Albany, NY - HDTV [Text View] - Page 15

bullrage22

11-02-08, 05:06 PM

chrisfromalbany:
Sounds like a signal strength issue to me. I suggest you call TWC and set up a visit from a service tech so they can check your line. I had similar issues and they installed an amplifier (at no additional cost). I've heard of instances where they replaced the service line from the street to the house, too.

Just a nEWBie question: I have TWC with digital cable, but I cannot access the HD programming through the DVR. Do I need to upgrade to their HD DVR?
My wife loves the DVR, but with the current connection, I cannot get HD programming on any channel.

Again, sorry for the newbie question; anyone can answer.

AlbanyHDTV

11-02-08, 06:16 PM

Just a nEWBie question: I have TWC with digital cable, but I cannot access the HD programming through the DVR. Do I need to upgrade to their HD DVR?
My wife loves the DVR, but with the current connection, I cannot get HD programming on any channel.

Again, sorry for the newbie question; anyone can answer.

You need the 8300HD DVR, not the 8300 DVR in order to get HD. The 8300HD DVR has the ability to connect via component and HDMI, one of which you need to put an HD picture on your HDTV.

Alternatively, you could get a TiVo HD. :)

bullrage22

11-02-08, 07:19 PM

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Now, I just need to convince the wife to watch every show sitting on the DVR or lose it.

Thanks for the quick reply.

BruceS

11-03-08, 02:06 PM

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Now, I just need to convince the wife to watch every show sitting on the DVR or lose it.

Thanks for the quick reply.
Assuming your TV has more that one input, you could get the 8300HD DVR and keep the 8300 DVR until your wife has finished watching what was recording on it.

As long as you remove the settings to record programs on the 8300 and enter them on the 8300HD, your wife should eventually finish watching all the shows she had recorded on it.

It will cost you a bit more each month until you finish with the old one and return it, but that will allow you to make HD recordings.

ebo

11-06-08, 05:38 PM

I see that WCWN is running WCSN on 45-2, same as WRGB is on 6-2. I'll admit I didn't expect This TV to go belly up quite so soon. Of course the fact that its program schedule couldn't be found anywhere, not in the newspaper (of course) or at TitanTV, Schedules Direct, MGM's site, WCWN's site or even in the EPG probably didn't help. The only way to know what was on was to tune to the station to see if you recognized it.

No matter. DVD is about the minimum quality I'll accept for a movie now anyway.

Trip in VA

11-06-08, 06:08 PM

This TV is still airing in Chicago at least, I haven't paid much attention to where else it is. I'd bet there's some kind of problem before assuming they've killed it off.

- Trip

wkomorow

11-09-08, 09:37 AM

The lost of This seems to be local - anyone know what really happened? There were some great movies on it? Paaty Duke was on early weekdays.

The Hound

11-10-08, 06:54 AM

Yes I'd say there is an issue.
Everything was great until Sunday afternoon, then WCWN started dropping sometimes there was a signal and no feed, sometimes no signal at all.
By Monday night This TV was gone and we are back to WCSN on 45-2.
As of yesterday the drop issues are still occuring and WCSN is on 45-2.
At times I get 90% others there's nothing.
This is OTA on 2 different tuners.
Hope they get it fixed soon I like WCWN.

As for This Tv you are right there is no way of knowing what is on.
EPG just says This Tv.
The way they run commercials is bogus.
They run 5 minutes of a movie and then switch back to what is supposed to be on.
so you switch over say ooh I'd like see this one only to find out that it really isn't on.

The Hound

11-11-08, 12:33 AM

No matter. DVD is about the minimum quality I'll accept for a movie now anyway.
480 is DVD resolution.
You can get progressive out of your DVD player over component, the only difference.

will1383

11-11-08, 12:39 AM

Sheesh.

I think this is about as close as an area group membership as avs comes. I'm new here, and checking out the scenery.

The Hound is from Glenville? I grew up in that area. :D

The Hound

11-11-08, 12:43 AM

Good to have you here Will.
I live out sacandaga rd.
Cheers.

will1383

11-11-08, 12:45 AM

Good to have you here Will.
I live out sacandaga rd.
Cheers.
I grew up just off of vly road, down where visco's pizza was originally started. I'm now a bit further north.

ebo

11-11-08, 03:05 AM

480 is DVD resolution.
You can get progressive out of your DVD player over component, the only difference.Certainly SD digital from broadcast or cable can be up to DVD quality, but it rarely is, partly because the suppliers want to pack in as many channels as they can so they compromise on bit rate. According to this article:

http://www.infotelesys.com/dvd_bandwidth.htm

the minimum bit rate for DVD quality is 6 Mbps. I've rarely seen an SD channel on OTA or cable that used more than 4 Mbps; 2.5-3.5 is common, and I've seen some around 2.0 or even lower. Of course those numbers can change from moment to moment if the station uses a statistical multiplexer to allot extra bandwidth as needed.

The Hound

11-11-08, 07:39 AM

Good read. I was looking at resolution.
I did not understand MPEG2 compression.
So it appears broadcast tv has 24Mbps to divide up.
All having to do with color quality of a moving picture.
What is the bit rate on OTA HD?

ebo

11-11-08, 04:34 PM

What is the bit rate on OTA HD?I took a look at both OTA and Time Warner Cable between 15:30 and 16:00 this afternoon, using an AutumnWave OnAir GT USB tuner and TSReader Lite (a free download from http://www.coolstf.com/tsreader/). Many computer-based tuners will interact with TSRL directly and others that won't can still be used if they can save a full transport stream to a disk file, which can then be read by TSRL.

The numbers are in megabits per second and are "eyeball averages," i.e. I watched the readings for a few seconds and picked a number near the middle of the range of variation. I couldn't examine the OTA and cable versions of each station at exactly the same time, so the readings aren't quite comparable, especially where statistical multiplexers are used. WRGB, WMHT and TWC appear to use stat muxes, as their numbers vary over a wider range than the other sources. Only WRGB was airing an HD show at the time. WNYA does not broadcast in digital yet (they can't until after the analog cutoff because they'll be using channel 13) but they're in HD on cable.

Station|OTA|TWC
WRGB|13.9|13.8
WTEN|13.5|11.7
WNYT|13.9|12.7
WMHT|12.5|11.0
WXXA|12.9|11.8
WCWN|14.8|15.0
WNYA|----|12.8

The Hound

11-12-08, 12:23 AM

I guess that kind of makes sense a little more then double the 6 mbps for DVD quality.

ebo

11-12-08, 12:38 PM

I guess that kind of makes sense a little more then double the 6 mbps for DVD quality.Actually those numbers are on the low side for HD. They could be as high as 19 Mbps for broadcast without additional subchannels. When WMHT had only one SD subchannel their HD subchannel was about 15-16 Mbps. As for cable, TWC packs the HD feeds of WXXA, WTEN and WNYT into one RF channel. It probably helps that two of them are 720P, but it's still a tight fit. Handy when there are program conflicts though; by recording the full stream I can capture all three with one tuner.

optivity

11-18-08, 07:28 AM

Is there any ETA when FiOS TV will be available for the Capital Region?

The Hound

11-19-08, 12:30 AM

I see that WCWN is running WCSN on 45-2, same as WRGB is on 6-2. I'll admit I didn't expect This TV to go belly up quite so soon.
Still no This TV.
You may have been right.

Mrmiami

11-21-08, 04:37 PM

I do, and I think the only caveats to be aware of are you don't get WMHT, WCWN or WNYA in HD on DIRECTV without an antenna. I have an antenna anyway since OTA HD looks much better than either, but a good thing to be aware of for sure.

As for picture quality, obviously no comparison, and as for National HD no question DIRECTV is better.

As far as price, it's pretty similar, except that you'll probably get a nice $20/off for a year for switching. I can also give you my account number and you'll get another $50 off if you sign up as a refer-a-friend program as well.

I wrote up a pretty good price/channel comparison over at http://albanyhdtv.proboards18.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=Voom&thread=2247&page=1

I also wrote up a review on one of my sites at http://www.qwowi.com/2008/02/technology-and-gadgets/directv-satellite-television

So your getting WNYA in HD from an outdoor antenna now with your DirecTV receiver? I live in the Albany area and do not get this off air even though the station and numbers are carried on the HR20-700 receiver I have.

Pretty funny how you failed to tell Boyo that you would also get $50 bucks :)

wkomorow

11-23-08, 03:08 PM

Still no This TV.
You may have been right.

No indication that it has gone belly up, this may be a dispute between freedom corp and the weigel group; note freedom is also currently in a programming dispute with echostar.

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

Nov 13th article says this_tv will debut in houston on dec 1:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/tv/6111318.html

And it iss listed on the titantv schedule:

http://titantvguide.titantv.com/apg/basic.aspx?siteid=52545

Davird_Jr

11-25-08, 12:42 AM

I have mentioned many times on this thread my ongoing struggles to receive WNYT & WXXA OTA. The past few months have been particularly bad especially for WNYT which for most of that time was not receivable and when I could get it I was getting between one and two bars (out of ten) of signal strength. I would usually get two bars of signal strength on WXXA. I had been using a 30ish year old Radio Shack UHF/VHF combo 160 inch rooftop antenna that came with my house for VHF and a seperate UHF AD XG91 antenna combined through a CM 7777 preamp. UHF reception has been pretty good for the last year and a half or so, but it has been a struggle with VHF reception. I live in the northwestern Berkshire Mountain range, just to the east of Mt. Greylock, the highest peak in Mass. I sit about 49 miles east of the transmitters broadcasting the Albany networks. I have done a lot of research into my problem and decided to replace my Radio Shack with a new antenna. I narrowed it down to a Channel Master 3671 or a Winegard HD8200U. I decided to go with the Winegard and ordered it from Amazon because it was supposed to be UPS shippable and there's no place around here to get one. I was suprised at how long the box was at seven feet and it arrived with all but one staple removed and the antenna suffered a bit of cosmetic damage in transit including a few slightly bent elements that I was able to straighten without much trouble. All of the parts were there however and it wasn't much trouble to assemble. It was a bit bigger than I expected, about three feet longer than the Radio Shack it replaced. So I got it installed and aimed and checked my TVs. Well to my surprise my signal strength on WNYT and WXXA went from one to two bars up to a solid ten bars (out of ten) on both channels. I was quite amazed and wish I had replaced this antenna long ago. 6 and 10 analog now come in crystal clear and I'm even getting channel 2 out of Utica sound and snowy picture. Simply an amazing antenna and I recommend it highly to anyone on the fringe. I should be set now for the analog shutoff when channels move back to VHF. Very satisfied with this antenna.:)

The Hound

11-25-08, 12:58 AM

Excellent, are you using the UHF portion or are you still using the XG91?
At 168.2 inches, that's 14 feet!:eek:, I would hope you are pulling in everything perfect.
Congratulations.

Davird_Jr

11-25-08, 01:03 AM

Yes I am still using the XG91, which works pretty good getting me 5 to 7 bars of signal on all but CW which when it comes in (more lately for some reason) gets just a couple bars. I will experiment in the spring with trying the UHF portion of the Winegard to see if it is better than the XG91. If not i will consider going to a 8 bay or stacking two XG91s to see if I can improve UHF. Now does anyone know what channels other than WRGB that are going back to VHF in FEB?

The Hound

11-25-08, 01:16 AM

WNYA channel 15 goes to real channel 13 in Feb '09.
WCWN will go full power Dec 1st, if I'm not mistaken.
May help out your CW issues.

mikepier

11-25-08, 06:41 AM

WRGB EngDept

11-25-08, 04:03 PM

WCWN will go full power Dec 1st, if I'm not mistaken.
May help out your CW issues.Actually, on Dec 1st WCWN analog channel 45 will be reducing its power to about 25%.
As for WCWN-DT 45-1 (RF channel 43), when WRGB moves back to VHF channel 6, we have asked the FCC for permission to re-tune our current 6-1 digital transmitter (now on channel 39) to channel 43 where it will then share the top-mounted omnidirectional antenna instead of a side-mounted directional antenna. This should give WCWN-DT on channel 43 roughly the same coverage as WRGB-DT has now on channel 39. This will not happen in February, but will likely take several weeks to accomplish.

L_G_D

11-25-08, 06:35 PM

That's good to hear.

I see that This TV moved to 6.2 and the sports channel to 45.2, at least it is right now.

LGD

BreakStuff

11-25-08, 10:34 PM

So your getting WNYA in HD from an outdoor antenna now with your DirecTV receiver? I live in the Albany area and do not get this off air even though the station and numbers are carried on the HR20-700 receiver I have.

I found this interesting since I will soon be installing my H20, so I did a little research and came up with some info that may help.

"If you have an OTA antenna diplexed into your satellite signal remove the diplexer and run it straight into the back of the HR20. I had to do this. The upside? I ended up receiving 3 additional OTA stations from Mt. Wilson. The downside? I had to pay the installers a “little on the side” to do this and the OTA inputs on the HR20 won’t be active for another couple of months. I’m willing to wait it out."

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=716609

Davird_Jr

11-26-08, 03:16 AM

BruceS

11-26-08, 11:31 AM

I found this interesting since I will soon be installing my H20, so I did a little research and came up with some info that may help.

"If you have an OTA antenna diplexed into your satellite signal remove the diplexer and run it straight into the back of the HR20. I had to do this. The upside? I ended up receiving 3 additional OTA stations from Mt. Wilson. The downside? I had to pay the installers a “little on the side” to do this and the OTA inputs on the HR20 won’t be active for another couple of months. I’m willing to wait it out."

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=716609

The OTA inputs on the HR20 are active right now.

You just need to run a seperate line from your antenna to the HR20. The antenna signal cannot be diplexed at this time.

You may be thinking about SWM, which is already available in some parts of the country. SWM still allows diplexing of the antenna signal.

For more information on SWM, check out dbstalk.com.

TechniSol

11-28-08, 10:27 PM

Actually, on Dec 1st WCWN analog channel 45 will be reducing its power to about 25%.
As for WCWN-DT 45-1 (RF channel 43), when WRGB moves back to VHF channel 6, we have asked the FCC for permission to re-tune our current 6-1 digital transmitter (now on channel 39) to channel 43 where it will then share the top-mounted omnidirectional antenna instead of a side-mounted directional antenna. This should give WCWN-DT on channel 43 roughly the same coverage as WRGB-DT has now on channel 39. This will not happen in February, but will likely take several weeks to accomplish.

WRGB EngDept,

Thanks for that info regarding current antenna usage between 6-1(39) and 45-1(43), it's been driving me a little bit barmy trying to figure out why there seemed to be about 40 degrees between where D6 and D45 come in best for me when I thought all the digitals were supposed to be in the same direction or the same antenna farm in this area... :)

I'm in the "greater" Freehold, NY area, a few miles west of Coxsackie, and it's a continuing challenge to position my antenna to get both without breaking up. Looking forward to your changes come February/March -I hope!

m_jonis

12-02-08, 10:14 PM

Is there any ETA when FiOS TV will be available for the Capital Region?

When pigs fly? (As Mel on Alice would say).

I wish it were sooner, but it's going to be at LEAST 2 years, IMO.

If ever.

Verizon only seems interested in Long Island and NYC

Duds72

12-04-08, 11:43 AM

Hello everyone

I live in glenville and am getting close to buying either the pioneer 5020 or the pro-111 plasma. I currently have TW digital and have read where the singal is so compressed that it results in macroblocking with fast motion on these panels. Should i switch to Direct tv?

ebo

12-04-08, 12:56 PM

Duds72:
As long as you already have cable I'd say to give it a try. If you see a problem TW can't fix, you can always switch later. If you're also using RoadRunner you might want to keep minimum cable for that anyway.

Glenville is only 20+ miles from the Albany transmitters so you should also check out your OTA reception with a decent antenna. You can compare their quality with that of the same stations on cable. TW in Albany does compress most of the locals a bit more than broadcast, but not much, and I don't see any difference on my 720p system.

I don't know which locals DirecTV carries in HD, but I don't think it's all of them. That might affect your decision. As for other HD offerings, DirecTV is usually ahead in raw count, but the question is which one offers the channels you really want to watch. I never had their HD service, but by the time I dropped them their SD quality was getting noticeably worse, probably due to their constant push for more channels and the requirement to offer actual locals rather than PrimeTime 24. That was before their use of multiple satellite locations and MPEG-4, which have eased the bandwidth issues.

BTW, if your TV tunes clear (unencrypted) QAM you can get the locals with a minimum TW subscription and no cable box by connecting the cable directly to the TV. If it also has a CableCARD slot you can rent a card from TW to replace the box, with some limitations.

Duds72

12-04-08, 12:59 PM

thanks for the info. I'm confused by the OTA reception with an antenna. What type of antenna are we talking? how much? can i get all the channels i currently get with my TW box? sorry if I am asking dumb questions.

Duds72:
As long as you already have cable I'd say to give it a try. If you see a problem TW can't fix, you can always switch later. If you're also using RoadRunner you might want to keep minimum cable for that anyway.

Glenville is only 20+ miles from the Albany transmitters so you should also check out your OTA reception with a decent antenna. You can compare their quality with that of the same stations on cable. TW in Albany does compress most of the locals a bit more than broadcast, but not much, and I don't see any difference on my 720p system.

I don't know which locals DirecTV carries in HD, but I don't think it's all of them. That might affect your decision. As for other HD offerings, DirecTV is usually ahead in raw count, but the question is which one offers the channels you really want to watch. I never had their HD service, but by the time I dropped them their SD quality was getting noticeably worse, probably due to their constant push for more channels and the requirement to offer actual locals rather than PrimeTime 24. That was before their use of multiple satellite locations and MPEG-4, which have eased the bandwidth issues.

BTW, if your TV tunes clear (unencrypted) QAM you can get the locals with a minimum TW subscription and no cable box by connecting the cable directly to the TV. If it also has a CableCARD slot you can rent a card from TW to replace the box, with some limitations.

ebo

12-04-08, 02:41 PM

thanks for the info. I'm confused by the OTA reception with an antenna. What type of antenna are we talking? how much? can i get all the channels i currently get with my TW box? sorry if I am asking dumb questions.At 20 miles a 4-bay bowtie such as the Channel Master 4221 would probably work well for UHF. I have one in my attic that gets all of the Albany locals 10 miles away, even the two on high VHF, and it might even be good enough for channel 6 when WRGB moves their digital there in February. Unlike most antennas it only takes up a few inches front to back, so it fits easily into an attic, an unused window, closet, etc. But outside mounting is always best if you can do it. It's not designed for VHF, so you'll probably want something that is. Channel Master and Winegard are respected names in outside antennas. Ace Hardware has a good price on the CM 4221 at the moment, and acehardwareoutlet.com has an even better one.

If you have the room, an 8-bay bowtie such as the CM 4228 would do even better, especially on VHF, but you still might be better off with a separate VHF antenna or a UHF/VHF combo. See this page for some comparisons:
http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html

An indoor tabletop antenna probably won't do for you, but the best of these for UHF may be the Zenith/Philips Silver Sensor. If you have an old pair of rabbit ears for VHF and a loop for UHF you could try that to get an idea of the possibilities but don't expect miracles. And don't sink a lot of money into a cheap antenna in a fancy case, maybe with an amplifier. A good amp can preserve the signal that might otherwise be lost in a long run from the roof, but no amp can compensate for an inadequate antenna, and the amps in most indoor antennas are just marketing gimmicks and may be worse than no amp at all.

You can get all of the digital broadcast channels that TW offers unencrypted except WNYA (because they can't broadcast digital until February) and probably WRNN (too far, but it's mostly infomercials anyway). You'll also get WYPX (4 SD channels, no HD) which isn't on Albany TW but is only ~5 miles from you.

TW has a few other digital channels in the clear, but they're hardly worth the bother: Albany legislature, high school sports and ads for their VOD service. They even encrypt freebies like C-SPAN. Oddly, they don't encrypt NBA-TV, although they probably will now that I've mentioned it. Sorry, basketball fans.

homerofwar

12-05-08, 04:46 AM

Added To Time warner Cable Albany HD Line Up

December 3rd, 2008
1822 QVC HD
1829 FX HD
1832 Cartoon Network HD
1877 Speed HD (part of Sports tier)

December 5th, 2008
Well 4:30 this morning i couldn't get any sleep and while scrolling through the channels on my guide, it suddenly decided to go unavailable, I started to scroll though all the hd channels since i couldn't see what was on tv. And Low and behold Time Warner added 2 HD channels which I Will never watch haha

1859 - NY1 HD
1865 - Golf HD

It amazes me on how we they decide to waste bandwidth these days.

Also on a Sidenote: TWC albany finally removed MOJO HD off the line up, and off the the hd on demand channel.

optivity

12-05-08, 06:43 AM

homerofwar

12-05-08, 07:03 AM

haha whats even worst is NY1 HD - HAS NO HD content! next to QVC HD total waste of bandwidth. I know TWC Albany Will only compress channels more and more just to fit more channels in, seriously some channels are pixelated so bad in HD, like NBC HD on football games on twc is horrible.

I wish TWC would make agreements with channels that actually perceive some hd content on it

The Hound

12-08-08, 12:18 AM

Hi duds, I live in Glenville, on Sacandaga rd, at the top of the hill.
I use a Radio Shack yagi mounted on the chimney for UHF and a big, old, 6' plus antenna in the attic for VHF.
I get all the majors at 80+ percent consistently.
WYPX is out of Amsterdam, so about 120 degree from the antenna farm that everyone else broadcasts from.
Unless I turn the antenna I don't receive it at all.
Don't know if WYPX is important to you or not.

boyo3221

12-08-08, 04:53 PM

ProTuber

12-08-08, 10:11 PM

I have a samsung 46" LNA650 LCD ,andf i only have standard cable. when i first hooked it up and searched for channels, on the channels 18 i received 18-23, 18-13 and 18-10. which was great plus a few worthless ones in the 98 range. i rescanned like a3 weeks later and got a whole new set of channels . now in the 18's i get 18-17, 18-56 and 18-6. what the heck happened. plus now i get "this tv" the multiple 13's why did i get a whole new set of channels i want 6,10,13, 23 . what am i doing wrong and yes i scanned all option irc..... please helpI don't know if you're doing anything wrong. Are you saying in the second scan you lost some of the channels you found the first time or did it just find additional ones? You should find the following OTA channels via clear QAM:

OTA STB QAM Desc
6-1 1806 18-6 WRGB-HD
6-2 1896 18-96 thisTV
10-1 1810 18-10 WTEN-HD
10-2 554 5-54 WTEN-WX
10-3 1897 18-97 RetroTV
13-1 1813 18-13 WNYT-HD
13-2 556 5-56 Weather+
17-1 1811 18-11 WMHT-HD
17-2 ? 104-18 WMHT2
17-3 ? 104-19 WMHT3
23-1 1808 18-8 WXXA-HD
23-2 423 4-23 VTV
45-1 1815 18-15 WCWN-HD
45-2 N/A N/A Universal Sports
N/A 1804 98-9 WNYA-HD

ebo

12-09-08, 04:30 PM

Even after reading the pertinent parts of the user manual I'm not sure if you can do an additive scan or add single channels without clearing the channels found in the previous scan. I copied ProTuber's list and added a column for the RF cable channel these are really on, at least for Albany TWC. The RF channels are the ones you want to scan if you can add them individually. I also added WRNN just for completeness. I put it in a table because it's fun to play with special effects.

OTA|STB|QAM|RF Ch.|Desc
6-1|1806|18-6|104|WRGB-HD
6-2|1896|18-96|104|thisTV
10-1|1810|18-10|102|WTEN-HD
10-2|554|5-54|74|WTEN-WX
10-3|1897|18-97|74|RetroTV
13-1|1813|18-13|102|WNYT-HD
13-2|556|5-56|104|Weather+
17-1|1811|18-11|104|WMHT-HD
17-2|?|104-18|104|WMHT2
17-3|?|104-19|104|WMHT3
23-1|1808|18-8|102|WXXA-HD
23-2|423|4-23|104|VTV
45-1|1815|18-15|74|WCWN-HD
45-2|N/A|N/A|N/A|Universal Sports
N/A|1804|98-9|98|WNYA-HD
62-1|?|?|74|WRNN

Note that all of the broadcast channels are on 74, 98, 102 and 104. There's some non-broadcast stuff on ch. 121: color bars, NYS Senate/Assembly, TW Sports, a PhotoShow tutorial and a couple of VOD ads. NBA-TV is currently on Ch. 101, but it moves around a lot.

boyo3221

12-09-08, 04:34 PM

yes i gained a bunch but lost the ones i wanted . i have most of those except nbc, fox and abc. i rescanned like 4 times. still keeps the same ones. should i rescan late at night, will the signall be more open? . originally had abc, fox, nbc, thats it . rescanned and gained all those ones you mentioned except for nbc,abc and fox channels why cant i get all of them? very weird.

ebo

12-10-08, 04:19 PM

boyo3221:
Double check that you have "Antenna" set to "Cable" and both "Analog" and "Digital" set to "STD" (I'm pretty sure that's what TWC uses; at least it works best for me). If you have to change anything, scan again.

It sounds like you have marginal reception on at least some upper channels. How is your reception of analog channels in the 70s? You should have clean pictures on all except 71, 74 and 79, which are digital. If they're snowy you should check your connections back to the incoming cable to make sure they're still good. Sometimes just unscrewing and reattaching a connector can clean a tarnished contact enough to get a better picture. Also check the type of cable. Older systems used RG-59. Any long runs of that should be replaced with RG-6. Look for splitters in the line that may be knocking your signal down. They do go bad sometimes, and if they're quite old or intended for broadcast TV they might not handle the higher cable frequencies. They should be rated to 1000 MHz. Even a perfect splitter would divide the signal by the number of outputs and real-world splitters cut it even more. If possible, try a direct feed from the incoming cable to your HDTV to see if that improves things. If nothing helps it may be time for a TWC service call.

boyo3221

12-10-08, 04:49 PM

ok so last night i rescanned the channels like 3 times 2x on std once irc and the second time on std i got all of the channels, problem solved, must just be a reception thing.

Mrmiami

12-11-08, 08:18 AM

When pigs fly? (As Mel on Alice would say).

I wish it were sooner, but it's going to be at LEAST 2 years, IMO.

If ever.

Verizon only seems interested in Long Island and NYC

Not the case, Time Warner is still trying to make this a difficult task for Verizon but when it does happen, you'll either see your cable cost go down or bye, bye TW. TW cable HD is so inferior to Fios and Sat now that if they don't stop the overcompression and multi-piggybacking, their doomed. Over the air is still the best PQ now with the right antenna and signal strength but very limited on channels received.

optivity

12-11-08, 09:30 AM

When pigs fly? (As Mel on Alice would say).

I wish it were sooner, but it's going to be at LEAST 2 years, IMO.

If ever.

Verizon only seems interested in Long Island and NYCAs I paid my $125 TW cable TV (only) bill this morning, I wondered if anyone in the Capital Region, also known as smAlbany, NY; can provide a more 'concrete' ETA for the availability of FiOS TV service?

old chebbys

12-14-08, 07:38 AM

BRRR....cold, ice covered and on generator power since Thursday night. An ice covered wonderland with incredible destructive damage here in the Berkshire County hills (1800ft.). Commercial power "maybe" by next Friday...
I re auto-tuned my Directv HR20 for my off air and found 3 new channels with no video...channel 34, 22-21, and 39-21...any ideas?? The channel banner reads "Regular Programming". I think from the Albany area, good signal level, but no video. My auto-tune gives me 6-10-13-17-19-23-and 45 with associated subchannels from Albany area.
Thanks, Steve

Davird_Jr

12-14-08, 01:29 PM

m_jonis

12-16-08, 10:15 PM

Not the case, Time Warner is still trying to make this a difficult task for Verizon but when it does happen, you'll either see your cable cost go down or bye, bye TW. TW cable HD is so inferior to Fios and Sat now that if they don't stop the overcompression and multi-piggybacking, their doomed. Over the air is still the best PQ now with the right antenna and signal strength but very limited on channels received.

TW has nothing to do with Verizon pushing FIOS TV out here in Albany. Verizon has not even bothered to petition the local towns for the franchise. They have publicly stated (Verizon has) that until there is a state franchise law passed they won't bother going through town by town anymore (NYC was a huge win for them because it covered such a large area).

Plus TW and their stupid "let's set the CCI byte so you can never transfer anything" vs. Verizon that only sets it when the content provider explicitly says so is another reason TW should be put out of our misery.

old chebbys

12-17-08, 06:12 AM

optivity

12-17-08, 12:15 PM

TW has nothing to do with Verizon pushing FIOS TV out here in Albany. Verizon has not even bothered to petition the local towns for the franchise. They have publicly stated (Verizon has) that until there is a state franchise law passed they won't bother going through town by town anymore (NYC was a huge win for them because it covered such a large area).

Plus TW and their stupid "let's set the CCI byte so you can never transfer anything" vs. Verizon that only sets it when the content provider explicitly says so is another reason TW should be put out of our misery.I am surprised to find out that Verizon has not been more aggressive with bringing FiOS TV to upstate NY. I already have Verizon Wireless a PC air-card and FiOS Internet/Phone service.

W/O TV service, Verizon is choosing to underutilize its infrastructure investment in smAlbany NY.

ebo

12-17-08, 12:27 PM

Still no video on 34 + 39, still signal level of high 70's...any idea? I have a 3612 VHF(I think) and a 4 bay UHF up about 20 ft. with a programmable rotor,
a split input amp feeds about 100ft. of rg58, all Channel Master stuff. All my other Albany channels are flawless.
SteveThat amp can help a lot to overcome the losses of 100' of RG-58, but you should consider replacing the cable with RG-6 when you can (probably not right now). Any coax's loss is greater at higher frequencies such as ch. 34 (WMHT), 39 (WRGB, until February) and 43 (WCWN), but less so with RG-6 than with RG-58. I'm surprised you can get WCWN but not the other two. FYI, all are operating. Depending on how your receiver reports signal "level," the amp may be giving you a falsely high reading. Does it give a high reading on a channel you know to be inactive?

Davird_Jr

12-17-08, 12:44 PM

Thanks Dave, it's been pretty wild here for the past week, our power is on this morning, but will run my generator out of fuel and change the oil later today. Most of the Town is still without power and will be until the weekend. Firewood burners have been cleaning up a lot of the downed trees but some of the huge hangers on the wires will have to wait.
Still no video on 34 + 39, still signal level of high 70's...any idea? I have a 3612 VHF(I think) and a 4 bay UHF up about 20 ft. with a programmable rotor,
a split input amp feeds about 100ft. of rg58, all Channel Master stuff. All my other Albany channels are flawless.
Steve

Glad to hear you got your power back. The video dropout is a mystery. Are you getting audio but no video? Have you tried rescanning the channels? Might be worth a shot. I would second the cable replacement also. Quad shield RG6 can be had by the spool at Home Depot for reasonably reasonable (at least when I bought mine).

Davird_Jr

12-17-08, 01:02 PM

We upgraded to HD with DISH Network on Monday. We replaced an old DVR with a VIP-722 and it is wonderful. We are using the second TV output to feed our kitchen TV which is a nice add on. The installer took down my Superdish that was hitting 110, 119 & 121 and replaced it with a DISH 500 antenna that I had collecting dust in the basement to hit 110 & 119. He said Albany SD locals had been moved to 110 quite a while ago and DISH no longer uses the Superdish because they are too expensive. They also installed a second DISH 500 antenna, which was included in the upgrade to hit 61.5 to get HD. The installers were in and out in 2.5 hours including programming both remotes. I was quite pleased.

My question is...we got about three inches of snow and then freezing rain this morning. 61.5 kept losing signal. I checked the dish and there was no snow on it. We did not lose 110 or 119. I thought 61.5 was supposed to be less susceptible to snow/rain fade because it has a higher look angle. Does this seem right?:confused:

homerofwar

12-18-08, 10:47 AM

"Finally, we are currently involved in discussions regarding the services and/or stations listed below. While we cannot guarantee that we will reach agreement with the relevant programmers and/or broadcasters, we are listing these services/stations here in the event that we are able to start carrying them in the future:

Bravo HD
CBS CollegeSports HD
Fox News HD
Fuse HD
MSG Plus HD
MSNBC HD
NBA TV HD
USA HD
Encore HD
MLB Network"

http://www.timewarnercable.com/MediaLibrary/4/5/Content%20Management/Programming/documents/notice_nys_122208.pdf

Interesting, would be some nice additions still missing some channels I really want, why does time warner never want to negotiate with Viacom?

jonnythan

12-18-08, 11:05 AM

Interesting, would be some nice additions still missing some channels I really want, why does time warner never want to negotiate with Viacom?

Maybe it's the other way around ;)

optivity

12-18-08, 11:50 AM

Interesting, would be some nice additions still missing some channels I really want, why does time warner never want to negotiate with Viacom?Why can't we get the SciFi channel in HD?

Thankfully we now have QVCHD. :rolleyes:

Well, at least my wife is happy.

old chebbys

12-18-08, 09:24 PM

That amp can help a lot to overcome the losses of 100' of RG-58, but you should consider replacing the cable with RG-6 when you can (probably not right now). Any coax's loss is greater at higher frequencies such as ch. 34 (WMHT), 39 (WRGB, until February) and 43 (WCWN), but less so with RG-6 than with RG-58. I'm surprised you can get WCWN but not the other two. FYI, all are operating. Depending on how your receiver reports signal "level," the amp may be giving you a falsely high reading. Does it give a high reading on a channel you know to be inactive?
Thanks for the replies, I looked at the cable and it is RG6, with signal in the high 70's and with WMHT at the high 50's with absoloutely no breakup or problems, seems to be a receiver problem on those channels. I re-scanned again with the same result, no audio, no video, just the "regular programming" banner...this baffles me.
Steve

Tower Guy

12-18-08, 11:15 PM

Still no video on 34 + 39, still signal level of high 70's...any idea?
Perhaps interference or overload from Mt. Greylock. WCDC's digital is channel 36, WNYT's analog translator is 38.

eiffeltower

12-19-08, 10:44 AM

old chebbys

12-20-08, 09:01 AM

Tower Guy, I bet thats it, I can see Greylock easily to my Northwest. I'm going to bypass the amp on my tower and see if the signal level changes on 34 and 39. Ebo had mentioned a false reading and I bet you both hit it on the head. I'll use our shop digital spectrum analzer and see whats off the air with no amp and see if the problem can be corrected with a bandpass filter.
Steve

AlbanyHDTV

12-20-08, 09:01 AM

I've wandered around this messageboard for a while now and seen vaguaries about WNYT and WXXA not yet broadcasting in DTV, but they seem like old posts.

So what's the problem: Is it my equipment or the TV stations?

Thanks in advance!

I get all the local DTV stations (including WNYT and WXXA) with a combined UHF/VHF antenna in Guilderland. No problem. However, I do have line-of-sight to the tower in the Helderbergs. My antenna is mounted indoors, up in my attic.

eiffeltower

12-20-08, 09:22 AM

I get all the local DTV stations (including WNYT and WXXA) with a combined UHF/VHF antenna in Guilderland. No problem. However, I do have line-of-sight to the tower in the Helderbergs. My antenna is mounted indoors, up in my attic.

OK, so it's my equipment/setup. We're on the second of two floors in an old building, but we're down the hill from the Armory so I suspect we can't get line of sight. The antenna is as high as possible in the room but there is no attic and we can not mount a rooftop antenna. We've always received a very ghosted analogue signal, are we just out of luck or is there something we can do?

AlbanyHDTV

12-20-08, 09:32 AM

We've always received a very ghosted analogue signal, are we just out of luck or is there something we can do?
I'm no antenna expert. I'm sure Tower Guy and/or ebo will chime in with some possible alternatives.

ebo

12-20-08, 11:48 AM

OK, so it's my equipment/setup. We're on the second of two floors in an old building, but we're down the hill from the Armory so I suspect we can't get line of sight. The antenna is as high as possible in the room but there is no attic and we can not mount a rooftop antenna. We've always received a very ghosted analogue signal, are we just out of luck or is there something we can do?You could try rabbit ears. Seriously. And not the amplified kind, either. I'm no fan of amplified set-top antennas; for areas where a set-top antenna is suitable an amplifier usually does more harm than good. It can only improve things if the noise figure of the amp is less than that of the first stage of the tuner, and the tuner in the Zenith you have is the best I've seen. It pulls in the Amsterdam Ion station, which none of my other digital tuners can do.

Winegard makes some excellent low-noise amplifiers for outdoor antennas, so it's possible they put a good one in your SS-3000. But the antenna itself looks like short, unadjustable rabbit ears in a box, with a reflector to provide a little more directionality. My guess is that you'd get better VHF reception with regular rabbit ears, maybe from a dollar store or scavenged from an old TV.

The Zenith (or Philips) Silver Sensor is a good directional set-top antenna. It's intended for UHF only, but I've found it works well enough on high VHF channels 7 and 12 (WXXA and WNYT) at about 10 miles. Borrow one to try if you can, but I don't recommend buying one to see if it will do something it wasn't designed for. Avoid the similar-looking Terk; I've read that it doesn't perform nearly as well.

I use a 4-bay bowtie in my attic. It too is designed for UHF but works for the current VHF digitals as well. It's about 3' high and 20" wide but only 6" front to back including the mast mount, so doesn't take up much room. It could go in a window or against a wall or even in a closet. An 8-bay would be twice as wide and have even better gain on high VHF. A broom handle in a Christmas tree stand makes a handy mast.

House construction can play havoc with reception. Aluminum siding, stucco and foil-faced insulation can knock the signals down, as can some window glass.

Whatever antenna you try, hook it directly to your analog TV and adjust it for best reception of channel 10 analog, which comes from about the same location as the digitals (except Ion). Don't bother with 13 analog, which is in another direction. Put it on a long coax and try it everywhere you might be able to mount it permanently. Adjust for minimum snow and ghosts, although it's OK to have some of each. You might also check your reception of 6 analog, because that's where 6 digital will be after February. Once you've found the best spot, connect the coax to the DTT900 and try to add channels 7 and 12.

If you find rabbit ears work well for VHF but not UHF (very likely) you could connect them and your Winegard antenna through a UHF/VHF coupler to the digital converter.

gfbaseball22

12-20-08, 11:51 AM

Hey everyone,

I was just wondering if there is any free software out there that can measure the bitrate of OTA HD signals that I am receiving through my computer TV tuner. I have seen some numbers on the site but want to test for myself. Thanks again.

Trip in VA

12-20-08, 12:13 PM

bartonjm

12-20-08, 09:56 PM

Good to have you here Will.
I live out sacandaga rd.
Cheers.

Hello fellow Glenville people...I'm new and live off of Swaggertown :)

ProTuber

12-21-08, 11:40 PM

The Zenith (or Philips) Silver Sensor is a good directional set-top antenna. It's intended for UHF only, but I've found it works well enough on high VHF channels 7 and 12 (WXXA and WNYT) at about 10 miles. Borrow one to try if you can, but I don't recommend buying one to see if it will do something it wasn't designed for. Avoid the similar-looking Terk; I've read that it doesn't perform nearly as well.There is also a variant of the Silver Sensor, the PHDTV3 which includes rods for VHF reception.

ProTuber

12-21-08, 11:54 PM

The Hound

12-22-08, 02:00 AM

eiffel, these guys are all steering you in the right direction.
I would agree with Ebo, a good 4 or 8 bay bowtie would probably work mounted in a window facing the signal.
But when WRGB(6) goes back too broadcasting on channel 6 it would be useless.
As was also said construction material can kill a signal, try putting the antenna in a window facing the transmitters.
You say you can't have an outdoor antenna but, legaly you can, landlord can't stop you.
If you have roof access put the antenna up in the middle of the roof.
It can't be seen from the ground.
I know where you are and that is quite the canyon your in, outdoor may be your only answer.

bartonjm
Glad to have more Glennville folks here!
Post up anything you need.

gfbaseball22

12-22-08, 03:15 PM

Unfortunately, It doesn't seem that TSReader Lite works with my tuner (AverMedia Volar MAX USB) Are there any other programs that do the same thing? I haven't been able to find any on Google.

Tower Guy

12-22-08, 10:27 PM

I'm sure Tower Guy and/or ebo will chime in with some possible alternatives.

I believe in full-size outdoor antennas.

ebo

12-22-08, 10:34 PM

Unfortunately, It doesn't seem that TSReader Lite works with my tuner (AverMedia Volar MAX USB) Are there any other programs that do the same thing? I haven't been able to find any on Google.It's possible your tuner is BDA compliant. If so, TSReader's "ATSC BDA Source" driver should work. To get to the source selection page, hold down the CTRL key while starting TSReader Lite.

As a last resort you can save a sample in MPEG-2 transport stream format (best to save the entire stream rather than a single subchannel if possible) and read the file using TSReader's "Transport Stream File" driver.

Hunter56

12-27-08, 11:50 PM

AlbanyHDTV

12-28-08, 09:50 AM

Hunter56

12-28-08, 12:03 PM

Still no Fox 23. I don't see any amplifier attached to your 3016. Is there one? What type cable are you using? What type metal is the rod you used for attaching the antenna? - thx

Hunter56

12-28-08, 01:35 PM

I went throught the house checking connections. I have a splitter in the basement to service one TV in the basement and one on the first floor. I disconnected - re-connected the cables at the splitter and moved a battery charger servicing a battery powered vacum away from the cable. Fox 23 is back!

I don't understand why all the other stations were coming in OK. Antenna WEB had me point the antenna in the same direction for them and the WXXA. It also advised that the same minimal level of receiption was needed for all the stations.

Hunter56

12-28-08, 01:40 PM

ebo

12-28-08, 02:02 PM

I'm in Glenville. I have a wingaurd 3000 sitting in an upstairs window. It is pointed at the south - south east sky per antenna web's instruction. I receive 6.1 10.1 13.1 17.1 45.1 and even 55.1. Until this past week I had been receiving 23.1 . Now no signal. Is anyone aware of a problem with WXXA's OTA broadcasting? I call their station, but never get past an answering machine.:(I get them reliably with a 4-bay bowtie in the attic. It's a UHF antenna, but at about 10 miles it's good enough on high VHF. No amp, and it's split to 5 tuners. I might need one when I add 2 more soon (HDHomeRun on order). WXXA's level is a bit below the others from the same hill. You're about 20 miles from them using an antenna that, while it claims decent high (and even low) VHF performance, looks like short, unadjustable rabbit ears in a box with a reflector behind it. Try regular rabbit ears, extended, without an amp. Or get a better antenna or mount it higher if you can. Preferably outside.

Look at the charts at http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html, especially the last one, "Using a UHF antenna for VHF." See how your Sharp Shooter compares with rabbit ears.

Assuming you're in Glenville and not on a nearby hill, Google Earth shows that you have a hill to the south blocking line-of-sight, although that would affect UHF more than VHF. You might be able to get a bounce off the more gradual rise to the north. Unlikely but easy to try.

How's your reception of channel 6 analog? If it's poor now you may not be able to get them in digital when they move it to channel 6 in February.

AlbanyHDTV

12-28-08, 02:25 PM

I don't see any amplifier attached to your 3016. Is there one?
Nope. Don't need one.

What type cable are you using?
Quad shield RG-6

What type metal is the rod you used for attaching the antenna? - thx
A piece of scrap aluminum rod.

I'm watching the Giants vs. Vikings game on WXXA right now at 94% OTA signal strength.

The Hound

12-29-08, 12:50 AM

When will the transparent station logos be moved to the corner of the screen?
You know what I mean, the logo is in the 4:3 position even though it's a 16:9 picture.
It drives me nuts, especially on the big screen, damn things gotta be 8 inches tall.

bartonjm

12-29-08, 01:33 AM

Hello guys,

I'm new to the whole HD thing in the sense that we are just buying our first high end hdtv. I currently don't have HD service yet, so I am trying to figure out my options in the capital district area. I have friends with Time warner, but they seem to have a decent amount of issues with their HD channels. What are your opinions on the available HD providers in our area? THanks James

ebo

12-29-08, 02:29 PM

bartonjm:

The local choices are over-the-air (OTA), Time Warner Cable (TWC), DirecTV or Dish Network. Some people still use a steerable dish for satellite (Big Ugly Dish, or BUD) but they're a dying breed, hardware cost is high and you kind of have to know what you're doing or have access to someone who does.

The first thing to consider is whether you would be satisfied with the local broadcasts. If so, you can get all of the major networks in HD from one location, so you don't need a bunch of antennas pointing in different directions and you can avoid a monthly bill. Research the possibilities at www.antennaweb.org and www.tvfool.com. If you can get a reliable signal OTA, the picture will be the best you can get from those stations. Cable and satellite cannot be better and might be worse (more compressed).

You can also get the locals in HD from TWC with any level of subscription including Basic for about $13/mo. if your TV tuner can handle clear (unencrypted) QAM as most can. If the TV also has a CableCARD slot you can rent the card from TWC and get some more channels but not all of them, even if you subscribe to them. For that you need to rent a box from TWC that does all the tuning. I have Basic cable as a backup to my OTA reception. TWC does compress most of the locals slightly more than they do themselves for broadcast, but visually I can't tell the difference.

Although Verizon FIOS is available in some places locally, their TV service isn't yet and probably won't be soon. Those who have it elsewhere report that the video quality is top-notch.

The first message in this thread lists the digital channels you can get OTA and from TWC. Google DirecTV and Dish to find out what deals they offer. I haven't had DirecTV for years and never had their HD service or anything from Dish so I can't comment on their quality.

asterion

12-31-08, 04:05 PM

Hi. I just moved to the area from the El Paso, TX/Las Cruces, NM market (lived in Las Cruces) and am trying to figure out my best options. I've pretty much decided I'm going to go Verizon for Internet/phone, as I've heard bad things about Time Warner and bandwidth caps/overselling capacity. My lease agreement prohibits the installation of a satellite dish (I think they might lose that argument legally, but I don't know if I can get the signal into the house without drilling a hole or something they can prohibit) so I'm stuck with Time Warner for cable. My question is roughly how much it will cost me and Time Warner's website isn't making it easy.

I was going to get digital cable with the HD package ($64 a month) and was thinking about getting standard cable for two other TVs. The setup if using three connections would be the HDTV in the living room using a standard cable connection (the TV has a QAM tuner, so I can stop messing around with my Terk HDTVa antenna as it's too directional for the area), an old CRT in the bedroom, again using standard cable, and the digital cable hookup in the office where I was planning on setting up a homebrew DVR using Mythbuntu. The HDTV, at least, will hook into the DVR wirelessly using a client computer, but that's a discussion for a different subforum.

So with this setup, how many boxes do I need if I'm only interested in getting one digital box (I don't believe my Insignia LCD-32 is CableCard capable) but trying to hook up three tuners total? Is there a per-TV charge or the like? I am going to actually try to find a competent salesperson somewhere in the area or at least some more detailed literature, as I don't want a nasty surprise on cost. Any knowledge, advice, or ideas are most welcome. Thanks in advance.

Tower Guy

12-31-08, 04:42 PM

Hi. I just moved to the area from the El Paso, TX/Las Cruces, NM market (lived in Las Cruces) and am trying to figure out my best options.

I am going to actually try to find a competent salesperson somewhere in the area or at least some more detailed literature, as I don't want a nasty surprise on cost. Any knowledge, advice, or ideas are most welcome. Thanks in advance.

Time Warner doesn't make it easy. Their best deals are not advertised. Yet the customer service reps are easy to get ahold of and can answer all your questions. Don't be embarrassed to call several times.

I have one TW HD DVR connected to one HD set, another HD set with a QAM tuner and a third set connected analog only. This plus Internet and phone on the "All the Best" package with a 2 year contract was cheaper than I thought.

SimpleTheater

01-03-09, 08:16 AM

Anyone out there, can you tell me if you're getting 45.1 (OTA) this Saturday morning. I'm getting nothing and the kids are anxious because Spiderman starts in 45 minutes.

ebo

01-03-09, 01:31 PM

SimpleTheater:
Too late for your kids, but no problem with 45.1 at 1:30 PM.

wkomorow

01-03-09, 08:47 PM

Is WNYA broadcasting digitally? I can only get 15 and 51 analog, but tvfool shows it as a digital station.

ebo

01-03-09, 11:15 PM

Is WNYA broadcasting digitally? I can only get 15 and 51 analog, but tvfool shows it as a digital station.No, they can't broadcast digitally until the analog shutdown because they will be using channel 13, which of course is currently in use by WNYT analog. They are in digital on Time Warner cable and, although most of their programs are SD upconverts, they look very good. They carried Yankees baseball in HD last season.

Their notices of the analog shutdown urge people buying converter boxes to get ones with analog pass-through, because they expect to still be analog for a while afterward. As a low-power station and a translator, they can do that. Does anyone have information on how soon they expect to to start digital broadcasting?

wkomorow

01-04-09, 06:25 PM

What happened to RTN? I know that equity filed chapter 11 and the network was teansfered to Luken, but is the dispute between Youngs and Luken or did Luken drop the ball

wkomorow

01-04-09, 07:04 PM

No, they can't broadcast digitally until the analog shutdown because they will be using channel 13, which of course is currently in use by WNYT analog. They are in digital on Time Warner cable and, although most of their programs are SD upconverts, they look very good. They carried Yankees baseball in HD last season.

Their notices of the analog shutdown urge people buying converter boxes to get ones with analog pass-through, because they expect to still be analog for a while afterward. As a low-power station and a translator, they can do that. Does anyone have information on how soon they expect to to start digital broadcasting?

Thanks, but does that apply to the Pittsfield station or just the Albany relay?

Trip in VA

01-04-09, 07:13 PM

Thanks, but does that apply to the Pittsfield station or just the Albany relay?

Channel 51 goes away and becomes DT-13 on 02/17/09. Channel 15 remains analog.

As for RTN, my understanding (through the grapevine) is that Luken was supposed to move the RTN operation from Little Rock to Chattanooga by today. Apparently, that didn't happen on schedule. From what I'm told the RTN feeds have moved to a different satellite (which is why you're seeing the same red screen I'm seeing) and are coming up slowly. Detroit and Austin came up this afternoon, Phoenix and Des Moines are up again, but Washington DC, Albany, Roanoke among others are still out.

- Trip

wkomorow

01-04-09, 08:31 PM

Channel 51 goes away and becomes DT-13 on 02/17/09. Channel 15 remains analog.

As for RTN, my understanding (through the grapevine) is that Luken was supposed to move the RTN operation from Little Rock to Chattanooga by today. Apparently, that didn't happen on schedule. From what I'm told the RTN feeds have moved to a different satellite (which is why you're seeing the same red screen I'm seeing) and are coming up slowly. Detroit and Austin came up this afternoon, Phoenix and Des Moines are up again, but Washington DC, Albany, Roanoke among others are still out.

- Trip

Thanks and the RTN info makes the most sense of any that I heard - I had written channel 10 about RTN, but have not received a reply.

The Hound

01-05-09, 12:41 AM

Anyone out there, can you tell me if you're getting 45.1 (OTA) this Saturday morning. I'm getting nothing and the kids are anxious because Spiderman starts in 45 minutes.

I've had a real weak signal from 45 for the past week, only watchable at night.
Normally comes in at 80% or better.
This same thing happened when they switched ThisTV and WCSN.
I figured they were making changes again and it would be back soon.

bwb518

01-05-09, 11:58 AM

I live in Troy and I often have issues with the VHF channels 7 & 12... I am pretty much LOS and using a set-top antenna. I know there are many solutions to improve reception but I was wondering if those two were at full power yet?

I didn't see anything on the FCC site about power other than licensed powers.

Soooo... are 7 & 12 not at full power OR am I suffering from the big ole' suck of VHF digital?

ebo

01-05-09, 03:16 PM

bwb518:
Your set-top antenna is probably too small for good VHF reception. Most are, because people want them to be as small and unobtrusive as possible and digital broadcasters tend to favor UHF. That's not the case here, however, where we now have two on VHF and will have four, including one on low VHF. If you're having trouble with WXXA on 7 and WNYT on 12 you'll probably have even more trouble when WRGB moves to 6.

If you have an old pair of rabbit ears, try them instead of your current antenna to see if you can get WXXA and WNYT reliably. Also check the reception of analog channel 6 because it'll be digital after the switch. You'll probably need a balun (a 300 ohm balanced to 75 ohm unbalanced transformer) to connect the rabbit ears to the TV. If that works well for VHF then you can use a VHF/UHF coupler to connect the rabbit ears and your other antenna together to go to the TV.

lufters

01-06-09, 01:38 PM

KML-224

01-06-09, 01:48 PM

I haven't been up to Albany since 2004 (I'm near Hartford), so I'll ask a couple of questions:

1- What channel will channel 51 of Pittsfield, MA be using for digital? Will their digital still transmit from Mount Greylock in Berkshire County, MA?

2- Isn't another Albany/Schenectady station going to be using channel 51 for their digital assignment?

Trip in VA

01-06-09, 05:24 PM

I haven't been up to Albany since 2004 (I'm near Hartford), so I'll ask a couple of questions:

1- What channel will channel 51 of Pittsfield, MA be using for digital? Will their digital still transmit from Mount Greylock in Berkshire County, MA?

Channel 13.

It can't "still" transmit from Mount Greylock because it never transmitted from there in the first place. The channel 13 digital will be co-located with all the other Albany area broadcasters.

2- Isn't another Albany/Schenectady station going to be using channel 51 for their digital assignment?

No. WYPX-DT is on 50 though.

- Trip

old chebbys

01-06-09, 05:59 PM

Channel 51 (a re-broadcast of NBC ch13 Albany) was broadcast from the same direction as channel 19 (a re-broadcast of ABC channel 10, Greylock) as well as a local transmitter in Pittsfield area on channel 7, I also thought 51 was from Greylock.

Trip in VA

01-06-09, 06:19 PM

WNYA-TV (My Network TV) airs on channel 51 now, and does not transmit from Mount Greylock. It's short-spaced to WZMY in Derry and thus couldn't transmit from there.

That translator moved to channel 38.

- Trip

KML-224

01-06-09, 06:21 PM

From what I understood, channel 51 was, at one time, the UPN affiliate for the market. I know that WCDC-TV/DT transmits from that area as a satellite of WTEN-TV/DT (ABC). Also, if I'm not mistaken, didn't they go digital before WTEN did? It seems unusual that a satellite would make the jump before their parent would.

Trip in VA

01-06-09, 06:52 PM

Yep, looks like WCDC-DT signed on in 2002, while WTEN-DT signed on in 2004. I imagine it had something to do with the lower power bill WCDC-DT has.

By the way, VTV has been shut off and replaced with new programming on 23-2.

- Trip

Feirstein

01-06-09, 09:04 PM

My mother-in-law lives east of Cooperstown and gets in about 5 to 6 analog stations on an amplified rotated fringe vhf/uhf antenna. This weekend I installed a digital converter and she can get one digital station and its second program station, but just barely.

She is almost blind and enjoys the programs in analog form dispite the excessive snow and ghosting. She cannot enjoy the digital broadcasts because they cut in and out, picture and sound.

So much for the FCC stating that the digital stations will duplicate coverage of the analog services.

old chebbys

01-06-09, 09:08 PM

Was ch51 (NBC 13 Albany) broadcast from Derry a few years ago?? How about ch7, also NBC 13 Albany, where was that broadcast from?

Trip in VA

01-06-09, 09:17 PM

Was ch51 (NBC 13 Albany) broadcast from Derry a few years ago?? How about ch7, also NBC 13 Albany, where was that broadcast from?

No... I think you're misunderstanding me.

The channel 51 translator you're talking about got bumped to channel 38 when WNYA signed on. It transmits from Mount Greylock.

WNYA-51 analog is not allowed to transmit from Mount Greylock because it would be too close to WZMY-50 in Derry NH.

I can't find a record of a channel 7 translator, though I might have missed it.

- Trip

old chebbys

01-06-09, 09:26 PM

OK, thanks for the info..I'm just an old analog guy barely surviving in a digital world...

KML-224

01-06-09, 10:35 PM

I used to have a Sony Walkman with the VHF TV band audio included. Back in 2004, while stopped at the bus terminal in Pittsfield, MA, I tuned around the TV audio. The only station that came in was the audio of the translator on channel 7, which was relaying channel 13 from Albany. I barely got to the city line with Hancock, MA on US Route 20 and <POOF!> the station was gone.

The Hound

01-07-09, 12:31 AM

I've had a real weak signal from 45 for the past week, only watchable at night.
Normally comes in at 80% or better.
This same thing happened when they switched ThisTV and WCSN.
I figured they were making changes again and it would be back soon.
45 was back to 80% this morning a little over a week just like before.
l

bwb518

01-07-09, 05:52 PM

It looks like the new network is Untamed Sports TV - it is transmitted out of West Palm Beach FL.

The video quality is terrible and the programing is somewhere between LPTV and public access.

On a separate note - has anyone been able to receive WNGN/WNGX on 38/42 in the last year? I suspect they aren't on the air and haven't bothered to notify the FCC. Allegedly they'll have a flash cut in February and take both digital but given the history of the shady owners that might have been mere press.

MyTv will stay on 15, right?

Ken NY

01-07-09, 10:30 PM

I don't know why everyone is "griping" about their TV reception?? the government says it is be better than the analog coverage was:
http://www.fcc.gov/dtv/markets/maps_report1/Albany-Schenectady-Troy_NY.pdf
I don't know why the government considers the "dropouts" better than the ghosts that used to be there when the planes flew over?????????????????

bwb518

01-08-09, 10:59 AM

Digital is great when it comes in...

With the rabbit ears I have on my TV, in Troy, on the hill - in LOS of the master tower I should have *zero* problems with reception but alas I have major issues with the VHF; according to the maps you linked to I should have excellent reception on UHF D-50. Ha! I've never had any luck at all with that!

It's disappointing that there isn't enough juice to penetrate buildings and deliver a stable signal within the immediate market! I feel sorry for anyone in someplace like Hoosick Falls that is just outside of the Metro!

The maps did clear up some confusion though - 13 Digital will be MyTV and they're transmitting from Albany which will be nice to have another signal to view!
Will they just drop the LPTV 15 after they transition to 13? Afterall it's redundant.

Does anyone know if the TBN Digital translator is on the air yet? It'd be a shame if I could receive that signal and NOT 7/12!

Duds72

01-08-09, 11:51 AM

Hoping someone can answer this for me. Last night I decided to watch some tv on my 2 day old Pioneer 5020, giving it a break from the break in images.

I watched some hockey in hi def and some college basketball in hi def. I was seeing what appeared to be camera flashes on the screen during the games, but i'm not exactly sure if thats what it was from. the flashes occured both while the games were being played and also during any breaks in the action. I did not see these flashes on any channels that were not shoiwng sporting events. Are camera flashes more prevalent in hi-def? I have the Scientific Atlantic 8300HD box, connected with an HDMI cable.

Please please dont tell me that I am seeing something that 99.9% of people do not see on plasmas!!!

One note - when i switched the settings to D-Nice's movie mode settings, I forgot to set film mode to advance. would this have caused the issue i was seeing?

Ken NY

01-08-09, 01:36 PM

Digital is great when it comes in...
in LOS of the master tower I should have *zero* problems with reception but alas I have major issues with the VHF; according to the maps you linked to I should have excellent reception on UHF D-50. Ha! I've never had any luck at all with that!
It's disappointing that there isn't enough juice to penetrate buildings and deliver a stable signal within the immediate market! I feel sorry for anyone in someplace like Hoosick Falls...
how old is your DTV? the problem is not the signal strength - it is the "multipath" signal (confuses the TV) - the newer TVs handle it better than the old ones - one cheap solution is a decent convertor box like the zenith - the technology in the convertor box is far better than a 2 year old TV - you will not be watching HD with the convertor box on, but it won't drop out as much as an older DTV (a new design digital tuner will work as good as a new convertor box and give real HDTV but costs way more) - i should have waited, with the convertor boxes i could have kept my old TVs and saved thousands...
i think we are going backwards though in this age of "faster" things - in the old days you had to wait a minute for the TV to come on, in the 70s they came out with instant on sound (transistorized sound but the picture tube still took time to heat up), the 80s they put a voltage on the picture tube to keep the heater warm and then the sound and picture were instant - now we have to wait a minute for it to come on again (a giant step backwards!).

Tower Guy

01-08-09, 08:10 PM

My mother-in-law lives east of Cooperstown and gets in about 5 to 6 analog stations on an amplified rotated fringe vhf/uhf antenna. This weekend I installed a digital converter and she can get one digital station and its second program station, but just barely.

Try entering your mother in law's address into www.tvfool.com. After looking at the data, click on "post transition". You should see that WRGB's signal on channel 6 will be much stronger.

If you'd like to post the data back here I'd be willing to offer advice.

kq2n

01-09-09, 11:57 AM

With the possibility of the new administration delaying the analog to digital transition date out to June 1st (this must be the real change talked about in the campaign...), I have a question. Would moving the transition date to June 1st be mandatory, or is it meant for stations who choose to delay the date they have to shut off their analog signals, they can do so now up to June 1st?

Maybe this is an attempt to legislate out ignorance of those who are clueless about the transition, but I feel it will only delay the inevitable. Personally, I'm chomping on the bit for WRGB Schenectady to revert back to Ch. 6 with their digital signal as they are about the only "local" with local news in HD. Their ch. 39 digital doesn't do that well coverage wise up the valley to where I'm located (Utica), but since their analog on ch. 6 does fine for me, so I'm hoping their digital should be ok too.

bwb518

01-09-09, 09:01 PM

ebo

01-10-09, 02:08 PM

Careful what you wish for - Liz Bishop in HD is a very, very severe fright. You'll wake up in a sweat after seeing that! :)

Keep in mind that VHF digital is very ineffective. If they transmit on 6 with the same power as they currently are using at 39 then it will be gravely disappointing.Wrong on both counts. Sure, Liz isn't in her 20s anymore and doesn't look like she is, but as someone from roughly her generation I'd say she has aged very well and better than most. If you think only youngsters should deliver the news, then maybe you should switch to WNYT, where they seem to be getting rid of their seasoned employees both on and off camera. Oh, and if LB's freckles bother you, she's always had them.

One reason some broadcasters are attracted to VHF is that they can get away with much lower power than on UHF for similar coverage. On either band, power for digital can be lower than for analog. According to Falcon_77's spreadsheet (see http://www.rabbitears.info/ss/), WRGB is running 93.3 KW analog on channel 6 and hopes to run 4.64 KW digital on the same channel for essentially the same coverage. If you examine the chart you'll see that digital channels tend to use less power than analog channels in the same band and VHF power is much less than UHF.

Low VHF channels 2-6 are more susceptible to interference such as ignition noise and require larger antennas than UHF or even high VHF in fringe areas, so most broadcasters are avoiding them, but there will be a few post-transition. I wish WRGB would stay where it is on channel 39, but that's just because I might have to add a pair of rabbit ears to the UHF antenna in my attic.

Trip in VA

01-10-09, 02:36 PM

Low VHF channels 2-6 are more susceptible to interference such as ignition noise and require larger antennas than UHF or even high VHF in fringe areas, so most broadcasters are avoiding them, but there will be a few post-transition. I wish WRGB would stay where it is on channel 39, but that's just because I might have to add a pair of rabbit ears to the UHF antenna in my attic.

I've been keeping a list of things that interfere with my local low-VHF digital down here. Let's have a look:

E-Skip
Tropo
Lightning
Vacuum
Food processor
Closing microwave door
Turning off flourescent lights
Shredder
Blow dryer
Turning on space heater
Turning on/off ceiling fan

I really hope WRGB-DT works a lot better for you all in Albany than WBRA-DT has worked for me down here.

- Trip

Tower Guy

01-10-09, 05:30 PM

mikepier

01-10-09, 07:55 PM

Wrong on both counts. Sure, Liz isn't in her 20s anymore and doesn't look like she is, but as someone from roughly her generation I'd say she has aged very well and better than most. If you think only youngsters should deliver the news, then maybe you should switch to WNYT, where they seem to be getting rid of their seasoned employees both on and off camera. Oh, and if LB's freckles bother you, she's always had them.

I remember a newscast I was watching, had to be at least 15-20 years ago on WRGB. They were doing a feature story, then out of nowhere
the studio goes to the camera at the newsdesk that Liz was sitting at, and she was doing her makeup.
When the feature story was over, Liz could not go on with her newscast. Probably she thought someone did it intentionally.

Davird_Jr

01-10-09, 11:30 PM

Where did you learn about VHF? In Hilly areas VHF works far better than UHF and uses less power at the same time.

At my location VHF is more stable than UHF. UHF seems much more affected by weather and wind than VHF. I will have 8 out of 10 signal strength and it can intermittently drop to 0 or 1 and then right back to 8. Aggravating. I am curious to see how 6 digital will perform here. I get 6 analog very clear right now.

Johanne

01-11-09, 01:20 PM

Anyone with DirectTV experiencing intermittent audio distortion on FOX's NFL broadcast? It's not new, but it's the playoffs!

justman

01-11-09, 01:49 PM

Anyone with DirectTV experiencing intermittent audio distortion on FOX's NFL broadcast? It's not new, but it's the playoffs!
I am also having audio distortion on 23 thru Direct TV. It is very puzzling as we have noticed it on and off for the last year or more. It is very bad today. I have also noticed the following:

- 23 seems to be the only channel on direct TV that has this issue. We watch 6, 10, 13 17, etc and never hear this distortion except on 23.

- when we watch 23 via OTA antenna, there is no audio problem. so it appears to only be 23 thru direct tv.

Trip in VA

01-11-09, 02:20 PM

I suggest calling WXXA about it. I've read of other Fox stations fighting breakup/audio issues on DirecTV.

- Trip

bmw528is

01-11-09, 02:45 PM

Anyone with DirectTV experiencing intermittent audio distortion on FOX's NFL broadcast? It's not new, but it's the playoffs!
Us. too have experienced this problem for over 1year now. Also, it appears to be only on Fox 23 and as others have reported not an issue OTA. It's really unfortunate, because the newer HD DVR's don't support OTA. Bummer......very upset especially with the NFL games and 24 soon.

acii

01-11-09, 03:13 PM

I am also having audio distortion on 23 thru Direct TV. It is very puzzling as we have noticed it on and off for the last year or more. It is very bad today. I have also noticed the following:

- 23 seems to be the only channel on direct TV that has this issue. We watch 6, 10, 13 17, etc and never hear this distortion except on 23.

- when we watch 23 via OTA antenna, there is no audio problem. so it appears to only be 23 thru direct tv.

Absolutely horrendous. Virtually unwatchable.

Fortunately, the Burlington-Plattsburgh HD Fox channel (WFFF) is up now. This is far better than WXXA in Albany.

old chebbys

01-11-09, 04:19 PM

I have been watching my beloved Giants flush the season away...now 23 to 11...20 secs left. I have Fox on Direct on ch.88 and no audio problems, 23 is fine also. Direct must be having audio problems with 23. As far as interference on 6 from outside sources, yes it could be open from outside trash, but I have never had any problems at my location, I even have a main snowmobile trail not 30ft. from my house and tower location and today with a hundred sleds going by, no interference. Trash generators such as vacuums, blenders, microwaves etc. have never been a problem.

old chebbys

01-11-09, 04:23 PM

I meant Ch 88 Fox on Direct is fine and 23 Fox off my antenna is fine also...no audio distortion. I do not subscribe to 23 thru Direct.

Johanne

01-11-09, 05:17 PM

Seems to have cleared up in the second quarter. Still, very irritating.

bmw528is

01-11-09, 05:43 PM

Seems to have cleared up in the second quarter. Still, very irritating.

Same here, better in 2nd quarter.......but not better for the Giants. There has to be some recourse available, this is not watchable, but how to determine the source?

WRGB EngDept

01-12-09, 12:37 PM

I'm getting a low frequency LFE Hum ONLY while watching the WRGB HD (TWC 1806) newscast . It's only when they are actually in the studio. When they go to a news report it's gone. It sounds like microphone noise.

It's only effecting my one Sub woofer that goes down to 18HZ.

Anybody hearing this at all?

Maybe my new Yamaha RX-V1900 is a little too sensitive. :eek:We have listened on several systems that have auto-calibrate functions and have not really heard this problem. Maybe our systems don't have frequency response as low as yours, or is it your calibration or do you like more sub than some?

We have added some lo-cut filtering to the studio mics. Let us know if that helps.

eiffeltower

01-12-09, 08:35 PM

You could try rabbit ears. Seriously. And not the amplified kind, either.

Thanks Ebo! I will try them and report back!

merhow89

01-13-09, 09:09 AM

We have been loyal Directv Customer for over 5 years. Service was great up until the October Software Release. Ever since, daily red button resets, jitter, poor IR Response, on and on. Nothing but trouble.

I made several calls to Directv in an effort to correct these problems, tech support, checking signals, re-doing sat set up. Also gave them the benefit of the doubt figuring a new software release for the HR21-200 would correct these problems. Latest release did not, so I called and asked for a replacement receiver due to upcoming premier of 24 which I really wanted to record successfully. Receiver arrived Friday, I set it up Saturday. Recorded 24 premiere, sat down to watch last night.

OMG - The audio jitter, lip sync problems on this recording render it completely UNWATCHABLE! Absolutely the worst it's ever been. I'm am so :mad:I at my wits end.

What on earth is going on with Fox 23 Albany and it's audio signals! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, what to I have to do to get this fixed?

Today, I will be placing a complaint with the BBB and the Atty General because I don't know what else to do anymore. :mad: :mad: :mad:

ebo

01-13-09, 11:00 AM

What on earth is going on with Fox 23 Albany and it's audio signals! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, what to I have to do to get this fixed?Here you go: http://www.hulu.com/24

merhow89

01-13-09, 12:10 PM

unfortunately we are in a rural area. DSL is our only internet connection option (well-there is sat, but I won't go there due to cost), is 100mbps fast enough for hulu viewing?

All I really want is to receive the service I'm supposed to be getting from directv (which we pay alot of $$ for) to live up to their claims. They used to be the best, I used to recommend them to everyone....not since October, 2008 though. Their software downloads don't fix a darn thing and more often than not, make the issues worse. We're paying alot of money for what has become mediocre service at best.

As a long time, loyal, on-time paying customer, I don't think good service from them is too much to ask for. Wishful thinking though....

merhow89

01-13-09, 12:53 PM

"Sorry that you are having audio problems. I have been told by Direct TV that they are having problems with lip sync in the receivers used at the local collection point here in Albany. This is not a problem that we see in our off air digital transmission which is the same signal used by the satellite providers. These receivers are being replaced around the country."

and when I asked for a bit of clarification, just got this:

"Local collection point" is the site that is used by Direct TV to pick up all the local channels which are processed and fed to their up link site where they are fed to the satellite. We monitor our off air signal and do not see the problem you are having. Direct TV tells me that the lip sync issue appears to be in the receiver used to decode our transmission. It is the receiver they use for our signal, not your receiver. Cable does not see this problem.

I Bolded the most important line of the reply.....it did not come to me this way.

So ----- Directv - WHEN WILL THIS BE FIXED?

L_G_D

01-13-09, 04:12 PM

The Fox 23 issues are why I bought my own DirecTV receiver long ago - probably shortly after they bought out primestar, considering how many problems I had with their proprietary recievers. Might not be as convenient as having the DVR built into the reciever, but coupled with a Philips 3576 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=940657) my Sony receiver has given me no problems. I haven't looked into DirecTV receivers in a long time, maybe someone makes one with a DVR built in now.

LGD

merhow89

01-13-09, 04:58 PM

we never had any problems with any stations at all. I have watched all 6 seasons of 24 on Fox 23 Albany, every one...The last two seasons were DVR'd on my Directv receivers without any issues like what's happening now.

The audio jitter, lip sync problems are just a small piece of the pie when it comes to our troubles. There have been numerous glitches with the HR21-200 ever since the october software release fiasco. Instead of getting better with new software, every release seems to make things worse.

Here's one other example of what's been going on with my receiver - incredibly screwed up guide data, just one thing amoung many, many others.

http://http://www.bikepics.com/members/eglidegirl/screenshotsofguide/ (http://www.bikepics.com/members/eglidegirl/screenshotsofguide/)

I didn't know you could buy receivers other than Directv's. That is something to consider. Thanks for the tip.

bmw528is

01-13-09, 09:52 PM

ebo

01-13-09, 11:31 PM

I recorded 24 from WXXA OTA. I haven't watched it yet, but while a spot check didn't show the sort of problems reported for the DirecTV feed, I did notice some momentary audio dropouts. If someone recorded the HD feed and still has the first hour, could you check for one of them? That will tell me if it's my recording or the broadcast.

Jack has just been sprung from the Senate hearings at 08:07:13 on the show clock. After a call from Agent Walker, Janice (Janeane Garofalo) argues with a coworker about getting him clearance.

Janice: "Sean, as a friend, I'd like to give you some . . ."
Sean: "You're not my friend."
Janice: "Sure. As someone as close to a friend as you are ever going to get, let me give you some advice."

The bolded part is cut out in my recording (I got the words from Hulu). Can you check if there is any problem at that point?

lufters

01-13-09, 11:56 PM

We have listened on several systems that have auto-calibrate functions and have not really heard this problem. Maybe our systems don't have frequency response as low as yours, or is it your calibration or do you like more sub than some?

We have added some lo-cut filtering to the studio mics. Let us know if that helps.

Thanks for the response. I will let you know tomorrow.

Davird_Jr

01-14-09, 06:04 AM

If this problem isn't fixed soon, I will look elsewhere for HD Programming. The reason that I haven't had problems until recently is that I always used OTA reception, which the newer DVR's do not support. Unacceptable.

If you do not need Sunday Ticket, DISH Network DVR's do support OTA. They only offer 6 & 10 in HD right now due to fights over retransmission fees however, but if you get good OTA they record it just like a sat channel right in the guide. I have the VIP722 and it is very slick. You can record 2 sat and 1 OTA at the same time.

merhow89

01-14-09, 08:23 AM

If someone recorded the HD feed and still has the first hour, could you check for one of them? That will tell me if it's my recording or the broadcast.

Jack has just been sprung from the Senate hearings at 08:07:13 on the show clock. After a call from Agent Walker, Janice (Janeane Garofalo) argues with a coworker about getting him clearance.

Janice: "Sean, as a friend, I'd like to give you some . . ."
Sean: "You're not my friend."
Janice: "Sure. As someone as close to a friend as you are ever going to get, let me give you some advice."

The bolded part is cut out in my recording (I got the words from Hulu). Can you check if there is any problem at that point?

Hi ebo - I still have the recorded HD feed of the 24 premiere. I'm holding on to it so I can show the technician how bad it really is when they show up (3 weeks until appointment) grrrr...

I will check this out for you tonite and post results tomorrow morning.

I watched the first hour of my Directv HD-DVR recording of Monday Nights episode last night - not one audio drop or lip sync issue in it. This very puzzling. My OTA for WXXA is non-existant. I've never been able to get it to come in on the antenna. I have asked for a waiver process so Directv can turn on the National Feed for me, then I can watch/record on 88 which doesn't seem to be having the same audio issues as the local Fox station.

djb61230

01-14-09, 12:33 PM

Janice: "Sure. As someone as close to a friend as you are ever going to get, let me give you some advice."

The bolded part is cut out in my recording (I got the words from Hulu). Can you check if there is any problem at that point?

No audio dropout in my OTA recording at that point. I didn't go back and check it but I remember the line well. I'll can double check it tonight but I'm 99.9% sure.

My setup is MythTV using an HDHomerun for OTA.

L_G_D

01-15-09, 02:31 PM

I didn't know you could buy receivers other than Directv's. That is something to consider. Thanks for the tip.

Don't know if these are really any different than what you already have, I don't see the Sony model that I have listed here, must be they don't make it anymore.

Best Buy:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=pcmcat128700050036&type=category

This one looks nice:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8911485&type=product&id=1213047334151

Unless you really want the HDTV one for twice as much. I see it has dual tuners - watch one show, record a different one, cool feature. I bought the Sony model I have now specifically because it would lock out the system while it was doing a timer record. That way if someone tried to turn the unit off or switch channels, they couldn't without specifically hitting a key combo on the remote. Kept me from losing my recorded shows because someone else wanted to watch Oprah. Too bad if they don't like it, they don't pay the sat bill.

Too bad you can't get OTA, best picture for the local stuff you're going to get, sat & cable both use a hair too much compression. Depending on where you are, you might want to try again with a better antenna and proper aiming, fox 23 is on channel 7 and that should carry pretty far. Unless you're behind a mountain, you should be able to get it. I don't know if anyone makes a Directv box with OTA, but that would be cool. Try tvfool.com and see what you're signal strength will be after the transition, you might be surprised.

Oops, many more choices here http://www.2000networks.com/DirecTV-Satellite-Receivers-s/44.htm including my Sony B55.

LGD

BruceS

01-15-09, 03:23 PM

If this problem isn't fixed soon, I will look elsewhere for HD Programming. The reason that I haven't had problems until recently is that I always used OTA reception, which the newer DVR's do not support. Unacceptable.

You can still use OTA with the newer receivers. You just need an additional box, which is connected to the DVR.

If I remember, they are supposed to be available for $50. However, depending on which CSR you talk to, you may be able to get one for free.

If you don't mind paying the $50, you don't even need to talk to a CSR. You can order one through the directv.com web site.

lufters

01-15-09, 11:28 PM

Hunter56

01-18-09, 10:31 AM

Hi all,

In preparation for the DTV switchover yesterday we received our new Winegard SS-3000 antenna to use with our Zenith DTT900 DTV converter. We're just off Lark St in Arbor Hill. We receive 'good' signal strength for all the UHF channels (6.1, 6.2, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 17.1, 17.2, 17.3, 19.1, 19.2, 19.3, 45.1, 45.2, and with a small movement of the antenna 55.1, 55.2, 55.3, 55.4). However, we receive no VHF signal for WNYT/NBC (12/?) or WXXA/FOX (7/23.1).

As I understand it, the Winegard SS-3000 is a VHF and UHF antenna, so it should be able to receive the signal.

I've looked at antennaweb, tvfool etc. to place the antenna. It worked for UHF and according to tvfool FOX's transmitter is the closest at 12 miles.

I've wandered around this messageboard for a while now and seen vaguaries about WNYT and WXXA not yet broadcasting in DTV, but they seem like old posts.

So what's the problem: Is it my equipment or the TV stations?

Thanks in advance!
I live in Glenville down by the Mohawk river. I use the W3000 also. I went to antennaweb.com, input my house address and pointed my antenna in the direction indicated on their WEB site. I receive 6.1 6.2 10.1 10.2 10.3 13.1 13.2 13.3 17.1 17.2 17.3 23.1 23.2 45.1 45.2 55.1 55.2 55.3 55.4. I have heard that digital channel 6 will be dificult to receive with this omni-directional antenna once they move their signal location.

Hunter56

01-18-09, 10:38 AM

You can still use OTA with the newer receivers. You just need an additional box, which is connected to the DVR.

If I remember, they are supposed to be available for $50. However, depending on which CSR you talk to, you may be able to get one for free.

If you don't mind paying the $50, you don't even need to talk to a CSR. You can order one through the directv.com web site.
I have an OTA DVR. It is a DTVPAL DVR. It receives all digital OTA signals - it's connected between the antenna and TV and becomes your primary HDTV tuner as well as your DVR. Dish Network sells them. Google DTVPAL DVR

Ken NY

01-19-09, 01:12 AM

Untamed Sports TV - the programing is somewhere between LPTV and public access.
i watched it a few time this weekend and think it is pretty crappy that they took away VTV - now all you see is the poor deer getting shot and the poor fish being pulled out of the water - i have killed enough myself without having to watch someone else do it (i hunt with the gun & bow and go fishing)...

bwb518

01-19-09, 06:08 PM

From what I know on the programing end, VTV was started by Clear Channel as an in house provider of content for their TV operations.

When they sold their TV interests (many if not all stations) they also sold VTV to Newport Television.

It appears that for reasons I've not yet found they took it off the air this month.

Even their wikipedia article has no info on the reasons.

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

I really enjoyed the retro programing the had to offer such as Burns & Allen, Jack Benny, and some other jems of our television heritage.

If our TV Heritage can't find a home in the world of HD Subchannels, where shall it find a home?!?!

What's strange is that their website
http://www.thevarietychannel.com/
Is still up and operating - even listing "what's on".

So maybe they didn't go off the air?
Why would a Newport owned station in Albany drop the programing from a network they owned in lieu of programing that is far below par?

Trip in VA

01-19-09, 06:26 PM

There are no VTV affiliates left, it's gone. Two of them picked up RTN (as seen on WTEN-DT), one is local news/weather, one is doing... something else, I have no idea what, and the rest are Untamed Sports TV.

- Trip

The Hound

01-20-09, 03:09 AM

Untamed sports really is subpar.
I like a hunting show but, a whole channels not needed.
THe shows are like Ernist out back with a gun.

optivity

01-20-09, 07:29 AM

Why doesn't Time Warner add the SciFi (http://www.scifi.com/) channel to its HD lineup?

AlbanyHDTV

01-20-09, 08:11 AM

Why doesn't Time Warner add the SciFi (http://www.scifi.com/) channel to its HD lineup?

A legal notice (http://www.timewarnercable.com/MediaLibrary/4/5/Content%20Management/Programming/documents/notice_nys_011609.pdf) posted on Albany TWC's website states the following (Sci-Fi HD is mentioned):

From time to time we make certain changes in the services that we offer in order to better serve our customers. The following changes are planned:

Elections ’08 On Demand (channel 1279) will be deleted 1/30/09
Crime/Investigation HD to be added to channel 1828
History Channel en Espanol to be added to channel 913
NY1 Noticias to be added to channel 911
TV5 to be added to channel 935
CCTV4 to be added to channel 945
ESPN Deportes to be added to channel 662
Big Ten Network to be added to channel 678
Big Ten Network HD to be added to channel 1878
Gol TV to be added to channel 679
Sportsman Channel to be added to channel 684
Chiller Channel, USA HD, Sci-Fi HD, Bravo HD, CNBC HD, Primetime on Demand to be added (cannot be accessed on CableCard-equipped Unidirectional Digital Cable Products purchased at retail without additional, two-way capable equipment.)

optivity

01-20-09, 12:46 PM

A legal notice (http://www.timewarnercable.com/MediaLibrary/4/5/Content%20Management/Programming/documents/notice_nys_011609.pdf) posted on Albany TWC's website states the following (Sci-Fi HD is mentioned):Thanks for the update & the good news. :)

I'm starting to believe that perhaps TW will be able to give Verizon a run for their subscribers’ money, if/when FiOS TV ever gets here.

timick1

01-20-09, 01:07 PM

But will Sci-Fi HD be added before the end of BSG? I'll quess no.

optivity

01-20-09, 01:55 PM

But will Sci-Fi HD be added before the end of BSG? I'll quess no.I was a BIG fan of BSG, but one of the problems with this show, like many others, is the scheduling.

On again, off again, different times/days of the week, etc.

I tend to lose track... (i.e. interest) after awhile.

I don't even know if Starbuck is alive, dead, human or :eek: a cylon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cylon_(Battlestar_Galactica))!

lufters

01-20-09, 06:25 PM

Thanks for the update & the good news. :)

I'm starting to believe that perhaps TW will be able to give Verizon a run for their subscribers’ money, if/when FiOS TV ever gets here.

Highly doubt it. TW can't compete in Picture Quality. Research the comparisons...Fios kills Time Warner. Time Warner just doesn't have the infrastructure / capacity for good PQ...Switch Digital Video or not.

As soon as Verizon Fios TV is here..I'm there!!

When it comes, I'll be e-mailing everyone I know to drop Time Warner asap!!

I'm done with their yearly price increases and semi monopoly.

optivity

01-21-09, 07:32 AM

Highly doubt it. TW can't compete in Picture Quality. Research the comparisons...Fios kills Time Warner. Time Warner just doesn't have the infrastructure / capacity for good PQ...Switch Digital Video or not.I am hopeful about FiOS TV service, before I go signing onto another one of Verizon's two-year contracts I want to verify the channels they carry as well as the monthly cost for the equivalent service.

ebo

01-21-09, 03:09 PM

I was a BIG fan of BSG, but one of the problems with this show, like many others, is the scheduling.

On again, off again, different times/days of the week, etc.

I tend to lose track... (i.e. interest) after awhile.

I don't even know if Starbuck is alive, dead, human or :eek: a cylon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cylon_(Battlestar_Galactica))!Sounds like you're up to date. Nobody else is quite sure what she is either.

I don't have SciFi in any resolution so I'll have to wait awhile for my BSG fix. Excellent series and much better than the original.

bartonjm

01-21-09, 11:10 PM

Highly doubt it. TW can't compete in Picture Quality. Research the comparisons...Fios kills Time Warner. Time Warner just doesn't have the infrastructure / capacity for good PQ...Switch Digital Video or not.

As soon as Verizon Fios TV is here..I'm there!!

When it comes, I'll be e-mailing everyone I know to drop Time Warner asap!!

I'm done with their yearly price increases and semi monopoly.
I'm very interested in fios as well...at this point, I can't even get fios internet.

BruceS

01-22-09, 12:52 PM

I was a BIG fan of BSG, but one of the problems with this show, like many others, is the scheduling.

On again, off again, different times/days of the week, etc.

I tend to lose track... (i.e. interest) after awhile.

I don't even know if Starbuck is alive, dead, human or :eek: a cylon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cylon_(Battlestar_Galactica))!

That's why you need a Tivo. They are designed to continue to record the program no matter how many times the channel changes the broadcast date or time.

You can also create a Wishlist for the program which will record it even if is broadcast on a different channel.

optivity

01-22-09, 06:50 PM

That's why you need a Tivo.You don't understand, I rent an 8300HDC DVR from Time Warner Cable but most of the programs I record I don't even watch. :D

asterion

01-25-09, 07:25 AM

Well, I finally knuckled under and got TWC (I still think I have an argument with my rental company over satellite, but oh well.) It's been okay so far, but I am trying to figure out how to remove all those channels from the guide that I'm either not subscribed to or would never watch. This would be a piece of cake with my old Dish DVR, but I can't find any way at all to do it with this POS Scientific Atlanta 8300 series. I've had no luck yet finding an answer (a google search revealed a post on this site that was shut down with the poster being told to take it to his local subforum, so I'm posting this here.) Any ideas or suggestions?

gfbaseball22

01-25-09, 02:15 PM

I've never been able to remove those channels either. Welcome to the crappy TWC set top box!

Anytime I go to someone's house that has Directv I'm always amazed at how awesome their STB is. Sad.

jonnythan

01-26-09, 03:01 PM

Anyone know anything about current and future plans for Fios in the capital region?

bartonjm

01-26-09, 07:22 PM

Anyone know anything about current and future plans for Fios in the capital region?

I think they have intentions of eventually getting here. I know fios internet is here...but unfortunately they haven't made it to my part of glenville yet.

optivity

01-26-09, 07:41 PM

FiOS TV is available in Buffalo, NY; and I thought their Upstate build-out was going to begin there and then head east.

Maybe someday we'll have FiOS TV in smAlbany too.

I imagine that Time Warner is not too happy about the competition and is obstructing Verizon any way they can.

gfbaseball22

01-27-09, 11:50 AM

Verizon has to apply to carry television just like they did in NYC, Buffalo, etc.

As they haven't even done that in Albany yet I think it will be quite some time before we see FiOS around here.

optivity

01-28-09, 01:35 PM

Verizon has to apply to carry television just like they did in NYC, Buffalo, etc.

As they haven't even done that in Albany yet I think it will be quite some time before we see FiOS around here.So be it. I shall remain held captive to Time Warner Cable.

will1383

01-28-09, 01:40 PM

lol. TWC has been freezing up on me alot, and many of the channels are going out for hours at a time... pretty poor service... But, it's either that or sat, and sat isn't condusive for internet connectivity, so I'm stuck as well...

lufters

02-04-09, 01:59 PM

Boo Hoo for Time Warner!! They deserve their subscribers to ditch them!! Read the comments at the bottom of the article. :p

Time Warner Cable reports subscriber dip | Digital Media - CNET News: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10156468-93.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0

xzitony

02-04-09, 02:10 PM

jonnythan

02-04-09, 02:29 PM

Why bother waiting for FIOS when you can get more HD with DIRECTV and a better picture anyway right now?? You have an option for dumping TWC right now. They'll even bundle Verizon DSL for you for $20/mo. and if/when it turns to FIOS you can upgrade.

Need an antenna for local stations, it costs more, no movies/hbo/HD/Discovery On Demand, service/repair/equipment exchange options suck, you sitll have to pay someone else like TWC for internet (and you have to pay more if you don't have TWC tv service) etc.

xzitony

02-04-09, 02:37 PM

Need an antenna for local stations, it costs more, no movies/hbo/HD/Discovery On Demand, service/repair/equipment exchange options suck, you sitll have to pay someone else like TWC for internet (and you have to pay more if you don't have TWC tv service) etc.

It sounds like you haven't looked in a while. You now lease boxes, no longer purchase so you can go ahead and exchange them as often as you'd like. Matter of fact, they take back your MPEG-2 equipment and give you free MPEG-4 stuff. Also, TWC no longer charges extra for internet only... it's $49.99 either way now. 3mbps Verizon DSL, however, is $29.99 and $10/off per month with DIRECTV.

DIRECTV ONDEMAND: http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/contentPageNR.jsp?assetId=P4750018&_DARGS=/DTVAPP/layout/component/topNavSections.jsp.62_A&_DAV=-1&_dynSessConf=8854397413147493786

CBS WRGB 6 6 (HD)
ABC WTEN 10 10 (HD)
NBC WNYT 13 13 (HD)
PBS WMHT 17 17 (HD)
FOX WXXA 23 23 (HD)
CW WCWN 45
MNT WNYA 51
TFT TFT 431

They also offer MRV (multi room DVR viewing), DIRECTV2PC for streaming from DVRs to your PC, and MediaShare, a VIIV/HDNA compatible audio and video sharing client in their set top boxes.

As for pricing, you may want to look again, considering their box lease fees are $5, not $8 like TWC, and their DVR fees are $6, not $10 like TWC. By the time you're done speccing it out, it'll definitely be cheaper!

xzitony

02-04-09, 02:44 PM

I can get anyone who wants to switch another $50 off as well by "referring" them too, so if you're thinking about it let me know. It's worth it for MLB Extra Innings alone which for less than TWC charges, gives you over 20 HD games A WEEK, not just "GAMEHD" with 1 or 2 a night

jonnythan

02-04-09, 03:05 PM

It sounds like you haven't looked in a while. You now lease boxes, no longer purchase so you can go ahead and exchange them as often as you'd like. Matter of fact, they take back your MPEG-2 equipment and give you free MPEG-4 stuff. Also, TWC no longer charges extra for internet only... it's $49.99 either way now. 3mbps Verizon DSL, however, is $29.99 and $10/off per month with DIRECTV.

DIRECTV ONDEMAND: http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/contentPageNR.jsp?assetId=P4750018&_DARGS=/DTVAPP/layout/component/topNavSections.jsp.62_A&_DAV=-1&_dynSessConf=8854397413147493786

CBS WRGB 6 6 (HD)
ABC WTEN 10 10 (HD)
NBC WNYT 13 13 (HD)
PBS WMHT 17 17 (HD)
FOX WXXA 23 23 (HD)
CW WCWN 45
MNT WNYA 51
TFT TFT 431

They also offer MRV (multi room DVR viewing), DIRECTV2PC for streaming from DVRs to your PC, and MediaShare, a VIIV/HDNA compatible audio and video sharing client in their set top boxes.

As for pricing, you may want to look again, considering their box lease fees are $5, not $8 like TWC, and their DVR fees are $6, not $10 like TWC. By the time you're done speccing it out, it'll definitely be cheaper!

You're right about me not being quite up to date.

But a couple of things:

DirecTV's on-demand looks like ****. It just downloads stuff over the internet and is apparently incapable of HD. You have to wait for downloads, loading up your internet connection in the process. You can't just instantly watch something and fast forward through it.

And it's definitely more expensive. I pay $118.90 for service (RoadRunner, HD DVR, standard cable box). Giving $50 for RoadRunner, that leaves $68 for DirecTV, but their closest package is $73 + $4.99 a month + $99 for the second receiver. And that's with no HD On Demand. Yes, they offer an initial deal but it ends up being more expensive after less than a year and a half. And it's not as good.

I see absolutely no reason whatsoever to switch. DirecTV doesn't seem to offer me anything at all.

xzitony

02-04-09, 03:11 PM

You're right about me not being quite up to date.

But a couple of things:

DirecTV's on-demand looks like ****. It just downloads stuff over the internet and is apparently incapable of HD. You have to wait for downloads, loading up your internet connection in the process. You can't just instantly watch something and fast forward through it.

And it's definitely more expensive. I pay $118.90 for service (RoadRunner, HD DVR, standard cable box). Giving $50 for RoadRunner, that leaves $68 for DirecTV, but their closest package is $73 + $4.99 a month + $99 for the second receiver. And that's with no HD On Demand. Yes, they offer an initial deal but it ends up being more expensive after less than a year and a half. And it's not as good.

I see absolutely no reason whatsoever to switch. DirecTV doesn't seem to offer me anything at all.

It definitely is HD on demand. It doesn't jsut download over internet, either, it pre-loads from satellite alot of HD content, some 1080p even, right to the HD of the DVR. For those that don't, you can start watching within a few minutes, you do not have to wait for downloads to complete.

The $57.99 Choice Xtra is their "biggest" package. The package you are referring to includes HD and DVR fees in it, so you aren't paying extra after the $72 HD DVR package (which is just Choice Xtra + HD fee + DVR fee) so keep that in mind, too.

Also keep in mind the first box is free, so if you have just one HD DVR like you have now, then you don't pay the $4.99/mo., that's only for additional boxes. The HD DVR is $199, but you get one free if you sign up new. Each additional SD only box is free as well, and HD only or DVR only boxes can add up at $99/pop, that true. The only real drawback is the 24 month contract, but that's the same reason you sign one for cell phones too--to subsidize the equipment.

Not sure what you mean by "no HD on demand"-- on demand is free.

I didn't say it was always cheaper, but it can be, and it's definitely very competitive--especially when you consider you're getting 130 HD channels not 60 or so.

jonnythan

02-04-09, 03:23 PM

xzitony

02-04-09, 11:58 PM

Mrmiami

02-05-09, 07:08 AM

I see competing info about whether DirecTV has any HD on Demand.

Regardless, it must take a really long time to download anything that way. The bitrate of HD content far exceeds the speed of my internet service. I watch a fairly large number of movies at home using TWC's HD On Demand channel - and the movies start up in seconds, not hours.

In any case, I'm done arguing about this. I'm now aware of DirecTV's current offerings and they still don't compete with TWC in price or convenience.

Your argument is a little confusing, it sounds like your looking for HD On demand movies however your worried about it slowing down your internet connection and the time it would take to download it. I dumped cable back in the early 90's due to their piss poor service and PQ so I am not too familar with their download avenue for their movies, is it through phone line or RG6 Cable? If you have roadrunner service and it comes down through the cable line then the same process (per se) is being used, it is still using the same line your internet service is using therefore still slowing your bitrates. I think where the confusion is happening is that Cables On Demand service is the equivalent of DirecTV's Pay Per View in which case you press a button-elect to purchase either the HD movie or SD movie of the same and it starts playing right away. DirecTV's On Demand service is usually movies,specials or concerts that are not found in the normal guide and must begin downloading (approx 2-3 min) before you can view them and some are available in 1080P format which cable will NEVER have the room for with their limitations. Even when the change to all digital takes place the added space that will free up for cable would never be enough to transmit 1080P movies, would gobble up too much bandwidth much like the SD/HD channels they are currently broadcasting has done to them, that is the number one reason DTV picture is so much better than cable. The picture is overcompressed to compensate for the number of channels they have to piggy back together on one frequency. Perhaps in the end DirecTV would be a bit more but it depends on what it's worth to you, do you want to watch those movies in superior quality with plenty of room to grow or are you ok with the dropouts and MacroBlocking in the movies you are now getting from cable?

jonnythan

02-05-09, 09:14 AM

On Demand comes via the cable connection, but it's delivered on the video channels. It does not use the broadband internet channels at all.

And it's virtually instant. If I were downloading over my 6-9 Mbps internet connection and maxing it out, it would take 6-12 hours to download one HD movie at a normal compression rate. I would end up never using such a service.

Tower Guy

02-05-09, 12:21 PM

I watch a fairly large number of movies at home using TWC's HD On Demand channel - and the movies start up in seconds, not hours.

You're lucky. My HD on demand service takes the better part of a minute to start. Then it doesn't work 1/3 of the time. I find the list of HD movies to be very short.

My Internet gets slow when all my neighbors are on-line. My TW phone service drops packets when there are too many Internet users.

kq2n

02-05-09, 02:47 PM

Now that the OTA DTV cutoff date legislation has deferred the date from Feb 17th to June, at least one channel that I know of still plans on shutting down their analog transmitter on Feb. 17th, namely WKTV Utica. They're running a continual crawl on the bottom of their analog signal stating the Feb. 17th shut off date.

Does anybody know what the Albany area stations plan on doing? It is not mandatory that analog stations remain on the air until June, they have the option come Feb. 17th.

ebo

02-05-09, 07:15 PM

Does anybody know what the Albany area stations plan on doing? It is not mandatory that analog stations remain on the air until June, they have the option come Feb. 17th.They probably don't know themselves yet. In a recent T-U article representatives of several local broadcasters indicated that they would rather stick with the February date. That doesn't mean they will, of course. If they don't all shut down, the one(s) that remain will get an upsurge in viewers, however small, and there's always the risk that they'll bill themselves as "the station that cares about its viewers."

Most of the locals need only to turn off their analog transmitters and maybe increase digital power if they're not at full power already. WRGB plans to move their digital to their analog channel (6) and WNYA can't start digital broadcasting until WNYT releases channel 13 for them. There may be other details I'm not aware of, possibly involving tower work in February.

optivity

02-06-09, 07:18 AM

You're lucky. My HD on demand service takes the better part of a minute to start. Then it doesn't work 1/3 of the time. I find the list of HD movies to be very short.

My Internet gets slow when all my neighbors are on-line. My TW phone service drops packets when there are too many Internet users.If Verizon FiOS is available in your area their Internet/Phone service is excellent. I was also a DSL subscriber and this service is/was rock solid too.

What is your cable infrastructure? RG-11 coax cable w/minimal splits will provide the best service. If you have any RG-59 cable you will see improvement if you replace it with RG-6 or RG-11 cable.

AlbanyHDTV

02-06-09, 08:09 AM

They probably don't know themselves yet. In a recent T-U article representatives of several local broadcasters indicated that they would rather stick with the February date. That doesn't mean they will, of course. If they don't all shut down, the one(s) that remain will get an upsurge in viewers, however small, and there's always the risk that they'll bill themselves as "the station that cares about its viewers."

From that Times Union article (http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=767445):

To that end, Baboulis said area stations likely will hold a conference call in the next few days to gauge whether a simultaneous switchover could occur.

But Baboulis said the decisions ultimately will rest far from Albany. Each station's parent corporation will make the call, he said.

AlbanyHDTV

02-06-09, 11:26 PM

I have information from a top quality source with first hand information on the local DTV transition:
WXXA-TV will discontinue analog service at 2359 Feb 17, 2009. The others will stay on at reduced power levels.

Mrmiami

02-09-09, 06:09 PM

Mrmiami

02-09-09, 06:16 PM

On another note, what is going on with channel 13? First I was getting breakup on my OTA signal and I figured no big deal come spring I'd get up on the roof and change out the amp and connectors but now the breakup is on D* also with breakup of picture and audio? Signal level is in the low 90's but will sometimes drop as low as 84.

Tower Guy

02-09-09, 08:17 PM

On another note, what is going on with channel 13?

You have two different problems.

Mrmiami

02-09-09, 09:42 PM

You have two different problems.

Not sure if your asking me if I have two different problems or telling me I have two different problems which I'm not sure, but I think they are both related. The 2 problems are, over the air dropouts are now bad enough that they are being seen on DTV LIL channel 13 also. Everything else on my dish alignment and my seperate Wingard SS1000 over the air antenna is fine and the numbers look very good. I guess what I am wondering is if channel 13 may be having trouble with their digital output that is also effecting their uplink signal to D* sat for rebroadcast. Also worth mentioning is my signals are not diplexed and do run seperate to my HR20-700 HD DVR.

ebo

02-09-09, 10:38 PM

Mrmiami

02-10-09, 09:53 AM

Ebo:

Yes, that is what I have been having all day on OTA and DirecTV rebroadcasting of channel 13. About a month and a half ago I would only experience it OTA but for about 3 days now it has started reproducing off of sat rebroadcast too.

SimpleTheater

02-10-09, 11:22 AM

Mrmiami:
I saw what may be the same problem watching Heroes on WNYT OTA tonight. Mostly momentary audio dropouts, sometimes with freezing and pixelation. Signal was strong. I switched over to cable and it was clean there. The symptoms were similar to a problem WRGB had a long time ago but not as severe.Curious if you (or anyone else) watched the SuperBowl on WNYT OTA. I noticed some intermittent drop outs, but the signal was very strong (high 80's low 90's).

Mrmiami

02-11-09, 06:38 AM

Curious if you (or anyone else) watched the SuperBowl on WNYT OTA. I noticed some intermittent drop outs, but the signal was very strong (high 80's low 90's).

I can't say I actually did notice it now that you mention it, so why then for one particular event did they have the ability to broacast it correctly. What I did see though was during the pregame there were a few dropouts, one lost camera (blackout) and bad audio. I think the last two were strictly on their end though but the game itself appeared to be pretty clean.

Mrmiami

02-11-09, 06:40 AM

You have two different problems.

Tower Guy, just curious, did you have an idea as to what the problem may be with channel 13 reception?

L_G_D

02-11-09, 12:10 PM

I've been having problems with c13 as well, the president's news conference and Heroes after it were plagued with audio dropouts and mosaicing. Generally, I just chalk those up to my reception, but seeing others having the same problem, though at different times, makes me wonder.

Anyone else see problems Monday night?

Come to think of it, I've been having problems with 45 and 55 lately as well. 45 never was very good, but 55 always was rock solid, last couple days have been strange.

LD

Davird_Jr

02-13-09, 01:46 AM

Any other DISH Network customers have problems with Channel 10 HD on the dish on Thursday evening. Had a screen saying not to contact DISH that they were working on the problem and channel would be back soon. Channel 10 SD fine on DISH. OTA was dreadful due to wind and snow. Wife missed Grey's Anatomy and whatever show is on after that and I'm in the glue! Anyone know what gives? Possibly weather related?

L_G_D

02-13-09, 12:27 PM

The weather lately, especially the wind, has caused trouble for me too. Almost no station last night was without problems.

LD

Davird_Jr

02-13-09, 03:57 PM

Everything seems to be okay today. I had to go up on the roof a couple times last night in the snowstorm and clean about 2 inches of heavy hard packed snow out of both dishes. That improved things. 10 HD was still out though. Cleaned more snow off this morning. I never had problems with the DISH Superdish before I upgraded to HD. Now with 2 Dish 500s I get more snow fade than ever.

The Hound

02-16-09, 12:10 AM

I was having issues with signal strength on WMHT 17 since last Sunday.
Just cleared up by it's self today.

m_jonis

02-16-09, 09:43 PM

SimpleTheater

02-18-09, 08:03 AM

Is WRGB now on VHS 6?
WRGB-TV and WCWN will making the digital switch on June 12th.

Mrmiami

02-18-09, 09:14 AM

Is WRGB now on VHS 6?
WRGB-TV and WCWN will making the digital switch on June 12th.

If what you mean is when WRGB & CW switches it will be broadcast in VHF form, that would suck because one, it forces people to have both UHF and VHF antennas and two, channel 13.1 is broadcasting that way and is plagued with pixalation and audio blurbs constantly. It is just a matter of them wanting to use old stuff to broadcast new technology, every broadcaster should decide on which way they want to go UHF of VHF. The only way to have one antenna do the job of receiving both is to put up a huge antenna (5 foot span) to pick up both freq. Right now I am using a wingard ss1000 about the size of a pizza box and it does the job quite well, except on channel 13.1 which is VHF and the SS1000 is recommended for UHF only. I refuse to go with a 2 antenna option or worse yet with a huge piece of aluminum up on our roof to get a better picture for 1 channel.

Trip in VA

02-18-09, 09:16 AM

Okay, for clarity:

Right now, all digitals in Albany are UHF except for WNYT-DT on 12 and WXXA-DT on 7.

After the transition, WNYA-DT on 13 will join them, and WRGB-DT will move from 39 to 6.

- Trip

kq2n

02-18-09, 10:40 AM

A total of 4 VHF stations after the new transition date, one being on low band, WRGB on ch. 6. One of a minority of cities nation wide that will be utilizing the VHF band.
I was disheartened this morning tuning to Ch. 6, somehow I was hoping for them to switch to digital 6 even though I knew it wasn't in the works, oh well... Curious how the digital on ch. 6 will come in here in the Utica area. The ch. 39 they're using temporarily doesn't make it. Keep in mind, CBS will not allow a CBS outlet in Utica, so OTA folks in this area have to draw in either 6 from Schenectady, 5 from Syracuse, or 7 from Watertown. At one time, WNYT had a translator here on ch. 55, but when they switched to NBC that was redundant, being we have Ch. 2 NBC here in town, so they ceased operation.

I also noted WXXA still on analog 23 this morning.

SimpleTheater

02-18-09, 10:56 AM

Mrmiami

02-18-09, 11:49 AM

Normally I would agree with you, but unfortunately CBS is an NFL network. Right now my Winegard SS1000 (we have the same one) is having no difficulty with FOX on VHF 7, but I suspect it won't handle VHF 6 very well. I will spend the $75 to get CBS/WRGB, but it really is a STUPID decision on their part.

I must agree with your decision then if you don't have DTV to supply the local version of CBS. I also would not be able to do without my NFL and the only reason I prefer my signal locally OTA is because the PQ/audio is way better than rebroadcast with DirecTV. There seems to be some conflicting info though as to who's broadcasting what now and then after the June 12th date, see below....

compass heading -miles from- assign
vhf WNYT-DT 13.1 NBC ALBANY, NY 252° 15.2 12

vhf WNYT-DT 13.1 NBC ALBANY, NY Feb 17, 2009 (post-transition) 252° 15.2 12

uhf WMHT-DT 17.1 PBS SCHENECTADY, NY 252° 15.1 34

vhf WNYA-DT 51.1 MNT PITTSFIELD, MA 253° 14.1 13

vhf WNYA-DT 51.1 MNT PITTSFIELD, MA Feb 17, 2009 (post-transition) 253° 14.1 13

uhf WCWN-DT 45.1 CW SCHENECTADY, NY 252° 15.1 43

uhf WCWN-DT 45.1 CW SCHENECTADY, NY Feb 17, 2009 (post-transition) 252° 15.2 43

uhf WRGB-DT 6.1 CBS SCHENECTADY, NY 252° 15.1 39

vhf WRGB-DT 6.1 CBS SCHENECTADY, NY Feb 17, 2009 (post- transition) 252° 15.2 6

No other changes to the following below

uhf WCDC-DT 19.1 ABC ALBANY, NY 117° 30.7 36

uhf WCDC-DT 19.1 ABC ALBANY, NY Feb 17, 2009 (post- transition) 117° 30.7 36

vhf WXXA-DT 23.1 FOX ALBANY, NY 250° 15.6 7

uhf WTEN-DT 10.1 ABC ALBANY, NY 252° 15.2 26

Trip in VA

02-18-09, 01:41 PM

http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?mktid=70

Note the "digital channel" line.

- Trip

1whatnow

02-18-09, 04:05 PM

Tower Guy

02-18-09, 04:34 PM

Need some help with TW HD channels. CW 1815 is the really bad one, no picture last night and/or breakup pixels/sound during HD shows. Later SD shows came in ok. Called tech at TW and they didn't know anything about it. Has anyone else been seeing this problem? My box is picking up everything else, both HD and SD channels, ok. Thanks for any help.

The typical problem with 1815 is ingress. 1815 and WXXA over-the-air share the same frequency.

When you have ingress you will also see a rolling sync bar on the analog versions of the Golf Channel & Discovery Health. That's WMHT's analog over the air frequency.

Time Warner can fix ingress.

1whatnow

02-18-09, 04:45 PM

Thanks Tower Guy. Will give TW a call.

Hunter56

02-18-09, 06:10 PM

1whatnow

02-18-09, 07:40 PM

Just a follow up on my 1815 problem with TW, Called them and the guy I talked to found 5 or 6 other channels with the same problem. Said they all shared the same frequency (don't ask me how). Sending a guy out tomorrow afternoon:) Should be able to fix. Thanks again Tower Guy, lead them in the right direction!

AlbanyHDTV

02-18-09, 07:54 PM

ebo

02-18-09, 09:34 PM

Here I go again. I receive OTA TV using a Winegard s3000. Again today - happened a month or so ago too - I have no signal on 23.1 oe 23.2. Is any one else having this problem? My Antennaweb.com info tells me that my antenna is pointed in the right location. All other stations are fine.......:(WXXA digital is on channel 7, the lowest VHF station in our area until WRGB switches to channel 6. I think the SS3000 is called the Sharp Shooter in the antenna comparison charts here: http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html

Notice that at channel 7 the Sharp Shooter's gain is taking a nosedive and is about 17 dB below its average UHF gain. Its gain on ch. 6, which you'll need in June, is very low. You'd do better with rabbit ears.

Davird_Jr

02-19-09, 01:37 AM

If what you mean is when WRGB & CW switches it will be broadcast in VHF form, that would suck because one, it forces people to have both UHF and VHF antennas and two, channel 13.1 is broadcasting that way and is plagued with pixalation and audio blurbs constantly. It is just a matter of them wanting to use old stuff to broadcast new technology, every broadcaster should decide on which way they want to go UHF of VHF. The only way to have one antenna do the job of receiving both is to put up a huge antenna (5 foot span) to pick up both freq. Right now I am using a wingard ss1000 about the size of a pizza box and it does the job quite well, except on channel 13.1 which is VHF and the SS1000 is recommended for UHF only. I refuse to go with a 2 antenna option or worse yet with a huge piece of aluminum up on our roof to get a better picture for 1 channel.

I must disagree. I am glad that 6 is going back to 6. You are very close to the tower at 15 miles. A bit bigger antenna and you would easily be all set. Here on the fringe at 48.8 miles from the tower I can tell you that VHF channels are much more stable and reliable than the UHF channels. When I first moved here I had a 10 foot (if 5 foot is huge what is 10?) antenna that picked up WNYT & WXXA at about 20 % signal strength and the UHF stations at about 30 - 40 % SS. I upgraded to a 14 foot Winegard HD8200 and my VHF improved from 20 to 90 % SS. 13 and 23 at this location are rock solid regardless of weather or wind or what mood the atmosphere is in. The UHF channels (6, 10, 17 & 45) I receive on a seperate UHF only antenna, which I put up before getting the 14 footer. I can usually get 60 - 80 % SS with it, but the signal is much more susceptible to breakup depending on wind/weather/atmospheric conditions, which is quite frustrating. This is using an Antennas Direct XG91, which is regarded to be one of the best UHF only antennas on the market. I am hoping that when 6 moves back to 6 its reception becomes like 13 & 23 are now, rock solid reliable.

kq2n

02-19-09, 05:47 AM

Here in the Utica area, Analog 23 always did a respectable job even though it's UHF (quite a bit better than 17 and 45 for example (when 17 and 45 analog were at full power a while back)). 6 analog does pretty well too at my location (65 miles distant per tvfool.com), but the only detrimental factor with vhf low band will be the interference it'll be prone to by man made interference like lawnmower and snowblower motors and even some cars and trucks traveling by the house that may show up as pixelation.

Mrmiami

02-19-09, 07:29 AM

http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?mktid=70

Note the "digital channel" line.

- Trip

Thanks Trip in VA, well after last night's measly 1" of snow incapacitated my little Wingard SS1000, I might just be going with a Big VHF/UHF antenna after all so it wont matter who broadcasts what frequency anymore. I still get all these locals over my DTV system in HD but it's just not as crisp as OTA.

SimpleTheater

02-19-09, 09:31 AM

Trip in VA

02-19-09, 09:35 AM

Actually, while I dispute nothing you said, I've heard there actually is a technical reason. They want to try to keep the analog audio on 87.75 FM going while operating digital on channel 6. I've asked a number of engineers that I have a lot of respect for about this, and all said it won't work.

WRGB should have applied for channel 8 or something.

- Trip

L_G_D

02-19-09, 01:56 PM

Does anyone have any real info why ch6 is moving back to ch6? I mean, what for? What's the reason? I understand that the lower the frequency, the less power you have to transmit to get the same usable signal (or so I understand, correct me if I'm wrong) but it just seems to me to be a pain for everyone else involved. I dumped my big antenna for a Channelmaster (forget the number, the 8 bay bowtie one) figuring the whole point of the digital transition was to get everything off the low frequencies. I don't know what I'm going to get on ch6 in Februa.... errr.... June. I may have to add a VHF element to my rig to get ch6, just great.

Is it just nostalgia? Isn't ch6 the first TV station in the US or something like that? And they've always been on 6, so let's keep it there? Stupid reason if that's the case.

What's worse is ch13 moving to 12 and ch15 moving to 13, now there's a real efficient way to do things. How about, and this is just a suggestion, you know off the top of my head, how about ch13 stays on 13 and maybe 15 stays on, oh I don't know 15? Or does that make too much sense?

LGD

Trip in VA

02-19-09, 02:05 PM

What's worse is ch13 moving to 12 and ch15 moving to 13, now there's a real efficient way to do things. How about, and this is just a suggestion, you know off the top of my head, how about ch13 stays on 13 and maybe 15 stays on, oh I don't know 15? Or does that make too much sense?

LGD

15 is staying on 15. It's 51 that's moving to 13. They couldn't have kept 51 due to interference with WYPX-DT on 50.

And WNYT-DT kept 12 because the FCC told stations that if they didn't keep their pre-transition digital channel, they ran the risk of losing coverage. ("Awfully nice coverage area you have there, shame if something were to happen to it...")

- Trip

1whatnow

02-19-09, 03:47 PM

Yesterdays TW problem with 1815 is fixed. Tech found some bad outside connections at splitter and at pole,he said was an ingress problem. Thanks Tower Guy.

Tower Guy

02-19-09, 03:55 PM

Yesterdays TW problem with 1815 is fixed. Thanks Tower Guy.

You're welcome.

You made it easy because your observations were extremely precise.

will1383

02-19-09, 04:15 PM

I very often have channels that freeze or are unable to get a signal. I'm not even sure how to go about diagnosing it much rather than finding a solution. Is it something that seems to be new since the 1st of the year. Well, at least much more previlent since then.

Tower Guy

02-19-09, 04:39 PM

I very often have channels that freeze or are unable to get a signal.

If cable, call Time Warner.
If satellite, call them.
If over the air, the variables are numerous.

will1383

02-19-09, 04:39 PM

It's Time Warner. I guess I'll give them a call and see where that leads me.

bdee1

02-19-09, 07:56 PM

having problems with wxxa_DT. I use media center (windows 7) and when it finds my stations it always incorrectly guesses the frequency of fox. i always have to manually go and change it back to 7. this has always worked well once it was set up but now it is telling me there is no signal. did they change theior frequency to something other than 7 with the digital switchover or something?

Tower Guy

02-19-09, 08:24 PM

having problems with wxxa_DT.

WXXA-DT is still on channel 7.

Try this: http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/post/90726.aspx

bdee1

02-19-09, 08:35 PM

Hmm I wonder y I have no signal then. I am using channel 7.

Mrmiami

02-20-09, 08:23 AM

I must disagree. I am glad that 6 is going back to 6. You are very close to the tower at 15 miles. A bit bigger antenna and you would easily be all set. Here on the fringe at 48.8 miles from the tower I can tell you that VHF channels are much more stable and reliable than the UHF channels. When I first moved here I had a 10 foot (if 5 foot is huge what is 10?) antenna that picked up WNYT & WXXA at about 20 % signal strength and the UHF stations at about 30 - 40 % SS. I upgraded to a 14 foot Winegard HD8200 and my VHF improved from 20 to 90 % SS. 13 and 23 at this location are rock solid regardless of weather or wind or what mood the atmosphere is in. The UHF channels (6, 10, 17 & 45) I receive on a seperate UHF only antenna, which I put up before getting the 14 footer. I can usually get 60 - 80 % SS with it, but the signal is much more susceptible to breakup depending on wind/weather/atmospheric conditions, which is quite frustrating. This is using an Antennas Direct XG91, which is regarded to be one of the best UHF only antennas on the market. I am hoping that when 6 moves back to 6 its reception becomes like 13 & 23 are now, rock solid reliable.

Wow, a 14 foot antenna would take up more than a quarter of our roof area and here in a residential area would more than likely raise more than eyebrows but you may be correct in that VHF is more stable for you. Problem is on my end with going with a "recommended for UHF only" antenna even though it was said to perhaps pick up VHF also but not guaranteed, so I have no true basis to check that theory out. When (some 4 or 5 years ago) purchased the antenna the planned digital transition was suppose to take all the currently broadcast VHF channels and put them in the UHF spectrum. Somewhere along the way that process was modified to use both VHF/UHF but I was able to pull in 13.1 when it first came onboard with a 100% signal so I didn't see a need for a second or different type of antenna and up until about 6 or 7 months ago everything was rock solid for me too. I can only guess that WNYT and CW did something to alter their transmission output because they both go from mid 90's to low 80's and I assume that during these bounces that is when I am seeing the signal breakup and audio noises. The reasons behind the all UHF output all sounded like that was the way they were going to go because it was suppose to be more localized (to roughly 25 mile radius) so as to not interfere with other demographic area tranmissions and also less subject to reflection (shadowing), so I was told anyhow. That plan though left too many in the suburbs with limited or no signal at all so I would imagine that the plan to include the VHF freq was to benefit persons in that situation also. In any event, for me anyway with VHF, because I have houses all around me those signals are bouncing all around me and being picked up that way too so sometimes you got it, sometimes it pixalates, freezes or your get a really bad case of digital burps, it's just a PITA. No big deal though I may go with the bigger antenna or I might just add a dedicated VHF antenna and combine.

L_G_D

02-20-09, 01:40 PM

15 is staying on 15. It's 51 that's moving to 13. They couldn't have kept 51 due to interference with WYPX-DT on 50.

And WNYT-DT kept 12 because the FCC told stations that if they didn't keep their pre-transition digital channel, they ran the risk of losing coverage. ("Awfully nice coverage area you have there, shame if something were to happen to it...")

- Trip

OK, I don't get 51 analog here, I get 15 a little bit, and aren't they the same thing, one is just a repeater of the other or something? So, I'm going to have two channels two slots apart that broadcast the same thing? If I can recieve both that is.

Now I remember, the F in FCC stands for Federal, meaning the government, so of course nothing makes sense, lol.

So, I still don't get why ch6 is allowed to move back to 6 when no one else is allowed to move back to their original channel? Or did 6 just not care if they don't get the same coverage? All I know is it's a PITA if I have to add a low VHF antenna just for 6. Then again, it's not like I watch them all that much anyway, so I probably wouldn't notice.

LGD

ps - lol @ the monty python quote, one of my favorite skits, and btw, I'm listening to Rush right now, how's that for coincidence?

Trip in VA

02-20-09, 01:53 PM

OK, I don't get 51 analog here, I get 15 a little bit, and aren't they the same thing, one is just a repeater of the other or something? So, I'm going to have two channels two slots apart that broadcast the same thing? If I can recieve both that is.

WNYA-TV (51) is going to operate DT-13 from the common tower site west of Albany that is shared by most of the broadcasters in the area, which will make WNYA-CA (15) redundant. I imagine the two will split programming and do something different, though I can't guarantee that.

Now I remember, the F in FCC stands for Federal, meaning the government, so of course nothing makes sense, lol.

So, I still don't get why ch6 is allowed to move back to 6 when no one else is allowed to move back to their original channel? Or did 6 just not care if they don't get the same coverage? All I know is it's a PITA if I have to add a low VHF antenna just for 6. Then again, it's not like I watch them all that much anyway, so I probably wouldn't notice.

Low-VHF is a real pain. I have first-hand experience with it, and while I'm glad to see people here are optimistic about it... I'll be watching this thread very closely after the transition. I'm waiting for the complaints about drops, caused by any and every electric device, lightning, skip, etc. Since the transition is now happening in June, many of these issues should be noticed right away (especially lightning).

Stations could move back if their channel wasn't already taken, just that they'd have to gamble on losing coverage if they did. For example, WTEN probably couldn't move back because of WTNH-DT 10 in New Haven, even if they'd wanted to. The existing DT-10 was given priority.

LGD

ps - lol @ the monty python quote, one of my favorite skits, and btw, I'm listening to Rush right now, how's that for coincidence?

Rush is my favorite band ever of all time. :D I'm an addict. Listening to Jacob's Ladder as I type.

- Trip

Davird_Jr

02-21-09, 07:54 AM

Low-VHF is a real pain. I have first-hand experience with it, and while I'm glad to see people here are optimistic about it... I'll be watching this thread very closely after the transition. I'm waiting for the complaints about drops, caused by any and every electric device, lightning, skip, etc. Since the transition is now happening in June, many of these issues should be noticed right away (especially lightning).

Stations could move back if their channel wasn't already taken, just that they'd have to gamble on losing coverage if they did. For example, WTEN probably couldn't move back because of WTNH-DT 10 in New Haven, even if they'd wanted to. The existing DT-10 was given priority.

- Trip

If low VHF is known to be such a problem then why did 6 insist on going back there? Why didn't they just ask for a high VHF channel? Anyone know this?

Is it possible that Albany and New Haven overlap coverage???? Is the digital signal that strong?

KML-224

02-21-09, 07:58 AM

New Haven? overlapping coverage? The only channel 6 I know of is WEDY-DT (PBS) for New Haven and Connecticut Public Television (CPTV). The station is silent and I doubt it'll be any problem there. I live about 30 miles away in southern Hartford County. Not once did I ever get a hint of reception with their old analog channel 65 signal.

Trip in VA

02-21-09, 08:34 AM

If low VHF is known to be such a problem then why did 6 insist on going back there?

http://www.cbs6albany.com/sections/dtv/

"We hope that the FCC will allow us to continue to operate on 87.7. We are building a unique transmitter for 87.7 that can operate simultaneously with our DTV signal on channel 6. TV transmissions always use horizontal antennas. Our new 87.7 transmitter will be vertically polarized. The use of vertical polarization for 87.7 will allow reception of our audio in a car radio or any other FM radio with a whip type antenna. "

No engineers I've asked think this will work.

Why didn't they just ask for a high VHF channel? Anyone know this?

There weren't any available at the time:

7: WXXA
8: WNCE-CA
9: WVER
10: WTNH
11: WWLP
12: WNYT
13: WNYA

A few months ago, WNCE-CA filed for displacement to channel 31, which now makes channel 8 available maybe. Nothing's certain with the FCC.

Is it possible that Albany and New Haven overlap coverage???? Is the digital signal that strong?

WTEN: http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DT1104362.html
WTNH: http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DT989921.html

Whether those maps are realistic or not (and we both know they aren't, due to the terrain in Connecticut), that's how the FCC determines whether or not stations overlap.

- Trip

wdaub1

02-21-09, 10:02 AM

This is what makes the delay so crazy. Don't these people realize that most won't be able to just hook the digital converter the GOV is so worried about to their rabbit ears to get the channels. What next, a delay to buy these people antennas also.

Davird_Jr

02-21-09, 02:56 PM

http://www.cbs6albany.com/sections/dtv/

"We hope that the FCC will allow us to continue to operate on 87.7. We are building a unique transmitter for 87.7 that can operate simultaneously with our DTV signal on channel 6. TV transmissions always use horizontal antennas. Our new 87.7 transmitter will be vertically polarized. The use of vertical polarization for 87.7 will allow reception of our audio in a car radio or any other FM radio with a whip type antenna. "

No engineers I've asked think this will work.

There weren't any available at the time:

7: WXXA
8: WNCE-CA
9: WVER
10: WTNH
11: WWLP
12: WNYT
13: WNYA

A few months ago, WNCE-CA filed for displacement to channel 31, which now makes channel 8 available maybe. Nothing's certain with the FCC.

WTEN: http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DT1104362.html
WTNH: http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DT989921.html

Whether those maps are realistic or not (and we both know they aren't, due to the terrain in Connecticut), that's how the FCC determines whether or not stations overlap.

- Trip

Thanks for the links Trip. Interesting. We shall see.