FCC rules will catch up with stations that don't interrupt their main feeds ... then again FCC rules pretty much don't require EAS for anything except 'national emergencies' (we've never had one - even 911 didn't generate a national emergency message) and of course tests. Right now weather alerts are voluntary ... but if stations don't voluntarily comply expect the suggestion be less than voluntary in the future. Public safety is a hot button issue.

HD technology will catch up and you will see crawls. Even if they use the sub-channels for the details I expect nasties on the main screen to be visible enough to attract attention to the content on the subchannel. But I doubt if many stations will take the sub-channel only route since they don't want you to tune away from the show to any other channel. They want you to see the commercials on their main channel. (Which are rarely interupted by anything.) Voluntary will continue to work.

BTW: Never forget that the programming is just filler between the commercials that attempts to keep you tuned in long enough to see a few commercials. In the end, stations don't want you recording programs to watch again and program providers would rather sell you their DVDs if you want "unblemished" viewing, so any complaints they have about interuptions and graphics are light. But I digress ...

JL

Just as a heads up...I just bought a notebook with an athlon 64 3400+ processor, so for shits and giggles, I installed the drivers and downloaded the software to capture video from off my Comcast Motorolla 6412 Dual tuner DVR. Turns out that Comcast has not turned on any 5C encryption yet so I can archive everything, including HD from HBO/SHO/Starz or whatever, without any problem. Firmware is 9.19. I doubt this will last forever but this is the way things should be, considering how much I do pay for Cable.

This is a quote from back in September. I just got my htpc set up and am able to capture video from the Comcast Motorola 6412 on all channels except WPTA Digital feed on channel 231. I am using the firewire port with the proper drivers, and CapDVHS. I can capture all other HD feeds from HBO, ESPN, DiscoveryHD as well as all of the analog channels including WPTA's analog channel 7, both live and previously recorded.

It appears as though 5c encryption is activated on this channel only, or I am doing something wrong? I am unable to capture any live feed from channel 231 or any previously saved program from channel 231, which is the bulk of my recorded progamming on the 6412.

Can anyone confirm that they are unable/able to capture HD feeds from channel 231?

Thanks in Advance!

First off- great site. Extremely helpful. I live in Southeast Whitley County. I got a Sony with an HD tuner in it, and use an outdoor antenna that runs through an amp. I get all the Fort Wayne digital channels with the exception of WFFT , 55. Can I get this channel, can I get any other digital channels? Like i said. I get CBS, ABC, and NBC feeds. Thanks for all of your help!

Pretty much no chance on getting WFFT. And for those that are able to receive it I believe is only 4:3 480p so they're not getting anything that spectacular anyways. You'll have a better chance of getting the Fox station out of S.Bend/Mishawaka area, many here are able to receive it.

Did anyone loose WANE TV digital today or yesterday. I had a signal that was fairly good but now its gone. Just wondering if anyone had heard anything.

When I go into my channel analysis, it tells me that 55.1 has a 41 percent signal. Other channels vary from 98% to 89%. I was curious and looked at 16.1 and it was 48% and channel 9.1 (Chicago) was at 40%? Those stations would not come in and read "unlocked", where the ones that did come in say "locked". There are other items to in the analysis, but none of which I understood.

I just bought a new hd tv with a hd tuner built in. I also bought an RCA ant706 antenna, but I can't get anything with it inside my house (I haven't tried it outside yet). Will this antenna work if I put it outside, or should I take it back and get a better one?

Thanks

I forgot to mention I live in huntington, and I am trying to get fort wayne locals.

I tried mounting antenna in attic with no luck, had to put it up on the roof. I am able to get all FW digital channels, that is except for WFFT.

Here is a link to the antenna I'm using.
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?main_cat=3&CAT=&PROD=SPR8800

I'm no longer using an amplifier as the signal stays locked better w/o one.

Just turned on WPTA-21 for Monday Night Football and it's not in HD.

Anybody know why?

Just turned on WPTA-21 for Monday Night Football and it's not in HD.

Anybody know why?
Nope, but this is surprising; 21 is almost always in HD unless they feel the need to overlay weather alerts over the SD signal.

Also, has anybody seen the signal regularly go out on WANE's HD receiver? Tonight a "Loss of Input Signal" message showed up at least twice.

Lastly, 15's upgraded their radar (as shown on 15-3). It looks nice; maybe it's one of those VIPIR deals where you can see the cells in 3D. (As far as doppler wars go, you hardly ever see them used to the fullest, like with zoom-ins.) 21's is still offline; maybe they're saving it for their new newsroom (so much for Granite going broke).

EDIT: Looks like I was right; 15's radar can do 3D. Right now it's at such an angle that you can see from South Bend to Toledo to Indy to northern Michigan, and the sweep hand is a funny looking cone.

I looked up the stats for MNF tonight, and for the second week in a row, it looks like no to high def... What the heck? WPTA needs to publically explain.

-Aslo, on Friday, I got 55.1 pretty good. the signal strength was near 70. It was short lived though- it exists no more for me...

I hope that's not the case. Looking at their schedule on TitanTV, nothing on WPTA is being shown in HD.... that can't really be the case. I'll have my fingers crossed for the game tonight. I didn't really care last week, but tonight.... Colts vs. Steelers better be in HD!

On a related note, DirecTV was offering the Cincy/Baltimore game in HD yesterday, but when I flipped on WANE they were showing it in standard definition. Another puzzling thing was last week when Indy played Cincy, the game started in SD with a screen crawl saying that CBS would provide the HD feed upon the conclusion of the Redskins/Oakland game. Why would that matter? Is there some rule/restriction on when CBS affiliates can pass along the HD feed?

I'd guess that they can only provide one HD feed at a time from the national CBS to the local affiliates. Once the other game was over, they could then pump the cincy game through in HD.

Oryan_dunn hit it on the head.

If you noticed 2 weeks ago when the Colts game started the feed flipped to another game, then back to the Colt game later on. That is because they were feeding an early game in HD on the east coast feed that had not yet concluded. Once that game was over, the switch was made.

Did we ever hear explanation for why MNF was SD last week? HD was working just fine last night on WPTA so it should be working tonight as well.

I hope that's not the case. Looking at their schedule on TitanTV, nothing on WPTA is being shown in HD.... that can't really be the case.
It can't. TitanTV is frequently wrong; they think 15's newscasts are in HD.

And we have MNF in HD! (Would WPTA really fumble, no pun intended, HD on a Colts game?)

What happened? Lost WPTA as soon as the game started!! Anybody else lose it?

What happened? Lost WPTA as soon as the game started!! Anybody else lose it?
Still coming in clear as a bell.

mxd,

Are you getting it over the air, by paying for digital cable, or by accidentally getting it because Comcast hasn't encrypted the HD channels yet. I usually watch the networks in HD via cable.... I just have the basic basic cable but HD channels are unencrypted so I usually get those as well. Sometimes they'll just disappear for no reason though. Last week all my HD cable channels went lights out right when Lost started. I ended up switching over to the antenna. That was a rarity. More often, I will lose the HD premiums (ESPNHD, INHD, INHD2, etc.), but the local HD stations are still accessible. However most of the time I have full access.

Last night I watched the game via cable and never lost it. There were a couple of spots where it got a little glitchy but it was only very brief. It would be interesting to know if you are watching under the same conditions because it would provide a little insight as to whether the HD outages are system wide or more isolated (house to house, possibly outlet to outlet).

21-2's gone back to radar in time for WPTA's new NewsCenter newscast (try saying that three times fast). I think they should have spent more time fixing it; when I flicked through, the radar had a green patch on the outer edge that went away with the next sweep. Their newsroom now has a bunch of plasma TVs; for weather; one shows radar, another shows Weather Plus. I smell burn-in. :p

Getting it OTA in the North Webster area. Have had no problems with it until Monday night, it finally did come in but not at the 90% that it usually does, and the OTA signal was a little glitchy as well.

Tonight WANE is showing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer in HD, digitally remastered. Great opportunity to introduce the kids to HD cartoons. Will be interesting to see how well they can re-master the classics.

Tonight WANE is showing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer in HD, digitally remastered. Great opportunity to introduce the kids to HD cartoons. Will be interesting to see how well they can re-master the classics.
The remaster's a work of freaking genius. Too bad WANE had to drop input signal while I was recording it. :mad:

Is anyone else unimpressed by "Indiana's News Center"?


Their lights are still bright enough to fry anyone in site, and the graphics are very unimpressive to me (come on..lame, shiny clip art basketballs as icons for sports?). I think WANE spanks this new format in graphics and presentation.


Maybe it's the graphic design nerd in me..

Is anyone else unimpressed by "Indiana's News Center"?


Their lights are still bright enough to fry anyone in site, and the graphics are very unimpressive to me (come on..lame, shiny clip art basketballs as icons for sports?). I think WANE spanks this new format in graphics and presentation.


Maybe it's the graphic design nerd in me..
Actually, bonzy, I was waiting for you to pass comment on the WPTA/WISE makeover. I was kinda disappointed by it. The graphics were underwhelming, not like WISE used to have. The chyron font was generic (they should have used the one they used to do "The Score" with; it looked kind of like Eurostile). If the camera adds 10 pounds, the lights (which were from 33) add 10 years. The music's nice, better than what they had.

That set needs more room length-wise (no pun intended). WPTA took one of WISE's desks (they had two; the smaller one was picked) which can only fit the anchors, so the meteorologists and sportscasters have to stand and they look uncomfortable doing it. If they needed room, they should have just established a dedicated newsroom instead of trying to lump everything into a studio with more vertical space than horizontal (though I've never seen a news set with a staircase before). You know they don't have room when the green screen faces the anchor desk (correct me if I'm wrong, that's just what it looked like in the teaser ad before the switch). Their news product better improve quickly, or WPTA/WISE is in deep excrement.

Hello everyone, Just join the Forum and have enjoyed the Reading. Thought I would jump in here and introduce myself. I live 5 miles South of Decatur and Bought myself a 42" Plasma (early Christmas present) Last month and now I am driving the Wife nuts with this HDTV stuff. I am using a Directv High Def Tivo Receiver with a high gain UHF Channel Master and Preamp on top of the Roof about 40 feet off the ground. Receiving all Fort Wayne Digital Stations including WFFT, although WFFT is the weakest and sometimes I am unable to received the station due to bad weather, like last night during the snow storm. Come spring the Antenna is going on the 60 Foot Tower. Maybe then I can pick up a Fox Station out of Dayton or Indianapolis with true HDTV Quality. Merry Christmas to Everyone and Happy HDTV'ing!

WANE-DT is temporarily off the air while we work on the transmission system. We expect to be back on the air sometime midday tomorrow (12/14/2005). When we sign back on the air, the antenna will be located at 770ft above ground and the output power will be increased.

WANE-DT is temporarily off the air while we work on the transmission system. We expect to be back on the air sometime midday tomorrow (12/14/2005). When we sign back on the air, the antenna will be located at 770ft above ground and the output power will be increased.

YEAH!!

WANE-DT is temporarily off the air while we work on the transmission system. We expect to be back on the air sometime midday tomorrow (12/14/2005). When we sign back on the air, the antenna will be located at 770ft above ground and the output power will be increased.
I figured that was why WANE-DT was off the air. Great news; are there going to be promo ads on WANE for this power increase? (I ask that because I remember ads for when the analog station was upgraded.)

Due to weather conditions, WANE-DT has been delayed in returning to air.

Thanks for the update Mark.

770 feet for new antenna height, remind me what the old height was again?

Is the strength being increased to the full permit power or is this a intermediate step?

I have always been able to receive WANE at a decent power level, occasional dropouts but not too bad. It will be very interesting to see the difference in reception with no changes on the reception end just the broadcast end. This is a great opportunity for all of us to learn how changes is antenna height and broadcast power effect our reception.

Let us know when you get the change completed.

Thanks again.

Jason

Checked tonight and it appears that the upgrade to the tower at WANE has been completed. I now get a signal strength about 15-20% higher than previously, not a huge improvement but never the less it gets it up in the range for me where signal dropouts will most likely be eliminated.

This upgrade makes WANE imo the leader for HD broadcasting in the FW area. This antenna upgrade along with the fact that WANE/CBS has the ability to broadcast 5.1 sound for recorded material pretty much is a great setup.

With this update here is my HD Christmas wish list.

1. WFFT in HD, probably at the top of everyone's list but at the bottom of WFFT's list.
2. 5.1 sound for WPTA, they have been showing a lot of great movies lately and 5.1 sound would really put them over the top.

Anyone else have an HD Christmas wish list?

Good news here in Huntington.

I'm finally getting WANE in HD, and it's even cloudy.

Previously, I only could get 15 in HD on the clearest night. My signal strength has gone from 40 to 60, and I'm not getting any dropout.

I'll have to check again during the day, just to make sure.

I'm hoping I don't have to climb up on a snowy roof to raise my antenna and realign.

Later today, we will be raising our power a little more as we fine tune the transmitter as part of this project. As I type this,at 9:10am, WANE-DT is currently off the air for a couple minutes for tube tuning and should be back on the air no later than 10am this morning. Saturday night at 10pm, we will shut down again to allow the transmitter manufacturer to run a couple final checks and preform a proof of the system. We should be back on the air by 2am Sunday morning. This should complete digital transmitter work for year.

This is a intermediate jump until the FCC approves the maximum power of 1000 kw.

Later today, we will be raising our power a little more as we fine tune the transmitter as part of this project. As I type this,at 9:10am, WANE-DT is currently off the air for a couple minutes for tube tuning and should be back on the air no later than 10am this morning. Saturday night at 10pm, we will shut down again to allow the transmitter manufacturer to run a couple final checks and preform a proof of the system. We should be back on the air by 2am Sunday morning. This should complete digital transmitter work for year.

This is a intermediate jump until the FCC approves the maximum power of 1000 kw.

Wow, Mark! Steady 80 on the signal strength meter, here north of Marion. Looks really good.

Thanks for the update.

Larry :)

Just checked my signal strength and it's now about 30% better than previously, a very significant increase.

Heres my new signal strength numbers.
WANE 92
WISE 93
WPTA 84

All plenty good to not get any dropouts regardless of weather conditions.

Thanks to WANE. Before the increase, I could not lock on the signal using a set-top antenna US 24 and I69. Now a 75 without even trying hard.

WANE's transmitter work is complete. We won't have to shut off at all Saturday night as we got ahead of schedule the last day or so.

Great.

Thanks again for the update.

Anyone else have an HD Christmas wish list?
I do!

1. HD from WFFT, f'sho. Has anybody caught an ad on FOX 55 in support of MULTICASTING? It had to do with must-carry on cable, but I couldn't help but be annoyed. Has WFFT started multicasting with nobody being able to notice because the power's so low? :p

2. The pulling of weather subchannels from WPTA and WISE. It baffles me that Indiana's News Center continues to push these subchannels when they can't even keep their radar online for more than a week and they don't even have local forecasts on Weather Plus when there is the ability to do so. (It's like watching The Weather Channel on satellite; only national forecasts, and Fort Wayne isn't even covered from what I've seen). WBFW should go on the Weather Plus subchannel at least.

3. A new TV station. Think about it: the old WISE facilities on State Street are mostly unused, so some risk-taking company ought to look into buying the building and the tower, get the affiliation to the WB or UPN, and go on the air. As long as HD is involved, I don't think the idea's that crazy...

The Local Weather Radar on 21-2 has finally been repaired and is back on the air.
The manufacturer has finally fixed all of the issues with it.

From the FAQ on WFFT's web site they state that HD will be started in 2007. The glass half full theory says it's only 1 year away, the glass half empty says it's 2 years away. It's a pretty vague date.

I'm sure it's the #1 most e-mailed question to them.

They'll get another good surge of e-mails beginning the first of the year with all the people getting their HD setups going from Christmas. Been that way the past few years at least.

My wife thinks I'm a dork because I care about HD. (she's reading this as I'm typing)

From the FAQ on WFFT's web site they state that HD will be started in 2007. The glass half full theory says it's only 1 year away, the glass half empty says it's 2 years away. It's a pretty vague date.

I'm sure it's the #1 most e-mailed question to them.

They'll get another good surge of e-mails beginning the first of the year with all the people getting their HD setups going from Christmas. Been that way the past few years at least.

My wife thinks I'm a dork because I care about HD. (she's reading this as I'm typing)
At least they're addressing the issue, but there IS a deadline for full power, and it's not 2007. (Maybe they got an extension?)

Question for the NFL regulars out there:

Anyone having difficulty with the audio on WANE during these games?

Question for the NFL regulars out there:

Anyone having difficulty with the audio on WANE during these games?

I have not notice any, what kind of problems are you having? Go Colts!

Btw
Heres my signal strength numbers on a Hgtv Tivo Receiver:

WANE 95
WISE 95
WPTA 95
WFWA 85
WFFT 30-40 with Signal Loss

Question for the NFL regulars out there:

Anyone having difficulty with the audio on WANE during these games?


I've had difficulty with the audio on WANE for well over a year, and spanning three different tuners. I'm not alone as ENGjas has reported similar problems in his setup. Here are links to my posts, in cronological order:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4330830#post4330830
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4364384#post4364384
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4529673#post4529673
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5573074&&#post5573074
(on that one, ENGjas's post is just below mine)
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5589047#post5589047

So, yes, I did have problems with the audio during those games, but it also continues for the entire week.

I've had difficulty with the audio on WANE for well over a year, and spanning three different tuners. I'm not alone as ENGjas has reported similar problems in his setup. Here are links to my posts, in cronological order:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4330830#post4330830
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4364384#post4364384
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4529673#post4529673
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5573074&&#post5573074
(on that one, ENGjas's post is just below mine)
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5589047#post5589047

So, yes, I did have problems with the audio during those games, but it also continues for the entire week.


Perhaps I needed to be more specific. Got a phone call saying that the crowd noise was completely drowning out the announcers last weekend during the Colts game. CBS is notorious for having the crowd noise louder than most (to provide in thier words a more realistic game expierence.) And this caller was watching on the HD side. I didn't notice it, and was curious if any of you had noticed it.

OryanDunn:
We've got one of your recievers in house and continue to test with it. And at times it is worse than clicks, it downright locks up and squeals on occassion. We've been in discussion with some folks on how to resolve it.

Let me clarify the receiver problem. We have in possession an LG LST-4200A . We do here the problems.... Unfortunately this seems to be a problem with the receiver (from what we can tell at the moment) not liking our MPEG stream. We have done some investigating and found this is a common problem with this receiver and a particular Samsung receiver thought the country. So, we have made some updates to software in our encoding and multiplexing system with no improvement on the 4200. This receiver was discontinued with LG. There may be a reason for that even though they won't admit to it. We do have the new LG with a DVD player and it works flawlessly.

I will personally keep investigating the problem with the 4200, but unfortunately, I am not getting anywhere fast. Let me know if there is another receiver experiencing this problem. I will take a look at those receivers as well (if I can get my hands on one). If it is an LG unit that is having a problem, it might have the same receiver/decoder as the 4200.

Hmm i wonder what the problem could be. Are other stations using the same equipment you are reporting problems with this receiver? Do you use any of the same equipment that say 21 or 33 uses? Also, are you aware of any firmware updates to the 4200 that might fix the problem?

I am fairly sure WANE is the only station in town using our type of equipment.

I have seen nothing mentioned about a firmware update for the 4200. By no means will I give up on this. After the first of the year, I will talk to the manufacturer again and see if they want to take our 4200 for testing.

Cool,

Thanks for letting me know your at least working on it. Its nice to know whats going on, for a while i thought i was me, even though I tested all the links in the chain, and nothing made a difference.

I didn't notice any problems with crowd noise drowning out announcers during last weekends game.

I listen on a 5.1 setup so the crowd noise is mostly directed towards the L and R front speakers as well at times quite a bit from the L and R surrounds. The announcers are dedicated strictly to the center channel. At times there are some very loud whistles that will come from the surround speakers and get your attention, but I didn't have any problems hearing the announcers.

If this person was listening through the speakers on their television is could be a problem of their ATSC tuner not decoding the 5.1 sound to stereo sound very well. This is my guess at the most likely problem. Not sure how to solve this other than asking Santa for a 5.1 setup for Christmas.

If they are listening through 5.1 sound then it could be that their speaker levels are not balanced properly. i.e. Most people tend to have the level of their surrounds turned way up to get "more surround effect" when in fact all they will get is too loud of crowd noise or other surround effects that are now overamplified.

I view the games OTA received with a Sony HD 300 if that helps any.

Anyone know the number to Wane 15 to tell them to flip the HD switch!? Colts game should be in HD now........

Anyone know the number to Wane 15 to tell them to flip the HD switch!? Colts game should be in HD now........

Tick Me off, I wanted to show the family my new HDTV - Why wasn't the Colts game in HDTV ? It was suppose to be! :mad:

"Tick Me off, I wanted to show the family my new HDTV - Why wasn't the Colts game in HDTV ? It was suppose to be!"

I emailed them, if I get an answer I'll post it.

Barring hardware problems for the Colts game, it amazes me how inept the locals can be when flipping the proverbial HD switch. The phone number for the local networks should be posted on this board for quick access. I'm able to get my HD from other sources but I tell my friends to call the networks when the game is not in HD and it's supposed to be. In the past the game goes HD about 30 seconds after the call if you can get through.

WANE is usually pretty good about getting things in HD that are supposed to be. But this was definitely messed up. Kinda stinks for all those with new HD sets looking to show off a little to the family.

"Tick Me off, I wanted to show the family my new HDTV - Why wasn't the Colts game in HDTV ? It was suppose to be!"

I emailed them, if I get an answer I'll post it.

FWIW, the first several minutes of that Colts game were not in HD from CBS because one of the early (1 p.m.) HD games (don't remember which one now) was still in progress. As soon as that game was finished, CBS began feeding the Colts @ Seahawks game via their HD facilities. WANE's sister station here in Indy, WISH, immediately switched to HD at that point. Sorry WANE didn't get it switched.

Steve

I figured the first part from previous such situations.Believe it was San Diego-KC and when that went final I was expecting the switch.Does that actually have to be done by hand by a present human?If so, probably the holiday had something to do with it.When weather forecasts have changed for the worse on a couple recet Christmas eves its been apparent that some stations have either no one present or no one present who can change what the weather notices say.

Something I've been meaning to ask for awhile and never got around to it. I've noticed that WANE's HD signal is somewhat pixelated. It's really only noticeable during football games and then it's pretty bad during high action sequences. This is not an issue with NFL Sunday Ticket's HD broadcasts and isn't an issue with MNF on WPTA. I would assume this is because WANE is carrying an additional sub-channel when compared to WPTA? Is there any way for them to get more bandwidth to the main channel during high action programming? I had a friend over to watch a game in HD and he asked me why the picture was so bad (and consequently why should he invest in HD if the picture isn't all it's cracked up to be....).

Something I've been meaning to ask for awhile and never got around to it. I've noticed that WANE's HD signal is somewhat pixelated. It's really only noticeable during football games and then it's pretty bad during high action sequences. This is not an issue with NFL Sunday Ticket's HD broadcasts and isn't an issue with MNF on WPTA. I would assume this is because WANE is carrying an additional sub-channel when compared to WPTA?
Yes, but two extra subchannels (UPN and the radar), and those look a lot worse in relation to WANE-HD. I think this calls for another shared services agreement: some company with money should start a real UPN station and have LIN run it from WANE; that gets rid of one subchannel and LIN still gets revenue. Yeah, too pie in the sky...

Also, take into consideration that WANE is 1080i and WPTA is 720p; 720p handles lower bitrates better.

I figured the first part from previous such situations.Believe it was San Diego-KC and when that went final I was expecting the switch.Does that actually have to be done by hand by a present human?If so, probably the holiday had something to do with it.When weather forecasts have changed for the worse on a couple recet Christmas eves its been apparent that some stations have either no one present or no one present who can change what the weather notices say.


Here is how the setup worked for the game last week and why it wasn't in HD:
Goldrich is correct when stating the East Coast HD game(s) were still in progress when the Colt game kicked off. However, CBS fed the game on its West Coast transponder in its entirety. The problem with the above scenario is this: CBS did not send that information out until Sunday morning.

John W. asked if human intervention is needed to "flip the switch." The answer is yes and no. For most Sundays, the game is fed on the regular East coast feed and the switch is automated via our control room in Indy. However, the CBS receiver is not yet able to be controlled remotely. Therefore, when there is a transponder change (like last weekend), we are in trouble because we cannot control the receiver remotely (like we can on the analog side).

It being a holiday weekend had little to do with it, because either way you slice it, we are unmanned at that time of the day during the early games. A phone call to WANE would get you to the newsroom, and the person there wouldn't really be able to help.

The problem really lies in the fact that the control room in Indy can't remotely control the receiver. That isn't Indy's fault or WANE's. It is a shortcoming in the system. CBS has assured us they are working on that issue, but it appears it isn't high on the priority list for them.

There must be some solution to the potential for this problem to arise so that this situation is avoided until CBS gets their act together.I mean, even to the point of someone assigned to monitor the channel and come in if its not being done right.Working at a manufacturing facility we have people on call 24/7/365 for problems that arise.From a professional standpoint a service provider such as a tv station should also.

Now, the more I think about this-these aren't CBS owned and operated stations so how is this a CBS problem?The owner should fork out the money to make this switching possible.If the owner is going to run WANE from Indy at times, take whatever is being saved in not manning WANE and buy whatever it takes to do it 100%.Unless there is some inside info about this I'm not aware of such as CBS being required for some reason to maintain this equipment.

Now, the more I think about this-these aren't CBS owned and operated stations so how is this a CBS problem?The owner should fork out the money to make this switching possible.If the owner is going to run WANE from Indy at times, take whatever is being saved in not manning WANE and buy whatever it takes to do it 100%.Unless there is some inside info about this I'm not aware of such as CBS being required for some reason to maintain this equipment.

John:

Nobody is hiding anything. It is well known on this board that Indy controls the signal to WANE at all times except for newscasts. There is no master control in FW.

How is it a CBS problem? The receiver was supplied by CBS. Meaning CBS needs to find a way to remotely control the receiver. Its not something WANE went out and bought. Anything CBS related is proprietary to CBS. I've got mounds of old analog equipment sitting in storage that can't be thrown away without prior approval from CBS to prove it. We'd by the equipment and have done the remote switching long ago if it was easy as "forking out the money."

Now in the past CBS had talked of sending out affiliates a secondary receiver, that way one could be on the east coast feed and the other on the west coast. But you'll find more often that not that at times CBS doesn't always stay on the primary transponders.

The cold hard fact is this: its not a priority for CBS right now. Think about it: how many stations are unmanned as far as master control goes? The number is small right now, but the trend is for more and more stations to be "clustered". As that happens, this issue will get bigger, and eventually it'll get taken care of.

And this isn't just a WANE issue: I know of a few other stations in the exact same boat with both the viewer and the engineering staff frustrated.

Thanks, jckrac.

And this isn't just a WANE issue: I know of a few other stations in the exact same boat with both the viewer and the engineering staff frustrated.
True indeed!
I can't wait for the day that DTV is the standard and most of the kinks get worked out of HD broadcasts...
Until then I'll keep on being a squeaky wheel beggin for some grease in hopes of improvement in all Ft Wayne TV
....that and hopes for a new owner at WFFT who will implement HD :eek:

hey we can all dream, can't we? :rolleyes:

OK, since people are finally starting to talk about it - Torino Olympics: HD on 33?

Anyone else having problems with WFWA and their channels?

I got my HD TV in August and 39 came in the strongest and best. I know they dropped their HD broadcast and reconfigured channels, but since then their signal strength has continued to fall to the point where I can't pull in even the analog signal on a consistent basis, let alone the digital channels.

I'm in Huntington and haven't touched the antenna since it was installed.

Any answers or am I the only one having trouble?

Anybody else lose 21-01 tonight?

Well, 21-01 is back.It did disappear from a couple Dish favorites lists I had it on and I had to re-edit those.Anyone else?Anyone know what happened?

I can't get a good signal from WFWA anymore either. 2 years ago it was the strongest signal I could get, nearly full strength. Most of the time it's not strong enough to even get a picture at others it's just as good as any of the other channels. They must be playing with their signal strength or something.

21-01 was my stongest signal at about 85% here in North Webster, now is is totally gone. Re scanned and still not there.

21-01 left me altogether sometime last night-21-02 remained.Wouldn't rescan.Then, showed back up on its own this morning.Maybe someone from there will update us?

Same here John W, showed up again this morning.

Where's the Colts game? Channel 15 is showing Cincinatti.

Don't the powers that be at channel 15 know what market we're in?

its on fox

Don't the powers that be at channel 15 know what market we're in?


When the teams are from two different conferences the rights go to the visiting team's conference broadcast network-Arizona, NFC, FOX, 55.

WFFT

The away team (Arizona) at home games (Colts) gets TV rights. FOX has NFC coverage so game is on WFFT. Too bad for those used to watching the Colts in HD almost every game this year. Have to watch in crummy OTA analog.

Oops didn't see that this was already posted.

Not only we have to watch in crummy OTA analog 55, but the color on 55 is really bad too.

The Colts game wasn't available in HD anyway so nobody really missed out on anything, thank goodness.

All playoff games will be available in HD too, even the games on ABC. Except those that are on FOX for us. Makes for some good HD football weekends.

I sent the following to the GM at WFFT nearly a year ago before Superbowl XXXIX:

====================================================
The biggest sporting event of the year and WFFT-55 doesn’t broadcast it in Hi-Def. Considering Comcast has installed their 1 millionth HD box, I think this HD thing might just be a reality and here to stay.

Curious when does 55 plan to make the switch?
====================================================

and here was his response:

====================================================
Believe me, we are frustrated as well. However, we are a company of 46 television stations, all in small to mid-size markets, & it is very expensive to convert to HDTV in each market. There are also a limited number of people who can do the conversion, and since virtually every TV station outside of the very largest markets needs their expertise, there is great demand for their services. Our company has decided to start with the larger markets first, because they have the most people affected, and work down from there. We are in the top 1/3 size-wise, so my best guess (and believe me, it is only a guess) is that sometime toward the end of next year is when we would convert. Please don't hold us to that timetable, though. Believe me, I am as anxious, if not more so, than you to have this conversion take place...and soon.

Thanks for writing.

Cordially,

Bob Blacher
Vice-President/General Manager
WFFT-TV/FOX 55
(260) 471-5555
===================================================

Now that I see on their website a lame 2007 date - is it January or December 31st, Bob?, I dove in a little deeper.

WFFT's parent company is Nexstar Broadcasting. Their web site - nexstar.tv (I can't post urls yet) contains a list of the stations they own. I just sent out e-mails to some of their smaller markets inquring about when they are making the switch to HD. Maybe if others can do the same we can post the results and if we get some smaller markets that are switching before us.....sounds like a bus ride to the FCC!!

Nexstar stinks. It stinks to high heaven. If you like TV and live in a Nexstar market, heaven help you...they barely spend enough money to feed the hamsters keeping the analog transmitter running!

.....sounds like a bus ride to the FCC!!Why? The FCC is pushing for conversion to digital, not HD. As soon as they have a simulcast of whatever they are doing in analog on the air in digital the station is done (as far as the FCC cares).

JL

Now that I see on their website a lame 2007 date - is it January or December 31st, Bob?, I dove in a little deeper.

WFFT's parent company is Nexstar Broadcasting. Their web site - nexstar.tv (I can't post urls yet) contains a list of the stations they own. I just sent out e-mails to some of their smaller markets inquring about when they are making the switch to HD. Maybe if others can do the same we can post the results and if we get some smaller markets that are switching before us

Nice to have another person on the 'no to low power' bandwagon Alan!
In case you hadn't seen it already here is some more info from earlier posts in this forum regarding WFFT and Nexstar:
Clicky Here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4927397&highlight=nexstar#post4927397)

I figure we have 3 options...
1) Hope some other HD friendly company buys out WFFT from Nexstar
2) Do nothing and suffer with a horrible picture (if you can even get one)
3) Or be the squeaky wheel and hope we get the grease

So keep up the noise and who knows....we can always hope!

There is another option if you live outside of Fort Wayne, you may be able to receive FOX WSJV 28.1 out of South Bend/Elkhart but you will most likely need a pretty decent tower or mast with a good pre-amp/amp and antenna. :)

WFFT's analog reception is getting even worse. I heard they are having more tower problems there. (Probably lost the tinfoil).

While I'm happy to get a strong HD signal from WANE now, I really missed watching my Bears in HD.

We have DirecTV and their digital signal is pretty good. We added the locals, so at least I get a decent picture from WFFT that way.

I concure that WFFT analog is bad. The color saturation seems like it is turned way to high while the contrast (white level) is to low and the brightness (black level) is to high. Even on our cable signal, wfft is full of snow and grain, even when the neighboring channels are crystal clear. With that said, I get a cleaner picture from WFFT from my antenna than I do through our cable signal. It is free from snow and grain, but the color and black/white level problems remain.

Just checked to see what WFFT would look like. Mine is terrible, I can even hear static in the sound right now. Picture doesn't look a whole lot worse than normal but thats not saying much.

OTA reception, no amp on antenna.

Well, last week while watching NCIS I did not notice any of the short audio dropouts or clicks; the whole hour had great sound. This week, however, the first 15 minutes or so were perfectly fine (usually, the opening musical interlude is peppered with clicks). After those first few minutes, the audio seemed to go south in a hurry. There were constant audio losses where I have to change channels then back to regain audio. Other times it would just start this loud screeching sound and throughout the rest of the relatively normal audio, there were many notable clicks and pops. Were the engineers at WANE testing anything tonight (doubtful)? If not, I don't know why it seems to work great at times, then horrible at others. If it is a problem with how the LG box decodes the MPEG audio stream, I would hope that LG would support the owners of its equipment with a firmware upgrade; otherwise, it may be the last LG product I buy (which would be a shame since their products are otherwise quite good).

I just noticed that the PSIP of 21 is no longer up. Is this a sign that they are working the PSIP for 21, and possibly 33?

I just sent an e-mail to Kevin Martin, chairman of the FCC. Figured if the past chairman can get all exicted about Janet Jackson, maybe the new guy can help us out. Essentially I asked if cable or satellite companies could carry a digital signal from another Fox affiliate until the local affiliate gets its act together.

Even though it sucks, WFFT has the rights to broadcast the material of FOX in our area, as well as have distribution on cable and satalite networks. Since the digital or HD versions are essentially prettier versions of the exact same programing, the rights of WFFT will prevail. We have enough trouble getting our cable systems to carry the digital counterparts of local digital signals, eg. Mediacom in Auburn still doesn't carry WISE-HD. Or any of the new PBS subchannels.

Does anyone else notice how the picture of WFFT is off-center (at least on Comcast..)? Watch for centered text at the end of certain commercials, especially.

It'll bug the crap out of you from the first time you notice it.



Pitiful.

Probably wasn't a problem OTA, but on DTV tonight there was ZERO sound for 24 on WFFT.

There is some crazy tropo going on right now (11pm).

I got
2-1 (UHF 43) Digital Fox from St. Louis (WTVI-DT) (1MW @ 1106ft)
5-1 (UHF 35) Digital NBC from St. Louis (KSDK-DT) (833kW @ 1112ft)
5-2 NBC Weather Plus
6-1 (UHF 25) Digital ABC from Indy (WRTV-DT) (898kW @ 965ft)
6-2 Some news channel (NC64)

As well as many, many different analog stations from who knows where.

All the while, the only FTWayne stations i get are 21 digital. most of the analogs are pretty bad, and have really bad interference.

And with all this crazy tropo, still can't get fox out of fort wayne, but can get fox from 350+ miles out.

Edit (11:20pm):
It's died off a bit, but now I'm able to pull in:
23-1 (UHF 32) Digital UPN from Marion (WNDY-DT) (1MW @ 889ft)

This is all from my CM 4228 with CM7775 preamp on a poll 10ft off my roof (approx 25ft haat) pointed at roughly 230 degrees. If I had a rotor, I would definitly like to see what I could pull in from Chicago, Toledo, Cincinnati, etc.

Edit (11:30 pm):
New stations
11-1 (UHF 17) Digital CBS from Toledo (WTOL-DT) (735kW @ 863ft)
and this station is from the back of my antenna.

Edit (12:20 pm):
7-1 (UHF 41) Digital ABC from Detroit (WXYZ-DT) (770kW @ 938ft)

There is some crazy tropo going on right now (11pm).

I got
2-1 (UHF 43) Digital Fox from St. Louis (WTVI-DT) (1MW @ 1106ft)
5-1 (UHF 35) Digital NBC from St. Louis (KSDK-DT) (833kW @ 1112ft)
5-2 NBC Weather Plus
6-1 (UHF 25) Digital ABC from Indy (WRTV-DT) (898kW @ 965ft)
6-2 Some news channel (NC64)

As well as many, many different analog stations from who knows where. All the while, the only FTWayne stations i get are 21 digital. most of the analogs are pretty bad, and have really bad interference.

And with all this crazy tropo, still can't get fox out of fort wayne, but can get fox from 350+ miles out.

Edit (11:20pm):
It's died off a bit, but now I'm able to pull in:
23-1 (UHF 32) Digital UPN from Marion (1MW @ 889ft)

Ryan, yes, this has been a crazy evening for tropo in the Midwest. Here in Indy this evening, I've watched WSBT-DT, South Bend; WTVG-DT 19, Toledo; several from Dayton and Cincinnati, and virtually all of them from Louisville. Several minutes ago I too had KTVI-DT 43, St. Louis locked in and watching Seinfeld. Fun to look around.

Steve

Ryan, yes, this has been a crazy evening for tropo in the Midwest. Here in Indy this evening, I've watched WSBT-DT, South Bend; WTVG-DT 19, Toledo; several from Dayton and Cincinnati, and virtually all of them from Louisville. Several minutes ago I too had KTVI-DT 43, St. Louis locked in and watching Seinfeld. Fun to look around.

Steve

If only I'd have know a little in advance, I might have been able to watch 24 in HD from a distance FOX station (eg. KTVI) instead of off WFFT which even over cable was almost completely unwatchable in analog; it had tons of snow with the dark scenes just mush.

Interesting bit, Letterman made a joke about Fort Wayne tonight.

Interesting bit, Letterman made a joke about Fort Wayne tonight.

yeah, my ears perked up when I heard that...too bad the joke died so horribly...although I thought it was pretty funny just for that reason.

Last Sunday and Monday night were a dream come true since I was able to watch 24 in HD from WSJV! But last night it was not even close to coming in for me so it was back to the analog on the old trusty 27" TV. Oh well, I'll just keep hoping for perfect weather every Monday night until I can afford a tower or WFFT starts to care <sound of crickets followed by hearty laughter>

Any reasons for the weird tropo last night?
I'm pretty new to all of this OTA stuff, is it mainly atmospheric conditions or do other factors affect it?

Yeah, its tropospheric ducting that causes distant signals to bounce back down to earth, making them travel far longer than normally possible.

Here is a site that describes it more:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/booty.weather/metinfo/ducting/ducting.html

And I came across this tropo forcast site:
http://home.cogeco.ca/~dxinfo/tropo.html
This has weather maps forcasting how strong the tropo will be. I'll keep an eye on it on monday nights.

Yeah, its tropospheric ducting that causes distant signals to bounce back down to earth, making them travel far longer than normally possible.

Here is a site that describes it more:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/booty.weather/metinfo/ducting/ducting.html

And I came across this tropo forcast site:
http://home.cogeco.ca/~dxinfo/tropo.html
This has weather maps forcasting how strong the tropo will be. I'll keep an eye on it on monday nights.

Yes,you need a rotor to get in on this action!

Had an unid analog on 45 last nite around 11:00,3abn network.Can't find anything on it.Ideas anyone? Could have been lower/mid Michigan too.

Well, last week while watching NCIS I did not notice any of the short audio dropouts or clicks; the whole hour had great sound. This week, however, the first 15 minutes or so were perfectly fine (usually, the opening musical interlude is peppered with clicks). After those first few minutes, the audio seemed to go south in a hurry. There were constant audio losses where I have to change channels then back to regain audio. Other times it would just start this loud screeching sound and throughout the rest of the relatively normal audio, there were many notable clicks and pops. Were the engineers at WANE testing anything tonight (doubtful)? If not, I don't know why it seems to work great at times, then horrible at others. If it is a problem with how the LG box decodes the MPEG audio stream, I would hope that LG would support the owners of its equipment with a firmware upgrade; otherwise, it may be the last LG product I buy (which would be a shame since their products are otherwise quite good).


oryan,

that must be the LG reciever that you are using. I keep seeing you post about the clicks and such but I never have them. I am using the same antenna setup as you, but I am using a RCA DTC100 reciever and never have problems like you describe accept when the signal is weak.

I have noticed that Fort wayne stations have a lot lower signal than the south bend stations, but I think that is due to south bend having towers with more power than fort wayne does.

diehard

Yeah, the guys at WANE have narrowed it down to an incompatability between my specific model of receiver and their equipment. They've said that they are still working on a solution, so I'll just hang tight for a while. What's really strange is that sometimes it works perfectly fine on WANE and others it is all messed up. It would make more sense to me if it was either messed up or fine all the time.

I'm guessing you guys have heard about the WB-UPN merger. I wonder how it's going to affect Fort Wayne, since only UPN is available via OTA (15-2).

I am considering changing from Comcast to DirectTV because of the lower cost, but first I want to make sure I can get network programming in HD with DirectTV like I do on Comcast.

DirectTV's website is confusing regarding the issue. The link to local programming in their HD section goes to the same page as the general local station availability link. It says local stations are available in Fort Wayne but doesn't say whether they are shown in HD.

Does someone know?

Currently DirecTv does not offer Ft. Wayne locals in HD.

I can pick up all of the Ft Wayne stations digital channels here in Huntington, except of course for WFFT. So I would think you would be able to also since your in Ft Wayne. Assuming you have a built in digital decoder, and not just the one from the cable HD box.

Currently DirecTv does not offer Ft. Wayne locals in HD.

I can pick up all of the Ft Wayne stations digital channels here in Huntington, except of course for WFFT. So I would think you would be able to also since your in Ft Wayne. Assuming you have a built in digital decoder, and not just the one from the cable HD box.

Thanks for the info regarding DirectTV locals not being in HD. When you say you can pick up the digital channels, do you mean off the air? If so, my TV doesn't have a built-in tuner.

Yes, I am referring to over the air broadcasts. If you were to go with DirecTv the HD receiver most likely would also have a built in over the air tuner... My HDTivo has one & I am fairly sure the new H20 receiver has it also.

So if you were willing to get an antenna, you could get DirecTv and hook the antenna into the DirecTv receiver.

I am considering changing from Comcast to DirectTV because of the lower cost, but first I want to make sure I can get network programming in HD with DirectTV like I do on Comcast.

DirectTV's website is confusing regarding the issue. The link to local programming in their HD section goes to the same page as the general local station availability link. It says local stations are available in Fort Wayne but doesn't say whether they are shown in HD.

Does someone know?
No HD for Fort Wayne -- not for most markets until DirecTV really gets the MPEG-4 birds going. IMO, Fort Wayne area subscribers deserve the right to receive the FOX HD feed from NY, but I haven't heard any reports of people getting waivers from WFFT.

No HD for Fort Wayne -- not for most markets until DirecTV really gets the MPEG-4 birds going. IMO, Fort Wayne area subscribers deserve the right to receive the FOX HD feed from NY, but I haven't heard any reports of people getting waivers from WFFT.
That's coming soon than most people think...at least as far as HD rebroadcast from DTV is concerned.

Not in HD through Directv signal. They hook up an OTA antenna and use their box to receive it.

Being you're in Ft. Wayne you should be able to pick up all the channels with a set top box antenna. You most likely won't need one on the roof of your house.

Could someone please PM me the channel number for CBS_HD for Comcast from a QAM tunner.

Ben

Just an FYI- It appears Comcast has added the UniversalHD on channel 208. I just noticed it and thought I'd make you all aware. Hope it is long-term and not just for the additional Olympic coverage.

My question to WPTA-TV.

During this week's broadcast of "Lost", there was a crawler stating that next week's broadcast will shown on 21.2 at the normal time and re-broadcast at 2:00 AM due to a Indiana University basketball game. Is 21.2 going to carry the high-def broadcast? I know that it normally shows the weather radar in 480i.


Their response.

Unfortunately, Lost will not be HD on 21.2 or at 2:00am

unless the indiana game is going to be in hd, why don't they put lost on 21.1 and the indiana game on 21.2?

unless the indiana game is going to be in hd, why don't they put lost on 21.1 and the indiana game on 21.2?

They probably don't have the ability to keep the signals separate from what comcast/analog OTA is broadcasting. The master feed then needs to be the basketball game.

Anyone else having problems picking up 33 digital-at this worst possible time?Something has been wrong here for about a week.

Finally, some HD Olympics on 33!

EDIT: I wonder how long it'll be until local advertisers find out their spots sometimes aren't getting shown on WISE-DT because the HD feed is often left on during the commercials. On the other hand, this is the closest some people will get to having a clean network feed...

They probably don't have the ability to keep the signals separate from what comcast/analog OTA is broadcasting. The master feed then needs to be the basketball game.

I obviously don't know how WPTA works, but during the NCAA tournament last year, WANE was able to show different basketball games on their analog and HD stations.

I see no reason why they can't show Lost on their HD channel and the game on analog.

I emailed WPTA early in the week asking about their plans for Lost next week and they never responded back to me. I was willing to accept the compromise of them broadcasting it on their subchannel and again on the main channel in the middle of the night, but for neither of those broadcasts to be in HD is unacceptable! I hate IU basketball even more now than I did before....

I emailed WPTA early in the week asking about their plans for Lost next week and they never responded back to me. I was willing to accept the compromise of them broadcasting it on their subchannel and again on the main channel in the middle of the night, but for neither of those broadcasts to be in HD is unacceptable! I hate IU basketball even more now than I did before....
Doesn't 33 normally do IU? Unless 21's getting the game from a different source (rather than ESPN like 33), it's really pointless, unless they're trying to make it look like they don't just dump shows on 33 (like Night Shift, Frasier, and the last Hoosier Millionaire).

Both stations need to stop fading into the program from local promos; it really screws up 33's switcher and it's not uncommon to see the program come back from break when a character's in mid-sentence (i.e. almost every ABC sitcom). WANE rarely ever has this problem since they do hard cuts.

33 normally does IU but because of the Olympics I guess the powers that be felt that rather than upset the Olympic watching crowd they would screw the Lost crowd. Does IU really score that well in the local ratings??

BTW - What's with all the glitches on 33 tonight? My signal is pegged at 90 but there are all sorts of dropouts and freezes. Grrrr!

33 normally does IU but because of the Olympics I guess the powers that be felt that rather than upset the Olympic watching crowd they would screw the Lost crowd.
Oh yes, the Olympics. Maaaan, I do not think...

Looking at other threads it appears the dropouts are nationwide. Probably due to heavy weather on the east coast. I guess it's comforting to know that it's not WISE that's dropping the ball here.

Does anyone know how much bandwidth 33.2 sucks up? I've noticed a lot of blocking during the Olympic broadcasts. They need to get as much bandwidth on their main channel as possible!

Looking at other threads it appears the dropouts are nationwide. Probably due to heavy weather on the east coast. I guess it's comforting to know that it's not WISE that's dropping the ball here.

The 33-01 signal is not in hd at 10:50 PM.

Yeah, it looks like we followed the lead of other affilliates nationwide and switched over to SD to avoid the video dropouts.

Yeah, it looks like we followed the lead of other affilliates nationwide and switched over to SD to avoid the video dropouts.

Now, saw the dropouts on analog 33 as well (via Dish Network).So, how does switching hd off help?

I haven't seen any dropouts since they switched to SD. I'm watching OTA.

I haven't seen any dropouts since they switched to SD. I'm watching OTA.

Me either.I'm just saying they also had them on 33 SD before, so I'm trying to understnd how going to sd on both helped.

Me either.I'm just saying they also had them on 33 SD before, so I'm trying to understnd how going to sd on both helped.

Ok, I think I get it.They were taking the hd NBC feed and putting it on both and switched to take the sd feed because it was holding better.There are indications in other posts that NBC's hd feed is on a sat. more likely to be affected by weather than others.

This post in the Indy thread describes whats going on:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7115203&&#post7115203

After WPTA's response, I asked the following:

Since the game will not be in HD, why isn't it shown on 21.2 and let the
regularly scheduled HD programming (like "Lost") be shown on 21.1?


They responded:

We are not able to provide coverage in this manor due to contract
restrictions with the Big 10.

Thank you,

Bret Angel
Engineering Manager Fort Wayne Operations

After WPTA's response, I asked the following:

Since the game will not be in HD, why isn't it shown on 21.2 and let the
regularly scheduled HD programming (like "Lost") be shown on 21.1?

They responded:

We are not able to provide coverage in this manor due to contract
restrictions with the Big 10.


boooo! So I'm still confused... will the 2am rebroadcast of LOST be on 21.1 and in HD?

WPTA Will now be airing Lost on 21.1 in HD along with all the ABC HD Programming.

IU will air only on the analog signal.

WPTA Will now be airing Lost on 21.1 in HD along with all the ABC HD Programming.

IU will air only on the analog signal.
This was mentioned on the news... and they got it right! "In full high definition," no less!

well fortunately, I think Lost is a re-run this week but it looks like it's going to be interrupted again. I recently sent a Thank You to WPTA for showing Lost in HD last week during the game and here is what I received back:

Thank you for your kind words about Lost in HD, but let me also prepare you for this week. Due to the possibility of an Indiana Basketball, Lost may not be in HD. If Basketball runs past 9PM, Lost will be seen in it’s entirety in Standard definition after the game, since you will be watching a “delayed” broadcast.

If the game ends on time, Lost will be shown in HD.

Thanks again.
Jerry L. Giesler
Executive Vice President
Fort Wayne Operations

Did they sell the delay server already?

Did they sell the delay server already?

Yeah, no kidding!

Did they sell the delay server already?
Maybe so -- they needed money from SOMEWHERE to pull off this "Indiana's News Center" scheme...

EDIT: Wait, anybody know/remember how much it cost?

The delay server is alive and well. WPTA will be airing Lost in HD again this Wednesday. The plan is to air it after the IU game in its entirety.

For the past couple months Comcast had an HD channel 208. Whenever I checked it, it was showing old movies in HD. Now it is gone and is not on the channel guide. I called Comcast and the CSR said they never had a channel 208.

Anyone know what happened?

For the past couple months Comcast had an HD channel 208. Whenever I checked it, it was showing old movies in HD. Now it is gone and is not on the channel guide. I called Comcast and the CSR said they never had a channel 208.

Anyone know what happened?

It is normally HD Special events channel, for the past two weeks it was UHD. I would assume it will go back to the special events channel.

It is normally HD Special events channel, for the past two weeks it was UHD. I would assume it will go back to the special events channel.

Thanks. I hope your assumption is right that it will go back to the special events channel. At the moment ,it has disappeared completely.

What's up with WISE? It seems that they haven't been HD during late night for the past few nights. I haven't been watching during prime time to know if its SD then as well.

WISE is currently in the process of some equipment changes. HD should be back by the end of the week.

Lost HD last night. Maybe its the rain... I live about 6 miles from the towers and I have been getting the digital signal at 60 to 70 on my meter, tonight however it was 5 to 10.

With any luck it will be back tommorrow. Maybe some day it will be true HD. LOL

Anyone else having issues with Wane-HD on Comcast channel 233? The last 2 weeks CSI and Survivor have had unbearably choppy audio and video. "The Office" on 232 appears fine during the same time frame.

WISE is currently in the process of some equipment changes. HD should be back by the end of the week.

How about sound?

This pisses me off. No Conan in Finland...instead it's Deal or No Neal... sorry, but WTF?


I have been so unimpressed with 21/33 since the merger.

Yeah, no kidding. But it looks like they might have got PSIP working. Now they just need to get a steady HD (don't forget to flip the switch) and get 5.1 (dreams).

WISE HD is now setup the same as WPTA, so that no manual switch is required for HD.

WANE-HD will again be showing the games over the next two weeks in HD. If the game that CBS assigns to the analog is not available in HD, we will switch the HD channel to a game that is available in HD.

Keep in mind, if the game we are assigned for analog is in HD, we are required to air that game in HD as well as the analog.

Anyone else having issues with Wane-HD on Comcast channel 233? The last 2 weeks CSI and Survivor have had unbearably choppy audio and video. "The Office" on 232 appears fine during the same time frame.
WANE-HD on 233 and WPTA-HD 231 are by far the worst HD channels on Comcast. Getting a clear signal on these channels is completely hit or miss. I do not know how Comcast receives their signal, but I have had their HD service for going on 5 months now and it has always been this way.

The only thing that I can guess is that Comcast Fort Wayne needs to install a better antenna for their digital signals. It is not an HD specific problem either, SD comes in just as poorly.

WANE has put out its NCAA schedule for the first two days. They will show four games each day on analog 15, and four others on 15-DT:


My question is, we don't get to see IU in high def, but we get to see Duke and Southern in high def? Can't they show IU also in high def? This is exactly why I bought the damn TV in the first place.

Thursday, March 16
WANE-TV
12:25 Oklahoma vs. Wisconsin-Milwaukee
2:40 Marquette vs. Alabama
7:25 Illinois vs. Air Force
9:40 Indiana vs. San Diego St.

WANE-DT 15.1
12:20 Wichita St. vs. Seton Hall
2:40 Tennessee vs. Winthrop
7:10 George Washington vs. UNC-Wilmington
9:30 Duke vs. Southern

Friday, March 17
WANE-TV
12:15 Ohio St. vs. Davidson
2:45 West Virginia vs. Southern Illinois
7:10 Michigan St. vs. George Mason
9:45 Kentucky vs. UAB

WANE-DT 15.1
12:25 Iowa vs. Northwestern St.
2:45 West Virginia vs. Southern Illinois
7:10 Pittsburgh vs. Kent St.
9:30 Kansas vs. Bradley

We'd love to show the Hoosiers in high def. However, the venue they play at isn't one in which CBS is providing high def. coverage of. Otherwise, it'd probably be a safe bet IU would be in HD.

Thanks for the clarification.

I know you guys don't have too much control sometimes when it comes to these things and get a lot of the blame. But the info is appreciated, and I'll let people know what the situation is if they get cranky.

Last night IU was on 15.1 as opposed to the hd telecast of Duke-Southern.Why?

BULLETIN...............A TV DXer in Arkansas just reported that KARK-DT (NBC), Little Rock has gone full power AND is passing HD! This station is owned by.........<drum roll, please> ................Nexstar..... Hopefully a positive note for the future of WFFT-DT.

Steve

I've been struggling with an antenna problem for a few months now and I'm hoping someone here can provide some insight. This is gonna be long, but I want you all to know the details to make it easier to help hopefully.

I first got into the HD game about 15 months ago with the purchase of an HD tuner and a Zenith Silver Sensor for my computer. With that set-up I pulled in WANE, WISE, WPTA, and WFWA pretty consistently (WFFT of course was nowhere to be found). Of those 4, WANE was always my best signal at around 90 while the other three were typically around 80.

Last fall I switched from Comcast to DirecTV and got an HDTivo to go along with it. The guy originally told me I wouldn't be able to record local channels on it unless I got the locals via satellite, so I got the second dish installed. All was good, except on Sundays when watching the NFL. I got Sunday Ticket so I could switch around to multiple games, but if I wanted to switch over to whatever game was being showed on WANE in HD I'd have to switch input sources. What a pain!

Well, a few months ago I learned that I actually could connect an antenna to the HDTivo. Not only could I get AND record locals on the HDTivo, I could get and record them in HD. So I was a little upset that the satellite guy led me astray. Regardless, I took the silver sensor off my computer (which is upstairs) and took it down and set it on top of my entertainment center, hooked it up the Tivo and I was in business.

Here's where things are getting frustrating. I can't seem to position the antenna to get WANE consistently. When I finally get it tuned I get it at a signal of 80-85. In this position, I'm getting WPTA at 92, WISE at 88-90, WFWA at 80-83. I'm even getting WFFT at a solid and watchable 60-63!! But that rarely lasts more than a week before WANE's signal goes back into flux and becomes unwatchable. All the others are still pegged on their normal ranges.

Another interesting note is that when it rains or is windy, I don't get any of those stations to come in. All their signals are fluctuating so violently that the picture is pixelates, stutters, stops, etc. I didn't know weather could have that type of effect on an OTA signal....

So here's my main question.... Is there something weird going on at WANE that cause their signal to fluctuate? WISE is coming in solid and their antenna is right next door to WANE's. I was originally thinking that maybe WANE isn't broadcasting at a high enough power, but I'm pulling in WFFT for crying out loud! :) Maybe if WISE is much more powerful than WANE there could be an issue, because at the angle I am from them they are almost practically in line, although WANE is slightly closer to me. (I live towards the back of a subdivision on the north side of Illinois Rd. between Hadley and Scott.)

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated! FWIW, here's my antennaweb data:

WPTA-DT 21.1 73° 3.9 miles
WISE-DT 33.1 82° 4.2 miles
WFFT-DT 55.1 62° 3.7 miles
WFWA-DT39.1 69° 3.7 miles
WANE-DT15.1 82° 4.0 miles

Is there any chance of putting up an outside antenna ? I live 5 miles South of Decatur and am able to receive all 5 stations. WFFT-DT 55.1 does drop out occasionally.

That's my plan this summer, although I'll admit I've been secretly hoping it wouldn't come to that. It'll be somewhat of a hassle but I can't live with my picture going out everytime the wind blows either!

What's the best recommendation for outdoor antenna in this area? I assume it doesn't have to be anything huge, but I also want to make sure that I still get a good signal even in rain and wind.

You might not have to put your antenna on a mast. I live on average 8 miles east south east of the towers. I use a Radio Shack VU-90XR antenna in the attic on the north side of my house. At night I can see the lights from the towers so I don't have obstructions. Used RG6 cable and the signal is split once. No amp or booster. I can get all stations all the time.

I had planned on mounting something to my chimney. There is a small wooded area right behind my neighbor's property that is directly between me and the towers so I can't see the them unless I get way up above the roofline... Is that going to be a problem?

I had planned on mounting something to my chimney. There is a small wooded area right behind my neighbor's property that is directly between me and the towers so I can't see the them unless I get way up above the roofline... Is that going to be a problem?

Mounting a mast and antenna to a chimney is relatively simple using a chimney mount kit similar to this chimney mount (http://www.summitsource.com/philips-magnavox-m61411-complete-outdoor-offair-local-signal-tv-antenna-chimney-mounting-hardware-kit-galvanized-straps-support-brackets-part-m61411-p-5183.html). Be sure to wear a thick pair of work gloves as the edges on the metal straps tend to be sharp. I used this same kit when mounting my Channel Master 4221 (rated to 45 miles). All of the items can be picked up at a local antenna shop or online. Be sure to use good RG-6 cable.

Good Luck!!

I've noticed that the late late night (early morning) Leno and Conan are not in HD anymore. Is this just a setting on your new equipment, or is NBC not passing them in HD anymore?

The last few days, stellar reception of everything out of Fort Wayne except WANE.Perfect timing.

Is it locking for you today John?

Is it locking for you today John?

Eventually it did.Much better today.

Is anyone picking up the fox channel or any other chanels out of south bend from fort wayne if so what is your setup i cannot wait for wfft to sit on their thumbs. I want the hd now.

Lots of people are. Read back a few pages and you'll see some discussion on different setups. You basically need a good quality antenna mounted on roof with amp.

Let's see, no digital signal decent enough to reach the boonies + no signal on DIRECTV tonight = VERY @#^@# ANGRY CUSTOMER!!!!

Must be something wrong with your setup, Im in huntington also & receiving DirecTV fine, as well as all Ft Wayne digital - Fox of course. Nothing different then any other night here.

Let's see, no digital signal decent enough to reach the boonies + no signal on DIRECTV tonight = VERY @#^@# ANGRY CUSTOMER!!!!
Analog is out in the 'Loo. WSJV, thankfully, isn't.

EDIT: Nevermind, it's back up. Not like I'm gonna watch it or anything...

Must be something wrong with your setup, Im in huntington also & receiving DirecTV fine, as well as all Ft Wayne digital - Fox of course. Nothing different then any other night here.

So you are watching 24 on the DIRECTV signal right at this moment?

/Antenna won't pick up 24

Recieving 24.1 over antenna at 90-95% on the HD Tivo. I dont subscribe to locals via directv.

My mistake if I misread your first post, with your stating no digital recption for ft wayne, i believed you to mean OTA.

Analog OTA 55 was out until 9:30 or so, as was wfft over our cable here in auburn.

Sounds like the OTA transmitter was on the blink, which affected DIRECTV since that's where they get their signal.

Note from one of the producers at the station on another board...

Here's the deal.

Our transmitter has issues so If you are receiving FOX via off the air, or DirectTV or DISH, you had drop outs last night.

Cable is and will be fine. They have a fiber optic feed.

We are currently on low power and will be for a couple days until the issue is fixed.

We are currently petitioning FOX to allow a rebroadcast of 24 and Prison Break. Possibly Sunday, but we will know more soon about that.

I will let you guys know when I am sure.

What board is that from? Its interesting they are posting elsewhere, but not here. Maybe because they do not know about this board?

The cable in Auburn was out because our cable gets its feed from an antenna, not a fiber link (which really stinks since wfft is usually one of the worst quality pictures on our cable system).

What board is that from? Its interesting they are posting elsewhere, but not here. Maybe because they do not know about this board?

The cable in Auburn was out because our cable gets its feed from an antenna, not a fiber link (which really stinks since wfft is usually one of the worst quality pictures on our cable system).

We all know why they aren't on this board.

What board is that from? Its interesting they are posting elsewhere, but not here. Maybe because they do not know about this board?

It's another board and it was from a "known employee" of the station. I'm hesitant to post where since I don't want him deluged with requests since

a). He has no control of the station.
b). He feels our pain.

I'm not going to deluge him, I send letters to the head of Nexstar. I was merly curious as to where, for other future updates, inside info. I would like to think those here on AVS would understand if he were to post here, even if he doesn't have control, but to keep us updated.

Regarding WFFT, anyone that is not satisfied with them, should send a letter to Nexstar. I typed up a letter and sent it snail mail to them. I got a call back from the GM of WFFT. The more intrest generated from this area can only be a good thing when Nexstar evaluates teh stations that get an HD upgrade.

I dont know why you feel you cant tell us about the other board. I thought we were all in this together.

ahh, an explanation of why my replaytv didn't record prison break last week...i had to download a crappy torrent of it...blah! on another note, is prison break's audio off from the video? maybe it's just my old age of 24...but it drives me crazy 0_0

I dont know why you feel you cant tell us about the other board. I thought we were all in this together.

Because it's a non-television related board. And he has no control and feels our pain.

I'm not trying to hold back info, but there's no reason to harass him about how crappy of a job his employer is doing.

Granite now has the affiliations for both the CW and My Network TV, which respectively will go on the digital channels of WPTA and WISE when the WB and UPN cease. Can anybody say "10 PM edition of Indiana's Newscenter?" I guess the bright side to this is that now the Fort Wayne area doesn't need cable to see all the networks. Still, four network affiliations is a bit over the edge.

(Why didn't WANE get the CW? Seems like they do a decent job of running the UPN station and showing some local content. Does this mean more bandwidth for HD, or even the radar?)

I live in Leo and can just about always lock on to Fox. I have a Channlemaster 4228.
I PM'd Boss302j about his setup, but he must not check it anymore. So, I'll post it publicly.
I live in Leo and am receiving all of the digital channels except FOX (of course)
I'm using a HDTV PCI card in a mythtv setup. I've got a 70-90% lock on all the channels, however FOX won't lock at all. My outdoor antenna isn't expensive, it's from Radio Shack.
50" Boom Length, 18 Element Antenna
Model: VU-75 XR | Catalog #: 15-2151
VHF range: 75 miles UHF range: 50 miles FM range: 50 miles

My 1st question is this:
Is anyone in Leo getting FOX and what are you using to receive it digitally?

2nd question:
Should I purchase the ChannelMaster 4228 and amp that everyone raves about and 'possibly' get digital FOX or wait it out until who knows when for Nexstar to get their behinds in gear with the rest of the country.

Thanks!

Can anybody tell me which stations in Fort Wayne, Indiana broadcast in HD?

Can anybody tell me which stations in Fort Wayne, Indiana broadcast in HD?
WANE (CBS), WPTA (ABC), and WISE (NBC) do.

WFWA (PBS) used to. (PBS wants stations to pay for HD programming; WFWA dropped it for 4 SD channels.)

WFFT (FOX) doesn't; 2007 at the earliest.

I know this is a Fort Wayne discussion board, but I also know alot of people here get the South Bend stations.

The other day WNDU stopped coming in on the HDTV channel. It said no signal. After looking around I found the following on their web site. Looks like they are alot more serious about HDTV than the Fort Wayne market. Also looks like more people here in Fort Wayne should be able to get WNDU after they upgrade to the higher power antenae.

Keep up the good work WNDU !!!!!!!

3. WNDU Digital Upgrade Project: WNDU is proceeding with a project to raise the antenna height for its digital channel. Beginning week of May 8, 2006, the transmitting antenna will be removed and reinstalled over a period of several weeks during which a temporary antenna will be used to continue transmissions with lower power. The higher transmitting antenna will eliminate terrestrial and geographical signal blockages to many viewers, and will increase the coverage circle of the channel. Comcast cable viewers will not be affected. LATEST INFORMATION: Temporary antenna was activated @ 3:00 PM on Sunday, May15th.

Another thing I found on WNDU's web site was some information about Alert Warnings. I know there were a couple threads discussing programs being interupted becasue of this. Here is a posting from WNDU'd web site explaining why:

2. Emergency Information for HD Viewers: FCC enforcement has been fining stations for not transmitting emergency

messages and WNDU will do the best it can to adhere to all FCC regulations. When there is bad weather or school

closing or other emergencies WNDU will squeeze-back programming and crawl this information across the bottom of

the screen and the HD channel will be switched to upconversion to include the emergency information. WNDU

apologizes for any inconvenience to high definition viewers.

WNDU is sketchy right now even close to the tower. Hopefully George and the gang can get the project done soon.

South Bend Thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=318679

any one know if the 500 will be in hd?

any one know if the 500 will be in hd?
No. 21's promo insinuated that it would be, though.

So far, no HD from the Speedway.

Called Indiana's News Center and "Eric" gave me the old "It's not us" saying ABC was having trouble getting HD out from Indianapolis, whatever that means.

He said they hoped to have it up by race time.

Damn it. This is why I bought the big TV in the first place, to see stuff like this, the panorama of the Speedway, etc.

This is really ticking me off.

ABC will not be feeding the 500 in HD and never said that is was doing so this year. This is not a problem at WPTA.

There was a thread in the HDTV Programming section about this; the Speedway does most of the production, and they didn't produce any HD at all.

But just whose idea was it to plug HD in the local promo? WISE's old "HD" logo flashed across the screen and I thought "WTF? There isn't going to be HD!"

Too bad; the race really could have used HD, the way it ended.

But we did get some cool HD test patterns after the race ended! "This is the left stereo channel. This is the right stereo channel."

ABC will not be feeding the 500 in HD and never said that is was doing so this year. This is not a problem at WPTA.

The no hd part wasn't a WPTA problem.The part where 21-01 wasn't showing the ABC feed at 12 noon, whose problem was that?

So far, no HD from the Speedway.

Called Indiana's News Center and "Eric" gave me the old "It's not us" saying ABC was having trouble getting HD out from Indianapolis, whatever that means.

He said they hoped to have it up by race time.

Damn it. This is why I bought the big TV in the first place, to see stuff like this, the panorama of the Speedway, etc.

This is really ticking me off.

As ENGjas says it was never going to be in hd.I knew that, however I was still on 21-01 because the direct digital signal is better than what I get for 21 via Dish Network.After various experiences during the NFL season with 15 and now this, perhaps we're setting our bar too high for where we're located.Maybe this type of service is all we can expect.Someday, when this is the only signal they have to deliver, maybe it will be more consistent.

Granite now has the affiliations for both the CW and My Network TV, which respectively will go on the digital channels of WPTA and WISE when the WB and UPN cease. Can anybody say "10 PM edition of Indiana's Newscenter?"
Man, did I nail that one; Indiana's Newscenter is starting a 10 PM newscast in July for the CW and My subchannels, judging from the use of their logos in the promo. (The networks don't start until September, so will the subchannels go up in July anyway? What will this do for HD?)

The Duece-HD is up in Fort Wayne...

The Duece-HD is up in Fort Wayne...

?

?
ESPN2 = "The Deuce."

The Duece-HD is up in Fort Wayne...

Been up on my Dish Network since 2/6/06

Any credible rumors as to when Fort Wayne might see FIOS TV service? I am eager to sign up for HD service with someone, but don't want to commit to wiring and hardware if there is a strong possibility of FIOS TV availability in the next nine months or so.

I have a friend that works for Verizon and she hasn't heard anything yet. She was right on for FIOS internet so, if and when she says I will take her word for it. I have been watching the news feeds and there hasn't been alot since they tried to get the franchise rights early in the year.

I recently installed a 40' tower with an XG-91 antenna, and a Channel Master CM7777 Pre-Amp. I also have a rotor on the top of the tower. I am receiving Fort Wayne Digitals OTA without problems (Not 55 of course), and can get South Bend FOX (58-61% some dropout) and 22 with little dropout. My question is this, is there anyway to boost my signal 10-20% more to stop the dropouts? I also receive WTHR and WRTV out of Indianapolis with a signal of 65-74% and have a very few dropouts. I can receive Channel 59 FOX out of Indy in the morning and late at night but lose the signal during the day. This is not good for NASCAR, and will be bad for NFL season!

I have a Philips HDTV (51") with Dish Network Vip211 receiver (Which is causing some problems with freezing up right now, but that seems to be a Dish Receiver problem). Can I put an amp in house to boost this signal or will this be a waste of time and money? I am thinking of getting a VHF antenna to pick up Channel 18 out of Lafayette and Channel 8 out of Indy also. I am a Colts Season Ticket holder and want to be able to get as much Colts sports information from the Indy market as possible. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Just wanted to let everyone know that a Company called Cinergy MetroNet will be installing fiber in these cities/towns in the near future to provide TV, Telephone, and Internet services. I have been in on meetings with the company and the City of Wabash and am excitedly waiting their arrival. We have been assured that they will provide these services at a savings of 20% over our current providers (Comcast, Verizon, and Comcast and Verizon high speed internet). They will run fiber over Cincergy (Now Duke Energy) poles to the home and connect to a box where you will be able to plug in your current cable and phone lines inside your home. They have completed their first install in the City of Greencastle, and are working on Seymor now. This will provide some much needed competition to Comcast and Verizon in our area, and we believe that more choices are a good thing! Just thought there may be some interest in this on this forum. Wabash is scheduled to be built late this fall or early in 2007.

Here is a link to their price plans.

http://www.broadreach.net/pricingsheet.pdf

Could be a good deal if you go for all the services..... but internet is pricey compared to dsl, tv service will all depend on channel lineups (how much HD content, HD locals), and home phone features don't do anything for me, I just want incoming calls on it

could be something to take a look at though

Attention WANE-TV Master Control -

Please wake up and throw the HD switch.

CBS, the producers of CSI:Miami, and I paid a good deal of disposable income to have the program presented in Hi-Def, as it was intended.

Thank you !

(BTW - After you do push the button, go down to the newsroom and explain what HD is to that crack news staff of yours)

Attention WANE-TV Master Control -

Please wake up and throw the HD switch.

CBS, Worldwide Pants, the producers of The Late Show, and I paid a good deal of disposable income to have the program presented in Hi-Def, as it was intended.

Thank you !

Attention WANE-TV Master Control -

Please wake up and throw the HD switch.

CBS, the producers of CSI:Miami, and I paid a good deal of disposable income to have the program presented in Hi-Def, as it was intended.

Thank you !

(BTW - After you do push the button, go down to the newsroom and explain what HD is to that crack news staff of yours)
IIRC, WANE doesn't have a master control, at least not at the station. It's all controlled by WISH in Indy. (It's also supposed to be automatic.)

Due to technical difficulties with CBS equipment, we have not been able to show HD programming since last Thursday. CBS and WANE hope to have things resolved by Wednesday.

Thanks Mark... No harm, no foul

(Still, a memo to the newsroom might lessen any confusion...)

IIRC, WANE doesn't have a master control, at least not at the station. It's all controlled by WISH in Indy.

The WANE newsroom can't call Indy?

WISE switching from HD to SD coming out of the commercial break just as Cheap Trick is about to play on Conan = NOT COOL.

Does this always have to happen just as musical acts go on NBC shows, because it happened to Franz Ferdinand when they went on SNL months ago.

WISE switching from HD to SD coming out of the commercial break just as Cheap Trick is about to play on Conan = NOT COOL.

Does this always have to happen just as musical acts go on NBC shows, because it happened to Franz Ferdinand when they went on SNL months ago.

What time was the Conan thing?Sometimes the musical acts on the talk shows run over the end time, I wonder if WISE has something automatic set up?If so, someone there should know their own shows run over sometimes and put in some extra time.But, in this day and age, somebody has probably decided that would cost 10 cents.

What time was the Conan thing?Sometimes the musical acts on the talk shows run over the end time, I wonder if WISE has something automatic set up?If so, someone there should know their own shows run over sometimes and put in some extra time.But, in this day and age, somebody has probably decided that would cost 10 cents.
The segment started a bit after 1:30 AM, so I don't think running overtime was the deal since late night shows start at :35 past the hour. They do have something automatic set up, but compared to WPTA and WANE, they might as well have somebody manning a switch.

Indiana's Newscenter just changed their promo for the proper launch of Weather Plus. It starts 7/24 (because it's 24/7, get it?) on 33-3. Enjoy HDTV while you can.

Enjoy HDTV while you can.

Shouldn't be much of an issue provided they don't amp up the bitrate they're currently leaching from the main channel.

More of an issue is training the folks in MC to keep thier fingers off the HD switch while a broadcast is in progress (like the recent Conan post) They were goofing with Leno last night, granted there was a Tennis pgrm that pre-empted "The Tonight Show" and likely threw off the automation but for the love of God, don't these guys read the teletype/fax/email the network sends out giving them a heads-up on that kind of thing....

Shouldn't be much of an issue provided they don't amp up the bitrate they're currently leaching from the main channel.
I know, but the fact that they're moving the weather channel to -3 is just a sign of more multicasting in the future, namely MyNetworkTV. Either WISE will bitstarve -2 (like WANE does with UPN) or they'll bitstarve -1 come September.

This may be old news, but Wikipedia shows WPTA (24-DT2) as being the new Fort Wayne home for the CW network come this Fall. It looks like we can likely look forward to a bit-starved 'Lost' next season.

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

This may be old news, but Wikipedia shows WPTA (24-DT2) as being the new Fort Wayne home for the CW network come this Fall. It looks like we can likely look forward to a bit-starved 'Lost' next season.[/url]
If WPTA simply changes programming from the radar to the CW, there won't be any difference. (Since ABC is 720p, 21 can get away with giving a little more bandwidth to the secondary channel; ABC HD on 21 has always looked great.)

Thanks to Goldrich in the Indy thread, here is a very interesting letter from Nexstar to the FCC. If granted the extensions, WFFT will not be going full power digital or HD until October 2008.

http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getattachment_exh.cgi?exhibit_id=415274

Thanks to Goldrich in the Indy thread, here is a very interesting letter from Nexstar to the FCC. If granted the extensions, WFFT will not be going full power digital or HD until October 2008.

http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getattachment_exh.cgi?exhibit_id=415274
Interesting that that letter is dated the day before the deadline. Here's hoping the FCC does the right thing.

Looks like HD on WFFT is not going to happen too soon. Funny how the other stations haven't had a problem converting over. Looks like I better look into getting that new antenna up.

Here's hoping the FCC does the right thing.

Like maybe pulling thier licence and granting it to a company that won't piss away a public resource that we as citizens own and have given them an opportunity to use (and earn a profit from)

Ya' think there's more than a few companies that would love to get thier hands on the licence?? I do. These guys are the lowest of the low... if you can't get the job done, can't comply with the regulations, can't serve as a public trust with a public resource, then get the hell out of it, because there are plenty of people than can, plenty of people that do it everyday of the year.

If your financial and competentcy situation only allows this level of broadcasting service, then maybe you should just stick to pagers and walkie-talkies.

In case you haven't heard, 33-2 is now empty and 33-3 is Weather Plus.

Here's hoping the FCC does the right thing. Like maybe pulling their licence and granting it to a company that won't piss away a public resource that we as citizens own and have given them an opportunity to use (and earn a profit from)The penalty that they face isn't a loss of license but a loss of protection from other stations.On August 4, 2004, the Commission established July 1, 2006, as the deadline by which digital television stations are required to increase their power levels to replicate their analog facilities (or maximize digital operations), or else lose their interference protection for the unserved areas.At this point, all they have to lose is protection - not the entire license - by missing the deadline.

However, the ability to file on time may hurt Nexstar. The STA (special temporary authority) that WFFT-DT is operating under EXPIRED on July 1st, 2006. For their sake, I hope another application is in the pipeline.

Nexstar filed for an extension of the CP for WFFT-DT which was accepted on July 10th, with the reason for needing the extension being the same document linked by Goldrich in the Indy thread. It appears that they let the construction permit expire on July 9, 2003 (a date given in the extension request).

I wonder what the FCC's obligation is when stations file late and continue to put off meeting their commitments?

It's official, 21/33 are on the multicast bandwagon. They ran a story on the 5 pm newscast spinning digital broadcasts and, unless I failed to hear it, neglecting to mention HDTV, instead promoting more programming choices. Weather Plus needs some work, parts of the overall display kept blacking out when switching from local to national.

EDIT: Watching the 33 newscast, they did NOT mention HDTV.

However, the ability to file on time may hurt Nexstar. The STA (special temporary authority) that WFFT-DT is operating under EXPIRED on July 1st, 2006. For their sake, I hope another application is in the pipeline.

Nexstar filed for an extension of the CP for WFFT-DT which was accepted on July 10th, with the reason for needing the extension being the same document linked by Goldrich in the Indy thread. It appears that they let the construction permit expire on July 9, 2003 (a date given in the extension request).

I wonder what the FCC's obligation is when stations file late and continue to put off meeting their commitments?

If that is indeed the situation, I rest my case. They appear to be a bunch of cowboys that can't follow the rules, don't make any effort to serve thier viewers but are more than happy to cash the checks they "earn" from having been granted a license to use a public resource.

Screw 'em

NoToLowPower said:
It's official, 21/33 are on the multicast bandwagon. They ran a story on the 5 pm newscast spinning digital broadcasts and, unless I failed to hear it, neglecting to mention HDTV

Congratulations on your Amazing Kreskin-like prediction that the multicasting is what's driving the horse over there... Nice call !!!!

HDTV... it was fun while it lasted.

So do we know if Nexstar's request was granted? What does this mean for the ability for, say, a DirecTV customer to apply for and receive waivers to get the national FOX HD feed?

I can't believe FOX got the College Football BCS and we won't be able to get it in HD this year, and maybe not even next year. :mad:

I am no longer getting 5.1 audio on Comcast HD channels even when the program was announced as being in 5.1. The front panel of the receiver says it is in Pro Logic. I used to get 5.1 on most INHD and INHD shows. Maybe on Discovery HD too, if I recall right. Is anyone else getting 5.1 on Comcast?

Not sure if something has gone wrong with my equipment or if Comcast has a problem. I still get 5.1 on DVD's.

I have mediacom, but when mediacom does the test of the emergency broadcast system, it screws with the box and the box will output PCM instead of DD. Maybe that is what happened there? Usually, I am able to turn it off or change to a station like music choice and it will go back to normal, but if not, you could try unplugging it and resetting it that way.

I have mediacom, but when mediacom does the test of the emergency broadcast system, it screws with the box and the box will output PCM instead of DD. Maybe that is what happened there? Usually, I am able to turn it off or change to a station like music choice and it will go back to normal, but if not, you could try unplugging it and resetting it that way.

Unplugging the cable box power plug and plugging it back in restored the 5.1.

Thanks!!

Unplugging the cable box power plug and plugging it back in restored the 5.1.

The cable television equivalent of Ctrl-Alt-Del !!!!

I have two topics of interest to share:

A had a message on my cable box last night from Comcast saying that INHD2 was going away and that some channel called "M HD" is being added. There was no further description of what MHD is, but a little google investigation led me to believe it is "Music HD", a channel run by MTV (www.mhd.tv). Does anyone have any other information about this?

Also, has anyone else noticed that the kind people at WISE/WPTA have started displaying the time/temperature continually on the lower lefthand side of the screen? As far as I've seen, it never goes away, even during commercials. Don't they know that this can cause burn in?

Also, has anyone else noticed that the kind people at WISE/WPTA have started displaying the time/temperature continually on the lower lefthand side of the screen? As far as I've seen, it never goes away, even during commercials. Don't they know that this can cause burn in?

I believe it was done due to the heat wave, hopefully it'll go away.

Has anyone been able to get the sub channels listings in the MCE guide. I have been messing with it for days and am unable to get them. Zap2it has the listings but for some reason they are not coming down the pipe to MCE.

I have two topics of interest to share:

A had a message on my cable box last night from Comcast saying that INHD2 was going away and that some channel called "M HD" is being added. There was no further description of what MHD is, but a little google investigation led me to believe it is "Music HD", a channel run by MTV (www.mhd.tv). Does anyone have any other information about this?

Also, has anyone else noticed that the kind people at WISE/WPTA have started displaying the time/temperature continually on the lower lefthand side of the screen? As far as I've seen, it never goes away, even during commercials. Don't they know that this can cause burn in?

I heard about this. Upon arriving at home after work today, inHD2 is indeed gone. (this was 82-2 on my QAM) Curiously, my tuner now skips what was inHD2 to 82-11 , but it is blank right now.. this must be for M-HD? Or is that to be on 82-2?

Thanks for linking me to MHD. It seems like an awesome channel, given that finding quality music, HD to boot, is imposible on MTV or MTV2

Just talked to a Comcast rep out of indy, and he was clueless.


He flat out denies Comcast having, or ever having, INHD.

Just talked to a Comcast rep out of indy, and he was clueless.


He flat out denies Comcast having, or ever having, INHD.



It's 9:40pm thursday and I do not have InHD or ESPN HD. I do still have ESPN2 and TNTHD, so they must be shuffling some channels around?