn't know that he was seeing those. Oh well....

What about WNCF? I thought someone posted earlier that they would switch today and the CW subchannel would go live. Any updates?

WNCF is going in April. Go figure.

So, is WAKA on 42 full power? I noticed that I get a better signal strength reading when using 55 (100% signal strength) but only get 75% when using 42.

Here's an article on the digital switchovers happening today along with links to a few more articles... FOXNews article on DTV switchover (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,494968,00.html)

As mentioned earlier, I *might* just get my digital FOX. Patience, eh, Trip? :)

Ed

As mentioned earlier, I *might* just get my digital FOX. Patience, eh, Trip? :)Ed

:D

- Trip

Maybe... just maybe... we will wake up to FOX digital tomorrow. I can not help but to believe since we are only 15-20 miles from the tower that we should be able to pick it up.

I am picking up CW DIGITAL NOW

So, where did Fox digital go?

We lost it up here in Wetumpka.

Did a channel scan just to be sure that they didn't change frequencies. Still nothing.

Is anybody getting WCOV-DT ???

So, where did Fox digital go.

We lost up here in Wetumpka.

Did a channel scan just to be sure that they didn't change frequencies. Still nothing.

Is anybody getting WCOV-DT ???

Lost it in Montgomery, on Dalraida.

Don't have it either

I got fox analog but no digital in Millbrook

Also waka 8 very weak for me OTA

Nobody home.

I got fox analog but no digital in Millbrook

Maybe they got confused as to what was suppose to be turned off and switch off their digital and left up their analog. :D Just kidding.

I hope they didn't blow something up like WAIQ did a few years ago.

You will know when the crawl starts about a new BIG switch in June!!!

Well no WCOV but got the CW up here in Dexter as 51.4!
But thats with my Phillips Plasma tuner.

My RCA DTA800B1 doesn't get it

If you are on Brighthouse will you please tell me what your picture is like on channel 4 wcov. Not digital but basic channel! Mine is terrible always but sometimes I go to my antenna it seems to be watchable. Thanks

I rescanned this morning in Wetumpka and can't get WCOV anymore or the CW. What channel is CW on? I used my Dish tuner and my TV's tuner and got the same results.

Nada WCOV down here in the wilderness of Crenshaw County. I did pick up a few B'ham stations from 134 miles last night...must of been some tropo happening.

WCOV actually has a press release on their website, everybody probably already has read it (I'm a little slow). From the sounds of it and the absence of WCOV-DT something *may* have happened. Anyhow, here ya go...

-Link to WCOV press release- (http://www.myfoxmontgomery.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=8354706&version=6&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1)

FOX 20 Press Release
Switch to Digital on 2/18/09
Last Edited: Tuesday, 17 Feb 2009, 4:44 PM CST
Created: Friday, 13 Feb 2009, 11:00 AM CST


WCOV FOX20 is Going Digital on 2/18/09

Press Release

Montgomery, Alabama

February 10th 2009


For the past 4 years, WCOV FOX20 has been broadcasting our digital signal on low power digital 16. Most viewers outside of Montgomery have been unable to receive our DTV signal. That will change on Wednesday morning February 18th, when FOX 20 is authorized to turn on our new, full power, digital signal on 20.1 The FOX20 coverage area will be much larger than analog 20 and will encompass the towns of Auburn, Eufaula, Andalusia, Selma, Clanton, Rockford and Alexander City. Please see our coverage map link above. All households within the larger circle (blue) should receive a clear digital signal from FOX20.



Our analog 20 will be turned off at 11:59pm on Tuesday, February 17th , 2009. Unless viewers are prepared for the digital transition, they will no longer be able to view FOX 20 over the air. If you receive FOX 20 through a cable provider or DISH TV, you will not be affected by the switch. To aid viewers in preparing for the switch, here are some helpful steps which need to be taken:



· If you have a digital TV, you will only need to upgrade to a digital antenna. The RCA Model 211 antenna is recommended (much better than the RCA111) and costs about $14.

· If you have an analog television set you will need to purchase a digital converter box as well as a digital antenna.

· Once you have installed your digital converter box, you will have to run a channel scan to view available digital channels.



If you experience any problems while making the transition to digital TV, you may contact WCOV FOX 20 at (334)288-7020 or dial 1-888-CALLFCC. If you have any problems installing your digital converter box you may phone the above numbers or visit www.myfox20.com and click on “DTV Transition”. Some other useful links which you may aid you in taking the actions listed above are:

· http://media.myfoxmontgomery.com/special/head/dtv.html

· www.antennaweb.org

· www.dtvanswers.com

· www.fcc.gov



Viewers can also receive help by dialing 211 on their home phone or 866-869-4921 on their cell phones or visiting www.211connectsalabama.org

i rescanned this morning in wetumpka and can't get wcov anymore or the cw. What channel is cw on? I used my dish tuner and my tv's tuner and got the same results.
cw 51.4

cw 51.4

It's a subchannel of WNCF-DT (32-1) but if you're seeing it like that, there's no PSIP on it. Some boxes will not decode a digital signal without PSIP.

- Trip

Hmmm, per WCOV's recommendation I wanted to see "The RCA Model 211 antenna is recommended (much better than the RCA111) and costs about $14". I figured this must be the latest NASA-defined antenna system for the digital revolution and really :rolleyes: had me aching to get a peek at it.

Anyhow, I searched (to page 7) Google, went on to Amazon and found zilch, then went on to the wonderful auction site we all love and admire and again...found zero. Hmmm, maybe this is the top-secret antenna to be included with the 50" flat-screens the government will soon be giving to everyone.

Hmm, maybe WCOV is waiting to sock the power to their digital xmitter when the green comet (with the poison gas) comes by earth in a few days...Woods might be planning on hopping a ride and figures by not xmitting he'll save the earth from being pummeled by even more RF energy. I read on the FAA website that people need to be at the boarding gate for the comet at least 2 hours early (for security reasons, of course).

You know, I just got to thinking...ain't it about time we had a *green* comet after using that gritty, caustic cleaning powder since we were kiddos?

Anyhow, have a great day...and "no charge" for these valuable musings...:D

Ed

I figured this must be the latest NASA-defined antenna system for the digital revolution and really :rolleyes:

Even Nasa can't change the laws of physics.. neither can any antenna regardless of the fancy design or high cost.

On WCOV's website they have a countdown clock showing the time until the digtal TV switch and it is showing 114 days 13 hours. Yesterday they said on the website that they where turning off the the analog signal at midnight and turning on the digital signal this morning. I want my FOXHD !

On WCOV's website they have a countdown clock showing the time until the digtal TV switch and it is showing 114 days 13 hours. Yesterday they said on the website that they where turning off the the analog signal at midnight and turning on the digital signal this morning. I want my FOXHD !

They turned off digital signal and turned on analog:D

Just saw were WCOV is saying they had a little problem with the digtal switch. They hope to have it fixed today.

Even Nasa can't change the laws of physics.. neither can any antenna regardless of the fancy design or high cost.

They can't?!! :rolleyes:

Ed
KF4KRV
General class...earned when it took 13wpm :)

yes I just called and thats what she said. Did we expect anything more from wcov? I think they were threatened by the Obama Nation not to switch!

Just saw were WCOV is saying they had a little problem with the digtal switch. They hope to have it fixed today.

A little problem? I was able to get them fine with my OTA NOW NOTHING! Wait till Brighthouse starts fooling with the signal:eek::eek::D:D:D:D

On WCOV's website they have a countdown clock showing the time until the digtal TV switch and it is showing 114 days 13 hours. Yesterday they said on the website that they where turning off the the analog signal at midnight and turning on the digital signal this morning. I want my FOXHD !

In the absence of a clear directive from the FCC, most if not all stations are just resetting all of the DTV Education stuff that we are required to do for the June 12th date...and of course, the obligation doesn't go away just because you turn off your analog...for example, the DTV Education crawls that we are still running on 8-1 :)

Russ

On WCOV's website they have a countdown clock showing the time until the digtal TV switch and it is showing 114 days 13 hours. Yesterday they said on the website that they where turning off the the analog signal at midnight and turning on the digital signal this morning. I want my FOXHD ! I'm probably wrong, but I think that's a generic FOX application running available to any FOX station....go to www.myfoxmemphis.com and you can see the same clock. WCOV just hasn't removed it...yet.
Ed

WCOV brought their analog transmitters back up this morning, they are running normal programming and a crawl indicating that they have run into a minor delay with their conversion to digital, and will continue to broadcast in analog until the problems are resolved. I think it says they hope to have the problems resolved today.

Russ

thats what they say when you call the station

WCOV FOX20 digital conversion delayed one day



Due to technical difficulties associated with the installation of the new digital transmission plant, WCOV FOX20 was forced to delay the conversion until later today.

“At about 2:30 this morning, the transmitter crew of 4 men realized that time did not permit them to complete the installation as planned. Our chief engineer Mike Hunsberger called me at home and reported that a delay was necessary” said David Woods, President of WCOV FOX20.



Hunsberger said “We regret that we did convert to full power digital this morning but our transmitter team needed a few hours of sleep. They’ll be back later this morning to complete the project. They’ve worked 12-16 hours days for the past 6 days and were physically exhausted.”



WCOV-FOX20 apologizes to the viewers who woke up this morning and turned on WCOV-FOX20 and looked for a digital signal. Sometime this afternoon, the digital signal should be up. Once the install is complete, WCOV-FOX20 will be broadcasting their digital signal on channel 20 and shutting off analog 20.



Please call WCOV-FOX20 at 334-288-7020 for additional information

They can't?!! :rolleyes::)

Only with good marketing..;)

Here we go again. Take cover now, we are all gonna die!
WSFA bumped NBC nightly news. Imagine that. :rolleyes:

Just called WCOV they still haven't got their digital transmitter up.

Anyone with a Tivo able to tune the CW WBMM in?

And thats why I don't post very often on this forum. Too many smartasses

eerolltide06,

On my TIVo S3, I can get WBMM analog, but not digital. Seems like there was another CW DT that locked in.

Sorry nothing personal, frustration at the weather channel! Try reading, oh I don't know, last few posts about wcov starting this morning.:D:D:D
P.S. I have been called a smartass before but not here!

Sorry nothing personal, frustration at the weather channel! Try reading, oh I don't know, last few posts about wcov starting this morning.:D:D:D
P.S. I have been called a smartass before but not here!
Somebody say somethin'bout WCOV???? Man, I wish I could find one of those RCA 211 antennas, that'd be great. I think the adapter to turn my house wiring into an antenna will probably work well enough but...it's not WCOV endorsed. :(

SOMEBODY CATCH THAT MULE!!!!!!!

Man, all this digital stuff is getting pretty intense these days...might have to have an extra shot of mylanta tonight.

Sincerely,
Ed

I guess I'd better get one of those RCA 211's too, since I can't get their *new* digital signal after the switch! :rolleyes: David Woods warned us! :rolleyes::cool:

Oh...and my WAKA-55 reception has dropped in half today. WAKA-42 is hit-or-miss with even finding the signal.

Somebody say somethin'bout WCOV???? Man, I wish I could find one of those RCA 211 antennas, that'd be great. I think the adapter to turn my house wiring into an antenna will probably work well enough but...it's not WCOV endorsed.

Yea WCOV is full of it. On their website it says you have to buy a new digital antenna to pick them up. The old antennas won't work anymore.

Yea WCOV is full of it. On their website it says you have to buy a new digital antenna to pick them up. The old antennas won't work anymore.

Did they get their digital signal up yet?

Did they get their digital signal up yet?

No. Apparantly the same engineer that gave that antenna advice is also working on their transmitter.

WCOV 16 and 20 quiet as a mouse this AM.

WAKA 42 61%
WAKA 55 85%

Hi Scott,

Are you partially out of the dog house yet?

Jim I'm in like flynn. :D:D

Thanks for your help.

Very welcome. Anytime.

I did a channel scan last night on my TiVo Series 3. It detected new frequencies for Channel 8. The old frequencies still work, but I assume that frequency 55 is the new one. Am I right? Signal strength on WNCF is better than I've seen it. One thing I found interesting (besides the disappearance of WCOV) is that even with my small TERK indoor antenna pointed south out my window, I am getting detectable signals in the 30% range for several Birmingham stations. I have a feeling that if I got some elevation and pointed an antenna north, B'ham would probably come in reliably. Several years ago, I tried with a directional antenna several years ago, and the B'ham signals were very sporadic. Of course, the cloud cover last night could also be the reason.

I decided to perform a signal strength test right now on the TiVo. I wanted to ask you guys some questions about some strange channels that show up with very high signal strength, but no pictures or sound. BTW, the B'ham stations are gone. It had to be the cloud cover last night.

At channel 14-3, freq. 14, 89% signal strength - nothing
14.4, freq. 14, 89% - WSFA Weather Plus
14.5, freq. 14, 89% - nothing
18.1, freq. 55, 75% - nothing, but TiVo says it is WCCB-TV Ch. 27 548.310 Mhz
18.2 - same
18.3 - same
51-3, freq. 51, 50-75% (very sporadic) - WNCF
55-3, freq. 55, 75% - nothing
55-4 - same
55-5 - same

Curiousity finally dictated that I ask.

I guess I'd better get one of those RCA 211's too, since I can't get their *new* digital signal after the switch! :rolleyes: David Woods warned us! :rolleyes::cool:

Oh...and my WAKA-55 reception has dropped in half today. WAKA-42 is hit-or-miss with even finding the signal.

Now you know this digital stuff doesnt work in the rain or wind or with leaves on the trees or in the heat or the cold or with clouds or with sun or in floods or with an indoor antenna.

Which is the new channel for WAKA (55 or 42) and when will the other go away? Please let it be 55 as Iget 100% signal strenght on it.

Just checked, still nothing for WCOV, not a peep.

Also, my ViP722 will not pick up the CW sub channel but does pick up WNCF.

WCOV Still working on DTV Transition
Team is working hard to have it finished today
Last Edited: Thursday, 19 Feb 2009, 11:50 AM CST
Created: Thursday, 19 Feb 2009, 9:39 AM CST

WCOV is putting the finishing touches on equipment at our transmitter in Grady, Al SideBar


Related Items
Links
Coverage Map
Press Release from 2/10
Press Release from 2/18






WCOV FOX20 digital conversion still delayed



The installation of the WCOVFOX20 digital transmitter is still under construction. The transmitter team is making progress, although the project is taking longer than expected.



Chief Engineer Mike Hunsberger and 3 Acrodyne factory technicians are still working on the installation of the transmitter. Most of the delays revolve around slight variations in the specs of the “plumbing” which is a large series of pipes, some 16 inches in diameter, that carry the digital signal between the transmitter and the antennae. Each variation is approximately one inch, but these pipes must be exact, otherwise leakage occurs. The variation can take several hours to resolve.



Hunsberger said “We feel that sometime today, Thursday Feb 19th, we should complete the installation project. Once we area able to test the digital transmitter and it passes inspection, we will shut down the analog transmitter and make the switch. This should take less than two hours. Then we will sign on full power WCOV-DT channel 20.1.”



WCOV-FOX20 apologizes for the delays on the conversion and thanks viewers for their patience as WCOV-FOX20 works to broadcast it’s full power digital signal. For more information call 334-288-7020.

Which is the new channel for WAKA (55 or 42) and when will the other go away? Please let it be 55 as Iget 100% signal strenght on it.

WAKA will be moving from 55 to 42.

Realize that right now, 55 is at about 600 kW while 42 is at 50 kW. WAKA is recycling the channel 55 transmitter for channel 42, and when all is said and done, channel 42 will operate with a 1000 kW signal like WAKA-DT had a few months ago. The combination of a new top-mounted antenna (replacing the analog 8 antenna) and the lower channel number should actually make the signal better than it was on DT-55.

- Trip

Cool. Good to know, thanks Trip.


One thing I don't understand is way did WCOV wait until the day of the transition to install the transmitter? Why not have it installed weeks or even months beforea nd make sure it works, that way all you have to do is flip the switch.

Greetings ....

Either WCOV has apparently completed their transition to digital, or else I am the beneficiary of good atmospherics. It is after 2:00 AM ET here in Phenix City, AL on Friday February 20th, and the station's signal is coming into my Phenix City residence.

I am receiving WCOV via a classic Radio Shack indoor UHF golden bow-tie antenna, on a Channel Master CM-7000 Converter Box, with signal strength varying wildly from 20% to 60%..

Interesting tidbit - The 20.2 (WCOV wx) sub-channel allows picture shaping, the first non x.1 channel I know of that ever did this.

Thanx-A-Lot, Frank-0-Video

WCOV is back. Before signal strength was 65-68, Now 91:)

Yeah! Now I am picking it up in back bedroom with inside antenna! Won't be long now for Brighthouse to carry in HD. I hope.

WCOV is back. Before signal strength was 65-68, Now 91:)

Just got off the phone with my friend in Wetumpka, and he says he is still not getting WCOV in digital. His antenna is pointing at WSFA.

Something isn't right with this picture!

SHAZAM!! SHAZAM!!! SHAZAM!!!!!

ANDY...GO GIT OPIE AND TELL'EM THAT WOODS FELLA DONE GOT THAT FOX CHANNEL COMING IN ON THUH TELEYVISION!!!

===============

We got a copy on yah good-buddy WCOV...you're wall-to-wall with a BIG FOX signal down here in the Crenshaw Wilderness, good-buddy....maxing out the sig meter on my Sammy 260 receiver. Good-buddy, good-buddy.
(doncha just *love* cb lingo?!!!)

20-1 720p, 16:9
20-2 480i, 16:9

See...I was patient Trip. :D:)
Ed

Just got off the phone with my friend in Wetumpka, and he says he is still not getting WCOV in digital. His antenna is pointing at WSFA.

Something isn't right with this picture!


Call him back and tell him to do a channel scan as WCOVDT moved from frequency 16 to 20. I had to do this on my TIVo before being able to pick it up.

Here in Wetumpka (Jasmine Hills) WCOVDT went from signal strength of 61 a few days ago to 85 this morning.

TIVO users. No program guide information . Did a forced connect to TIVO and updated program guide, but WCOVDT (the one on frequency 20) doesn't contain any information. It appears that they don't have an email address to report anything like this and require a phone call (they're on pacific time). I've got to leave shortly so if one of you can call them when they do open, it would be appreciated. ....and nobody ask me right now what I think of a company that doesn't allow reporting by email yet doesn't have anyone there to answer the phone.

See...I was patient Trip. :D:)
Ed

:D

And Frank, 20-2 is stretched. In the digital stream, stations can specify whether a given stream has a 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio. Usually, the way this is accomplished (I think) is that they squeeze 16:9 programming to fit into the pixels of a 4:3 screen, then tell boxes to stretch that. I've seen stations provide network content in widescreen, such as WWTV in Cadillac, MI providing Fox in widescreen SD.

- Trip

I just rescanned my DISH 622 and DTV-Pal and both units now have 20.1 and 20.2 at 100% signal strength.

Weakest signal here in Clay County is ABC32, about 65%, NBC12 is 100%, CBS8 is 70% on 42 and 100% on 55, APT26 is 90%.

(I'm 65-70 miles as the crow flies from the transmit towers, Winguard on 60' tower with CM7777 preamp.)

About the only things left to improve seems to be for CBS8 to shut down the ch55 signal and go full power on 42, and for ABC32 to increase power....

Greetings ...

UPDATE (Phenix City, AL | 2-20-2009 | 12:55 PM ET)

Now getting WCOV Fox-20 at 16%-30%. 20.1 breaks up if strength dips under 16%. 20.2 (weather) same way.

Remember that I am using an indoor UHF bow-tie, and it is not even pointing towards Montgomery's general direction.

Thanx-A-Lot, Frank-0-Video

Quick Report from North Wetumpka, Dexter area
7 - 14%
8 - 21% (not sure of which signal)
8 - 50%
12 - 53%
20 - 62%
26 - 70%
29 - 21%
32 - 46%
45 - 44%

This is with my 8 bay CM4228 pointing in one direction some where half way between 12 (181deg) and 32 (225 deg).

Britt

Great News: WCOV FOX now on Brighthouse in HD channel 231 whoopieeeeeee

Now you know this digital stuff doesnt work in the rain or wind or with leaves on the trees or in the heat or the cold or with clouds or with sun or in floods or with an indoor antenna.

No kidding! I couldn't get a reliable WAKA for anything, and couldn't understand WSFA's audio sometimes because of the dropouts. BUT switching to a REALLY snowy ANALOG WSFA made for better audio!! :eek: Of course, I also only have an "indoor antenna," but it's above the roof. :D And I don't have cable either!

Oh...and I now have WCOV bouncing between 80-100% in town.

When is WAKA supposed to go up full on 42? Has that changed since Obama meddled?

Call him back and tell him to do a channel scan as WCOVDT moved from frequency 16 to 20.

My friend in Wetumpka just scanned again. One of his receivers picked shows WCOV at 20.3 & 20.4...how can that be? His other tv has the right channels at 20.1 & 20.2.

Anyone have an explanation?

Grand Audio,

Its a mystery. :)

Grand Audio,

Its a mystery. :)
No it's not!!! Grand's friend got one of those top-secret RCA 211 antennas!!!!!! :D

Ed

Anyone have an explanation?

Either their PSIP is incorrect, or the receiver's designer didn;t play by ATSC guidelines. We see all kinda strange things with receivers..:eek:

Greetings ...

If the guy in Wetumpka picks up sub-channel 20-20, does that qualify as perfect reception? :cool:

Thanx-A-Lot, Frank-0-Video

Its a mystery. :)

It sure is! It's on a new tv his wife won at some raffle. Probably has issues...why it was given away free.

If I didn't live 100 miles away I would check it out myself...lol. He also said neither of his HD tv's have a signal strength meter. It's a wonder he finds his way to work every day from the Greer community to Montgomery!

No it's not!!! Grand's friend got one of those top-secret RCA 211 antennas!!!!!!

That's a good one...ROFLMAO!!!

He is the one that got the free antenna that day when they had that thing at 32. A clearstream C4. He decided to keep his combination antenna up and give the new one away.

My friend in Wetumpka just scanned again. One of his receivers picked shows WCOV at 20.3 & 20.4...how can that be? His other tv has the right channels at 20.1 & 20.2.

Anyone have an explanation?

Is it a Sony? Just out of curiosity.

Do a full rescan. That should clear it up.

- Trip

Either their PSIP is incorrect, or the receiver's designer didn;t play by ATSC guidelines. We see all kinda strange things with receivers..:eek:

I find there are some TVs (Sonys, especially) which if the channel is manually entered, or if the mapped channel already exists and you do an "Add New Channels," it will map to physical_channel.program_number instead of following the PSIP.

- Trip

Got in from work and ran antenna set-up again (you can't just scan with "D"'s DVR). WCOV is back at 95% signal strength. WAKA is still problematic, wish they would hurry up and get their power back up.

I get WCOV at 95-100% here in Wetumpka on a CM 4228 with 7777 pre-amp. Good job WCOV!

Other readings:

WAKA (42) 65%
WAKA (55) 90%
WNCF 79-81%
WSFA 100%
APT 90-95%
WMCF 97%

Trip...you were right. WCOV came in on the re-scan at 20.1 & 20.2. WAKA is coming in at 55.3-55.4-55.5...and 8.1-8.2-8.3. He has a weird tv...lol.

Down here in Ozark, I still can't get a lock on WCOV, but should when my antenna is completed and up.

I thought you all might enjoy this...it's hilarious!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy-pD-M0rY4

It's about the analog to digital transfer.

I thought you all might enjoy this...it's hilarious!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy-pD-M0rY4

It's about the analog to digital transfer.

Pretty good, Grand, pretty good. :)

Ed

It is so nice to watch fox in HD and be able to record also. Thank you WCOV and Brighthouse!:D:D:D:D:D

KARE: Man Shoots TV Over Converter Confusion
Missouri man angered about losing cable and being unable to get new converter box to work
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/19/2009 2:00:00 PM MT
Filed at 9:53 a.m. EST on Feb. 20, 2009

OK, so the DTV transition hasn't been perfect.

While the early analog-cutoff of 421 TV stations on Feb. 17 has gone relative smoothly according to most reports, that was not the case of at least one Missouri man, according to KARE-TV Minneapolis-ST. Paul.

The station reports that a 70-year-old Joplin man was arrested and charged with unlawful discharge of a firearm after shooting his TV set. Responding to a report of shots being fired, the station reported, the police found the man angry that he had both lost his cable and had been unable to get his new DTV converter box to work.

According to the man's wife, he had been drinking.

Now some stations have switched when will me see more local HD news? Also has anyone at abc32 noticed how a lot of their local idents are covered in herringbone?

Amigo

Now some stations have switched when will me see more local HD news? Also has anyone at abc32 noticed how a lot of their local idents are covered in herringbone?

Amigo

DTV broadcasting and local HD production/syndication are two different (yet somewhat-related) things. You can have DTV without ever touching a piece of HD equipment, but you can't broadcast HD without DTV.

WAKA's local HD news might be a while. Those guys may be able to give an estimate, but it's not an easy (or cheap) task to convert a facility.:eek: WSFA had two advantages: Being Raycom's home base station, and having the physical space for additional equipment. They also "cheaped out" with a shoestring budget of only about $1 million, which didn't even allow them to convert their whole facility, nor the ability to playback syndicated HD shows (i.e. Oprah & E.T.). The constant state of flux in technology also makes choices more difficult.

DTV broadcasting and HDTV production are still evolving, and DTV is still in its infancy, so we just have to bear with these changes and any problems as this whole thing smooths out over the next decade. Hopefully. :D

KARE: Man Shoots TV Over Converter Confusion
Missouri man angered about losing cable and being unable to get new converter box to work


I bet that won't be the last report of Aggravated Television Assault! :D

I bet that won't be the last report of Aggravated Television Assault! :D

A drunk with a gun, a monkey with a gun.....when will it end? :rolleyes:

Jim I finally moved the sub around and I think I have it sounding much better. Thank you for your help.:)

Your welcome.

I used then channel key last night to change channels instead of the guide and found that 21.3 is active with 720P. When did that happen? I guess I need to check a bit more often...

WAKA's local HD news might be a while. Those guys may be able to give an estimate, but it's not an easy (or cheap) task to convert a facility.:eek:

And..I can tell you for a fact.. airing Wheel & Jeopardy or any other syndicated fare in HD..does NOT lead to increased spot revenue..Here in Charlotte, where we and several others have HD newscasts..no increase in revenue nor ratings due to HD..Our creative is shot;edited and aired in HD as well..and that has not lead to increased production revenue..Clients expect it for the same price. It's a lot of money as you say..that does not increase the bottom line...So it's hard to justify unless you're doing a complete rebuild. And even then in today's economy..:(

I used then channel key last night to change channels instead of the guide and found that 21.3 is active with 720P. When did that happen? I guess I need to check a bit more often...

WDHN has sub channels? I am only receiving 18.1 (21.1) and they have stretched the screen where I have to change my settings for it to look right.

WDHN has sub channels? I am only receiving 18.1 (21.1) and they have stretched the screen where I have to change my settings for it to look right.

When I scan for the channel it assigns 18.1, however I must enter 21.3 on my Sony KDL 52W4100 to get the channel. 21.1 does not yield anything.

When I scan for the channel it assigns 18.1, however I must enter 21.3 on my Sony KDL 52W4100 to get the channel. 21.1 does not yield anything.

I tried to enter 21.3 and it went to 18.3, with nothing there. What's on 21.3?

BTW...where are you?

I tried to enter 21.3 and it went to 18.3, with nothing there. What's on 21.3?

BTW...where are you?

21.3 should map back to 18-1. There's a technical reason for it, but most (though not all) stations are like that.

Of course, different tuners handle it differently. Some will not work when you try 21.3.

- Trip

I tried to enter 21.3 and it went to 18.3, with nothing there. What's on 21.3?

BTW...where are you?

Content is the same as broadcast on analog 18 except in 720P. If not HD content it appears that they are stretching the picture to fill the screen.

I am in Ozark.

My converter does not have analog pass through. Probably why I am not receiving anything on 21.3 (18.3).

My converter does not have analog pass through. Probably why I am not receiving anything on 21.3 (18.3).

Nothing to do with analog pass-through, if you're receiving 18-1, you're seeing the content of 21.3.

- Trip

Ok Trip...You're the expert here!

Ok Trip...You're the expert here!

Let me explain why what I said is the case. I know I was kind of saying "trust me on this" but I'm sick (and trying to keep my mind occupied without falling back on school work) and now that I think about it, it's not too challenging a concept.

Let me show you the output of Atlanta station WAGA, since it's about as close to southern Alabama as I can get until one of the WAKA folks sends me some data for the local stations. (I know they're busy so I'm trying not to pester them)

http://www.rabbitears.info/screencaps/ga-atl/70689-0_0.htm

Now, as you'll observe, the primary feed is WAGA-HD, and it is on Program 3. (It's an FCC thing.) Now if you scroll down to the TVCT, you'll find this section:

Channel 3
Service Name: WAGA-HD
TSID: 741 (0x02e5) NTSC: 05 ATSC: 27 GA ATLANTA
Channel Number: 5.1

"Channel 3" refers to the aforementioned program number. On many receivers, when you want to manually specify a channel number and a specific stream, you'll put in the Program Number. So if you hadn't scanned in WAGA-DT, you would put in 27-3 and that would route you back to 5-1, as both are the same.

Does that clarify matters?

- Trip

Ok, WCOV-DT is on the air, DTV transition delay is old news, folks with a few issues of channel-scanning 20.1....so I'm gonna risk asking an off topic question... :rolleyes:

Due to a 2 year old granddaughter and our digital camera our 160gig SATA hard drive is down to 2 itty-bitty gigs and I need to add some more storage. :) Thus...

Suggestions on good brands and types (internal/external) would be appreciated.

I'm seeing some 1tb drives running around $100...Newegg has a Hitachi internal 1TB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145233) on sale today for $88 shipped but I've never used a Hitachi.

I think I'd like to get an external and probably a tetrabyte. Thoughts, anyone? Who knows...might use it as a HTPC hard drive later on...

Sorry for the off-topic, but figured there were some *brilliant* folks here that would know in which direction to steer me! ;)

Thanks!
Ed

Does that clarify matters?


Cool, I learned something new today. :cool:

But why do most stations start with channel 3 instead of 1? Seems odd.

Cool, I learned something new today. :cool:

But why do most stations start with channel 3 instead of 1? Seems odd.

Each feed within the station's stream is assigned an address that's called a "PID." The FCC has mandated for reasons of compatibility (I don't understand it myself) that all stations reserve PIDs below 0x0030.

So I'm not 100% sure of the reasoning, but I think some of the older gear bound the Program number to the PIDs, and in order to change the PIDs they had to change the Program number. In the case of WAGA-DT, Program 3 has a video PID at 0x0031 and an audio PID at 0x0034.

The newer gear doesn't have that limitation. I have plenty of captures of stations using Program 1 with PIDs 0x0031 and 0x0034.

- Trip

Ed,

I'd recommend burning your photos onto some DVDs and free up the space on your computer. Probably be a good idea to burn two sets and keep one set off site.

I know I was kind of saying "trust me on this" - Trip

Trip,

I was being sincere...I do trust what you are saying. I seem to learn each time I read your posts.

Trip,

I was being sincere...I do trust what you are saying. I seem to learn each time I read your posts.

I believe you, I just figure it's better to explain something than to just leave it as a "black box." :)

- Trip

Ed,

I'd recommend burning your photos onto some DVDs and free up the space on your computer. Probably be a good idea to burn two sets and keep one set off site.
Thanks for the feedback Jim. I was pulling in email and Usenet via a Plannet Connect satellite dish back in the early 1990's....DOS died and I've been ignorant ever since. :o

I've got a lot of "CDs" with images on them but when I've stuck a DVD in the burner I get a "this DVD may not be readable in other machines" (paraphrasing a bit there). Anyhow, is there a trick to using DVDs to store images on? I know I can burn a slide show or whatever, but I want to keep the individual image files. If I can do the same on the much higher capacity DVD I'd much rather do that....so is there a trick or should I "just do it".

Thanks again!
Ed

I don't know how many of you grab any of your HD over knology cable (after tonight I am seriously considering throwing an antenna up!) but I was curious if any of you have had the same issue with picking up the digital channel for WNCF. Generally it is on 79.1.
It was constantly freezing, and dropping audio. Then earlier today my TV couldn't pick it up at all. I rescanned and now it doesn't even show.
I am assuming this is a problem with the transmission from WNCF to knology, but am interested if anyone else here has more information.

Ed,

I think the most common type of DVD is a DVD-R.

By any chance, are you trying to use a DVD+R ???? The message may have to do with the suble difference in types of DVDs.

Thanks for the feedback Jim. I was pulling in email and Usenet via a Plannet Connect satellite dish back in the early 1990's....DOS died and I've been ignorant ever since. :o

I've got a lot of "CDs" with images on them but when I've stuck a DVD in the burner I get a "this DVD may not be readable in other machines" (paraphrasing a bit there). Anyhow, is there a trick to using DVDs to store images on? I know I can burn a slide show or whatever, but I want to keep the individual image files. If I can do the same on the much higher capacity DVD I'd much rather do that....so is there a trick or should I "just do it".

Thanks again!
Ed

I recently bought a 1.5TB external (USB) Seagate FreeAgent HD from Fry's for $80. You can transfer all your photos, music and other space-eating files to the USB drive and free up your internal drive...you can also easily move the FreeAgent to other computers and transfer files to/from them.

I recommend it....do a Google search on Seagate Freeagent and find the best price on the one you want, they sell different sizes, I just got the biggest because it was on sale at Fry's.

Fry's is the best:):).. I ordered a free after-rebate, free shipping item Thursday after work..it arrived Saturday at 3pm..Never had a problem with those guys.:cool:

I was about to write a post asking if anyone thought these large external drives would still be good 15 years from now but the same question could be asked about CDs and DVDs as they're not as permanent as people want to believe they are. On the whole, I'd think that CDs and DVDs would last longer, just not permanent.

Iif anyone thought these large external drives would still be good 15 years from now

No way..Why do you think most mfg's have recently reduced their warranty terms? I'm just waiting for one of my media drives with a total of several terabytes of movies to grind to a halt.

JimP.... Yelp, I'm using DVR+R. I'm also using a cheap Roxio burner program. I can use the "backup" feature with no problems other than I have to specify the path which is interesting since I have a directory with my pictures in them with many subdirectories with dates for names. When I try to use the backup feature and a DVD+R the backup program asks for a path...meaning I can either select the parent directory which will include all of it's subdirectories or either I can select an individual directory. When I burn a DVD+R of a single directory it seems to work...but the directories usually only have a gig or so in them which is a big waste of DVD space. Making a "data" disk with the Roxio program I can select specifically which files and folders I want to save...but doing it this way brings up that warning message when I use a DVD+R (it works ok with a CD).

4bama... What type gun did you use when you stole that Seagate!!!...they're asking $130 now!!!!:eek: You got a great deal!!!

On using a hard drive for archiving... I'm no expert (betcha couldn't tell, huh?:rolleyes:) but I think the idea of using a hard drive for archiving is to load the drive up and then put it off-line in mothballs. From what I've read it doesn't appear to be a better alternative (for longetivity) at the moment. Of course when the government gets through harvesting all of our computer data via the internet we can simply buy back the info in the case of a hard drive crash...Big Brother is looking out for us. ;)

Ed

Ed,

Four years ago I quit using one of my computers. About 6 months afterwards, I tried to turn it back on and the hard drive wouldn't spin up. Researching it, I found that the manufacturer was offering a replacement due to having so many problems with this particular hard drive.

I didn't have anything on that computer of particular importance, but had it been loaded with photos my option would have been to send off the hard drive to one of those places that will disassemble them and get your data off of it. I have no idea what that would cost but I doubt that it would be cheap.

After that experience, anything worth keeping goes onto a CD or DVD.

As to your situation, first check to be sure that your DVD burner will handle DVD-Rs. If it does, then in my opinion that would be the way to go. Also store them in a cool dark dry place...like the batcave.

Ed,

Four years ago I quit using one of my computers. About 6 months afterwards, I tried to turn it back on and the hard drive wouldn't spin up. Researching it, I found that the manufacturer was offering a replacement due to having so many problems with this particular hard drive.

I didn't have anything on that computer of particular importance, but had it been loaded with photos my option would have been to send off the hard drive to one of those places that will disassemble them and get your data off of it. I have no idea what that would cost but I doubt that it would be cheap.

After that experience, anything worth keeping goes onto a CD or DVD.

As to your situation, first check to be sure that your DVD burner will handle DVD-Rs. If it does, then in my opinion that would be the way to go. Also store them in a cool dark dry place...like the batcave.Thanks for the comeback, Jim. One things for sure it's harder for a CD/DVD to "break down" than it is something with electrons running through it...no magic smoke to escape.

The DVD burner that I have is a Memorex DVD+-RAM 530L internal v1 (according to device manager). I installed it a year or so ago. I'm thinking it will work with either +R or -R dvds.

I'll tinker some more with the software some and see if I can get some selectivity as to what I can write to the dvds.

Ed

I don't know how many of you grab any of your HD over knology cable (after tonight I am seriously considering throwing an antenna up!) but I was curious if any of you have had the same issue with picking up the digital channel for WNCF. Generally it is on 79.1.
It was constantly freezing, and dropping audio. Then earlier today my TV couldn't pick it up at all. I rescanned and now it doesn't even show.
I am assuming this is a problem with the transmission from WNCF to knology, but am interested if anyone else here has more information.

Check your signal level. WNCF 79.1 was always the first to go at my house.
Your level must be not too high; not too low. I can't get 79.1 on the set in my office, but Knology makes about 1,249 stops in this building before it gets to my office. No problem at home (as of last night) but it took awhile to get my levels in tolerance there several years ago. Ended up attenuating my cable modem slightly so that "everything" worked. Drove me crazy at the time, but it's worked fine ever since (had to install a drop amp at their demark point). Even the outside temperature made 79.1 go out....the hotter it got, the worse 79.1 got. "Touchy" is what I would call it.

Ended up attenuating my cable modem slightly so that "everything" worked. Drove me crazy at the time, but it's worked fine ever since (had to install a drop amp at their demark point). Even the outside temperature made 79.1 go out....the hotter it got, the worse 79.1 got. "Touchy" is what I would call it.


Wow, with all of the splits, amps, and other absolutely ridiculous measures I have taken to even get my cable to the room and working, I am thinking OTA might be the better solution. Besides, I should be able to get away from "double" compression, the original compression, and whatever it is that knology probably does. Thanks for your insight.

Wow, with all of the splits, amps, and other absolutely ridiculous measures I have taken to even get my cable to the room and working, I am thinking OTA might be the better solution. Besides, I should be able to get away from "double" compression, the original compression, and whatever it is that knology probably does. Thanks for your insight.

It could vary depending on the agreement with local stations, and correct me if I'm wrong, but cable companies usually "pass-through" the digital signals without re-compression. They de-multiplex the ATSC streams and re-multiplex those streams as QAM (what cable uses) without touching the encoding. WSFA and APT would be unwatchable if they were re-compressed. :rolleyes:

Check your signal level. WNCF 79.1 was always the first to go at my house.
Your level must be not too high; not too low. I can't get 79.1 on the set in my office, but Knology makes about 1,249 stops in this building before it gets to my office. No problem at home (as of last night) but it took awhile to get my levels in tolerance there several years ago. Ended up attenuating my cable modem slightly so that "everything" worked. Drove me crazy at the time, but it's worked fine ever since (had to install a drop amp at their demark point). Even the outside temperature made 79.1 go out....the hotter it got, the worse 79.1 got. "Touchy" is what I would call it.

Could Knology put them on another physical frequency to "fix" the problem?

Also, FWIW, I noticed some audio pops/drops during the Oscars on WNCF-HD on Charter while at a friend's house last night.

I find there are some TVs (Sonys, especially) which if the channel is manually entered, or if the mapped channel already exists and you do an "Add New Channels," it will map to physical_channel.program_number instead of following the PSIP.

- Trip

Trip, what is PSIP?

Ed,

I think the most common type of DVD is a DVD-R.

By any chance, are you trying to use a DVD+R ???? The message may have to do with the suble difference in types of DVDs.

Jim there is no difference in the dvd types. DVD-R would play on most of the older dvd players when they first came out, DVD+R will play on most players now.I use both. Some burners will say what type they will play on then some where. To burn a dvd the files have to be made into mpeg2 files. Several programs will do this. Some are free on the web. Windows movie maker program is a simple way to do this.:D

Thanks for the comeback, Jim. One things for sure it's harder for a CD/DVD to "break down" than it is something with electrons running through it...no magic smoke to escape.

The DVD burner that I have is a Memorex DVD+-RAM 530L internal v1 (according to device manager). I installed it a year or so ago. I'm thinking it will work with either +R or -R dvds.

I'll tinker some more with the software some and see if I can get some selectivity as to what I can write to the dvds.

Ed
Be sure to use Quality dvd blanks to back up on . The best dvd media is Taiyo Unden and when you burn do it at halvoff what it calls for. If it is a 16x burn at 8x or if it is 8x burn at 4 x.Most errors come from trying to burn too fast.

No way..Why do you think most mfg's have recently reduced their warranty terms? I'm just waiting for one of my media drives with a total of several terabytes of movies to grind to a halt.

That's why you should put those drives in a hardware RAID array, like me :) Sure I'm using 2.5 terabytes of drives to get 2 terabytes of storage, but unless I have multiple simultaneous drive failures, I'm protected...

If I archive anything to optical media, I always make two copies.

Russ

That's why you should put those drives in a hardware RAID array, like me :) Russ

Just what I need in the home..more equipment, more power, more heat, more stuff..where will it ever end? I already get a bulk rate from Duke Power..:D
Some here joke about putting fiber in so I can be a backup downlink site..:o

Be sure to use Quality dvd blanks to back up on . The best dvd media is Taiyo Unden and when you burn do it at halvoff what it calls for. If it is a 16x burn at 8x or if it is 8x burn at 4 x.Most errors come from trying to burn too fast.

Taiyo Yuden is my preferred DVD-R brand for video. You also want to store them in a case of some sort so they don't have the chance of getting knocked around and cracked where the dye can leak out, carrying the data with it! You can also get "long-life" DVD/CD-Rs that are supposed to be good for 100 years or so. Now Dual/Double-Layer discs are another beast as far as compatibilities go for DVD-Video!

Just what I need in the home..more equipment, more power, more heat, more stuff..where will it ever end? I already get a bulk rate from Duke Power..:D
Some here joke about putting fiber in so I can be a backup downlink site..:o

No, no...just go with the new holographic storage solutions!

Jim there is no difference in the dvd types. DVD-R would play on most of the older dvd players when they first came out, DVD+R will play on most players now.I use both. Some burners will say what type they will play on then some where. To burn a dvd the files have to be made into mpeg2 files. Several programs will do this. Some are free on the web. Windows movie maker program is a simple way to do this.:D

Hi Charles,

Why would you convert your files into mpeg2?

Because that is what a dvd is. Avi files are huge and by converting to mpeg2 you can put 2 hours of good quality video on a dvd. 1 hour of excellent quality

Taiyo Yuden is my preferred DVD-R brand for video. You also want to store them in a case of some sort so they don't have the chance of getting knocked around and cracked where the dye can leak out, carrying the data with it! You can also get "long-life" DVD/CD-Rs that are supposed to be good for 100 years or so. Now Dual/Double-Layer discs are another beast as far as compatibilities go for DVD-Video!I have found dual layer dvds not worth it.I use the tys for long lasting recordings. I have used cheaper ones but have found out they will break down after a short time. Supermedia store on line sells them at a good price and free shipping.
:D

Because that is what a dvd is. Avi files are huge and by converting to mpeg2 you can put 2 hours of good quality video on a dvd. 1 hour of excellent quality

DVDs can store any kind of file type, not just video files.

If Ed has still photos, there wouldn't be any reason to store them as MPEG2s.

Given the amount of storage involved, you're probably right though. :)

I have found dual layer dvds not worth it.I use the tys for long lasting recordings. I have used cheaper ones but have found out they will break down after a short time. Supermedia store on line sells them at a good price and free shipping.
:D

Yeah, that's who I use for my video production side-jobs. I like them too. The vendor at work charges like twice as much, but they are the ones that have the contract for our tapes, CD's, and DVD's. :rolleyes:

Dual-layer would be worth it for some of the 2+ hours of long-format stuff that I produces, but instead I just make 2-disc sets rather than worry if that DL disc will play for everyone. Now I DO use DLs for data storage when 4.7GB won't do. No problems there. :)

Just what I need in the home..more equipment, more power, more heat, more stuff..where will it ever end? I already get a bulk rate from Duke Power..:D
Some here joke about putting fiber in so I can be a backup downlink site..:o

Yeah, I guess that fiber link would come in handy for those MPEG-4 feeds...maybe they can work that into the retrans :)

Russ

DVDs can store any kind of file type, not just video files.

If Ed has still photos, there wouldn't be any reason to store them as MPEG2s.

Given the amount of storage involved, you're probably right though. :)
I was talking about video not stills . DVD video are mpeg 2. Sorry I was speaking about video files.

Trip, what is PSIP?

It's what tells your TV that 55.3 should be shown as 8-1. Or, in this case, that 20.3 should be shown to you as 20-1.

- Trip

Trip, what is PSIP?
Wikipedia has a good article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PSIP) on PSIP if you want to learn more. :)

Wikipedia has a good article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PSIP) on PSIP if you want to learn more. :)

Thanks Tom, good article, more than I really needed to known, but pleased to learn.

Well, I got the little Roxio software package apparently working "OK" in backing up my jpegs to DVD+R. Man, that's *really* nice compared to using CDs!!!

I've got a redundant backup going with a desktop at the other end of the house...hooked up wireless and running Linux on it. Seems to work pretty good. Now with being able to do mass backups on DVDs I'll feel comfortable enough to delete the files on our main computer and make a *good* bit of room on the hard drive.

BTW, the talk of the Taiyo Yuden DVDs makes me wonder if I ought to ditch my Sonys, order a batch of the Taiyos, and redo the backup....are the Taiyos that much better? I probably won't be spinning my dvd's very much as I'll still have the images on an accessable hard drive.

Thanks everybody for their help.

Getting back on topic...I watched House last night and I'm pretty impressed with WCOV's HD. :)

Ed

Sonys are fine!

Sonys are fine!

Good thing! Thanks for the clarification.

Ed

TYS have a proven record and a great percentage of successful copying.
House is great. I also watch 24 and TERMINATOR on fox. Great HD

What is the latest on waka tv 8 power? Is it still reduced?

What is the latest on waka tv 8 power? Is it still reduced?

Channel 55 is still at approximately 60% power, channel 42 is off the air. A crew arrived this morning to start re-configuring the channel 42 transmitter back to channel 55, so we should be able to increase the power on 55 soon.

Russ

Russ,

Don't know if its acceptable with the powers that be, but could you shoot some pictures and post them for us to see how this process takes place?

Thanks for the info. The reason I asked , a week or two back I was receiving ota without pre amp or moving antenna but now I have to do both with not much success.The good news I can get you on cable. Just curious. Keep up the good work.

Anyone see that show called Worlds toughest jobs where they changed an antenna on a 2000' tower? NOT ME! It makes my stomach flip just watching it.

Anyone see that show called Worlds toughest jobs where they changed an antenna on a 2000' tower? NOT ME! It makes my stomach flip just watching it.

Been up at 1800' when it was 35 degrees on the ground. NEVER AGAIN.

I was a paratrooper and I still hate heights.Good show though.

wcov hd on Brighthouse pixilating some on American idol. Not a lot though. Watchable

I was a paratrooper and I still hate heights.Good show though.
There's a little woodplank footbridge spanning Skippers Canyon on the south island of New Zealand...whitewater river below...up about 380'...I jumped off of it a few years ago...had a bungy cord tied to my feet, though...loved it...I seriously don't think that I'd enjoy the tower climbing, though!:eek:

Ok, that kept me on topic...now for off-topic.;) I ended up getting a WD 1TB "Element" external hard drive. I reformatted it to NTFS and it appears to be working good....copied 107gb from my primary drive this morning in about 2.5 hours. Freed up some needed space on the primary.

Needless to say, I've still got plenty of room on the external drive and I'm thinking of setting up a mirrored drive...worth the effort?...got any directions written in crayon for me? It sounds like some software is necessary...suggestions?

Thanks again for the help!!! I'm feeling better now to have all those images of the grandbaby backed up well...not to mention the breathing room on the computer now.

Ed

Sounds great. I would still back up on dvds. Lord help if hard drive goes bad.I use a program called Nero to do several things including making dvd or cd

Needless to say, I've still got plenty of room on the external drive and I'm thinking of setting up a mirrored drive...worth the effort?...got any directions written in crayon for me? It sounds like some software is necessary...suggestions?
Ed

HDCLONE is available in 4 flavors, free, basic, standard and professional. I used the free version and it worked great with my external USB Seagate. It first makes you a bootable CD (so you must have a CD burner), then it makes a mirror copy of your system drives to your external USB drive. The same CD can then be used later to restore your system should you install new system or replace the system C/D drive.

The free version will only do Drive-->Drive backup, not partition to partition, but it's free...just Google HDCLONE.

Looks like we are all gonna die again.
Rich is beside himself.

Looks like we are all gonna die again.
Rich is beside himself.Earlier I think I saw a dark stain on the back of his britches...probably sat down in something.

Interesting...I switched over the wx channel and they had a basketball game going...no radar going.<g>

So when is 12.4 going live?
All Rich, all the time!

snicker snicker

Hey britt.....talking to Joe on the phone right now. Whoops off topic!

Are y'all talking about Rich Thomas on WSFA?

Joe up in Wetumpka say he has no signal on 8.1 WAKA right now.

Might be the bad weather....OR his crappy antenna!

Yea my 8 WAKA is gone too.

Britt

Yea my 8 WAKA is gone too.

Britt

Ok, so it may not be his antenna. Just got off the phone with him, said he was going to bed...too much tequila, I think.

Finally picked up all the stuff I needed to finish my 4-bay bowtie antenna. Hopefull after this storm, I'll get it up and do some testing with it. Looking to get WCOV and just maybe, with a little luck WAKA. If it doesn't get the job done then I will build a twin and make it like the 4228.

Cross your fingers and wish me luck.

WAKA 8.1 dead in Wetumpka/Jasmine Hills area too.

8.1 has been dead in MGM since yesterday. I have TIVO HD. I have ran a channel scan x 3, reset the TIVO, and still no signal. Other DT signals come in fine. Anyone else having a prob? Also, does this mean each time it rains, WAKA will be out for a couple of days? Thanks to anyone who can help.

8.1 has been dead in MGM since yesterday. I have TIVO HD. I have ran a channel scan x 3, reset the TIVO, and still no signal. Other DT signals come in fine. Anyone else having a prob? Also, does this mean each time it rains, WAKA will be out for a couple of days? Thanks to anyone who can help.I don't know what's going on with them, but it appears to be something new. They've been through plenty of rain previously so I don't think you've got to worry about this being an on going situation...of course rain fade could be an issue at times, but I don't think a complete shutdown of the signal will be the norm during rain.

Ed

8.1 has been dead in MGM since yesterday. I have TIVO HD. I have ran a channel scan x 3, reset the TIVO, and still no signal. Other DT signals come in fine. Anyone else having a prob? Also, does this mean each time it rains, WAKA will be out for a couple of days? Thanks to anyone who can help.

Went on their Web Site and found nothing about outage. Has to be the most awful web site to navigate.

As many here have noticed, WAKA went off the air Friday evening. We won't know much until we can get a tower crew in to check it, but it seems to be a problem with the transmission line or antenna that we use for channel 55.

In the meantime, we brought channel 42 back up this morning, it's still low power, but it's the best we can do right now.

I'll try to keep everyone here posted as we learn more.

Thanks,
Russ

Thanks a lot for that info. Wish WAKA would post something on their site tho!

Thanks a lot for that info. Wish WAKA would post something on their site tho!

What Russ posted here wasn't good enough?:rolleyes: It doesn't get any better.

Thanks a lot for that info. Wish WAKA would post something on their site tho!

Unfortunately, the web site is run by the news department. It's relatively rare for us to have this type of situation happen, so we don't have a system in place for engineering or operations to notify the news department of problems, so about the best I can do is post here.

Russ

What Russ posted here wasn't good enough?:rolleyes: It doesn't get any better.

No, of course it was, sorry. I meant to say it took a long time for me to find this site so I had wished I could have found out about the issues from the WAKA site. But now that I have this site, I'm good. Sorry for the oversight in my post.

it took a long time for me to find this site so I had wished I could have found out about the issues from the WAKA site. .

This is the place for timely, first hand info on WAKA.:cool: Too bad it can't be for other stations too..
BTW, it's usually not as simple as people think to put stuff on a web page..
those are usually hosted off-site anyway, so it's not like we all can run down the hall and put something up. That's why here is the best place. :)

Russ, Mark; and Thomas..as well as others.. stay very busy keeping WAKA going, so the fact they take time out to keep you all posted here needs to be considered and appreciated.

I really appreciate learning something/alot new today about this topic. Thanks to all of you.

I typed some stuff....then I back spaced a bunch.
You guys can guess.
WAKA I'm disappointed in the lack of communication over all.

From my first time of trying to get information about HD waka and Mark have been there and I for one say thank you. I appreciate anyone who works full time job and takes time to inform others. WAKA you are the best, and I do like the weather lady in HD! :D:D:D

TIVO has also goofed on their program guide so that its looking for WAKA on 42 .....which happens to work right now. Two negatives sometimes does make a positive.

Unfortunately WCOV and WNCF doesn't have program guide information on the right frequencies.

How do we get TiVo on board with these changes? They are usually on top of things. I can't believe it's been over a week and no program guide information for the Bright House WCOV HD channel has shown up. Did you call them yet? ;-)

OK, we got Channel 8 back up yesterday but now looks like its out again. We have DirectTv and this has really been problematic for us -- especially since they are the ones that are carrying some decent basketball games today. :-)

When we reset our Antenna channels on our DVR, it comes up with the suite of channels for market 36117...which channels 8-1 to 8-3 are on there but no 42 or 55. Should those come up? Do we need to add a secondary market. Help!!! If I read the recent entries, I don't know if I should be getting WAKA on Channel 8, 42, 55, or anything else.

If there is anyone out there who could lend a hand, I'd appreciate it.

By the way, since the transition to digital, NBC is perfect and Fox is even a lot stronger I think. ABC...not so much, and CBS is now dead. Who ever thought watching TV would be this hard? :D

Thanks!
PrarieDawg (yes, we know Prarie is actually spelled Prairie in the real world...its an inside joke we're stuck with and not a typo :D)

waka is having problems see previous posts up above page 157. Not all the other stations are at full power yet some are as good as it gets for now

As many here have noticed, WAKA went off the air Friday evening. We won't know much until we can get a tower crew in to check it, but it seems to be a problem with the transmission line or antenna that we use for channel 55.

In the meantime, we brought channel 42 back up this morning, it's still low power, but it's the best we can do right now.

I'll try to keep everyone here posted as we learn more.

Thanks,
Russ
Here is info

Sarasdad...thanks for the info.

The real question I had is with the Tivo, though. Right now, it is only recognizing 8-1 to 8-3 and not 42 or 55. My question is -- should it? The only choice for WAKA is 8 and if 8 is going to go off the air, how do we get the TiVo to recognize the new signals. After 3 resets, it still doesn't.

Thanks!

Sarasdad...thanks for the info.

The real question I had is with the Tivo, though. Right now, it is only recognizing 8-1 to 8-3 and not 42 or 55. My question is -- should it? The only choice for WAKA is 8 and if 8 is going to go off the air, how do we get the TiVo to recognize the new signals. After 3 resets, it still doesn't.

When we reset our Antenna channels on our DVR, it comes up with the suite of channels for market 36117...which channels 8-1 to 8-3 are on there but no 42 or 55. Should those come up? Do we need to add a secondary market. Help!!! If I read the recent entries, I don't know if I should be getting WAKA on Channel 8, 42, 55, or anything else.


Thanks!

So are we talking about a TIVO or Directv DVR?

So are we talking about a TIVO or Directv DVR?

Exactly the right question to be asking.

I spoke with a TIVO csr Friday and submitted the changes that would correct WCOV, WNCF and WAKA and provide program guide information. They said that it would take 5 to 7 days for it to show up.


This won't do anything for Brighthouse's program guide for WCOV nor anything to do Direct TV.

Exactly the right question to be asking.

I spoke with a TIVO csr Friday and submitted the changes that would correct WCOV, WNCF and WAKA and provide program guide information. They said that it would take 5 to 7 days for it to show up.


Its a DirectTv HD-DVR with an antenna in (some of the newer ones don't have that). Will that make a difference for your phone call to Tivo/will it be unilaterally updated?

I still can't figure out the local channel deal here with satellite providers. We've lived all over the US and this is the only place we've had this issue (and we've lived in some pretty small markets).

Thanks everyone...this has been a great site to find!

"This won't do anything for Brighthouse's program guide for WCOV nor anything to do Direct TV."

Sorry, didn't see that part. Guess we're still hosed for DirectTv then. Thanks!

Welcome Prarie Dawg. Great people and help here every day

Great people and help here every day

Yea,you came to mind today.. I had to kick start your Dish 811 for some reason..:) Did a rescan; it gets the OTA locals here and still has the Montgomery ones in memory..

What Russ posted here wasn't good enough?:rolleyes: It doesn't get any better.

I really appreciate Russ's post, and all the other information he gives us.
But the other people at WAKA should get their you know what together.

Thanks for taking up everyone else slack over there Russ!

Exactly the right question to be asking.

I spoke with a TIVO csr Friday and submitted the changes that would correct WCOV, WNCF and WAKA and provide program guide information. They said that it would take 5 to 7 days for it to show up.


This won't do anything for Brighthouse's program guide for WCOV nor anything to do Direct TV.

Thank you for taking care of this, Jim.

Just FYI-WAKADT is still out on 55 and 42 (since Fri). Also, I came in tonight and none of my TIVO programs had recorded. I had to do a reset, second one in 2 days. TIVO is less than 30 days old and only have had trouble since Fri. Know it's not the machine, but since the rain (and snow HA), something has gone wacky! Anyone else have this problem? PS after the reset all seems to be working save WAKADT.

WAKA is working for us on 42... 85-95%

rose,

TIVO has to have program guide information for the correct frequency assignment in order for it to record programs you've selected to record.

Since Friday, Tivo somehow got the program guide information wrong on several channels. That's why they didn't record.

I've already contacted them about the corrections. They said it'd be a few days for the corrections to go through.

Yea,you came to mind today.. I had to kick start your Dish 811 for some reason..:) Did a rescan; it gets the OTA locals here and still has the Montgomery ones in memory..
Warranty has expired.:D

Any one been having problems with WSFA since about Thursday (before the bad weather rolled in)? WSFA had been coming in at around 90 signal strength for months but has all of a sudden started cutting in and out. I have not moved my antenna or changed anything else. The signal while hover around 90 but then drop to 0 for a few seconds, this happens about once every 1-2 minutes. Could FOX going full power be interfering with the signal I'm getting from WSFA?

Man, I can't wait 'til DISH lights up our locals this month!

Sorry, didn't see that part. Guess we're still hosed for DirectTv then. Thanks!

Hey Dawg. I've got the same type of DirecTV HD DVR with antenna input, and I didn't know that WAKA was having trouble until I logged on this morning (I thought that it had something to do with the 42 to 55 switch or something, which was not correct).

Anyway, I did a reset of my local off-air antenna settings and then went back through the Initial Setup of off-air locals again. After that finished, every available Montgomery local showed up just like you described (8-1, 8-2, etc, without showing the actual channel frequency of 42 or 55). When I tuned to WAKA 8-1 after that setup, I got a "choppy" picture that was the result of a low signal strength (which is consistent with the post above that says that 42 was brought up at low power while they figured out the problem with 55). Based on that (and this is just a guess on my part), it looks like the HD DVR automatically assigned 8-1, 8-2 and 8-3 to channel 42 when it was scanning during the initial setup, since 55 was not working and 42 was at low power.

Hope this (somewhat) answers your question. I certainly prefer the old HD DirecTivo's signal strength meters, which would let you test by the native channel numbers instead of the digital numbers.

Any updates on WAKADT for today? Still have a messed up signal on all of their channels. Thanks.

Any updates on WAKADT for today? Still have a messed up signal on all of their channels. Thanks.

Just got home and checked...my WAKA is messed up. Resetting my DVR now to see if anything is any better.

Also been getting weak signals on (WNCF) Channel 32 lately. Did I miss the posts that explained why? I've been at around 50-60% all weekend, with no directional improving. I've had it upwards of 90% with an indoor antenna before.

Just got home and checked...my WAKA is messed up. Resetting my DVR now to see if anything is any better.

Also been getting weak signals on (WNCF) Channel 32 lately. Did I miss the posts that explained why? I've been at around 50-60% all weekend, with no directional improving. I've had it upwards of 90% with an indoor antenna before.

Apparently nobody cares P'Dawg!

I care for what its worth

I kept getting skips watching "24" OTA on WCOV 20.1 last night. My Dish 722 DVR reported the signal strength in the 84% range. It was watchable, but annoying. Anyone else notice problems? I am just trying to make sure it's not my equipment.

I kept getting skips watching "24" OTA on WCOV 20.1 last night. My Dish 722 DVR reported the signal strength in the 84% range. It was watchable, but annoying. Anyone else notice problems? I am just trying to make sure it's not my equipment.

I have had probs on 20.1 as well. I have to keep changing channels back and forth to try to get it, which didn't work consistently. It breaks up some also. So probably not your equipment, I'm thinking. I couldn't find any news on it having probs either.

I'm not having any problems with 20.1. My signal strength fluctuates between 95 and 100%. I was having problems with WNCF, but it has been fine for the last couple of days. Any news on WAKA?

I recorded 24... haven't watched it yet, but tonight we had some minor break ups on 20.1 with Idol, but it was mostly at the beginning and that was even with a 100% signal. This happened to us with 12.1 a while back and it ended up being on their end.

I'm having problems with WNCF now as well.

Strength has dropped from the 80 range to the 55-60 range. This started a few days ago.

I'm not getting anything on WAKA right now. Any news?

apparently, again, nobody cares
or
Maybe the Obama administration is right that we are not ready for DTV yet!

I just scanned and I got zero channels...oh wait I got to hook up the antenna first I guess

Sweet the FDA cleared Contour ABS informercial is on 29.1!

Anyway I've getting everything 7,8,12,20,26,29,32,34,45 (virtual channels) and the CW on 51.4 (running the SMC infomercial if anyone want to buy some figurines)

Britt

maybe the obama administration is right that we are not ready for dtv yet!

I just scanned and i got zero channels...oh wait i got to hook up the antenna first i guess

roflmao...... :d

Oh well, guess the smilie didn't work!

Anyway I've getting everything 7,8,12,20,26,29,32,34,45 (virtual channels) and the CW on 51.4 (running the SMC infomercial if anyone want to buy some figurines)

What is channel 7?