Well, I've lost FOX from Augusta. I guess they were not full power after all. I am so dissapointed. Oh, well, another month before we have FOX (WTGS) from Savannah. :rolleyes:

I think all FOX stations are in the same boat, THEY do not give a s---t.
Fox 24 from Charleston is full power but the PSIP is out of wack, so I get a strong signal but no picture or sound.
Bryan you will like the new 622 it will lock into a signal as low as mid 50s with few dropouts.
I just added 12-1 12-2 NBC from Jax and within 5 min I had the EPG for 12-1 for 9 days
I like the feature where I can record 2 SD or HD from sat and 1 HD ota at the same time.

I heard about the nice locking feature. I hope my date for an install is not a month after I order.

My install date was when the UPS man came LOL

I'm hoping they let me do the same. I don't need some kid coming to my house again and &*$#ing up everything again. Note to DISH: I CAN DO IT MYSELF! :D

You can say that again, most of the socalled pros were working at Berger king last week.
When you get your 622 let me know, I can give you a few tips on how to get a good first SW download that I had trouble with.

There IS a good reason why those kids that are installing the dish equipment are so young and so inexperienced. Dish won't pay them squat anymore. They chased away all their good qualified installers by constantly cutting their pay. Used to be $100 for a single dish install, dropped it down to $75, then $65, then $50.

Last time I checked ( I left the profession LONG ago ), they were paying $100 for a 2 reciever install + superdish + pole + trenching.

As Dish gets cheaper with it's customer service, installers, and even tossing customer satisfaction out the window, the more it ends up costing them in the long run in repeat trips, customer complaints, etc.

I have always done my stuff, never had an installer at my home.
Bryan the 9 day EPG is back on 921s

Sorry for my ignorance guys, I have been out of the loop for a while and was curious, what is the next OTA channel that is expected to go HD and when do we expect that to happen? I have not had much time to watch TV due to my wife killing me about getting our extra room ready for our expectant twins, but I think I am finally there so I expect to watch as much HD before the twins are born cause I dont think that I will be able to enjoy it much. Thanks guys

John

Fox and Abc at the last possible moment. Having said that, it would be before July or June (one of the J months) of this year. There is supposed to be a new law, or whatever you want to call it, that allows those of us that are not able to pick up a digital signal to then be able to get distants from Dish or Direct. Someone correct me if I'm wrong or add to this.

jriggy..Good luck with your twins. we have 3.5 year old twins. The first year will be a blur but you'll love it. Get everything you want done before they are born.... :-)

Once again WSAV seems to have issues with their audio :) Presently I'm down mixing DD
(Dolby Digital) to stereo (Rt & Lt). If there is anyone with a true 5.1 monitor setup tell me if they actually have a Center dialog channel during their Prime time programming. I plan on calling them this week, and this information will help me in describing the audio artifact in detail.

The DD down mix on my system appears to have cancellation or phase issues, where everything especially center dialog is seriously lacking. Thanks in advance for your help!

thomas

The prime time HD programs are ok with DD-5, but all local and none DD-5 I get no center ch sound.

You need to talk to Gary Coffman at WSAV or email GCoffmen@WSAV.com

The prime time HD programs are ok with DD-5, but all local and none DD-5 I get no center ch sound.
Same here. Prime time is fine, but anything else is how Jim described.

Doff!..My bad :)

I accidently enabled Dolby Pro Logic on my Audio Processor :o
Darn button on the remote is too close to the volume up/down. Anyway thanks for the feedback!

thomas

anybody else frustrated with WTOC for the lack of HD for the NCAA tourney? i just got back from river street, no HD in prime time?

Brian I do not think WTOC is the problem
Go to the Charleston SC forum and look at thread 3932 for more info on this

I dont think so either. However, It was HD this afternoon when I checked it.

CBS sports has very little HD equipment. They're kind of wierd. Most of the college football games on CBS ( produced by other companies though ) were in HD. But on Sundays, CBS only runs one NFL game in HD. The NCAA tourney seems to be the same way, one out of every few games is HD.

brianNpooler, after being on RiverSt on St. Patrick's day, do you remember making that post? :)

Good thing I was drunk when I was down there, else I might have been mad at the $6 sausage dogs and $8 cheesesteaks...

CBS sports has very little HD equipment. They're kind of wierd. Most of the college football games on CBS ( produced by other companies though ) were in HD. But on Sundays, CBS only runs one NFL game in HD. The NCAA tourney seems to be the same way, one out of every few games is HD.


I don't mean to be mean here but your information is just plain wrong.

CBS runs 3 NFL games a week in HD, we just don't see them thanks to the Jaguars and NFL TV rules. FOX broadcast all (or almost all) of its games in HD on Sunday, so this isn't an issue for them. CBS will begin broadcasting all NFL games in HD next season.

THE NCAA Tourney is a whole different issue. WTOC is not "flipping the switch" for several games that have been HD, I know because I watched them in HD on WCBS from NY. Also, Not all the region locations have HD because CBS doesn't have the distribution capability/capacity for more than 2 HD feeds at once (the same reason why there are only 3 NFL games on Sunday (There are two early games, one on east and one on west; there is one late game on West and east is saved for primetime on stations not airing a late game). So there is no reason to have 4 venues rigged for HD when they can only show 2 of them at once. As the number of venues gets lower the number of HD games will go up. I believe all games from the sweet 16 on will be HD. For more on this go to http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=656257.

Hope this helps!

Jim, how is the 622? Any problems yet? Just curious since I am getting one shortly. Well, I'm ordering shortly, but probably won't see it till May!

622 is ok so far, I may trade in 921 on second one, I think the tuner is a little better, like the NBR and bigger HD.
Are you going to trade your 921 or just add a 622?

I will trade my 921 now, and then get another 622 next year for our bedroom. I hope to be done after that. :D

Here I go showing my ignorance again.

I can be watching WJWJ OTA (16.1, .2, .3) with no problem. Then, all of a sudden the signal strength goes from a solid 77% (out of 100) to bouncing between 0% and 86%. of course the picture breaks up an is unwatchable. To make matters more confusing, it is doing this with my antenna, an XG 91, facing towards Savannah, not Beaufort. I tried turning it but I can't seem to get a better picture on WJWJ than when it is facing South and I watch Savannah channels most of the time so that is the best for me. I receive NBC and CBS from Savannah perfectly (93%-100%). Sometime later, and that time can vary, channel 16 stabilizes and is very watchable again.

Can someone tell me what is happening here? Would a "Omni-directional" antenna? As Oljim probably remembers, my antenna is in the attic and I am trying not to move it to my roof if that can be avoided. I also don't have room to add a rotor with my present set up. I do know that WJWJ was doing some tower work and were going to low power on occassion but I was under the impression that was over with now.

Anybody think they know what is happening? Is it happening to anyone else? Thanks!

Edbloomer

it is doing this with my antenna, an XG 91, facing towards Savannah, not Beaufort. You are probably receiving a reflection & not a direct line of site propagation. This may further explain why the signal maybe compromised by changing physical conditions, i.e. wind blowing tree limbs, temperature (atmosphere inversions), and believe it or not car/truck traffic nearby & even activity or movement of people in your home.

thomas

Thomas:

Thanks! I reaimed the antenna towards Beaufort and I am now receiving a VERY strong signal (93% to 100%) from WJWJ. Of course now NBC HD Savannah is in the mud (20% to 30%) and CBS is coming in at 65% and watchable but that must be another reflection or is being received from the back of the antenna since I had previously taken the reflectors off.

Now the problem I have to overcome is how do I receive reliable signals from two locations (Savannah & Beaufort), or maybe more down the road, with out using a rotor? If I knew it would be no more than two I guess I could get another antenna, aim it at the second location and run both of them in to an A/B switch in front of my receiver.

Do you think I would stand any chance using one of these "Metro 3000" type antennas? Is there another type antenna I should consider? Do I have any other alternatives other than a rotor? Thanks again!

I bet oljim might suggest some antenna combo's. You will loose a small amount of sensitivity through an A/B switch. Antenna gain comes from it's directivity, i.e. an omni will be least effective for signal strength or gain.

thomas

I donot think an omni would work (lack of gain) I would try a second UHF ant with A/B sw or go to a smaller ant (CM 4228) with CM 9521 rotor
You can get a R/S UHF for $25.
I have a 4228 and get 16-3 very good off back side with ant pointed at Sav. but it is outside
Or do what I did 2 good ant. 2 rotors and 2 HD DVRs That will also get you FOX from Charleston.

WSAV is working to improve sound on 3-1
Please post what you are getting for both HD and SD
You should now get center on none DD-5

It was in a barrel again last night. I couldn't wait around for a commercial, though.

To make a long story short, the rec. for the sat signal went down, when it came back up all the settings for DD-5 were lost.
They had to reprogram them this AM

Damn, cant you just hit File/Save as/ DD 5.1. j/k Im sure they are still learning like the rest of us.

HowieSEB, i dont recall that post. How f'd up is that? apparently i was perceptive enough to go on the internet, go on the AVS forum, and write a coherent post. thanks to all for the explanation.
on a different note, i just noticed a commercial that the world cup soccer matches will be on ESPN 1 and 2 this june/july rather than on ABC as in the past. I've played soccer for the better part of 20 years and am stoked to see the matches in HD. Here's a big middle finger to abc 22 and fox 28 (my favorite show 24) for making us wait for HD OTA.
Question, does anyone have a solid opinion on which is more beneficial, a home theater receiver that has HDMI inputs/outputs, or a receiver that simply has a good A/V sync to kill video delay without HDMI inputs/outputs? I can only asume if the receiver handles HDMI in/out that A/V sync is seamless or at least included. My receiver sports neither option. There happens to be a big price upswing if said receiver handles HDMI, and price is my main factor of concern. the receiver i own is only a year old, 7.1 channel, sounds great, now realizing it is painfully lacking a critical feature. thanks for any opinions.

Is there anyone here from Hinesville? I may have to move from the Savannah area and im wondering what kind of reception they are getting down there.

I live in Hinesville and the only current stations I receive are NBC and CBS with a DB4 from Antennasdirect. Spoke with FOX in Savannah and they stated that they should be going HD some time late 2nd Quarter (one of the J months --I'm not holding my breath though).

John

NASCAR is up for FOX on July 9th, so it should be the Monday after that!

I was fliping through the channels and low and behold I had a picture on 34-1 (WGSA)! It was breaking up but that was the first time I ever received anything I could see. The Signal Strength is usually between 0% and 10%. It was right around 50%. No picture right now.

Last season, all that CBS ever advertised was 1 HD NFL game. Only because Sony was sponsoring it I think. Might have been one of each ( 1 early game, one late game ). But UGA was always in HD it seemed.

But, after reading posts here, I took my antenna in off my old Dish Network model 6000's 8vsb module and put it into the back of my Samsung HDTV. I get so many more analog channels, and the guide works! Wonder why Dish can't get that simple feature working on a 6000...no matter, they will be obsolete soon anyway I read. I get better signal that way, it probably has one of those built in low noise amplifiers too.

I also picked up EDTV from SC for a few days. But it seems the signal has dropped out as well. I CAN turn my antenna to get it back, but it just seems like it is broadcasting at a lower power now than before. I remember WTOC-DT had this problem for a few weeks ( read that in this thread ). Wonder if they are having the same problem in Beaufort.

edbloomer: What frequency is WGSA-DT broadcasting on?

HowieSEB:

I get it through my Direct Receiver as 34.1. This receiver doesn't show the actual channel. It could be 50 but then again, it may not be. Perhaps someone else would know.

edbloomer

I think it is DTV 35

Channel 9-1, WVAN-DT showed up on my DirecTV receiver today. No picture or signal, just a "place holder". Just like 34-1 I guess. Someday!

What is up with the Masters not in HD today. We are getting jipped!!!!!!!

If you're talking about Saturday, it had to do with the weather warning at the top. I called and asked if anything was wrong, and the engineer said with the warning they could not show HD.

Anybody getting FOXhd ota? No? Me either, just checking. :rolleyes:

Yep Fox 24 from Charleston DTV 40

Anybody getting FOXhd ota? No? Me either, just checking. :rolleyes:
Sorry Jim, Anybody getting WTGShd ota? No? Me either, but Jim is all smiles! :D

Has anyone heard any date for WVAN coming up on digital channel 9.1? I think they are licensed for DTV on channel 13. My DirecTV Guide Channel starting showing 9.1 about 10 days ago, but so far no signal. Of course it also shows 34.1 for WUBI and there is no signal there either.. :confused:

I clicked the "Ask Us" link on the GPTV web site more than a week ago asking for a date. So far nobody has responded. I hate it when organizations put up an e-mail link on their web site but then never respond to any inquiries... :mad:

Bryan when are you going to get a 622?

Yea, I ordered it a few weeks ago. Install for May 18th! :eek: Let that joker get here, and I will do the honors.

Just a note: I was able to view WTGS this Saturday. It is still analog, however I was able to watch the entire race on WFXG (Augusta). Thank you Augusta.

Saturday night must have produced excellent propagation conditions. I was able to get signal on WTGS in short bursts of 40 on a scale of 0-100, but never held the high signals long enough to lock. Still- usually I get absolutely zilch, zero, nada from WTGS. WTOC held in there in the high 80s and WSAV was a solid 95. All this on a DirecTV HD-Tivo. It has a decent OTA tuner, but not as good as the newer H10 and H20 reciever units.

On another front, still no e-mail response from GPTV about WVAN going digital. Anybody hear anything locally or have a contact within the engineering group?

That July 08 date is probably a pretty good bet. I'm referring to the date that shows up on antennaweb.org.

If you remember reading my post a couple of months back, I stated that our local cable company was looking into HD. Well, they are getting serious again, and not that I care, I cant get it in the country. My point to this post is to say that FOX and ABC have NOW stated it will be fall until they are up with ota. Take it for what its worth, but thats what I've heard.

I wonder how they get away with it, all stations in the 100 (DMA) were to be full power last july.
Only WSAV went full power, the rest seem to not do what they were told to do by FCC???
Bryan Dish is moving Sav locals off 105 to 110 they did Augusta, Charleston and Macon this week.

Yea, I know. I got my 622 Friday and went ahead and installed it yesterday and called dish. "We cant activate your receiver because it requires us to install a Dish 1000". Jeez, wth. Anyway, I would be very surprised to see them have it ready in the fall. I have been hearing this for three years. If they have not figured it out yet, they wont ever figure it out.

You have one on 61.5 so you have no need for a 1000. 129 is very weak down here and 61.5 has all the new HD stuff. They are sure dumb about what you need.
A single dish pointed at 129 works better than a 1000.

Yea, I know, but I was tired of arguing with the lady. I even went the HD tech route and she still wouldnt activate it. I didn't feel like calling back, so I just put the 921 back up there. But, not before I set it up, scanned locals and all that. I locked in several stations with 50-60 % signal strength.

My 622 shows less signal reading on both ota and dish than my 921 but works with ota down to 50s where 921 needs 70s.
Are you going to trade in 921 or keep it

I will trade it and hopefully have another HD set next year. When I get that, I will get another 622 or whatever is out then.

Bryan, that's surprising they would not activate for you since you have a dish at 61.5. I just had my 622 installed and the installer wanted to do 61.5 instead of the dish 1000. The left hand does not know what the right is doing at dish.

Jim or anyone, I havent heard anything lately and was wondering about the law that would go into effect July 1. Im referring to the law about receiving distant HD if you were unable to get them via ota. Did this pass? Is it a go? Thanks

Bryan, that's surprising they would not activate for you since you have a dish at 61.5. I just had my 622 installed and the installer wanted to do 61.5 instead of the dish 1000. The left hand does not know what the right is doing at dish.

Like I said, I told her what I had and she wouldn't budge and I certainly wasn't going to play the CSR game. I can wait a couple more weeks. Glad you were able to get yours done.

Bryan I am sorry to say nothing yet on the distant networks yet.
I did some testing on 129 yesterday, I dropped my Super dish down so the 119 LNB would pick up 129 but all signal was 40s and 50s and hard to lock.
Was not much better with a dish 500
I am going to put the 500 on 61.5 today
I do know they have changed the way they send out the EPG for the 921
I could not get EPG for the city that had locals on 105 till I put up the 105 dish, mow I get epg for Sav, Charleston and Columbia with out 105 dish.
I also see some poor signal on the new 110 spotbeam bird.
Charleston is on TP-4 and that is not as good here as it should be.
The signal for Raleigh NC was on 119 TP 7 was 123 now it is on 110 TP29 and in low to mid 80s
I am going to remove Y adp off a dish 500 and put a signal adp on a 500 and see how that works.

Testing is done
Here is what I found
Dish 300 sat 61.5 TP 10 best signal was 94
Dish 500 w/adpt for one LNB same LNB and cable used with 300 signal 112 18 better than dish 300

I have a Channel Master CM-4228 mounted in my attic and I live 64 miles from the tower farm. I get WTOC pretty much all the time and WSAV all the time from about late afternoon to mid-morning. If you are in Hinesville, you should have no trouble with a good antenna. If you have the room, I would suggest the Channel Master CM-4228 over the Radio Shack model. At your distance, and unless you have an exceedingly long cable run (over 100 feet), I would not use a preamp.

The main factor in determining the performance of an attic-mounted antenna is the content of the surrounding house structure. Any metal screening like wire mesh behind stucco exterior walls or the shiny foil backing used on some insulation panels will kill the signal in the attic. My house has OSB sheathing and Hardiplank cement fiber siding on the east side facing Savannah. They don't appear to drastically attenuate the UHF HD signals from WTOC and WSAV. On the other hand, to the west of me is our local low-power UHF station here in Vidalia on channel 46. I'm about 6 miles from their tower. However, that side of my house is clad in man-made stone set in a mortar base with a metal lath underlayment. I get pretty much zero signal from that direction. Even with my 27 dB preamp, I can just barely make out a picture from our channel 46 because of the shielding effect of that metal lath structure.


bmeeks8, how's the CM-4228 attic mount working out for you now? I live in Lyons (58 miles from the antenna farm per AntennaWeb) on top of a small hill. I'm considering a CM-4228, and I'd prefer the attic if possible. I'm just wondering if anything has changed snce December and which channels you are getting. Thanks for any info.

Probably will work OK with the following warning.

If your house is stucco with the wire lathe or if you have foil-backed insulation under your siding you won't get any signal. Your odds are best if the antenna is pointing straight out one of the gable ends (assuming you have a gable and not a hip roof design).

I can hold WTOC-11 pretty much all the time. WSAV usually disappears during the middle of the day. I could probably hold both of them 24x7 if I mounted the antenna outside. Might eventually try that.

I'm on the southwest side of Vidalia on Adams Street in a small hole. I'm very close to where Rocky Creek crosses Adams Street.

I have to rant. It's been a while since ive posted. Not only is there no picture at all on fox 28-1, but the picture quality on SD channel 28 is noticeably worse than normal. as my handle states i live here in pooler, so signal strength is not an issue. its what we already know: fox 28 and abc 22 suck. they dont care about you or me, they care about the dollar. if they thought about it for a second, they would realize that HD availability=more viewers. i base this solely on the fact that since my investment in HD, i now watch CSI (and Miami), without a trace, the office, my name is earl, etc. these are shows i never watched before, but i find myself compelled to watch them since the picture is outta this world. Get a clue WTGS, and WJCL. i can tell you that if JC Lewis was still around in charge of these stations, they probably would have been the first outta the gate with HD compliance. In the meantime, keep emailing the GM of these bozo stations. B

Good Call BrianNpooler. I have been very frustrated lately with the lack of HD from those two. Let the email flood Begin...

J

effect July 1. Im referring to the law about receiving distant HD
What law is this? I think the OTA specification calls for a grade "B" city coverage. There is not a law that I know, which will guarantee a certain Signal Strength to ones home. Remember zero signal can become almost full strength by moving the receive antenna a couple of feet.

Most of the time UHF transmissions issues come into play, i.e. multi path, weather/atmosphere/temperature, big trees in yard, hilly area, nearby car traffic, ect..

If there was a law passed, please post a reference, I would be very interested in this. Thanks in advance.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=64867&highlight=fcc

This is where it was being discussed, but I don't know if this is what I was referring to or not. It would make no sense to me anyway.

Thanks Bryan,

In fact you are correct, Full power requirements should have taken place for certain market share stations. But each individual station can apply for wavers to extend this transition period. In fact analog should have gone away this year. This would have given broadcasters less legacy transmitters cost, and let them prioritize their antenna's ERP (power level). Now it's 2009 ;)

I got no signal on WTOC 11-1 100% on WSAV

What the hell are you watching on those channels at this time of day, soaps? :D

Sorry, I'm at work and cant help, Jim.

Ha ha Nope lost signal from 4228 on my 921, found the CM amp had died, took down and removed amp. then got no signal on 11-1. Called WTOC and found they were working on tranmitter for a few hrs.
But my amp was bad, died.

ok guys we are right around the corner from another football season...any chance our FOX and ABS will be high def OTA by then?

of course i meant ABC.

ok, i just read the article below, it's a mixed bag. on the one hand, we can request digital signal tests for WGSA-DT, as their waiver request was rejected, but strangely WJCL is not subject to the April 30, '06 deadline, but instead are subject to the July 15, '07 deadline. YIKES! the article makes no mention of WTGS at all. All n all, I'd rather have FOX, and ABC than UPN. Whoopdy freakin' doo.

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-801A1.doc

I believe I have said this before, but I will believe it when I see it. Also, as said before, Fox is not even digital ota (if you can pick them up). Its the same crap as they put through dish and ota analog. Lines all over the place, its almost unwatchable. Its funny how they both display their DTV channel numbers on their broadcast and neither one is truly digital, much less live.

For someone more intelligent than me...What is the hold up on FOX and ABC? Money? I may have asked this before, so if I have, I apologize.

Good question Bryan

I forgot to mention that I had my 622 hooked up today. It is sweet. Jim you'll never guess but I didnt need any other dishes. :rolleyes:

Has anyone called the station lately?

You mean FOX or ABC? If so, no, I havent.

I found this link on the FCC's web site for WTGS Fox 28. Looks like they have petitioned the FCC to let them feed both the DTV and analog signals into the same antenna. This will reduce their coverage slightly towards the north. The technical details are in this link. (takes a few seconds to download on high-speed connection, it's a PDF).

http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getattachment_exh.cgi?exhibit_id=403130

Maybe this is the first baby step toward digital high-power for Fox in Savannah?

At the pace the government moves, it could be a while. :D At least we are seeing some progress, though.

I wonder why they say 28 is Hardyville, they moved to Sav. yrs ago

I always notice that, too. Maybe the main something or other is still there. Honestly, I have no idea.

Nothing on the website about Hardyville, add is Sav and all the ph#s are in Sav
Many yrs ago they had a tower out near Hardyville but that was in late 80s

Jim, I have a question. After installing the 622 the other day, I thought of something. Do I really need 105 hooked up? No, right. Okay, now would there be any benifet to taking that off the DPP44 and having just 110, 119 and 61.5? Oh, and replace the 44 and go back to a 34. Do you see any problems with that? I don't, but just wanted another opinion. BTW, if it makes a difference, I have a superdish.

No need for 105 anymore but with the dpp 44 you can work with single cable to 622.

So, just unhook 105 from the switch? Or, should I just leave it alone. btw, I have two lines running to the 622, but I plan on having something similar in the bedroom.

I would leave it alone, you only need one going to bedroom. Just use the seperator that came with the 622.
I run my 921 and 622 both on one cable.

Got cha, thanks!

Good info bmeeks! if you find anything on WJCL in that regard please post. i have been unsuccessful other than the FCC post a couple of weeks ago.

Nothing else so far about either one (WTGS or WJCL).

Here is the link to the top-level FCC search tools in case you don't have it. Use the TV Query link on the left-hand nav column of the page. I usually just seach by the Call Sign.

http://www.fcc.gov/searchtools.html

Looks like my emails to WTGS/WJCL go unanswered I ask when they will go full power HD and get NO reply

Jim, I think that means when hell freezes over! :rolleyes:

I am lucky I can Fox 24 from Charleston %95 of the time. Sure would be nice if we could get ABC HD

I'm still having good luck with Fox out of Augusta. Not that its what I want, but at least I am getting 50% of the time.

It does seem that these local channels neglect their digital counterparts. Has anyone checked the weather on 11.2 lately? The 5 day forcast has been stuck on Thursday with a Hi of *.


It's monday. You think some engineer might actually catch that and push the 'reset' button :)

lol. Do the engineers read this forum? Now the channel is gone completely. Just a black screen. Maybe they hit the reset button and it didn't come back up :)

I hope they read it.

Dear FOX (WTGS Savannah),

I would like to watch the last NASCAR race that FOX broadcast this year in HD. It will air on Saturday, July 1st, 2006 (yes, I know you have been saying you would be live three years ago and have said each time I email you that you would be live in six months). If you cannot reach this goal, I understand. I will continue to pray this week that your competition in Augusta (I say this because for some ungodly reason you think if I watch their commercials, I will rush to Baby'R'Us and buy something there, rather than in Savannah), well, that the weather will cooperate and allow me to view their HD feed OTA and DD 5.1. Thank you for your efforts, but they are futile, give it up!

P.S.- Please, if you cannot attain this goal, fix the damn lines that continue to plague your broadcast, both OTA and by way of dishnetwork.

P.S.S- I like Frank Sulkowski because he is a friend of mine. Please give him a raise and tell him congrats on getting the Georgia Southern coaches show again. :D

Dear ABC (WJCL Savannah),

I very rarely watch anything you broadcast for the simple fact that most shows found on ABC suck. However, I do watch LOST and Extreme Home makeover. LOST is broadcast in HD and when the new season starts, it'd be nice to watch it with clarity. This would be unlike the way I watch it now, with no color, terrible sound and overall, a bad hour of television. Thanks again for trying, but give it up!

P.S. Unfortunately, I am unable to get any other ABC station in HD. If I were able to get another station, I would not be as angry as I have for the past few years. I remember watching, with anticipation, the date closing in on www.antennaweb.org. What was it, June 05? Oh, it got so close and then, BLAM, you changed till TBD. WTH. Did yall hear about this change when we did? We're ready, how about you? No? Well, I have to go. I am going to try and lock in channel 23 and 27 on my HD receiver which is hooked up to my $3200 television, that on a cops salary, is hard to reach also. Sorry, one more question. Why do yall insist on teasing those of us not in Savannah? Oh, you don't understand? When I do view your channels, I notice you have those numbers (23, 27) on your screen at certain times. Is this for your viewers in Savannah with cable? No need to reply, I understand. :rolleyes:

Well said Bryan

Finally, somebody was able to put the same frustrations that I feel in an email. I really hope that email goes to the head of the station, and I would cc the head of ABC and FOX national channels just to let them know how crummy the local affiliates are. You the MAN!

I didnt email them. The last time was last year. They kept saying the things I said above, and I just didnt want to hear it anymore. It was more of a spoof at what was said above my post. Honestly, I have given up. I lived without them for years, so when it does happen, I will be content. Until then, I will continue to watch Augusta and WJCL's crappy dishnetwork feed.

It's not one of those good nights for picking up a signal, but low and behold, while attempting to scan for some other stations in the Savannah direction, I maxed out the signal on a dn 622 for WJBF (abc) in Augusta. That was off the side of a 4228. If youre in this area, try digital channel 42. It hasn't dropped in the last hour. One other note- I have the Augusta FOX station at 85. It has been hovering around 60-62. I am going to email them and ask if they have gone to full power. Good luck.

Had no luck with the ABC or FOX in Aug. but it is about 100 miles from me.
Did find a new full power NBC in Charleston 2-1 DTV 50 I like the way my 622 had the EPG for new station 5 min after I added it to my list.

I tried Charleston last night (with no luck ) just to prove to myself that it was not a good night to lock in stations. I have Savannah and Augusta NBC, so that is not that important. Not that I wouldnt mind having another back up. Also, I locked in CBS and FOX from Columbia, but it was pixalating bad. I havent got an email back from WJBF, but I will let you know when I do.

Many of you may remember me talking about a friend of mine whose father runs our local cable company. Well, if not, a little background. He has been trying to get HD on Statesboro's cable system for some time. He was pissed when he found out one would have to rent a box for like, $600 and not have near the channels that others with satellite have. Also, he described for me how cable would receive their signal. The same way we do. They have an antenna, get the ota signal, then retransmitt it. Northland cable now has WTOC and WSAV on thier system, however, WTGS and WJCL said it will be October before they will be transmitting ota. Take that for what its worth, which is not much since I've heard that for about three years now.

I got the same thing, in Nov 04 they said July 05 the in June 05 they said Jan 06 I still have the emails
The only one that was not bull was from WSAV. in Jan 05 they said they would go full power June 05 and they did

Those near Statesboro. I had 75 off the side of my antenna again last night (during the storm) for ABC Augusta. Let us know if someone besides me can pick it up.

What I need is a 1000 ft tower or I could get a BIG rool of RG-6 and hook up to your ant LOL

What I need is a 1000 ft tower or I could get a BIG rool of RG-6 and hook up to your ant LOL
:D

Its still 100. I havent got an email back yet, but I cant believe I can get this for three days and it not be full power.

bryan92: What antenna setup do you have? I think I read about it before...CM low noise amp and the bowtie UHF ant? But I read a LOT of setups here. If it's directional, what direction?

It's cool that Northland is going through the same crap or worse than we are :) They've been a real sub-par cable system. They were probably a good fit 10-20 years ago, but it seems that the city and area has really grown but they refuse to. I consistently converted their subscirbers to DISH for less they they were paying for 30-40 channels for about 2 years....back when I sold that stuff.

If ABC in Augusta is full power, then I'll turn my antenna. I can still get WTOC and WSAV no matter which way I'm pointing it seems.

Bryan has a 4228 cm and a CM9521 rotor, same as I have. Not sure if he has an amp.
I would give up my amp before I would give up my rotor
I have 2 ant an old CM VHF/UHF 1160 17 1/2 ft long with CM amp 9521 rotor and a CM 4228 with 9521 rotor did have a CM7777 amp but it died.
Nice thing about the CM 9521 is you can find best signal for a station and program it in with the remote, For WSAV I have one rotor programed as 3 the other is programed as 39. that way if I hit 3 on my remote only one of the ant will point to WSAV.

Bryan,

Looks like WJBF in Augusta is running full power (1 megawatt ERP from 469 meters above ground). Here's their application filed June 16 for a "License to Cover" for DT on channel 42.

http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/app_det.pl?Application_id=1133696

They should be blowing your doors off there in Bulloch County. I might even try getting them over here in Vidalia, but I'll need a rotor first.

Bryan,

Looks like WJBF in Augusta is running full power (1 megawatt ERP from 469 meters above ground). Here's their application filed June 16 for a "License to Cover" for DT on channel 42.

http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/app_det.pl?Application_id=1133696

They should be blowing your doors off there in Bulloch County. I might even try getting them over here in Vidalia, but I'll need a rotor first.


Rotor's for rich people :) I can walk outside and turn the antenna :)

Jim is right about my setup and I do have an amp.

WJCL is maxed out at 100. I knew that it must be FULL power because I had no dropouts whatsoever. What a great job they did. They must have had a July 06 date because they are about 110 or so dma, I think.

EDIT: To correct WJCL. I meant WJBF Augusta.

Bryan
Are you talking about WJCL in Sav. 22-1 DTV23 I get nutton on them now.

Oops, sorry. I meant WJBF. I was using the call sign to try and not confuse the two and it backfired.

We will need an ABC station for Nascar next yr, Fox will not have the first 1/2 of the season.
It will be a mixed bag of ABC ESPN and ESPN 2.
Hope the rest of this season is HD on NBC and TNT

Jim,

As you know WTAT has been full power for sometime. Last week both WCBD(NBC) and WCIV(ABC) went full power. Both WTAT and WCBD transmit from the same tower. Just across the road is the tower that WCSC, WCIV and ETV transmit from. I am getting a 75% signal from WTAT and WCBD but very weak signals from WCSC, WCIV and ETV. I've talked with Elton Brown at WCSC and he states their antenna was just inspected and no problems were found.

The other strange thing is Charter Cable is receiving both WCSC and WCIV digital signals up on a 250ft tower and the picture breakup is about the same. I guess Beaufort is in a null area where the signal is not reaching us very well. Winter months is my best time of year to receive their signals. My only hope is when the analog channels are stopped they will move their antenna to the top of the tower but not sure that will happen. Let me know what you are finding where you live.

Eddie

Eddie
I talked to Elton about the same thing back in Jan, about how my signal on WCSC was not as good as it was a yr. ago. and the Fox signal was much better down here. I also noted that a slight change of ant direction made a differance in signal from 2 stations on the same tower (7-1 and 5-1)
I am going out for an hr or so will give you my signals on all the stations when I get back.
Jim

Eddie
This what I am getting as of 3 PM I have listed signal for all Charleston stations
Signal is from my Dish 921
2-1 91
4-1 87
5-1 53-70 no lock
7-1 54-72 no lock
24-1 95
36-1 0-62 no lock
16-1/2/3 100 max out

oljim and Eddie39,

Just FYI. Looks like this past Saturday night was ideal for long distance propagation. I had WTAT and WCIV from Charleston here in Vidalia, GA (70 air miles more or less due west of Savannah) Saturday night. I had a solid 69 on WTAT and a solid 57 on WCIV on my DirecTV HDTivo. As a comparison, I normally get about 69 from WTOC and between 63 and 95 on WSAV. Saturday I had a 90 on WTOC and a 95 on WSAV while I was getting the Charleston stations.

By the way, this was Saturday night around midnight and it was over by morning. When I checked on Sunday I had zero signals from Charleston.

Jim,

The only difference between our signals is, I'm not locking in on WCIV ch 4 and you are.

Eddie

Anyone else notice that CBS from Columbia is freaking blasting? Looks like they went full power but overdid it (19.1-19.3).

I get them with 90% signal in central bulloch county. The only wierd thing is, I can get them with my directional antenna pointed at Savannah, but I don't see Augusta or Charleston or Jacksonville...all of which are closer...and in more of a closer direction than Columbia. I can get Augusta and probably Charleston if I move my antenna ( have in the past...)

Also noticed their 19.3 channel that's like 11.2 with the 5 day forcast is also broken like wtoc's. Stuck a few days behind.

I just turned my antenna on 19 an did not have enought signal here in Beaufort to lock in.

I just turned my antenna on 19 an did not have enought signal here in Beaufort to lock in.


Wierd...I'm still pointed at Savannah and still getting all 3 channels from Columbia, 19.1-19.3 just fine at around 90%. I can see that on 19.3 the weather is stuck on the wrong day still...

I can see the radar on 19.2. Even watch the CBS programming on 19.1. Wonder if it's something to do with the oak tree to the due south at about 25 feet from my antenna. But...then again, If you were looking at DTV channel 19, it's not there. 19 is it's SDTV channel. I can look, but I think it's on DTV channel 31 or 34. Do a scan. I'm not even pointed at it and get it great, unless there's some of those wierd conditions affecting my reception.

Same here to my SW got 6-1 27-1 and 65-1 from Orlando FL

Once again, crap. Yet another couple of major sporting events on the only 2 networks that are NOT in HD in our area...nor in most areas.

The All-Star game is tonight, not in HD of course because it's on fox. Can't wait to watch the crappy feed on dish network from WTGS. Hey, the world cup was at least on ESPNHD ( not that I watched it ). But the finals were on ABCHD, yet another letdown.

What a year in sports? Superbowl - ABC. No HD for us. MLB ALl Star Game - Fox. No HD for us. World Cup - ABC. No HD for us. NASCAR - FOX. No HD for us. Wasn't the NBA playoffs on ABC too?

In the bidding war for these major sports television rights, I wonder if the sports leagues had known about the lack or slowness of HD upgrade around the country, if the same contracts would have been awarded.

I'm back into OTA HDTV again. Needed a TV for the bedroom and I could not resist the getting an HD model with CRT technology. Picked up the RCA HD26W854T Flat Tube HDTV from Best Buy. Coupled it with a Radio Shack UHF Dual HDTV Indoor Antenna Model: 15-624. It receives local channels with excellent clarity and signal strength. Picture on CRT blows away competing LCD.

Any news on WTGS or WJCL going digital? Also, is this a problem with Fox and ABC affiliates across the country, or is it just JC Lewis Broadcasting? I know the Fox and ABC affiliates in Augusta, Charleston, and Jacksonville are broadcasting digital (I've been able to receive them on good nights). I even got the Fox station out of Macon one night.

WTGS and WJCL are not owned by JC Lewis anymore. They are owned by two different very small companies that are struggling for money. It is a local issue and doesn't have anything to do with FOX or ABC.

Ahhh...thanks for the info. I didn't realize they had sold.

It is a Sav. thing, they should have all been full power last july.
Charleston has ABC, CBS, NBC Fox, UPN and PBS all full power and HD

Ken,

WTGS should be transmitting a full power digital signal sometime in fourth quarter this year. The full power transmitter is on site. The antenna should be delivered sometime in October. At his point we are not granting any waivers for distant digital signals.

Ed

Ken,

WTGS should be transmitting a full power digital signal sometime in fourth quarter this year. The full power transmitter is on site. The antenna should be delivered sometime in October. At his point we are not granting any waivers for distant digital signals.

Ed
To add more credence to this statement, I see on the FCC web site that WTGS was granted their request to feed both their analog channel 28 and their new digital channel 27 signals into the same antenna on the tower. The request was granted late in June '06. This change will reduce the coverage slightly for the analog 28 signal (primarily to the east and slightly north). I'm guessing to reduce mechanical loading on the tower, and because their analog and digital channel allocations are immediately adjacent to each other, they wanted to remove their old analog transmitting antenna from the tower and replace it with their new on-channel digital antenna.

Digital transmitting antennas have to be made to handle higher average powers because the digital signal is encoded differently. Analog power output limits are given for peak visual carrier signals. Because the video portion of analog broadcasts are AM (amplitude modulation), the peak power might be 220 kW, but the average power might be only 50 kW depending on the picture content. Video is not a pure sin wave so the old rules for converting Peak to RMS don't apply. Digital signals, on the other hand, have higher average power levels. This requires more metal in the antenna to dissipate the heat. This is why I'm thinking WTGS asked for the waiver from the FCC. Their tower might not be capable of supporting both antennas and still meet wind survival requirements.

As irrelevant as this statement is, I keep hearing about all of this digital transmitions via OTA. I wonder when my local cable company(Comcast) will start at least simulcasting the locals.(sense most also provide a digital versions). I don't have an HDTV, but I do subscribe to digital cable, so having the digital version of these channels would be the next best thing.
Comcast-Savannah is definitely way behind Comcast's other markets.

Ok, tonight on 3-1, the Tonight Show was in widescreen HD. Usually is.

So, The Late Show with Conan comes on after it, it seems WSAV is showing the SD feed on the HD feed. The show is in sideboxed widescreen. It has borders at the top and bottom like it would if watching 16:9 in 4:3, then sidebars as if that was put back to 4:3. And it's new show...they've been showing that in HD for over a year now. Just another 'oversight' by WSAV staff I guess. Isn't WSAV the one who has to manually move the switch to HD and 5.1 surround? Or was that WTOC?

Last night's show must have been in SD only. Here in Macon it was SD, and I can get Columbus and it was SD, and I'm also able to get Atlanta and it was SD. I know this because it's not one of my shows, so I went to channel surf after the Tonight show went off. And, a little off topic, Courtney Cox was beautiful in HD. Makes you realize what HD is all about.

Al

I want to start a survey and ask where you guys are located?
What kind of antenna do you have?
What channels you are currently getting OTA?

Statesboro- 301 North near ogeechee river (towards Sylvania)

Cm 4228

Sav- NBC, WTOC
Augusta- NBC< CBS<FOX< ABC
South Carolina- PBS (I think) 16 is the channel

I live in Vidalia, GA on the southwest side.

CM-4228 antenna (attic-mounted) with Titan UHF-only preamp

Savannah- NBC (WSAVDT) and CBS (WTOCDT)

I live on the west side of Lyons (almost to Vidalia). I have a roof mounted CM-4228 with a CM-7775 pre amp. The only digital channels I get regularly are WSAV and WTOC. I get WJBF, WAGT, and WRDW out of Augusta on good nights.

Beaufort SC
I have 2 systems
1. CM 1161 VHF/UHF 17 ft long on 36 ft tower CBS and NBC Sav PBS 16 Bft, ABC, FOX NBC and CBS Charleston, 4-1 IND Jax 12-1 NBC Jax FL
Dishnetwork 622 DVR. The 1161 has built in amp like the CM 7777
2 CM 4228 CM 7777 Both have CM9521 Rotor NBC, CBS Sav 16 PBS Beaufort, Fox and ABC Charleston. Dishnetwork 921 DVR

Pooler, GA

RCA HD26W854T Flat Tube HDTV (built in HD tuner)
R/S UHF Indoor Ant Model: 15-624
WSAV-DT
WTOC-DT

Beaufort, SC

I also have the CM 4228 antenna with the Titan UHF amp.

Receiving Savannah WTOC 11-1 and WSAV 3-1, Beaufort PBS 16-1 16-2 16-3, and Charleston NBC 2-1, ABC 4-1, CBS 5-1, PBS 7-1 7-2 7-3, Fox 24-1, UPN 35-1. During summer months I do have some drop out on Charleston CBS, PBS and ABC which are on the same tower.

2 - RS 15-2160 attic mounted
WSAV-DT
WTOC-DT
Dishnetwork 942 and 622
Wilmington Island

Eddie I have same thing with 5-1 and 7-1, but ABC 4-1 is better than 2-1 for me. I see that 2-1 NBC does not know how to flip the HD switch most of the time, Jay Leno was not in HD last night but WSAV was.

Live in Hinesville - Just outside front gate of Fort Stewart and receive WSAV NBC 3-1, and WTOC 11-1 out of Savannah with a DB-4. Does anybody have any recent info (reliable) on when we will get ABC and FOX out of Savannah. By the way, I appreciate all the info you guys put out. It was very helpful in setting up my system.

Late October of.......................................................... .......................Oh, this year, maybe. Sorry for the funny, but that is the date/month I'm still hearing.

Not that I care about beach volleyball, but why does WSAV switch to standard def 10 seconds after beach volleyball starts? It's obviously available in HD since they showed the 1st 10 seconds in HD.

And now they switch back to HD.

i live in pooler, have a CM4228 mounted in the attic. i get wsav, and wtoc strong in HD, nothing else though.

i live in pooler, have a CM4228 mounted in the attic. i get wsav, and wtoc strong in HD, nothing else though.

Nice to hear from you again, BNP.

Want amp do you have? It seems you would pick up FOX of ABC digital from that distance. The towers aren't that far...on Hwy 204 just behind Bloomingdale.

And for the record, they were out of CM amp I wanted, but I got one that has only .2dm more noise. It's like a 1111 or something, I'll check the model in a few minutes. A recent severe thunderstorm took down my antenna sort of...just vines holding it up right now.

Statesboro- 301 North near ogeechee river (towards Sylvania)

Cm 4228

Sav- NBC, WTOC
Augusta- NBC< CBS<FOX< ABC
South Carolina- PBS (I think) 16 is the channel

Hrm...I'm about 10 miles from you down river, near the Hwy 24 ogeechee river crossing, and I can only get ABC and NBC from augusta. Is fox and CBS broadcast from a different tower or are they just not full power yet?

Well, made a small adjustment to the direction of my antenna, and now I get the CBS from Augusta, but no Fox, which is what I was going for :)

Hrm...I'm about 10 miles from you down river, near the Hwy 24 ogeechee river crossing, and I can only get ABC and NBC from augusta. Is fox and CBS broadcast from a different tower or are they just not full power yet?

Well, made a small adjustment to the direction of my antenna, and now I get the CBS from Augusta, but no Fox, which is what I was going for :)Fox is spotty, at best. I had it last night, but only at 63 on Dish 622.

Several weeks ago I found a Sony DHG-HDD250 HD digital video recorder with a 250 G hard drive at Best Buy in Augusta, Ga. I gave $225 for it. It was an open box and orginally sold for around $800. I shipped it back to Sony for all updates which they warranty the unit. It has cable and antenna connector. It also has a cable card slot so I get my HD channels and can record them. Its the only HD recorder that I know of but Sony no longer makes it and I'm not sure why. I also purchased a HP 42 inch plasma and the recorded HD looks the same a live HD. It works like TiVo but there's no monthly charge except $1.50 for the cable card. Sony has also been a lot of help, helping me set it up. Searching the internet I have not found any of them available.

Fox is spotty, at best. I had it last night, but only at 63 on Dish 622.

Well well well. Speaking of fox, look what just popped up on my guide and is working ( for now ). Even though I am pointed at Augusta, I am getting WTGS-DT way out here. Which still has the picture sucking as bad as it is on the satellite. They must be doing full power tests?

Several weeks ago I found a Sony DHG-HDD250 HD digital video recorder with a 250 G hard drive at Best Buy in Augusta, Ga. I gave $225 for it. It was an open box and orginally sold for around $800. I shipped it back to Sony for all updates which they warranty the unit. It has cable and antenna connector. It also has a cable card slot so I get my HD channels and can record them. Its the only HD recorder that I know of but Sony no longer makes it and I'm not sure why. I also purchased a HP 42 inch plasma and the recorded HD looks the same a live HD. It works like TiVo but there's no monthly charge except $1.50 for the cable card. Sony has also been a lot of help, helping me set it up. Searching the internet I have not found any of them available.


It's kind of off-topic, but I think you will find these Tivo-like DVR devices will be pulled from shelves and cleared out as Dish Network lost a major lawsuit against Tivo back in April and last week ( even though they were later given a 30 day stay ) another Judge in the case ordered that Dish had to immediately remotely disable all of their DVR devices and pay a penalty.

Either everyone else using this technology has to pay Tivo royalties now, or face similar actions. Probably why you can't find anything like that anymore.

Sony uses L8 version of TVGOS for there TV Guide. Does anyone know which PBS stations transmit it in this area. My HDD250 passes the test for WJWJ but never receives the TV Guide.

Did you try 7-1

Eddie do a search here on a/v forum, I found several things on it

Eddie
I have an old Sami 151 HD STB I found the PSIP info from most HD stations is very poor, some give no info.
I do get guide from 16-1/16-2 and 16-3 but only for about 6 hrs, it only list name of program and no other info
I can not get 7-1 today so not sure what they put out
24-1 nothing
2-1 nothing
4-1 nothing
5-1 6 hrs
3-1 8 hrs
11-1 6 hrs

First of all I want to thank each of you for your response. I just got off the phone with a tech at TVGOS and under Beaufort 29902 the only station that transmit the TV Guide is WVAN-TV Savannah's PBS. WJWJ does not transmit the guide for the Beaufort zip codes. WVAN is having problems with transmitting the guide and TVGOS will keep me posted by email. I get WVAN on Charter Cable but not Charleston's channel 7. This signal is only on analog channels and not yet on digital channels which will be coming in the future.

Their tech call me back and ask me to do some test for him. Everything on my end was working ok, so we changed the zip code to a Charleston one and several hours later the TV Guide started to come up. He is passing the problem over to their engineering dept for farther action to correct the problem.

Nice to hear from you again, BNP.

Want amp do you have? It seems you would pick up FOX of ABC digital from that distance. The towers aren't that far...on Hwy 204 just behind Bloomingdale.

And for the record, they were out of CM amp I wanted, but I got one that has only .2dm more noise. It's like a 1111 or something, I'll check the model in a few minutes. A recent severe thunderstorm took down my antenna sort of...just vines holding it up right now.


Howie,
Dont have an amp up there, and you're right i can pick up fox 28-1 and abc 22-1, but i dont even list them since its not an HD signal. what is interesting though is my HDTV has a built-in LNA that works nicely. makes a big difference when turned on compared to off.

Well, since Savannah's ownership sucks, I pointed my antennas to the smaller Augusta market and get ABC HD from there. Nice to watch GT and NotreDame slug it out in HD. I was, however, disappointed that the UGA game was in SD only and was on Fox28. Those games were in HD on 11-1 last year. Oh well, just another slap in the face from the rich guys that run the stations.

Hey Howie, did you have problems with ABC being blurry when it came back on from commercials? I may need glasses, but I swore it was blurry and then became more clear about 5 seconds after coming back.

Yeah, I thought I was seeing things, but it was blurry at first after a commercial, then a few seconds later it was normal again.

Good, still dont need glasses. :D

Sad thing is we have nothing to compare it to. If we had two stations (hint WJCL) we would know if it was Augusta or ABC.

Good, still dont need glasses. :D

Sad thing is we have nothing to compare it to. If we had two stations (hint WJCL) we would know if it was Augusta or ABC.

Does the FOX in Augusta do HD? I know when WTGS goes digital they won't be HD for a while. I'd like to watch some sports and stuff in HD, just wondering if I should buy the better antenna and point it to Augusta for FoxHD

Yes, they do. However, they are still low power. I get them at 62-65 on most days. I dont record off there because usually it will have breakups every few minutes. You are kidding about WTGS, right?

How about WSAV? 3-2 is no longer the Weather Radar. Just some older TV Programs and Paid Programming. Anybody know what's going on? Hope it's just temporary.

Heh, I was just coming here to post that, 3-2 has no radar anymore. Going to rescan to see what I come up with.

And, bryan, I am not kidding. WTGS and WSAV have long made it clear they were not interested in going HD, just complying by the law and providing a digital signal. At least HD will not come when WTGS-DT goes full power anyway. I don't understand their problem with it...didn't FOX give them the equipment last year to broadcast the Superbowl in HD? WSAV is in the same boat...same lame ownership.

That's a real dissapointment. I really liked the WSAV weather radar, it was really useful, and now that's gone. WTOC 11-2 isnt BAD per se, but the music gets annoying really quick. i thought i read on this forum from a WTGS employee that they would be boadcasting HD sometime this fall. Here Here to your comments on the suckiness of both stations. Hey WSAV, how about channel 3-3 and bring back radar!!!!!

i am looking at a preamp to see what else is out there. is a Titan 7775 a solid performer?

The Titan line of preamps from Channel Master is an exceptional series of amplifiers, but be very careful using one as close as you are to the Savannah towers. The high gain of the Titan series makes them vulnerable to overloading. Antenna preamps for the residential market are by design broadband devices. That means strong nearby signals are within the passband of the preamp and can overload the front-end. When that happens, the output signal from the preamp goes to crap with all kinds of interference. This will totally block out any distant signal you may want to receive. It can even swamp and block out the local Savannah signals for you.

To use a Titan series preamp where you live will likely require a very, very directional antenna so you can direct it away from the Savannah locals' tower sites.

How about WSAV? 3-2 is no longer the Weather Radar. Just some older TV Programs and Paid Programming. Anybody know what's going on? Hope it's just temporary.
I was wondering if they were doing RTN (Retro Television Network) yet. I saw WSAV-DT listed on RTN's website. I just noticed it today, here:
http://www.retrotelevision.net/
I can occassionally get Savannah, usually WTOC and WSAV on fewer tries, when the atmospheric conditions will allow it. I think RTN has great programming, as good or better than TV Land. I watch RTN from FTA satellite reception. I'm hoping WSAV-DT2 will pop up on a sat somewhere.

Al

I was wondering if they were doing RTN (Retro Television Network) yet. I saw WSAV-DT listed on RTN's website. I just noticed it today, here:
http://www.retrotelevision.net/
I can occassionally get Savannah, usually WTOC and WSAV on fewer tries, when the atmospheric conditions will allow it. I think RTN has great programming, as good or better than TV Land. I watch RTN from FTA satellite reception. I'm hoping WSAV-DT2 will pop up on a sat somewhere.

Al

Ok, to clear it up, you'll find that it is Savannah's MyTV Network affiliate. Starting at 8 They play the two new series, Desire and Fashion House(sort of weak) and at 10 and 11, they have primetime digital simulcasts of the daily Oprah and Dr. Phil episodes. The line-up is slightly altered on the weekends. I have Comcast digital so I explored the listings on the channel. It may "eventually" evolve into something greater. Since most of members in this thread only use HD-OTA, you may not know of this, but channel 15(via Comcast), Savannah's WB(which is not OTA), was deleted on Monday morning, but came back that night. I wonder what's going on. And as far as UPN, I wonder what will become of it on the 18th when CW launches. Will they still use the same broadcast tower(or whatever) or will there be a new one. It would be nice to have a better signal on the CW than I did on UPN(horrible). I think the problem is the fact that UPN is pulling the signal from Baxley. Why would Savannah, a fairly large city compared to Baxley, need to pull its signal from such a place? Savannah's broadcast network situation is pretty messed up.

Why? You answered your own question with the last sentence in your post :)

At the time of the last rankings, Savannah was the 97th largest market in the US. It might have jumped a few spots in the past 2 years too with recent growth of the market. I'm not sure how often they update those are updated....


It just seems that with the size of the market, smaller markets we can reach far outperform the Savannah market.

Why? You answered your own question with the last sentence in your post :)

At the time of the last rankings, Savannah was the 97th largest market in the US. It might have jumped a few spots in the past 2 years too with recent growth of the market. I'm not sure how often they update those are updated....


It just seems that with the size of the market, smaller markets we can reach far outperform the Savannah market.

Were you replying to my post? If so, exactly what do you mean?

I still can't even figure out why "Comcast" gives a weak performance in Savannah.

Savannah has to be Comcast's only 750MHz plant that is not all digital simulcast. The least they could do is digital simulcast locals. All they have to do is pull them from the digital OTA signal. Does the networks/cable company simply not care.


And in reference to UPN13, I've been seeing tiling on it(which is really crazy since it's the worst looking "analog" channel in Savannah) for the last three days. What's up with this? Has anyone noticed it?

Why would Savannah, a fairly large city compared to Baxley, need to pull its signal from such a place? Savannah's broadcast network situation is pretty messed up.


That there :)
Btw, my son was born yesterday morning, 8lbs 1.4 Oz. My HD and AV playing might be curtailed for a few weeks...

That there :)
Btw, my son was born yesterday morning, 8lbs 1.4 Oz. My HD and AV playing might be curtailed for a few weeks...

Congratulations!!


Anyway, have you heard of the "enhanced" basic package that Comcast is offering in many areas? This is supposed to only be in areas that have completed digital simulcast, but Savannah has it for some reason, though I can bet they are not even close to "starting" simulcast here. Having that package indicated on their website may deceive some customers that know what "enhanced" basic is. Prices of Comcast in Savannah are greatly inflated(higher than most southern markets with the upgrades) considering the fact that we are behind other markets in upgrades. What's the deal? Maybe Comcast is ripping us off b/c most of the subscribers here have no idea what's available in other places. Even in terms of our cable company, many smaller markets probably outperform us. Rediculous!! You should be glad you don't live here. If you did, you may be better off having Directv or an HDTV with OTA antenna only.

Inflated is why I started selling DISH in Stateboro a few years ago. They offered like 32 channels for $45, or the 'basic' first 13 channels for $22. That made me a lot of money selling satellite systems :) All in all, even though Comcast lags behind, still better than Northland Cable, they haven't even tried to get ANY hd yet.

On the other hand, can you actually believe that Comcast TRIED to buy Disney a few years back?!

On the other hand, can you actually believe that Comcast TRIED to buy Disney a few years back?!

If I was Disney, I'd take no part in it either. lol


I would still like to know when Comcast will roll out digital voice(may be better than Bell South) or digital simulcast in Savannah.(analogs are not very pleasant here, they are a grave insult to the term "digital" cable) I mean, is there anyone in the know about this company in the Savannah area? I've seen Northland in Vidalia and it is pretty pathetic, but "Comcast" is generally pretty good in the 750 MHz(the thing about it is, Savannah was one of the first Comcast markets to be built out to 750MHz, but is now falling) areas around the country(including the rest of the south), so Comcast's situation in Savannah is a bit senseless to me.

So I'm new in the area (I live in Richmond Hill) and am really pi**ed about the HD situation. I have D* and bought an OTA antenna for local HD channels but I can only tune NBC and CBS. Do FOX and ABC have an HD OTA signal here? If not, what are my options? I need "Lost" and MLB playoffs in HD!!!

So I'm new in the area (I live in Richmond Hill) and am really pi**ed about the HD situation. I have D* and bought an OTA antenna for local HD channels but I can only tune NBC and CBS. Do FOX and ABC have an HD OTA signal here? If not, what are my options? I need "Lost" and MLB playoffs in HD!!!

You could get Comcast(which is available in Richmond Hill too) for HD.(I believe I receive HD signals for CBS, NBC, and some greatly enhanced broadcast of Fox, I think Comcast is sending Fox in HD themselves). You probably will not see ABC HD anytime soon.
However, Directv is the ovarall better provider of regular content in the Savannah area.


Comcast may be more worth the switch if it is at least all-digital simulcast(channels below 100 in digital) in Savannah, or else, even with HD or digital service, you get regular channels in analog

I'll let you know if it happens b/c I'm a current subscriber of Comcast digital service.

May I ask what D* package you currently subscribe to?

WVAN channel 9 is now transmitting the local TV Guide which covers the Beaufort, SC area.

What DTV ch is it on
Who would like to see WSAV 3-2 go back to live radar

I would be included in that group. The best radar out of the......UH two stations.

I don't actually care about radar that much..it's nice to see and all, but when I want radar, I just go to WTOC's website...we all have internet here...on the web you can even zoom it to your area and stuff.

Although, I wish if they WERE going to broadcast a second channel, it would be something worthwhile.

WTOC has way 2 much garbage on 11-2
I have 2 Dish DVRs I put one on 3-2 let it buffer for several Hrs then rewind and see storm movement. on WTOC you only see radar 1 out of 5 min the rest of the time it is add. junk
I have yet to see anything on 3-2 worth watching and NO GUIDE info

I may be in the minority, but I would vote for zero sub-channels and devote all the bandwidth to the primary feed. Every simulcast channel transmitted subtracts bandwidth and picture quality from the main channel.

While I sometimes glanced at the WSAV radar, I much prefer the National Weather Service sites at http://www.srh.noaa.gov/. You will find hotlinks there for each region. Savannah is in Charleston's region while Vidalia, where I am, is in the Peachtree City region.

Back on topic-- at least the WSAV radar on 3-2 was a low-bandwidth channel compared to the live video they have now. WTOC is loaded down with that Tube junk on 11-3 and the weather/ads on 11-2. Their primary feed is not any better than the compressed stuff I get on DirecTV from WCBS in New York.

Not true on that one for me. Their HD feeds are fine, but their SD feeds DO really suck there ( On 11.1 that is ).

And I kind of like the TUBE on 11.3

I was a big fan of 3-2, being the weather junkie i am. dont ever watch 11-2, or 11-3 for that matter. since we seem to be a small group in savannah that cares about our OTA content, email the station manager at wsav and voice your opinion. They, right now, are "Not on your side". To add fuel to my position, i would even compromise with them and be receptive to adds on 3-2 on an infrequent basis.

Does anyone else pick up the ABC22 digital channel, or Fox20 for that matter? i live really close to the towers and was wondering just how much power they are feeding through it.

Howie- Congrats! i have one on the way due in February.

I also sent a email to WSAV about BRING BACK THE RADAR
I have picked up 22.1 a few times same with Fox 28
Have much better luck with ABC 4-1 and FOX 24 from Charleston, I am 71.3 miles from towers but House was solid last night 100% from Fox 24

Here is my reply:

Bryan:

Thanks for your vote to bring back the WSAV Weather Radar.

Actually, we are going to do that by the end of this year or early next,
as soon as we obtain the equipment to add a third digital stream (3.3)
to our digital channel.

In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the classic programs on MyTV (3.2)
and the new primetime "telenovellas" from 8-10pm.

Sincerely,

David Stagnitto
Program Manager
WSAV-TV

At least they hear us and will eventually have it back up.

I just got the same reply

Wow...a real reply? Holy cow! It's not even a placated response either! These people at WSAV are nothing like the WTGS/WJCL manager! They actually tell the truth in an answer we can live with. Let's see if they follow up like they said.

But, for the time being, I'm pointed at Augusta, I still get 11 and 3 from savannah even while pointed at augusta, and from there I get NBC, CBS, and ABC.

I wish I could get FOX to watch the falcons games ( and now UGA ).

WVAN channel 9 is now transmitting the local TV Guide which covers the Beaufort, SC area.


I still don't see WVAN channel 9 in my scans. What digital channel is it on? Is it full power now or is it still spotty?

Here is my reply:

Bryan:

Thanks for your vote to bring back the WSAV Weather Radar.

Actually, we are going to do that by the end of this year or early next,
as soon as we obtain the equipment to add a third digital stream (3.3)
to our digital channel.

In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the classic programs on MyTV (3.2)
and the new primetime "telenovellas" from 8-10pm.

Sincerely,

David Stagnitto
Program Manager
WSAV-TV

At least they hear us and will eventually have it back up.


Now maybe you can get him to fix the Guide info on 3.2 so we can actually see what's ON his new MyTV. :)

Speaking of which, what's the email for the WTOC station manager? And why can't we get guide info from WTOC anymore?

I think VAN is a low number like 3 or something. I remember when buying my antenna, I debated because of the VHF/UHF issue.

EDIT: I knew it had a three. Its 13.

That explains it, I got the UHF only amplifier.

WVAN-DT will be on ch 13.

I don't think WVAN-DT is up yet. In fact, I don't believe any of the Georgia PBS stations are up in HD. There used to be some info on the GPB web site, but it's been gone for many months. I didn't see anything new on the FCC web site either as far as authorizations or anyting. They do have a Construction Permit for a digital channel on 13.

The Channel Master CM-4228 antenna will pick up channel 13 pretty good, but you either need no preamp or a VHF/UHF model. If you have only the UHF model (like I do), it won't pass the high-band VHF channel 13 signal.

Not true on that one for me. Their HD feeds are fine, but their SD feeds DO really suck there ( On 11.1 that is ).

And I kind of like the TUBE on 11.3
After reading my original note I realized it may not have been clear. I meant the WTOC HD signal is not any better than the WCBS HD signal I get on DirecTV's distant HD network service. DirecTV is compressing their HD feeds pretty aggressively to have enough room on their transponders. I think on most nights the New York CBS feed is down around 12 megabits/sec instead of the 19 it should be. Same would be true for WTOC with them putting three signals in the 19 megabit data stream (11-1, 11-2, and 11-3).

WSAV, when they had only the radar on 3-2, had a noticeably better picture on HD 3-1 than the DirecTV NBC HD feed from New York. The difference is more noticeable the larger the screen size. On my 32-inch CRT it's really hard to tell the difference between rescaled 480p and 1080i HD. However, on my 50-inch TV you can tell the difference.

I still don't see WVAN channel 9 in my scans. What digital channel is it on? Is it full power now or is it still spotty?

WVAN is Ga PBS station analog channel 9. I'm not sure Ga PBS have gone Digital. The TV Guide is only on PBS analog and not digital. Talking with the tech it will be sometime before they make the change. The tower is near Pembroke. If you have cable, check to see if it is there.

Now maybe you can get him to fix the Guide info on 3.2 so we can actually see what's ON his new MyTV. :)

Speaking of which, what's the email for the WTOC station manager? And why can't we get guide info from WTOC anymore?


bill.cathcart@wtoc.com

I also sent a email to WSAV about BRING BACK THE RADAR
I have picked up 22.1 a few times same with Fox 28
Have much better luck with ABC 4-1 and FOX 24 from Charleston, I am 71.3 miles from towers but House was solid last night 100% from Fox 24


28-1 is much stronger for me than 22-1. I dont think they are dedicating much power to the digital signal, merely doing what is required for the license requirement. it would also be nice to see PBS to get on board with HDTV. you would think a government subsidized entity would be ahead of the curve with "compliance".

For the best answers from WTOC email Niel pederson chief engineer npedersen@wtoc.com

Sav is DMA #97 Charleston is #100 yet all (ABC,NBC,CBS,FOX,PBS and UPN) are all full power and HD
Sav still has some stations in mono sound (20 yrs behind)
The FCC says ALL the stations in top 100 DMAs were to be full power by 1 July 2006.
How does ABC 22 and FOX 28 get by????
I am luck, Last night I watched FOX24-1 from 8-10 pm from Charleston (71 miles from tower) with not a single dropout.

Sav is DMA #97 Charleston is #100 yet all (ABC,NBC,CBS,FOX,PBS and UPN) are all full power and HD
Sav still has some stations in mono sound (20 yrs behind)
The FCC says ALL the stations in top 100 DMAs were to be full power by 1 July 2006.
How does ABC 22 and FOX 28 get by????
I am luck, Last night I watched FOX24-1 from 8-10 pm from Charleston (71 miles from tower) with not a single dropout.
You may need to contact the FCC about that if you know how.

And another thing how is DMA rank determined, by number of people with televisions or something?

Anyone notice the 3-2 radar is back?

Wonder if it's just during the NFL HD game tonight...

The radar probably returned, because the satellite uplink center in Arkansas, where most of the programming for the new channel originates, had severe weather problems.

Al

I would agree since yesterday I saw a graphic up on 3-2 that looked like a satellite receiver's on-screen display. It said something like "Channel 0008 - No Signal". When I went back a little later to 3-2, the radar was up. Later on Sunday evening, the other programming was back.

That seems like a crappy way to run a station...

WSAV radar gone, MyTV network back.

What is the latest word on HD of WTGS and JCL?

Didn't they say by September ( like now? )

I think I remember late October...of which year, I can't remember. ;)

Actually, the last post I think I read said 'one of the J months'.

Then came September. Wonder what's next? Falcons going to let the other team pay them off again? :)

Sept 2025 LOL

Has anyone notice the Today Show on WSAV which is now in HD keeps losing their center channel audio. I changed to WCBD in Charleston and their audio is fine. You would think by now they would be experienced enough to work their equipment. :mad:

I noticed it on a recorded Law & Order last night.

This is the email WSAV send me in response to my email about their audio problems:




Mr. Owens:

Thanks for letting us know about the audio problems with the Today Show.

I checked with our Chief Engineer, and he tells me that the audio
originates at the NBC network source and we have no control over it.

Sorry I don't have better news for you. We'll pass your observation
along to NBC.

Sincerely,

David Stagnitto
Program Manager
WSAV-TV

This was my response:

I hate to disagree with you but I can switch to WCBD your sister station and their audio is fine. So tell your engineer it has be your problem since WCBD has no problems.

Eddie Owens

I'm still waiting to hear back from my last response.

Heh, they hate it when the users know more than they do I guess. At least WSAV responds to those emails.

On another sad note, I saw an ad today that all of the BCS bowls and national championship game was going to be on FoxHD this season. Great, they already moved the UGA games to Fox, so I can't watch those on HD anymore ( like I did last season ), and now all of the BCS?!

Any FoxHD's gone full power that I can reach? Augusta maybe?

Any FoxHD's gone full power that I can reach? Augusta maybe? Fox (Augusta) is still not full power. I watched Prison Break last night until the dropouts got to be too much. I wish they were as strong as the ABC up there cause there would be a happy fat man at my house. :D

Good morning all:

My name is Lowell Beckner and I am the Chief Engineer at WSAV. I have regsitered here in an effort to respond to your concerns and to keep you informed as to what is taking place with regard to WSAV's digital signal.

The first issue I'll address is that of our doppler radar. As you know, sometimes decisions are made above the station level. This was the case with removing our doppler and replacing it with MyTV. We have heard your cries and I am attempting to get the equipment to place a third stream on the air that will restore our broadcast of the doppler. However, I will let you know that this equipment is in excess of $300k and it will probably be the beginning of 2009 before that happens. On a better note, I have received fiber equipment that will allow us to restore the doppler on Comcast cable. I am working with their engineers to get this moving forward.

While on the 3.2 MyTV subject, I have noticed some comments regarding the PSIP data not being displayed and comments regarding the signal disappearing. I already have equipment on order to provide the PSIP data on this stream and we have been working with RTN in Little Rock on their signal outages. We receive the MyTV feed as a turnkey package from them and they have had some issues with weather related equipment outages.

Now, regarding the audio on the Today Show. As David said, we are passing along the audio provided from NBC exactly as it is provided. I feel your pain on this as we have done extensive monitoring and have had several conversations with NBC. You are right. Center channel drops, rear channels drop, and it is not very enjoyable to watch. I have spoken with Sam, the Chief at WCBD and he tells me that, since NBC can't get their act together on Today, they have elected to broadcast it in stereo (which would be the reason their audio is consistant). Our Tampa NBC station does the same thing. This may be what we end up doing here so that we can have something that is presentable on the air.

I hope my entry into this forum will provide you, our trusted viewers, with an effective conduit to air your concerns to to WSAV. Please understand though, we'll do everything we can to resolve your concerns, however, there will be times when certain things are out of our local control.

Regards,

Lowell Beckner
WSAV-TV/DT
Chief Engineer


This is the email WSAV send me in response to my email about their audio problems:




Mr. Owens:

Thanks for letting us know about the audio problems with the Today Show.

I checked with our Chief Engineer, and he tells me that the audio
originates at the NBC network source and we have no control over it.

Sorry I don't have better news for you. We'll pass your observation
along to NBC.

Sincerely,

David Stagnitto
Program Manager
WSAV-TV

This was my response:

I hate to disagree with you but I can switch to WCBD your sister station and their audio is fine. So tell your engineer it has be your problem since WCBD has no problems.

Eddie Owens

I'm still waiting to hear back from my last response.

Lowell, thank you very much for taking the time to sign up and post on this forum, I am sure it is appreciated by many.

One question for you though, last night while watching Heroes OTA on 3-1 there were some pretty bad audio problems(echo) that made me switch to the SD channel. Was that a localized problem or national?

Thanks for letting me know! That was a network program. We usually get echo issues when a PID setting has changed in the receiver but it usually effects everything. I'll check OTA during prime-time this evening and see if it surfaces again. It may be a tedious process to get all these issues resolved but I promise that you have my attention and that we'll do our best!

UPDATE - On Monday evening, NBC New York had a problem and instructed us, at the last minute, to take the Burbank feed. The problem with this is what I suspected. The hardcoded PIDs in the HD receiver are different for Burbank than for New York. In the future, if this happens again on short notice, we'll have to take the SD feed and air it. This will prevent the echo, but, the show will only be SD in stereo.


Lowell, thank you very much for taking the time to sign up and post on this forum, I am sure it is appreciated by many.

One question for you though, last night while watching Heroes OTA on 3-1 there were some pretty bad audio problems(echo) that made me switch to the SD channel. Was that a localized problem or national?

Lowell, Welcome to the forum. It speaks volumes to your station that you have joined. You will find the members here are tech-savvy, demanding at times, and reasonable at other times. We all share an interest in getting the most out of our expensive widescreens. As you can imagine, once you get used to HD signal, nothing else will do. I'm glad your station is selling "Blu-ray" quality, and i only wish your competitors would upgrade from their current "8-track tape" level of quality.

I noticed the echo on Heroes as well, but during the commercials it went away, so their must have been a New york feed issue as you mentioned. cheers!

Is there anyone, other than me, getting audio dropouts on WTOC?

Yes and NCIS went from HD to SD about 1/2 hr in

I know this question is irrelevant to HD, but has Comcast cable down here(Savannah) talked to the NBC affiliate about simulcasting its digital signal via digital cable anytime soon. The current analog format is not that pleasant in terms of picture quality(as most local broadcast stations are not). They said they were supposed to simulcast the locals sometime this past summer, but knowing how pathetic(I hate to offend, but the Savannah market is far behind the other Comcast markets) Comcast is down here, nothing happen of course. I'm not referring to the HD format, I am referring to the SD version. For example, instead of receiving channel 2 in analog, they broadcast it in SD. They've basically have done this to the whole analog line-up in all of the other markets besides ours and some of the newly aquired systems.(shameful that we are also behind newly aquired systems).

Just a little insight on this... Until our analog transmitters are shut down in 2009, the cable retrans agreements require the cable companies to carry our analog signal on one channel, and give them the right to carry our HD signal on another (in their digital tier). Actually, Comcast airs WSAV's analog from a fiber optic feed directly from our station.

Now, I have recently received equipment that will allow me to feed my SD and HD signal stream to Comcast via fiber. When that is installed, I will speak to their Chief Engineer about the possibility of placing our SD signal on channel 2.


I know this question is irrelevant to HD, but has Comcast cable down here(Savannah) talked to the NBC affiliate about simulcasting its digital signal via digital cable anytime soon. The current analog format is not that pleasant in terms of picture quality(as most local broadcast stations are not). They said they were supposed to simulcast the locals sometime this past summer, but knowing how pathetic(I hate to offend, but the Savannah market is far behind the other Comcast markets) Comcast is down here, nothing happen of course. I'm not referring to the HD format, I am referring to the SD version. For example, instead of receiving channel 2 in analog, they broadcast it in SD. They've basically have done this to the whole analog line-up in all of the other markets besides ours and some of the newly aquired systems.(shameful that we are also behind newly aquired systems).

Just a little insight on this... Until our analog transmitters are shut down in 2009, the cable retrans agreements require the cable companies to carry our analog signal on one channel, and give them the right to carry our HD signal on another (in their digital tier). Actually, Comcast airs WSAV's analog from a fiber optic feed directly from our station.

Now, I have recently received equipment that will allow me to feed my SD and HD signal stream to Comcast via fiber. When that is installed, I will speak to their Chief Engineer about the possibility of placing our SD signal on channel 2.

Well, I understand that requirement, but that does not prevent cable companies from broadcasting a digital version via the cable boxes on that same channel. The analog channel still exists on the same channel if you do not subscribe to digital cable.(you just receive the digital format via the box) However, I guess your second paragraph does display that you understand this concept.


I hope you talk to him soon, I would at least like to see some of the current analog channels in digital(even if it's just a few locals) considering the fact that I subscribe to "digital" cable. It's about time for Comcast-Savannah to get on the ball with the new services Comcast has been implementing all throughout the nation. If possible, can you let me know if you learn anything new regarding this subject matter?

I must say I am amazed and very pleased that after a few years of asking and suggesting, at least one local affiliate had enough respect for the community that spends thousands of dollars on their TVs so they can watch the best picture to actually have their engineer join and talk to us honestly.

Thank you, WSAV! And welcome to the forum!

Now, has anyone else noticed WTOC's signal dropping the past few weeks? I never got dropouts before, even when pointed at Augusta market, but I am now. WSAV's signal is still strong.


Also, has ANYONE heard when we are going to get Fox and ABC ( WTGS and WJCL respectively ) in HD here? Or even just DIGITAL? As LGBeckner said, they have to turn in their analog transmitters in 2009, a little over 2 years away. Wonder if TGS and JCL will have a digital transmission by then or if they're just going to shutdown.

I also have seen the WTOC signal drop.

LGBeckner,
Since we're stuck with the MyTV on 3.2 instead of the radar, can you tell us what's wrong with the programs there? I flip through the channels when Conan or Leno have commercials, and the show 'Unreliable Sources' was almost unwatchable tonight. The picture was jumping left to right. Made me feel like I'd had WAY too much to drink...but I wasn't drinking :)

After seeing that for a few commercial breaks, I flipped through later and it seemed to be fixed. Is this a problem with the feed or local?

( Yes, I stay up REAL late watching TV, partly and sadly becaues that's one of the few times I can find shows that are in HD OTA, and mainly because I have a 3 week old that doesn't do much sleeping ).

I'll be glad to. 3.2 is a combination of two services... Retro Television Network (RTN) and MyNetworkTV. RTN provideds all programming with the exception of 2 hours a night, 8p til 10p Monday through Saturday, when MyNetworkTV is aired. RTN actually receives the MyNetworkTV signal and inserts it into their stream to us.

If you've been watching 3.2 since the changeover, you've probably noticed that there have been numerous problems. These problems originate at RTN and we, all the way up through our corporate level, have been working with them to get them straightened out. The network is much better today than when we launched it on 9/5/2006 however there are still problems to be corrected. With regard to the "jumping" on Unreliable Sources, they have some issue with synch on live shows. We were able to run it through a frame synch and get it looking presentable.

Hope this helps...

Lowell


LGBeckner,
Since we're stuck with the MyTV on 3.2 instead of the radar, can you tell us what's wrong with the programs there? I flip through the channels when Conan or Leno have commercials, and the show 'Unreliable Sources' was almost unwatchable tonight. The picture was jumping left to right. Made me feel like I'd had WAY too much to drink...but I wasn't drinking :)

After seeing that for a few commercial breaks, I flipped through later and it seemed to be fixed. Is this a problem with the feed or local?

( Yes, I stay up REAL late watching TV, partly and sadly becaues that's one of the few times I can find shows that are in HD OTA, and mainly because I have a 3 week old that doesn't do much sleeping ).

OK, this regards a different network though. You may know that Savannah has two CW affiliates. The on channel 13(WGSA) and the one on Channel 15. For one, what is up with this? And for two, like I've said, I have Comcast digital cable, and on Friday, for some reason Comcast put a duplicate of CW15 on channel 240. 240 is also analog. What would give them this idea? I don't see a point in having the same frequency in two completely different places.
Thanks in advanced, for any insights you may have.

I noticed that over the weekend. Sorry, I don't have a clue about what is happening there. I know we tried to get them to put MyTV on 15 and they weren't willing to do that.

Lowell

OK, this regards a different network though. You may know that Savannah has two CW affiliates. The on channel 13(WGSA) and the one on Channel 15. For one, what is up with this? And for two, like I've said, I have Comcast digital cable, and on Friday, for some reason Comcast put a duplicate of CW15 on channel 240. 240 is also analog. What would give them this idea? I don't see a point in having the same frequency in two completely different places.
Thanks in advanced, for any insights you may have.

Are the two hours a night on MY TV 3-2 supposed to be in HD?

No

I live on Lady's Island (Beaufort), SC and would like to get started with OTA HD. I have a 62" Toshiba DLP set with built-in tuner. I can probably do a chimney mount antenna at about the 30 foot level. Antennaweb gives me an angle of 243-244 degrees for the Savannah stations. I would appreciate advice from someone in my area regarding antennas, amplifiers and rotors.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Actually, they are broadcast from MyNetworkTV in HD so they technically could be broadcast that way except for two problems:

1 - Our encoder will not allow us to dedicate sufficient bandwidth to broadcast both NBC and MyNetworkTV in HD, and,

2 - As I stated before, we get the entire 3.2 stream as a turnkey package from RTN including the MyNetworkTV programming. They do not have the capability to send us the programming in HD.

Now, we do have the receivers to receive the MyNetowrkTV programming directly, however, that takes us back to issue number 1.

Hope this helps.

Lowell

Are the two hours a night on MY TV 3-2 supposed to be in HD?

John I would get a CM 4228 ant, you may also want to think about a CM9521 rotor so you can get stations from Charlston,
Jim

Wake up WTOC no HD on NCIS last night it was CSI with no HD

Oljim......Thanks for the input. I understand that I can buy these locally at Lowes. I would also like to know which amplifier I should use? I assume there's a preferred one from CM. I did a search and found the CM7777. In a related question, the CM7777 has separate UHF and VHF inputs. In reading about the 4228, I found that it also provides some decent VHF reception. I'm not sure if If I can use a splitter before the amp, or if an amplifier is available that covers both bands.