This makes no sense. An HD picture is by definition 16x9. Any HD-Capable 4x3 set is going to show HD material letterboxed.

On some sets this limits the resolution...others actually draw the screen differently when fed an HD signal so that there is no resolution loss.

I have never seen an STB that defaults to "crop" when downconverting an HD signal to 480i for an analog set. They have all defaulted to letterbox.

If they're anticipating that the masses using HD STBs to drive analog sets after analog shutdown are going to set the STB to "crop" because they hate letterboxing, then that logo will be in that position until the end of time. It should be a known and accepted fact that analog sets will be in permanent letterbox mode once analog shutdown occurs. I can't believe that this is what they're concerned about.

The only good reason for putting it there that I can come up with is that it prevents the logo from hanging off the side of a 4x3 pillarboxed upconvert on the HD feed. I've only seen pillarboxed content on their HD feed during programming breaks -- when the logo is turned off anyway.

If what he says is true, then the PBS HD logo at the top of the screen would be cut off for those viewers with 4:3 equipment.

Also, why are CBS, ABC, and NBC's logos in the proper place?

Exactly. This makes no sense. HD is 16x9.

The large logo problem is also being discuss in another thread. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=387361&pagenumber=1

In response to bocktar's statement, "This makes no sense. An HD picture is by definition 16x9. Any HD-Capable 4x3 set is going to show HD material letterboxed."

The ATSC standard for DTV has numerous formats with 16x9 being one of them. Check out this URL from the Advanced Television System's Committee, (this is the group that defined digital television)

http://atsc.org/standards/a_54a.pdf .

If you download this large document, go to the bottom of page 23 and the top of page 24. There, you can see all of the formats that are presently accepted for DTV. Remember that within the Digital Television Standard, HDTV is just one of the formats.

On a different subject, you might want to check out http://sharp-world.com/corporate/news/040330.html, for the latest on blue laser technology for HD DVDs. TI

If you notice in the chart, the two formats classified as HD are 16:9 only. This is what we are trying to say.

KCPT is broadcasting in 1080i. This, by ATSC definition, needs to always be in 16:9, including all bugs, logos, etc...

I feel that they should absolutely not be catering to the small amount of viewers that want to watch their beautiful 1080i 16:9 image cropped or "zoomed in" to 4:3.

What about all of us that watch it in 4:3 letterbox, or heaven forbid, actually have one of them new fangled 16:9 sets.

I'm a bit high-strung about this because it seems that the response that hdtimmy received was overly dismissive by attributing the placement of the logo to early adoption.

I recognize that there are DTV formats that are 4x3. They are not HDTV, however.

If KCPT-TV was doing a center cut of their HD feed to source their analog feed, that'd be one thing, but they aren't. If KCPT-DT was broadcasting 480i or 480p 4x3, that'd be another, but they aren't.

---

The blue laser HD DVDs are going to be sweet! It'll be really interesting to see if we end up with one format or many formats that are supported by all devices.

It's a shame that the ATSC spec didn't include native support for overlays.

This would have made things like bugs and tickers very easy to support in an optimal fashion on all display devices.

As I think about this more, I am a little bit concerned about how people will someday respond to watching reruns of Mr. Ed on TV Land HD - pillarboxed and letterboxed on a 13" analog set - because they don't know how (or don't want) to change downconvert modes on the STB from program to program.

The only way to automatically handle this is to broadcast stuff in the DTV mode that has an aspect ratio appropriate for the content that's being pushed. There seem to be a lot of problems on both ends with changing modes on the fly though. :(

I wonder if some kind of flag could be included in PSIP data that indicates OAR for a given program so that future STBs could automatically adjust downconvert (or upconvert!) modes based on the user's preferences?

Is our local KSHB41 NBC DT-42 able to provide audio in Dolby Digital 5.1? http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=387385&perpage=20&pagenumber=1 I did not get a chance to see if "American Dreams" was broadcast with Dolby Digital 5.1 from our local NBC41 KSHB station. Hopefully we will hear NBC HDTV fall programs in Dolby Digital 5.1 this fall. :)

Here is a picture of my simple indoor/outdoor $21.95 antenna to receive our free local Kansas City Over the Air digital channels. I do have a rotor and a amplifier in-line but I just leave the amplifier turned off most of the time (Still unable to receive WDAF Fox low power digital signal when I have the amplifier turned on). What I am very surprised is how good KMBC DT-07 VHF signal comes in on this UHF directional antenna no matter which direction the antenna is pointed. I do have an attic VHF/UHF antenna and signal strength basically stays the same on all digital channels whether I use the indoor VHF/UHF antenna or the outdoor UHF antenna. If you can take a picture of your antenna and post it here on our KC forum that would be neat. :cool: Also here is another thread on digital antennas with pictures. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=118015&pagenumber=1

Is it true that you local cable co has to give us a 1394 enabled box now?

Originally posted by kcroyaljosh
Is it true that you local cable co has to give us a 1394 enabled box now?

If you have TWC, they will provide a 1394 enabled HD box. There are a couple of catches. I will quote them below:

We have them available. As they are a new version we are requiring that our technician install the Firewire boxes. We also are require that the connection is made to either a monitor or D-VHS recorder. You will also need to provide the interconnect cable.

And:

At this point in time, even if a customer has a Firewire device that is not compatible with the box output, we will not complete the install. This hasn't been an issue yet.

Finally, as a bit of a tease:

HD-DVRs are expected to arrive here next Friday and we could upgrade you as a Beta customer if you would like that option.

This all took place on April 07, 2004 and the quotes are from a highly placed friend of mine in TWC Engineering.

Craash,

Any ideas on how some of us without "highly placed friends" could become guinea pigs for the TWC HD-DVR's? The customer service reps I talk to on the phone seem somewhat clueless about such things.

Thanks in advance!

Originally posted by squeak49
Craash,

Any ideas on how some of us without "highly placed friends" could become guinea pigs for the TWC HD-DVR's? The customer service reps I talk to on the phone seem somewhat clueless about such things.

Thanks in advance!

Squeak,

You're not gonna like this, but to be blunt, it just won't happen. Most of the boxes go to employees, and the beta test isn't broad (like the RR one was) enough to offer to customers. I'm lucky in the fact that my friend has some pull. The bright side is that if it follows the same course as the E8K box did, it should be available within a month of the day I see mine. Now, with the E8K my "pickup" date was moved back maybe 2 times (one week each) due to issues. This moves the "delivery date" to the masses back by the same time period. That could happen with the HD DVR also.

Originally posted by Craash
Squeak,

You're not gonna like this, but to be blunt, it just won't happen. Most of the boxes go to employees, and the beta test isn't broad (like the RR one was) enough to offer to customers. I'm lucky in the fact that my friend has some pull. The bright side is that if it follows the same course as the E8K box did, it should be available within a month of the day I see mine. Now, with the E8K my "pickup" date was moved back maybe 2 times (one week each) due to issues. This moves the "delivery date" to the masses back by the same time period. That could happen with the HD DVR also.

Craash,

That's fine - thanks for the honest feedback. I won't shoot the messenger!! :D I was just hoping to get in on the beta if possible, but I guess I've been patient for the DVR, so I can wait a little longer. Hope everything goes well for you so it can be rolled out to the masses ASAP. I'm sure you'll keep us posted. I, for one, appreciate all the info/advice you lend to us all!!

Thanks!

Originally posted by squeak49
Craash,

That's fine - thanks for the honest feedback. I won't shoot the messenger!! :D I was just hoping to get in on the beta if possible, but I guess I've been patient for the DVR, so I can wait a little longer. Hope everything goes well for you so it can be rolled out to the masses ASAP. I'm sure you'll keep us posted. I, for one, appreciate all the info/advice you lend to us all!!

Thanks!

Squeak,

Thanks for the kind words. I hope it all goes well too. My Pioneer 510 just showed up today (setting next to me in the box, as I type) so I'm hoping I finally have my archiving needs meet for the time being.

so when will you think that the hddvr will be available to the public?

Originally posted by kcroyaljosh
so when will you think that the hddvr will be available to the public?

This is completely a guess!!! Considering past experience, I would suspect that the "sign up list" will start withing 30 days of the when I have my HD DVR. This is what happened with the E8K. So, assuming I pick mine up on the 16th, I would guess that you can get your name on the list 30 days after that or around May 16th. If my pickup is pushed back a week or two (like happened with the E8K, this date will reflect that also). If you are one of the first people on the list, I wouldn't expect a wait longer than what it takes to get a truck to your house. I would expect good supply around the middle of June, and heavy advertising (meaning installs taper off after initial demand) in July or August.

Again, this is just a guess based on past experience.

I called twc customer service and could not get anyone to help me with a box that has 1394. Does my current box have it? (pioneer hd box) No one at TWC knows anything about this. I just want 1394 for my hdtv, Mitsubishi integrated 48 inch. Can you help me get into contact with someone that can get this installed?

Mike Davolt, the Director of Customer Service can set up the appointment. The phone weenies can't transfere you, but their supervisor can get in touch with Mr. Davolt, and then get back with you. Call, ask for a supervisor, ask them to get in touch with Mr. Davolt, and he can tell them what to do.

I saw someone asking about firewire and just wanted to mention for those Comcast fokes that were wondering. It is my understanding that DVI and FireWire ports on all HD Digital boxes, that have those connections, are now active. Just to let ya know.

PS-->Comcast doesn't have the cables though.

Chieffffffffffffffffffffffs schedule is out. http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/nfl072/index.html Looks like we football HDTV fans will get a good chance to see the Chiefs in HDTV on KCTV CBS (DT-24), KMBC ABC (DT-07) and hopefully WDAF FOX (DT-34). Please WDAF turn on the full power broadcasting of FOX 720p HDTV in time for the Kansas City Chiefs football season. :)

Looks like a minimum of 6 HD games, plus any on Sunday that are "premier" matchups and choosen for the HD game. I'm ready, let's go!

Saw this in the KC Star . . .

NFL junkies, get ready to rejoice. At least those of you with Time Warner Cable.

It appears the NFL Network, now available only on DirecTV, may soon be coming to Time Warner Cable, which serves more than 280,000 homes in the Kansas City area.

According to Time Warner spokeswoman Carol Rothwell, the NFL Network and Time Warner's corporate offices are nearing what is known as a master agreement. Once that is in place, all regional Time Warner outlets will have the option of linking up with the NFL Network.

And would Kansas City's Time Warner outlet sign the NFL Network?

“I would say it would be highly likely,” Rothwell said.

That would mean 24 hours a day of NFL news, features, game replays — everything the NFL junkie needs to avoid more serious matters in his or her life.

The news didn't come in time for the NFL Network's first big coup — broadcasting the release of the 2004 schedule on Wednesday.

But there will be plenty more to come, considering that the NFL itself operates the NFL Network and no doubt will look to monopolize certain NFL programming.

Source: (http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/8433495.htm)

Yo WB HDTV fans check out this link and click on the star over Kansas City. http://www.sbgi.net/business/markets/sacramento.shtml "Let's go WB62 (DT-47) please turn on the WB HDTV 1080i in Kansas City." We are getting closer to WB HDTV this late summer.

DogOfMadness

Was it just my audio equipment or was "Along Came a Spider" not in Dolby Digital 5.1 tonight on KCTV5 DT-24 Over the Air?

No, it was not in 5.1 DD. As far as I know, the only 5.1 audio from CBS so far are selected sporting events and The Grammys. At this time there are no "entertainment" programs in 5.1.

DogOfMadness

Thank you for the quick response. I have always wanted yo ask you how far KCTV5 DT-24 footprint reaches out from your tower? Does KCTV5 analog and KCTV5 DT-24 signals reach the same areas of the midwest? And thanks goes to you and the KCTV5 team for your support of HDTV here in Kansas City. 1080i CBS HDTV looks and sounds great on KCTV5 DT-24.

I just noticed that TWC is listing 1431 as KMCI-DT. Has anyone noticed whether this is live or not? Also, for you OTAers, do they ever show anything in HD?

I have not noticed any HDTV 1080i on KMCI-DT. Hopefully someday soon an engineer from KSHB/KMCI will answer some of our NBC HDTV questions. KSHB DT-42 broadcast excellent looking NBC 1080i HDTV. With the Olympics coming up NBC HDTV is going to be showing on alot of Kansas City HDTV'S.

Craash, did you get the HD-DVR yet? Is it the SA or the Pioneer? Thanks.

I was hoping to pick it up yesterday, but I never received confirmation back that it was ready. Maybe today. It is the pioneer unit.

Has anyone been experiencing trouble with PBS HD? I use an E* 6000 and it locked up yesterday. I am able to tune everything else now, but only KCPT 18-01, the SD channel has a signal. KCPT 18-02, the HD broadcast, shows up with decent signal strength, but no picture or sound.

Yes I have this problem also when the SD channel is on and the HD channel is off (has no picture). This is auction week for KCPT and we may not see any HD this week.

Don't know if folks saw this on the programming forum, but FOX has announced their tentative HD schedule for this fall. This is a list of the shows:

24
Arrested Development
The Bernie Mac Show
The Casino
Malcolm in the Middle
Method and Red
The North Shore
The O.C.
Tru Calling
6 NFL games/week

Does anyone know if WDAF will be passing the HD (I think 720p) feed? My assumption would be that they will - if they can pass 480p they probably have the equipment necessary for 720p.

Hopefully we can make a difference with a little notice. Fortunately for me, I have TWC, so I'll be able to get this. But I know many of you don't and are S.O.L. for HD programming on Fox.

What can be done to force WDAF to carry a higher-strength signal? Call cable companies. Call WDAF. Send letters. Boycott?? Government intervention?? Hopefully there are enough of us on this forum, and now enough of a reason for WDAF to take action, that we can make a difference by September. I'm open to any other ideas as well.

Here's the FOX HD thread if you want to see it.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=393809

Originally posted by jeffdbs
DogOfMadness

Thank you for the quick response. I have always wanted yo ask you how far KCTV5 DT-24 footprint reaches out from your tower? Does KCTV5 analog and KCTV5 DT-24 signals reach the same areas of the midwest? And thanks goes to you and the KCTV5 team for your support of HDTV here in Kansas City. 1080i CBS HDTV looks and sounds great on KCTV5 DT-24.

I'm 68 miles out and can get it sporadically. Main problem with KCTV5 DT-24 is their antenna height for us fringe reception folks. Some evenings it will lock solid others, drop out, freeze-up hell, fortunately I can rotate antenna to Jefferson City and pick up solid CBS station, and thankfully they do carry the Chiefs :)

Dan

Originally posted by jeffdbs
DogOfMadness

I have always wanted yo ask you how far KCTV5 DT-24 footprint reaches out from your tower? Does KCTV5 analog and KCTV5 DT-24 signals reach the same areas of the midwest?

For several reasons our Ch. 24 signal will not get out as far as Ch. 5 at this time. The main reason is height. To a certain extent height above ground is more important than power output (unless of course power is unusually low!).

The DTV antenna is at approx. 600 feet on the SW leg of our 1000 foot self-supporting tower. We could not put it at the top of the tower stacked with the Ch 5 antenna due to FAA height restictions. We also could not put it a little below the Ch 5 because there was a massive FM antenna there and the tower would have been overloaded. (We have since not renewed the leases with the two FM stations and the antenna was removed last year).

We went about as high as the tower would allow at that time and we're pumping about as much power into the chosen antenna as it would handle (225 kW ERP). Also, because some of the signal is being radiated into the structure of the tower, the circularity of the pattern is affected somewhat.

The ultimate goal will of course be to have the antenna at the top of the tower. However, given the necessary compromises involved I think we're putting out a pretty good signal. But I'm always very interested in hearing of reception reports outside of the immediate Metro area (Thank you, Raven_13). I've heard of reliable reception from Topeka and Columbia (however they may have high receive antennas, etc.).

squeak49

I have e-mailed and called WDAF many times in the hopes of convincing WDAF to join the brave new world of full power OTA HDTV. In my heart I do believe the engineers of WDAF do want to broadcast full power FOX 720p HDTV but must follow their employer resistance to invest in the FOX Kansas City television market.

WDAF has such a rich history of being first in so many things in Kansas City television broadcasting. Why is WDAF so late to the plate in full power digital broadcasting? I just do not know. I do wish WDAF wound let us know about this upcoming 2004 FOX season whether or not we Kansas City HDTV viewers will be able to see our Chiefs and the Super Bowl in full power OTA 720p HDTV.

I still cling to hope on this WDAF issue. And I am very thankful for all the good people at KMBC, KCWE, KCTV, KSHB, KCPT, KSHB, KSMO, KMCI and KPXE for bringing us full power OTA digital broadcasting. Kansas City digital OTA full power and full bandwidth HDTV future is looking real good.:)

Is anyone using a Sony SAT-HD300 tuner for off the air reception?

I recently got a Sony SAT-HD300 set top box as an upgrade to my non-HD satellite receiver. My TV has a built in ATSC tuner, which is duplicated in the set top box. To simplify the hookup, I simply switched the OTA antenna from the TV to the box. I like using the DirecTV program guide with the local channels so my intention was to use the box for local channels rather than the TV.

The problem I'm having is that I'm receiving no signal on KCTV-DT during the day (actually on the singal level meter I'm getting a slight signal), however after midnight the signal strength goes strong, and then goes away again sometime in the morning. Previously I received a wholy adequate signal using the TV's tuner day and night. I'm wondering if somehow the signals from KMBC-DT 9.1 or KCWE-DT 29.1 which both go off the air at midnight are interfering with my reception of 5.1. So far I haven't hooked the TV's tuner back up to the antenna for comparison.

I'm also wondering if I have a defective box, or if there's anything I can do with the SAT-HD300 to correct the problem.

Originally posted by DogOfMadness
But I'm always very interested in hearing of reception reports outside of the immediate Metro area (Thank you, Raven_13). I've heard of reliable reception from Topeka and Columbia (however they may have high receive antennas, etc.).

Your welcome D_O_M,

My antenna height is approximately 50' above ground level. Surrounding terrain is very flat. Columbia is another 50 miles east of me, so that reception is awesome. I'd like to know their setup or if the reception is spotty dependent on weather conditions.

Dan

WDAF needs to not only boost the power considerably, but put the antenna on a real tower. You can't get a signal out to us if you are 20 feet off the ground.

I emailed Aaron Barnhart about this today as well - enuf with this appliance bulb of a signal from WDAF!! Maybe he can put some pressure on through KC Star articles..

Kendal

D-O-M

I am in Sedalia and have a similar reception report as Raven 13. I am at 40 feet with a CM antenna and pre amp. DTV 24 is spotty at best and will just depend on propogation. Because of the the lower HAAT on your antenna, I am really having issues with multipath on KCTV-DT. Pax is really solid and so is KCPT, but still have several projects ahead to work on the other DTV channels.

Unlike Raven 13, I have zero luck with any DTV signals from Columbia-Jeff City. I am on a hill so terrain should not be a problem.

Just moved from St. Charles and really miss receiving eight DTV stations with a Silver Sensor.

Timmoradio

TVDOC, technicalitalian, DogOfMadness .............. how do you engineers protect your towers from lightning? Some of our antennas at home have grounding blocks and ground rods but our antennas do not reach the extreme heights that your television broadcasting towers reach. With such a huge investment in high tech broadcasting equipment at your stations we your digital viewers at home would love to learn how you engineers keep the digital Over the Air signal going during a lightning storm.

Oh by the way who climbs up the tower when one of the aircraft height warning flashing light bulbs burns out. Do the engineers have to draw straws to see who climbs the tower today? :D Thanks

Well, I finally exchanged my SONY SAT-HD300 at CC for another one hoping to solve the problem.

This one exhibits the same problem with KCTV-DT 5.1. The HD300 indicates "No Signal" and a very low signal strength on the meter during the day. At 12:38AM nightly, suddenly the signal strength goes high, and reception of KCTV-DT is good. Sometime before 7AM in the morning the signal goes away again.

This all is despite being connected to the same OTA antenna that the built-in receiver on my TV (Sony KDF-70XBR950) is connected to. That receiver shows a consistently good signal strength 24 hours a day for KCTV-DT. There is no apparent change in the signal strength on its meter, despite the drastic change displayed by the meter on the HD-300.

So, something is interfering with the HD-300s capability to receive KCTV-DT 5.1 during the day, that does not affect other digital receivers. It is not the broadcast of 9.1/29.1 from KMBC-DT and KCWE-DT. Those go off air approximately 30 minutes prior to the change in signal for KCTV-DT. I have not yet elimated the possibilities of KCPT-DT and KPXE-DT as I have not observed precisely what time they stop broadcasting at night.

PLEASE! If you live in the Kansas City area and you have a SONY SAT-HD300, see if your reception of KCTV-DT 5.1 (Digital 24) is similarly affected and post your results here. Perhaps its something else very localized here. By the way, no other channels exhibit this behavior.

If anyone has any ideas what might be causing my problems, I'd appreciate your input.

KC-Technerd

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=388786&highlight=SONY

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=25

Try posting this question in these hardware forums. I do not have a Sony HD-300 box but these guys in the hardware section are good on tough hardware questions. Maybe someone has seen this problem before. I will keep looking also.

Is it possible that KCTV-DT is going low power between approximately 12:30am and 7:00am?

I have a Sony SAT-HD200 (quite similar to the SAT-HD300), and when a signal gets too strong, its strength meter becomes quite unreliable.

When I was initially configuring my system, the KCWE-DT signal was far too strong and the receiver could never lock on. The strength meter, however, would bounce from high to low to nothing at all and back. In the end I had to put a splitter in the mix to reduce to power of the signal getting to the HD200. Fortunately, this had no effect on my ability to receive other channels.

What I'm getting at is that if they are indeed going low power at night, this could be demonstrating that the signal you're getting from KCTV-DT is too strong when they're at high power, thus causing your receiver to flip out.

I will say that I live in Lawrence, and KCTV-DT comes in VERY strong, so this is a distinct possibility.

Originally posted by jeffdbs
Oh by the way who climbs up the tower when one of the aircraft height warning flashing light bulbs burns out. Do the engineers have to draw straws to see who climbs the tower today? :D Thanks

I was driving around with a friend the other day and the same question came up during random conversation. That has to be, hands down, the scariest engineering job on earth.

I went to the top of a crane once and nearly passed out...and they're relatively stable. I bet those antennas sway A LOT when you get an engineer on the top!

ick.

I wonder, do engineers brag about the size of their antenna towers? :)

There are specialists who change lights on towers. The station engineers don't do it (and I'm sure they're glad they don't have to!).

Brad

Just learned something from elsewhere...
If you have a Samsung Directv receiver it can use satellite info for the local digital stations based on your zip code as well as PSIP info for the guide.
I never put in my zip cause I didn't want to show the analog stations.
The guide with just PSIP was fairly lacking so I kept the satellite locals too.
Do you guys keep these or do you drop them? If you drop the 5.00 a month does the guide still come across?

Thanks

For the Samsung, if you put in the zip code and select the listings for your area, the guide will contain the local listings. You can control whether or not they are shown in the guide by adding or removing the channels.

So if you receive the locals via DirecTV and don't want to have the duplicate listings for the locals you could get via your antenna just remember to set the scan to digital only. If you happen to scan all and they show up just go into the add/remove channel and you can keep them from the guide listing.

Originally posted by jeffdbs
TVDOC, technicalitalian, DogOfMadness .............. how do you engineers protect your towers from lightning? Some of our antennas at home have grounding blocks and ground rods but our antennas do not reach the extreme heights that your television broadcasting towers reach. With such a huge investment in high tech broadcasting equipment at your stations we your digital viewers at home would love to learn how you engineers keep the digital Over the Air signal going during a lightning storm.

Oh by the way who climbs up the tower when one of the aircraft height warning flashing light bulbs burns out. Do the engineers have to draw straws to see who climbs the tower today? :D Thanks


jeffdbs: The towers have significant grounding cables that go directly to the ground, (i.e. dirt). All of the equipment in the transmitter building is also grounded in this manner. Lightning still hits the towers but in most cases it goes directly through to ground but I have seen transmitting antennas seriously damaged by lightning, which of course, has a mind of its own.

Regarding the tower lights, most of us use tower service companies to change lamps and work on the towers but I've worked as stations where the transmitter engineers are responsible for changing them.

Someone mentioned the tower sway. You'd be surprised how stable these guyed towers are even in the wind but it still takes a bit of intestinal fortitude to go up on one.

Comcast Cable HD News http://www.cableworld.com/cgi/cw/show_mag.cgi?pub=cw&mon=041904&file=meettheoperator.htm

The article states that Comcast is "installing new HD boxes at a rate of about 8,000 to 10,000 a week." Hopefully alot of these Comcast HD boxes are being installed in the homes of the Kansas City Metro area.

Originally posted by bocktar
Is it possible that KCTV-DT is going low power between approximately 12:30am and 7:00am?


Nope, we have the same power day and night.

Anyone have an idea if EverestKC is sending out their HD channels in clear QAM since they apparently don't have any functioning HD STB's with IEEE1394?

I called tech support yesterday and no one seemed to know what I was asking. I am tempted to buy a 3410A tuner w/IEE1394 but don't want to spend that kind of money for something which won't work at all on their signal.

Larry

Originally posted by KC-Technerd

PLEASE! If you live in the Kansas City area and you have a SONY SAT-HD300, see if your reception of KCTV-DT 5.1 (Digital 24) is similarly affected and post your results here. Perhaps its something else very localized here. By the way, no other channels exhibit this behavior.


KC-Technerd - I have a HD200 and live in South Olathe (159th St between Ridgeview and Mur-Len). KCTV5 is the strongest of all signals but does not cause the 200 to exhibit any erratic behavior. using the silly little strength bar on the 200, I have checked KCTV5-DT over several time periods and confirmed DogOfMadness' comment that signal strength is constant.

I have a few suggestions for you to try:
1) Swing over to the local geeks at Radio Shack and spend $9 on an adjustable in-line attenuator (part #15-678) (http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F003%5F001%5F003%5F002&product%5Fid=15%2D678). You can install it to try and attenuate the strong signal from KCTV-5 in your area. It may impact your strength on other stations, but at least it will allow you to trouble shoot the situation.
2) Have you ruled out the possibility of DC interference on your coax runs? While not too common, I have heard of similar problems in old CATV boxes caused by DC interference. Again, check out the Shack for an inexpensive DC block.
3) Lastly-Do you have any CB/Ham radio operators nearby? Do you live anywhere close to an airport? You could also be experiencing RF or FM interference. This is probably very remote, but I list it as a possibility that you can troubleshoot away with still another cheap tool from the Shack. You can pick up an in-line RF filter or FM trap for $5.

Other than that - your only other option might be to swap with another brand/model of receiver to see if the problem still exists.

Good Luck!

Originally posted by js615
I have a few suggestions for you to try:
1) Swing over to the local geeks at Radio Shack and spend $9 on an adjustable in-line attenuator (part #15-678) (http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F003%5F001%5F003%5F002&product%5Fid=15%2D678). You can install it to try and attenuate the strong signal from KCTV-5 in your area. It may impact your strength on other stations, but at least it will allow you to trouble shoot the situation.


That's a great idea! I should use one of those instead of a splitter.

Technical Italian- Question for you:

Do you guys at KMBC have any way to equalize the volume when you switch from the DD5.1 stream to the stereo/DPL stream? This is driving us crazy, because we have to turn the volume way up to hear the DD5.1, only to have our ears blown off when a local commercial or the local news comes on. Keep up the good work!

Brad

I just received a wierd piece of information from my A/V guy, and it's got me confused. He said that he "knows" the VP of Engineering at Time Warner in KC, and he said that the HD DVR won't actually record HD programs. It's just a hybrid of the HD cable box and DVR. Basically, it's for people who want to be able to watch HD programs, and record SD programs on the DVR. This product will allow them to do that with one box. He was very clear that the box won't actually record HD programs, however.

This is the first I've heard of this. Has anyone else heard these rumors? It seems very odd...

Originally posted by Jayhawk
I just received a wierd piece of information from my A/V guy, and it's got me confused. He said that he "knows" the VP of Engineering at Time Warner in KC, and he said that the HD DVR won't actually record HD programs. It's just a hybrid of the HD cable box and DVR. Basically, it's for people who want to be able to watch HD programs, and record SD programs on the DVR. This product will allow them to do that with one box. He was very clear that the box won't actually record HD programs, however.

This is the first I've heard of this. Has anyone else heard these rumors? It seems very odd...

A couple of things,

The Pioneer box will record HD.

The VP of Engineering at TWC, Alan Tschirner, is my contact. Thanks to him, I've always given good information. The reason I feel comfortable saying this now, is that because as of Tuesday of last week, Alan is no longer working for TWC. TWC company page lists him (Alan) as VP, and if there is any doubt I can provide his direct line which has a recorded message (not by him) stating that he is no longer with the company. Jayhawk, if your A/V guy indeed knows Alan, he should have know this happened last week - although it isn't public yet.

After hearing that Alan had left, I contacted Carol Rothwell, who put me in touch with Michael Davolt, who put me in contace with Al Wike whom I was able to ask about my beta unit. He said that although the Pioneer box was supposed to go to beta on the 19th, due to code issues it was postponed and most likely still three weeks out. We exchanged contact information and he assured me I was still on the beta list.

I'm more bummed about Alan that I am the HD DVR. Everything I have offered on the thread concerning TWC came from him.

TWC Page Listing Alan as VP of Engineering (http://www.twckc.com/company/pressRoom/companyprofile.asp)

Thanks for the info Craash. When I said I "just" received this info, it was on Friday, and he did say that he heard from Alan(?) a while ago.

That's great news about the Pioneer HD-DVR!

Originally posted by Jayhawk
Thanks for the info Craash. When I said I "just" received this info, it was on Friday, and he did say that he heard from Alan(?) a while ago.

That's great news about the Pioneer HD-DVR!

I forwarded your question to Al Wike for confirmation. I'll post his response, although I would be shocked it he said anything other than what Alan has said.

Can someone explain why the HD-DVR has to be tested when it is being used in numerous other TWC markets around the country (like, for example, TWC-NYC)?

I am sick of waiting, especially when they told us we'd all have it in April, and now they say June. Probably in June they will say September.

It is probably due to fact that there are several different types of headend equipment for each market, and each setup is exactly the same. Being a network admin, I can understand the need for that. I manage two campuses for Truman Medical Center and believe me, just because a product works right at our downtown campus, doesn't mean it will work exactly the same at the Lakewood campus. There are just too many variables to deal with.

Along the same lines, I just spoke with a CSR from Comcast about when they'll be offering them. In early March the answer was "in a couple of weeks." Today they're saying "not till August." They apparently had problems with the boxes..and sent them all back. The CSR didn't know the model number, and didn't know if the boxes available in August would be the single or dual tuner models.

Originally posted by Bradtothebone
Technical Italian- Question for you:

Do you guys at KMBC have any way to equalize the volume when you switch from the DD5.1 stream to the stereo/DPL stream? This is driving us crazy, because we have to turn the volume way up to hear the DD5.1, only to have our ears blown off when a local commercial or the local news comes on. Keep up the good work!

Brad

Bradtothebone: We're working on it but it's tough to do since we "switch" the ABC HD in and out remotely. Until we get to our new studio, we may just have to turn down the "local" programming input to the HD encoder. (it drives us nuts too) TI

"The first thing you’re going to do when you turn on the TV is search for something to watch in HD. As HD channels get watched more and more, suddenly it’s going to have an impact on ratings. Maybe a show that’s not shown in HD will lose a half-point or a point in audience. If that happens in the ratings-crazy U.S. TV business, the floodgates will open and HDTV will at last be unstoppable"

From this article on 24/7 HDTV http://www.broadcastnewsroom.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=25240


Rewards are coming for those Kansas City television stations that broadcast full-power and full bandwidth HDTV. The future is clear in 720p and 1080i Over the Air broadcasting. Thanks for all your hard work KCTV, KMBC, KSHB, KCWE and KCPT. :)

Originally posted by technicalitalian
Bradtothebone: We're working on it but it's tough to do since we "switch" the ABC HD in and out remotely. Until we get to our new studio, we may just have to turn down the "local" programming input to the HD encoder. (it drives us nuts too) TI

Great, I have a problem with that too.

Olathebob -
Comcast is waiting till August because rather than spend money on single tuner boxes now and dual tuner boxes later, Comcast is going to spend money on dual tuner boxes later. That's why the shift from, 'within a few weeks' to 'till August.' The boxes Comcast is getting in Aug 04 will be the dual tuner Motorola HD DVR dig boxes. I believe it will be the DCT 6408.

Jerky-
Thanks for the insight. I agree it makes more sense to wait to get the product we all want anyway. Besides, with the TV season ending in a few weeks, I'm less inclined to want to record anything during the summer, so why spend the extra money for something that won't get much use? I can wait till fall!

Starting tonight, KCTV5 is multicasting. :mad:

5-1 is HD and 5-2 is SD.

During CSI:Miami there are many scenes that are totally destroyed with all of the pixelation.

DogOfMadness, please, please, please make this stop!!

What???????? DogOfMadness is this true?

hdtimmy- I did not get a chance to see CSI Miami tonight. But if this is right on KCTV5 now multicasting this is such a major defeat for CBS HDTV here in Kansas City. Unless CBS 1080i is shown in a full-power 19.2mbs stream the picture quality just goes down the tube. :confused:

Not to worry!! This is only temporary (couple of days). We have no immediate plans to multicast regularly (at least that I've been told!)

Are they multicasting different stuff, or is it just the CBS SD feed?

I agree that it's not cool, but if it's different content, at least there's a line of reasoning that can be followed. There are revenue streams and such to consider.

If it's the CBS SD feed, I can't imagine what they're trying to accomplish. Who can possibly benefit from an SD digitial feed of the same stuff?

Full-power and full-bandwidth Over the Air HDTV is such a blessing. Anytime the bandwidth of HDTV is chopped up the pixelation is terrible during motion. Our eyes have seen the promise land of sharp 1080i and 720p full bandwidth HDTV. Thanks DogOfMadness for restoring CBS 1080i HDTV to its full glory here in Kansas City.:)

DogOfMadness, thanks for the fast response. I also sent a polite e-mail to Dan Somes letting him know my thoughts on the issue.

Bocktar, it's the same programming. 5-1 is CBS/KCTV HD, 5-2 is CBS/KCTV SD.

Well, I confirmed tonight that the period I am unable to receive KCTV-DT (Digital Channel 24), is the broadcast period of KCPT (Digital Channel 18 and Analog Channel 19).

Reception of KCTV-DT began precisely at the moment that KCPT-DT went off the air tonight.

So, for some reason the signal on Digital Channel 18 interferes with the reception of Digital Channel 24.... or is it Analog Channel 19 causing the interference? The analog channel went off the air at the same time.

Of course this only affects reception on the LG built Sony SAT-HD300 receiver. The ATSC receiver on my TV is not afflicted with this problem.

Reception of KCTV-DT began precisely at the moment that KCPT-DT went off the air tonight.

So, for some reason the signal on Digital Channel 18 interferes with the reception of Digital Channel 24.... or is it Analog Channel 19 causing the interference? The analog channel went off the air at the same time.


Sure sounds like signal over load.....maybe the other unit can handle more signal? Radio Shack has a cheap tunable filter that you might install in line with the unit and adjust to reduce the signal level of the interference.

Any preamp that you can turn off as a test? These kind of problems require a lot of trial and error to solve.

technicalitalian

Is KCWE UPN 1080i while KMBC is 720p? Your digital KCWE Over the Air digital stick is inverted (upside down) from what I have seen from I-70. If true is the inverted digital stick common or is this something new? Does an inverted stick broadcast the same pattern as a digital stick pointed up? Does KMBC/KCWE have time shifting available to record a HDTV program to play back on the weekend like the show "Enterprise". And as always thank you guys and gals at KCWE/KMBC for the great HDTV your team provides here in Kansas City. :)

To Beamon;

I experienced interference with KCPT-DT18 with KCTV-DT24 when I added a splitter and connected the second lead to my FM tuner card! As long as I do not connect the FM tuner card, reception is perfect. (The splitter is still in line, but only the set top box is connected) I was getting a mix of video of both stations when I tuned to DT-18, and severe pixelation when viewing DT-24. I do not connect both units up at the same time anymore!

I would also lose KSMO-DT47 when it was connected.

I have a Samsung SIRT-151, antenna is Radio Shack UHF in the attic.

Welcome LiveLite.

Originally posted by jeffdbs
technicalitalian

Is KCWE UPN 1080i while KMBC is 720p? Your digital KCWE Over the Air digital stick is inverted (upside down) from what I have seen from I-70. If true is the inverted digital stick common or is this something new? Does an inverted stick broadcast the same pattern as a digital stick pointed up? Does KMBC/KCWE have time shifting available to record a HDTV program to play back on the weekend like the show "Enterprise". And as always thank you guys and gals at KCWE/KMBC for the great HDTV your team provides here in Kansas City. :)

You are correct, KCWE (UPN) is 1080i while KMBC (ABC) is 720p. The reason for this is that the DTV encoders do not switch resolutions very easily nor cleanly. It is much better for us to stick to the DTV resolution of the associated network. The KCWE stick is inverted. The practice is not new and other than some very limited "shading" issues with the tower itself, the patterns are the same. At the present time, we do not have any time-shift equipment. Perhaps our new facility will.
BTW, we made some adjustments to our local vs. network audio levels but I noticed last evening during Harry Potter that the network itself had a disparity between their 5.1 program and 2 ch. commercials. There was quite a bit of discussion about audio levels and such at NAB this past month. I think we'll see a lot more discussion before the whole DTV audio issue gets wrung out. TI

PS: Thanks for the kind words.

Craash,

Any update on the HD DVR for TWC? Have you gotten yours yet? If so, what's your opinion? Any idea when it could be available to the general public?

Thanks!

Well, with Alan leaving, I had to scramble a little but I've began trading emails with Michael Davolt (Director of Customer Service). He doesn't have the insight that VP of Engineering does, but he's a contact.

Anyway, on 4/30/04 Michael told me this:

-----
I’ve been told that there are still having some software issues, and expect to have them ready in approximately two weeks. I saved the previous email and I am definitely planning on contacting you once they are available so you can help us test them out. I will shoot you an email as soon as I here the final word.
-----
That would indicate they COULD be ready the end of this week for beta testing.

TWC DVR Users-

Has anyone had any problems recently with programs being erased before the HD was full? The other day, I had about 8-10 hours worth of programs recorded, including the last couple of West Wings, and the little hourglass icon next to them said they'd be erased in the next 1-2 days.

I figured this was just a warning that meant that it was possible they'd be deleted if the space was needed, because I had a couple of Royals games to be recorded in the next few days, and I set it to record for 5 hours in case of extra innings. Unfortunately, I was wrong. I looked last night, and both of the WW episodes had been deleted, and I still only had roughly 7-8 hours of recorded programs.

I've now changed all of my recordings to be saved until I delete them, but this shouldn't happen.

The DVR's have roughly 40-50 hour capacities based upon the content recorded, so why would this have happened? Has it happened to anyone else?

Disregard my last question, I figured it out. I went to channel 611 (Diagnostics) and it showed that I had 54Gb used and 19Gb free. Evidently sometimes when you delete programs, it doesn't free up the space on the hard drive for some reason. I did a reboot and was down to 15Gb used, so it fixed the problem.
I checked my list of recorded shows, and the hourglass was gone from all of them.

This article has pictures of Kansas City television towers and a section on KSMO WB-62 (DT-47) tower allowing KTAJ DT-21 from St. Joseph to operate here in Kansas City from the KSMO tower. An older article but has anyone been able to receive DT-21 out of St. Joseph or know anything about KTAJ DT-21 moving to Kansas City with digital broadcasting? http://www.fybush.com/site-011114.html

I searched through this thread, but didn't really see a summary or any opinions, so...

Does anyone here have Everest as their HD provider? How is the picture? What locals do they carry in HD? Have they given any indications about expanding their lineup? Are you happy with the service, or are you looking to switch?

Thanks

jeffdbs wrote:
...know anything about KTAJ DT-21 moving to Kansas City with digital broadcasting?
After a visit to the FCC database, here is what I found. Their first construction permit places their digital signal on the same tower as WB62. They filed for an extension after they missed the May 2002 on-air deadline. Their extension was DENIED. Since that happened, they had to quickly whip something up at their analog transmitter station in St. Joseph. They are currently running on a FCC STA at a whopping 400 watts from their analog tower in St. Joseph.

There are a few more DT applications, one as new as March 2004. It looks like they are still working out the kinks with the FCC to get their full power DT signal on the same tower as WB62.

My neighbor has Everest HD. I'm pretty sure that they use the SA3250HD STB.

They carry the same locals as TWC (KCPT, CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX). They also care HDNET, HDNET Movies, and ESPN-HD. They do not carry INHD (at least not the last time I heard).

My neighbor is happy with the service. Everest doesn't have a timeframe yet to bring on an HD PVR.

Originally posted by FrugalRacer
I searched through this thread, but didn't really see a summary or any opinions, so...

Does anyone here have Everest as their HD provider? How is the picture? What locals do they carry in HD? Have they given any indications about expanding their lineup? Are you happy with the service, or are you looking to switch?

Thanks

Just curious if anybody has any inside info on TNT - HD or Cinimax - HD coming to TWC-KC.

Or ESPNHD?????

I left ESPN off because as far as I know, they still don't have an agreement with TWC to carry the channel at all.

It is my understanding that TNT and Cinimax both have carry agreements with TWC and it is a matter of our local TWC picking it up.

ESPN HD?
Just stretch ESPN SD and there ya go :)

Ok so I see that TWC in KC has just added TNT-HD to their channel lineup. I wonder when we will see Bravo-HD, ESPN-HD, or the local WB and UPN affiliates.

I see that KSHB-DT switched to the SD feed during the opening credits of Law & Order tonight. The transmitter dropped off line a couple of minutes before this, but it was back online and broadcasting HDTV prior to the switch to the SD feed (which was of course up-converted to 1080i). The Tonight Show HDTV feed was put through.

I have noticed that often during prime time KSHB-DT will drop the HD feed.

This isn't really an HD question since TWC doesn't pass UPN 29 on in HD, but does anyone in KC get a good picture through the standard cable? This has got to be the worst looking channel in the world.

Eyedox, where did you see it was added? Is it turned on already?

FrugalRacer,

I have Everest HD and the pic seems to be fine but they have yet to get the 3250 software straightened out so I can record via firewire. It shows through on component but I can't record a decent signal from any HD channel yet. Seems to be an SA 3250 problem. Anyone recording from TWCKC on any HD channel with a JVC 30k or a Mits with the 3250?

Larry

videohot, I am recording HD to the JVC 30K with a 3250HD from TWC. There are some problems (no sound on some channels, most SD digital channels don't display correctly), but TWC is working with Pioneer (the box is running Passport software) to resolve them. Is your box running Passport or the SARA software from Scientific Atlanta?

FCSmith,

I have no clue and don't know the commands to give the box to find out. Seems I know more about the box than Everest does :(

If you know how I find out please let me know. I am more than frustrated here!

What channels can you record reliably? I am tempted to tell Everest to take their non functioning boxes out and go with TW if you are getting results.

Larry

Originally posted by kcjefff
Eyedox, where did you see it was added? Is it turned on already? KCJeff - TNT-HD is posted at TWC's KC Website under their channel lineup section .... http://www.twckc.com/services/lineups/schednet.asp
If you look under the HD section, TNT-HD appears as channel 1460 in the purple section. It goes active FRI MAY 21st ... tomorrow. It is a free HD channel, just as Discovery-HD Theater is. In other words, it is not part of the $6 HD package TWC has (HDnet x 2 and InHD x 2).

videohot,

I know the type of software shows when you reboot the box, but other than that I'm not sure how to find out. I have gotten good recordings off of the HBO and Showtime HD channels, as well as Discovery HD. On the CBS, NBC, and ABD HD channels there is no sound, so of course I haven't bothered with those. As I mentioned above, TWC is working with Pioneer on this and other issues.

fcsmith--you said you have the 3250HD box, yet you mention Pioneer. Don't you mean that you have the Pio 3510HD box?

kc

kchdtv,

It's a 3250HD, but it's running Pioneer software (Passport). The issues I'm having are software-related, so that's why TWC is working with Pioneer to resolve them.

clear as mud now. :)

makes sense. SA3250 with Pio software. thx.

This isn't really an HD question since TWC doesn't pass UPN 29 on in HD, but does anyone in KC get a good picture through the standard cable? This has got to be the worst looking channel in the world.

If you have a snowy picture of UPN on channel 7 of the cable feed you may have direct pickup of KMBC digital 7 on your drop. Call provider and they can run better shielded drop to get rid of this common problem. Time Warner here in Kansas City has been very helpful on this type of problem.

I spent some time on the phone this afternoon with a Julio within technical support after speaking with FCSmith and his reaffirming that he is getting at least VG results recording HBOHD, SHOHD, and DISCHD. I wanted to confirm that these were recordable as a condition to my switching from Everest and when they would have normal network channels recordable. I got a canned response about how they were putting on new channels as soon as possible and that they put out the channels exactly as they get them. My frustration was apparent in my voice I'm afraid and he said, not surprisingly, that no one else was having any problems recording. This was just after I had spoken to FCSmith and he told me about his reporting problems recording most HD channels on his 30K.

Anyone have a name other than Mike Davolt as someone to call thats knowledgeable regarding 5C, their boxes, and recording off TWCKC? I could not get through to Mr Davolt today who FCSmith dealt with.

Larry

Originally posted by videohot
I spent some time on the phone this afternoon with a Julio within technical support after speaking with FCSmith and his reaffirming that he is getting at least VG results recording HBOHD, SHOHD, and DISCHD. I wanted to confirm that these were recordable as a condition to my switching from Everest and when they would have normal network channels recordable. I got a canned response about how they were putting on new channels as soon as possible and that they put out the channels exactly as they get them. My frustration was apparent in my voice I'm afraid and he said, not surprisingly, that no one else was having any problems recording. This was just after I had spoken to FCSmith and he told me about his reporting problems recording most HD channels on his 30K.

Anyone have a name other than Mike Davolt as someone to call thats knowledgeable regarding 5C, their boxes, and recording off TWCKC? I could not get through to Mr Davolt today who FCSmith dealt with.

Larry

Mike is the person you should be dealing with. You could try Carol Rothwell, but I would all but promise that she will refer you back to Mike. He is usually pretty good about answering his email, do you have it? If not, I'll PM it to you.

Watched Lakers v. Timberwolves on TNT HD. Picture was pretty good, sound quality was great. When the ball would bounce off the rim, it sounded like some strong 30-35Hz bass.

Cons: TNT scoreboard logo was not transparent, which is a huge no-no for big screens.

Regards,
PolkThug

Is Fox4 a O&O affiliate?

Originally posted by bruss
Is Fox4 a O&O affiliate?

Yes

ty

KSMO 62

Has anyone else been having difficulties receiving KSMO OTA? I've got a Dish 811 receiver with and outdoor antenna and am near Dennis & Harrison in Olathe. I was able to pick them up at roughly 70-85% some time ago, but now I can't anything at all. Was just curious if I had missed something or if anyone else was having this same type of issue.

Avalanche - I live in Olathe also and have been unable to pick up KSMO DT-47 with a large rooftop antenna for the last 8 months. I think their PSIP info is crap. My TV sees a signal at that frequency but cannot resolve an image. I have called the Chief Station engineer repeatedly but nothing ever gets fixed.

Does anyone else have any problems with the Pioneer HD STB from TWC freezing when navigating through the channel guide while watching an HD channel? It will occasionally lock the STB and put numerous color bars on the screen, requiring me to power cycle the box to get it out of that state. It only happens while watching HD channels and only when navigating through the channel guide. I also seem to get a number of sound dropouts on all the digital channels - not just HD. This is my second box with identical issues. (I am connected via component to a Samsung DLP and via digital audio to an Onkyo receiver). Any suggestions?

Do you have any splitters in front of the STB? Signal degradation may be the problem, not the box.

Originally posted by kcsooner
Does anyone else have any problems with the Pioneer HD STB from TWC freezing when navigating through the channel guide while watching an HD channel? It will occasionally lock the STB and put numerous color bars on the screen, requiring me to power cycle the box to get it out of that state. It only happens while watching HD channels and only when navigating through the channel guide. I also seem to get a number of sound dropouts on all the digital channels - not just HD. This is my second box with identical issues. (I am connected via component to a Samsung DLP and via digital audio to an Onkyo receiver). Any suggestions?

First, I have the Pioneer HD box and it works fine for me on my Hitachi RPTV. Secondly, my father in law has a Mits RPTV and when we switched out his SA HD box for the pioneer (for a functional guide) his setup displayed the same problems you describe. We swapped out boxes. No luck. A tech came out and swapped out boxes without any change. After a 3 hour tech call, we ended up going back to the SA box. He lost the guide (on the HD side) but at least it was watchable.

He was hooked up via component (we tried through the Sony ES reciever and directly to the TV) and a digital coaxal.

Thanks Craash. Glad top hear it is not just me and hopefully just my STB. As far as signal strength goes, I have already had a tech out to install a booster for my signal so I do not think that is the problem. I just hope this is resolved with the HD DVR if and when we ever get it.

I seem to remember 'kchdtv' having a similar set-up (Pioneer STB and Samsung DLP). Do you experience a similar problem?

I found out last night that Pioneer is getting out of the STB business, so we may not have to deal with those problems too much longer. Also, the HD DVRs are still weeks out, as they are having problems with the software.

kcsooner--yes, i have an almost identical setup with similar problems. However, I have another identical Pio STB hooked to a plasma and have not seen this kind of lockup. In both cases the STBs are hooked up via component

kcsooner--yes, i have an almost identical setup with similar problems. However, I have another identical Pio STB hooked to a plasma and have not seen this kind of lockup. In both cases the STBs are hooked up via component

KSMO WB62 (DT-47)

I have a Dish 6000 and I am able to receive DT-47 ok. Hopefully WB 1080i HDTV is on schedule to fill the Kansas City airwaves by late summer 2004. :)

Originally posted by jeffdbs
Hopefully WB 1080i HDTV is on schedule to fill the Kansas City airwaves by late summer 2004. I talked to the Chief Engineer at KSMO two weeks ago and he stated that they were "hopeful" for Mid-September, just in time for the new fall programming. He still has no idea why some viewers (like avalanche & myself) cannot resolve their PSIP issue.

KSMO

Eyedox, you said that the PSIP info on KSMO DT-47 was crap. If the PSIP info on a signal is hosed up or whatever, can that prevent a tuner from decoding the signal? When I try to scan that channel with my 811, it's signal strength tops out at 49%, and I get a 'Signal Lost' error and that's it. As far as I know, the 811 doens't do anything with (or at least doesn't display any PSIP stuff) so I'm wondering if our problem is the same. Or maybe I'm just stupid and overthinking again. As you may have guessed, I'm easily confused...

Yes, a faulty PSIP code can prevent certain 8VSB/ATSC tuners from decoding a signal properly. My Mits shows that there is a signal at DT-47 but cannot do a thing with it to resolve a picture or sound.

Eyedox & Avalanche -

I was in the same boat as both of you were with KSMO-47DT and my RCA DTC-100 tuner. I had previously gotten a picture without a problem and then suddenly I had no picture but I could see a signal signal fluctuating between 0 and 100 in the setup menu for the STB. I had assumed faulty PSIP information was the problem but after checking all of the connections between my antenna and the DTC-100, I found that the problem was a modulator that I use to distribute LD/DVD signals through the house. It has two channels and somehow the channel that I don't use had shifted slightly off of its assigned frequency and was causing interference with the digital signal for KSMO. After readjusting it back to its original setting, KSMO reappeared. Don't know if this will help either of you but just thought that I would relay my experience.

Kurt

Any news on the Time Warner HD PVR? Anyone out their have "friends" who are trying out the beta units?

June 1 seemed like an appropriate time to ask again! :)

Although I sent out a follow up email today, I still don't have my beta unit.

On May 20th, I was told the following by Michael Davolt, Director of Customer Service.


"We have a shipment in, but still waiting on final software code to be written. I have a box already saved for you. Not sure on the code I’ve heard any day to a week."

Wow, that was fast. As of today, June 1, Michael Davolt told me:

"Still no word on our end. They keep saying any day, but the programmers are still struggling with the software."

Quick favor ...
Would you all take a second to go to TWC KC website here and request a few HD channels ... there is strength in numbers, and if enough of us bug them, maybe they will add them sooner.
http://www.twckc.com/company/contactUs.asp?s=ch
Ask for BRAVO-HD & ESPN-HD. If you have time, ask for StarzHD, EncoreHD, CinemaxHD, TMC-HD, and the local UPN and WB affiliates in HD.
Thanks in advance for your help!

Avalanche -

Any luck on your KSMO 62 (DT-47) problem?

I also lost signal several weeks ago - I am at 159th and Ridgeview and had been getting great signal strength (88-92). It seems I can get a sporadic picture on overcast days but lately all I get is 'searching for signal...'

Just wondering what you have found...

LSonsthagen,
So far I haven't gotten anything better, 49% and no picture. I checked all my connections, it's just a straight run from antenna to reciever. And those look good. Not sure what else to check at this point, but for the time, I'm not too awful worried, I don't watch much KSMO. But I would like it to be there for the times I do.

Anyone having trouble when ABC programs are in 5.1 sound on KMBC? I'm accessing through TWC on channel 1421. For the Stanley Cup final games and the NBA game last night, I have to turn up the sound quite a bit higher than the rest of my channels, but it's only the case when the DD 5.1 sound is active. It's usually the opposite with 5.1 sound on all the other channels - the 5.1 sound is louder than the 2.0 or analog signals. Is this done intentionally at the affiliate? Or an ABC thing? Could it be fixed so we don't have to turn it up so loud??

Can't wait for game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals tonight. Anyone who hasn't/doesn't watch hockey, check it out tonight in HD. The picture is beautiful and the Stanley Cup will be awarded, guaranteed. Nothing is better!!!

Yeah, Squeak, I noticed it last night too, but I was watching our TV that's not hooked up to a surround receiver, so I was just watching through the
TV speakers, so I didn't notice if it was in 5.1 or not. I just noticed it was pretty quiet, because when I changed channels during a commercial, I woke up our kids!

Now, if we could just get ESPNHD, I'd be all set. Anyone hear anything anywhere about TW and ESPNHD? Are they close to an agreement???

Originally posted by Jayhawk

Now, if we could just get ESPNHD, I'd be all set. Anyone hear anything anywhere about TW and ESPNHD? Are they close to an agreement???

No news as far as I know. Hopefully since there'll be 7+ hours a day of true HD programming, they'll get the lead out, but I doubt it. I started a thread on the HDTV Programming folder, so check there - maybe somebody will have news.

Originally posted by squeak49
Anyone having trouble when ABC programs are in 5.1 sound on KMBC? I'm accessing through TWC on channel 1421. For the Stanley Cup final games and the NBA game last night, I have to turn up the sound quite a bit higher than the rest of my channels, but it's only the case when the DD 5.1 sound is active. It's usually the opposite with 5.1 sound on all the other channels - the 5.1 sound is louder than the 2.0 or analog signals. Is this done intentionally at the affiliate? Or an ABC thing? Could it be fixed so we don't have to turn it up so loud??


According to technicalitalian at KMBC, they're aware of this problem and working on it. It seems to be a little worse the last few nights, though.

Brad

Thanks KMBC the Stanley Cup game # 7 looked great and sounded good. :)

I would mimic the comment regarding the picture on the Stanley Cup game #7 - however, the sound is still terrible on the TWC HD Channel 1421.

I don't think the sound on 9-1 is a Time Warner issue. I have the same problem OTA. Also have very low audio on 50-1 (50-2, 50-3 ,50-4 are fine).

anyone know of a good ISF tech in the kc area?

ABC's audio issue isn't a TWC problem. I get ABC OTA and through Comcast and both are doing it... Game 7 sure looked nice though...

The audio I received from KMBC DT-07 in Dolby Digital 5.1 came though in good shape for me through OTA. The board checking and puck slapping was almost like being there at the Stanley Cup game #7. What kind of audio problems are people having on DT-07?

I can respond to the TWC - Channel 1421. Typical volume setting on receiver for non-digital channels = -25 dB. For digital, including HD channels = -35 dB, for Channel 1421 = - 10 dB. It is indicating DD, but transmitting only center channel output. This is a good 25 dB difference between ABC and the other digital channels.

For the TWC Channel 12 - Standard Def ABC - Setting is -25 dB and my Dolby PLII is doing a fantastic job of setting up a good surround feel.

Mike

Cyclone, you should hear what Neo:6 can do.

I hear all of you guys on this issue. I haven't been watching any NHL or NBA (I HATE THE NBA!!!), but in my past experience, the sound is still good, just quiet with KMBC. I can't really complain about that. Before I change the channel, I just turn down the volume. Not too much of a hassle.

... And on the seventh day, God created the remote!

I've got Neo:6, I like DD PLII better! To each their own, that's why we have competition.

Regardless of turning volume up and down, they need to get it fixed at KMBC.

Mike

I bet that you probably like DD EX better than DTS ES also. Like you said, to each his own.

I definitely prefer DTS-ES 6.1 Discrete (to DD-EX). But DD-II PL seems to do a better job than DTS Neo:6 for my Yamaha receiver at assigning 2-channel sound to the other speakers properly. I wonder if it depends on the receiver somewhat.

It's less the receiver than it is the receiver-speaker combination...combined with room acoustics. On better receivers and most pre-pro units, the user can also tweak individual speaker volume and delay settings. Properly establishing the actual and logical sound fields has a profound impact on overall sound stage and presence.

So it is absolutely an individual preference, but I can assure you DTS NEO:6 at your house will not sound the same as at mine. A properly calibrated system should always be calibrated to the listener's preference - so who's to say what is truly better or worse? There are no magic formulas for setting the sound fields - just starting guidelines.

Given the amount of money we're spending on hardware - it's nice to know we can make our systems perform the way we want it to, not how some white coat in a perfectly square, acoustically treated room says it should. By the way, this is why we should all demand that the local broadcastes not modify the sound or video in any way - I want to have the capability to view and listen in the manner that best suits the conditions of my personal theater. I don't want the boradcasters to adopt a "what's best for the masses is best for all" position.

...just my two cents...

Originally posted by js615
<snip> . . . we should all demand that the local broadcastes not modify the sound or video in any way - I want to have the capability to view and listen in the manner that best suits the conditions of my personal theater. I don't want the boradcasters to adopt a "what's best for the masses is best for all" position.

...just my two cents...

Here, here!!! js615 for president!!

Right on!

I love the tweaking ability I have with my Kenwood VR-7080. The THX Select Certified enhancements make EVERYTHING sound better (well, not everything, I just can't listen to DSP enhanced music. It sounds weird to me no matter what. I have to have SACD or DVDA for multichannel music)

On the other side, it's funny that with all that tweaking ability, I still prefer true source over any modified stuff when it comes to DD or DTS surround. The only thing I ever turn on for true surround sources is the THX stuff. The reason I turn that on is that the only thing they do is alter the surround mix from its meant for movie theater setup to a meant for home theater setup. Of course, this doesn't apply to multichannel music, since they are mixed for the home theater in the first place.

Hey Craash,

Have you heard anything on your HD DVR?

Also, I was just checking out your pic of your setup and was curious why you decided to put your rack on the left of the TV instead of the right? It looks like the sofa on the side would have a better viewing angle if you switched it.

I only ask because I am looking at rearranging this in my room to accommodate my new 75g reef aquarium and like to get people's opinions of aesthetics.

Originally posted by kcjefff
Hey Craash,

Have you heard anything on your HD DVR?

Also, I was just checking out your pic of your setup and was curious why you decided to put your rack on the left of the TV instead of the right? It looks like the sofa on the side would have a better viewing angle if you switched it.

I only ask because I am looking at rearranging this in my room to accomidate my new 75g reef aquarium and like to get people's opinions of aesthetics.

I received the following yesterday (6/10) from Michael Davolt.

Nothing yet, I’ve contacted my IS group to have them follow up with Pioneer on where they are. I’ll let you know when I find out :mad:

As far as the sofa, what that picture doesn't show is a JBL 400W Sub on the right sides. It was added after the picture was taken. The 250 watt Sub was moved back behind the viewing location.

Regardless, I'm still not sure how moving the rack to the right (with the pictures configuration) would improve viewing. Would this also include moving the TV?

Honestly, the two end positons (where the sofa/love meet at the side table) are the premer locations. The distance is perfect, and you are positioned nicely in the 7.1 surround field.

-Edit

Ah, I looked at my picture, and I see what you mean. However, installing the 400 watt sub accomplished the same thing (moving the TV to the left, as viewed from the front).

[QUOTE]Originally posted by squeak49
[B]Anyone having trouble when ABC programs are in 5.1 sound on KMBC? I'm accessing through TWC on channel 1421. For the Stanley Cup final games and the NBA game last night, I have to turn up the sound quite a bit higher than the rest of my channels, but it's only the case when the DD 5.1 sound is active. It's usually the opposite with 5.1 sound on all the other channels - the 5.1 sound is louder than the 2.0 or analog signals. Is this done intentionally at the affiliate? Or an ABC thing? Could it be fixed so we don't have to turn it up so loud??

We're not sure what's going on but lately, the audio on sports programming from ABC has been significantly varying in level. It is not a "cable" thing. We are still awaiting the equipment to boost the network audio level, it's brand new and somewhat slow to arrive. In the meantime, we're going to lower the local programming level to better match the two program streams.

On another subject, I've noticed some chatter about "broadcasters messing with audio." Remember that many "hometheater-philes" have much more equipment than the local broadcaster. At this year's NAB there was a lot of discussion about metadata for the audio; especially for those networks who distribute audio using Dolby E. I can't speak for the other stations in town but KMBC and KCWE does not process any of the audio on our DTV channels that come from the networks, (other than level). In any case, thanks for the feedback. TI

technicalitalian-
Thanks for keeping us up to date on the audio. I seem to be seeing fewer dropouts and macroblocking on DT-7 lately. Are you guys doing anything different?

Brad

wHY ISNT THE nba FINAL TONIGHT IN hd???

sHAWN

Weather warnings are unable to post in 720p HDTV I believe is the reason for no HDTV tonight.

technicalitalian,

I noticed while KMBC was not showing the NBA Finals in HD, KCTV and KSHB continued to show their normal HD lineup for the night.

Is there some kind of policy put in place at KMBC that when there are weather warnings on screen, you guys are told not to switch to HD because you can't overlay it on the HD image?

Is there any way you can do what KCTV and KSHB did, continue to do HD without the overlay, but still break into programming to report immediate threats?

Thanks for the input Craash about your setup. I think you did get the gist of what I was saying. It sounds like moving the TV to the left would accomplish what I had in mind. Once I am done with my remodeling I will post pictures as well.

Please keep us updated on the HD DVR situation.

Thanks.

Hopefully the weather will cooperate this evening ( no warnings ) so that we can watch the NBA Finals in HD

Greetings Kansas City thread,

I'm about to embark into the world of HDTV for the first time. I'm in on the Samsung power buy for a HLP-4663W that, if all goes well should ship some time next week. I will be OTA only using a LG 3100A. The last piece of the puzzle will be a DVD player more suited to the PQ task then what I currently use.

I'm located in Belton and I have a couple of questions that pertain to our area:

1. Suggestions for local merchants where I might be able to pick up a DVI cable? I know BB & CC are there other suggestions?

2. I've read where others have had difficulty picking up KSMO - that is the one channel that is borderline for me as well (other than WDAF-non existent). Has anyone seen any improvement? Do you think throwing more antenna (a second) at it will make a difference?

I told my father-in-law when I got my new HDTV I would give him my old 27". That said it promptly died. My only TV currently is an Admiral (Wards) 19" that my wife purchased a number of years ago. The remote for it is long gone and the Closed Captioning is stuck on. There is no way to get into the menu to adjust the picture or turn off the CC. It is enough to drive me nuts. Come on new TV and please don't let it be DOA. :D

Welcome jkhill. Your gonna love HDTV and don't forget about the 5.1 surround sound. On the DVI cable I myself do not know but some of the guys and gals here will help you out. KSMO is a good station with WB 1080i HDTV almost here. You should receive the KSMO DT-47 signal just fine with an outdoor antenna. WDAF DT-34 is a dead stick when it comes to broadcasting in full digital power. Such a shame about WDAF from a company that had so many first in broadcasting in Kansas City television history. Godspeed on your new HDTV arrival.:)

If it weren't for cable, NO ONE in KC would be able to pick up WDAF-DT. It's a typical cheap cop out from a marginal station. The major affiliates in KC must sit around the water cooler laughing their asses off at FOX. Maybe the FOX-4 "Problem Solvers" should get on the embarassment that is their excuse for a digital station.

Yeah, yeah - I like that:

Dear Problem Solvers,

I'm having a problem receiving a hdtv signal from a major network in our city. This is the only station in town transmitting at such a reduce power as to be a problem. Numerous calls to the station have gone unanswered... :D

I thought I read in this thread that they can't do anything until KSMO moves off of WDAF's tower, that KSMO's new tower is in place and should be operational soon, but that does not necessarily mean KSMO will give up their lease on the WDAF tower? It seems if they were to terminate the lease they might re-coop some of the cost of leasing, then WDAF wouldn't have an excuse not to go full power. It would work toward everyone's advantage. I know however the obvious means nothing.

All I know they need to do something before long. My wife has a number of "must watch" shows on WDAF. She won't be happy if she is relegated to the TV in the basement.

Originally posted by jkhill
...
1. Suggestions for local merchants where I might be able to pick up a DVI cable? I know BB & CC are there other suggestions?
...
I would not buy the DVI cable from CC or BB, as all they have are the ridiculously expensive ones from Monster Cable. It might be hard to find a reasonably priced DVI cable locally, unless Electronics Supply, or one of the locally owned computer supply stores has one. If you are willing to buy online you can find good prices at www.pacificcable.com (where I got mine), and others (a Google search will return plenty of candidates).

jkhill wrote:
I thought I read in this thread that they can't do anything until KSMO moves off of WDAF's tower...
Actually it was analog KSHB 41 that was on their tower. They have moved their PRIMARY analog signal to a new tower, but it appears that they are keeping their setup on WDAF's tower as a BACKUP. This plan does make perfect sense, but it was a dream of all of us that they would terminate their lease and let WDAF power up DT-34.

The WDAF tower is owned by the station, so I'm assuming that's why they don't want to lease space on another tower in KC. Also, nothing else can be added to that tower, they have reached the maximum weight limit with 2 TV antennas and 2 FM antennas (If I remember correctly) plus ENG and towercams.

All I know is, they need to do something NOW. They either need to terminate some leases on their tower, or lease space on one of the new towers on the east side of town, or they need to build a new tower that can handle more weight. Or something else, but they need to DO IT NOW!!

told me that Discovery HD will be coming to Comcast within 2 months. And fyi, Comcast is adding Oxygen to the digital lineup offically mid July.

Originally posted by fcsmith
I would not buy the DVI cable from CC or BB, as all they have are the ridiculously expensive ones from Monster Cable. It might be hard to find a reasonably priced DVI cable locally, unless Electronics Supply, or one of the locally owned computer supply stores has one. If you are willing to buy online you can find good prices at www.pacificcable.com (where I got mine), and others (a Google search will return plenty of candidates).

jkhill,

Welcome to the KC forum!

I would suggest Electronics Supply (4100 Main, 816-931-0250) also. They are more contractor-oriented, and thus don't carry high-end "esoteric" stuff, but they do sell to individuals. I have bought quite a lot of wire, connectors, RF amplifiers, etc. from them and highly recommend them. Give them a call and see what they have.

Have fun with your new toy, and I agree with jeffdbs, don't skimp on the sound!

Brad

Originally posted by Bradtothebone
jkhill,

...and I agree with jeffdbs, don't skimp on the sound!

Brad


Thanks Brad. I have a Yamaha receiver with 5.1 albeit relatively old, about 4 years old. I've been listening to 5.1 on DVDs since I got it. It makes all the difference in the world!

The thing that surprised me is the receiver already has optical and coaxial inputs, and the manual speaks of digital TV. I know this stuff has been around that long but I figure that's pretty good for a 4 year old relatively inexpensive receiver. :D

Thanks again for the welcome.

Originally posted by Bradtothebone
technicalitalian-
Thanks for keeping us up to date on the audio. I seem to be seeing fewer dropouts and macroblocking on DT-7 lately. Are you guys doing anything different?

Brad

Nope, it's just the vodoo of RF. TI

You can get a DVI cable at MicroCenter for $30. I've tried it as well as the Monster, and they both do the same thing.

Regards,
PolkThug

Originally posted by Jerky
told me that Discovery HD will be coming to Comcast within 2 months. And fyi, Comcast is adding Oxygen to the digital lineup offically mid July.

I was on the phone with comcast today, when I complained about the slow pace of HD adds (Discovery HD was soon when I moved in Jan), the CSR said the contract was signed and it would be very soon. Same with DVR's, VOD and new software for the STB's. I may know more about the DVR on Monday.

All would be welcome, I had TW for several years before moving to the east side of town and don't think that Comcast compares.

I just came from Olathe where I had Comcast ... I now live in Shawnee and the Time Warner is MUCH MUCH better. More HD channels, VOD, better service, and less expensive (I'm in an overbuild area ... I have Charter, Everest, and TWC here). I now have 2 HBO-HD, 2 SHO-HD, 2 InHD, 2 HDNet, TNT-HD, Disc-HD, CBS-HD, ABC-HD, NBC-HD, FOX-ED, PBS-HD, and TWC-HD loop. I pay $60.45 a month for extended & digital cable, HD box rental, VOD, HBOs, Encores, Starz, HD pack, and RoadRunner HS Internet! They said to be here for the install between 11 and 2 and they showed up at 11:05 ... installed 4 outlets at no charge. Who's your daddy, Comcast? :) Yeah, that's what I thought.

I stopped in at the TWC store on Barry Road yesterday and they told me that the HD DVR should be ready in mid July. They put my name on a waiting list of about 35 names. They said it would be the SA8000HD one.
I can hardly wait for this new HD DVR, I use the SD one constantly. Its like a VCR on steriods.
So, if you haven't signed up yet, you might want to give your local TWC store a call and put your name on the list.

Ron in KC

Thanks for the heads up Ron, I am on the phone with them now.

Originally posted by Eyedox
I pay $60.45 a month for extended & digital cable, HD box rental, VOD, HBOs, Encores, Starz, HD pack, and RoadRunner HS Internet! They said to be here for the install between 11 and 2 and they showed up at 11:05 ... installed 4 outlets at no charge. Who's your daddy, Comcast? :) Yeah, that's what I thought.

Eyedox,

Is this just an introductory deal, or am I missing something? When I left TWC three years ago, this package would have cost upwards of $100 (with Road Runner and no HD at all). As I recall, it was about $75 for the digital tier with HBO, $7 for each digital box, and $50 for RR. BTW, I don't have Everest in my 'hood yet, so TWC isn't making any deals out my way at this time.

Brad

Originally posted by Bradtothebone
Eyedox,

Is this just an introductory deal, or am I missing something? When I left TWC three years ago, this package would have cost upwards of $100 (with Road Runner and no HD at all). As I recall, it was about $75 for the digital tier with HBO, $7 for each digital box, and $50 for RR. BTW, I don't have Everest in my 'hood yet, so TWC isn't making any deals out my way at this time.

Brad

Brad,

This is a thing TWC has going where they have competition. About a week after I moved in, Everest was building out in my neighborhood and a TWC guy came door-to-door and took my package (everything except The Movie Channel) and cut it from around $80/mo. to about $50/mo. I've since added HD tier, still have no DVR, and I subscribe to NHL package, but when I'm not paying for NHL, I'm just over $60/mo. I like that it included premiums OnDemand.

BTW, just called TWC to get on the HD-DVR "list", and was told they didn't have one. :mad: At least they didn't tell me it's "right around the corner" like ESPN-HD for the past 16 months!!! :mad: :mad: :mad:

Originally posted by Bradtothebone
Is this just an introductory deal, or am I missing something? I have asked local residents in my neighborhood about the deal. They were told over a year ago that it was an introductory offer, but here they are many months later still getting the deal. It is because my neighborhood is in an overbuild area. Competition keeps the prices low. My Starz! package I mentioned DOES drop off after 6 months ... that is their nationwide deal right now ... free Starz! for 6 months. But all the other stuff in the $60.45 package I mentioned stands. Pretty cool to get all that AND high speed internet. Time Warner also has a deal citywide for $26.95 cable internet roadrunner stand alone for 1 year to compete with SBC DSL $26.95 x 1 yr deal.

You guys got a deal, I have the digital package, all the movie channels and the HD and RR .....my bill about $168.00 a month in Leavenworth :(

DogofMadness..........How will KCTV5 DT-24 handle the CBS NFL HDTV football games of the week? We know the Chiefs game will always be on the DT-24 digital first but how about when the Chiefs are not playing? Will KCTV5 DT-24 show the CBS HDTV football games or is DT-24 going to show what football game is on the analog standard definition channel 5? Now it is not that football is my life..............well maybe, kinda ya I do really like football especially HDTV football. Bring on the Chiefffffffffffs. :D

To reserve a HD_DVR, you may have to go directly to the TWC store in your area. I also talked to a CSR on Friday, and she said they may be ready in August, or in the Fall. They were still testing.
I guess it just depends on who you ask as to when they'll be ready to go.

Ron in KC

I called the main line and told them I wanted to be on a list. They said there was none, so I told them someone told me the Barry Road store had put them on a list, and they called the store for me. They then put me on that list at the store.

BTW, I live near the store, but maybe the other stores in the area are doing the same thing.

Originally posted by jeffdbs
DogofMadness..........How will KCTV5 DT-24 handle the CBS NFL HDTV football games of the week? We know the Chiefs game will always be on the DT-24 digital first but how about when the Chiefs are not playing? Will KCTV5 DT-24 show the CBS HDTV football games or is DT-24 going to show what football game is on the analog standard definition channel 5? Now it is not that football is my life..............well maybe, kinda ya I do really like football especially HDTV football. Bring on the Chiefffffffffffs. :D

I think this is how it works:

If the Chiefs are playing at Noon on FOX, KCTV can't show the CBS Noon game at all. If that's the HD game of the week, tough luck. I BELIEVE they would be able to show a 3:00 game under those circumstances, however. In other words, the Chiefs and another game can't be on at the same time in Kansas City.

Brad

Originally posted by Eyedox
Time Warner also has a deal citywide for $26.95 cable internet roadrunner stand alone for 1 year to compete with SBC DSL $26.95 x 1 yr deal.

I don't think they'd do that for me, either, since we don't have SBC DSL out our way yet. I wonder if you have to be a TWC sub to get it, anyway?

Brad

Thank goodness for NFL Sunday Ticket on DirecTV!!! ...Lot's of HD games to be had each week!!!

Thanks Brad. Hey did you guys and gals see the Aaron Barnhart article in the star today. Aaron mention WDAF FOX4 DT-34 lack of HDTV. We have got to keep calling and e-mailing WDAF. Hopefully FOX 4 will turn up the power and turn on the Fox HDTV here in Kansas City.

Originally posted by jeffdbs
We have got to keep calling and e-mailing WDAF. Hopefully FOX 4 will turn up the power and turn on the Fox HDTV here in Kansas City.

I sent them an email Monday about this very issue. I warned them about the fallout if the Chiefs' games they carry aren't HD, as well as the playoffs and Super Bowl. I also reminded them that, Longley-Rice notwithstanding, they are NOT serving their city of license with 1.1 kW ERP.

Brad

Hey guys, here is the skinny on how NFL television works:

The network is chosen by visiting team, if the visitor is NFC, it's on FOX, AFC CBS.

The only time FOX will have a Chiefs game is if it is a home game against an NFC opponent. This game will only be shown if the game is sold out (applies to all home games, never a problem for us loyal Chiefs fans). The other rule that applies to home games is no game can be shown on the opposite station at the same time.

The big hangup is who has the double header for that week. They don't alternate, I am not sure how they determine which network has the doubleheader. In any case, if the network showing our home game has the double header and we are at home, we will get at least two games, possibly three (depending on whether the opposite station's game for our region is scheduled for the same time as the KC home game or not). If the network showing our home game does not have the double header, we get two games, no matter what. (the chiefs game and the game in the other time slot for the station with the doubleheader that week)

If we are away, we get three games, no matter what.

Any questions? There will be a pop quiz tomorrw.

Is that article by Barnhart available online anywhere? I can't find it on KCstar or TVBarn and I missed it in the paper.

Originally posted by jeffdbs
Aaron mention WDAF FOX4 DT-34 lack of HDTV. We have got to keep calling and e-mailing WDAF. Hopefully FOX 4 will turn up the power and turn on the Fox HDTV here in Kansas City. I completely agree jeffdbs, but WDAF got a really good deal on wire coat hangers from Wal-Mart to use for their current digital broadcast antenna. So until winter rolls around when they have to hang up their coats, they have no motivation to put up a real transmitter/antenna. :)

Fox 4 SUCKS!!! For me, Other than NASCAR, football, and '24' there is no reason to watch them. And by not stepping up with HD, they are not giving me any reason to change my mind.

And I am willing to tell all of their advertisers that HD is the single biggest reason that I am not watching their commercials on Fox - because without HD, I won't be tuned into WDAF.

I was just in McCarthy Chevrolet getting my wife's car oil changed and I saw 5 brand new 2004 Trailblazers all in the delivery are waiting to be picked up by WDAF. Apparently, WDAF can afford to keep the news crews trolling about in fully loaded hot rods but can't spend a dime on improving their crappy picture.

I say we all boycott WDAF and take every chance to let all of their local advertisers who buy air time know that we aren't watching.

Preach on Brother!

Since Fox 4 is owned & operated by Fox how do we go about getting the waivers in place to allow DirecTV to carry the FOX HD signal directly like they do for CBS in cities with CBS owned stations? As long as they aren't going to provide a decent ATSC signal we should be allowed to get the national feed.

Yes I believe WDAF FOX4 DT-34 and DirecTV are own by the same company. This should be easy to obtain from WDAF since WDAF will not provide a full-power digital signal.

I just called and left a message on the WDAF FOX 4 Problem Solvers Hotline...

...for some reason I am thinkning I won't be getting a return call!

I also just left a message with Cheryl McDonald to see how willing WDAF is to allow waivers for KC-area folks wishing to have Fox in HD.

WDAF needs to wake up - if enough of us complain or submit for waivers, perhaps they will take action. Again - I doubt if I will get a return call, but if I do, I'll be sure to post the response here.

Where is this article, what did it say?

Could someone please transcribe it here on the forums?

Where is this article, what did it say?

Aaron Barnhart's KCStar Article (http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/entertainment/columnists/aaron_barnhart/8959500.htm)

Originally posted by js615
I also just left a message with Cheryl McDonald to see how willing WDAF is to allow waivers for KC-area folks wishing to have Fox in HD.

It will be interesting to see what she says since WDAF is a Fox Owned & Operated (O & O) station and DirecTV has said that they will be passing the the FoxHD signal through to subscribers of the HD & Local Channel Packages in those viewing areas whenever Fox starts broadcasting in HD sometime this fall (there are a couple of threads on FoxHD over in the HD Programing Forum). So it should be just like what DirecTV is doing now with the CBS HD east and west coast feeds in CBS O & O areas. It would seem in this case that WDAF doesn't have any say over if you will get the FoxHD feed if you meet the criteria above.

Also, this interesting bit was posted over there:

Originally posted by foxeng
All the FOX O & O's WILL be HD ready by Sept 12th. Many already are. Here is a listing of the FOX O & O's:

WAGA-5: Atlanta
KTBC-7: Austin
WBRC-6: Birmingham
WFXT-25: Boston
WFLD-32: Chicago
WJW-8: Cleveland
KDFW-4: Dallas
KDVR-31: Denver
WJBK-2: Detroit
WGHP-8: Greensboro
KRIV-26: Houston
WDAF-4: Kansas City
KTTV-11: Los Angeles
WHBQ-13: Memphis
WITI-6: Milwaukee
WNYW-5: New York
WTXF-29: Philadelphia
KSAZ-10: Phoenix
KSTU-13: Salt Lake City
KTVI-2: St. Louis
WTVT-13: Tampa Bay
WTTG-5: Washington D.C.
KMSP-9: Minneapolis
WOGX-51: Ocala
WOFL-35: Orlando

Take it for what it's worth. As always, YMMV and if WDAF still uses the signal strength that it currently is, it won't matter much unless you're on cable or DirecTV.

I just checked in with Cheryl's office: apparently she got my message and is consulting with the corporate offices as to what information they can provide to us.

...not sure what that exactly means, but at least she is willing to acknowledge the request for information.

The best way to e-mail WDAF FOX4 DT-34 is to e-mail their owner. http://www.newscorp.com/management/foxtvstations.html :)

FOX and DirecTV has an agreement that when the FOX HD National feed comes up on DirecTV, the O & O markets will get an auto turn on if there is no overlap from another FOX affiliate. WDAF is owned by FOX so if you live in the DMA of the O & O, you don't live in the coverage area of a second FOX affiliate, you have D* HD and the local package, you will get the FOX HD National feed without doing anything whether you receive WDAF or not.

Thank you foxeng for the answers on the DirecTV and O&O markets. Any ideas on why the FOX owned television station here in Kansas City WDAF will not provide Kansas City FOX viewers with a full-power digital signal. Why is Kansas City FOX Over the Air viewers left out of the upcoming FOX programming and sports broadcasting fall season provide in 720p HDTV? Again thank you for your input on our local Kansas City HDTV forum.:)

Originally posted by jeffdbs
Thank you foxeng for the answers on the DirecTV and O&O markets. Any ideas on why the FOX owned television station here in Kansas City WDAF will not provide Kansas City FOX viewers with a full-power digital signal. Why is Kansas City FOX Over the Air viewers left out of the upcoming FOX programming and sports broadcasting fall season provide in 720p HDTV? Again thank you for your input on our local Kansas City HDTV forum.:)

Being a FOX O & O, any large capital purchases have to be approved by FOX in LA. FOX has decided that until more viewers are able to see the digital signals, they are providing a minimal signal in the smaller markets that they own stations in. In the large picture, it is a purely financial reason. I do not know the specifics, but I understand that there are other technical reasons that prevent WDAF from increasing power that the other FOX O & O's at low power do not have and I am sure that is playing into it.

I am in North Carolina, so I am quite removed from WDAF but do hear occasionally things going on there.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by foxeng
[B]Being a FOX O & O, any large capital purchases have to be approved by FOX in LA. FOX has decided that until more viewers are able to see the digital signals, they are providing a minimal signal in the smaller markets that they own stations in. In the large picture, it is a purely financial reason.

...Thank goodness ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, UPN, WB, PAX, and the other few independent full-power digital broadcasters here in Kansas City did not have a business plan like our local FOX station here in Kansas City has toward full-power digital television broadcasting. Kansas City television viewers deserve to have a full-power FOX broadcasting station. Anything less from a company that is as large as the Newscorp company is in my opinion just wrong to the television viewers of the Kansas City television market. WDAF FOX4 has the staff, engineers and enough viewers waiting to solve what ever it takes to get DT-34 full-power, full bandwidth FOX 720p and Dolby Digital 5.1 on the air before the 2004 NFL and FOX fall programming starts. Please Newscorp turn on the FOX full-power over the air DT-34 here in Kansas City. Your loyal FOX viewers have seen the future of television in HDTV. Please hear us. Thanks. :)

I've got a question - looking for suggestions.

I'm finally viewing content from my STB on a true HDTV. I purchased a LG RU-44SZ61D (44") on friday and I'm loving it.

I've got two antenna in the attic with a combiner, one a vhf/uhf the other a uhf. I have two problem channels (outside of WDAF of course). The problems are KMBC (9) and KSMO (62). Their signals vary on the low end, occasionally I loose the picture. I've been to antennaweb.org to check their heading from my location. A few other stations are on the exact same heading, at least one of those is the same distance 17mi. Other stations lie on either side of that heading and have a good signal as well.

I guess I'm curious if 62 & 9 are transmitting at a lower power? Does anyone have any thoughts on something I might be missing? Would moving from attic to roof top make a significant difference? What about signal amplifiers? My thoughts are to stay away from signal amplifiers if at all possible. I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks.

jkhill- when you say two antennas with a combiner are you saying you are using both antennas at the same time? If so have you just tried using the VHF/UHF antenna with a single RG-6 coax cable feed going into a ground block and from the block into the back of your STB unit. KMBC DT-07 and KSMO DT-47 I believe are broadcasting at full power. An outdoor antenna can help but amplifiers are trouble in the metro area when used to receive local over the air digital channels.

I'm not sure about KMBC, except for the fact that it is VHF and is touchy sometimes. They are at full power.

KSMO is only boadcasting at 9kw, but their antenna is VERY high (at FCC limit). This is why most of us can receive their low power signal (hear that WDAF?). You may have trouble with this in Belton, especially in your attic. Channel 47 is a pretty high frequency and most of the signal is being blocked by your roofing materials at 9kw.

jeffdbs - Yes I'm using both antenna at the same time. They run into a combiner up in the attic then a single coax runs into a line conditioner/surge protector.

I assume RG-6 is a rating for coax? I don't know what my coax is rated at. It is not bottom of the line stuff, not top of the line either. I will look into that.

My coax feeds into a line conditioner and from the line conditioner into my STB. I don't know if the ground block is the same as the line conditioner or not. You may have to elaborate on that.

hdtimmy - Your description of KMBC seems accurate. It does fine for a period of time although the signal strength is below 50%, but there are periods of time the signal strength drops pretty low and my picture breaks up. It doesn't seem to be related to anything I can put my finger on - yet.

I may take an antenna up on the roof just to see if it makes much difference before I look into mounting one. It can't hurt.

Regardless of the signal anomalies we are enjoying the PQ I enjoy the tweaking end of it too.

jkhill - You may want to see what happens to the signal when you drop one of the antennas out of the equation. I had been running two antennas in my attic for analog TV reception for years without a problem. After getting an HDTV and hooking it up, I was surprised that my signal strength wasn't what I had anticipated (particularly with KMBC and KSMO). So I trudged up into the attic to see if something had happened to the cable and/or re-align the antenna(s), leaving my wife in front of the TV to report the signal strength. When I disconnected the cable from the UHF antenna to see if it had corroded, my wife yells that the signal for KMBC had jumped from below 40 to 90. When I reconnected the cable, she yells at me to stop what I'm doing because the signal had degraded again.

After checking around some web-sites it seems that antenna installers say that they have the most problems getting two antenna systems for digital reception up and running and recommend using the same length of cable between the combiner and the two antennas (which I did not have in the original set up). After replacing the shorter of the two cables with one of similar length to the other, the problem went away and everything works like it should. Why it didn't matter for the analog signal but did for the digital one is beyond me (phase seems more like an analog issue but maybe two digital streams arriving at slightly different times creates an error checking problem for the receiver) So you may want to see if this helps you. Heck, it beats climbing up on the roof and wrangling with an antenna.

Kurt

Odd - I never got a response from the folks at WDAF.

Gee - I guess they value our opinions so little they can't even acknowledge the phone calls. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.

You know - I think this really shows how lucky we are that the other local broadcasters are represented here. A tip of my hat goes out to those folks (DogofMadness, technicalitalian and the others) for being a part of our forum and doing what they can to bring HD happiness to KC. Somebody buy these guys lunch!

Kurt: Thanks for the input. I'll give that a try.

Originally posted by js615
Odd - I never got a response from the folks at WDAF...


I find it amusing WDAF responds the same way some of the companies/individuals respond that they question or investigate.

It would be nice if they could at least give a statement on where they're at, where they hope to be, and how long it will take them to get there. I can respect a company that responds even thought I may not like the response.

To anyone's knowledge have they ever responded to questions about their HD future?

When I asked WDAF about there HD future this is what they said:

"At the present time, we have no plans to go beyond the 480p.

Sincerely,

Beth Sweatt, Engineering Manager "

Needless to say I was pretty disappointed when I got this reply back.

"At the present time, we have no plans to go beyond the 480p.

Sincerely,

Beth Sweatt, Engineering Manager "



"Oh no"... This is sad news for Kansas City Over the Air HDTV viewers. FOX is rolling out 720p HDTV along with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio across this great nation and it looks like we television viewers in Kansas City are going to be left out of this year FOX fall programming.

We have got to keep trying maybe something good will happen down at WDAF. HDTV is the future of broadcast television. Kansas City deserve a full-power, full-bandwidth FOX digital broadcasting station.

FOX SUCKS! If you're getting lapped by channel 50 you have serious problems... Granted I don't want to watch channel 50 but if I did there are four options to choose from.... Truly pathetic...


Working 4 You! as long as you don't want HDTV...

I live in Olathe and I am planning on getting my first HDTV in about 6 months to a year. I currently have DirecTV (UltimateTV reciever) and love it! When I convert to HD, I will get the HD DirecTivo as I cannot live without my DVR. :) What's the latest on the DirecTV offering local HD channels situation? Is there a good place on the Net to go that keeps close tabs on this? I am really hoping that this gets sorted out before I go HD, but it's unlikely it will.

I'm not a huge OTA fan, as antennas are ugly and seem to over-complicate things.. at least compared to straight-up DirecTV. If I could get the OTA signals via one of those cool looking Terk dish clip-ons, then I wouldn't worry about it. But, my guess is that I would have problems picking up all the stations that I want. My sat dish is pole mounted in my backyard so there is not immediate blockage towards the northeast (where antennaweb says I need to point the antenna). Are those clip-ons any good, or what about the indoor Terk HD antennas? I can post a pic of my dish setup if need be.

So if when I go HD and DirecTV doesn't have local HD channels.. can I still get the SD locals even if I am subscribed to the HD DirecTV package? Or do they make you get them via OTA if you go HD? I don't mind not having local channels (Don't really watch the news).. as long as I can get the east and west network channels. Is there any chance that DirecTV would offer HD east and west network channels in the future and offer those to anyone who would be ok getting HD networks even if they weren't local?

Greg

FOX SUCKS! If you're getting lapped by channel 50 you have serious problems... Granted I don't want to watch channel 50 but if I did there are four options to choose from....
...and they are at 1000kw from 1112 feet high!! They are being more than just lapped. FOX4 is choking in their dust.

gregorykai,
I also am in Olathe and am a huge DirecTV fan. I subscribe to the DirecTV HD plan and get the Locals in HD with OTA ( antenna in the attic, Sony SAT-HD300 receiver ).
I have no answer for you on the dish mounted antenna but can tell you that you can still get the Locals in SD from DirecTV. I rarely view the locals on the D* feed but in the past when their have been HD signal problems I have been glad to have them as a backup as my SD analog reception is not that good on certain channels.
As far as DirectTV providing Locals in HD, I don't believe that will ever happen( see previous posts ), unless the local stations do not provide an HD signal.

I tried one of those clip ons and it didnt work worth a darn. When I asked somewhere on this forum I got "if it looks like a coat hanger, it probably works like a coat hanger"
So I went to Lowes and got a channel master and put in my attic.
Works fine for me

I just found this article today dated May 4th: http://www.w4cl.net (http://www.w4cl.net:8090/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1203&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0)

Has things changed since then with their plans to offer local HD channels?

Greg

Any Comcast subscribers have Discovery HD yet?

I hadn't noticed it yet. Haven't checked yet today.

Has anyone got a HD DVR from TW yet? I am curious how the software/usability is.

I was able to get one of the single tuner DVR's from Comcast, and have been playing around for a little over a week. The only good thing is that it records HD. I really hope that the dual tuner version will have improved software/features. After using Tivo for the past couple of years, it's a step back - just a digital VCR.

Got this statement from another thread: Originally posted by CPanther95
Here's are the most significant affiliates (not factoring in DMA size) not even in 720p yet. Fox O&O's and NFC cities are the priority for Fox, and AFC cities should be very self-motivated to get the upgrade done before the football season.

Austin - O&O
Kansas City - O&O - AFC
Ocala - O&O
New Orleans - NFC
Baltimore - AFC
Cincinnati - AFC
Nashville - AFC
Jacksonville - AFC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=409554

If WDAF doesn't go 720p & up the power this fall, I will be done with them until they do. There is plenty of HD on the other networks.

FOX has said that all the O & O's will be in HD before September.

Originally posted by foxeng
FOX has said that all the O & O's will be in HD before September.

While FOX has said that the change will occur, apparently no one at WDAF was listening or they are just playing dumb to the HD community here in KC about when/if it will occur.

As late as this week, the station management and engineering group has said that "480P is fine for us and we have no intention of going beyond that level." While they may be waiting to surprise us in September, all they are doing is causing problems by not acknowledging what is apparently going to happen down the road.

I know that there are other issues involved regarding the tower and its ability to handle an HD transmitter without the removal of a backup analog one from another local station that is taking up space but you would think that they would just say that they are working on that issue and hope to be up and running at 720P in September. That is all that I'm looking for from them at this time.

BTW - Foxeng, have you heard anything about how DirecTV will handle NFL games that are broadcast on the national FOXHD feed, will they be blacked out or passed through?

This may help......Originally posted by foxeng
FOX and DirecTV has an agreement that when the FOX HD National feed comes up on DirecTV, the O & O markets will get an auto turn on if there is no overlap from another FOX affiliate. WDAF is owned by FOX so if you live in the DMA of the O & O, you don't live in the coverage area of a second FOX affiliate, you have D* HD and the local package, you will get the FOX HD National feed without doing anything whether you receive WDAF or not.

TheHypnoToad- you hit the nail on the head about WDAF-TV attitude toward digital television. The few times I have been able to talk to the engineer at WDAF-TV it seems I am talking to a female auto-response corporate robot (trying to say this without hurting anyone's feelings). It would be nice to know what is WDAF FOX4 future plans toward full-power, full-bandwidth FOX 720p HDTV. It would be really nice if foxeng worked at WDAF-TV then all of our questions would be answered.

Originally posted by TheHypnoToad
BTW - Foxeng, have you heard anything about how DirecTV will handle NFL games that are broadcast on the national FOXHD feed, will they be blacked out or passed through?

No I haven't heard yet. I don't think a decision has been made from what I have been told by some people who are supposed to be in the know.

Foxeng,

Hypothetically speaking, could WDAF-DT 34 use KSHB's old analog antenna (channel 41) that is mounted on their (WDAF's) tower? I imagine the efficiency would suffer some, but is it POSSIBLE? Never mind the lease implications.

Brad

Originally posted by foxeng
No I haven't heard yet. I don't think a decision has been made from what I have been told by some people who are supposed to be in the know.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out considering the FCC's blackout rules for sporting events. My experience with DirecTV in these situations is that they're pretty good about adhering to the rules (as I recall they blocked out the ESPN signal for a Sunday Night Chiefs game last year when a local station was carrying it). So my fear is that WDAF will still not be broadcasting at full power 720P and a Chiefs game will be the HD feed for FOX but DirecTV will block the signal because of the FCC rules. Let us know if you hear anything.

Cheers,
Kurt

Originally posted by jeffdbs
It would be really nice if foxeng worked at WDAF-TV then all of our questions would be answered.

Agreed! Heck I'd even take someone from WDAF who seemed to understand the frustration that the HD community feels and tried to get answers for us or even posted on this board. I know that they've got to be tired of hearing from us about this but it's kind of strange that the only news that we get about FOXHD comes from an engineer at a FOX station in North Carolina (no offense Foxeng, we're glad that you've dropped in :D ).

Given the preponderance of Digital/HDTV choices in this community and goading from the local TV Critic, the lack of meaningful information and cavalier attitude from WDAF about FOXHD is almost embarrassing.

foxeng, hopefully this picture will help you answer Brad's question and give you some idea of what we are dealing with:

BTW, this was taken from my office where I have an HDTV and tuner and I cannot reliably receive their DT signal even from here!!!!

http://www.nelson-atkins.org/wdaf.jpg

hdtimmy......thank you for the picture. This picture when viewed by the television viewers of Kansas City who visit this site is going to be an eye opener. This picture will explained why Kansas City is going to be missing out on the exciting new world of FOX 720p HDTV programming. Our Kansas City Chiefs along with all the other NFL HDTV and the Super Bowl presented by FOX Broadcasting this year deserve better than a hidden low-power antenna.

This picture will also explain alot to all the Kansas City metro viewers who have spent countless hours and hard earn money trying to receive WDAF DT-34 only to fail. :(

After viewing the WDAF tower picture, I can't help wondering if KSHB is blocking WDAF from putting their digital stick on the tower.

Also, could we organize a bake-sale to raise money for WDAF? A bake-sale might bring some attention to the digital TV issue.

I found that the best way to increase awareness of digital TV is to invite your neighbors to watch! Also demonstrate to them that your OTA box can improve the picture quality on their analog TV's.

Most people are not even aware of the transition to digital. When you tell them that the cheap analog big screen they just purchased could go blank in two years, they just think you are nuts.

Comcast is getting DiscoveryHD within a couple of months. It's not available yet.

Everything is always a couple of months for comcast.

Originally posted by Bradtothebone
Foxeng,

Hypothetically speaking, could WDAF-DT 34 use KSHB's old analog antenna (channel 41) that is mounted on their (WDAF's) tower? I imagine the efficiency would suffer some, but is it POSSIBLE? Never mind the lease implications.

Brad

Probably not. There is too much difference between channel 34 and 41. It would take a major rework of the channel 41 antenna and if you are going to spend that kind of money, you might as well put up a new antenna.

Originally posted by TheHypnoToad
Agreed! Heck I'd even take someone from WDAF who seemed to understand the frustration that the HD community feels and tried to get answers for us or even posted on this board. I know that they've got to be tired of hearing from us about this but it's kind of strange that the only news that we get about FOXHD comes from an engineer at a FOX station in North Carolina (no offense Foxeng, we're glad that you've dropped in :D ).

It has been a while since I spoke to anyone at WDAF, but I can say that they know and understand the frustration. Right now this is not being driven at the local level but at the corporate level. There are some legal issues before the FCC that they need to decide on before FOX will proceed and how the FCC comes out on these issues will effect not just how WDAF proceeds but about how 20 of the FOX stations proceed, mine included.

I would like to personally thank foxeng for his candid comments regarding WDAF. I was wondering if there was an email address to the corporate tightwads that are responsible for making these stupid decisions, so that we all may flood their email boxes with requests? Thanks.

Originally posted by Eyedox
I would like to personally thank foxeng for his candid comments regarding WDAF. I was wondering if there was an email address to the corporate tightwads that are responsible for making these stupid decisions, so that we all may flood their email boxes with requests? Thanks.

Until you get more than 3% of the viewing audience who can see the digital signal, it is going to be difficult. to get anyone's attention. You can try the email address listed at fox.com.

My guess is that when this Second DTV Review finally comes out (the FCC is about 6 months late on it and it is about time to start another one!) there will be some answers and that is when decisions will get made at the corporate level and that is when things will start to move. It is all hung up with what rules the stations will have to live with and what it will cost to comply with the new rules. When the FCC answers those questions, you will know what the stations will need to do and when.

One given is that none of the low power FOX O & O's will stay that way. It is now just a matter of timing and right now the FCC is driving that boat. The questions are when and where. When do stations need to do certain things and which channel those things need to be done on.

If I had to guess, and this is ONLY a guess because NO ONE, not even the FCC, has a clue right now, but within 2 to 3 years analog will be gone and all digital stations will be at full power. We shall see how good my crystal ball is.

Thanks, hdtimmy, for the photo illustration, and foxeng for the answer regarding KSHB's antenna. I've been trying to get an answer to that question for over 2 years!

Off-subject for a minute: Can anyone here recommend a reliable and reasonable service company for Hitachi big screens in the KC area? Mine's 3 years old and needs some help fast. For a couple of months, after I turned it on, it would be WAY out of convergence for several minutes, then sputter a bit and snap into convergence. Last night, it snapped, but not into perfect convergence - the left 1/3 of the screen looked like a 3-D movie, while the right 2/3's looked fine. I'm told that this is probably a bad electrolytic capacitor, but that hardly anyone does "component-level" repairs anymore - especially in-home. This is a 61" bad boy, so it won't be going anywhere. Any help would be appreciated.

Brad

Brad.

I would suggest sears. My best ever results with a hitachi projection was with them. If my new Hits, HD projection needs help, I'd call them.

Great thread, great participation by all - exactly what these forums are for. I am glad to be part of the community.

Still, WDAF FOX4 SUCKS!!!!! Their blatant disregard for us as HD pioneers in KC is downright rude and insulting. Heck, Cheryl McDonald can't even return a simple phone call!!!

All I know is that if I ignored my customers like they do I'd be out of business in no time.

So, until I can get some respect from WDAF - this is my new mantra, and one I will happily tell all of their advertisers: WDAF FOX4 SUCKS!!!!!WDAF FOX4 SUCKS!!!!!WDAF FOX4 SUCKS!!!!!WDAF FOX4 SUCKS!!!!!WDAF FOX4 SUCKS!!!!!WDAF FOX4 SUCKS!!!!!WDAF FOX4 SUCKS!!!!!WDAF FOX4 SUCKS!!!!!WDAF FOX4 SUCKS!!!!!WDAF FOX4 SUCKS!!!!!WDAF FOX4 SUCKS!!!!!WDAF FOX4 SUCKS!!!!!

I guess it's time to switch to another station for my local 10:00 newscasts. I know there are other stations in KC that appreciate my viewership.

I am getting no sound on KCPT-DT 19.1 and 19.2. I've verified this using 2 receivers. On my OTA-satellite receiver (Sony SAT-HD300) it's showing 19.1 is now broadcasting 720p. And on the receiver in my TV it shows "No Signal" on 19.1 and 19.2, despite having a good picture on both, and having good signal strength on the meter on both.

Yep I noticed it. Too bad to, looked like some interesting shows on last night. I don't know what's up. Hopefully it will not be a long term thing.

KCPT HD was out last night on Comcast so I checked out their OTA on my tv's tuner and it was coming in fine, audio and all... What time were you noticing the problem..

It was around 6pm - 8pm - there abouts.

I'll agree with you on Fox 4, I sent an email from the website the other day (wdaftv4@wdaftv4.com). Talked about how disappointing it is that we get no info from them, no hd, no power.... even let them know that I wouldn't be watching any SD programming this fall. I got the standard form mail back, they suck. Odd that a station that brags about all it's "first" would be so far behind on HD.

WDAF is broadcasting a digital signal (480p) on channel 34 at low power. The programming is the same as channel 4. WDAF's digital signal can be seen on Time Warner Cable. If you do not have cable and live outside of our low power coverage area, you may not be able to see our digital signal. From our tower (Summit at 31st Street), our area of low power coverage is approximately 12-15 miles depending on terrain. WDAF has no immediate plans to increase digital power. Thank you for watching Fox 4 television and being a loyal viewer as we enter into a new and exciting era