You will definitely get better signal with an outside antenna. If the cable is still there from the Dish Satellite it will work just fine. What El Paso channels you get will be dependent on where you live in LC and your line of site to the Antennas on the mountains here. They are all in about the same place give or take a few degrees.

Many thanks Frank43, I will put the antenna up on the roof this weekend and let the forum know how it worked...........Ray

try this web site it mite give you compass azimuths to El Paso from you house. Good luck, you can always return the antenna if you don't get any better reception and channels.

http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx

try this web site it mite give you compass azimuths to El Paso from you house. Good luck, you can always return the antenna if you don't get any better reception and channels.



Wow, just printed out the channel listing and antenna directional map for my location. This should make the installation much easier........Many thanks Frank43....................roadrunnerray

Ray/Frank,

Please excuse me for stepping in on your posts here, but, I see a little problem that you might encounter.

Took a quick look at (Ray) Your Chart (http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d8ecdd7077afbd3)
and see that your PBS and other major Channels are about 54° apart.

Though I don't know exactly which of the Phillips Antenna you have, I am unaware of any of those, which will cover that quantity of Beamwidth.
Subsequently, you may have to adjust the antenna each time, you want to change from the PBS Azimuth, to the other Majors.

Given that all of your channels are in the UHF range, should you consider to replace your existing antenna, I would recommend something like the...
Antennas Direct DB8 (http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?prod=AD-DB8)
It has a very wide "eye" (100°) and though it is rated at longer ranges than you require, I've found it to operate quite well at closer distances.

Have a good Day ! :)
S.W.

I live in west Las Cruces and recently decided to drop my overpriced Comcast cable TV. I bought a Philips powered antenna from Walmart and placed it by a window. My reception is fairly good, I am using a Motorola digital converter box to my analog TV.

Would I get better reception if the antenna was outside?
Many thanks for any assistance ............Ray

I'm in Picacho, so i have a clear line of sight to El Paso and A mountain. I used the WalMart Phillips and it did good. The key was, i had it in a east facing window with a line of sight to EP. On the west side of my house, it didn't really work that well. I've since switched to a roof antanae (a Terk). This afternoon, i'm getting ch 9 & 22 at a 100 strength, 4 at 75 (they have been getting weaker latley), and 7 & 14 at around 85. I couldn't get channel 13 PBS from El paso, but 22-1 from the university has a great HD picture. I scan channels higher than that, but i don't watch those.

My antenae is pointed towards El Paso. Channel 22's signal is strong (comes from A mountain) and i have no trouble picking it up with either antenae, no matter where its pointed).

Good luck.

To comment on the Spanish channels being labeled as having English audio, I have noticed this also. There does not appear to be any alternate audio available and it is my theory that the broadcast equipment manufacturers set the display on the main audio to "English" as a default and the local Spanish stations do not bother to change the display to "Spanish".
Analog channel 56 from Juarez used to and probably still does have English audio on the second SAP channel for shows that were in English originally and later dubbed to Spanish. Maybe someday when they go digital they will continue to offer this service in a digital format.

To comment on the Spanish channels being labeled as having English audio, I have noticed this also. There does not appear to be any alternate audio available and it is my theory that the broadcast equipment manufacturers set the display on the main audio to "English" as a default and the local Spanish stations do not bother to change the display to "Spanish".
Analog channel 56 from Juarez used to and probably still does have English audio on the second SAP channel for shows that were in English originally and later dubbed to Spanish. Maybe someday when they go digital they will continue to offer this service in a digital format.

The Tandberg encoders default to English on the main channel.
Thanks for the heads up Mister B. I just changed my Estrella encoder to Spanish :)

I will notify the other ComCorp stations.......................

I noticed that KDBC has restored the programming information. I emailed them earlier in the week and the next day it was restored. Makes it easier to see what coming on next!

I noticed that KDBC has restored the programming information. I emailed them earlier in the week and the next day it was restored. Makes it easier to see what coming on next!

What e-mail address do you use? I have e-mailed the "station Manager" listed on thier web site but never get any answers or resolutions about several things. One is why no Wheel of Fortune in HD again this year.

I went to their website and clicked on "General Manager:" which brought me to this email address -- generalmanager@kdbc.com

Here's the URL were all their information is -- http://www.kdbc.com/Global/link.asp?L=333899&nav=menu608_7_2

Good luck! They also need to adjust their clock they are about 4 minutes faster than WWV! Oh the difficulty in being a retired technologist and anal! If you are going to display the time, then make sure its correct!

I went to their website and clicked on "General Manager:" which brought me to this email address -- generalmanager@kdbc.com

Here's the URL were all their information is -- http://www.kdbc.com/Global/link.asp?L=333899&nav=menu608_7_2

Good luck! They also need to adjust their clock they are about 4 minutes faster than WWV! Oh the difficulty in being a retired technologist and anal! If you are going to display the time, then make sure its correct!

I guess I need luck to get any answers from the GM. I have sent e-mails to the address you have above but never any replies since Bram Watkins left.

I have a Eco Star (dish) dtv pal dvr for recording OTA HD programs and it has TV Guide Online programing guide. The only station that does not have several days of programing is FOX. The time is accurate but KDBC, just as in other years, keeps starting programs about 1 minute early. Just a pain to set each recording to start 1 minute early. I am retired techy also and a bit anal also.

This is their response and email address from - Scollard, Steve [sscollard@kdbc.com]

"Thanx Jim. We appreciate the feeback!"

Hope it helps!

We can all hope the sale of KDBC and their association with KTSM will lead to positive results. At one time KDBC seemed to have a permit from the FCC to move their transmitter up to the KTSM / KVIA towers. I believe those permits expire after a certain amount of time but it was still on the FCC site the last time I looked.
In regards to local news, it seems logical that a few of the good people at KDBC could go over to channel 9 for a joint newscast. It would be nice if they showed news at different times. In Los Angeles this is the situation with channels 2 and 9 although 9 is not a major network affiliate.

we can all hope the sale of kdbc and their association with ktsm will lead to positive results. At one time kdbc seemed to have a permit from the fcc to move their transmitter up to the ktsm / kvia towers. I believe those permits expire after a certain amount of time but it was still on the fcc site the last time i looked.
In regards to local news, it seems logical that a few of the good people at kdbc could go over to channel 9 for a joint newscast. It would be nice if they showed news at different times. In los angeles this is the situation with channels 2 and 9 although 9 is not a major network affiliate.

+ 1

I have a question about Las Cruces programming I was hoping someone here could help me with. I live near the university area and my apartment complex provides the entire complex with comcast cable (I pay extra for high speed internet).

Using this I go from the wall to my tv (a Sony Grand WEGA KDS-55A2000) and with this I receive NBC, PBS, ABC, CBS, and Fox Sports Network in HD, but NOT KFox. I've lived in this complex for over two years now, and the first one and a half years we got Kfox (on channel 14.1) and now for the past 6 months I haven't been able to get it, but I still get all the other HD channels (including Fox Sports Netowrk in HD!). This is extremely frustrating right now as half of the NFL games on it, and so is the world series.

Is anyone else having this problem? If so, how did you remedy it?
Might anyone else have suggestions for fixing this?

Greetings CKYJON,

One's first thought is that it's a problem with your equipment.
That may not be so.

Check with your neighbors in the Complex, see if they are getting it.
If so, then it's you.

If not, then your Apartment Manager should be contacted, and adjustments/repairs made to the MATV.

Have a good Day ! :)
S.W.

Is any body else having pixilation problems with 4, 7 and 9? Has been really bad lately especially in morning. Also 4 was off air this morning for a while came back at 11AM noticed their power has gone up

No pixilization problems lately here in Montana Vista. I use the UHF fequencies of 17 for 7 and 16 for channel 9. I am not sure how long UHF will last for these as it is just a test. I understand from another thread that KVIA has requested more power for VHF 7 so I assume they want to shut off 17.

Greetings CKYJON,

One's first thought is that it's a problem with your equipment.
That may not be so.

Check with your neighbors in the Complex, see if they are getting it.
If so, then it's you.

If not, then your Apartment Manager should be contacted, and adjustments/repairs made to the MATV.

Have a good Day ! :)
S.W.

Thanks for the reply! I've since found out that its something with my tv. Does anyone know of a remedy for this?

So, when's Univision switching to HD here in El Paso?

Hopefully soon... at least before the Rose Parade..

http://www.univision.com/content/content.jhtml?cid=2194649

As you could read we aren't in that list.. any contacts on Univision 26 to confirm?

Your local Univision and TeleFutura stations are owned by Entravision and are not Univision O&Os. There's no telling when Entravision will make the investment.

- Trip

So my guess is .... 2016 World cup... LOL

At least they should make an effort for this year's world cup or have zero ratings, because Televisa or TV azteca will sweep "Entravision" here in El Paso

I sent an email to the GM, I bet he'll respond with the Entravision thing..

Did anyone see the KDBC 4 News in HD today? I tuned in at 5:30 PM, and noticed that they were in HD. It did look a lot like the Channel 9 news in HD.

That's probably because Channel 9 has taken over the news for Channel 4. The owners of Channel 4 have gone bankrupt, are looking for a buyer, and have reduced the news/weather staff to 4 people, with Channel 9 doing the majority of the work.

You also may have noticed that at times the wrong show is being broadcast (e.g., Extra was in place of The Price Is Right for about the first 10 minutes last Friday), there are multiple periods of dead air, or groups of commercials are repeated multiple times while it appears someone is trying to get a show started.

Extra "HD", wheel of fortune, etc, all in SD.. what's up with that?

It seems most syndicated shows that are available in HD are not shown this way in El Paso...

I called KDBC this morning about TVGOS information not being transmitted over the air and was told KTSM was doing everything now and nothing was at their location.

The only sydicated shows being broadcaast in HD are Price is right and The Young and The Restless.

I called KTSM and emailed the engineer about the TVGOS and possibly doing Wheel in HD. So we will see what answers I get.

KDBC has been sold twice this year since Papas when bankrupt. I think the people who bought them are just using the purchase as tax right offs. I hope KTSM buys them and put some money into them so we don't loose the great CBS programing.

Reply from KTSM about TVGOS: Hi Frank,

We are working on getting TVGOS into the system as soon as possible.
There are still a lot of details the have to be ironed out with the
relocation of the KDBC operation to the KTSM building. It's been a
massive and quite complex undertaking.

KDBC 4 showed Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune in HD today. They looked great!

So no "Extra HD" in HD?

Entravision stations still in SD so Telemundo 48... I lost hope there.. it's sad how they announce programs in HD and we don't get to see them, Telefutura is showing some movies in HD lately.. lucky the rest of the country?

Entravision manager hasn't responded to emails yet..

The TVGOS guide information is now back from KDBC and working great.

Jeopardy and Wheel not in HD. I only saw it 1 time.

Thank you Directv and KVIA 7 for turning on HD yesterday..now if only we can get the CW Network in HD.....

I watched KDBC 4 again today (Friday) and Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune were in HD. Maybe they are only shown in HD on Fridays on channel 4?

They were flashing the "KDBC TV 4 News in HD" during the NFL game yesterday, maybe they are going full HD bot local and syndicated..

Is the TVGOS correct for channels 4-2 and 14-2? The online version of TV Guide is completly wrong for these two channels. They still think 4-2 carries the America One Network rather than "This TV" and the shows are similar on the TV guide for 14-2 but the air times are incorrect. TitanTV on line guide is correct for both of these channels. This would be a deal breaker form me in considering the DTV Pal recorder which relies on TVGOS.

I watched KDBC 4 again today (Friday) and Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune were in HD. Maybe they are only shown in HD on Fridays on channel 4?

KDBC has been showing J and W in HD every night for more than a week. All operations are now at KTSM and news is in HD also.

Is the TVGOS correct for channels 4-2 and 14-2? The online version of TV Guide is completly wrong for these two channels. They still think 4-2 carries the America One Network rather than "This TV" and the shows are similar on the TV guide for 14-2 but the air times are incorrect. TitanTV on line guide is correct for both of these channels. This would be a deal breaker form me in considering the DTV Pal recorder which relies on TVGOS.

KFOX 14-1 is not sending info to TVGOS it is only doing PSIP, which is required by federal law, and only for 8 hours at a time. I don't watch 4-2 or 14-2 so I am not sure if 4-2 is TVGOS or not. You can select programs to record with PSIP just like TVGOS which goes out more than 7 days. I have had a DTV PAL sine Dec 08 and I love it. I'll try and retune for 4-2 and see if it is TVGOS or not. By the way KDBC (CBS) does the TVGOS as do most cbs stations across the country

Hi, Mr. B

I rescanned my channels and 4-2 is showing TVGOS, Friday at 6PM is WWE. Fox is only showing PSIP for 14-1 and RTN for 14-2. I have emailed John Witte at fox about TVGOS but have not gotten a reply.

Thanks for checking Frank43. I e-mailed TV Guide about the incorrect listings on-line. I assume they use the same information for TVGOS. They still think that 4-2 carries the America One Network rather than "This TV" except for the 6pm to 8pm time slot when it is MyNetwork. This TV is a much better channel with many movies and good stereo sound. The on line version of TV Guide is 3 hours slow for 14-2 Retro Network. They probably think we use the West Coast Feed rather than East or something.

oops wrong forum!

Does anyone know if telemundo is broadcasting a digital signal? My TV can find channel 47.1 but I can never get an image on it. I have my antenna positioned so I get perfect reception on every other channel except this one. Does it have anything to do with the fact that they are still broadcasting an analog signal for channel 48?

Yes, 47.1 is definitely broadcasting a strong signal here in Montana Vista. I had an older tuner that would not tune it in and just give a black screen, usually some type of problem with the PSIP information. Also, if you are using a tuner from Tivo or one of the satellite companies, they send the information down the line as to which channels are receivable here in El Paso. Technically 47.1 should re-map to be listed as 48.1 as 48 was their old analog number. I had the same problem when 65's digital signal was shown as 51.1, and never could get Tivo to understand the problem.

Thanks for the response, I'm using the TV's tuner so I guess I'll play with the antenna a bit to see if I can get an image, hopefully I get one without messing up my reception for the rest of the channels.

Still no sign of Entravision channels changing to HD... now you see letterboxed shows and novelas with the U-HD logo on the bottom.. it looks so sad..

Telemundo is been like this for months now.. also no sign from them to ever switching..

Does anyone know what's going on with 7-3, stormtrack 24/7? For about a day or so, they are only showing the traffic cameras. They're not showing any weather information anymore. Could they be having equipment problems?

News flash! Univision 26 is in HD!!!!!

They started yesterday, so I tuned in to see "primer impacto" it wasn't SoV like always but the 4:3 format with side bars, I thought someone had moved the TV settings I try to force it wide but I couldn't, so they air a commercial of a "novela" and it was in HD!, then confirmed it later when the novela was on.. full HD.. nice..

Although all their own original programming still in SD, from the nationwide news programs to "Don Francisco" only HD programming so far is Televisa's novelas.

Edit: didn't tried out Telefutura.. it didn't occurred to me to check that channel

Edit: Telefutura is the same old, but now it's mirrored on Ch. 26.2.. with much better picture quality. Perhaps they are removing the 65.X range channel (50.1)

Has anyone else seen the public service announcements on KTSM that OTA viewers will need to rescan their set top box or digital TV next Monday due to "signal strength tests"? KTSM has been transmitting on both channels 9 and 16 for about 6 months. I assume they are going to try using only channel 16 and think most people are tuned to the RF9. If that is the case, I already have both frequencies scanned in but just put the 16 in the "hidden" list to avoid duplication.
The picture on 26.1 is great. My 30 year old college Spanish is not good enough to understand what channel 26.2 is about. Dr. Lar, I bet you have it figured out.

Dr. Lar, I see you edit now. 26.2 is the same as 65.1 and yes oddly a better picture even though it is a sub-channel

Yeah, doesn't Univision offer english CC? try CC2 or CC3..

I hope they change Telefutura to HDD soonish.. they are airing movies and stuff in HD on other venues (the Telefutura logo with an HD is shown)

I also hope that Telemundo will be rushed to switch to HD since their competition just did.

Has anyone else seen the public service announcements on KTSM that OTA viewers will need to rescan their set top box or digital TV next Monday due to "signal strength tests"? KTSM has been transmitting on both channels 9 and 16 for about 6 months. I assume they are going to try using only channel 16 and think most people are tuned to the RF9. If that is the case, I already have both frequencies scanned in but just put the 16 in the "hidden" list to avoid duplication.
The picture on 26.1 is great. My 30 year old college Spanish is not good enough to understand what channel 26.2 is about. Dr. Lar, I bet you have it figured out.

Dr. Lar, I see you edit now. 26.2 is the same as 65.1 and yes oddly a better picture even though it is a sub-channel

I've seen this also about KTSM. Guess I'll wait and see if I loose the channel since they don't give a time reference as to when they are doing the test and when people might see a lose of signal and to rescan.

I also noticed that Univision 26 is in HD. I think they switched to HD on the 16th at about 11 PM or so. At least that's when I noticed that they were HD. I was channel surfing at about that time, and I noticed that they were showing the Novela Un Gancho al Corazon in HD. :eek: It also seems that they switched to Digital Closed Captioning, but when you turn them on It say the languae is English , but the Captions are in Spanish. Also when I push the SAP button it says that the audio is in English, but it's actually in Spanish. I think they forgot to set the language and CC information.

As for Telefutura in HD, maybe Entravision could only afford to updated KINT to HD right now, or they may have had shipping problems with the part that allows KTFN to go HD.

so 1 Down, 2 to go.. that's Telefutura and Telemundo remaining, I don't know what Entravision needs now for Ch. 65 to go HD, I guess they can't use the same equipment?

I've seen this also about KTSM. Guess I'll wait and see if I loose the channel since they don't give a time reference as to when they are doing the test and when people might see a lose of signal and to rescan.

KTSM is increasing power on channel 9 and shutting down the channel 16 transmitter.

KTSM is increasing power on channel 9 and shutting down the channel 16 transmitter.

They must have done what ever after 9am and before 10:30 as I lost 9 and had to rescan on my PVR. Didn't notice any increase in signal strength on my meter. Still no TVGOS guide which come from KDBC but which KTSM is controlling.

KDBC channel 4 is now sending the TVGOS information. They have down for several weeks waiting on a new decoder.

I just noticed yesterday that every time I scan past RTV 14.2 it puts my Sony TV into the stretched or "full" mode. Of course I can use the aspect ratio button to put it back to normal 4:3 with pillar bars for SD content but it is rather aggravating. Is this happening on other brands of TVs? I hope it is not what KFOX considers to be a permanent "improvement".

Yes I also noticed that 14-2 is stretched. It seems to me that this might be permanent, because the channel is set to 16:9 or at least that's what it says on my TV. Although it could be an error on KFOX's part.

Well it seems that 14-2 is back in 4:3 now. It's not stretched anymore. I guess it was an error on KFOX's part.

Did you see tonight KFox News at 9 was in stretched 16:9.

Right now KFOX is showing The Office stretched and with black bars on the top and bottom.

Anyone have drop out ( lose of signal )and pixilation problems on KTSM?

Most often my problem with KTSM is during the NBC Evening News. I believe it has more to do with the equipment they use to record and time-delay the news than the actual signal as I will check my signal quality from the antenna and it is solid. I do not watch much more than the news on KTSM. The problem seems to stop when the local news (live) comes on. Do you see pixelation on other shows they record in HD?

I have 3 devices That are hooked up to the antenna. A Dish HD receiver. A Echostar HD DVR and the TV. I have no problems except KTSM. have different signal strengths on all 3 devices with the Dish receiver at about 85, others are in the 90's. I will have to watch the DVR and TV but I had the problem on NBC nightly news and the local news last night and also the recording of Jay Leno. This all seemed to start after the high 84MPH winds a while back. My antenna is in the attic so the wind has no effect on it. I emailed the station with no reply and re tuned all 3 pieces.

Frank, are you watching on real channel 9 or 16? I saw most of the NBC nightly news yesterday and didn't have any problems. I watch KTSM on real channel 16 only. Are you seeing green or purple lines during the drop outs? If you are seeing these lines, then you could be watching on real channel 9. If you are watching on channel 9 I recommend you watch on channel 16. For me channel 9 seems to mess up with bad weather like rain and wind, but channel 16 still works during bad weather.

Last night I rescanned and 9 was up to 100% from 80%. Don't know why, maybe they were off frequency or something. To coincedental that they fixed the problem at the exact time I rescanned. I will keep an eye out on all 3 devices to see if I get drop outs and pixelation, but so far this morning all seems OK!

Today I saw a 16:9 commercial for KFOX News during their 6 o Clock newscast. It didn't look HD to me just widescreen 16:9. Could they be doing the same thing that KTSM did when they were going to start HD News.

It seems that KFOX 14 Finally did it!! Right now I'm watching KFOX News at 9, and it is in 16:9!!! :eek::eek: It also seems that the Picture Quality is really good!! So, it may also be in HD!! :eek::eek:

If KFOX NEWS is in HD, then that would mean that all of the El Paso English Language Newscast are in HD!! :eek:

I notice that KFOX doesn't say or show any HD logos. I couldn;t find on their webpage where they claim to be HD. While the picture looks good in widescreen, to my untrained eye, doesn't look HD on the closeups.

I notice that KFOX doesn't say or show any HD logos. I couldn;t find on their webpage where they claim to be HD. While the picture looks good in widescreen, to my untrained eye, doesn't look HD on the closeups.
The side bars when not in wide screen say fox HD. Like most stations that have a sub channel I think they are skimping on the HD bandwidth.

The side bars when not in wide screen say fox HD. Like most stations that have a sub channel I think they are skimping on the HD bandwidth.

I don't see the "HD". On the side bars last night, on each side they have: "KFOX KFOX KFOX" written over a larger "KFOX". For the station id box, in the lower right hand corner of the 16-9 screen, it states "KFOX-DT ElPaso Las Cruces".

Can anyone tell me if this map looks accurate?

http://www.rabbitears.info/contour.php?appid=1361937&map=Y

I had to guess at how tall XEPM's tower is.

- Trip

Trip, The map appears accurate at my location east of Ft. Bliss just where the green area bleeds into the red due to the Hueco Mountains. I would think that the green may extend further into New Mexico towards Holloman Air Force Base as it is flat until about the midpoint at Orogrande. Most of the TV towers in Juarez appear to be on top of the mountains south of the city. The towers themselves do not appear to be as tall as the ones in El Paso on the Franklin Mountains. Do they call channel 32 (rf29) XEPM? That was the call letters of the old analog 2, but the programming that was on 2 years ago seemed to move to analog 56 then to 32. My college Spanish from 35 years ago is so rusty that I only check the Juarez stations out of technical curiosity.

The FCC calls it XEPM, and so while it could be wrong, they also have XEPM on one of the subchannels in the TSReader data I was sent.

I looked on some maps and it actually looked like it was not on a mountain, but was right next to a mountain, thus explaining the directional pattern. The FCC said their height above sea level was 1385 meters while the map said the height at that point was 1200 meters, so I ran the map assuming a height of 185 meters.

- Trip

Navigator is coming to El Paso on or about 6.7.2010. That might change though.

hdtvfan2005,

Where did you get that date? The notice we received just said sometime in the next few weeks. I've been all over the El Paso TWC site and could find no date, firm or otherwise.

I did a full channel re-scan for the first time in several months yesterday and was surprised to see that both KTSM and KVIA continue to broadcast on both UHF and VHF. I thought all of those public service announcements a few months ago were to warn viewers that they would only be on VHF. Here at my location in Montana Vista using a Winegard 7082P antenna at 20 feet I get almost identical SNR readings on the stations. I know that in rural New Mexico some people put up large UHF antennas in the early days of digital TV, however, those dedicated OTA fans like myself would have switched to a proper antenna by now. Sadly, most of the people I have helped with an antenna could not resist the allure of satellite and do not even use the antenna anymore. I assume that both KTSM and KVIA do not have permission to use both UHF and VHF indefinitely. I wish they did and could use the extra bandwidth to give us true HD affiliates of the CW and MY Networks.
Also, there is the case of KTFN simulcasting on co-owned KINT's 26.2. What is truly odd is that the picture is much better on 26.2. One would think that channel 51 dedicated to a single SD feed would beat out a sub-channel but there must be more involved than that. Maybe the owners hope to make 51 a true HD affiliate of Telefutura.
Over in Juarez, XEPM or what ever they are called, has a SD copy of the same programming on a sub-channel. MY Sony KDF-37H1000 refuses to re-map that channel to 32-1 and 32-2 but shows it as 29-1 and 29-2. Also for the sub-channel there is the very interesting case of my TV showing it as 480i wide-screen. By the way, analog channel 2 definitely Id's themselves as XEPM and it is different programming than channel 29/32.

hdtvfan2005,

Where did you get that date? The notice we received just said sometime in the next few weeks. I've been all over the El Paso TWC site and could find no date, firm or otherwise.

Found it on a blog and that probably is the start date. It will take them a few weeks to get all the boxes updated. By the end of July, Navigator should be loaded on all the boxes in El Paso.

Found it on a blog and that probably is the start date. It will take them a few weeks to get all the boxes updated. By the end of July, Navigator should be loaded on all the boxes in El Paso.

We've had Navigator for about a month in Waco on Time Warner.
The program search is nice but almost everything else sucks.

No more copy to VCR (out of channel 2) mode. (You have to watch the show while it records - Channel 1 & 2 always output the same program)

If you use the HDMI input, the playing program pauses any time you switch the TV to a different input. (So you can't even switch the TV to something else while you record)

In general I hate it almost as much as my Tivo QAM !!!!!!!!!!



No more selectable default record settings. (Your stuck with 7 days sve)

If you keep all, record only one time slot, or record a series, you have to change all three options.

I think they took down Telefutura solo channel (50.1 aka 65.1), I hope they are preparing it for full HD for this Friday's World Cup, but I doubt it.. maybe they don't want to pay for that extra frequency and they are keeping it as 26.2 instead.

Over the weekend, I went to my aunt's house and noticed that Time Warner Cable added KINT HD(Univision HD)! :eek::eek:

What TWC didn't have Univision? what kind of loser cable company is that?

I've noticed that the the FTA station is struggling with the signal, in some games they even downed it to SD, and right at this moment I'm having trouble with the signal, it's a a "poor" state, right at game time...it's like they forgot to turn the transmitter power on or something like that.

TWC did have Univision, but they only had it in SD. Now they have it in HD.

Again struggling with the early game signal.. it seems to get stronger for the second game, I think and I'm betting that they are somehow saving power on the night and until someone comes in the morning to flick the full power switch we don't have decent signal.. the 5:30 game signal is so awful.. Right now I'm in a maquila south of Juarez, can't get that channel right now, with power booster aerial antenna.. c'mon

KFOX has changed mos of their news to HD, in studio and outside local coverage.. wow

Anyone else missing TVGOS guide data? I have emailed both Martinez (cbs)and Vilardell (KTSM) engineers but have not gotten any reply. CBS is the supplier of TVGOS. Are they still at the stations?

KDBC is completly operated by KTSM. In fact my Mother was watching the religion channel KSCE and Channel 9 news anchor Ben Swan was doing a segment on how they are converting the old KDBC building into new studios for KSCE.

KDBC is completly operated by KTSM. In fact my Mother was watching the religion channel KSCE and Channel 9 news anchor Ben Swan was doing a segment on how they are converting the old KDBC building into new studios for KSCE.

This has been true for some time but both engineers were there a few months ago. Neither e-mail has been returned and neither answered.

Well KCOS has added a subchannel 13-2 Create. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/images/icons/icon14.gif Now I have something to watch when they have their stupid pledge week. :mad: If they could only add V-me on on 13-3, then I would never have to watch their 12 hours of E/I programming on 13-1 PBS. ;)

V-Me is available as a sub-channel of KRWG is you could recieve it from your location.

I Can't receive KRWG, but I Only have an Indoor Antenna. Perhaps If I had an Outdoor Antenna, I could receive it. Yet I May not be able to get that channel, since I live close to the Franklin Mountains.

Is anyone else having problems with TWC cable boxes recording only 2 minutes of a movie since they added the SDV HD premium channels (17##) and converted to Navigator last month?

Has anyone else noticed that KVIA is starting to display product ads over the shows? So far, I have seen a Peter Piper Pizza ad displayed while Judge Judy was showing (Monday) and an Ocean Dental ad displayed while The Insider was showing (Tuesday).

We need to start a grass roots movement to stop this. It's bad enough that the networks and cable stations have their own pop-ups, snipes, etc. But now local broadcasters are putting actual advertising over the shows. Let's tell them to stop or we will stop watching every show that has consumer advertising displayed over the show and ultimately will stop watching their station if they keep this up.

Has anyone else noticed that KVIA is starting to display product ads over the shows? So far, I have seen a Peter Piper Pizza ad displayed while Judge Judy was showing (Monday) and an Ocean Dental ad displayed while The Insider was showing (Tuesday).

We need to start a grass roots movement to stop this. It's bad enough that the networks and cable stations have their own pop-ups, snipes, etc. But now local broadcasters are putting actual advertising over the shows. Let's tell them to stop or we will stop watching every show that has consumer advertising displayed over the show and ultimately will stop watching their station if they keep this up.

I haven't noticed but will start looking closer. I get po'ed enough with the stupid pigs they put up which already block parts of shows. I don't need to be reminded what channel and show I'm watching.

Did I just saw The CW in HD last night? or was it my imagination? I swear Gossip Girl was in HD..

How is it possible with a subchannel?

Did I just saw The CW in HD last night? or was it my imagination? I swear Gossip Girl was in HD..

How is it possible with a subchannel?

I don't watch GG but I do watch Smallville. I hope they go HD. Will check what ever is on tonight on CW to see if anything is HD. I suppose it is possible to have HD on a sub but it takes away from bandwidth from the main -1 channell

Well I tuned into the CW yesterday, and it wasn't in HD, just the regular SD Squish-o-Vision they always show. It did look better so maybe they raised the bit rate.

Weird.. that GG on Monday didn't look SOV that's why I wondered.. but didn't changed the channel I was on a House-The Event-Hawaii 5-0 viewing frenzy, didn't browse any other channels.. I watched it from afar in the living room TV when I got up for a snack..

Didn't even remember to tune it to the CW last night.. was on a NCIS viewing extravaganza.. LOL

The CW looks very good, almost HD-ish.. it's still a bit low, but I bet they are using the max bandwidth, watched a bit of Nikita last night and looked nice.

I just checked channel 7.2 and it looks normal for Saturday morning cartoons and such. I will have to check again Monday evening when CW network material is on. I have actually taken this sub-channel out of my line up as I found the picture quality simply too poor to watch. Was it in 16:9 ratio? Did you happen to notice if 7.3 and 7.4 were also on when the CW picture seemed to improve? It seems that would be the only way to gain much bandwidth. Do Spanish speaking viewers actually watch that 7.4? It seems to me with all of the channels available in Spanish it could not attract much of an audience unless it is truly unique. The weather is obviously very low bandwidth but I do not find it nearly as useful as the old NBC Weather Plus channel that used to be on 9.2.

Yeah, it's on 16:9 ratio..

wait did I just see Telefutura in HD also? need TSF readers.. cube?

Perhaps you mean Telemundo. If so, then it's not in HD, just 480i Squished, like the CW. Telemundo is also showing Squish-o-Vision on their Analog channel.

I made a point of switching to channel 7-2 just before 7:00 PM yesterday. They had color bars for about a minute as they switched to another satellite. The show was still 480i and squished 4:3 ratio. Of course, I could use the stretch feature on my TV to re-expand the picture to fill the entire screen but this just made the resolution even more blurry than usual. It is a shame a city the size of El Paso does not have a real CW affiliate.

Yeah it's looks squished on my PC, on the TV it looks ok-ish.. from very afar, but I took a closer look and it's blurry... if you can squint for 1 hour you'll be OK.. LOL

Did anyone watch KVIA last night or try to record "no ordinary family" ? I always record it but last night it recorded glee, even thought it said "NOF" This also happened the first episode of "smallville" and it recorded 4-2

Haven't been able to watch KVIA for 2 months now in Las Cruces. Don't know what they did to their signal, but i can't get it via the window antenna or the roof antenna. Channels 4,9 i get signal strength in the 90s, 14 in the high 80s and channel 7 the signal is low 50s so it either doesn't come in at all or is so pixelized you can't watch the signal.

I just assumed KVIA dropped Las Cruces from their service area.

KVIA has not one, not two, but three signals that should be available to you, all mapping to 7-x. Channels 7 and 17 come from El Paso, and channel 41 comes from Las Cruces.

- Trip

Haven't been able to watch KVIA for 2 months now in Las Cruces. Don't know what they did to their signal, but i can't get it via the window antenna or the roof antenna. Channels 4,9 i get signal strength in the 90s, 14 in the high 80s and channel 7 the signal is low 50s so it either doesn't come in at all or is so pixelized you can't watch the signal.

I just assumed KVIA dropped Las Cruces from their service area.

try retuning your tv to pick up new stations.

Retuning (again) worked. On one TV it took 3 tries to get it to remap to the stronger signal, I had to manually scan the channel and rename it to get it to take.

What the heck is happening with KVIA, CW, etc.? Friday night I couldn't get any of the 7.# channels, so I missed Smallville and Supernatural. Seems like they keep having problems when they switch over to prime time. If this keeps up, I am going to have to stop watching all together. I can't stand missing episodes (it's not like we get to see the missed episodes during re-runs--those are never the ones shown).

What the heck is happening with KVIA, CW, etc.? Friday night I couldn't get any of the 7.# channels, so I missed Smallville and Supernatural. Seems like they keep having problems when they switch over to prime time. If this keeps up, I am going to have to stop watching all together. I can't stand missing episodes (it's not like we get to see the missed episodes during re-runs--those are never the ones shown).

+1, They are sure screwed up. One time the showed a show from CBS 4.2 instead of No ordinary family. They missed the Season premier of Smallville and Friday they started Smallville late ( blank screen , but started, picked up at the shows beginning only to have it freeze frame with about 12 minuted remaining. At least you can watch episodes on CW.com although Fridays (22nd) episode is not there yet. Somebody there needs to be fired. Carla (the weather person) is program manager. carla@kvia.com Going to have to email mail her. Maybe she can straighten them out.

FOX 14 was showing a good part of the first NFL game in a tiny SD window, It started OK in HD but I think all 4th quarter was in SD.

FOX 14 was showing a good part of the first NFL game in a tiny SD window, It started OK in HD but I think all 4th quarter was in SD.

It happened after an "on the hour" check and went back to HD after about 14 minutes. Can't remember what the hour was. All these stations must have very untrained people working their control rooms!!

Yesterday KTDO Telemundo went HD.

So I think I was right about Telemundo, the time I sneak peaked, perhaps it was a short test when I caught it in HD the other day..

Still waiting for Telefutura HD.. why on the world are they using 2 channels to transmit it? change 65-1 to HD.. naow!

Hey did anybody watch the Juarez report last night on Univision?

KVIA did it again!! showed in place of CW's Smallville an episode of Magnum PI from RTV channel 4-2. Some heads need to roll at KVIA. Second time this season. Guess I'll have to watch on CW internet.

I think you may be having tuner problems, or possibly bad location in relation to the antenna. I was able to record Smallville on 7-2, although it started late--about 3 or 4 minutes. It ended on time, so I am not sure how much I missed, if anything. Haven't watched it yet, but did check to see it was Smallville (beginning and end).

Actually Magnum PI on RTV would be seen on 14-2 not 4-2. I am not sure if this would make any difference but it could be helpful in the investigation of this problem.

I had the whole Mag PI recorded. I just noticed, when I played back the recording that it was the RTV logo. I don't have any of the - numbers in my guide other than the -1's and 7-2 (CW) for Smallville. The Info in the recording said Smallvile with it's description of the episode.

P.S. I get my signal via antenna

Well, KVIA is at it again. They displayed an ad for Ocean Dental again as an overlay on the Dr Oz show Friday. It was on-screen for about 3 minutes. Sent them an e-mail asking why they are doing this again.

On Tuesday Telemundo 48 started a Newscast in HD.

I made a point of watching part of the local news on channel 47-1 yesterday at 5:00PM. I was quite impressed. They have a nice set and great picture quality. I believe this must be the first HD local news in Spanish in this area. I flipped over to channel 26-1 and their news was still SD and I believe the three HD channels in Juarez are only relays of TV stations in Mexico City with no local content.
My Sony still displays this channel as 47-1, I would think they would want to use the PSIP data to display as 48-1 (which I understand is required by the FCC).

Wow, KVIA is really going at it. I was home yesterday and had the TV on in the background. Noticed twice a Kings-Aire advertisement displayed over the show: once on Regis and Kelly and once on General Hospital. Wonder how many more times they did it. Need to find a way to capture it and forward it to the FCC to see what they have to say about it.

Looks like airing pop-up local consumer advertising over TV shows during the day is now a standard practice by KVIA. Saw two more instances on shows November 23, this time National Furniture Warehouse.

Complaint has been filed with the FCC.

News flash, Telefutura is in HD now..

Been watching tons of movies there. they look awesome.

Now they have 3 channels

26-2 - SD
65-1 - HD
65-2 - SD

This combining it with Telemundo HD, you could watch HD movies all day, who needs cable? LOL

And they changed some channels:

26-2 and 65-2 are now LATV
7-4 changed to Azteca America

Mr. B I responded to you PM.

KVIA did it again showing a Vampire Diaries from Thursday in the Friday Smallvile slot. They are so F'ed up. Have to watch it online line this week.

It is amazing, but KVIA did not screw up this time. The CW re-broadcast Vampire Diaries and Nikita to help get the message out that new episodes were airing. The Smallville episode for Friday has been bumped until this Friday.

I just noticed that KINT 26 news seems to be in HD, or at least 16:9.

For a long time anyone notice that KVIA' audio is about twice as loud as the other stations (4,9,14,13)

Also, their signal strength on my tv is about 86 compared to channel 9' 98. funny since the towers are right next to each other. Other stations are at 100. Anyone know who to email?

Hi Frank;
On my set the audio level seems very close to the same for 4,7,9 and 14. The one that is noticeably louder is 13.
As far as the signal level is concerned, yes 7 is lower than the others on RF 7 and much lower if you use the RF17 signal. Since it does not seem to cause drop-outs I have not worried about it.
Speaking of the UHF simulcasts, the following link was posted at the top of this local HDTV forum discussion under the channel change thread. It seems that KTSM will definitely be changing to channel 16.

http://www.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2011/db0322/DA-11-530A1.pdf

On my set the audio level seems very close to the same for 4,7,9 and 14. The one that is noticeably louder is 13

Weird, I have sound leveling ( a joke ), Maybe I'll turn it off and see if all are around the same.

KTSM's new 6:30 PM show, EP Tonight: To paraphrase one of the segments, DUMBASS show. It looks like it was put together just before showtime.

I can understand Oralia Ortega not wanting to anchor the news with Grandpa Dan, but this made me lose all respect for her.

KTSM, you would have more viewers at 6:30 PM showing the Sham Wow infomercial over this junk.

Does anyone know if Telefutura is now in HD in El Paso? And if it's offered on Time Warner?

I ask because on the TWC site under channel lineup it shows it as being channel 887 but on the guide on my DVR it isn't there. There's a 886 and a 888. I chatted with customer service who had me reboot my DVR but it didn't appear.
Now they're sending a technician to fix the problem.

But I don't even know if there's a problem to fix, I was thinking it was an error and they don't actually have that channel.

Telefutura is certainly in HD over-the-air on channel 51 which re-maps to show as the original channel 65. I don't have cable or satellite.

First, our local discussion has not had a post in so long that an additional step was required just to reactivate it, so someone needs to post something.
This is in regards to analog channel 40 with call sign K40FW. I sometimes watch it with the sound turned down as it seems to be a Spanish all news station. Lately, I have been seeing a notice concerning August 23rd and channel 26. That is about all I can decipher based on my college Spanish from 35 years ago. So, I just checked K40FW on the FCC database and indeed they have a construction permit to move to channel 26 at 150 kW which would be a significant increase from the current 8.75 KW. The FCC does not specify if it is digital or analog but I believe the maximum for analog is 15 kW which would necessitate it being digital.
So, at last something interesting going on in the El Paso area. Check it out next Tuesday and those of you who can read Spanish better than myself might translate the message they are broadcasting between most breaks.

Yep, been a while, I was going to check out the forum this weekend, so you must have been reading my mind.

Have lots of complaints about channel 4 (cbs) lately. Pixilating and going of air. Also channel 7 (abc) with their always LOW signal strength.

CBS' TVGOS was off for awhile but has been back for about a week. Engineer said they got new equipment. Still no TVGOS 8 days for Fox.

Right now KFOX is showing The King of Queens in HD, and yesterday they showed Two and a Half Men in HD.

Today channel 40 did indeed move to 26. They are still analog but a much stronger signal out here in Montana Vista.

I got a reply from Guillermo Franco the General manager of Multimedios TV in Monterrey
saying that Multimedios TV is going to be on HD soon and maybe Milenio wil be a Sub channel
Does anyone know the FCC cut off date for their analog station
thanks


-----------
Tenemos un canal analogico en Juarez, el 40 que pronto digitalizaremos. Ahi tendremos Milenio y Multimedios en HD.

Saludos!!


Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2011 15:44:44 +0000
To: <guillermo.franco@multimedios.com

I got a reply from Guillermo Franco the General manager of Multimedios TV in Monterrey
saying that Multimedios TV is going to be on HD soon and maybe Milenio wil be a Sub channel
Does anyone know the FCC cut off date for their analog station


Multimedios TV in Monterrey? The FCC has nothing to do with them. ;)

Multimediostv owns Stations in the USA FYI

Multimediostv owns Stations in the USA FYI

Actually, that's not true; Multimedios owns no television stations in the US, but they do distribute their programming to American stations. K40FW El Paso, now on ch 26 (just filed for their license today), is licensed to BGM License, LLC, a local company owned by the Cabada family. So, Multimedios would only be responsible for Mexican stations, which are not subject to FCC authority.

However, if you're asking the cutoff date for analog LPTV stations in the US that air Multimedios programming, then it depends on whether the station is in-core (ch 2-36; 38-51) or out-of-core (ch 52-69). If the latter, and they haven't already done so, they have until tomorrow to submit a displacement application to move in-core. If they don't, their license will be canceled on 12/31/2011. And now, channel 51 is no longer available for assignment, due to a ruling at the request of the cellular and wireless industry.

All analog LPTV stations above channel 51 must cease broadcasting by 12/31/2011, whether or not a digital replacement is operational. For in-core stations, they have until 9/1/2015 to switch to digital. Your station is in-core, so it falls into the latter category.

Please everyone contact KINT Univision 26 and beg them to give full power to the HD channel there is no reason to repeat the same channels Telefutura in SD and LATV on both HD channel just have them on the Telefutura HD channel
But give Channel 26 Univision the full channel to see it in beautifull HD.

email the gm

Mira Quien Baila has a lot of compression artifacts

dcandelaria@entravision.com

Boy am I glad someone finally mentioned this!! These 2 channels have been at horrible bitrates for months possible more than a year. KINT is at 9.544 Mbps, and KTFN is at 9.133 Mbps. It seems really weird to me that these 2 channels are almost half the size of 1 ATSC channel, like they're trying to tell us something!! I seriously hope that doesn't happen though. Also I don't understand why there's a 65-2, it seems like a total waste of bandwidth to me.

Heres some more data from TSreaderlite:
26-2 video 3.76Mbps Resolution 720x480i
26-3 video 3.61Mbps Resolution 704x480i
nullbits 1.53Mbps
65-2 video 3.76mbps Resolution 720x480i
65-3 video 3.61mbps Resolution 704x480i

They could reduce the resolution of both subchannels, and decrease the bitrate of them somewhat, and give those bits back to the HD Channels.

do you know why do they have Telefutura SD?, they could just get rid of that and just have one LATV channel,

Canal 44 is on the air on HD 45-1 can everyone get it
this looks like it will be the best looking channel out there becasue they dont have anysubcarriers to keep the bit rate low

I just checked, and I can get it on some TVs and on other TVs it seems to pause, but I think that's because of the wind.

I think several of the stations in town have cabling problems that the wind affects. My OTA is in the attic and I still have these, audio and video cut out problems. 4 and 7 are the worst. I don't watch any of the Spanish stations.

Anyone having really bad pixilation problems on KDBC? I have it on OTA and Satellite.

Anyone having really bad pixilation problems on KDBC? I have it on OTA and Satellite.

During sporting events when there is a close up of fast action, yes, for a moment the picture blurs into pixilation but all other times the signal has been steady for me here in Montana Vista.

During sporting events when there is a close up of fast action, yes, for a moment the picture blurs into pixilation but all other times the signal has been steady for me here in Montana Vista.

Thanks,

Right, mostly on live sporting events like football and Price is Right is worse now, Always has had a lot of pixilation and extremely loud audio.
Friend said same on TWC, so probably time to email station engineer and mention problem.

Anyone having really bad pixilation problems on KDBC? I have it on OTA and Satellite.

Yes, I have both OTA and Dish, it occurs on both. It's been like that for awhile, even on prime time shows. They also seem to miss inserting commercials, in that they frequently have 30 seconds of black screens during the commercial streams.

Yes, I have both OTA and Dish, it occurs on both. It's been like that for awhile, even on prime time shows. They also seem to miss inserting commercials, in that they frequently have 30 seconds of black screens during the commercial streams.

I e-mailed the KDBC/KTSM engineer yesterday about pixilation problems. Have the other problems you mentioned also. See if they fix it. I usually e-mail him when their TVGOS system goes out. He is not good about responding to my e-mails. See address jmartinez@ktsm.com Maybe if more of us e-mail him he will answer someone or get it fixed quicker. They all should spend more on system maintenance a get rid of all the worthless meteorologists who do nothing but compete with each other and never get the weather right. lol

Yeah, KDBC compression artifacts are becomin unbearable for me.. I tried to watch Sunday's game but there was too much pixelization.. I prefere 100x Azteca 20-1, they are going a good job there, most of the games are in HD, some in SD, the best thing is that they air most of the morning games and you aren't stuck on some blowouts.

Comparing the game last Sunday on Ch. 4 and Ch. 9.

Channel 9 comes on top by a long shot..

IDK what you talking about 45-1, it looks horrible, it's forced letterbox to 4:3 you can't expand it (I tried), I haven't seen anything on full screen yet...

Still appears nothing fixed at KDBC. No response from mr Martinez to the e-mail I sent. Maybe some one else can e-mail him and complain.

I just sent this e-mail to jmartinez@ktsm.com It is a shame that here in El Paso we had to watch the game with such poor picture quality. I guess we should have gone in person.

Hello:
For some time the members of Audio Video Science Forum have been discussing the poor picture quality on KDBC. It seems the worst during CBS shows as opposed to local content. I thought it had gotten a little bit better, but yesterday the picture quality during the Sunbowl was horrible. I get a very strong signal with my 4 bay outdoor UHF antenna and seldom see any variation on the signal quality, so the problem must be on your end.
When the local news on KTSM (which I use the channel 16 signal) showed highlights of the game it looked much better. I really hope there is a way to improve the picture quality on KDBC, especially during CBS shows.

I just sent this e-mail to jmartinez@ktsm.com It is a shame that here in El Paso we had to watch the game with such poor picture quality. I guess we should have gone in person.

Hello:
For some time the members of Audio Video Science Forum have been discussing the poor picture quality on KDBC. It seems the worst during CBS shows as opposed to local content. I thought it had gotten a little bit better, but yesterday the picture quality during the Sunbowl was horrible. I get a very strong signal with my 4 bay outdoor UHF antenna and seldom see any variation on the signal quality, so the problem must be on your end.
When the local news on KTSM (which I use the channel 16 signal) showed highlights of the game it looked much better. I really hope there is a way to improve the picture quality on KDBC, especially during CBS shows.

Mr. B as you can see from my above posts I have also e-mailed engineer and station manager but have never received a reply and obviously they have not fixed the problem. I suppose they don't watch their own programing either. This is a problem on satellite and TWC and OTA. I did not watch either.

Hard to see who is in charge of KDBC anymore, try writing the station manager of KTSM since they provide "administrative" support for KDBC since the ownership change or ComCorp in Louisiana.

If fixing it requires money, doubt if they will do anything as this ownership group appears to have pretty shallow pockets. The ownership appears to be by Titan Broadcasting, "but operated by ComCorp under a shared service agreement". They outsource alot including most of its newsrooms or eliminating its news departments entirely.
For example, KDBC does the news for the Brownsville NBC affiliate. When i was down there last week, Amber Downing and Mark Mathis (KTSM) were doing the news/weather "in" Brownsville on Christmas Day.

I watched the Sunbowl also.. same old artifacts to death.. IDK, 4.2 looks better, at least it won't make you cry with so much pixels going on in the screen.

Then watched NFL late game KC Vs. Denver, also horrible, morning games I watched on Azteca as always, FOX and NBC games looked way better.

As a pure comparison, watch The Big Bang Theory on 4 then the syndicated on 14, the later looks much better.

It is a real shame too because most of the best prime time shows are on CBS. Maybe KTSM is deliberately messing with KDBC's signal trying to push viewers away from CBS and to KTSM NBC. Mr Marinez is the engineer for both stations. He used to answer e-mails but maybe has been directed not to. Maybe a call to the FCC is in order.

Hello everyone, I'm new to this site, I just joined.

Anyway, I mainly joined to express my dissatisfaction with KVIA (ABC-7) on mainly their weekend programming.
So far, just this past weekend, I have had two issues with KVIA's programming.

First on Saturday, as they were going to GMA, they switched to the national ABC feed which was off-the air. That was much like a video on youtube, Just search 'abc technical difficulties', it's the first result.

So when I first saw this I thought that they might FINALLY show GMA in HD on the weekend :D. But I was wrong, after about 2 minutes of this they went to their prerecorded GMA in SD :mad:.
So why are they not able to show ABC morning shows in HD on the weekend? Also, their recorded SD versions look VERY pixilated, almost like their using VHS to record them.

Now to Sunday's Issue: At 7am, when the DirecTV guide said GMA would be on, kvia aired This Week instead. It was actually broadcast in HD :D. I was very happy. Then exactly halfway in, they switched over the prerecorded GMA :mad:. It was odd, they switch over when the show (This Week) was interviewing people about their view on who would win the Iowa Caucuses.

Why does kvia have these limitations? Can anyone try to email them, to see if they will upgrade equipment?

They can't even show Entertainment Tonight, The Dr. Oz Show, or commercials in HD. What is going on? All the other local stations show at least their commercials about stories on upcoming newscasts in HD.

Also, can't they continue to use their old SD equipment, just recording in letterbox 4:3? That way they can stretch the picture to fill the 16:9 frame.
I saw one RARE commercial about a month or two ago on the weekend morning show. It actually filled the entire 16:9 frame.

please reply, (and sorry for the long story, I had alot to vent)
artiepenguin

KVIA likes airing daytime shows in SD because they love to sell local advertising that pops up over the shows they are airing. I've complained to them about these ads for the past year now. It just keeps getting worse. I no longer watch their daytime offerings because they are in SD and have the ads displayed over the show.

In response to the above post about KVIA's difficulties on the weekend, this has been going on for years. The 5 AM news the day after Christmas was a comedy of errors. I have found though that KVIA is the most responsive of the four local major English broadcasters. Feel free to go to their website and e-mail the general manager or engineer. Many times they do respond and in the early days of digital TV, 3 of their engineers actually came out to my home in Montana Vista to help with my digital reception problem.
As you can see from our previous posts about KDBC and KTSM local TV is just not on par with what you see in even smaller cities. I am not sure about the Spanish stations, perhaps DR. Lar could give his opinion on how channels 26, 48 and 65 compare with other cities.
Best of Wishes, and welcome to the forum. Maybe a new voice will be heard more than those of us who have been complaining for years.

KVIA doesn't even broadcast in Dolby 5.1. Their sound is terrible and extremely loud. FOX, KDBC and KTSM although like previously mentioned they have problems too. I think most of it comes from trying to broadcast the sub channels and taking to much bandwidth from the .1 HD Chanel. Same here about the weekend broadcasts, think they are just trying to save money.

Channel 26, 47 and 65 try to run all possible HD content in HD, with very good quality, even some local HD commercials, most of the local businesses are now doing HD ads, I really don't know why Channel 7 is daytime SD, I mean it says right there Entertainment Tonight in HD not SD. While channel 4, 9, 14 do syndicated in HD.

Mreedelp: So what you are saying is, KVIA has the ability to show HD/widescreen content and yet chooses to show SD? Also do you think that they can/will start recording their shows/commercials in widescreen/HD or at least letterbox 4:3. That way they can expand it to fill the whole widescreen frame. Much like they do for primetime CW show (squishing them into 4:3).

Yes, it also bugs me to see syndicated shows available in HD, broadcast in SD. (Especially when they don't even letterbox it, to preserve the whole picture.) If they offered all of the syndicated shows on the cable/satellite networks, it would be no problem.
I wish (since I have DirecTV) that I could get both the national feed (in NY) and the locals. Since the locals are useless except for the local news.

Speaking of the local news, has anyone noticed that KTSM's quality of news has been degrading? It seems that they only work in the day. If you watch their 2 hr. morning news, they repeat the same thing over and over about 4-5 times. I also think they have only 1 overnight reporter (Amber Downing), and she doesn't even report before 5 am.

Now to KDBC: It is SO sad that this station does not even have a morning newscast. And all of their news is from KTSM, I wish they would have different management. Also does anyone know why KDBC has high compression artifacts? It is almost like they are using KTSM's old barely-HD broadcast equipment.

Back to KVIA, I would watch their shows even if they were SD IF: 1. They put HD sidebars to 4:3 shows (Like KCOS:)) Or 2. If they recorded it letter-boxed and just cropped it for widescreen.

Finally KFOX, They are so good with HD shows/programming. The only bad thing is their outside news. Like the prerecorded national stories. Any slight camera movement, and the picture breaks up into large bands. Does anyone know why this happens?

Also, can someone list all the english local station's graphics packages. Don't you think some stations (KVIA) need a new one. If you look at KOB and KRQE in Albuquerque, they are killing us in the graphics. It is way better up there (only for KRQE and KOB though), and they have less people than El Paso. I think our local tv stations need a reform, El Paso is bigger that ABQ yet we have a 91st ranking on the list of DMAs. (ABQ's is in 45th place)

Okay, enough of my rants for now. artiepenguin

Mreedelp: So what you are saying is, KVIA has the ability to show HD/widescreen content and yet chooses to show SD? Also do you think that they can/will start recording their shows/commercials in widescreen/HD or at least letterbox 4:3. That way they can expand it to fill the whole widescreen frame. Much like they do for primetime CW show (squishing them into 4:3).

Yes, it also bugs me to see syndicated shows available in HD, broadcast in SD. (Especially when they don't even letterbox it, to preserve the whole picture.) If they offered all of the syndicated shows on the cable/satellite networks, it would be no problem.
I wish (since I have DirecTV) that I could get both the national feed (in NY) and the locals. Since the locals are useless except for the local news.

Speaking of the local news, has anyone noticed that KTSM's quality of news has been degrading? It seems that they only work in the day. If you watch their 2 hr. morning news, they repeat the same thing over and over about 4-5 times. I also think they have only 1 overnight reporter (Amber Downing), and she doesn't even report before 5 am.

Now to KDBC: It is SO sad that this station does not even have a morning newscast. And all of their news is from KTSM, I wish they would have different management. Also does anyone know why KDBC has high compression artifacts? It is almost like they are using KTSM's old barely-HD broadcast equipment.

Back to KVIA, I would watch their shows even if they were HD IF: 1. They put HD sidebars to 4:3 shows (Like KCOS:)) Or 2. If they recorded it letter-boxed and just cropped it for widescreen.

Finally KFOX, They are so good with HD shows/programming. The only bad thing is their outside news. Like the prerecorded national stories. Any slight camera movement, and the picture breaks up into large bands. Does anyone know why this happens?

Also, can someone list all the english local station's graphics packages. Don't you think some stations (KVIA) need a new one. If you look at KOB and KRQE in Albuquerque, they are killing us in the graphics. It is way better up there (only for KRQE and KOB though), and they have less people than El Paso. I think our local tv stations need a reform, El Paso is bigger that ABQ yet we have a 91st ranking on the list of DMAs. (ABQ's is in 45th place)

Okay, enough of my rants for now. artiepenguin

+1 on your rant, well justified. Just noticed I no longer have TVGOS listing on my HD recorder. Info comes from KDBC (cbs).

KVIA doesn't even broadcast in Dolby 5.1. Their sound is terrible and extremely loud. FOX, KDBC and KTSM although like previously mentioned they have problems too. I think most of it comes from trying to broadcast the sub channels and taking to much bandwidth from the .1 HD Chanel. Same here about the weekend broadcasts, think they are just trying to save money.

Yes, I agree about the subchannel issue. I think KVIA should just have .1 and .2 both in 720 HD. Most of the time satellite and cable don't even carry the subchannels. The subchannels show poor programming anyway. I wonder when DTV will add the subchannels and Spanish stations in HD?

Hello, everyone:
No one has posted in a few days. What is up? Anyway, if you guys see any technical issues or any new stuff on local TV this weekend, I would love to hear :). Has anyone seen the new HD DirecTV guide? It is awesome. So hope to hear from you soon. (Has anyone checked on the rabbit ears website? I saw KVIA listed as a station anticipating to have Mobile DTV)

I e-mailed KTSM engineer about TVGOS, It was back in 2 days but never got an reply from engineer. KDBC was not in 5.1 audio the other day but was back tonight. Will be watching football on CBS this week to see if they fixed any of the pixilization issues.

(Has anyone checked on the rabbit ears website? I saw KVIA listed as a station anticipating to have Mobile DTV)

I haven't heard anything about it in a really long time. I am sure I posted it on RabbitEars because I had a reliable source but don't remember where that source is now.

- Trip

KDBC seems to be better this past weekend, not much pixelization on both NFL games.. can someone check current bandwidth? I think they increased it a bit..

KDBC seems to be better this past weekend, not much pixelization on both NFL games.. can someone check current bandwidth? I think they increased it a bit..

+1 Will try to watch Price is Right, that show was the worst!

KDBC seems to be better this past weekend, not much pixelization on both NFL games.. can someone check current bandwidth? I think they increased it a bit..

The video bandwidth on KDBC 4.1 was increased to 15.0 MBits.
Surround audio bandwidth is 384 KBits.

The bandwidth on KDBC 4.2 was reduced to 3.0 MBits.
Stereo audio bandwidth is 256 KBits.

PSIP Bandwidth is .910 MBits.

Lous Strowger
ComCorp Coprorate Engineer.

'Price is Right" is much improved picture wise but the audio is still way to much compared to other programs. Wonder what the mb's they were using before they increased the 15 mbs. foxx44ce can you be our go to engineer since the one at KTSM and KDBC (same) never seems to respond to us.

'Price is Right" is much improved picture wise but the audio is still way to much compared to other programs. Wonder what the mb's they were using before they increased the 15 mbs. foxx44ce can you be our go to engineer since the one at KTSM and KDBC (same) never seems to respond to us.

The Price is Right is a CBS show.

CBS Dolby E digital audio is encoded as AC-3 Dolby 5.1 and passed without level control applied.
Local level processing of CBS audio is not allowed by the network.

'Price is Right" is much improved picture wise but the audio is still way to much compared to other programs. Wonder what the mb's they were using before they increased the 15 mbs. foxx44ce can you be our go to engineer since the one at KTSM and KDBC (same) never seems to respond to us.

Now we just have to get someone from News Press and Gazette to discuss the situation about KVIA's lack of technical capabilites. Does anyone know if someone from News Press and Gazette's broadcast engineering department actively posts to this site? I wonder if KVIA is slated to get more funds? Maybe that's why they show so many ads (insufficient funds).

On Monday's Four 'O Clock newscast on kvia, it seems their commercial playback machine needs repair. It constantly would not show the EP Dental ads. Instead it showed what people in the control room saw, a dvd-menu like screen to select which commercial. Someone should check KVIA's bandwith too. I think during Once Upon A Time, the audio was 5.1; It seems like 5.1 for almost all ABC primetime shows.

Has anyone noticed all the KFOX news at 5 ads? They are everywhere, in the newspaper, online, on the radio. How much more advertizing dollars are they getting?

KVIA doen't broadcast 5.1 just stereo 2 channel at least my home theater doesn't show it as 5.1 like all the other stations

TBBT and Rob looked great last night.. also caught The Mentalist.. big improvement..

TBBT and Rob looked great last night.. also caught The Mentalist.. big improvement..

Glad to hear it.
I get e-mail notifications from the Forum for all of our markets.
Keep the updates comiing............

Lou Strowger
Corporate Engineer
ComCorp

Yeah.. also who really really watches 4.2?

Couldn't believe stations with 3 subs looked better..

I'm struggling with one of my Vizio TVs, like it has trouble decoding channel 7.1, most of the time, doesn't pixelate, just has pauses, but my other Vizio TV looks great.. I have no problems with other channels, just 7.1 on this Vizio..

Yeah.. also who really really watches 4.2?

Couldn't believe stations with 3 subs looked better..

I'm struggling with one of my Vizio TVs, like it has trouble decoding channel 7.1, most of the time, doesn't pixelate, just has pauses, but my other Vizio TV looks great.. I have no problems with other channels, just 7.1 on this Vizio..

Have tried retuning (searching) maybe the TV or KVIA signal has changed. KVIA is the weakest (cheapest) station signal strength wise. Probably because they are running 4 channels. I personally think all the subs should be dropped for all the stations. Most are not needed except maybe for CW. They just take up bandwidth that can be used for better HD picture.

So, KBDC at it again....

They don't seem to pass the SAP channel to the audience that comes with some shows.. I've tried last night to see a show in Spanish (Rob) that has that feature..

Someone told me on HDTV Technical that it comes down to the local stations to broadcast the SAP channel or not.. maybe they aren't even equipped for that or they are just dumb.. Not offering SAP in spanish in a border town with Mexico? what the?

I e-mailed KVIA through Rick Caberra for Keven Lovell, the station manager. here is there response to several questions:

1. Why doesn't KVIA broadcast audio in dolby 5.1? KVIA has never made the transition to 5.1 due to conversion costs and evolving technology. We are planning a full Master Control upgrade scheduled to be completed in October 2012 that will upgrade our audio to 5.1.

2. Why is the audio level so loud? I have to always turn down the volume several numbers from the other stations in town. The reason for this is twofold. There is no longer any standard audio level for commercial spot or program creators to deliver content with. This means that the raw materials the station gets from providers does not have consistent levels. Secondly, KVIA does not have modern audio regulation equipment to properly standardize the audio levels coming out of the station. This problem will be fixed with our Master Control upgrade scheduled for October 2012.

3. On weekends why isn't Good Morning America broadcast in HD? KVIA has no means to record and playback HD programming. During the weekdays, GMA is a live feed, but on weekends there is no live Mountain broadcast, so we have to record GMA and delay it one hour. We are only able to record and playback in standard definition. This will be corrected in October as well.

I e-mailed KVIA through Rick Caberra for Keven Lovell, the station manager. here is there response to several questions:

1. Why doesn't KVIA broadcast audio in dolby 5.1? KVIA has never made the transition to 5.1 due to conversion costs and evolving technology. We are planning a full Master Control upgrade scheduled to be completed in October 2012 that will upgrade our audio to 5.1.

2. Why is the audio level so loud? I have to always turn down the volume several numbers from the other stations in town. The reason for this is twofold. There is no longer any standard audio level for commercial spot or program creators to deliver content with. This means that the raw materials the station gets from providers does not have consistent levels. Secondly, KVIA does not have modern audio regulation equipment to properly standardize the audio levels coming out of the station. This problem will be fixed with our Master Control upgrade scheduled for October 2012.

3. On weekends why isn't Good Morning America broadcast in HD? KVIA has no means to record and playback HD programming. During the weekdays, GMA is a live feed, but on weekends there is no live Mountain broadcast, so we have to record GMA and delay it one hour. We are only able to record and playback in standard definition. This will be corrected in October as well.

Thanks, Frank.
Well at least they have a set time frame to upgrade equipment:). I wonder why they could not do it sooner:confused:? All the other stations did it like 2 years ago. I wonder what else will be upgraded? Maybe the newscast graphics? Let's hope they buy quality equipment that will last many years.

The no 5.1 audio is not very noticeable. The audio system usually duplicates the audio for the back speakers. They must have VERY old equipment if they can't just pass through the network audio and keep all the audio channels. Either that or they edit the audio. On Once Upon A Time the audio seems especially low. It appears it does not affect other shows. What other upgrades could the local TV stations use?

Well thanks to Rick Caberra for providing some answers. Personally, i think Rick is the best in El Paso. He's certainly better than the snarky, eye rolling, opinionated one in the morning.

Well, I tried "Rob" again with SAP, nothing.. did select CC3 at least they have spanish captions...

TVGOS is not working again from KDBC. E-mailed KTSM engineer. Just unbelievable how much trouble all these stations have with their equipment.

I read the New York City OTA thread, and TVGOS is all they have been talking about lately. Most of them feel this service will not last much longer.

I hope that is not the case. Lots of devises use TVGOS and the manufacture paid a license fee. I have a Dish (now channel Master) OTA HD recorder and I really like the TVGOS (rovi). Dish satellite uses the same guide from Rovi. Guess I'll just have to keep checking and doing factory resets to find out if it comes back. I'll wait a week and then call KTSM's engineer since I know he won't e-mail me any info.

I read the New York City OTA thread, and TVGOS is all they have been talking about lately. Most of them feel this service will not last much longer.

TVGOS is back. Did a factory reset yesterday on my hd recorder, This forces it to look for the signal, and it came back in a few hours.