Albany, NY - HDTV [Text View] - Page 11

bdee1

12-06-06, 09:15 AM

I am in Scotia, NY and I currently have DirecTV with showtime, 1 standard receiver, 1 direcTivo and one HD DirecTivo. overall it works well but i am paying around $85/month.

lately i have been thinking for switching over to Time Warner Digital Cable with the HD package. here are a few of the reasons i am thinking of switching:
1) I have heard that they offer more HD channels
2) their HD locals come over the cable instead of over the air - seems more convenient
3) their music channels have video content on them - trivia about the artists, videos and what not. directv just has static text describing the artist and album
4) cable has indemand which seems cool

but with that said i have some questions:
1) overall will there be any noticeable difference in picture quality?
2) i have heard mixed reviews about the time Warner DVR. i really like the tivo interface but i know that the only way to get that with cable is to get the standalone tivo with has a pretty high monthly fee. what is the general concencus on the time warner DVR? for a user coming from tivo will it be really frustrating to use?
3) i do have a media center PC in my living room MCE2005. it currently does not have a tv tuner card so we don't use it for recording tv. I have used MCE systems for recording tv before and to me they are just so-so. but i am wondering if the interface will be better to use then the time warner dvr? anyone have thoughts on this?
4) does time warner even offer a high def dvr? if so do they charge more for it then they do for the standard dvr? do their dvr's have dual tuners?
5) do their dvr's require a phone line?

if anyone from my general area can chime in with their time warner experiences i would appreciate it.

m_jonis

12-06-06, 09:23 PM

I can assure you TW Albany does NOT offer more HD channels than DTV does (I think unless you count possibly all the locals, but you can get those OTA via DTV if I remember correctly).

Yes, PQ is noticeably worse on TW than DTV (IMO, DTV is noticeably worse than DISH). The TW DVR is crap. I'd take Tivo any day over TW DVR (at least with the SARA software). It's idea of a Season Pass is "record channel X at time Y". It has no concept if the show gets moved or is not on that night. It also loves to randomly NOT record stuff and randomly record partial minutes of a show too.

Yes, TW offers a HD DVR (the sucky one I mentioned above). Yes, it's more. Depending upon which Digital package you get it's anywhere from $5/more per month to $15/more per month (at least when I had mine). Yes, it's $5/month more than their standard DVR. Yes, it has dual tuners. No they don't require a phone line.

DirecTivo is WAY better than crappy TW DVR (unless you count the ability to record a show at once and watch another, but I can't remember if the DTV Tivo does that as well).

BreakStuff

12-06-06, 09:55 PM

Directv HD channels not found on TWC..

ESPN 2 HD
NFL Network HD

TWC HD channels not found on Directv.

InHD 1
InHD 2
SNY HD

(not including local channels)

bdee1

12-06-06, 11:03 PM

good to know - thanks for the feedback. i have actually never really looked into dish network - not sure why. but if you are saying that it has the best picture quality then the next question is - do they offer a decent dvr? if not then it seems like the only way to go woudl be dish network with standalone tivos?

I can assure you TW Albany does NOT offer more HD channels than DTV does (I think unless you count possibly all the locals, but you can get those OTA via DTV if I remember correctly).

Yes, PQ is noticeably worse on TW than DTV (IMO, DTV is noticeably worse than DISH). The TW DVR is crap. I'd take Tivo any day over TW DVR (at least with the SARA software). It's idea of a Season Pass is "record channel X at time Y". It has no concept if the show gets moved or is not on that night. It also loves to randomly NOT record stuff and randomly record partial minutes of a show too.

Yes, TW offers a HD DVR (the sucky one I mentioned above). Yes, it's more. Depending upon which Digital package you get it's anywhere from $5/more per month to $15/more per month (at least when I had mine). Yes, it's $5/month more than their standard DVR. Yes, it has dual tuners. No they don't require a phone line.

DirecTivo is WAY better than crappy TW DVR (unless you count the ability to record a show at once and watch another, but I can't remember if the DTV Tivo does that as well).

optivity

12-07-06, 07:22 AM

Directv HD channels not found on TWC..

ESPN 2 HD
NFL Network HD

TWC HD channels not found on Directv.

InHD 1
InHD 2
SNY HD

(not including local channels)IMO... InHD 1 & InHD 2 deliver the best looking 1080i content on TWs digital tier, INHD (http://www.inhd.com/indexFlash.jsp) does HDTV the way it should be.

Feirstein

12-07-06, 12:41 PM

Most people don't know that must 1080i productions can't deliver the full horizontal resolution of the 1080i specification. As hardware and distribution matures and bandwidth is freed up this may change for the better. Currently InHD and Discovery Channel are among the better 1080i sources. 720p productions are not usually as limited in resolution since it is easier to produce and distribute a progressive scan format, but I have not seen objective information on this subject related to actual program feeds into our area.

Richard.

optivity

12-08-06, 06:58 AM

Anyone notice major problems during the past couple of days with TWs channel 1815 WEWB (WCWN/The CW) HD? What's up with that?

ebo

12-08-06, 11:52 PM

Anyone notice major problems during the past couple of days with TWs channel 1815 WEWB (WCWN/The CW) HD? What's up with that?Yesterday I first noticed a problem with their air feed. Using an AutumnWave OnAir GT tuner, I had no audio on 45-1 (picture was OK) and I couldn't tune 45-2. The GT has an option to record a single subchannel or the full stream. When I switched from single to full the audio was restored and I could tune 45-2. I wasn't recording so I don't know why that would make a difference. All other stations were OK either way, and I know that WCWN has been OK in the recent past.

I also recorded Smallville on an LG HD DVR. I didn't monitor it coming in, but it played back with a bout of pixelation, freezing and repeating audio every few minutes. Too annoying to watch. I've seen that problem before, and IIRC the show was fine coming in but recorded badly.

I checked reception on a MyHD card but that seemed OK with either single channel or full stream. I didn't try recording.

They definitely have a problem, but the symptoms are different on different receivers, and I suspect that some can handle it. Optivity, what symptoms are you seeing? I assume you have a cable tuner, since you used their virtual channel number.

I wasn't aware that WCWN-HD was on cable. Guess I should do a rescan. Anyone know if it's unencrypted and what RF channel it's on, for those of us with clear QAM tuners?

optivity

12-09-06, 09:19 AM

They definitely have a problem, but the symptoms are different on different receivers, and I suspect that some can handle it. Optivity, what symptoms are you seeing? I assume you have a cable tuner, since you used their virtual channel number.

I wasn't aware that WCWN-HD was on cable. Guess I should do a rescan. Anyone know if it's unencrypted and what RF channel it's on, for those of us with clear QAM tuners?I have TW cable w/SA8300HD DVR (I also have a CableCARD from TW but haven't been using it for a while). TW carries WCWN-HD on channel 1815... every other channel 1800 - 1860 is fine. Channel 1815 (as of Thursday) is unwatchable. Picture/audio cutting in/out, severe disruptions (w/loss of signal altogether) and breakups with visual/audio feed.

BTW... can you receive anything with your QAM tuner on TW cable? I've tried before with my PDP and had no luck, but Panasonic QAM tuners aren't without problems. Can you provide some channel numbers you have discovered?

MasterFX1

12-09-06, 05:20 PM

Speaking with WRGB's Chief Engineer yesterday, he let me know that WRGB has replaced their primary encoder with a superior one and then trickled down the previous encoders for other channels they are operating (WCWN & WNYA). Ultimately, the compression taking place at WRGB's link in the chain from CBS to 6-1 or 1806 should be much improved.

ebo

12-10-06, 01:22 AM

BTW... can you receive anything with your QAM tuner on TW cable? I've tried before with my PDP and had no luck, but Panasonic QAM tuners aren't without problems. Can you provide some channel numbers you have discovered?Most of the broadcast channels are on RF channels 104 and 105. I saw WCWN on 108 briefly a few months ago, along with a shopping channel. 108 appears to have no carrier now. Then WCWN was very briefly on 74 (the lowest digital channel I've seen). That's dead too. Locally the digital channels are 79-119. Not all are in use, and of course most are encrypted.

Here's what's on 104 and 105. Numbers in brackets are my guess at the virtual channels you'd use on the cable box.

104-1 WTEN Weather Loop
104-2 WNYT Weather Loop
104-3 WMHT HD [1811]
104-4 WRGB HD [1806]
104-6 WRGB Radar

105-7 WXXA HD [1808]
105-10 WNYT HD [1813]
105-17 WTEN HD [1810]

I've read that FCC regs prohibit encryption of broadcast digitals on cable, and also that they don't. I wish someone would point me to a relevant regulation. If WCWN HD is on cable, I'd like to know the real channel it's on, so I can verify that it's encrypted.

ebo

12-10-06, 01:27 AM

Speaking with WRGB's Chief Engineer yesterday, he let me know that WRGB has replaced their primary encoder with a superior one and then trickled down the previous encoders for other channels they are operating (WCWN & WNYA). Oh, great. I suppose that means WCWN has inherited WRGB's defective encoder.

optivity

12-10-06, 10:41 AM

Thanks for the response. BTW... WCWN is fixed.

splat10

12-10-06, 01:26 PM

splat10

12-10-06, 02:02 PM

Hello, everyone - Happy Thanksgiving.
I am new to this forum :). I just installed a Radio shack 160" UHF/VHF antenna in the attic of my house in Glens Falls (50.1 miles from the stations in Albany), I can get all the local channels pretty well except the two VHF channels: 13 and 23. I can get ch. 23 with 20-30% strength, but never get any signal of ch 13 at all. I wonder if I can solve the problem by installing a preamp to the antenna?
Thanks

If your still here i am in wilton only 10 miles south of you and had the smaller 80" RS antenna and pick up the VHF channels easily with about a 80-90% strength. I couldn't get the UHF well so i switched to a UHF 8 bay bowtie CM4228 and added a Channel Master pre-amp 7777 and that helped a lot. Yesterday i took the RS antenna out (had it on the VHF only input of the pre-amp) and used only the UHF and get the VHF just as good. Now i'm still having occasional issues with 6 and have to watch analog but other than that i'm set.

So i guess what i'm saying is that you should be picking up the VHF just fine as they travel further than UHF anyway. Try getting the channel master 7777 pre-amp as it gets good reviews and works good for me. but if you can only peak 20-30% now i don't think it will get you there. make sure you're vhf part of the antenna isn't shorting the cross wires or that everything is right. Wouldn't be a first on a RS antenna to be junk. Channel master and wingaurd antennas "supposedly" (as i have no first hand experience) will pull in stuff RS won't.

m_jonis

12-11-06, 10:47 PM

good to know - thanks for the feedback. i have actually never really looked into dish network - not sure why. but if you are saying that it has the best picture quality then the next question is - do they offer a decent dvr? if not then it seems like the only way to go woudl be dish network with standalone tivos?

From what I HEAR (I used to have DISH, and DTV, and of course still have TW, but only have ever used the two sucky TW DVR's and my Tivo's), the DISH PVR is not "bad" compared to say, the TW DVR. Not as good as Tivo from what I hear.

Me personally, I can live with just about any interface. What I CANNOT live with is a DVR that does do "true" season passes (like the TW DVR), or one that just randomly doesn't record the entire show. Hence why I stick with my Tivo and gave up my TW HD DVR.

Now, I don't know if the DISH unit has "true" season passes or if it's "stupid" like the TW DVR where it REALLY sets up a VCR type recording. Example: You set it to record Law and Order on Channel 13 (or 1813). On Tivo, if you set that up for a Season Pass, you can specify ONLY first runs (and no reruns). Not so on TW DVR. Secondly, if the show "moves" to say a diff. time or night, the Tivo will adjust itself to catch the new time/date (providing nothing else conflicts with it). The TW DVR? Well, it'll either just plain old not record it, or in my case, it'll record whatever is NOW on that show and change the "season pass" to be that "new" thing (so instead of seeing Law and Order in Scheduled Recordings it'll be like whatever the new show is).

Note, that I do not know if the DISH PVR has the same problems. I'm sure there's an AVS forum for DISH, or you can punish yourself and go to the tivo community forums and get beat up about how "bad" it is (but considering that Tivo does NOT have an HD DVR for DISH, I fail to see the point in bashing them).

m_jonis

12-11-06, 10:52 PM

Most of the broadcast channels are on RF channels 104 and 105. I saw WCWN on 108 briefly a few months ago, along with a shopping channel. 108 appears to have no carrier now. Then WCWN was very briefly on 74 (the lowest digital channel I've seen). That's dead too. Locally the digital channels are 79-119. Not all are in use, and of course most are encrypted.

Here's what's on 104 and 105. Numbers in brackets are my guess at the virtual channels you'd use on the cable box.

104-1 WTEN Weather Loop
104-2 WNYT Weather Loop
104-3 WMHT HD [1811]
104-4 WRGB HD [1806]
104-6 WRGB Radar

105-7 WXXA HD [1808]
105-10 WNYT HD [1813]
105-17 WTEN HD [1810]

I've read that FCC regs prohibit encryption of broadcast digitals on cable, and also that they don't. I wish someone would point me to a relevant regulation. If WCWN HD is on cable, I'd like to know the real channel it's on, so I can verify that it's encrypted.

Ironically, on my Toshiba Plasma, the QAM tuner sees the channels just like TW advertises them. In other words, HD WNYT is 1813 (although the TV doesn't show 4 digit channels so it's really 18-13 or something when you type it in).

But apparently each QAM tuner is a bit different. Something about a PSIP or some code that may be embedded by TW to "help" some QAM tuners see it?

As for the FCC thing, I've heard the same thing. They had a cow on the Tivo forums about it and nobody could ever provide me with the FCC link that stated it was a "no-no". From all the google searches I've done, it seems the wording is vague so that it can be interpreted either way. Apparently in TW South Carolina, the rep stated they were under NO FCC requirement to not encrypt the digital locals. But don't go posting in that forum or they'll tear you a new one. (apparently you have to actually live in TWSC area AND sub to that cable provider in order to post in that forum).

optivity

12-12-06, 08:33 AM

If the content/CATV providers don't get their act together, Digital Rights Management (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Rights_Management) will be the death knell of HDTV.

Hey Albany Time Warner... I'm really looking forward to the day when Verizon FiOS TV (http://www22.verizon.com/content/fiostv/) becomes available in our area. ;)

bdee1

12-12-06, 09:07 AM

From what I HEAR (I used to have DISH, and DTV, and of course still have TW, but only have ever used the two sucky TW DVR's and my Tivo's), the DISH PVR is not "bad" compared to say, the TW DVR. Not as good as Tivo from what I hear.

Me personally, I can live with just about any interface. What I CANNOT live with is a DVR that does do "true" season passes (like the TW DVR), or one that just randomly doesn't record the entire show. Hence why I stick with my Tivo and gave up my TW HD DVR.

Now, I don't know if the DISH unit has "true" season passes or if it's "stupid" like the TW DVR where it REALLY sets up a VCR type recording. Example: You set it to record Law and Order on Channel 13 (or 1813). On Tivo, if you set that up for a Season Pass, you can specify ONLY first runs (and no reruns). Not so on TW DVR. Secondly, if the show "moves" to say a diff. time or night, the Tivo will adjust itself to catch the new time/date (providing nothing else conflicts with it). The TW DVR? Well, it'll either just plain old not record it, or in my case, it'll record whatever is NOW on that show and change the "season pass" to be that "new" thing (so instead of seeing Law and Order in Scheduled Recordings it'll be like whatever the new show is).

Note, that I do not know if the DISH PVR has the same problems. I'm sure there's an AVS forum for DISH, or you can punish yourself and go to the tivo community forums and get beat up about how "bad" it is (but considering that Tivo does NOT have an HD DVR for DISH, I fail to see the point in bashing them).

hey thanks for the info - that would definitely irritate me - after using tivo - it sounds like i definitely wont want to go back. so it sounds like if i want to switch providers, my only option is to get the standalone high def tivo.

i do have a windows media center PC in the living room but i don't have a tv tuner card. so i could always just buy the tv tuner card and give that a shot but i have had problems in the past getting a decent picture with MCE and TW cable. plus for the high def content i have heard that i will have problems recording that.

splat10

12-12-06, 09:30 AM

hey thanks for the info - that would definitely irritate me - after using tivo - it sounds like i definitely wont want to go back. so it sounds like if i want to switch providers, my only option is to get the standalone high def tivo.

i do have a windows media center PC in the living room but i don't have a tv tuner card. so i could always just buy the tv tuner card and give that a shot but i have had problems in the past getting a decent picture with MCE and TW cable. plus for the high def content i have heard that i will have problems recording that.

not having had a tivo i can't compare but the dish DVR does have the functionality where it examines show title and content to "know" when they are, if it's already recorded it and needs to skip it, and if it's a new episode or a repeat. The Dish 622 is very well regarded and I have never missed a show. The fact that it can run a whole house ditribution system as well which tivo can't do sets it apart IMO. Since there are only two in my family the one reciever does my whole house. I love it and wouldn't want anything less and the H20 is much less from what i've read.

bdee1

12-12-06, 09:57 AM

bdee1

12-12-06, 10:06 AM

i also noticed that on the dishnetwork site it says they offer way more HD channels than the other providers.

bdee1

12-12-06, 10:40 AM

the more i read about dish network the more interested i get but i would like to see more of the 622 dvr before i commit. does anyone know where i can get pics of the interface?

redjr

12-12-06, 10:44 AM

ebo

12-12-06, 11:04 AM

i do have a windows media center PC in the living room but i don't have a tv tuner card. so i could always just buy the tv tuner card and give that a shot but i have had problems in the past getting a decent picture with MCE and TW cable. plus for the high def content i have heard that i will have problems recording that.Of course a tuner card limits you to broadcast channels (OTA) and unencrypted cable channels (pretty much the same thing). But if that suits you, I recommend a MyHD MDP-130. An independently written, free add-on, CW_EPG, adds the ability to record a show whenever it's on, with filters for "New" and "New to Me" (i.e. not recorded before). But while the MyHD should coexist with MCE, it won't interact with it.

splat10

12-12-06, 12:46 PM

i am looking at directv's website now and it looks like the ViP622 is the one for high def (like you said) and that might work for me - but i am wondering one thing - it says it supports 2 tv's. but does it have 4 tuners total so theres 2 tuners per tv? that way i could watch one show while recording another (or record 2 shows at the same time) on each of the 2 tvs?

also with directv, i have to get my high def locals via an off air antenna - is that the case with dish or to the high def locals come via the dish?

The VIP 622 has 2 satellite tuners and one OTA tuner. So you can record 3 things at once, or watch 2 things. Basically you have 2 TV outputs (only 1 HD output though). The tv2 out typically is used for a RF (rg6) output to feed a whole house system modulated to a channel of your choosing. TV2 is operated via UHF remote. If you want a dedicated second TV you can get a second reciever like a 211 for that tv (and then run the RF input from the dvr to watch shows off the DVR. The call it two room because it has two tuners. it has a single mode for set up as just one tv, and a dual mode where it's for distribution. In the end it's only 2 tuners FWIW.

Dishnetwork is not yet offering albany locals in HD and i'm not sure of the time frame. OTA is fine anyway except there is no guide data for the OTA (though they are tuned through the DVR so you have to set manual times for OTA which is my only beef. If you subscribe to locals through dish ($5.99) they supposedly will feed you guide data. My major beef is they purposely don't enable OTA PSIP guide data to try and force you to buy locals. They claim it's because you don't get more than a few hours of data on PSIP and you have to tune to the channel but that's nothing new.

I have dish becuase i think it's best of the three options out there right now. You can go to SatelliteGuys.us (http://www.satelliteguys.us/forumdisplay.php?f=10) (if i'm allowed to link here?) for all the info on all the providers and more on interface.

The HD content they brag up is the old VOOM system they bought. I rarely watch any of the VOOM stuff but some people like it. Also you need two dishes installed to get HD from dish as thier 1 dish solution doesn't work in the northeast.

splat10

12-12-06, 12:49 PM

the more i read about dish network the more interested i get but i would like to see more of the 622 dvr before i commit. does anyone know where i can get pics of the interface?

Here's a link to online Manual for the 622 on Dish Network's site (http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/products/userguides_manuals/receivers/ViP622_DVR/index.shtml)

bdee1

12-12-06, 03:05 PM

hey thanks for the info. so even though HD locals are not available, are you saying that if i subscribe to the SD locals via the dish, then i will get guide data for my OTA HD locals? or are you saying that there is no way to get program guide data for OTA channels?

also - if there is just a single OTA tuner i think that will get annoying since my current DirecTV unit (HR10-250) has dual OTA tuners. most of the HD shows we watch are prime time sitcoms on the major networks. and there are MANY times when shows overlap and we make use of the dual OTA tuner.

and regarding he voom channels, i probably wont watch a ton of them but one of the big draws for us is the addition of food network and HGT in HD. the wife LOVES those channels.

although the 622 sounds like it is VERY close to doing what i need, i think the Tivo may still be the only way to go. i just HATE to spend $800 on a tivo though (the new series 3)

The VIP 622 has 2 satellite tuners and one OTA tuner. So you can record 3 things at once, or watch 2 things. Basically you have 2 TV outputs (only 1 HD output though). The tv2 out typically is used for a RF (rg6) output to feed a whole house system modulated to a channel of your choosing. TV2 is operated via UHF remote. If you want a dedicated second TV you can get a second reciever like a 211 for that tv (and then run the RF input from the dvr to watch shows off the DVR. The call it two room because it has two tuners. it has a single mode for set up as just one tv, and a dual mode where it's for distribution. In the end it's only 2 tuners FWIW.

Dishnetwork is not yet offering albany locals in HD and i'm not sure of the time frame. OTA is fine anyway except there is no guide data for the OTA (though they are tuned through the DVR so you have to set manual times for OTA which is my only beef. If you subscribe to locals through dish ($5.99) they supposedly will feed you guide data. My major beef is they purposely don't enable OTA PSIP guide data to try and force you to buy locals. They claim it's because you don't get more than a few hours of data on PSIP and you have to tune to the channel but that's nothing new.

I have dish becuase i think it's best of the three options out there right now. You can go to SatelliteGuys.us (http://www.satelliteguys.us/forumdisplay.php?f=10) (if i'm allowed to link here?) for all the info on all the providers and more on interface.

The HD content they brag up is the old VOOM system they bought. I rarely watch any of the VOOM stuff but some people like it. Also you need two dishes installed to get HD from dish as thier 1 dish solution doesn't work in the northeast.

splat10

12-12-06, 03:40 PM

bdee1

12-12-06, 03:44 PM

thanks - i appreciate all the info.

my TV does have an integrated HD tuner but thats only good if we are home to watch the shows when the overlaps occur. if not then we are still stuck since we can only record one. i might be ok with that but the wife would easily get frustrated if she had to switch between inputs like that.

perhaps dish network will get HD locals for my area and then i would be all over the 622.

anyway - thanks for all the info - i do appreciate it.

MasterFX1

12-12-06, 04:26 PM

I'm using TWC in North Troy, and a few month back switched over to their HD Tier programming - including the DiscoveryHD Channel. However, I have never been able to reliably receive a clean, unpixelated picture on that channel. Sometimes it won't come in at all! All the other HD channels come in just fine, so I don't think it's my STB.

What's up with DiscoveryHD! Anyone else experiencing this problem on DiscoveryHD? :confused:

While TWC's compression of HD channels is often too much for me, if you are experiencing no signal at all, I would suspect you are not getting good enough signal strength from TWC to you STB. Call TWC and complain that certain HD channels you subscribe to are not working, request a technician to test the signal integrity at your home.

Many times TWC will modify things in neighborhoods or are using old infrastructure and the signal strength just isn't good enough for HD or the IP Phone service. I've had to have TWC come out and rework their infrastructure on River Street in Troy for a studio I built there several times. It seems every time they would add a subscriber on the same business district block, my signal would fall below the threshold of acceptability for many of the HD channels.

redjr

12-12-06, 05:07 PM

While TWC's compression of HD channels is often too much for me, if you are experiencing no signal at all, I would suspect you are not getting good enough signal strength from TWC to you STB. Call TWC and complain that certain HD channels you subscribe to are not working, request a technician to test the signal integrity at your home.

Many times TWC will modify things in neighborhoods or are using old infrastructure and the signal strength just isn't good enough for HD or the IP Phone service. I've had to have TWC come out and rework their infrastructure on River Street in Troy for a studio I built there several times. It seems every time they would add a subscriber on the same business district block, my signal would fall below the threshold of acceptability for many of the HD channels.
Thanks Master! Appreciate the info. A few months prior to getting HD I signed up for their phone service too. At the time of installation they came to the house, and I would assumed checked the 'integrity' of the digital signal. Maybe it was 'passable' for Voice-over-IP, but now that I'm getting HD too, the signal has suffered. In fairness, I have a mass of splitters spread all over my house too! :eek:

It is possible, as you suggest, more subscribers have come online in my neighborhood, further deteriorating the overall signal too. I just figured if it were a weak signal, all HD channels would suffer, but I guess more are prone to than others. I may just give them a call while I have some time at home over the holidays. :)

AlbanyHDTV

12-12-06, 07:39 PM

AlbanyHDTV

12-12-06, 07:41 PM

While on the topic of TWC...

I have been in contact with my buddy "Mike" at TWC and he confirmed MHD (MTV HD channel) will be added prior to the end of 2006.

optivity

12-13-06, 08:01 AM

While on the topic of TWC...

I have been in contact with my buddy "Mike" at TWC and he confirmed MHD (MTV HD channel) will be added prior to the end of 2006.Like we really need MTV-HD... how many sixteen-year-olds are paying Mom & Dad's cable bill these days? :rolleyes:

redjr

12-13-06, 08:32 AM

Like we really need MTV-HD... how many sixteen-year-olds are paying Mom & Dad's cable bill these days? :rolleyes:
Yeah, really! :eek:

timick1

12-13-06, 02:05 PM

So I can watch music videos in HD now? Oh wait...

Does MTV even play music videos anymore?

BreakStuff

12-13-06, 11:29 PM

Looks like the will be utilizing the various genres of MTV, VH1 and CMT and catering to one specific channel called MHD.

MTV Networks introduced its high-def channel, MHD, in January. It's delivered in the 1080-line interlace HD format and draws content from MTV and sister channels VH1 and CMT.

MHD is all about live concerts and awards shows. And in reality, that's the best way to bring high-def to music fans. While many music videos are shot on film, only a handful have been produced in HD. MHD is talking with record labels to start filling that void.

MTV created an MHD studio on top of Vail Mountain in Colorado, but that facility is used only to capture short interstitial segments in high-def, such as MTV “veejays” introducing a concert telecast.

Supporting MHD's early high-definition production is Pegasus HD, a new 54-foot mobile HD production truck used to produce a series of live Music With Altitude concert specials in Breckenridge, Colo., last month. The oversize truck will be kept rolling to produce major events, such as the MTV Music Awards, and live music shows, such as CMT's Crossroads.

kb2hpw

12-15-06, 05:55 AM

ebo

12-15-06, 08:18 PM

Can anybody receive DTV 45.2 (OTA) in the local area? I have not been able to receive that channel (The Tube - music videos) for probably+2months. 45.1 comes in great, strong signal strength. Great signal strength for 45.2, but no programming. I have a Samsung SIR451, UHF Tv beam, located in Center Brunswick.It's still there (I just checked) but WCWN has changed something recently that apparently affects different receivers in different ways. I have 3 types of receivers: LG DVR, MyHD PCI card and AutumnWave OnAir GT USB tuner. The GT is affected the most. It has an option to record either a single subchannel or the full stream. If I select single subchannel, I get WCWN (45-1) video but no audio, and I cannot get The Tube (45-2) at all. If I try, I get a freeze frame of the last good video. If I select full stream, I can get both channels, video and audio. Note that I am not recording, just selecting the recording mode in a menu.

The MyHD can also be set for single/full, but it doesn't show the GT's problem in either mode.

Others have reported intermittent breakup even though they have a good signal. I saw that in recordings I made on the LG, but haven't researched it further.

optivity

12-16-06, 10:50 AM

So I can watch music videos in HD now? Oh wait...

Does MTV even play music videos anymore?I hope MTV brings back The Osbournes (http://www.mtv.com/ontv/dyn/osbournes/series.jhtml) so we can watch Ozzy shuffle about the mansion in his drug-induced haze...

http://mysite.verizon.net/vzequg9f/ozzy.JPG

and all of it will be in glorious HD. :D

Tower Guy

12-17-06, 10:18 AM

splat10

12-17-06, 08:10 PM

yes deleting and re-adding 45.x (43) did bring back .2 for me. I've never watched it so i never cared but this thread made me check

snowmoon

12-18-06, 09:59 PM

A year with nothing but OTA reception in our household. I think one of the major reasons it has worked out so well is the DVR. I posted my thoughs on the whole process on my public blog.

"Since January I have watched several new TV shows and the major sporting events; Almost all of them were in glorious HDTV. With only minor changes to our viewing habits I have kicked the cable TV to the curb and gone 100% OTA for network and local broadcasts. It might surprise some people that someone with a HDTV might not have cable service. In reality dropping cable TV was an excellent choice for our household."

http://brontide.blogspot.com/2006/12/my-year-without-cable.html

m_jonis

12-18-06, 10:08 PM

ebo

12-19-06, 01:21 PM

Can someone recommend an HDTV tuner card that will record QAM channels from TW for the locals? This is for a PC (not a MAC). PCI Express or AGP.

Assuming there is a beast that will do this, mind you.Here's a thread that discusses various tuner cards:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=713642

I have the MyHD MDP-130, which will do what you asked for, as long as the QAM channels are not encrypted. Unlike most such cards it does MPEG2 decoding in hardware and has its own HD output (it comes with RGB/component out; DVI out is an extra-cost option). That means you can use an older, slower computer with any video, because the HD output is not through the video card.

However, if you also want to watch and record analog NTSC video, either tuned directly or input from a cable STB or other source, the MyHD will do it, but not well. A better choice might be the AutumnWave OnAir Creator, a USB tuner with MPEG2 encoding (but not decoding) in hardware. This requires a faster, more capable computer. The video system should support DxVA.

Most but not all of the local digital broadcasts are available unencrypted on cable. You don't need a digital subscription to get them; any subscription will do, including Basic. Channels not currently available include WCWN-HD, WNYA-SD and WMHT-SD. Note that WMHT-HD is available, but its program lineup is different.

Don't dismiss the possibility of getting these stations OTA with a simple indoor antenna or even an outdoor one mounted indoors. Even with analog reception you wouldn't be happy with, digital reception could well be perfect. It's worth a try.

ebo

12-19-06, 01:34 PM

Since I reported on recent problems I had receiving the WCWN digital channels with an AutumnWave OnAir GT tuner, I should report the resolution. Following a suggestion, I deleted the channels and added them again. That fixed the problem. I'd still like to know what changed to cause it, but it's academic now. Maybe I'll ask in the AutumnWave thread.

wdaub1

12-19-06, 04:45 PM

I just got this message from TW Albany

Thank you, William, for your online request to Time Warner Cable to add ESPN2HD.

We'll be adding this to our lineup later this week. It will be assigned to digital cable channel 1870.

ESPN2 HD is another outlet in what has become a flourishing franchise for ESPN and provides sports fans with more HD programming. In addition to ESPN2HD, we're adding this week A&E HD to channel 1838 and MTV HD to channel 1840. Also, INHD2 is going away; its content is going to be shown on INHD, channel 1855.

We thank you again and invite you to make future network requests.

kb2hpw

12-19-06, 07:39 PM

Thanks for the info guys. I did a new channel search ("Memorize" channels;Samsung) and it did find 45.2. I guess I just have not done a channel search in such a long time. In the beginning I used to do that at least once a week, to see if any new channels/programing were there. Seems odd how it just went away one day though.

Incidentally, I grew up in the 80's without cable TV and kinda missed out on the whole MTV thing. For me The Tube is neat because some of those videos I'm seeing now for the first time :)

m_jonis

12-19-06, 10:11 PM

Here's a thread that discusses various tuner cards:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=713642

I have the MyHD MDP-130, which will do what you asked for, as long as the QAM channels are not encrypted. Unlike most such cards it does MPEG2 decoding in hardware and has its own HD output (it comes with RGB/component out; DVI out is an extra-cost option). That means you can use an older, slower computer with any video, because the HD output is not through the video card.

However, if you also want to watch and record analog NTSC video, either tuned directly or input from a cable STB or other source, the MyHD will do it, but not well. A better choice might be the AutumnWave OnAir Creator, a USB tuner with MPEG2 encoding (but not decoding) in hardware. This requires a faster, more capable computer. The video system should support DxVA.

Most but not all of the local digital broadcasts are available unencrypted on cable. You don't need a digital subscription to get them; any subscription will do, including Basic. Channels not currently available include WCWN-HD, WNYA-SD and WMHT-SD. Note that WMHT-HD is available, but its program lineup is different.

Don't dismiss the possibility of getting these stations OTA with a simple indoor antenna or even an outdoor one mounted indoors. Even with analog reception you wouldn't be happy with, digital reception could well be perfect. It's worth a try.

Thanks for the info! I saw the pchd500 or whatever on the mythtv website, but I noticed it lacks ANY output on it at all (so I'd have to buy another video card). Right now I'm only looking at input from RF mainly just for the HD "locals" that TW sends via QAM. Basically I don't wanna spend $800 on a Series 3 Tivo and not have TTG and MRV. At least with Myth, it seems that I could always transfer the show to my pc and watch it that way and/or convert it to something and burn to DVD to take it with me if I needed/wanted.

WRGB EngDept

12-20-06, 02:31 PM

...Most but not all of the local digital broadcasts are available unencrypted on cable...Channels not currently available include WCWN-HD...
Actually WCWN-HD has been available for some months. It had been on ch 108 until just recently. We found it on ch 74-20 when we scanned with an LG tuner. Our MyHD card did not detect it, however, We were able to add it manually to the channel list.

Since I reported on recent problems I had receiving the WCWN digital channels with an AutumnWave OnAir GT tuner, I should report the resolution. Following a suggestion, I deleted the channels and added them again. That fixed the problem. I'd still like to know what changed to cause it, but it's academic now. Maybe I'll ask in the AutumnWave thread.
The video PID for The Tube (45-2) had been 0x134 (308) when programming was being run out of Boston. The PIDs now conform to a more normal mpeg program paradigm (i.e., Program 3 - PMT PID = 0x30 (48), Video PID = 0x31 (49), Audio PID = 0x34 (52), Program 4 - PMT PID = 0x40 (64), Video PID = 0x41 (65), Audio PID = 0x44 (66), etc.). Although this particular association between program numbers and PIDS is not required, we have discovered for greatest compatibility (especially with some older ATSC tuners that expect it) there is no down-side to maintaining this relationship.
Tuners are also supposed to read the PID values from the PAT (Program Association Table), but some seem to take a short-cut and cache these values when scanning channels. This means that they are unable to detect new or changed programming on previously saved channels so in this case you must delete and re-add them (or just re-scan periodically).

AlbanyHDTV

12-20-06, 08:00 PM

Has anyone in this thread ever listed the HD channels available through Albany TWC with only a QAM tuner?

I did a quick search but did not find one. I'd like to find a QAM channel list like the one in the first post of this thread.

MasterFX1

12-20-06, 08:23 PM

AlbanyHDTV,

It changes rather often... for a while I was getting Food TV, then it went away and I started to get SNY-HD and InDemand2 (Adult PPV Movies!), then the PPV channel disappeared. Currently I'm getting SNY-HD,Toon Disney and Boom. (And a crapload of TWC-self-promoting channels)

Bottom line, TW is reassigning things all the time, you never know what you are going to get. For the most part, they leave the locals in the clear.

AlbanyHDTV

12-20-06, 08:50 PM

For the most part, they leave the locals in the clear.
What QAM channels are the locals?

MasterFX1

12-20-06, 09:37 PM

My SONY DVR tuner (Which I never sent in for the firmware upgrade) calls them 18.6, 18.8, 18.10, 18.11, 18.13, 18.90, 18.93, etc. I DO NOT get 18.15 (CW).

I just re-scanned QAM... I lost Boom & picked up A&E-HD and a Music Choice Channel (Adult Alternative I think). BTW, I've always been getting the NBA-TV Channel also.

ProTuber

12-21-06, 01:08 AM

What QAM channels are the locals?
A scan tonight by an Autumnwave OnAirGT USB HDTV Tuner found:

Name Physical Logical Cable Resolution
------- -------- ------- ----- ----------- ---------------
WRNN-DT 74-12 9-1 91 704 x 480
WCWN-DT 74-20 18-15 1815 1920 x 1080

WTEN-DT 104-1 18-90 554 720 x 480
WNYT-DT 104-2 18-93 1893 704 x 480
WMHT-HD 104-3 18-11 1811 1920 x 1080
WRGB-HD 104-4 18-6 1806 1920 x 1080
WRGB-DT 104-6 18-96 1896 720 x 480

WXXA-HD 105-7 18-8 1808 1280 x 720
WNYT-HD 105-10 18-13 1813 1920 x 1080
WTEN-HD 105-17 18-10 1810 1280 x 720

NBAPC 81-1 81-1 1900 528 x 480 NBA League Pass Preview
NBATV 81-6 81-6 677 704 x 480

NYS 89-1 89-1 582 528 x 480 NYS Legislature Senate & Assembly

SNYHD 93-1 93-1 1866 1920 x 1080

? 118-1 118-1 ? 720 x 480 Premium on demand remote tutorial
? 118-2 118-2 ? 704 x 480 Color bars
? 118-3 118-3 ? 528 x 480 Answers on Demand tutorial
? 118-4 118-4 ? 352 x 480 AOL Music on Demand
CHAN1 118-6 118-6 1 528 x 480 Welcome to Time Warner Cable
? 118-7 118-7 ? 704 x 480 Color bars
PRVW8 118-8 118-8 800 352 X 480 iControl Previews
? 118-9 118-9 ? 352 x 480 Movies on Demand preview
? 118-10 118-10 ? 528 x 480 Cutting Edge on-Demand still

AlbanyHDTV

12-21-06, 06:35 AM

Thank you, MasterFX & ProTuber.

ebo

12-21-06, 01:18 PM

Actually WCWN-HD has been available for some months. It had been on ch 108 until just recently. We found it on ch 74-20 when we scanned with an LG tuner. Our MyHD card did not detect it, however, We were able to add it manually to the channel list.Armed with that information I took a closer look at cable channel 74. None of my three receivers (LG 3410A, MyHD MDP-130, AutumnWave GT) could lock onto it. The GT has only one RF input, so I feed it cable and OTA through a cheap RF switch that I know has high crosstalk. On a hunch I looked up the frequency of channel 74. 522-528 MHz, nearly the same as OTA channel 23 (524-530 MHz). I disconnected the OTA side, rescanned just that channel and WCWN and WRNN came in easily. The other two tuners have dual RF inputs, but I disabled my OTA distribution amp and got those cable channels on both of them. Also found that the LG, which has always been slow to lock on QAM channels, locked up much faster across the range. Including channel 90 (see below), which overlaps OTA channel 39 (WRGB digital) . Guess those tuners also have crosstalk issues. Time to buy a better switch and maybe some pads.

I've avoided mentioning non-broadcast freebies on the theory that it just prompts TWC to encrypt them, but since the cat is out of the bag with another recent post, check out A&E HD on 90-2 while you can. It probably won't last long (although it might, since it's free on big-dish satellite). I haven't managed to get the MyHD card to show it but the other two have no problem.

Oh, and thanks for the info on the PID changes for WCWN and The Tube. That explains the problem I was having receiving them and why a rescan fixed it.

MasterFX1

12-21-06, 01:29 PM

I disconnected the four-way splitter in my house's head end and hooked up the tuner direct, now I am getting CW on 18.15 and RNN on 9.1.

The Cat has been slowly coming out of the bag for a while with regard to the "Freebie" channels. My guess is that it's less expensive to allow the "Freebies" versus upgrading encryption equipment. I'm sure it's a pure business decision. If TWC suddenly encrypted everything, I still wouldn't subscribe. Using me as an example, they have nothing to gain from encrypting those few channels, it will only cost them.

m_jonis

12-21-06, 07:49 PM

AlbanyHDTV

12-22-06, 06:39 AM

You may consider a powered amplifier. I've got a 6-way by OnQ (mucho bucks at the time). Very good signal quality. Of course, now that I got rid of RR, I can remove the splitter that comes into the house and get a higher signal.TWC will install a powered amplifier in your house for FREE. Well, it's not really free, you pay for the service with your monthly payment.

m_jonis

12-22-06, 10:17 PM

Yeah, but it's only for one connection. Meaning one in and one going out. I've got a 6-way amplified splitter. (that they won't provide for free).

Unless they recently changed something (they had to install the original powered one just to boost the signal to the HDTV). But that was when I had just 2 TV's in the house. Now it's 4 and 3 Tivo's, and 2 PC's.

But sometimes (just depends on the signal) you can get away with the single amplifier. Especially if you don't need/have digital cable. Apparently the digital STB are far more finicky about the signal strength.

AlbanyHDTV

12-25-06, 12:48 PM

Yeah, but it's only for one connection. Meaning one in and one going out. I've got a 6-way amplified splitter. (that they won't provide for free).
Here's the 4-way amplified splitter Albany TWC installed in my home in October 2003. They installed it because I had complained of pixelation on HD channels like Discovery HD (one of the few HD channels available at the time).
http://albanyhdtv.homestead.com/files/DSC028603.jpg

m_jonis

12-26-06, 07:17 PM

Wow, that's a pretty good deal then. Good to know that our ever increasing cable rates are good for something.

:)

ebo

12-27-06, 10:53 PM

I see that WRGB 6-1 OTA is doing its freeze and pixelation thing again. As reported before, it shows up at the same intervals on an LG DVR and a MyHD MDP-130. It's worse on the LG, and the audio pops in and out. Audio continues with no noticeable problem on the MyHD

I now also have an AutumnWave OnAir GT USB tuner, and it doesn't show a problem at all while the other two are breaking up. It has the most recent type of tuner (LG 5th generation). All of these checks were done with live reception, no recording or timeshifting.

Rebooting the encoder has worked in the past, but I thought I read here that WRGB had gotten a new one and moved the old one to another of their channels. Maybe I misunderstood.

WRGB EngDept

12-28-06, 09:16 AM

Rebooting the encoder has worked in the past, but I thought I read here that WRGB had gotten a new one and moved the old one to another of their channels. Maybe I misunderstood.

You did understand correctly, 6-1, 2 and 3 all have new encoders. Due to the fact that this problem varies and does not show up on all decoders we do not always catch it right away. Thank you for alerting us, it should be fixed now.

BreakStuff

12-30-06, 09:05 PM

Bad pixelization showing on 23-1 WXXA t'nite and my Zenith STB has a hard time locking on to a decent signal. However MyHD-130 displays no problems with video or audio and has 75% signal strength.

wdaub1

12-30-06, 11:17 PM

BreakStuff

12-30-06, 11:42 PM

Bad pixelization showing on 23-1 WXXA t'nite and my Zenith STB has a hard time locking on to a decent signal. However MyHD-130 displays no problems with video or audio and has 75% signal strength.

Update.. signal problems were caused from a bad antenna connection to the stb on my end.

rgn2000

12-31-06, 12:50 PM

ebo

12-31-06, 11:37 PM

I have a roof antenna that is in my attic. I am able to get all HD/Digital channels except for 6.1 WRGB. I can't figure this out since I get 6.2 and 6.3 no problem. What I am getting for a picture is major pixelation on the top of the screen and the bottom of the screen has a picture of nbc. The sound is of WRGB. I have tried adjusting the antenna, but the only thing I have been able to change is the picture to either 45 or pbs with the same bad pixelation. The sound always seems to be ok. Any thoughts?If you're getting 6.2 and 6.3 OK, it's not a reception problem. WRGB has had intermittent problems with 6.1 in the past (search back through this thread for descriptions) but I don't see a problem right now. The most common one shows differently on different receivers, and some don't show it at all.

A long time ago they sometimes reverted to 1440x1080i, and if my receiver was set to feed native resolution to my projector it would give a display vaguely similar to what you describe. But it looked OK if I forced either 1920x1080 or 1280x720. I'm now forcing the latter all the time for other reasons (it's the native resolution of the projector and my secondary display, a 19" widescreen computer monitor, can't handle 1920x1080). So I wouldn't have seen it if it happened. I just recorded a short clip and checked it in TSReader Lite, and the resolution is 1920x1080i, as it should be.

Try forcing the output resolution to one of the standard ones to see if that makes a difference. It's barely possible that a rescan of the channel might help. My guess is that the display of other stations (NBC, 45, PBS) is a freeze frame or short loop of the last good video from those stations before you switched to 6.1.

rgn2000

01-01-07, 12:26 AM

If you're getting 6.2 and 6.3 OK, it's not a reception problem. WRGB has had intermittent problems with 6.1 in the past (search back through this thread for descriptions) but I don't see a problem right now. The most common one shows differently on different receivers, and some don't show it at all.

A long time ago they sometimes reverted to 1440x1080i, and if my receiver was set to feed native resolution to my projector it would give a display vaguely similar to what you describe. But it looked OK if I forced either 1920x1080 or 1280x720. I'm now forcing the latter all the time for other reasons (it's the native resolution of the projector and my secondary display, a 19" widescreen computer monitor, can't handle 1920x1080). So I wouldn't have seen it if it happened. I just recorded a short clip and checked it in TSReader Lite, and the resolution is 1920x1080i, as it should be.

Try forcing the output resolution to one of the standard ones to see if that makes a difference. It's barely possible that a rescan of the channel might help. My guess is that the display of other stations (NBC, 45, PBS) is a freeze frame or short loop of the last good video from those stations before you switched to 6.1.

Thanks for the response. I am not sure how I can do this. I am using the built in tuner on my TV. I just bought it, but I have looked through the manual and not sure how I can force the diplay to be different. I know on stand alone units there might be that option. For example my PS3 I think I can change the output to what I want, but don't think I can do it with the TV.

Also, I would say the display of the NBC,45, or PBS is not the last god video because the majority of the time when I have been tinkering with the antenna I have been channeling down and 10 or 10.1 was the last channel I hit before getting to 6.1. If you want to be exact about it, I hot 6.2 before 6.1 so that would be the last good video.

I was thinking that if I got 6.2 and 6.3 that it was not the antenna, but I am not sure what to do. I was hoping it was a WRGB thing, but does not sound like it.

Also I have done rescans with no luck, but I think my TV contstantly does a rescan to update or find new channels because originally 13.1 and 13.2 were not found and then all of a sudden not only did the TV find them, but it added them to the favorites list. I have a Philips LCD 37PF7320A BTW.

Thanks Again,

Rob

ebo

01-01-07, 01:37 AM

I am using the built in tuner on my TV. I just bought it, but I have looked through the manual and not sure how I can force the diplay to be different. I know on stand alone units there might be that option. For example my PS3 I think I can change the output to what I want, but don't think I can do it with the TV. . . I have a Philips LCD 37PF7320A BTW.You're right; it would make no sense to have such a capability with a built-in tuner. It just needs to do one conversion, from the incoming resolution to the native resolution of the display.

That model can do QAM, so if you have cable (any level, even Basic) you can try connecting that to the TV and see if WRGB-HD is OK there. It's in the clear on channel 104.4, although the TV may translate that to the virtual channel 1806.

rgn2000

01-01-07, 06:50 AM

You're right; it would make no sense to have such a capability with a built-in tuner. It just needs to do one conversion, from the incoming resolution to the native resolution of the display.

That model can do QAM, so if you have cable (any level, even Basic) you can try connecting that to the TV and see if WRGB-HD is OK there. It's in the clear on channel 104.4, although the TV may translate that to the virtual channel 1806.

Unfortunately I do not have cable. I only have the roadrunner feed coming in. If I had cable I would have definitely hooked it up. Years ago, I guess they used to include the locals with roadrunner, but they are using filters now. I have not tried hooking it up lately, but I doubt the HD signal gets past the filters.

Thanks again,

Rob

MasterFX1

01-01-07, 10:55 AM

Unfortunately I do not have cable. I only have the roadrunner feed coming in. If I had cable I would have definitely hooked it up. Years ago, I guess they used to include the locals with roadrunner, but they are using filters now. I have not tried hooking it up lately, but I doubt the HD signal gets past the filters.

Thanks again,

Rob

rgn2000, I am sending you a Private Message (PM),

rgn2000

01-01-07, 10:55 PM

The problem is solved. I did a firmware update on my TV and everything is perfect. Thanks for all help.

wayne1935

01-02-07, 11:22 AM

ebo

01-02-07, 01:53 PM

Could someone explain the WMHT broadcast scheme to me?

At one time I was able to pick up the various WMHT signals with my HDTV card but not anymore. The QAM WMHT signal I get from TW is different than the OTA Vermont Public Television national PBS programming and I can't get 17.1 OTA on our TV but I do get 17.3.If you get 17.3 OK, my guess is that you need to rescan the channel. It's possible they made some change that your receiver couldn't follow, but the only change I noticed recently was that they (finally) started broadcasting EPG data. Not that it matters; the Electronic Program Guide probably looked like a great idea on the drawing board, but even if the stations all made full use of it, you'd still have to tune each of them to populate the guide. But I digress.

Your cable lineup may be different from mine, but I get only WMHT-HD (17.3) on cable; they don't carry 17.1 (same as 17 analog) in digital.

WMHT-HD is a pass-through of PBS-HD, which as you note is different from the PBS national feed most stations use. Actually PBS has a lot of different feeds, and stations can cherry-pick from them. I consider us fortunate that WMHT sticks to just PBS-HD and their local feed. Some stations run children's programming on their HD channel during the day; others actually shut it down then in order to cram in several SD channels. That must play havoc with a lot of receivers.

AlbanyHDTV

01-03-07, 03:45 PM

Anyone notice that since we lost IND2 we also lost YESHD NET"S Bball games as all home games have been in SD since the loss. Also we have lost the NBAHD games that are scheduled on IND2 as in the Laker game a few nights ago. I contacted TW by email and all the tell me is to contact INDEMAND and YES and this after telling us they new nothing about losing IND2 right up until the day it was removed. I for one can't wait for another option here.
Bill D
TWC was not aware that the last few Nets home games were not in HD. They will be monitoring Friday's home game vs. Chicago to make sure the game is in HD. If it is not, they will check their feeds and if necessary contact YES HQ to resolve the issue.

Albany TWC has the Nets, Knicks, Sabres, Devils, Islanders, and Rangers schedules posted on their website (http://www.timewarnercable.com/albany/programming/sports/default.ashx) and it designates which games will be HD and which won't.

It also appears that Albany TWC will be showing some NHL & NBA games on channel 3 this year (albeit not HD).

I saw a NHL & NBA game in HD on INHD this past weekend.

timick1

01-05-07, 04:38 PM

Albany TWC (channel 3- not HD) also shows some (maybe most) of the Syracuse Orange basketball games, too.

AlbanyHDTV

01-05-07, 05:28 PM

Albany TWC (channel 3- not HD) also shows some (maybe most) of the Syracuse Orange basketball games, too.
Syracuse TWC televises the games not picked up National TV. Albany TWC picks up the feed from Syracuse TWC. I'm a '91 SU alum and thanks to Albany TWC I have not had to purchase ESPN's Full Court package in order to watch the Orange.

Since Buffalo's Adelphia cable TV franchise got bought out by TWC, Buffalo TWC has been televising the Siena away games vs. Canisius & Niagara. Albany TWC broadcasts Siena's home games vs. Canisius & Niagara. The TWC franchises then send these feeds to each other. I'm also a Siena season ticket holder and the ability to see live Siena away games is a nice perk from Albany TWC.

Andy4321

01-05-07, 09:33 PM

AlbanyHDTV

01-05-07, 09:36 PM

I am a newbie living in Clifton Park.
Recently I bought HDTV and subscribed Time Warner HDTV.
I am considering buying MYHD MDP-130 for HDTV recording.
According to MDP-130 advertisement, it can record unscrambled cable channel.
Can I record WRGB-HD, WTEN-HD, WNYT-HD using my cable line with MDP-130 & PC ?Yes.

Look a few posts up to a list of unscrambled QAM channels on Albany TWC. These are the channels you should be able to receive with the MYHD MDP-130.

Andy4321

01-05-07, 10:46 PM

AlbanyHDTV, Thank you very much!!

woodman92

01-06-07, 03:16 PM

wdaub1

01-06-07, 07:48 PM

Have been using a simple Radio Shack VHF/UhF antenna which is mounted in my attic since the new DTV singles began transmitting with no problems at all.

DeerHunter

01-07-07, 08:59 AM

Your opinion....

I'm in Wallingford, Vermont zip 05773. Do you think I would be able to get any of the DVT channels from the Albany area.

Aren't most of the signals coming off of Mt. Helderberg? If that's the case, it would be a roughly 70-75 mile shot? Pretty much my only clear shot. I would be shooting over a few small mountains.

Any chance in hell for me? If so, what type/make/model of antenna would be best? Any other equipment? A good channel master pre-amp? Thanks in advance.

Tower Guy

01-07-07, 09:48 AM

DeerHunter

01-07-07, 10:44 AM

The distance to the Burlington stations is less than Albany and the terrain is more favorable.

From my locale, I'd have to shoot northwards and bend towards the northeast due to a mountain range between here and there...no dice! And to top it off, there's only 1 maybe 2 DTV signals coming off of MT. MANSFIELD. If I were to put up an antenna, I'd try my luck towards the Alabany vs. Burlington. Better shot towards the Albany area, & more DTV availibilty.

Does anyone have the exact coordinates of the towers on Helderberg? If so, I could punch them into my GPS and do a comparison of Helderberg vs. Mansfield from my locale.

UPDATE:

According to the GEOBYTES website....

"as the crow flies" per say....I'm 66 miles to Albany, 72 to Burlington. That'll be off due to the fact that, I'm actually trying to hit MT. HELDERBERG & MT. MANSFIELD.

bmw528is

01-07-07, 07:25 PM

In response to a recent post about DirecTV vs TWC HD channels.... DirecTV also has HDNet, TNTHD, and HDNet Movies. Not sure if these are available on TWC.

BreakStuff

01-07-07, 07:30 PM

Does anyone have the exact coordinates of the towers on Helderberg? If so, I could punch them into my GPS and do a comparison of Helderberg vs. Mansfield from my locale.

I dont know if it will help but you can take a look at the map here (http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&addtohistory=&address=%5b697%2d799%5d%20Pinnacle%20Rd&city=Voorheesville&state=NY&zipcode=12186&country=US&location=dUcCAp%2bzWQLpGzDAbc%2bTOKazglUt%2fIyQZU%2b%2b2jXs% 2f7IaO5pTgkzLNZX%2bYAS9ROgKn5OU%2fgRbu60Mt%2fy%2b%2f4Ti6khBt Lv3z1Ax8hrgKBQ0%2f32YjXKkZgQIh1RffbgX8%2bmLp%2fwSrLWnHtmlxXV IiWubzBGn4Qqb%2f6xi&ambiguity=1) the tower is located off one of the Tower Lanes listed, not sure which one.

Tower Guy

01-07-07, 09:17 PM

Does anyone have the exact coordinates of the towers on Helderberg? If so, I could punch them into my GPS and do a comparison of Helderberg vs. Mansfield from my locale.

Helderbergs: N 42° 37' 31.3" W 74° 0' 36.7" (NAD 83)

CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, and PBS are on the air from Mt. Mansfield as of November, 2006.

DeerHunter

01-08-07, 09:55 AM

Helderbergs: N 42° 37' 31.3" W 74° 0' 36.7" (NAD 83)

CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, and PBS are on the air from Mt. Mansfield as of November, 2006.

Thanks. As much as I'd like to be able to get DTV from Mansfield, hitting the towers from where I'm at just wouldn't be possible. We did have an antenna up a few years back, and WCAX-CBS would barely come in. From my understanding there's only 1 HD signal coming off the towers anyway, and that's CBS.

If it were at all possible, I'd like to get any major networks (HD) from Albany, not just the 1 from Mansfield.

I'm really tired of paying DISHNET for crap! $10 a month for 5 hd channels we hardly ever watch. And, I cannot get any network HD thru them! If I were to go with comcast in my area, they only have 1 local network in HD, that being the CBS from Burlington.

That's why I'm really looking to get anything I can from the Albany area.

I have an antenna in mind along with a channel master pre-amp. I may have to just pony up the bucks and give it a shot. It'll be a $200+ experiment, but if works, then I be happier than a pig in mud!

Wudda ya think? :confused:

n1eu

01-08-07, 10:58 AM

SimpleTheater

01-08-07, 02:18 PM

Can anybody in the Albany area recommend an OTA antenna that mounts directly on a DirecTV dish that gives good reception of the local HD channels? FWIW, the dish is up in the open with a good shot at the Helderbergs.
Winegard Squareshooter works great.

Plus, the SquareShooter® can be mounted above a satellite dish using Winegard’s DS-1000 home satellite mounting kit and diplexed with the existing satellite coax cable, incorporating both the satellite and SquareShooter® Off-Air signals on one cable.
http://www.winegard.com/offair/squareshooter.htm

n1eu

01-09-07, 08:15 AM

Thanks ST! We tried a Terk and it only pulled in a few stations. Will give the SS a try.

SimpleTheater

01-09-07, 10:05 AM

Thanks ST! We tried a Terk and it only pulled in a few stations. Will give the SS a try.
I'm about 25 miles (by bird) from Albany. I've got the SquareShooter SS-2000 (amplified), and get all the following stations.

CBS 6.1, 6.2, 6.3
ABC 10.1
NBC 13.1, 13.2, 13.3
PBS 17.1, 17.3
FOX 23.1
TUBE 44.1
CW 45.1

If it wasn't for the kids and their need for Nickelodeon, I'd do away with the Dish completely.

wayne1935

01-09-07, 02:39 PM

Does anyone receive WMHT-DT OTA?

I can receive WMHT C11 and WMHT-DT C18.11 over TWC in Saratoga Springs but I can only receive the NTSC WMHT signal OTA. Yet, I can receive VPR (Channel 28) NTSC signal and VPT-DT 28.1 and VPT 28.2 signals off the back of my antenna.

At one time, I was able to get several digital WMHT signals with my computer PCI tuner. Lately, I can't get any WMHT with the computer card.

Someone suggested that I may need to rescan which I did. I also checked my outdoor antenna orientation and I can receive all the local channels (analog and digital) although 19, 45 and 47 come in poorly and 45.1 and 45.2 come and go.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Wayne

ebo

01-10-07, 12:32 AM

Does anyone have the exact coordinates of the towers on Helderberg? If so, I could punch them into my GPS and do a comparison of Helderberg vs. Mansfield from my locale.Better yet, go to www.antennaweb.org, plug in your zipcode and, because the defaults won't list the Albany stations, click on Options and enter a height of something like 3000 ft. That will list the Albany stations (and a lot of others you haven't a prayer of receiving) and show you the distance and direction from where you are. You'll need a deep fringe antenna and a low noise, mast-mounted amplifier. Stick to Channel Master or Winegard for both. There may be other good brands, but there's also a lot of heavily-advertised junk. The antenna should be as high as you can get it. Don't believe Antennaweb's antenna recommendations unless you really have a 3000 ft. tower.

Most channels are UHF, but two are high VHF: WXXA (7) and WNYT (12). Also, WRGB has said they plan to revert to their analog channel (6) when they go all-digital, and there was some talk of WNYA eventually broadcasting on 4 (currently they're in SD on 6-2).

Line up your antenna using analog channels such as 17, 23 and 45. Don't go by 13; it's a different direction. If you can get them well enough to watch, even if they're a bit snowy, you should get at least some of the digitals.

ebo

01-10-07, 01:01 AM

Is there a problem with WRGB's radar? I haven't seen any weather on it for quite a while, even when it's raining.

optivity

01-10-07, 07:23 AM

Is Time Warner ever going to release a newer generation HD DVR again? Comcast/Direct TV have announced new models @ CES 2007, but there is no news coming from Time Warner.

Mrmiami

01-10-07, 07:44 AM

Winegard Squareshooter works great.

Plus, the SquareShooter® can be mounted above a satellite dish using Winegard’s DS-1000 home satellite mounting kit and diplexed with the existing satellite coax cable, incorporating both the satellite and SquareShooter® Off-Air signals on one cable.
http://www.winegard.com/offair/squareshooter.htm

Agreed, Square Shooter very good option but I would HIGHLY recommend NOT diplexing into sat wires but rather running a totally independent RG 6 cable from the SquareShooter to receiver/tv, you'll be glad you did for you will gain a little more on your meters and if something should go wrong with OTA antenna it is just easier to swap out pieces.

Mrmiami

01-10-07, 08:20 AM

mrbill64

01-10-07, 10:38 AM

Thanks. As much as I'd like to be able to get DTV from Mansfield, hitting the towers from where I'm at just wouldn't be possible. We did have an antenna up a few years back, and WCAX-CBS would barely come in. From my understanding there's only 1 HD signal coming off the towers anyway, and that's CBS.

If it were at all possible, I'd like to get any major networks (HD) from Albany, not just the 1 from Mansfield.

I'm really tired of paying DISHNET for crap! $10 a month for 5 hd channels we hardly ever watch. And, I cannot get any network HD thru them! If I were to go with comcast in my area, they only have 1 local network in HD, that being the CBS from Burlington.

That's why I'm really looking to get anything I can from the Albany area.

I have an antenna in mind along with a channel master pre-amp. I may have to just pony up the bucks and give it a shot. It'll be a $200+ experiment, but if works, then I be happier than a pig in mud!

Wudda ya think? :confused:
Here is an option for you. I typed in your zip code on the DirecTV web site and you are eligible for the following distant HD locals which would be NBC, ABC, FOX. Depending on your exact address you might be able to obtain a waiver for CBS HD out of NYC as well. You would be able to get Burlington/Plattsburg locals in SD along with the HD networks I mentioned above from NYC. Good luck.

Bill

Tower Guy

01-10-07, 01:05 PM

I have a question for anyone in the know about over air reception. I am using DTV new HR20 HD DVR and all my local HD channels are registering high 90's - 100% However, 45.1 and 45.2 WCWNDT channels are a mere 50- 54% are they operating at half power or is this an abnormality on my end? This will also cause this channel to be the first one to breakup during a rain storm for obvious reasons. Any help on this subject would be greatly appreciated.

This is WCWN's antenna pattern. If you live toward 150 degrees it may explain the difference in signal strength.

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/polarplot?temp=66236&rotate=0.00&p0=0.887&p10=0.850&p20=0.850&p30=0.880&p40=0.923&p50=0.965&p60=0.994&p70=0.999&p80=0.972&p90=0.913&p100=0.823&p110=0.714&p120=0.611&p130=0.543&p140=0.524&p150=0.529&p160=0.528&p170=0.525&p180=0.552&p190=0.629&p200=0.737&p210=0.843&p220=0.927&p230=0.980&p240=1.000&p250=0.990&p260=0.957&p270=0.914&p280=0.872&p290=0.847&p300=0.855&p310=0.897&p320=0.954&p330=0.991&p340=0.987&p350=0.943&p360=0.887&

m_jonis

01-10-07, 10:22 PM

Is Time Warner ever going to release a newer generation HD DVR again? Comcast/Direct TV have announced new models @ CES 2007, but there is no news coming from Time Warner.

You gotta be kidding, right? We're stuck with the same crappy SA box with the same crappy SARA software and they apparently have NO intention of switching to the PACE software (IMO, it's all about the software, not really the box).

Comcast signed an agreement with Tivo, so I see they'll be allowing the software download "shortly". Extra fee, but IMO, it's worth it.

About the ONLY thing I can think of is that June 2007, I believe they'll have to offer Cable Card STB, so I don't know if our local TW will start offering an HD DVR version with cable card (same crappy SARA software of course, so I fail to see any reason to get excited about that).

optivity

01-11-07, 07:20 AM

You gotta be kidding, right? We're stuck with the same crappy SA box with the same crappy SARA software and they apparently have NO intention of switching to the PACE software (IMO, it's all about the software, not really the box).

Comcast signed an agreement with Tivo, so I see they'll be allowing the software download "shortly". Extra fee, but IMO, it's worth it.

About the ONLY thing I can think of is that June 2007, I believe they'll have to offer Cable Card STB, so I don't know if our local TW will start offering an HD DVR version with cable card (same crappy SARA software of course, so I fail to see any reason to get excited about that).One indication is with Panasonic's announcement at CES 2007 it will partner with Comcast to develop interactive TVs that support OCAP... TW sees the writing on the wall so instead of providing subscribers with new more updated equipment, TW is satisfied to squeeze every $ of revenue they can from what is now a 4-year-old STB.

m_jonis

01-11-07, 06:26 PM

I can only hope that's true, but I think they'll be content to just jack up our cable rates again like they normally do.

At least until Verizon comes in with FIOS TV

optivity

01-11-07, 09:41 PM

At least until Verizon comes in with FIOS TVOne thing is for sure... when Time Warner smAlbany has a bona-fide competitor for our local CATV $... it will no longer be business as usual.

All the best (http://www.timewarnercable.com/) package savings? My A$$. :p

jpeter1093

01-12-07, 07:54 AM

Why the Albany slur? If you want to diss TW; fine, but Albany doesn't have anything to do with it.

SimpleTheater

01-12-07, 10:29 AM

I can only hope that's true, but I think they'll be content to just jack up our cable rates again like they normally do.

At least until Verizon comes in with FIOS TV
Why does everyone complain about Time Warner? For $50/month you can get a ton more HD channels with Dish, plus they aren't compressed as much. Pay a little more and get DirectTV and the Tivo3, but still less than Time Warner.

It's like saying your stuck with Price Chopper when Hannaford is on the same block.

bmw528is

01-12-07, 12:19 PM

Why does everyone complain about Time Warner? For $50/month you can get a ton more HD channels with Dish, plus they aren't compressed as much. Pay a little more and get DirectTV and the Tivo3, but still less than Time Warner.

It's like saying your stuck with Price Chopper when Hannaford is on the same block.

Actually, the new HR-20 receiver from DirecTV has it's own interface, not TiVo (unfortunately).

SimpleTheater

01-12-07, 12:27 PM

Actually, the new HR-20 receiver from DirecTV has it's own interface, not TiVo (unfortunately).
True, but you can pay extra for the Tivo3 from DirectTV - I believe they give you a $200 discount if you sign an additional 2 year commitment.

optivity

01-12-07, 12:56 PM

Why the Albany slur? If you want to diss TW; fine, but Albany doesn't have anything to do with it.Dude... relax & take a chill pill... I've been living in smAlbany for 50 years... it's home to this smAlbanian. :D

GregHoover

01-12-07, 01:54 PM

jpeter1093

01-12-07, 05:41 PM

Dude... relax & take a chill pill... I've been living in smAlbany for 50 years... it's home to this smAlbanian. :D

Ok, it's Friday after work...beer is cold...life is good :cool:

jpeter1093

01-12-07, 05:42 PM

Why does everyone complain about Time Warner? For $50/month you can get a ton more HD channels with Dish, plus they aren't compressed as much. Pay a little more and get DirectTV and the Tivo3, but still less than Time Warner.

It's like saying your stuck with Price Chopper when Hannaford is on the same block.

Unfortunately, the stand of trees in the park across the street from my house makes me ineligible for Dish :confused: For me (until Fios) TW is the only game in town.

ebo

01-12-07, 08:18 PM

Wondering if I have any antennae options for OTA. Live in Corinth. Went to Antennaweb and this is what I got:

red - uhf W47CM47 TBN GLENS FALLSNY 54° 5.5 47
blue - uhf WCWN45 CW SCHENECTADYNY 206° 43.8 45
blue - uhf WMHT17 PBS SCHENECTADYNY 206° 42.9 17
blue - uhf WXXA23 FOX ALBANYNY 206° 44.4 23
blue - vhf WRGB6 CBS SCHENECTADYNY 206° 42.9 6
blue - vhf WTEN10 ABC ALBANYNY 206° 42.9 10
blue - vhf WNYT13 NBC ALBANYNY 176° 33.2 13
blue - vhf W04BD4 PBS GLENS FALLSNY 54° 5.5 4

elevation is around 610ft. Thats above sea level, not above ground level. Any suggestions?
Those are analog stations. Is that what you're trying to get? Don't you have an analog receiver you can try?

If you want the digital equivalents of the major stations, they're all at the same location, essentially where WMHT, WCWN, etc. are, about 43 miles away from you. That's not unreasonable with a good antenna if there aren't too many hills in the way. If you get the analogs watchably well, perhaps with some snow, there's a good chance you can get the digitals as well.

Note that WNYT analog is a different direction and distance. That is not true of its digital transmission, which is at the same place as the others.

Tower Guy

01-13-07, 05:41 AM

Wondering if I have any antennae options for OTA. Live in Corinth. Went to Antennaweb and this is what I got:

red - uhf W47CM47 TBN GLENS FALLSNY 54° 5.5 47
blue - uhf WCWN45 CW SCHENECTADYNY 206° 43.8 45
blue - uhf WMHT17 PBS SCHENECTADYNY 206° 42.9 17
blue - uhf WXXA23 FOX ALBANYNY 206° 44.4 23
blue - vhf WRGB6 CBS SCHENECTADYNY 206° 42.9 6
blue - vhf WTEN10 ABC ALBANYNY 206° 42.9 10
blue - vhf WNYT13 NBC ALBANYNY 176° 33.2 13
blue - vhf W04BD4 PBS GLENS FALLSNY 54° 5.5 4

elevation is around 610ft. Thats above sea level, not above ground level. Any suggestions?

You'll need as much height as you can get. It's uphill from your house to the DTV transmitters. When you use antennaweb, look on the bottom of the screen for the Options menu. Click it and enter a height of 100', you'll see all the -DT stations from your house. I doubt that you want a 100' tower, but more antenna gain than that assumed by antennaweb may be sufficient.

Mrmiami

01-13-07, 06:53 AM

This is WCWN's antenna pattern. If you live toward 150 degrees it may explain the difference in signal strength.

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/polarplot?temp=66236&rotate=0.00&p0=0.887&p10=0.850&p20=0.850&p30=0.880&p40=0.923&p50=0.965&p60=0.994&p70=0.999&p80=0.972&p90=0.913&p100=0.823&p110=0.714&p120=0.611&p130=0.543&p140=0.524&p150=0.529&p160=0.528&p170=0.525&p180=0.552&p190=0.629&p200=0.737&p210=0.843&p220=0.927&p230=0.980&p240=1.000&p250=0.990&p260=0.957&p270=0.914&p280=0.872&p290=0.847&p300=0.855&p310=0.897&p320=0.954&p330=0.991&p340=0.987&p350=0.943&p360=0.887&

Thanks Tower Guy for the info. I am not sure of the difference as to which way WCWNDT (45.1) may be pointing the antenna but I know they are all located in the same area as the others I receive in the high 90's to 100%. I live in Latham NY and really don't understand why there is such a large difference in signal power.

Mrmiami

01-13-07, 07:08 AM

I am living in Cohoes & just recently purchased a new HDTV, I have DirecTV, I do get the hi-def package from them, but they do not yet offer locals in hi-def. I ordered a TERK indoor HDTVi OTA antenna to try to pick up locals in hi-def, just wondering if anyone has any info on how well the reception will be in this area??

You may have to buy a Large antenna for your location and elevate as high as you can get it. I use to live in Cohoes and I know first hand that this is a very hard area to get good reception from. I had trouble just picking up certain radio stations from Cohoes and I lived on the Hill. That also will effect how high you may have to go with your antenna if you live down around the city section or Island you most definitely can forget about any indoor antenna picking up digital signals if your up on the hill you might be able to get 2 or 3 but may face breakup issues. So even if your on the hill I say Go Big and Go High because remember the towers that you are trying to get are up and over Latham and located outside of the Guilderland/Thatcher Park area. Hope this points you in the right direction.

Tower Guy

01-13-07, 01:09 PM

If it wasn't for the kids and their need for Nickelodeon, I'd do away with the Dish completely.

Qubo, an all kids channel, is starting soon on i, DTV channel 50, Amsterdam.

http://www.qubo.com/

Tower Guy

01-13-07, 01:51 PM

I live in Latham NY and really don't understand why there is such a large difference in signal power.

There isn't much difference in power. It's hard to guess why your reading is lower on WCWN.

islanddreamer

01-13-07, 02:34 PM

Qubo, an all kids channel, is starting soon on i, DTV channel 50, Amsterdam.

qubo began transmitting last Monday.

Tower Guy

01-13-07, 03:06 PM

qubo began transmitting last Monday.

Thanks for the update. I seldom turn my antenna that way.

How did a "dreamer" from LA find my post in the Albany, NY forum?

AlbanyHDTV

01-14-07, 04:59 PM

The Chargers-Patriots game lost the HD signal (both OTA & TWC) about 2 minutes into the game.

Edit: HD signal back on at the 9:38 mark of the 1st quarter.

CriticalListener

01-14-07, 09:38 PM

The Chargers-Patriots game lost the HD signal (both OTA & TWC) about 2 minutes into the game.

Edit: HD signal back on at the 9:38 mark of the 1st quarter.
I had a client watching the game and I was showing a HD receiver settings at EXACTLY the same time the HD signal was dropped. Of course my client thought I screwed something up, but checking WMHT showed a beautiful hi-def signal. It wasn't until the HD signal came back that my client was totally sure I wan't just BS'ing him.

What are the chances that I'm messing with the controls at the EXACT time they lose the HD signal? I guess those things happen.

islanddreamer

01-15-07, 01:15 AM

Thanks for the update. I seldom turn my antenna that way.

How did a "dreamer" from LA find my post in the Albany, NY forum?

I am scouring this forum trying to find a lead on a quality, reasonably priced digital to analog converter box. Any ideas?

m_jonis

01-15-07, 04:14 PM

Does anyone know what QAM modulation TW uses? QAM-256, 128, or 64? I'm trying to get my AirStar HD-5000 setup with MythTV and either I'm doing something majorly wrong or it's not finding any of the channels no matter what I pick.

Thanks!

optivity

01-15-07, 07:05 PM

QAM-256

Tower Guy

01-15-07, 07:28 PM

I am scouring this forum trying to find a lead on a quality, reasonably priced digital to analog converter box. Any ideas?

Sorry, no ideas. Sweet dreams!

m_jonis

01-15-07, 07:53 PM

QAM-256

Thanks! I guess each "thing" finds channels differently. My Toshiba TV has the regular channels (6, 8, 10 etc. as 6, 8, 10 and the HD as 18-13, etc.) but this Airstar tuner with MythTV finds them as very "odd"/bizarre channels 13-1, etc.

ebo

01-16-07, 11:08 AM

Thanks! I guess each "thing" finds channels differently. My Toshiba TV has the regular channels (6, 8, 10 etc. as 6, 8, 10 and the HD as 18-13, etc.) but this Airstar tuner with MythTV finds them as very "odd"/bizarre channels 13-1, etc.So, you're not getting the cable channels you expected, but you are getting off-air (OTA) channels. I'd say you accidentally connected an antenna instead of your cable to the card. 13-1 is perfectly normal for WNYT-HD OTA.

m_jonis

01-16-07, 08:01 PM

So, you're not getting the cable channels you expected, but you are getting off-air (OTA) channels. I'd say you accidentally connected an antenna instead of your cable to the card. 13-1 is perfectly normal for WNYT-HD OTA.

Nope, no antenna here. Just cable. Apparently with MythTV it's a major PITA to setup with QAM. You have to download a guide from zap2it and in order to get it to work with Clear QAM you have to "lie" to it and tell it you're OTA and then have to monkey around with the channel lineup. ARgh!

MasterFX1

01-17-07, 10:25 AM

23-2 is now testing...

Here is a post from Mark McGuire's blog on the Times Union Site...
In the next several weeks Clear Channel Communications and its local WXXA Ch. 23 are expected to fire up VTV, a new digital channel (Ch. 23.2; Ch. 423 on Time Warner Cable).

National programming will be divided into branded blocks, from lifestyle to home and garden to classic TV reruns. In addition, Fox 23 News will air locally at select times.

More information to come. Look for all the individual local stations to make announcements on how they plan to utilize digital stations; the ideas may extend beyond the original vision of all-weather/sports/news.

jeda_zelda

01-17-07, 02:33 PM

I can only hope that's true, but I think they'll be content to just jack up our cable rates again like they normally do.

At least until Verizon comes in with FIOS TV
One thing is for sure... when Time Warner smAlbany has a bona-fide competitor for our local CATV $... it will no longer be business as usual.

All the best (http://www.timewarnercable.com/) package savings? My A$$. :p

....until recently, Verizon was still investigating where they were going to place a video hub yet, let alone when. If your not already reading the New York, NY - Verizon (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=656287&page=3&pp=30&highlight=Verizon) thread, I think there's some unoffical "insiders" posting anonymously there.

In talking to a Verizon FiOS Marketing managers, they stated that with the way Verizon has to currently negotiate individual video franchise's at the local level, the company is balancing the initial "take rates" of FiOS Internet with the cost of the video hub before they make the investment (can't blame them there).

Guess the logic is if they get enough people using their FiOS internet service from the "prem's past" with the fiber, they'd have some assurances that the "investment to revenue" ratio, combined with the franchise fee's, would be initially at least a wash to start. (Boy, I like technology but I won't be a good businessman :eek: )

Way things are going though you'll be able to choose your provider via IP video. With the way the other surrounding states are revising their laws to make video franchises at the state level, one can only assume that Ivan's dollars will line Elliot's pocket's soon enough to illiminate Verizon's (what is the minimum Mbs for just DTV vs. HD anyway - anyone?)

Far as I'm concerned though, "Give me free OTA DTV/HD, or give me a DVD!"

wdaub1

01-17-07, 05:02 PM

MasterFX1

01-17-07, 06:03 PM

How is it TW can jump on a worthless channel like this but not pick up Verses/GolfHD which is being offered by Comcast to them at no extra fee.

Could be (and let me stress "COULD BE") part of the retransmission deal with WXXA-TV/Clear Channel.

tommy13v

01-18-07, 10:11 AM

I was noticing on the Titan TV guide they have listed WMHT2 PBS on 17.2 and 150. I am aware that 150 is on cable but do they have any intention of broadcasting it over the air? My kids would really love it.

I just got my new 37" LCD TV and am just using OTA HD and I can receive most of the HD channels very well except 55. I live in Glenville and am wondering what others have done to get these channels.

Thanks everyone and my wife was happy with the purchase considering that she can actually read the TV screen now and watch shows in HD.

jeda_zelda

01-19-07, 06:21 AM

...I just got my new 37" LCD TV and my wife was happy with the purchase considering that she can actually read the TV screen now and watch shows in HD.

glasses might have been cheaper... :D ;)

Just kidding Tom, know what ya mean, mine seems to be pretty appreciative of HD being that We're not paying more to see the prime time network HD. Think I need to go the antenna route though...more to be had than what a QAM can pull in over SD TWC service.

Enjoy

tommy13v

01-19-07, 09:20 AM

tommy13v

01-19-07, 12:02 PM

I was wondering if it would be possible to get OTA HD and standard cable working without the need to subscribe to Digital cable?

Would I need 2 tuners in the TV or something?

Thanks

AlbanyHDTV

01-19-07, 12:27 PM

I was wondering if it would be possible to get OTA HD and standard cable working without the need to subscribe to Digital cable?

Would I need 2 tuners in the TV or something?

Thanks
You could do it with two tuners in the TV, but you would also need two coaxial antenna inputs, too. Most TV's only have one of these inputs, even though they have QAM, ATSC, and NTSC tuners.

I would like to input both my OTA antenna and Time Warner Cable directly to my Panasonic plasma. However, there is only one coaxial antenna input.

One alternative is to get a OTA set top box and hook it to your HDTV via the component or HDMI HD input. You could then hook the cable tv to the coaxial input (antenna input).

Another alternative is to use a set top box that has two antenna inputs and both a QAM and a ATSC tuner. The Sony HDD-500 DVR is such a device. The "other" Albany HD website had a topic posted a year ago where these DVR's were available locally for $199 (retail price was $699) and the supply sold out almost immediately. I was lucky enough to grab 3 of them. :D

tommy13v

01-19-07, 01:05 PM

Thanks for the input, I appreciate it. Oh and thanks for the AlbanyHDTV forum, its nice to have a local site dedicated to the area.

wayne1935

01-19-07, 01:30 PM

tommy13v,

My Sony E2000 has 2 coaxial inputs - one for cable and another for OTA which is part of my reason for choosing the Sony RPTV over an LCD or plasma TV for the price we were willing to pay for HDTV.

After connecting both cable and OTA feeds, the initial scan found all the cable digital channels available via basic TWC service (no set top box) and all the local OTA channela plus VPT off the back of my antenna. The only thing I don't get OTA is WMHT-DT (I have no idea why) but since I can get the PBS-DT from VPT I'm not concerned about not getting WMHT-DT OTA.

Doesn't channel 55 come out of Amsterdam?

Wayne

m_jonis

01-19-07, 06:49 PM

This is gonna sound stupid, but Wayne1935, are you saying you did the QAM scan and were able to receive channels other than the HD locals?

wayne1935

01-20-07, 08:06 AM

m_jonis,

Sorry for the confusion. My previous post could have been worded more clearly.

On the QAM scan, using the coaxial input labelled CABLE, of our basic TW service I pick up only the locals in HD. I pick up VPT with my outdoor antenna plugged into the second coaxial, which is labelled ANTENNA, on our Sony. I don't get OTA WMHT_DT but I am picking up 23.2 - without sound for some reason.

Wayne

MasterFX1

01-20-07, 09:31 AM

I now have sound on 23.2 on all my receivers.

wayne1935

01-20-07, 11:06 AM

I also have sound now on 23.2. Yesterday I had picture but no sound. It may have been due to the ice buildup on our antenna, but all the other signals we usually receive seemed to be okay.

jeda_zelda

01-20-07, 12:20 PM

Thats a good one. Acutually I think it has more to do with the flicker of the old tube TV compared to the LCD, but you're right she needs glasses as well. Now my 62 old father wants a HDTV, but he can only fit a 27" TV. Does anyone have a suggestion for a 27" TV?

Visco 32" from Walmart - $600 - not the best, but works for a starter HD set. Also not sure if it's too big for him.

Edit - This set, like Wayne's Sony, also has 2 coaxial inputs 1 NTSC - labeled Analog, 1 ATSC/QAM - labeled HD. Splitting my "analog/SD" TWC feed right behind the panel and connecting a coax to each, gives me the local DTV/HD signals

Credit to "ProTubers" post back on page 86, this is what's currently available....

Name Physical Logical Cable Resolution
------- -------- ------- ----- ----------- ---------------
WRNN-DT 74-12 9-1 91 704 x 480
WCWN-DT 74-20 18-15 1815 1920 x 1080

WTEN-DT 104-1 18-90 554 720 x 480
WNYT-DT 104-2 18-93 1893 704 x 480
WMHT-HD 104-3 18-11 1811 1920 x 1080
WRGB-HD 104-4 18-6 1806 1920 x 1080
WRGB-DT 104-6 18-96 1896 720 x 480

WXXA-HD 105-7 18-8 1808 1280 x 720
WNYT-HD 105-10 18-13 1813 1920 x 1080
WTEN-HD 105-17 18-10 1810 1280 x 720

NBAPC 81-1 81-1 1900 528 x 480 NBA League Pass Preview
NBATV 81-6 81-6 677 704 x 480

NYS 89-1 89-1 582 528 x 480 NYS Legislature Senate & Assembly

SNYHD 93-1 93-1 1866 1920 x 1080

? 118-1 118-1 ? 720 x 480 Premium on demand remote tutorial
? 118-2 118-2 ? 704 x 480 Color bars
? 118-3 118-3 ? 528 x 480 Answers on Demand tutorial
? 118-4 118-4 ? 352 x 480 AOL Music on Demand
CHAN1 118-6 118-6 1 528 x 480 Welcome to Time Warner Cable
? 118-7 118-7 ? 704 x 480 Color bars
PRVW8 118-8 118-8 800 352 X 480 iControl Previews
? 118-9 118-9 ? 352 x 480 Movies on Demand preview
? 118-10 118-10 ? 528 x 480 Cutting Edge on-Demand still

wdaub1

01-20-07, 10:15 PM

Nets at home tonight on YESHD. This game is listed as HD game on YES website and my brother is now watching in HD on YES on Comcast in NJ. Looks like another issue where TW is playing games again. When you notify them about a problem they say call YES but I know it is a TW issue and other areas are getting HD.

I have tried to get an answer about the new VERSUS/GOLFHD channel which is on all the Comcast areas now and they are offering to TW for no extra fee but TW knows nothing about this channel being in existence.Can't wait to dump TW for another provider when available.

AlbanyHDTV

01-21-07, 08:23 PM

AlbanyHDTV

01-22-07, 07:52 AM

AVS moderator Ken H. confirmed it was a local issue, not a national issue.

The HD feed went black at least 3 times during the game, both 6-1 OTA and 1806 TWC HD.

SimpleTheater

01-22-07, 10:03 AM

WRGB loses HD feed of Colts-Patriots game just before halftime

Was watching the game via OTA as the Colts had a drive going at the end of the 1st half. Then, the screen went blank just as the Colts were setting up for the field goal.

Switched to TWC channel 1806 and the screen was blank. TWC channel 0006 had the game on in SD. I got to see the Colts going off the field for halftime.
This is the second game in a row that WRGB lost the HD feed. I strongly suggest everyone in the Albany area contact WRGB and ask them if they plan on having the same problems for the Super Bowl.

WRGB: 800 666-3355

AlbanyHDTV

01-22-07, 12:27 PM

This is the second game in a row that WRGB lost the HD feed. I strongly suggest everyone in the Albany area contact WRGB and ask them if they plan on having the same problems for the Super Bowl.

WRGB: 800 666-3355WRGB monitors this thread. Their ID is "WRGB EngDept".
Their last post was on December 28, 2006:
You did understand correctly, 6-1, 2 and 3 all have new encoders. Maybe these new encoders are giving them problems?

ebo

01-22-07, 03:45 PM

This is the second game in a row that WRGB lost the HD feed. I strongly suggest everyone in the Albany area contact WRGB and ask them if they plan on having the same problems for the Super Bowl.I can just imagine that conversation: "Why, yes, our schedule does call for two reception problems and an equipment failure, all at critical points in the game. Oh, and if the game runs long, as they nearly always do, we plan to cut off the end of it to run "Heidi."

SimpleTheater

01-22-07, 03:55 PM

I can just imagine that conversation: "Why, yes, our schedule does call for two reception problems and an equipment failure, all at critical points in the game. Oh, and if the game runs long, as they nearly always do, we plan to cut off the end of it to run "Heidi."
Yesterday they lost the feed just before the Colts 2nd FG attempt. The backup standard definition feed kicked in about a minute later and the first thing I saw was a replay of the bad hold. I'm thinking they missed the FG, but then the score was 21-6, so I knew they made it. However, what a bad time to lose the feed.

BEFORE the Super Bowl, before I turn on my projector, I'm telling all my friends what has happened the last two games so no one thinks my equipment is at fault.

optivity

01-22-07, 08:15 PM

Why is it that 480i up converted to HD looks better on TW 1806 & 1810 then is does on channels 1808 & 1813?

lufters

01-23-07, 05:58 PM

SimpleTheater

01-23-07, 06:59 PM

Well it's about that time for WRGB to screw up again since CBS has the Super Bowl this year.....some people here know what I am talking about. Take a look at some of my previous posts at this time in 2004. :D
I left a message with WRGB yesterday asking them if I should have a backup hi-def option for the Super Bowl because of their screw ups over the last two weeks.

I haven't heard back yet.

BreakStuff

01-23-07, 09:46 PM

m_jonis

01-23-07, 10:30 PM

I do have to admit it seems that WRGB has more than their share of "issues" when it comes to HD via OTA and TW Cable compared to the rest of the networks. At least from what I see here and on albanyhdtv.

Feirstein

01-24-07, 10:38 AM

Has anyone else noticed that this station has gone black? I tried
TW and OTA.

Richard.

ebo

01-24-07, 01:34 PM

Has anyone else noticed that [Discovery HD] has gone black? I tried TW and OTA.You were getting Discovery HD OTA? That's a neat trick! As for cable, I've never seen it in the clear (darn) and if it were they'd have no obligation to keep it so. If you normally get it by subscription on a cable STB, then call TW to complain.

AlbanyHDTV

01-24-07, 01:49 PM

Has anyone else noticed that this station has gone black? I tried
TW and OTA.

Richard.I have Discovery HD on channel 1837. No problems.

Feirstein

01-24-07, 09:36 PM

My discovery blackout was caused by a weak feed on one of my coax lines. I switched it out and now its back.

Richard.

AlbanyHDTV

01-27-07, 11:28 AM

This is the second game in a row that WRGB lost the HD feed. I strongly suggest everyone in the Albany area contact WRGB and ask them if they plan on having the same problems for the Super Bowl.

WRGB: 800 666-3355
Kinda surprised no comment from WRGB EngDept.

What's up with the HD signal? Will we have to worry about this for the Super Bowl?

optivity

01-27-07, 02:35 PM

What's the problem with ATW channel 1815... sometimes the CW is basically unwatchable... and this has been going on for weeks.

BreakStuff

01-27-07, 08:02 PM

WRGB EngDept

01-29-07, 11:43 AM

Yesterday they lost the feed just before the Colts 2nd FG attempt. The backup standard definition feed kicked in about a minute later and the first thing I saw was a replay of the bad hold. I'm thinking they missed the FG, but then the score was 21-6, so I knew they made it. However, what a bad time to lose the feed.
BEFORE the Super Bowl, before I turn on my projector, I'm telling all my friends what has happened the last two games so no one thinks my equipment is at fault.
Well it's about that time for WRGB to screw up again since CBS has the Super Bowl this year.....some people here know what I am talking about. Take a look at some of my previous posts at this time in 2004. :D
etc.
There's a flag on the play. Fifteen yards for piling on long after the play was blown dead.
Kinda surprised no comment from WRGB EngDept.
What's up with the HD signal? Will we have to worry about this for the Super Bowl?
Except to acknowledge there were in fact equipment issues and regret that they occurred at inopportune moments during play, what would you have us say? Much of our infrastructure has been recently replaced with new equipment with its various idiosyncrasies and with each incident we are gaining experience at recognizing the failure and recovering faster. It's time to move on.

SimpleTheater

01-29-07, 11:50 AM

Except to acknowledge there were in fact equipment issues and regret that they occurred at inopportune moments during play, what would you have us say? Much of our infrastructure has been recently replaced with new equipment with its various idiosyncrasies and with each incident we are gaining experience at recognizing the failure and recovering faster. It's time to move on.
I appreciate the reply - much better than no reply. The guy next door to me has DirectTV NFL Package and has been on my case to get it. I insist the local HD feed is superior, but all the technical arguments are useless when problems like this occur.

I feel MUCH better that you admitted the errors are on your end and that problems are being discovered and fixed much faster.

Thanks for the reply.

WRGB EngDept

01-29-07, 03:13 PM

I've been noticing an intermittent video stutter on WRGB the past couple days, was noticeable last night during the Ghost Wisperer and again today during the UNC/Arizona game. No pixelization, just jerky video.
Fixed Saturday evening. Noticed the problem on TWC 1806. Still waiting for bug fix from Tandberg. Switching from variable to constant bit rate and back will temporarily fix the problem. A negative side effect of this step is every few times a different configuration is selected, the encoder will go to 1440 horizontal resolution instead of 1920, (Tandberg has not yet acknowledged this bug) so we try to only do this fix as needed. Please continue to keep us informed if your tuner detects it before any of ours.

LexPlayer

02-01-07, 10:46 AM

Edit: Finally found some answers on the D* website. Let me ask this however, there is a provision for additional equipment on the Verizon website:

An off-air antenna allows you to access major broadcast networks' (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX) HD prime-time programming available in your area. * When you lease a DIRECTV HD System, the optional off-air antenna is available for $49

Does anyone know whay make/model this antenna would be? I'm assuming I don't need a *great" antenna because of my location (and Grade A signal stength).

I have been content with TWC for quite some time, but am intrigued by the new Verizon/Directv/DSL deal. There is a fairly decent deal that will be advertised next Tuesday, but in the meantime I have a few questions and can't seem to find an answer. If I sign up for the HD programming, D* gives you TNT, ESPN, ESPN2, etc. But what about network HD feeds?

So, 1) Do D* subsribers get distant local network HD feeds?

and 2) Is the only way to get the local HD's through an OTA antenna? If so, what are my options? I am in Voorheesville and according to antennaweb quite close to the transmitters.
I would also be interested in any general comments about Directv.

Thanks.

SimpleTheater

02-01-07, 11:09 AM

I have been content with TWC for quite some time, but am intrigued by the new Verizon/Directv/DSL deal. There is a fairly decent deal that will be advertised next Tuesday, but in the meantime I have a few questions and can't seem to find an answer. If I sign up for the HD programming, D* gives you TNT, ESPN, ESPN2, etc. But what about network HD feeds?

So, 1) Do D* subsribers get distant local network HD feeds?

and 2) Is the only way to get the local HD's through an OTA antenna? If so, what are my options? I am in Voorheesville and according to antennaweb quite close to the transmitters.
Currently D* doesn't transmit Albany locals in HD. But if they did they would charge an extra $5.99/month. Stick up a $60 antannae and after 10 months its all savings.

When you see what OTA HD looks like compared to TWC, you'll never want to go back. This assumes you have a 50" 1080p set or larger.

ebo

02-01-07, 12:44 PM

Currently D* doesn't transmit Albany locals in HD. But if they did they would charge an extra $5.99/month. Stick up a $60 antannae and after 10 months its all savings.$60 is overkill for Voorheesville. I'd go for a 4-bay bowtie such as the Channel Master CM 3021, ~$25. And I wouldn't mount it outside if I had a suitable inside location such as an attic or even a window (or non-metallic wall) I didn't mind blocking. Although it's designed for UHF, I find my bowtie works well for the two VHF digitals (7 and 13). I might have to rethink my system when WRGB reverts to ch. 6 for their digital, and especially if anyone starts using ch.4 as has been talked about.

When you see what OTA HD looks like compared to TWC, you'll never want to go back. This assumes you have a 50" 1080p set or larger.If you're going to keep cable for other reasons, know that you can get all of the local HD broadcasts and some of the SD ones with any level of TWC subscription (even Basic) and a clear QAM receiver. I kept Basic when I dropped RoadRunner. I mostly use OTA, but cable is a backup and provides certain advantages. Others have said HD on cable doesn't look as good as OTA, but I've A-B compared them and I see no difference at all. I have a large screen (~90", front projection) but can only resolve 1280x720, and my eyes aren't perfect, so I might be missing something.

Tower Guy

02-01-07, 01:24 PM

jpeter1093

02-01-07, 04:30 PM

I am in Voorheesville

Hey Lex...where in Voorheesville are you? I'm in Scotch Pine, Jeff Peterson, I use TWC for HD, FYI, I was interested in the Dish deal too but they've been out here before and they say the trees across the street would block the signal (especially in the spring and summer).

LexPlayer

02-01-07, 04:38 PM

Hey Lex...where in Voorheesville are you? I'm in Scotch Pine, Jeff Peterson, I use TWC for HD, FYI, I was interested in the Dish deal too but they've been out here before and they say the trees across the street would block the signal (especially in the spring and summer).

I'm over in Salem Hills. Did you have to order before they came out? I am a little worried about whether I can get a good signal. Do you know what angle the dish has to be?

jpeter1093

02-01-07, 04:46 PM

I'm over in Salem Hills. Did you have to order before they came out? I am a little worried about whether I can get a good signal. Do you know what angle the dish has to be?

Not sure of the angle, there are 75 foot tall trees right across the street from my house that he was aiming through.

As far as having to order first, it was a couple of years back and I think I did order the service but they refunded it right away when they couldn't get a good angle.

IIRC, their website may have info on the angles and which direction...At my house they pointed in a direction that was parallel to route 85A and if I had to guess an angle, I would say 30 degrees?

Tower Guy

02-01-07, 05:16 PM

I'm over in Salem Hills. Did you have to order before they came out? I am a little worried about whether I can get a good signal. Do you know what angle the dish has to be?

http://www.skycasters.com/lookangle/
D* uses DirecTV 7S at 119 degrees for Albany locals in SD
Enter -119 in the satellite longitude box plus the zip code
elevation 23.4 degrees
azimuth 236 degrees true
If you don't buy the locals, a higher look angle is OK.

E* uses Echostar 10 at 110 degrees for SD LiL.
el 28.9
az 241.3

BreakStuff

02-01-07, 08:59 PM

Channel Master 3016 in the attic, $45 shipped
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=ANC3016

I never had any luck with my roof installed 3016, I recently installed it ontop my iron canopy bed with horrible results. Still sitting in my attic collecting dust.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8144373&&#post8144373

m_jonis

02-01-07, 10:37 PM

Currently D* doesn't transmit Albany locals in HD. But if they did they would charge an extra $5.99/month. Stick up a $60 antannae and after 10 months its all savings.

When you see what OTA HD looks like compared to TWC, you'll never want to go back. This assumes you have a 50" 1080p set or larger.

Assuming it works. I've had nothing but problems with OTA WRGB (and I seem to remember several posts where the OTA either pixelated to death or had problems whereas HD via TW did not).

Although even when it DID work, it looked just the same (to me) on my 55" widescreen Mitsubishi.

I will say that IMO, the last time I evaluated all THREE systems (this would be maybe 3-4 years ago?) I literally had:

Dish
DirectTV
TW "digital" cable.

IMO, the picture quality on the "digital" channels went in order (from "best" to "worst")

Dish
DirecTV
TW

Now, I will clarify that DirecTV was a crap shoot. They frequently (back then and apparently STILL do today) implemented dynamic compression. So sometimes HBO, SHOW on DirecTV were awesome and then they'd compress the hell out of their other channels and the quality was crap (especially on the "dark"/night scenes you could see the mpeg pixelation and gray instead of black). So some channels varied depending upon time of day.

timick1

02-02-07, 08:46 AM

For all of you who are getting OTA HD... how are you recording shows? Something similar to a DVR?

Just wondering. Thanks.

AlbanyHDTV

02-02-07, 09:11 AM

For all of you who are getting OTA HD... how are you recording shows? Something similar to a DVR?
Sony DHG-HDD500 DVR.
A bunch of us got them for $250 each last year. I bought 3 and sold 2 on eBay for over $400 each. Free DVR for me!

Has both cable and OTA inputs. Can record QAM cable channels, as well as OTA.

LexPlayer

02-02-07, 01:29 PM

D* uses DirecTV 7S at 119 degrees for Albany locals in SD
Enter -119 in the satellite longitude box plus the zip code
elevation 23.4 degrees
azimuth 236 degrees true
If you don't buy the locals, a higher look angle is OK.

E* uses Echostar 10 at 110 degrees for SD LiL.
el 28.9
az 241.3

Thanks for the info, will have to get the compass out. :)

ebo

02-02-07, 02:28 PM

For all of you who are getting OTA HD... how are you recording shows? Something similar to a DVR?

Just wondering. Thanks.I have 4 HD receivers, all capable of recording to a hard drive or D-VHS (I also have a D-VHS recorder, but I rarely use it). One is a standalone DVR, LG LST-3410A. The others are computer-based: 2 PCI cards, MyHD MDP-120 and MDP-130, in separate computers, and an external USB tuner, AutumnWave OnAir GT, for my laptop.

When it works, the LG is the easiest to use. But it depends on a Gemstar guide delivered by certain analog channels. Not always reliable, and when the analogs go dark the guide won't work and I'll have to fall back on date/time/channel scheduling.

The MyHD cards have hardware MPEG-2 decoders and their own HD outputs, relieving the computer of most of the work of outputting HD (and the video card of all of it). As supplied, they can be scheduled using PSIP guide data broadcast by most digital channels (very poor) or TitanTV (good, but requires a web connection when you do the scheduling). But there's also a separate scheduler, CW_EPG, that downloads guide data from Zap2It and allows manual or quite intelligent automatic scheduling. It also replaces the meager PSIP guide info with the much more extensive Zap2It data. The cards are nearing the end of their software improvements (the company is moving in a different direction) so they will probably never be fully compatible with newer PCs or versions of Windows.

The GT is ideal for laptop use. Powered by the USB port and small enough to fit in the laptop bag. Supports PSIP guides and, with the latest software release, TitanTV scheduling. Requires a fairly fast computer (my 1.7 GHz laptop is just fast enough if I don't try to run other programs at the same time) with DxVA video acceleration, or a faster one without it.

All of the computer-based tuners record the incoming transport stream to hard drive, either single subchannel or the full stream, which lets me select the subchannel to watch on playback. That can be an advantage for the two that can tune clear QAM (unencrypted digital cable). My local TWC puts HD feeds of NBC, ABC and Fox on one physical channel, and CBS and PBS on another. So if I want to record "Heroes" and "24" I could do it with one tuner, and get whatever ABC is running as well. Of course that eats up lots of hard drive space, so I don't do it often.

timick1

02-03-07, 02:29 PM

Thanks for the reply's AlbanyHDTV & ebo.

If I were to go the route of recording HD shows on my computer (in my office), wanting to watch them on my HDTV (in the Family room), would that new Itv thing from Apple (coming out soon) do the job? I'd like to stream the shows wirelessly from computer to TV. If that's even possible? That OnAir GT for a laptop sounds like a good idea, too.

Looks like I have some research to do... I'm falling WAY behind on all this stuff.

I'm sick of getting gouged by Time Warner.

MasterFX1

02-03-07, 03:40 PM

iTV from apple should work via HDMI or Component if your recorded files are able to be imported into the iTunes software. HOWEVER, and it's a big one, it is only supporting up to 720p. No 1080i or 1080p in the launch version. I'm personally waiting for a revision that at least gets it to 1080i.

dflanagan841

02-04-07, 12:13 PM

Tower Guy

02-04-07, 01:45 PM

Well, sure, I wait until today to troubleshoot this. a shot in the dark probably. I live just outside of Herkimer NY waaaay up on a hill. as a result I've been enjoying all four Albany HDTV signals OTA. Recently it seems that just WRGB has been crapping out. I get a "signal strength" of 90 on my Hitachi plasma. That means squat to me 'cause the signal bar meter will change from red to yellow to green.

Of course today I was hoping to see the superbowl on WRGB but no signal. 13 & 10, AND Fox are all fine. I know that CBS, ABC & NBC area ll in one facility, right? So why no WRGB? I've received it fine before.

My long drawn out question: is WRGB on low power or something with their DTV signal?

Large rotary outdoor antenna with signal booster.

I suspect that WKTV-DT's new digital signal may be causing intermod with their channel 2 in your booster. You could try to bypass the booster or amplify UHF only. Some preamps have VHF/UHF switches which you could switch to UHF only, or you could install a VHF/UHF band joiner/splitter between your antenna and the booster.

WKTV-DT is on channel 29, 560-566 mhz; WKTV's analog on channel 2 is 54-60 mhz. Intermod from those two signals extends from 614-626 mhz; WRGB-DT on channel 39 is 620-626 mhz. The solution is to eliminate the overload in your booster.

m_jonis

02-04-07, 03:03 PM

Does anyone know what QAM-256 frequency WCWN (the HD one) is on? It seems that TW "lumps" WTEN, WNYT, and WXXA on 681000000 Hz (same multi-plex), and WRGB, WMHT (HD), along with the "DT" for WTEN, WRGB, and WNYT on 675000000 Hz (same multi-plex).

But I cannot seem to find WCWN (not the DT one, the HD one). (ie: 18-15)

ebo

02-04-07, 03:42 PM

WCWN is on 74-20, along with WRNN (74-12). 74 is 522-528 MHz.

redjr

02-04-07, 05:04 PM

I'm on TWC in the North Troy area and been having problems with these two channels over the past couple of days. If and when the signal does come thru, there is pixelation and breakup all over the place. These used to super clean channels. Especially HBO. Anyone else experiencing this on these channels?

m_jonis

02-04-07, 09:52 PM

WCWN is on 74-20, along with WRNN (74-12). 74 is 522-528 MHz.

THANKS!

SimpleTheater

02-05-07, 07:25 AM

Just want to congratulate the WRGB EngDept on a job well done. I didn't watch the half-time show, but the entire Super Bowl was glitch free and in beautiful HD.

dflanagan841

02-05-07, 07:50 AM

I suspect that WKTV-DT's new digital signal may be causing intermod with their channel 2 in your booster. You could try to bypass the booster or amplify UHF only. Some preamps have VHF/UHF switches which you could switch to UHF only, or you could install a VHF/UHF band joiner/splitter between your antenna and the booster.

WKTV-DT is on channel 29, 560-566 mhz; WKTV's analog on channel 2 is 54-60 mhz. Intermod from those two signals extends from 614-626 mhz; WRGB-DT on channel 39 is 620-626 mhz. The solution is to eliminate the overload in your booster.

OK here's the strange part. Early afternoon--no OTA HD from any Albany station. Later on (around 2:00pm) finally dialed in 13-1 and 10-1, but no 6-1. Around maybe 3:30-4:00, 6-1 finally locks in at around 38-45 SNR ("signal to noise ratio" as my Hitachi calls it).

I did try to dial back the antenna boost (earlier in the day) but no luck. I've had few problems with WKTV interference before--had the set since early January and was quite happy that it found the Albany signals at all.

And from the for what its worth dept: Superbowl looked great until about the end of the third quarter, then the break up got to be a bit distracting so I switched to ye olde analog OTA.

All in all I can hardly complain, 'cause I'm a loooong way a way from the signals. For CBS I'm between a rock and a hard place--no way I'm getting WTVH out of Syracuse (Utica's "affiliate" ha!).

I guess I was just wondering aloud if WKTV or WRGB are fiddling with power levels, etc., or if that kind of "fiddling" is even relevant to an OTA HD signal.

Gracias, Tower Guy! Maybe a switch to a straight UHF outdoor antenna is in order after Feb. 2009.

Tower Guy

02-05-07, 09:50 AM

I did try to dial back the antenna boost (earlier in the day) but no luck. I've had few problems with WKTV interference before--had the set since early January and was quite happy that it found the Albany signals at all.

I guess I was just wondering aloud if WKTV or WRGB are fiddling with power levels, etc., or if that kind of "fiddling" is even relevant to an OTA HD signal.

Gracias, Tower Guy! Maybe a switch to a straight UHF outdoor antenna is in order after Feb. 2009.

Dialing back the gain of the preamp won't necessarily help if the first amplifer stage is overloaded. That would be like trying to eliminate audio distortion by lowering the channel fader when the mike gain trim is set too high.

In 2009 WRGB will return to channel 6; WXXA and WNYT will stay on 7 and 12. You'll want to keep your all channel antenna. There may still be analog LPTV stations on VHF.

If you need a preamp at all, my favorite is the Winegard AP-4700. It amplifies UHF only and bypasses VHF. Most of these booster problems will go away in 2009 when the higher power analog signals are turned off.

rgn2000

02-05-07, 05:33 PM

I get some pixelation every few minuites on WRGB and don't on any of the other local HD channels. I am picking it up OTA with an antenna in my attic.

m_jonis

02-05-07, 08:56 PM

WCWN is on 74-20, along with WRNN (74-12). 74 is 522-528 MHz.

Ebo, I think maybe you're referring to the OTA frequency and not the TW Cable QAM Frequency. I'm not aware that WCWN is on TW 74-20. My two diff. QAM tuners find it at 18-15.

I just don't know what the frequency is (for some reason my one tuner "lost" it and I don't want to have to re-scan the entire spectrum). I thought it would be close to the other two sections (where I found the other channels) but either I'm doing something wrong or something's messed up.

ProTuber

02-05-07, 10:08 PM

Ebo, I think maybe you're referring to the OTA frequency and not the TW Cable QAM Frequency. I'm not aware that WCWN is on TW 74-20. My two diff. QAM tuners find it at 18-15.

I just don't know what the frequency is (for some reason my one tuner "lost" it and I don't want to have to re-scan the entire spectrum). I thought it would be close to the other two sections (where I found the other channels) but either I'm doing something wrong or something's messed up.
18-15 is just a logical channel number that corresponds to 1815 on digital cable box. Just as all the channels you found at 675 MHz are on channel 104 even though they probably report 18-11, 18-6, etc. and the ones you found at 681 MHz are on 105 even though they are reported as 18-13, 18-23, 18-10, etc., WCWN along with WRNN is on channel 74.

DeerHunter

02-06-07, 08:09 PM

Question....

Looking at the FCC's DTV Tentative Channel Designations list I noticed that WRGB is currently at 39 and will move to 6. Thus placing it in the VHF spectrum. Is this correct?

Take a peek here (http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf)

Scroll way down to the NY stations.

BreakStuff

02-06-07, 11:47 PM

WRGB-DT has that jerky video effect currently affecting the Letterman show, audio quality is good, video.. not so good. Same effect does not show up on my MyHD-130 and signal strength is 93%-100%.

Jets69

02-10-07, 10:18 AM

I don't know if this is the right place to post this. I would like to invite a few people from the HD70 post to come over to my house and view my setup. I am very happy with the settings I have currently, but, I am open to any improvements overall with my complete setup. You can pm me and I will give you info. I would also like to meet more AVSer's from the Albany area. I'm at this site almost everyday since I joined. I love this site. This has become my number one hobby. I have been upgrading every year for the past three years. It is a budget home theater or more of a media room. Nothing to elaborate, but enjoyable. I would love to hear for some of the people from this forum that made my room possible. I am always looking for improvement. Looking forward to meeting some of you. Again, sorry if this is the wrong spot.

kingofdmv

02-10-07, 04:05 PM

I'm not much of a poster here so I obviously haven't helped you along the way but I would like to meet up to watch and talk HD with anyone. No one I know has a HDTV so when I try to talk about it they look at me like I have an eye in the middle of my forehead. I'm in Watervliet so I'm close to Albany. I would love to see other set ups to give me ideas. Right now I only have an HDTV in my bedroom. Nothing fancy, no 5.1 (yet) just the TV, HD cable box and my XBOX 360 attached. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Dave

I don't know if this is the right place to post this. I would like to invite a few people from the HD70 post to come over to my house and view my setup. I am very happy with the settings I have currently, but, I am open to any improvements overall with my complete setup. You can pm me and I will give you info. I would also like to meet more AVSer's from the Albany area. I'm at this site almost everyday since I joined. I love this site. This has become my number one hobby. I have been upgrading every year for the past three years. It is a budget home theater or more of a media room. Nothing to elaborate, but enjoyable. I would love to hear for some of the people from this forum that made my room possible. I am always looking for improvement. Looking forward to meeting some of you. Again, sorry if this is the wrong spot.

lookin_4_a_clue

02-15-07, 09:05 PM

If I am violating any protocols here, please accept my apologies. Desperation causes me to just jump in with both feet. Thanks in advance for your time, help, and patience.

I'm in Pittsfield and use TWC basic (Channels 2-23). At the recommendation of a friend I acquired a PHD-200 from PrimeDTV to provide the interface to my HDTV monitor. I can receive the basic channels but no "local" HD channels. First question - does TWC block the basic package owners from gaining access to the HD channels associated with the Albany networks?

Or ... am I just messing it up in my own inimitable way? Thanks for any insights or information.

BreakStuff

02-16-07, 12:01 AM

The only way that you will see HD locals via TWC with the PHD-200 is to subscribe to the overly priced TWC Digital Cable tier at approx. $75.00 a month for the basics or get an outdoor antenna to hook up to the same unit and save the extra added cost.

Go here (http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx) and see what type of antenna will be optimal for your geographical location. Pittsfield may be a little sketchy for OTA HD but there are more knowledgeable people here other than me that may be able to help.

timick1

02-16-07, 01:37 PM

Will the use of a HDTV with an internal QAM tuner be able to receive the TW local HD channels when only subscribed to the basic package?

MasterFX1

02-16-07, 01:51 PM

Will the use of a HDTV with an internal QAM tuner be able to receive the TW local HD channels when only subscribed to the basic package?

Most likely.

ebo

02-16-07, 08:37 PM

lookin_4_a_clue:
There's a thread for that receiver that you should probably read. This message looks pertinent:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8575958&&#post8575958

Seems like you have to enable QAM mode for cable channels, and you still may not get everything in one scan.

I have TWC Basic. My analogs go up to about 25, then pick up again about 65. My digitals are in the range of 74-119; yours should be similar. A clear QAM receiver should be able to get the turnarounds of the local broadcasts without any other subscription.

lookin_4_a_clue

02-17-07, 12:29 AM

Folks:

Thanks for all the responses. I appreciate the time each of you took. Seems that I have some work to do and a lot more research.

AlbanyHDTV

02-17-07, 10:46 AM

Why isn't The Tube (shown on OTA channel 45-2) available on Albany TWC?

For those of you who don't know what The Tube is, it is a channel that shows music videos from the 80's, 90's and today. Saturday & Sunday mornings it shows educational shows or cartoons. It's a great channel for those of us who grew up watching MTV when MTV actually showed music videos.

canofworms

02-18-07, 07:32 AM

Are the digital PBS stations (17.1, 17.3) down?

AlbanyHDTV

02-18-07, 08:37 AM

Are the digital PBS stations (17.1, 17.3) down?Working fine for me.

optivity

02-25-07, 11:39 AM

So what's up with ATW these days? There are a lot of problems with service on channel 1815 and now 1813 seems to cut in/out at times too. Also there have been a lot of audio drop-outs recently. Is anyone else experiencing these problems with their Time Warner service or is it just me? :eek:

m_jonis

02-25-07, 11:50 AM

I have noticed the past week or so that all of a sudden, channels 6, 10, and 13 (analog) have TERRIBLE ghosting on them.

And about 3 weeks ago I thought my receiver went out because the volume was so low on the cable box vs. "straight from the wall". TW sent out an update and the box rebooted (twice I might add) and it reset the volume on the box to incredibly low levels.

optivity

02-25-07, 06:41 PM

I have noticed the past week or so that all of a sudden, channels 6, 10, and 13 (analog) have TERRIBLE ghosting on them.Right, I forgot about that... I also noticed ghosting on channel 10 last night.

AlbanyHDTV

02-25-07, 07:04 PM

I have noticed the past week or so that all of a sudden, channels 6, 10, and 13 (analog) have TERRIBLE ghosting on them.I only watch the HD versions...1806, 1810, or 1813, even if there is SD content.

m_jonis

02-26-07, 08:47 PM

Now that I have my MythTV setup and pretty much working, I've been watching more of the local stuff on HD. Gotta get my Heroes and Lost fix.

timick1

03-01-07, 04:59 PM

A little rant about my SA 8300-HD DVR:

This happens whenever I'm watching a previously recorded program on my DVR... When a commercial comes on, I hit the FF button 3 times (3x speed), then when I see the show come back on I hit the replay button (rewinds 7 seconds or so). Now when another commercial break comes up, I hit the FF button and it instantly goes to 4X FF (too fast for me to see when the show comes back on), so I have to hit the FF button again and it goes to regular play, then I have to press the FF button 3 times (3x) to get it to fast forward again.

Does this happen to everyone or is it just my DVR?

optivity

03-01-07, 07:34 PM

Just how old is the SA8300? Hasn't TW made enough money off those STBs by now? Will Time Warner ever release another DVR?

ready71

03-01-07, 07:52 PM

m_jonis

03-02-07, 09:44 PM

Tower Guy

03-03-07, 06:37 AM

That's TW for you. I don't think they have any plans on upgrading the 8300 HD DVR series any time soon (until POSSIBLY when the cable card mandate comes in). Too bad we don't have Comcast, where we could get Tivo software on the boxes (save a little money as opposed to having to buy a Series 3 Tivo).

My daughter in Boston has Comcast. The HD DVR that she has does not upconvert SD channels to HD. That forces her to switch the TV between the component input and the composite input as she changes channels to or from the HD tier. It's a pain.

optivity

03-03-07, 09:35 AM

That's TW for you. I don't think they have any plans on upgrading the 8300 HD DVR series any time soon (until POSSIBLY when the cable card mandate comes in). Too bad we don't have Comcast, where we could get Tivo software on the boxes (save a little money as opposed to having to buy a Series 3 Tivo).I'd rather buy something like a TiVo Series 4 when two-way DRM is established. I'm just waiting for the opportunity to switch to FiOS TV. Anyone know that ETA for the Capital District?

imagined Days

03-07-07, 11:14 PM

lufters

03-10-07, 06:04 PM

Hello, new HDTV owner here in Albany. A question for ya'. Once in a while I get a lip synch issue. I just watched Lost, and some times the audio was ahead of the video. Is this the cable box or the signal. I know it is not th tv. Also, Does anybody here have the Pace cablebox Time Warner gives out? If so, how does one get it to let the native 480i signal pass thru to the TV, so that the TV can convert to 1080i? Thanks!

Chris

The lip synch issue will happen from time to time. It's a know limitation using separate video (component) and digital audio connections. I've heard HDMI totally eliminates this issue.

Sorry, I don't have the Pace.

Give this thread a try...

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=42

SimpleTheater

03-11-07, 10:28 AM

On NBC channel 13, via OTA, I am getting a vertical yellow line on the far left. Anyone else getting this? This is the only channel doing it and before I reset my equipment I wanted to see if this is from the station or not. Thanks.

Feirstein

03-11-07, 08:10 PM

HDMI version 1.3 supports a feature that will sync audio and video. I know of no hardware sporting this feature as of yet.

Richard.

BreakStuff

03-11-07, 11:51 PM

ebo

03-12-07, 11:48 AM

"Stuttering" type video on WRGB-DT OTA that occurs continuously.. MyHD-130 shows intermittent pixilation when this happens, my Zenith stb has no pixilation but displays the video lag. Audio is not affected.I saw the same on my LG receiver. Didn't try cable or my other receivers. Just checked, and it seems to be OK now.

Also noticed severe lipsync problem on GMA on WTEN. OK now (The View was on) so maybe it was just that show.

MasterFX1

03-12-07, 03:31 PM

noticed severe lipsync problem on GMA on WTEN. OK now (The View was on) so maybe it was just that show.

On all 4 of my ATSC tuners and my 2 Clear-QAM tuners I too have noticed a severe audio sync issue on WTEN-DT for many days. It seems to be when they are in ABC Network Programming (like GMA).

BTW, I also have noticed that when WTEN-DT is in a Network break that is standard definition, the video seems to be highly compressed (and consequently does not look good.) Since it's only during SD-Network breaks it doesn't bother my viewing experience, but it is apparent.

AlbanyHDTV

03-12-07, 03:34 PM

The audio sync issue on WTEN was present last night on Desperate Housewives via TWC. It was a repeat, so I changed channels anyway.

MasterFX1

03-13-07, 11:18 AM

U Albany will play Virginia in the opening round of the NCAA Div 1 Mens Basketball Tournament on Friday at 12:20pm. It will be shown locally on WRGB (CBS).

This year CBS has HD crews at all tournament venues. However, CBS' HD coverage is being offered as "Flex Feeds." This means that if the HD game that your local CBS is showing becomes too much of a blowout, CBS will opt to switch feeds and show a more competitive game. This decision comes from CBS national and the local affiliate has no control over it.

However, on 6-3 OTA and 1896 TWC, WRGB will be showing games in SD. These are Constant feeds and not Flex Feeds. In the event the CBS regional feed chooses to leave the U Albany game, WRGB will then switch to upconvert the SD feed of the Albany game. Bottom line, if the game is close, you'll be able to watch it in HD. If it's a blowout (in Albany or Virginia's favor) the game will likely become SD mid-stream.

6-3 OTA, which is currently not broadcasting, will reopen for the Tournament. Additionally, there's a game at 4:55 PM on Thursday and Friday that WRGB will carry on 6-3, but not on analog.

Go Danes!

AlbanyHDTV

03-13-07, 12:55 PM

Thanks for posting the info, MasterFX1.

I sent an email to WRGB General Manager Bob Furlong two weeks ago asking what their plans were for this years NCAA basketball tournament. Never received a response.

I searched their website for their NCAA broadcast plans and they had no info, except for a link to the brackets: http://www.cbs6albany.com/ventures/ncaa.shtml

I believe they did a joint press release with Albany TWC in March 2006, indicating on what channels viewers could watch the games. TWC even temporarily put the channels right next to each other numerically, similar to what they did during NBC's olympic coverage.

MasterFX1

03-13-07, 03:39 PM

CBS did not announce their finalized plans for the tournament to affiliates until yesterday. Thus, any info from WRGB prior would have been speculation. Ordinarily, officials like a GM or Chief Engineer don't like to speculate to the public (because it's un-official).

The Hound

03-13-07, 10:39 PM

You could do it with two tuners in the TV, but you would also need two coaxial antenna inputs, too. Most TV's only have one of these inputs, even though they have QAM, ATSC, and NTSC tuners.

I would like to input both my OTA antenna and Time Warner Cable directly to my Panasonic plasma. However, there is only one coaxial antenna input.

One alternative is to get a OTA set top box and hook it to your HDTV via the component or HDMI HD input. You could then hook the cable tv to the coaxial input (antenna input).

Another alternative is to use a set top box that has two antenna inputs and both a QAM and a ATSC tuner. The Sony HDD-500 DVR is such a device. The "other" Albany HD website had a topic posted a year ago where these DVR's were available locally for $199 (retail price was $699) and the supply sold out almost immediately. I was lucky enough to grab 3 of them. :D
You could run OTA and TW cable into an A,B switch and then into your coaxial RF TV input.
:D

The Hound

03-13-07, 11:34 PM

I have read the last 10 pages of this thread and have not found what I'm looking for.
So if this question has been answered already point me in the right direction.
I live in Glenville on the top of the hill.
All my stations come from the same antenna farm at 199 degrees.
All signals come in with at least 80% signal strength, accept WMHT it comes in at between 20 and 40%.
This caused drop outs today.
Does WMHT-DT broadcast at a lower power then the rest?
Why does antennaweb say I need a small multidirectional and a medium directional antenna, when all are 18.1 miles at 199 degrees?
The transmitters are litterally feet apart.

DTV Antenna Call Sign Channel Network City State CompassOrientation MilesFrom Frequency

* yellow - uhf WMHT-DT 17.1 PBS SCHENECTADY NY 199° 18.1 34
* yellow - uhf WTEN-DT 10.1 ABC ALBANY NY 199° 18.1 26
* yellow - uhf WRGB-DT 6.1 CBS SCHENECTADY NY 199° 18.1 39
* red - uhf WCWN-DT 45.1 CW SCHENECTADY NY 199° 18.1 43
* red - uhf WCDC-DT 19.1 ABC ADAMS MA 126° 44.5 36
* red - vhf WNYT-DT 13.1 NBC ALBANY NY 199° 18.1 12
* red - vhf WXXA-DT 23.1 FOX ALBANY NY 199° 18.7 7
* violet - uhf WYPX-DT 55.1 ION AMSTERDAM NY 317° 12.4 50

Thanks,
Houndy

Tower Guy

03-14-07, 07:50 AM

IWhy does antennaweb say I need a small multidirectional and a medium directional antenna, when all are 18.1 miles at 199 degrees?
The transmitters are litterally feet apart.

Thanks,
Houndy

The suggestion makes sure that you get enough signal by the use of antenna gain. A directional antenna also reduces multipath and interference. I suspect that you'll get WMHT as soon as you put up such an antenna.

AlbanyHDTV

03-14-07, 07:45 PM

I believe they did a joint press release with Albany TWC in March 2006, indicating on what channels viewers could watch the games. TWC even temporarily put the channels right next to each other numerically, similar to what they did during NBC's olympic coverage.
Here is this year's press release:
For the second year in a row, Time Warner Cable and the local CBS affiliate, WRGB, will bring you multiple games on the opening weekend. In addition to the channel 6 games, we'll be showing alternative games on digital channel 1896. On Thursday and Friday, those games will also be televised on channel 3. And HDTV customers can watch games in high definition on channel 1806.

First Round
Thursday, March 15
12:20 p.m.: Maryland vs. Davidson, ch. 3 & 1896
12:25 p.m.: Boston College vs. Texas Tech, ch. 6 & 1806
2:45 p.m.: Georgetown vs. Belmont, ch. 6 & 1806
3 p.m.: Texas A&M vs. Penn, ch. 3 & 1896
4:55 p.m.: Vanderbilt vs. George Washington, ch. 3 & 1896
7:10 p.m.: Duke vs. Va. Commonwealth, ch. 6 & 1806
7:10 p.m.: Ohio State vs. Central Conn. St., ch. 3 & 1896
9:30 p.m.: BYU vs. Xavier, ch. 3 & 1896
9:45 p.m.: Indiana vs. Gonzaga, ch. 6 & 1806

Friday, March 16
12:15 p.m.: UAlbany vs. Virginia, ch. 6 & 1806
12:30 p.m.: Memphis vs. North Texas, ch. 3 & 1896
2:35 p.m.: Notre Dame vs. Winthrop, ch. 6 & 1806
2:45 p.m.: Wisconsin vs. Texas A&M Corpus Christi, ch. 3 & 1896
4:50 p.m.: Oregon vs. Miami, Ohio, ch. 3 & 1896
7:10 p.m.: Kansas vs. Niagara, ch. 6 & 1806
7:10 p.m.: Virginia Tech vs. Illinois, ch. 3 & 1896
9:30 p.m.: Kentucky vs. Villanova, ch. 6 & 1806
9:40 p.m.: Florida vs. Jackson St., ch. 3 & 1896

Second Round
Saturday, March 17
Times and teams TBD

Sunday, March 18
Times and teams TBD

The Hound

03-15-07, 08:16 AM

The suggestion makes sure that you get enough signal by the use of antenna gain. A directional antenna also reduces multipath and interference. I suspect that you'll get WMHT as soon as you put up such an antenna.
Thanks Towerguy
I have a medium yagi, about 2 foot across at the end of the v, mounted on the chimeny, pointed at the towers.
I also have a medium vhf, 6 foot from end to end, in the attic.
This is what I used for NTSC until I recently bought a ATSC tuner.
The yagi is a couple degrees off 199 but the other stations come in fine.
That is why I did not understand the lack of signal.
WMHT comes in fine most of the time at 20 to 40% but if it were at 80% then a drop of a couple percentage bars would not matter.
Thanks again.

Tower Guy

03-15-07, 12:47 PM

Thanks Towerguy
I have a medium yagi, about 2 foot across at the end of the v, mounted on the chimeny, pointed at the towers.
I also have a medium vhf, 6 foot from end to end, in the attic.
This is what I used for NTSC until I recently bought a ATSC tuner.
The yagi is a couple degrees off 199 but the other stations come in fine.
That is why I did not understand the lack of signal.
WMHT comes in fine most of the time at 20 to 40% but if it were at 80% then a drop of a couple percentage bars would not matter.
Thanks again.

I take it that the outdoor 2' medium yagi is a UHF only and the attic antenna is a VHF only or an all channel antenna.

Have you tried adding them with a UHF/VHF band joiner/splitter?
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=UVSJ
The outdoor UHF antenna would be used for WRGB, WCWN, WTEN, and WMHT. The attic antenna would be used for WXXA and WNYT.

You may also be in a location that can receive WYPX-DT on channel 50 and WVER-DT PBS, Rutland, VT on channel 9.

AlbanyHDTV

03-16-07, 01:13 PM

The HD picture quality for the NCAA basketball games has been terrible, both last night & today. I switched from TWC to OTA and found the same poor quality picture. I would relate the quality to SD widescreen. Pixelation and artifacting . Just not as clear a picture as we have come to expect when watching HD. I wish I had a way to screen capture the picture to show you all what I'm talking about.

8 minutes into the U Albany - Virginia game, CBS switched to 4:3 SD, probably because it is a blowout (Virginia 21, Albany 4).

I have the March Madness on Demand (MMOD) up on my laptop while watching the Albany game. During a commercial on the HDTV in my Family Room, I changed the MMOD feed to the Albany game and saw the game in progress. I figured the MMOD picture was BEHIND the live TV feed being shown OTA via 6-1 on my Family Room HDTV. However, after comparing the game clock on the two screens, I found that the MMOD version on my laptop was actually 14 seconds AHEAD on the game being shown on my Family Room HDTV. I thought that was interesting.

Too bad WRGB couldn't find a way to show the entire game in HD (even with the poor picture quality) instead of having to go to the 4:3 SD feed.

timick1

03-16-07, 03:01 PM

While watching the games yesterday at home (sick-day... I was sick, I swear), I noticed my receiver kept switching back and forth between Pro-Logic and Dolby for no apparent reason. I was also not pleased with the overall picture quality. It was still better than SD, so I shouldn't complain too much.

MasterFX1

03-16-07, 03:43 PM

The switch between 2.0 and 5.1 is because CBS's main studio is not yet implementing 5.1 audio, but the remote game crews are. So whenever they are about to go the studio in NYC they have to switch to 2.0 and back again when they return to a game. At the current time, for CBS to make this not occur they would have to leave all the games in 2.0 which is less preferable.

I agree that PQ is not the greatest I've seen, but it does seem better to me than last year. Especially the extra feed on 6-3/1896, last year I couldn't even make out what was happening on 6-3.

CriticalListener

03-18-07, 10:51 AM

If anyone is interested, you're invited to the first game of the NCAA Regional Finals. Just click on the my signature link below and RSVP. Seating is limited to the first six people who reply.

Tower Guy

03-18-07, 06:23 PM

I was also not pleased with the overall picture quality. It was still better than SD, so I shouldn't complain too much.

If you have TW cable, you should try an antenna. The difference is more noticable than it used to be.

ready71

03-18-07, 11:20 PM

In talking to a Verizon FiOS Marketing managers, they stated that with the way Verizon has to currently negotiate individual video franchise's at the local level, the company is balancing the initial "take rates" of FiOS Internet with the cost of the video hub before they make the investment (can't blame them there).

I guess they have to use some criteria, but many of the people I speak to won't try Fios Internet alone. People want internet, phone and TV in one package.

Will they need to build an actual building, or just setup the networking equipment for the Video hub in an existing building?