I'm curious about digital reception in Savannah....how are the local stations doing with regard to reception and are there folks in the Savannah area receiving Charleston digital broadcasts as well?

WSAV 3-1/3-2 and WTOC 11-1 have been on for some time, both have sound problems because they have always been mono. Only WCSC 5-1/5-2 is at full power in Chas. I have yet to find anyone on here from Sav.
Jim

Hi,

I'm from Savannah :) And yes, I'm the only person I've found from here too.

I think by August we'll have 5 stations on HD, but I don't as yet have a tuner. Going to fix that soon, though. Does anyone have an update on how things are going here?

WSAV 3 is on full power but crappy sound, sounds like you are in a pipe. WTOC 11 full power, sound has big sync delay. FOX 28 on low power, only good for a few miles from station no HD
Sams club has the Sami T-151 for $287

Hi again, myhd came today so I'll be playing with it very soon. What are the chances of me picking up charleston from here? It's about 90+ miles I guess so I'm not sure it's realistic. Are there any other stations worth trying? Are you getting good reception from Charleston?

BTW, I clicked on your gallery, that's a very cool looking antenna. How far can you get reception with that rig?

Vince You may have luck with WCSC ch 5 (dtv47) from Charleston, it is by far the stongest. Also most of the Jax stations should work for you with a good ant. like the CM 4228 and a 7777 cm anp. This week I pulled in 3 stations from Orlando FL and one from Agusta GA

I put up a 4228 antenna (chimney mount, about 20' up, 28' maybe with the mast fully up) and a winegard preamp. I had luck one night with ABC (digital 10) from Jacksonville but haven't had been able to get it since. I can get the local stations no sweat but the local ABC missed their date for hd and they don't reply to email. I noticed Harry Potter is on ABC tomorrow but at this point I don't think we'll be getting it.

I'm amazed that you can get Orlando! Have you had any luck with Jax?

I have had luck with NBC 12.1 (13) IND 4.1 (42) ABC 25.1 (10) (does not remap to 25.1. PBS 7.1,2,3,4,5 (38) and Fox 30.1 (32) all from Jax

WTOC is on and off for past week

Dunno if this is for OTA only, but my dad has been beta testing the local cable (Comcast?) company's hdtv set-up for about the past month. Not sure exactly what he gets though.

I was wondering about WTOC, I noticed they were out. Then I found that if I tuned to 15 and let the tuner go to 11 (instead of tuning to 11) it seemed to work every time. This could be co-incidence though.

I removed the winegard preamp and can now get Jax pretty well. Interestingly the preamp was helping alot with the large oak tree directly between me and the local CBS (I could pull Jax better than the tower 6 miles away :) ABC 10 and CBS 19 come in well from Jax without the preamp. I wonder if the FM trap is causing this..

Can you get Fox in Hardeeville? All I can get is 0 to 19% and of course no picture. Is there any indication that when they go to 720p will they increase the power too or is that too much to ask?

Vince I have had very little luck with Fox 28, they are at low power and are now in Sav. Same building as WJcl 22 I do not know why they say Hardyville??

I wondered about that because they have a sign on the building for Fox (also Hardeville is north-west of me but antennaweb says point west). I'm about 2 miles from that then. That's pretty sad that it won't come in, and to top it off the analog signal is just fine.

I'm a little frustrated with the Jax reception again. The other night I was getting consistent 50+% signal and now very little to nothing on ABC 10. 19 is still pretty good at about 50%. I put the preamp back on and it didn't make much difference one way or the other. I don't understand....

Do you have a rotor on your ant?

Yes. I think it's a must with the 4228 even locally.

Last night I had a good signal from 6.1/6.2 CBS (DTV 58) in Orlando same with FOX65 (41) and 27 (14). Have you had any luck with PBS from Jax 7.1/2/3/4 (38)

First: Sorry to bring an old thread back to life...

Its good to finally find some people in Savannah having the same problems I am. I talked to the engineer at 22/28 and I was told the DT Transmitter for WJCL would be coming on Sept 11-12. Well it is now Sept 14 and still no WJCL-DT. Also I haven't had any luck with WTGS, but I don't think they are broadcasting FOXHD anyways. The DT transmitter has been purchased and is laying inside the tower house five miles past I95 on 204. :( I also have the Comcast HDTV service, but the channel options are very limited right now. I did notice a new channel show up today in the HD range. Channel 180 is listed as TBA. I talked with Comcast a few weeks ago and they said they were close to a deal with WSAV and were "working on the other 2".

Maybe by OCT we will have WJCL-DT, although its questionable as to whether or not they will have the HD content from ABC. I would bet my entire life savings that they are not going to be broadcasting anything local in HD. It would still be better than comcast analog.

Cheers,

I sent an email to WSAV back when the O games were on and ask when they would get the sound in DD5.1. They have yet to reply, seems like they are going to be in mono sound for ever.
Jim

anyone in Sav getting 22 (dtv23) yet

NO luck here. Probably won't be at least until later this [oct] month because the southeast tower crew that the company uses won't be avaliable until then and the antenna is still in the shed by the tower.

-Impatiently waiting for WJCL-DT even if its not HD it would be better than comcast analog. Maybe they could multicast TGS/Fox on there as well since it's signal goes all of 2 feel away from the tower.

Seems like all the Sav stations are slow to get going with DTV, 11.1 and 3.1/2 still have audio problems and do not do anything about it.

thats why they call it "Slovannah"

C.

On 5-23-03 WSAV sent me an email saying they would have station rewired for stereo and 3.1 would have DD5.1 working. They must be working slow LOL

Any new news on when we might see ABC go digital in Savannah?

WSAV is not remapping to 3.1/ 3.2 but now 39.1/39.2 and sound still bad.
When sent to DD5.1 Rec. no center ch output at all and 39.2 is much louder than 39.1
Every one should call them and maybe they will get on the ball

I will call them on Monday. I talked to their engineer once before and he was very helpful. The problem started right after the time change. Probably a non engineer tried to change the time on the transmitter and ended up deleting all data sent with the signal. Did you notice the channel is no longer listed as WSAV-DT, mine says Channel Name Unavaliable.

I will post my findings once I talk to them this week. It probably wouldn't hurt for others to call and ask about the sound issues. When talking to all of our local tv stations, they get the impression that there is only 5 people watching the DTV transmition so "Who cares" if it isn't working perfectly. Their estimated number is probably not far off, but the more people who call to complain the more they will believe there are more people watching the DTV signal. Remember there are no ratings for HD/DTV so they have no clue how many people are watching.

Alright good news DD5.1 fans. I just talked with the engineer over at WSAV. The guy over there was VERY helpful!
Here is what I found out:
They are in between companies for their data services. Media General has been a little fickle as to which company they want to use to send the channel remaps, time, programming info, etc. They are still working on that, and expect to have it back sometime soon.
Second: They are currently working on DD5.1 sound for the DTV. He said it could be online as early as 2-3 weeks from now but definately by the end of the year. He also believes WTOC is working on this.
Third: Look for WSAV to become a full power DTV blow torch summer 2005. They will be moving the signal out to their big tower and increasing the power.
Finally: Media General plans to begin local HD in 2006, however, the engineer is doubtful that they will make that target date due to the high cost.

I will let yall know if I find out any more information.

Tks for the info Bradley, next time you talk to them. I know of 5 people here in Beaufort that have HDTV we all watch the stations from Charleston more than Sav. because they seem to care how well they doing. Take a look at WCSC home page, they have a ref to this form on Charleston thread and monitor it.
The Chas. thread is over 100 pages long and this one is only 2. ABC,CBS, NBC, Fox, Upn and Pbs are all in DTV and stereo in chas.
Any info on Fox and Abc ?
Jim
Beaufort

What other markets are you other Savannah area guys picking up? I'm ordering a DB8 from antennasdirect and was wondering what I might expect. It's a monster, and I'm hoping for good things. I'm pretty sure I'd have signal problems with WTGS if I had a run of RG6 directly from the tower :-) -- And from what I read here it doesn't look much better for WJCL in the near future...

Any info would be greatly appreciated!

5.1/2, CBS 49.1/2/3 PBS from Charleston 12.1 NBC 7.1/2/3/4 PBS and 4.1/2 IND from Jax Fl and 25.1 from columbia sc some times ABC

I'm pretty sure I'd have signal problems with WTGS if I had a run of RG6 directly from the tower :-)

yeah, what's up with that? are they actually broadcasting digital? i can get the analog signal pretty solidly, they must have a transistor radio in reverse broadcasting the DT since it is totally null.

funny, just happened to wander back over here and there are peeps! I finally got around to doing something different with the antenna, pulled it down into the attic. actually improved matters alot, since it got it below the tree that obstructs my shot north. when they move to the tower out west it will be convenient, all stations will be west of me.

i've received jax, but only a couple of times. it will occasionally come in very strong but i wrote it off as a lost cause. can't get charleston at all. where are you in savannah?

I'm actually in what would be the half-way point between Savannah and Statesboro, off of Hwy 80...

The way the crow flies I figure I'm no more than 15 miles from the transmitter tower cluster for the Savannah stations... I would REALLY like it if Fox would kick it up so I can at least see a couple Falcon's games in HD this year... Right now it looks like only the one on ESPN is gonna feed my need...

OMG u guys are lucky, I live on HHI and have Voom. Got a winegard anttena and can only pull in NBC (3.1/2) at 85%. CBS (11.1) only comes in at 30-40% :(. Anyone have a lot of break up's on NBC? Sometimes the singal will jump from 30-80%.

What winegard do you have, should get a good signal on HH

Not sure dude, just the one the Voom gives u. Know of anyway I can boost my signal?

Does it look like a wing, if so you can try a R/S OUTdoor UHF ant it is a U-75 or 2160 runs around $23 or a CM 4228.

Yeah, it does... on maybe a 4 foot pole and looks a 4 foot flat wing. I just called WTOC and their putting out their max singal, so I guess it's just on my end. Also does WSAV (NBC) break up a lot for u? I couldn't even watch SNL last night it was so bad.

BTW u got a link for thoses antennas? I searched google but only found info about them, no where to buy.

Try radioshack for the U75 pn 15-2160 (about $23) the Channel Master should be on the web for about $60
I have a old BIG cm ant and my signal is maxed out on WSAV ant WTOC.

better yet call voom and tell them your ant sucks and you want the CM 4228 8 bow tie ant. It cost about the same as the junk one they put up for you

Will do.

I just called Fox 27, ABC 23 and they won't be outputting a OTA digital singal until late this year. Tech said they hope to get it done around september. However they are putting out a digital ABC and Fox, but only on Comcast cable. Which kinda sucks for me cause I don't think Comcast comes up here on the island only Adelphia and they don't have HD down here. :(

Fox 28 is on air now, just low power. I get it now and then

Weird, he said it's not even up and running, plus 28 is anolog and 27 is DT.

Called Voom their coming out monday to install and bigger antenna, didn't say what it would be.

oljim, can u pull in all the DT channels from charleston just fine? I'm hoping the antenna they put up monday will be able to pull it Fox 24 which is 78 miles away , so I can watch the superbowl.

Hey,

Just a little heads up: ABC22/23WJCL is not on the air at all, however, FOX28/27WTGS is on the air at very low power with no HD (480i is all). They do not have the FOX Splicer installed even though FOX provides most of the equipment free of charge. My guess is it will be 2020 before both of those stations broadcast a useable HD signal.

"However they are putting out a digital ABC and Fox, but only on Comcast cable."
Also, just double checked COMCAST Digital Cable, there is no FOX or ABC HD on their. The only local on Comcast HD right now is WTOC. I hope they add WSAV soon, there are a few shows I would like to record with the DVR from NBC.

Thats all for now....

"My guess is it will be 2020 before both of those stations broadcast a useable HD signal."

Yeah no kidding, these red necks can't do anything right.

"Also, just double checked COMCAST Digital Cable, there is no FOX or ABC HD on their. The only local on Comcast HD right now is WTOC. I hope they add WSAV soon, there are a few shows I would like to record with the DVR from NBC."

They told me their was, another red neck problem i'm guessing.

Regarding the Digital Feed to Comcast: I have heard from an unconfirmed source that Comcast installed a fiber optic link from TV Circle studios to Comcast's studio because their over the air analog transmitter is off so often. I think this is correct, because I do remember a period where the broadcast tower was out but cable still had the channel. Not 100% sure on this, but it may have been what they meant.

Fox 24 is also on low power

CBS and PBS from Chas. both are full power and come in down here. FOX,NBC ABC and UPN are still not full power.
Last night WSAV signal was down from normal WTOC was ok

"CBS and PBS from Chas. both are full power and come in down here. FOX,NBC ABC and UPN are still not full power."

No!!!!! That's sucks, I have no where to get Fox from then I guess :(. No superbowl for me.

when you get new ant try FOX in Jax DTV 32 remap to 30.1 most of the time

FOX News Alert: FOX 28/WTGS-DT now has the FOX SPLICER! I am not able to pick it up OTA so I am not sure if it is being sent out via that method but on COMCAST cable they are now on 183 in HDTV. They had the presidential speech in FOX WIDESCREEN picture.

Its way late, but just in time for the Superbowl, so good job WTGS and COMCAST.

Why would you say good job to WTGS. They should serve the SAV DMA not just a few % of the people that has to pay comcast for something that should be free to everyone in the Sav area

^^Agreed

OKAY...let me back track a little. It would still be better if it was serving all of the coastal empire and low country, however, its a good step in the right direction. At least they are thinking about HD. The last time I talked to the engineer he frankly could care less about HD and looked at it as nothing more than a pain in the ass and an extra budget expense he was going to have to get passed. That is why I say good job. They need to take baby steps. Since they did FOX cable only there is a chance at some point we will see ABC cable only. However, FOX provides the HD equipment at no charge to the station, I am not sure about ABC.

BTW: For those of you who do have cable FOX is on WTSGD 183 (as it is listed on the guide, I know these are not the call letters. Someone at Comcast made a typo). They are now the first local station to broadcast in true DD5.1 Surround Sound. The picture looked pretty good as well and the sound was great.

I hate to say this, but most people that are watching HD are watching it on Cable or maybe satelite. Most people with HD sets have regular cable and not even HD. WTOC DT viewership probably doubled if not more when they were added to Comcast HD at the start of 2005.

If you have Directv you could consider "moving" to get network channels in HDTV.

WTSG is 2 yrs late with baby steps, WTOC and WSAV have been on air for several yrs.
Moving will not help you to get networks in HD off Sat. The NAB has but big $ in the pockets of the crooks in DC to keep that from happening.

I can't get comcast here on the Island, so I'm pretty much screwed.

I do not mean physically move. You can change your physical address (and keep the same billing address and phone number) with D* and they do not really care. Just don't connect your reciever to a phone line. Move to an address you find on a map in NYC. Then you will see FOX 5, ABC 7, NBC4, and CBS2 in HD. Many people have seemed to have a lot of success with this.

Did anyone confirm that they your market can get fox hd ota or is it just on comcast cable?

do not know if they have ota HD, the power is so low no one here has picked it up. I can get it now and then but did not know if FOX was sending out a HD program at that time.

From Fox28's website: http://www.fox28tv.com/jsp/news.jsp?newsId=648&newsType=0

SUPERBOWL ON HDTV
The way you watch the Superbowl may be new and improved this year. If you have HDTV on Comcast cable you'll be able to watch the Superbowl in the high definition format.
"Much, much clearer picture. Some people will say that you can see the blades of grass, the expressions on the players faces. You're just really getting an overall enhanced experience."
The Superbowl will be aired on our sister station Fox 28 on Sunday. Kick-off is 6:10 p.m.


So looks like cable only.

Bradley I do not have Directv anymore and not going to gamble on $1000 for a HD DVR+ dish to find out.
Went with the (moving) deal to get locals several yrs ago. Went with a city that had NBC,ABC,CBS,FOX WB and UPN but the Direct TV spotbeam was very weak. I found the same city spotbeam was good with dishnetwork so I went with dish.
Then I found out TIVO needs a PH line for setup and not a problem with dish pvr

I gotcha. However the D* HD Networks are on the conus beam not a spot beam. I wasn't considering the Tivo though, just a regular receiver.

I have 3 PVRs now, could never go back

The way you watch the Superbowl may be new and improved this year. If you have HDTV on Comcast cable you'll be able to watch the Superbowl in the high definition format.
"Much, much clearer picture. Some people will say that you can see the blades of grass, the expressions on the players faces. You're just really getting an overall enhanced experience."
The Superbowl will be aired on our sister station Fox 28 on Sunday. Kick-off is 6:10 p.m.


Lucky basterds with Comcast :(!!!!!!!!

Hello Jim and hello from Statesboro. Just wanted to put my .02 worth in. I get WTOC all the time and no dropouts. I also get CBS and NBC from Augusta. I have at last locked in NBC and FOX out of Savannah with Dishnetwork 921. Of all times to get a lock was the night of the Superbowl. Well, low and behold I see Fox light up and...wow its not in 720. Anyway, I read all of this thread and see the same as the rest as far as signal. Also I was told about the same that they would be full power by mid year.
One more thing to add for those near Savannah..I noticed the other night while watching a program on ABC that on their logo they now show a DTV channel 23 so they may have started broadcasting. Thanks for the info and maybe we can bump this thread a lot here soon. Bryan

bryan
do you get any epg for ota hd on your 921.

Yes, I do. For all the Savannah stations that I have locked..CBS, FOX and NBC. I do not get it for the Augusta stations. BTW, I got the pre-amp but not the new antenna. FWIW I dont think another antenna will help. I am just going to have to wait on full power.

bryan if you get NBC from Augusta I would not worry about Sav., They seem to have problems with the mono station and DD.5 I get no center channel sound from WSAV, works fine with all other stations.

Do you get the Sav lol from dish

I agree. NBC out of Augusta never has problems. Just stereo sound but great all around. Yes, I do get locals through Dish. Only for the wife though. I understand from other forums that Dish screwed customers by making them subscribe to locals to get the data...is that true? I never complained as I already had them. Also I would assume that you need data to record local HD on the 921.
I would really be happy for FOX to get their butt in gear and I wouldnt complain that much but with the content that they put out with Football and this year with Nascar, they should already have their act together.
BTW, one more thing. THrough Dish, OTA anolog, and the few times Ive viewed channel 27, I see white lines all over the place on Fox. I emailed Dish quality and WTGS and told them it sucked. Anyway the last few nights Ive noticed less of the lines and in a few programs none. If anyone noticed them and now does not you can thank Dish network and if compelled, me!:)

Jim, I forgot to mention that after all the complaints to Dish they no longer charge me for my local channels. I dont know if that was the reason but I havent been charged since November of last year.

I do not have Sav locals but can still record them off air, I do a manaul record setup. I record more from Charlston than Sav. because of the crappy
sound from WSAV and WTOC

Jim when you say manually do you mean when the show starts or is there a way to find that remapped channel in the timer list? Its not that important but when NBC starts there Nascar broadcast in July I would like to record NBC Augusta.

Yep and you can set up to record it ahead of time. will send you all the info in the morning

bryan
steps for man record as follows
Menu/timers(7)/ create/enter ch # say for 11-1 would be 01101, now list of all ota ch should come up. select ch to record/set time start/time stop date/create/done
If you need more info PM me with ph# will call you and we can do sep by step on 921
Jim

Thanks Jim, Ill try it tonight and see how it goes.

Worked fine Jim thanks alot.

bryan what r/s ant do you have

Well the voom guy came out finally and couldn't put up the "voom upgraded" antenna because he installed it on some other guys house. So he put up a differen't one but it didn't help any. So the old one I had got put back up on a 5 foot higher pole. WTOC comes in 10% stonger but I still can't pull it in and WSAV is at 8% instead of 88%!?! WTF? I can't get WSAV to come back for the life of me. I was thinking it was on their end so I called them and no problems, they haven't changed anything, but the guy said their on low power and would be full power on July 1st.

did he say what they were gona put up, I would check R/S see if the have a U-75 think the # is 2160 it will work here so should work down your way they cost $23

Not sure. He's only going to put up the one voom covers. He said they have some CM 8-bows they could put up, but I have to pay for it.

I just don't get why I can't get NBC now, it's the same antenna as before and pointing in the same direction. Hell, even CBS went up 20% why would NBC go from 88% to 8%!?!?

maybe turned a little off from where it was. I can not figure why it does not come in for you. I get 3.1 better than 11.1 up here

It came in last night right before SNL and was able to watch it with only a little break-up.

Jim, what do you get for signal power on 3.1? My signal quailty is around 85% and my power is only around 35%. Lame thing is 11.1 is at full power but my signal quailty is only 50% but my power is 70%.

VU-190 Sorry for not responding..been in Daytona since Thursday.

bryan I have a buddy here in Beaufort that has a R/S 190 and had no luck with the Sav stations. I went out with the R/S U 75 and was able to get 3-1 and 11-1 with the ant. only 5 ft off the ground. His 190 was on top of a 2 story log cabin about 35 ft up.

acpmadness My dish 921 gives readings from 0-125 I just looked and get 3-1 at 122 and 11-1 at 117

Originally posted by oljim
bryan I have a buddy here in Beaufort that has a R/S 190 and had no luck with the Sav stations. I went out with the R/S U 75 and was able to get 3-1 and 11-1 with the ant. only 5 ft off the ground. His 190 was on top of a 2 story log cabin about 35 ft up. I dont remember if I told you but I did order the CM 4228 and will get it up this weekend. I dont expect much else to lock but I will let yall know.

I can only lock on the CBS station. Can anyone suggest how I can get the NBC and FOX stations. Since I am in Pooler it seems that I should be able to lock all broacasts, even the half power Fox signals

System is Dish 921 with Radioshack UHF 15-2160. Antenna is in attic of two story house.

The guys/gals that are in Savannah may be able to give you a better idea but its kinda hit and miss. I think one suggested moving in front of the tower. If you cant get it locked dont worry I truly believe they (FOX, NBC, ABC) are really getting close to going full power.:rolleyes: :D

BTW: Keep seeing the DT 23 Logo on ABC. Anybody got it yet?

I have an attic install and think that maybe I need a good quality pre-amp. Does anyone have a recommendation?

move ant outside will help mor than amp and cost less

balheadjim
did you try to add a DTV station or just do a scan to get WSAV 3-1/3-2
What signal # do you get from 11-1

Bryan
I get a signal from 53-70 on WJCL DTV23 but it will not store or lock so far
Does anyone know where the towers are for Fox 28 and ABC 22

oljim
I really do not want to mount the antenna outside because the roof is steep, but if that is what it takes then I will do it.

I tried the scan once and could only lock on WTOC 11.1. Signal strength is 81-83

Tried to add others directly the meter flashes about 35 but will not lock.

Originally posted by oljim
Bryan
I get a signal from 53-70 on WJCL DTV23 but it will not store or lock so far
Does anyone know where the towers are for Fox 28 and ABC 22
According to www.antennaweb.org they are at the antenna farm on the south side.

What really frosts me is that I can see the flashing lights at night from Pooler but can not get a lock. I talked with someone at Fox/ABC station and they said the broadcast is half power. I think it must be much less than that.

I get WSAV 3-1 at 120-125 here in Beaufort and I am 42 miles from towers. did you try change ant direction while the signal bar is up with signal bar for best signal

What does your setup look like? Indoor/Outdoor antenna? Type antenna? Rotator? Amp? Wire type?

Fox is at 5 KW and ABC is at 2 KW. Thats according to the FCC page. I think you will be damn lucky to get them to lock and acquire very often. The moon has to be right and the stars aligned for me to get it, which is very seldom. Im 38 miles from the towers in Statesboro. As Jim said though outside and as high as possible is the general rule when attempting to get these stations. Good luck.

I use a VU 190 from Radio Shack. Ive recently bought and CM 4228 but had surgery a few weeks ago and cant get on the roof yet.

Originally posted by baldheadjim
According to www.antennaweb.org they are at the antenna farm on the south side.

What really frosts me is that I can see the flashing lights at night from Pooler but can not get a lock. I talked with someone at Fox/ABC station and they said the broadcast is half power. I think it must be much less than that.
I may be wrong but I think they are still at the station. Their goal is to have them at the large tower off 16 when they are at full power. They used to email me back but they are tired of my emails. :D I honestly think that July will be the month......

I have 4 ants, a CM 1160 (main ant) up 36 ft with CM 9521 rotor.
A CM4228 up 20 ft a R/S U75 about 20 ft and a R/S u120 looks like the U75 but 8 ft long
I can pick up 3-1 and 11-1 with the small u75 standing in the yard in my hand.
You must have a bad cable or something, may be something blocking signal in attic.
All cable is RG-6 no splitters or diplexers

Is your zip 31322, if so you are 10 miles or less from towers

Originally posted by oljim
I get WSAV 3-1 at 120-125 here in Beaufort and I am 42 miles from towers. did you try change ant direction while the signal bar is up with signal bar for best signal Jim, I didnt realize you were that far away from the towers. I may have a little better luck than I thougt. Im going up another 10 feet when I replace my antenna. That will be about 40-45 feet, maybe even 50.

Good luck with all the wind, you should be ok at 40 ft+

The way that antenna is made should help. But yea, for the last few days that has worried me. Last night when I got home my antenna had moved about 90 degrees from that morning.:)

If you have a rotor you should get all the Macon and Sav stations

Originally posted by oljim
Is your zip 31322, if so you are 10 miles or less from towers
I am going to relocate the antenna in to the highest point in the attic first to clear all the hvac ducts. If that does not solve the problem I will have to get it on the roof.

Will also try a pre-amp because there is about 65 fet of cable and two diplexers between the antenna and the Sat/OTA receiver.

Any suggestion on local suppliers for preamp?

Dow 912-234-1684. Real good folks. Ive been before but cant remember how to get there. Its near the port. Call and get directions. Good luck.

Jim get the diplexers out of your system before you spend one dime on an amp. your can not use an amp with the dp 34 switch is on your dish system
run a cable (RG-6) from 921 to ant FIRST

oljim
I have RG6 built into the house. Because of wall and attic configuration it will be difficult to run another separate line from antenna to 921. One diplexer is in the attic downstream from the dp34 to combine the antenna and the sat signal. The other diplexer is behind the 921 to split the sat and antenna signal. Do you think the preamp will cause problems?

Went to Dow and they are great folks. They had a great price on the pre-amps too.

You can not run the preamp on same wire, voltage from preamp will mess up 34 sw and lnbs
could also feed back to 921

I would try the ant on short 5 ft post in the ground where you can see the towers and see how that works. Run RG-6 from ant to 921.

Originally posted by oljim
I would try the ant on short 5 ft post in the ground where you can see the towers and see how that works. Run RG-6 from ant to 921.
I moved the antenna to a better spot in the attic last night. Signal strength did not improve. Will set the antenna outside tonight like you suggest.

What happened baldheadjim? Obviously it did not help otherwise you would have told us by now. I still havent been motivated enough to finish mine and I am going to Atlanta next weekend to the race so it wont get done by then either.

I think he should try outside, new cable, new 300-75 adp and looking at webtv is says 3-1 is 118 deg and 11-1,28-1 and 22-1 are at 242-244 deg

Jim, are you getting ABC yet?

Got it to lock in but have yet to keep signal up long enough for picture or sound. It jumps from 30s to 70s all the time.

Really busting at the seam with power, eh???? I guess its the one listed as station, 1.23 kw.

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?state=GA&call=wjcl&arn=&city=&chan=&cha2=69&serv=&type=0&facid=&list=2&dist=&dlat2=&mlat2=&slat2=&dlon2=&mlon2=&slon2=&size=9

was going to try my old Sami 151 on DTV23 last night, it remaped to 24-1/2/3/4 which is WMFE PBS in Orando FL. Did a DTV scann on 921 and I got 4 stations from Orando 1 from Datona beach.

Jim, are you able to keep those stations locked and view them or is it one of those strange times we just seem to pick up stations out of the blue?

All are stored and I have picked up many times 6-1 WKMG CBS 65-1 UPN and 27-1 WRDQ Ind all from Orlando. Last night I got 18-1 WB 56-1 PAX and 24-1-2-3-4 PBS I could watch them all

I have 39 DTV stations in my 921 with call letters for all but 30-1-2-3-4 it says 30-rf also have a 49-rf-4 no letters.

I'm back. Had company this weekend and did not get a chance to move the antenna outside. I hung it out of the window last night but the reception did not improve.

Did you still use same cable with diplexers

I still have nothing, the guy that said he was going to come back and put up the right antenna never called or came back. I'm not to worried about it right now, when football season comes rolling around again I'll get a better antenna to pick up NBC,CBS.

Originally posted by oljim
I have 39 DTV stations in my 921 with call letters for all but 30-1-2-3-4 it says 30-rf also have a 49-rf-4 no letters. I live over past Macon and I pick up stations out of the blue occassionally. I have picked up 49 WITV a PBS station from Charleston, S.C. a few times. It bounced off the clouds perfectly and locked on my tv's integrated tuner.

voomvoom next time it comes in try DTV 47, WCSC 5-1/-2 it has more power and on the same tower as WITV which should remap to7-1-2-3

Originally posted by oljim
voomvoom next time it comes in try DTV 47, WCSC 5-1/-2 it has more power and on the same tower as WITV which should remap to7-1-2-3 I have picked it up a few times. It was mapped to my integrated tuner, but a power outage made it disappear. Seems like the last time it came in was the Academy Awards, or some other awards show, which I didn't care for. Thanks for the suggestion though. I hope when every station is at full power we can point our antenna's in the right direction and lock in everything. That would be nice.

I wish Dish would get the 921 EPG that worked for what ever ch we can pick up, I am sick and tired of NO INFO on my EPG for DTV stations

Just be happy you have DTV stations.

Originally posted by oljim
Did you still use same cable with diplexers

Back again. I tried without diplexers and it did not make much difference. I intend on using an 8 bay CM and I will install it on the roof. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate for the weekend.

I would try the U75 before spending more money, you should get all the stations at ground level. I would try a short section of RG-6 from 921 to U75 just out side and see what you can get.

FYI - The chief engineer at WTOC seems very helpful. He took the time to respond to my questoin about the picture format. FYI -an excerpt from his email follows.

"We broadcast the WTOC HDTV signal in the true CBS format called 1080i. When WTOC is local we will convert the signal to a 14x9 ratio and when we pass-thru the CBS signal you will see the true 16x9 ratio. You might experiment with your HD monitor to deliver the best performance. "

They seem to be the only station that is 14X9 when not HD

I always wondered why I had about an inch vs two or three on each side of the screen.

Well people, until all the locals provide consistent signals, I have given up on locals in HD. I told Dish to take th system back too. So its is back to Hargray Cable. Of course I saved room in the entertainment center for future HD tuner. Good luck to all with pursuit of quality reception.

If I was where you are I would have all the Sav. stations before the sun went down

I agree, there is no reason you shouldnt be picking them up.

A little help requested please!

I have recently moved down here ( Jesup, Ga ) from Virginia Beach, Va.

I had OTA Digital & HD experience there and I am attempting to get a feel for what I might be able to pick up in Jesup.

I have a Sharp LC-32D5U with integrated ATSC/CableCard ( no HD on comcast here yet ), and I am wired with rg-6 quad to a roof mounted UHF-VHF deep fringe style antenna with preamp mounted on 10 foot mast attached to chimney onroof ( 1 story ). All cable is direct to TV without splices.

I have so far only been able to scan and pickup 11.1 ( CBS ) with a signal strength of 96 ( solid ). No other channels seem to even show up as any level of strengths during scan. Mast is pointed at N/NE 50 degrees .

Is this all I can expect?

According to the CEA antennaweb site , I should be in range of several more. The only unknown right now is the antenna as it was with home when moved in but I inspected it and it appeared to be in good shape.

Any help on this would be appreciated!

You are probably getting all you can get out of Savannah right now. The rest (ABC,NBC,FOX) are at low power. Word has it they will be at 100% by mid-year. I will believe it when I see it. You may have a shot at Brunswick or Jacksonville. Hope this helps. Jim will reply shortly and have a much better answer for you.

You are 45 miles and 47 deg from the Sav towers, you should get WSAV 3.1 3.2 DTV ch 39 Fox and ABC are low power

Thanks guys. I currently am getting 11.1 at 92% .

NBC will be full power in June, at least that's what they told me.

Thanks, and fingers crossed on the Full Power, though FoxHD would be nice with NASCAR!
And I kinda understand understand the curve on Digital with new operations starting up.

Back in Va. Beach, Va. where I just moved from we started in 2001 with NBC affilaite in Digital/HD, and it took almost 2 years for ABC, CBS, FOX, PBS to follow up with their own Digital broadcasts, and shortly there after they added UPN and WB, plus multiple Digital secondary stations.

So I'm kinda back where I was! Here's hoping the transition here happens faster! If I can be of any assistance, give me a shout! By the way, I head a sales department at a non-bigbox a/v store, so if I can be of any help with equipment, IM me!
One other thought, back in Va. Beach, there was initially a lot of talk back & forth with the station engineers, and that helped to push thru the transitions. Maybe we could include them in this thread and give them feedback on isues such as signal strength, sound encoding issues, HD transistion drops ( like after a commercial ) and such. Just an idea!

Dave

CBS has been up for about 3 years. Hopefully the others are ready because most have been at low power for at least 1 to 2 years. Fingers crossed here also.

WCSC in Charlston has been good with working with this forum, but none of the stations in Sav. seem to care.
You are lucky if they respond to e mail.
WSAV ( 3.1/3.2 has had a sound problem for 2 yrs because the station is still mono.
Try to find anything on the any of the Sav. TV stations web page about HDTV.
WSAV has DD5 but I have no sound on center speaker. They said it was because the were still mono and would have it working soon, that was 5/2003

Well, I'm sure not gonna get up on a soap box and plead their cases.

I do know that even back in Va. Beach ( Hampton Roads ) area we went thru the same troubles. A lot of it has to do with limited funding given to the engineering dept's for HDTV. The companies esentially spent millions to set up the FCC mandated Digital broadcasts and once they got thru that hoop they figured their job was done! ( not!)

Unfortunately, its up to people like us to pester, perturb, and annoy to hell the corporate guys until they listen! Even Comcast here in Jesup is behind the curve with no HD, and yet they just asked for and got a rate increase!
What the @##$! Lets see, less services, more money! Hmmmm...

Dave

Same here Dave, Charter cable has no HD or plans for it. I am 42 miles from Sav towers and 71 miles from Charlestons big towers. Only CBS (5-1/5-1) and PBS (7-1/7-2/7-3 hd) is full power on big towers ABC, NBC Fox and UPN are low power and small towers.
WCSC CBS 5-1/5-2 in Charleston has been very active on the Charleston forum, has a ref to the forum on home page and has had several tours of station for members of the forum.
Some stations care some could give a dam about us

Understood.
Can you think of any reason why I shouldn;t be able to pickup PBS?
Dave

The PBS 7-1/7-2/7-3 is in Charleston SC more than 150 from you, I would try PBS in Jax Fl. It is also 7-1 - 7-4 DTV 38

Well Voom went down and I got Direct TV and so far i'm loving it. Got all my locals and no OTA antenna. I couldn't be happier :)

PS I can watch them too, no more breaking up ;)

Do you get locals in HD with DirecTV?

You can't get locals in Savannah/Hilton Head from Directv unless you sign up with a fake address (a technique known as moving). The channels show up on the guide but they will not be active. The only locals in our area are WSAV - NBC and WTOC - CBS. WTGS - FOX is also HD on Comcast Cable 183. They do not broadcast HD OTA.

For anyone with Dishnetwork HD, they just put up 10 Voom chs for $5.00 if you have the HD package. The 10 voom chs are on the 61.5, sat same as Voom was.
Bradley You can not get Sav HD stations from any sat co.
You could get HD stations if you could find an address in a DMA that has all the networks in HD and are O&O by the networks.

Originally posted by MenoMosso
Do you get locals in HD with DirecTV?

No, need the antenna which i'm going to go put back up right now because the DTV installer took it down. I do get all the locals in analog tho which is still pretty cool.

You can't get locals in Savannah/Hilton Head from Directv unless you sign up with a fake address (a technique known as moving). The channels show up on the guide but they will not be active. The only locals in our area are WSAV - NBC and WTOC - CBS. WTGS - FOX is also HD on Comcast Cable 183. They do not broadcast HD OTA.

Analog yes, HD no. Have to use a antenna for the HD, but I am on a 45 days waiting list to see if I can get the CBS,NBC,ABC and FOX HD out of LA and NY.

If you get a waiver for HD (without moving) I'll come over to HHI and pay for a round of golf for both of us.:D

Haha, yeah I don't think i'll get it. I can play golf for free tho at The Golf Club, Golden Bear and Country Club of Hilton Head.

Originally posted by oljim

Bradley You can not get Sav HD stations from any sat co.
You could get HD stations if you could find an address in a DMA that has all the networks in HD and are O&O by the networks.

Yes I know. You can't get Network HD in Savannah unless you techinically don't live in Savannah.

BTW: I currently have (wink) an appt in NYC as well. I watch the big 4 flagships a lot, but I also have a Comcast DVR that is useful for recording shows on FOX and CBS. I wish they would add NBC so I could tape Conan and Leno.

I wish I could get everything from one source, but currently that isn't possible.

Good Luck,

Originally posted by acpmadness
Haha, yeah I don't think i'll get it. I can play golf for free tho at The Golf Club, Golden Bear and Country Club of Hilton Head.

Lucky dog...

Lucky dog...

Not Really, cause I don't like golf. :p
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok this is f*cked up....

D* comes out to replace Voom and takes my OTA winegard down. This pisses me off so I call D* to have one of their installers come out and put it back up.l It's down I figure I'll get the CM 4228 and have them put it up because I could only get WSAV with the winegard, maybe I can pull in WTOC with the CM 4228. So I call Audio Visions and they come out and put up the CM 4228 and I get 0% on WSAV and 20% on WTOC. WTOC won't even stay at 20% it keeps dropping back down to 0%. They moved it all around and I could only get 0% and 20% max. So i'm scratching my head at this point and I have them put the winegard back up cause I could get a least WSAV with that. Well I get nothing with the winegard now also, WSAV is 10% and WTOC is 30%! After messing with it for an hour and not beening able to get anything I have them take it down... F*CK IT!! How did I get WSAV before and not now with the same antenna!?!?! Anyways both are down now and I give up! Plus they want to charge me $120 dallors for messing with it for the last 2 hours.

Originally posted by acpmadness
Not Really, cause I don't like golf. :p
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok this is f*cked up....

D* comes out to replace Voom and takes my OTA winegard down. This pisses me off so I call D* to have one of their installers come out and put it back up.l It's down I figure I'll get the CM 4228 and have them put it up because I could only get WSAV with the winegard, maybe I can pull in WTOC with the CM 4228. So I call Audio Visions and they come out and put up the CM 4228 and I get 0% on WSAV and 20% on WTOC. WTOC won't even stay at 20% it keeps dropping back down to 0%. They moved it all around and I could only get 0% and 20% max. So i'm scratching my head at this point and I have them put the winegard back up cause I could get a least WSAV with that. Well I get nothing with the winegard now also, WSAV is 10% and WTOC is 30%! After messing with it for an hour and not beening able to get anything I have them take it down... F*CK IT!! How did I get WSAV before and not now with the same antenna!?!?! Anyways both are down now and I give up! Plus they want to charge me $120 dallors for messing with it for the last 2 hours.
Most likely the Winegard is amplified and was powered by the Voom box. Hook the Voom box back up to the antenna and see. If so, you can either use the Voom box for your OTA or get a Winegard amplifier. Radio Shack probably has one or something else that should work. If I were you, I would use the CM 4228 and get an amplifier for it.

Do you have diplexers in the line? You have something not hooked up. the 4228 has 4 time the range of the wing thing.

What about the wiring? Could it have anything to do with reception? Old, frayed...I just dont understand why your having this problem. I was getting CBS at 106 percent last night.

I would run a new cable from ant (4228) to your Sat rec. no junk in the cable. (diplexers, splitters) If Bryan can get it you should also.

Do you have diplexers in the line?

Yeah 2, but the 4228 is gone now... audio visions took it back. It's amazing how little the installers know and how little their willing to help you figure it out.

Do you think the reason the signal was dropping from 20% to 0% is beacuse of the 2 diplexers? Just though of that...

Mine does that without diplexers. Your getting a signal but it wont lock. I agree with Jim. Youve tried everything else, run ONE line straight from antenna to your box (If its possible). If not run a new line in the back door just to see if that is the problem. There is no reason you should not at least recieve WTOC and WSAV, if you were getting it before.

Your winegard ant may have a amp. inside that was powered by the Voom rec. The Direct rec. does not power the amp and with out power the amp will kill signal.
The CM 4228 with out an amp is better than the winegard with an amp.
The 4228 must be pointed at the TV towers more so than the winegard and any inline junk like diplexers and splitters will reduce signal.
I can pick up both WSAV and WTOC with a RS U75 or a CM 4228 on a 5 ft post hand held in my yard but if moved 5-10 deg off from towers they are gone

I can pick up both WSAV and WTOC with a RS U75 or a CM 4228 on a 5 ft post hand held in my yard but if moved 5-10 deg off from towers they are gone

Do you have a lot of trees around you Jim? The pine trees are thick around our house, I'm lucky I was even able to have a satellite.

about 10000 80-100 ft oak trees.

Originally posted by oljim
Your winegard ant may have a amp. inside that was powered by the Voom rec. The Direct rec. does not power the amp and with out power the amp will kill signal.
acpmadness - I beleive you need the Winegard PS-9370 power supply. I beleive you can find one at Radio Shack. Good Luck.

acpmadness - I beleive you need the Winegard PS-9370 power supply. I beleive you can find one at Radio Shack. Good Luck.

I have a feeling that still won't work tho. Just in a really bad location on this island.

Also cable visions just bill me today... $120 dallors for nothing... sucks! :(

Originally posted by acpmadness
I have a feeling that still won't work tho. Just in a really bad location on this island.

Also cable visions just bill me today... $120 dallors for nothing... sucks! :(
That totally does... Haven't received my final bill yet. I'm hoping they send me a check or credit my VISA. I'm one the purchasers of equipment and I've heard they are going to buy back the equipment. I sure hope so!!!!

I noticed a new channel the other day on my Directv STB and realized WTOC has created a second digital channel, 11-2. The PSIP information simply shows TubeTV and Regular Schedule. I gave the engineer a call and he said they are getting ready to launch a secondary video channel. The content will be similiar to MTV. He said the channel will be in the "extra" bandwidth they have and shouldn't effect the HD picture quality. They are still testing it right now and I don't have an exact date when the signal will go live.

The engineer also said they would look into doing away with the 14:9 stretch of 4:3 Local SD video.

I also found this website: http://www.thetubetv.com/
And this press release pretty much seals the deal that this is the right network: http://www.thetubetv.com/raycommediadeal.html

I wish they would put a weather radar on one sub-channel. I like that things are happening though. Hopefully, in the next few weeks, FOX will come up to full power.

Guys, Am I crazy or have none of the last 2 nights of prime-time on WTOC 11 Digital been in HD?
All I'm getting is a 14:2 SDTV look!

They are having trouble with the HD feed. I saw them flip the switch to HD and the picture was acutally worse. It seemed to be flickering green constantly across the entire picture.

bryan92,
i am also in statesboro. i have dishnetwork with locals (which means the savannah stations) but not hd, using their new 625 receiver and dish500 system. if i sign up for hd, will i get the savannah hd stations via satellite, or will i need to get an ota antenna for those? i get pretty consistant feeds on sat119, but 110 (which carries the savannah stations in sd) drops out any time a cloud appears. which ota antenna do you have and how well does it work? even if i don't go hd just yet (i am waiting to demo the sammy hlr4677 first) i was considering getting an ota antenna to pick up savannah so we can at least have some picture when it is really raining (like tonight when I have no sat signal on 119 or 110). any suggestions will be appreciated. thanks!

bryan92,
i am also in statesboro. i have dishnetwork with locals (which means the savannah stations) but not hd, using their new 625 receiver and dish500 system. if i sign up for hd, will i get the savannah hd stations via satellite, or will i need to get an ota antenna for those? i get pretty consistant feeds on sat119, but 110 (which carries the savannah stations in sd) drops out any time a cloud appears. which ota antenna do you have and how well does it work? even if i don't go hd just yet (i am waiting to demo the sammy hlr4677 first) i was considering getting an ota antenna to pick up savannah so we can at least have some picture when it is really raining (like tonight when I have no sat signal on 119 or 110). any suggestions will be appreciated. thanks!

I just got rid of Dish because of similar problems. Rcvrs lost signal frequently. HD content was limited to movies and some ESPN. You will not get local channels in HD. Check Winegard http://www.winegard.com/offair/offairmain.htm for antenna selection.

The Sav locals for dishnetwork are on 105, not 110 and no HD locals on sat . The 624 will not work with HD. only 9xx rec. do HD.
I would get a CM 4228 ant for ota HD

bdmd if you get Sav locals from dish you have a superdish not a 500, check how your signal is on 105.

You're right, it is a superdish and sat 105 (I mistyped) is the one that usually drops (right now however I have greens on 105, 110, and 119). thanks for the input. all of this rain has thrown a serious monkey wrench in my tv viewing, so I am definitely considering getting an ota antenna for backup. when I do get ready to upgrade to hd, do you recommend going with ota antenna only, or upgrading the dish receiver to an hd capable one as well? also, if I use an ota antenna for hd, will I get dolbydigital 5.1 with that as well (assuming the programming is in DD5.1)?

You're right, it is a superdish and sat 105 (I mistyped) is the one that usually drops (right now however I have greens on 105, 110, and 119). thanks for the input. all of this rain has thrown a serious monkey wrench in my tv viewing, so I am definitely considering getting an ota antenna for backup. when I do get ready to upgrade to hd, do you recommend going with ota antenna only, or upgrading the dish receiver to an hd capable one as well? also, if I use an ota antenna for hd, will I get dolbydigital 5.1 with that as well (assuming the programming is in DD5.1)?
You can get the HD receiver for practicly nothing right now so its a no-brainer. Then you have the problem of Dish switching to Mpeg-4 receivers soon and you will have a nice door stop (new HD is what Im referring to). I'd wait until the end of the year and see what happens. The other problem is you will either need a tv with a built in tuner or a Dish HD receiver to decode for the OTA. DD 5.1 is not available on CBS (thats the only one I get), maybe FOX or ABC will. IF you have a good A/V receiver, it will do a pretty good job at processing the crappy audio that our stations put out.

WTOC 11-1 was blank pict and no sound last night.. The new 11-2 was ok but looks like MTV type junk

Jim, its been like that for 2 nights. I didnt notice 11.2 up last night. Ill check it out tonight. If its MTV crap, I wont be wasting my time.
Well, 3 more weeks until NASCAR switches over to NBC. HD for me ( out of Augusta). I have no faith in WSAV. ;) Fox will probably come up to full power just after the last race of the year for them.

well the tech came out today to see if we could improve our signal strength on sat 105; according to him, 50-60 signal strength "is about the best you can get on that satellite in this area." sounds fishy to me, as everyone else says "make sure your signal strength is 100 or more." do any of you in this area get that strong of a signal on 105?

I see they got it back on now(11-1)
bdmd I think that 70 is tops for 105 around here and shold be about the same for you.
My 721 has 95 -99 on most 110/119 and it goes to 100. 921 gets 105 -125 on 110/119 I have a dish 500

105 is about 65 for me. Hopefully the new satellite at 105 will be turned on soon and solve that problem. The last few nights Ive not even been able to lock locals until 8 o'clock or later and with WTOC being down for whatever reason its been bad around my house.

Anyone know whats up with the Music Video ChanneL on 11.2? There seems to be no 11.1 signal according to my Sharp tuner! Very strange! As if their Satellite dish is downlinking another sat channel. i'm sure CBS wouldn't be too impressed! Anyone have any direct contact with engineering departments at local stations?

Dave

I sent them an email this AM. got a reply that they had it fixed. (11-1)

Hello everyone! My name is Ken McCrimmon and I work at WTOC. We added the second channel and if you are still having issues on picking up the 11-1 please rescan your settop box. If you still do not receive it please call me at the station.

Ken 11-1 was ok last night and is ok now, but 2 days ago it had strong signal but no picture or sound.

Mine was fine last night and about an hour ago. Great to hear from you Ken. Yall keep up the good work. BTW, I kinda liked the tube tv, sorry Jim. :)

Welcome to the NG, Ken. I just got in and checked and sure enough, 11-1 is back! We also have 11-2, abeit there is a fairly severe digital pixelation with video, motion or not.
I appreciated your quick response by phone and your stations work with Digital Transmission & HDTV. My offer stands for any help you may need in the future. Maybe we can pique some interest from the other engineering departments ( stations ) to join in!

Dave

Good luck with the other stations, I have sent emals to them for 2 yrs and get no reply.
I have read that all the Sav stations are to be full power by 1 July, bet they going to get out of that some how.

Oljim, I don't doubt for a second what you have been experiencing as far as contact from the other stations. I had seen the same in the Virginia Beach area before DTV broadcasts became status quo. As Ken will probably atest, DTV is not exactly a golden goose laying cash eggs ( read advertising DOLLARS ) yet. And you can bet that even if the engineers wanted to ( and I can't really see any self respecting engineer really wanting to slow the DTV progress ) they would have had their respective stations at full power long ago! But unfortunately for DTV, most decisions are made by Corporate penny pinchers with little or no experience or real knowledge of the true potential of DTV yet and that are extremely short-sighted as far as potential wind-falls from a properly appplied DTV roll-out.

As in Virginia Beach, its first adopters like ourselves who must exert influence thru any means possible including e-mailing, repeated phone calls to not only the engineers but anyone who answers the phone at the stations, leting them know that we share an interest in DTV and that we are more than just 1. As in any retail business, you can't get sufficent customers without either good advertising or word of mouth from satisfied customers, of which it appears they have neither of any size.

Just my 36 cents worth of rant, I'm just happy to see "Numbers" on CBS tonight in HD w/ DD PL II sound. Good job WTOC!! Keep up the good work, Ken.

Dave

Ken, FYI, last 15 minutes of " Numbers " missed the switch at commerical and was in 4:3 SD vs 16:9 HD

Dave

I wish someone at WSAV would fix the sound on 3-1 I get no center ch sound from them at all. It is the only station that does that

Jim and everyone else. Just wanted to report that I am getting 95 on signal strength for WSAV. It usually disappears after a few minutes but its kicking. They may have got up to full power.

I would also like to thank WTOC. Ive been getting their Digital signal for at least 2 years maybe three, cant remember.

I will see how strong it is here, has always been up around 100. How does WSAV sound on your end.
Jim

Just as crappy as you always told me!I'll stick with Augusta till they get it fixed. :D

I spoke to soon. I couldnt lock it last night. :mad:

Bryan WSAV was 107-116 here last night and 120 this AM.
Ken no sound on 11-1 on local news at 7.45 this AM

Good news WSAV 3-1 will go full power on 1 July, talked to them today
Hope ABC 22 and FOX 28 do the same

Jim, I thought they were required to. If they do then I will be happy as a pig in ....
Why wait till the last minute is beyond me. Not that I care but I notice that PBS has 07/07 on antennaweb. Did they getaan extension?
Did they say anything about their sound?

I think ABC has an ext. not sure about FOX. Wsav did not know about the sound,but do now.
I recorded some of Jay Leno from WSAV and 12-1 from Jax last night, All the voice from 12-1 came out center ch the way is should, but but 3-1 sounds like 5 ch mono all speakers get the same thing. Will give them the info today that is on WSAV s end and not from NBC.
Seems they moniter picture but not sound

Huh, I didnt think about that. I guess they dont have 5.1 in the control room. :D
Maybe its an easy fix, let us know.
Man, I hope ABC and FOX are ready. The last time I emailed FOX, which was early this year, he said it would be full power by mid-year.

EDIT: mid-year meaning 2005 :D

I got WSAV again with no problem last night. FOX was a no go.

Bryan do you have a DD5 rec? if so what do you get on 3-1 as far as sound goes. HOw does it compair to the other NBC station. you pick up. They have the DD5 stuff but it only works with HD programs, I hear a big change whey go from HD to SD programs. DO not hear this on other stations.

The sound is just as you describe. There are no center channels voices. THey come from every speaker. Augusta is fine. It not 5.1 but I do get the voices from the center channel and no where else. I havent watched anything yet on WSAV thats 5.1 but Ill try in the next few days. Hope I can still get it. ;)

Tks Bryan will pass the info to WSAV. I did not think it was just on my set, all other chs are ok. I only get this on WSAV 3-1

NBC and FOX 115 strenth last night. Fox is still in analog mode though. I hope thats the right term. O.C. was on and it was no different than the analog OTA or Satellite. I hope and pray they get this going and correctly more importantly. WE HAVE WAITED LONG ENOUGH. Its rough listing to others talk about how many stations they pick up. Jim I locked in Columbia CBS last night also. I hope it wasnt one of those stars and moon aligned nights and all this will disappear toinght.
Take care and keep us updated on what your able to lock in everyone!

NBC and FOX 115 strenth last night. Fox is still in analog mode though. I hope thats the right term. O.C. was on and it was no different than the analog OTA or Satellite. I hope and pray they get this going and correctly more importantly. WE HAVE WAITED LONG ENOUGH. Its rough listing to others talk about how many stations they pick up. Jim I locked in Columbia CBS last night also. I hope it wasnt one of those stars and moon aligned nights and all this will disappear toinght.
Take care and keep us updated on what your able to lock in everyone!


Jim, one more thing. If you talk to them ask if they uped the power this week...just to ease my mind.

Bryan I get FOX now and then, have yet to see any HD from them.
I am going to NC till monday will call and see what is going on with power when I get back.

Check out 3-1 WSAV they went full power today. My meter is maxed out 125

I am maxed at 125. I checked it today when I got home and called a friend. He hasnt been able to get it period (piss poor antenna in the attic). He has it locked at the same level as WTOC. Its looking up boys (and girls). Pray for FOX and ABC.
One side note...not that its that important to me but today I checked an address for what type of antenna for a friend to buy and noticed that PBS has pushed their date back to 07/08. It used to say 07/07.
I cant wait until the weekend to see my first race in HD. I missed it last year because I go to the 500 every year. I hope it doesnt disappoint.

Something I find interesting, WTOC radiated digital power is 422 kw and WSAV is 1000 kw. I live in Beaufort and I get twice the signal from WSAV.

I always had a better signal from WSAV (3-1) than WTOC (11-1). It may be that most ant. are tuned to middle of UHF band, where 3-1 is 39 and 11-1 is 15 near the bottom of UHF band.

Bryan I sure hope the race will be in HD on NBC, also wonder about the ones on TNT.
I have the HD pkg. and TNT is in HD but not sure if the race will be in HD on TNT

The races on TNT will be in HD, from everything I have heard/seen. As a D* and Comcast subscriber I can tell you TNT-HD is not on sat but is on cable here in Savannah. I do believe it is on The Dish Network also.

It will be interesting to see if WTGS (FOX) gets up to power in time. I highly doubt it, but it is possible. I don't think HD OTA is a priority for them however, since they are satisfying most in Savannah with the HD feed on Comcast.

Cheers,

Bradley TNT HD is on dishnetwork as part of the HD pack. They also now have 11 of the Voom chs on a new HD package for only $5.
Soon as I get a dish pointed at the 61.5 sat I can add the Voom chs..
I talked to the man at WSAV they are working on the sound problem today.
Jim

I hope they can get the sound fixed. There is such a noticable difference from NBC-East on D* and local WSAV-NBC mono-to-all-speakers-crap. It would be cool if some other providers offered the Voom Originals as well. It probably won't be on D* until the new sats are up and running. My guess is Comcast would have to start cutting back their analog offerings before we get all 11 of those channels on a national basis. Some markets don't even have enough space to add TNT-HD.

Cheers,

I just talked to Ed over at TGS/JCL TV and there are no plans to go full power before July 1st or even in the next 6 months. They have waivers on hand for both stations. They also don't have any immediate plans to create ABC-HD on cable as the cost is much more than with a FOX-HD station (since FOX provides most of the HD equipment needed for a basic HD operation).

Well, screw em' then. That sux. I just dont know what to say. Maybe Augusta will come through for next year with 24 and some other shows that I watch.
NBC will air the rest of the season in HD for NASCAR. I hope TNT will also. Glad to hear they are working on the sound Jim.
Jim, Ive got a spare dish pointed at 61.5. I'm just waiting on $149 to fall from my money tree for a DPP 44 ???? switch. Is there another hook- up that would be cheaper. I read all the ways to do it on dbstalk or ******s but was just more confused.

Just got home and tuned to WSAV with no problem. :) I cant really tell while listening to Dr. Phil but it sounds like the audio problem is fixed.

Maybe it's time to start a all-out letter writing/phone calling assault on the ABC & FOX affiliates in Savannah. While as Bryan92 says, " it sux ", its really pretty sad and a poor example for the use of FCC airwaves and an outwardly slack use of FCC OTA extension's, which by the way are for the smallest, most financially challenged cities/stations. Just another example of a poor business model and corporate greed.

My applause to the stations WTOC and WSAV for providing us with OTA Digital programming!

David

Just a reminder to those of you folks who lurk but don't post this web site. The OTA stations mentioned ( WTOC & WSAV ) are broadcasting an ATSC Digital Over-the -Air signal that does not correspond to their channel numbers, i.e. Station WTOC uses the channel numbers 11-1 & 11-2 but in reality their signal and strength with most receivers is UHF channel 15, while WSAV uses channel numbers 3-1 & 3-2 but in reality is UHF channel 39. So if you are attempting to find and or fine tune signal measurements, make sure to tune to the right frequency. And please take the opportunity to post and introduce yourselves to the News Group, we won't bite!

I would like to hear from those in the Beaufort area about how you are receiving HDTV. I'm using a Channel Master UHF antenna with their 27db amp. I receive WTOC and WSAV without any problems. WCSC signal is off and on. I live out pass the air base. Charter cable at this time does not offer HDTV and I would like to have your input about satellite or what service you are using. Thanks.

Eddie I live about 2 miles from PI, I get 3-1/3-2 11-1/11-2 sometimes Fox 28-1 ( no HD)
WCSC 5-1/5=2 PBS 7-1/7-2/7-3 ( same tower as WCSC) 3- 4 from JAX FL.
I have a 36 ft Tower with CM 1161/ amp and 9521 rotor 2 STBs Sami 151 and Dish 921 HD PVR
I also get 9 HD chs on Dishnetwork.
Got Email from WSAV they did some repair and hope sound is fixed

I said last night that the sound was fixed but I seem to hear it from the two front channels now ( not every channel like before). I did a comparison with NBC from Augusta and I can certainly tell a difference. It does sound better though.

On the FOX and ABC issue. I took my OTA channel out of my guide last night (and replaced it with Augusta ) on the 921 for WTGS and WJCL. I also took it out of my favorites in the guide for LIL. I am going to email them and call them. Thats all I know to do.

Same here, sounds like 2 ch mono now. Will let them know.
I think we should all email them every day. (WTGS and WJCL)

In all the fuss this week I forgot to post this link to nascar.com

http://www.nascar.com/2004/races/tune_in/12/01/nbc_tnt/

Good news for the rest of the Nascar season for HD, I emailed FOX and ABC about lack of power, will see if they relpy.
WSAV made some more adjustments today, they are working on the DD-5 for the HD broadcast.

I watched Law & Order last night and it was worse on a program that was supposed to have good sound. I'd only seen the news and talk shows up until last night. They'll get it right if we keep letting them know how it sounds.

Same here Bryan, the HD shows sound BAD, will let them know

Just spoke with Charter and they will offer HDTV starting July 20, 2005. The lady read me a memo that was passed out at a meeting this morning. :)

What are they going to carry?

Not sure but I do know TNT, locals, HBO and Showtime will be in HDTV. For me to update will be less than $10 a month.

I copied this information off Charter's website what is included in their HDTV package.

Local ABC, CBS, NBC

» Local Fox in widescreen high resolution

» Discovery HD

» ESPN HD

» HBO HD (you must be an HBO subscriber)

» HDNet & HDNet Movies

» Showtime HD (you must be a Showtime subscriber

I wonder what locals they will carry, I now get HBOHD showtime HD ESPNHD TNT HD Discovery hd theather, HD net, and HDNET movies for $10 and can add 11 more VOOM ch for $5 Plus all the local HD/SD ch free. Plus with my Dishnetwork 921 I can record any 2 SD sat ch, 2 HD sat ch or 1 off air HD ch
The 120g hard drive will hold 190 hrs of sd and 25 hrs of HD

That is the standard HD pack, but that does not say we would get that in Beaufort. They must have a contract with Local stations to carry the stations signal for resale. I will see if they have done that.

Not to bust any bubbles but this memo sounds outdated and not market specific.

ABC/Savannah has no HD infastructure. There is no way they can broadcast HD to anyone.

FOX doesn't broadcast in "Widescreen High Resolution Digital TV" anymore. They broadcast HD and have been for almost a year. Also, FOX/SAV HD is fed via fiber optic cable to Comcast. Charter may not have this option since they have to go all the way to Beaufort.

CBS/NBC: Its all depends on contracts. CBS/SAV is on Comcast, but NBC/SAV is still not satisfied with the Comcast proposals or vice-versa.

I copied this information off Charter's website what is included in their HDTV package.

Local ABC, CBS, NBC

» Local Fox in widescreen high resolution

» Discovery HD

» ESPN HD

» HBO HD (you must be an HBO subscriber)

» HDNet & HDNet Movies

» Showtime HD (you must be a Showtime subscriber

I think you hit the nail on the head Bradley, I was on the ph with WSAV this AM, they knew nothing about Charter going HD . I did not know Charter could spell HD much less send it out over a wire. They seem to be good at moving chan around and removing stereo, but thats all.

I did not know Charter could spell HD

:D
The smile is for our cable company (not that I get it in the country). They push internet and have no plans for HD in the near future. Poor city folk! Get a dish people.

cable is unable

The lady I spoke with was in the Simpsonville, SC office. She said the memo was passed out at their morning meeting. I wouldn't think it would be a old memo. You all could be right but lets wait until July 20 and see.

Charter HDTV is available in the following markets:

Athens, AL --- Central, AL
Decatur, AL --- Glendale, CA
Long Beach, CA --- Los Angeles, CA
Riverside, CA --- Turlock, CA
Victorville, CA --- Newtown, CT
Athens, GA --- Gwinett, GA
Smyrna, GA --- Chicopee, MA
Oxford, MA --- Western Michigan
Allendale, MI --- Kalamazoo, MI
Rochester, MN --- Rosemont, MN
St. Cloud, MN --- St. Louis, MO
Boone, NC --- Hickory, NC
Johnstown, PA --- Alcoa, TN
Clarksville, TN --- Tri Cities, TN
Ft. Worth, TX --- Eau Claire, WI
Madison, WI --- Charleston, WV
Southeast, GA
We are also bringing HDTV service to new markets, so stay tuned!

Just something I noticed about the Dolby Digital on WSAV . It appears that the Center Channel output is being matrixed into the left rear, and that the fronts are the L & R Surrounds. SThis is on DD Broadcasts. Sound goes back to Stereo/Mono on Commericals.

As far as the ABC/FOX lack of signal strength, after visiting Savannah last night and driving by the Station with their Big Signage, maybe we should all go there one day and picket the damn place, and let the NBC & CBS affiliates know about it! Wouldn't it make for some good PR for the have's and poor PR for the have nots? Nothing like a little peer pressure.

Dave

The amp I have indicates when the signal is in stereo or dolby digital. Dolby digital is always on, on WSAV and always off on WTOV. WCSC in Charleston will switch between dolby or stereo. Not all show are in dolby digital which could be whats confusing the system.