Strange to see WBZ-DT is running a sitcom and not the news @ 11. Must be the west coast feed. Makes me wonder would a 'big' dish be able to get the west coast feed?

Thi sis great news. Now the question is it in HD?

Originally posted by D_Doherty
Strange to see WBZ-DT is running a sitcom and not the news @ 11. Must be the west coast feed. Makes me wonder would a 'big' dish be able to get the west coast feed?
An automation error. Rare for us and inexcusable.

- Bob

Maybe because I find the regular football broadcasts over-produced with too many graphics, too many replays, and too many telestrators, I found the HD Superbowl broadcast to be much more enjoyable than their typical Monday nite broadcast. The fact that the picture was HD and such a joy to watch made it all the better.

Pretty sad if you judge the quality of a broadcast based on a virtual yellow line not being there!

Jay

Originally posted by Carbo
All is well down in Brockton. Signal is still 100%.

I live in Randolph (near the rink) Carbo, what type of antenna are you using? I just, and I mean just purchased a Sony Wega that is HDTV ready and will be adding an HDTV receiver and OTA antenna over the next month or so and looking to see what is best! I'm a newbie and so confused! :confused: ;)

Joe

More Strectch-o-Vision/FOX weirdness.

I switched to FOX during "Bridezillas" last night (yes, I admit I watched for about 15 minutes), and they seemed to be broadcasting their 4:3 signal stretched to fill the 16:9 frame. Anyone know what's going on there? The last time I saw this was during the NFC Championship, while they attempted to get the widescreen feed running. It made for some fat brides!

:)

Originally posted by Chuck_McDevitt
WBZ weak?

I'm in Arlington Heights, where I have a lot of reception problems, but I can get a number of stations from Needham.
Back in the Fall, I had no trouble getting WBZ, but lately, I've not been able to reliably get it. Does WBZ have a very weak signal? Or could there be some other reason why I can get other stations from Needham but not WBZ?

I'm really frustrated, as WBZ has some of my favorite HD programming.

My only other explanation would be some kind of multipath effect that is a problem with WBZ but not other stations... ?


I'm over in Wilmington and my signal strength (high to low) has always been WBZ, then WCVB, then WHDH, then FOX. Over the past couple of weeks, though, my signal strength has changed to WCVB as best, then WHDH, then WBZ, which seems to come in "waves". The signal strength meter on WBZ will climb to 80-85, then drop out all of a sudden to 20 then back up to 80, then to 20.

I'm using a ChannelMaster 4228 in my attic. Maybe I need to adjust it, but I feel something else is the culprit as it had always worked in the past. Maybe my neighbors installed some new appliances or something.

I haven't re-scanned for awhile (Mitsu tuner). Maybe I'll do that tonight and see what happens. I'm afraid if I re-scan I might lose CBS altogether.... I agree with Chuck that WBZ offers some of the best HD programming...

Originally posted by jckessler
More Strectch-o-Vision/FOX weirdness.

I switched to FOX during "Bridezillas" last night (yes, I admit I watched for about 15 minutes), and they seemed to be broadcasting their 4:3 signal stretched to fill the 16:9 frame. Anyone know what's going on there? The last time I saw this was during the NFC Championship, while they attempted to get the widescreen feed running. It made for some fat brides!

:)

Noticed the same thing when I was passing by "Joe Millionaire". No really, I didn't watch it, I's jus flippen through the channels.

Don't understand the problem with WBZ. I'm getting a rock-solid 100% on BZ and CVB in Taunton. FOX is the problem (only 25-30%).

Benji

I noticed fox was breaking up a bit more than usual last night. Don't know if it has anything to do with them broadcasting a 16 x 9 picture or not but they have had their fair share of engineering issues the last couple of weeks. My dtc-100 is showing a signal strngth of 58 right now and is locked in pretty good with no dropouts.

John

Mike Keller (Director of Engineering for WCVB) gave a brief tour of the transmitter site on Chronicle this evening.

I was going to suggest catching the rerun of Chronicle at 1:30am, but it looks like they've stopped that (it's not showing up on my Tivo).

-j

Last nite(mon) I was getting 100% signal on WSBK-DT on my TS-160, did the power get increased or was it a fluke in the atmosphere?

Jim

Originally posted by JOtteman
Maybe because I find the regular football broadcasts over-produced with too many graphics, too many replays, and too many telestrators, I found the HD Superbowl broadcast to be much more enjoyable than their typical Monday nite broadcast. The fact that the picture was HD and such a joy to watch made it all the better.

I have to admit too many sports shows are being "overproduced" and sometimes simpler is better, but the HD - Super Bowl on ABC was more (less?) than just scaled back. It was a sloppy show. As I wrote before -- I think HD programs have to do more than just look good, but I have to say I've read a lot more posts that agree with your view on things than with mine.

Pretty sad if you judge the quality of a broadcast based on a virtual yellow line not being there!

Jay

Sad?? Well -- I missed the line.

On my Mitsu 655111, the tuner is remapping 39 (WSBK) to channel 38 and 38.1, yet both stations are showing the same HD channel, full 16x9 display. Also channel 42 (WHDH) is showing up as 42.1 not 7.1 as it used to. Anyone else getting this?

Originally posted by vfrjim
Last nite(mon) I was getting 100% signal on WSBK-DT on my TS-160, did the power get increased or was it a fluke in the atmosphere?

Jim
WSBK-DT has a solid state transmitter. Very stable power output. We have been operating at full power since the station went on the air.

Bob

hey folks

my tuhds20 is not mapping 7-1. stays on 42-1. whats the email and contact @ 7? i remember it being mentioned a couple weeks ago but i forgot. Anyone else getting this phenomenon with any receiver?

-nate

My Sammy 150 box now offers both 42-1 and 7-1 as if they were two different stations. My Panny box, however, still receives 42-1 remapped to 7-1 as per usual. Very strange.

Last night my Zenith1080 had no picture on 42-2 (but 90% signal).
I did a manual channel scan for 42, and got 7-1 perfectly.
An hour later, 7-1 said 'no signal', so I scanned for 42 again, and 7-1 came back fine for the rest of the night.

Very strange. I have had NBC on 42-2 for quite awhile.

Keith

My TU-HDS20 is also not mapping 7-1 and stays on 42-1. It has been like this for about a week now.

On my Zenith 420

WHDH seems to have switched from 42-2 to 42-1. The Zenith always has problems deciding whether it should remap or not, but the station comes in fine.

WFXT is remapping to 25-1 again; it had been on 31-2 for a while.

fwiw, i've never seen wfxt fox on 31.2, and i usually watch
it each night. their 10PM local news looks outstanding with the 720p upconversion ...
for my tv, wfxt has always been on either 25.1 or 31.1 .
sony 34xbr...

WFXT-DT is 31.1 on my TS160 and 31.2 on my HiPix Card, I've lost a few programs when using TitanTV to setup my programming for the HiPix, till they solve that problem, I have to set up my recordings for WFXT on my HiPix manually.

Jim

up until recently 7-1 had always remapped for me. Im also getting two channels, one 7-1 and one 42-1, but only 42 with picture. odd how that works

-nate

WGBH-DT channel 19 got their full license
on 1/29/03.

Pitiful performance on NBC-DT 7.1 last night. Within a time span of about 1 hour, during Friends, Scrubs, and Will & Grace they forgot to switch on the sound THREE times when coming back from commercial. These weren't 5 second screw-ups either. The first one must have lasted at least 5 or 10 minutes (I'm not sure of the exact time because I kept switching back and forth between HDTV and cable)!

How can they expect DT to catch on with a wider audience if they can't get the most simple basics right. I'm upset because it's embarrassing to have to explain to my friends and family why this great new medium is so often unwatchable!

Anyone else catch the error on 5.1 Wednesday night? They showed a Trailer to Monsters INC (original one before it was released) instead of starting Bachelorette, someone was asleep at the switch :)

yup, i saw that. must have been on for a minute or two.

bob

Hey all! I'm might be moving from Medford MA to Salisbury MA. Does anyone know what kind of reception I can expect and should I buy a new antenna? Maybe the Channel Master Model 4228. Right now I have a TERK TV55 and it does a pretty good job here in Medford. The only channel from the Boston area I have a problem with is FOX. I have the Sony SATHD100 for the STB and DirecTV with triple LNB's for HD via satellite.
Thanks guys!

Originally posted by jhe
WGBH-DT channel 19 got their full license
on 1/29/03.

jhe-
What does this change for the average viewer (if anything)?

Is channel 2 broadcasting in HDTV format? I caught the last few minutes of over Alaska last night and was not impressed with the picture although the show it self was outstanding.

Originally posted by mml7
jhe-
What does this change for the average viewer (if anything)?

It means they won't be letting their temporary permit run out so they can switch off till May. More likely it should mean they stop playing around with 1/2 power, 1/4 power etc, which can affect fringe area viewers.

And they did request the 43 license at the same time, so maybe that one is closer and we will get our missing channel back on the air soon! That one is still just a filing at the FCC waiting for them to act.

i just got a new receiver(DTV 1080) and it picks up 2 7's. One is 7-1 and one is 7-2. Both are hd as far as i can tell. How is this possible? I thought they had bandwith limits? I checked my old receiver (tuhds20) and theres only one 7.

Is it possible that the dtv is messed up so its mirroring the channel on its own?? Any other DTV1080 users experience this?? im still trying to figure out the basics..

-nate

Nate,
I am only currently getting 7-1 on my DTV1080.
In the past I was getting both 42-2 (the high-def digital channel) & 42-1 (the standard-def digital channel)----where the station broadcasts both sub-channels on one digital channel.
[One of your 7s is the high-def channel, which can be easily confirmed by checking 'Tonight Show' late-night or other prime-time shows, when a full-screen broadcast will be at 16:9]

Keith

the reason i think its 2 hd channels is because the zenith 1080 does not allow me to change the aspect ratio on both the channels(7-1, 7-2). THeres no native setting on the zenith so i cant check that way. Also i was watching leno last night and both(7-1, 7-2) were widescreen w/ dolby digital sound.

on my old tuhds20 when i scanned there was 7-1 with picture and sound and then 7-2 with nothing but guide info. this is really annoying because i want to sell my old receiver but i dont want to sell it if its the only working one i have.

-nate

I'm getting the same thing on my Zenith 520. 7-1 and 7-2 are both WHDH-DT

thats somewhat comforting to know that you are getting the same thing brfiend. I was worried that it was my stb because i got it from ebay and you know how that goes. Pezdoctor have you scanned recently to see if you can get it?

I hooked up both my panny and zenith today and i was switching between the two to see if theres a picture difference between the two on locals, ill try again tonight to see if leno looks better(higher bitrate or whatever) on the panny. My guess would be that they would be the same but im gonna check anyway.

-nate

I suspect now that if I rescan tonight, on my DTV1080, I will probably see the same as others.
I will do that this evening and report back.

Keith

Is channel 2 broadcasting in HDTV format? I caught the last few minutes of over Alaska last night and was not impressed with the picture although the show it self was outstanding.Yes- WGBH-DT is on 19. They are multicasting, and on my WinTV-HD the HD channel is the secondary. Multicasting reduces the quality of the HD broadcast considerably.

Their HD programming is from the PBS national feed, which is totally independant of WGBH's local programming. You can see the schedule here-
http://www.ptvdigital.org/dt2a_feb.html

I thought so it looked like junk almost as bad as Fox

Well, it's not that bad. Maybe you were watching the analog broadcast upconverted?

What you will see when watching PBS-HD is alot of artifacting, especially on fast motion scenes, like the video can't keep up. WHDH multicasted during last year's Winter Olympics, and it was pretty painfull watching.

That is exactly what I saw very disappointing to have footage like that and not show it properly. I guess I am spoiled by HD Net when they do shows like that.

Howdy,

The Chronicle web site indicates that this Wednesday's (Feb 5) episode will be in HDTV. It's called "Inside Isabella's House", and is apparently about a museum in the Fenway.

More than 24 hours notice sure is nice! :)

For people (like me) who can never remember what time it comes on, it's at 7:30 for 30 minutes (channel 5). My Hipix is ready...

--Steve.

Something strange is going on w/my Mits WS-65869 and I'd like to know if it is just me or if anyone else is getting this.

Starting around midnight last night, when I tune in on Ant-A or Ant-B (direct cable/cable box) I get a gray box a little bigger than the SD TV picture that sometimes shows lines of text something like this:

"http:// [ n: ] [ 111000] [E]"

If I switch to the Sat or local OTA HD I do not get the box.

Any clues? Any guesses? TV problem or AT$T/Comcast problem

hi, i noticed lots of video "dropouts" during the NBC programming on 7.1 last night. during these 'dropouts' the NBC logo remained and the rest of the screen was black. they occurred every 10 minutes during prime-time, from what i saw, and lasted about one second each.

Yes, I had the same video/audio dropout problems last night, but I experienced them on 5.1 as well as 7.1, so I just figured it to be a local reception problem. Maybe not.

Sorry for the post, I figured it out. Someone (minor's name withheld) enabled CC.

I also noticed the drop outs while watching Kingpin. Just a minor nuisance, but I hope it doesn't keep happening. I was watching Alias earlier and didn't have this problem on WCVB.

As for Kingpin, I can't say much about the show's storyline other than it was ok, but the best part of it was the HD presentation. Now this is how all HD shows should appear. Talk about details. The show was near life-like. It was simply amazing. I'm going to keep watching for the visuals alone.

I had some annying audio dropouts last night during Alias. I am new to HDTV, Is this normal?

The really annoying thing on NBC last night was them dropping out of HDTV in the middle of the show to display their channel 7 banner with the "details of Columbia crash at 11pm" message. This on top of the constant drop outs-they need to get their act together (and this is why I watch CBS as much as possible).

I'm new to HDTV
Noticed last night that Channel 7 had the audio out of synch with the video for "American Dreams" Is this common?
Also "Law & Order" like "AD" had frequent dropouts. Had to switch to analog. Digital signal strength on my SONY is a dumbed down green bar that seems to indicate plenty of strength. I'm an OTA setup in the West Concord vicinity.

philw1776, it seemed a little out of sync during Kingpin too. I didn't watch those other two shows, so I don't know when it occurred. Sometimes I find that turning off the set (mitsu w/ built-in tuner) and back on resolves the audio sync problem. That would lead me to believe that the issue might be with the tuner and not the transmission. But last night, instead of turning off my TV, I decided to do a channel scan during a commercial break. The audio sync improved, but was still just a little off. Maybe next time you can try restarting your tuner too. Just a thought.

Originally posted by elbig
I had some annying audio dropouts last night during Alias. I am new to HDTV, Is this normal?

I saw the same dropouts with my Toshiba DST-3000. Interestingly, my MyHD card didn't experience the dropouts. I ended up watching it from the MyHD instead. There seemed to be a pattern, but I didn't wait long enough to figure out what it was.

-Dave

I am experiencing a lot of audio dropouts watching Jag. AM I alone in this? Is it my equipment or is it Channel 4? I am new to HD and I don't know what is normal? Whatever it is I find it annoying.

I'm seeing a lot also... Everything has been pretty solid for me up until
this past weekend. 7 is bad as well.

Antenna position does not seem to help.

I noticed all the commercials during 24 were stretched to fit 16x9, and then when the local news came on it was also stretched to 16x9...

Anyone have a good contact at Fox? Do they realize they've got a problem?

-j

I'd rather have commercials stretched than 16:9 programs cropped to 4:3 which it has been for the past 2-4 weeks (John Doe & others)! If you complain we may lose widescreen on widescreen shows...

It just shows that they (FOX25) don't have a clue how to deal with the technology, just like WHDH! At least WBZ gets it right (Thanks Bob Hess!)!

-Dave

It's to my understanding that they (Fox) have upgraded equiptment and are having technical difficulties with their change to 720P, I will email the engineer and see what the status is with them.

Jim

Originally posted by HDorBust
I'd rather have commercials stretched than 16:9 programs cropped to 4:3 which it has been for the past 2-4 weeks (John Doe & others)! If you complain we may lose widescreen on widescreen shows...

It just shows that they (FOX25) don't have a clue how to deal with the technology, just like WHDH! At least WBZ gets it right (Thanks Bob Hess!)!

-Dave
Dave,
As a member of the FOX25 Engineering Team I must take exception to your last comment concerning our supposed lack of a clue concerning HDTV. As you may or may not know we recently moved our facilities to a brand new plant, A huge task to undertake. With a move like that there are sure to be some problems. However I can assure you that we are working as fast as we can to get things back up and running as they were before

I'd have to say at this point, WHDH (7) is WAY behind WFXT. WFXT seems to be only limited by their corporate parent doing 480p and a move. WHDH has lip-sync issues, audio dropouts, drops down to 4:3 when they insert a graphic, PSIP problems (shows up at 41 on my Dish 6000), etc.

Fox corporate may deserve some vitirol for their 480p stance, but WFXT seems to be making lemonade.

- Jim

I have a few issues here.

First, the last couple of days, my Samsung 151 seems to be crashing when I tune to 25-1. It's strange. It used to work just fine. Now, I tune to 25-1 the component outputs actually go dead for a little while. It almost seems like the Samsung is rebooting. It seems to cycle through a couple functions. I have a tough time even getting out of the situation. I have a brief time during this cycling to change stations to try to get out of this. It is strange. It could certainly be a bad unit, but 2-1, 2-2, 4-1, 5-1, 7-1 and 38-1 come in just fine. The stations that don't work do not crash the unit like this.

Anyone over at Fox know what could be up? It's great that you guys check this thread out, by the way.

Next problem I have is getting 41-1 in. I'm in Bedford. Hanscom Air Force Base is in between me and the Needham towers. I'm sure they can't help my reception. I first had a $30 RadioShack old school outdoor antenna. Because of ghosting on UHF analog stations, I bought a Channel Master 3021. The ghosting is reduced on UHF dramatically with the 3021. I don't have a pre-amp or a rotator. At one point, I tried a RadioShack pre-amp unit, with the old RadioShack antenna. It didn't seem to help my situation at all. I'm like 16 miles from the tower.

What should I try next? I think I need a rotator. I might want one just so I can avoid messing with the antenna on the roof. My wife is now fed up with me calling from my cell phone on the roof and asking her to check reception. Should I try another pre-amp? I returned the radioshack one. My coax is only like 75 feet from antenna to tuner.

Msedran,
I live in Concord, MA (near Bedford) and 41-1 reads a negligible signal, while everyone else comes in at nearly peak. I can't explain it, unless WHDH is firing a highly directional signal AWAY from the northwest. This has been going on for a couple months at least. Bob Hess, any ideas?
Spearse

Originally posted by msedran
I have a few issues here.

First, the last couple of days, my Samsung 151 seems to be crashing when I tune to 25-1. It's strange. It used to work just fine. Now, I tune to 25-1 the component outputs actually go dead for a little while. It almost seems like the Samsung is rebooting. It seems to cycle through a couple functions. I have a tough time even getting out of the situation. I have a brief time during this cycling to change stations to try to get out of this. It is strange. It could certainly be a bad unit, but 2-1, 2-2, 4-1, 5-1, 7-1 and 38-1 come in just fine. The stations that don't work do not crash the unit like this.

Anyone over at Fox know what could be up? It's great that you guys check this thread out, by the way.

MSEDRAN,
Thank you so much for posting this. On Monday night when I was switching stations from NBC (7-1) to FOX (25-1), FOX broke my SIR-T151. I actually have it boxed up and I’m about to send it back to Samsung to have them fix it under warranty. I have not been able to change the station since it is stuck on 25-1. I am now transferring all of my anger that was directed at Samsung for a faulty unit to FOX, which is going to cost me $$$ to ship it back to Samsung for servicing. FOX, if you would have done this to my STB before the Super Bowl, I would have lost it. Now I have to pay $$$ to ship my STB back to Samsung for shipping and be without HDTV (not that your station knows anything about it) for that time. Further, I will forever be afraid to switch my STB to FOX for fear of it messing up my STB again. FOX, as far as I’m concerned, your transmission is digital poison, and a waste of bandwidth.
-Jakes

I noticed problems with FOX 25 last night as well. I was able to switch off the channel, but when I did a re-scan the Samsung got stuck on FOX, which appeared to have a strong signal yet was unable to lock properly.

I was able to reset my channel list and remove FOX from my lineup. All other channels were fine after that. Tuning to FOX last night was the kiss of death, I'd have to quickly change channels when the Samsung was accepting input again, to get it off FOX Hi-Def. Argh!

Hope the Engineers fix it soon....

Wow.. Interesting.. Just last evening I tuned to 25-1 on my SIR-T151 and wham.. no output and no response from the box.. I fiddled with it for a while, powering it up/down. Nothing, DEAD. I then powered it down and went to eat dinner. I had planned to box it up and ship it out thinking it had fried itself. When I came back about 30 minutes later, it worked fine! I tried it again and noticed that when I tuned to FOX, the exact same thing. Really odd. Anyway, before you ship it out, be sure to power it down for a while and then see if it come back up.

Any comment from the folks at FOX in Boston???

Bill

I called the FOX 25 Engineer yesterday since my Samsung T160 box also got 'stuck' on CH 31 while scanning digital channels. I wouldn't look for a fix soon since he tells me he isn't doing anything differently and has made no changes recently that would cause this problem. He did indicate that he was getting calls from users of Samsung boxes but also seemed to think it was a box specific problem. At this point I don't see any fix since there doesn't seem to be agreement on the problem...

If you want to call him... 781-467-2525 X1387. This will get you directly to the Engineer...

I have no problem with WFXT Fox 25.1's broadcast of 24 last night. Let the commercials be widescreen stretch. Lemonaid is OK with me.
Add me to the list of those critical of Channel 7's continued HD ineptitude.

I also have a Samsung 151 w/ the same issue. If you disconnect the antenna coax cable briefly, it will free up the box. Change the channel with the cable off and then put it back on. UGLY!

This is totally bogus BTW. Is it bad PSIP data from 25 causing this?

Something must have changed, since it was fine last week.

Samsung told me they would have someone call FOX25 today to discuss the problem. Samsung seemed pretty sure they knew it was a FOX problem and would work with them to fix it.

Time will tell...

Originally posted by ursa99
I called the FOX 25 Engineer yesterday since my Samsung T160 box also got 'stuck' on CH 31 while scanning digital channels. I wouldn't look for a fix soon since he tells me he isn't doing anything differently and has made no changes recently that would cause this problem. He did indicate that he was getting calls from users of Samsung boxes but also seemed to think it was a box specific problem. At this point I don't see any fix since there doesn't seem to be agreement on the problem...

If you want to call him... 781-467-2525 X1387. This will get you directly to the Engineer...

URSA99,
Thanks for the number. For what it's worth, I just got off the phone with Bill, an engineer at FOX. Bill said that WFXT did indeed change the format in which they are broadcasting. Bill knew that I owned a Samsung STB before I even told him. He said they would be changing back to the other format sometime this week. The change is due to the amount of phone calls WFXT has received from viewers with Samsung STB's. Way to go guys, we can make a difference!

General comments...
I've got the SIRT151 and haven't had any trouble with the FOX channel or anything else rebooting my STB. I live in north Nashua (~40miles from Boston) and have been getting by with an RCA ANT200 sitting near a window. I do have trouble with WB channel 41. It comes in very rarely. I haven't figured out a good solution to that problem without mounting something on the roof (which I won't do because the townhouse association frowns upon it).

But I do have to ask the question: what is up with NBC? The audio sync is just terrible. From ER last week to Law & Order to Frasier last night, they all have audio trailing the video by 0.1sec - 0.25sec. Once you notice it, you always see it. It drives me crazy. So the question is: is it the network (NBC)? Is it the Boston affiliate (WHDH - 7)? I kind of don't think it's me, because I've seen other people discuss this....

Rich

rgr003 I saw the same thing last night it is very frustrating to have this problem continuing. I wonder if anybody in the control room watches what they put out? I think Bob Hess should be nominated to work with all the local stations to get things right as he seems to be the only one that gets it.

Same here with lip-sync and WHDT.. I tuned back to the SD channel to watch Frasier :(

Originally posted by msedran
I have a few issues here.

First, the last couple of days, my Samsung 151 seems to be crashing when I tune to 25-1. It's strange. It used to work just fine. Now, I tune to 25-1 the component outputs actually go dead for a little while. It almost seems like the Samsung is rebooting. It seems to cycle through a couple functions. to tuner.


Did you or anyone else do something to get it to the box to come back up besides turning it off. I have done that several times with no success. Even left it unplugged over night, still no change.

Jay

Originally posted by jred
I also have a Samsung 151 w/ the same issue. If you disconnect the antenna coax cable briefly, it will free up the box. Change the channel with the cable off and then put it back on. UGLY!

This is totally bogus BTW. Is it bad PSIP data from 25 causing this?

Something must have changed, since it was fine last week.


THANK YOU-- Did not see your post before I posted my question above. Disconnected the antenna, changed the channel off of 25, put the antenna back on and voila, picture again. Thanks again.

Jay

While we're on a WFXT kick here, is everyone still experienceing a very low audio level on WFXT-DT? When they did the switch to 720P a few weeks back, they also dropped the audio by around 20-30 db compared to their original level (and other local broadcasters).

Are there still problems, or am I OTL?

-Gary

Originally posted by msedran
...............................

Next problem I have is getting 41-1 in. I'm in Bedford. Hanscom Air Force Base is in between me and the Needham towers. I'm sure they can't help my reception. I first had a $30 RadioShack old school outdoor antenna. Because of ghosting on UHF analog stations, I bought a Channel Master 3021. The ghosting is reduced on UHF dramatically with the 3021. I don't have a pre-amp or a rotator. At one point, I tried a RadioShack pre-amp unit, with the old RadioShack antenna. It didn't seem to help my situation at all. I'm like 16 miles from the tower.

What should I try next? I think I need a rotator.
.......................................



I live in Lexington and channel 41 is quite flaky on my Samsung tuner (165) while we have snow cover. It works much better on my Zenith 420.

The signal is currently very weak.

The antenna plot shows the signal beaming East, but this may be an error. They have a mod request at the fcc site that reverses this and shows the signal pointing west.

For now you might benefit from a rotor, and if a screen antenna was not directional enough, a yagi might help. But
try a rotor first.

A preamp would probably hurt more than help unless you get
filters to block all other channels, but if you really want to try one try the low gain models from Winegard with about
20 db gain, and only if you have serious hills blocking you
from the towers.

The main effect from Hanscom should be the planes, causing
dynamic multipath and frequent pixelation on the tv.

Some months ago, WLVI said they hoped to go up to normal
power levels soon, which might solve your whole problem.

Originally posted by ursa99
Samsung told me they would have someone call FOX25 today to discuss the problem. Samsung seemed pretty sure they knew it was a FOX problem and would work with them to fix it.

Time will tell...

I suspect that that Samsung units are a bit pickier about how they handle PSIP data. On my ~1 year old SIR-T150, WFXT causes it to reset about 1-2 times a week. It pretty much only happens if I'm tuned into 25-1 and try to change the channel to 38-1 or 7-1. Perhaps FXT is doing this intentionally ;)

Fortunately, if I just wait 10-15 seconds for the Sammy to reboot, I can change channels without any problems. Right now, I don't have any real issues with FXT, except that they're stretching everything to 16:9.

mike

Originally posted by Jakes
URSA99,
Thanks for the number. For what it's worth, I just got off the phone with Bill, an engineer at FOX. Bill said that WFXT did indeed change the format in which they are broadcasting. Bill knew that I owned a Samsung STB before I even told him. He said they would be changing back to the other format sometime this week. The change is due to the amount of phone calls WFXT has received from viewers with Samsung STB's. Way to go guys, we can make a difference!

Looks like the story changed since I spoke with them but I'm glad a 'problem' has been identified and it's on FOX's end and can be corrected. Thanks for the update.

Ursa

No audio on Ch 7-1?

Anyone else seeing this?

Originally posted by ursa99
No audio on Ch 7-1?

Anyone else seeing this?

Yup, same here. Been that way since at least 4:30p. No audio problems with any other channel.

mike

Looks like Sammy's don't like 480i, it should be fixed later this week hopefully :) My Sammy was fixed the easy way, ebay :) My new E86 didn't flinch with the 25.1 signal.

No audio on 7.1 here, looks like they are having problems, anyone have an email address for an engineer for WHDH?

Jim

I don't know if FOX 25 has changed anything yet, but I ran their signal through my PSIP decoder, and I couldn't see anything obviously wrong.

The only interesting thing is that they have a strange private stream defined in the Program Map Table. It shouldn't cause any problems with the STBs, but then are these the same STBs that had problems with the second audio stream on WGBH?


PMT:
PID = 0020, length = 61, version = 2, section = 0/0, Program = 2
ATSC Registration
Smoothing Buffer: Leak Rate = 16047200 bits/sec, buffer size = 2048 bytes

PCR PID = 0021
Elem PID = 0021, Video
Video stream alignment: video access unit
Elem PID = 0024, AC-3 Audio
AC-3 Registration
Complete Main, 48KHz, 2/0 channels
Elem PID = 0025, PES packets containing streaming, synchronized data
Unknown: type = 0x56, length = 0

STT: Wednesday, February 5, 2003, 19:43 (Daylight Savings Time)
Daylight savings time ends on 28 at 28:00

oh yes, and the time signal seems to be a little confused!

_Paul

Like I said about Fox, they are having problems with thier Format Translator and hopefully will be back in working order maybe by the end of the week, till then it will be in 480i stretched format. There is good new too, they are upgrading thier sound to DD 5.1 in the coming months, give them a chance guys/gals, I talked to an engineer for about 20 minutes today, they are trying.

Jim

Quick question is the NBS allstar game being done in HDTV . I know it is on Directv but how about the local station?

Originally posted by vfrjim
Like I said about Fox, they are having problems with thier Format Translator and hopefully will be back in working order maybe by the end of the week, till then it will be in 480i stretched format. There is good new too, they are upgrading thier sound to DD 5.1 in the coming months, give them a chance guys/gals, I talked to an engineer for about 20 minutes today, they are trying.

Jim

That is not what Bill the Eng told me two days ago. Liike I posted, he said NOTHING was different. Now I find out that indeed there was/is a problem....The fallout for me is that Samsung is in the process of replacing my TS160 for no reason other than I got bad data from FOX25 and the replacement will have the same issue until FOX fixes their end.

<rant on>
FOX is indeed trying but they should and probably do know we are watching and should be more forthcoming when they have problems. I know for a fact that they read these boards. Why don't they just do a Bob Hess and get on here let us know what is going on. In many ways we provide instant help in assessing their broadcasts and why they don't take more advantage of this is a mystery. Come on FOX join the party...we don't bite...much!

<rant off>

Originally posted by rgr003
General comments...
But I do have to ask the question: what is up with NBC? The audio sync is just terrible. From ER last week to Law & Order to Frasier last night, they all have audio trailing the video by 0.1sec - 0.25sec. Once you notice it, you always see it. It drives me crazy. So the question is: is it the network (NBC)? Is it the Boston affiliate (WHDH - 7)? I kind of don't think it's me, because I've seen other people discuss this....

Rich

FWIW I am 22 miles West of Boston, have a SONY Wega and I always seem to have both reception problems with frequent dropouts on channel 7 as well as annoying audio timeshift.

Meanwhile, CSI on 4 and NYPD Blue on 5 come in fine.

Originally posted by JOtteman
THANK YOU-- Did not see your post before I posted my question above. Disconnected the antenna, changed the channel off of 25, put the antenna back on and voila, picture again. Thanks again.

Jay

Guess who came home from 2 weeks in Florida to a OTA box that was non-functioning? Guess who spent 5 hours last night troubleshooting everything, including hooking up the the antenna feed to a spectrum analyzer? It's a good thing I checked this thread about the 25-1 issues with the 151 before I shipped the STB off to Samsung!! FXT...get your act together!
BTW, what the hell is on 549.250 MHz? 45 dB stronger than anything else in the TV band with REALLY bad intermods around it.

-JR

Originally posted by philw1776
FWIW I am 22 miles West of Boston, have a SONY Wega and I always seem to have both reception problems with frequent dropouts on channel 7 as well as annoying audio timeshift.

Meanwhile, CSI on 4 and NYPD Blue on 5 come in fine.

I was having a lot of trouble last night getting continuous reception of channel 7-1 last night. Tweaking the antenna didn't seem to help at all. I was very tempted to switch back to cable, but suffered through the dropouts (which may suggest that even intermittent HDTV is better than cable at its best).

Rich

Originally posted by johnrobinson

BTW, what the hell is on 549.250 MHz? 45 dB stronger than anything else in the TV band with REALLY bad intermods around it.

-JR

Found via google
[ok, I admit, I was a bit bored this afternoon... 8^) ]

NTSC Channel 27 Video Carrier (?)

or

It's the upper end of the Military Drone Aircraft Control band

or

(older) AMD Athlon PC (maybe others) use that freq

--
One odd find was a CATV Test Generator that had a notch at 549?

Hmmmm...I have an overclocked Athlon XP+....????

-JR

The Samsung Issue has been resolved as far as we know...However we have no way to test it since we use Sony here. Please let us know on here whether it has fixed the problem

FOX 25-1 is still bad here on a SIR-T151

It is worse now. Still can't get to work on the Samsung 151, and I was able to get the 480i signal Monday and Tuesday on my other system (Hipix) but since last night I can't get anything on my Hipix either. I received an e-mail from Fox 25 today as follows, so let's hope this clears up soon.

Since moving the station into its new facility WFXT-DT has had problems with
just about every piece of equipment associated with it. Yesterday we discovered
that the piece of equipment that converts the 480I signal we feed it and the
480P signal fed by FOX to 480P 60 was not operating correctly. It had to be
taken out of service and returned to the manufacturer for repair. In the
meantime, WFXT-DT was configured to transmit a standard definition 480I signal
which we are receiving fine on all of the DTV receivers at the station. We
expect the converter back by Friday February 7th. At that time we will change
the transmissions back to 480P 60.

FXT-DT is no-go on my SamsungT165

First I tuned to 31 and was getting out-of-service, just as before.
I rescanned and it did not find a good signal. I tried a couple more
times and and on one of the attempts, it rebooted my T165. On others
it did not reboot. Note: fxt has never been easy to get.

also,
->7-1 is hard to get tonight
->I can't find 38-1 (39) after the rescan

FOX 25-1 Still having the same problem with Samsung T165.

Hey guys, just getting into the game now. I'm in Malden (couple miles NE of the hub) and received my HDTV box (Samsung 160 w/Directv) today ; I'm waiting for my RP HDTV to be shipped to me.

In the meantime, I set my Sammy to 480i and connected my old 32" tube set to it to do some testing. I'm close to the city, so I'm doing well with the little indoor Zenith/Gemini antenna. I too have the dreaded Samsung-Fox 25 Channel 31 problem. Within minutes my box experienced problems when doing the over the air autoscan. When it gets to Fox 25 (Ch 31) it freezes the box, recoverable only through unplugging the unit and plugging it back in again. I tried several times and the error just repeats itself. Reading some of these posts, I can see why. I know the newer Sammy's can be sensitive, but this is a tad ridiculous.

So I manually scanned the channels and was able to map these digital channels at 100% signal :

2-1 WHDH-SD
2-2 PBS-HD
4-1 WBZ-DT
5-1 WCVB-DT
7-1 WHDH HD
23-1 WUFT
38-1 WSBK-DT

I don't get Fox 25, and if I even try to tune to channel 31, it's freeze time, and I need to unplug to reboot the IRD. I really hope WFXT fixes this problem, many of my favorite programs appear on that station, and it would really suck to not receive it because it's somehow incompatible with Samsung hardware. I'll be emailing them tonight.

I get 0% signal on channel 41 (WLVI 56). I realize they're transmitting at low power, but to get NOTHING and be this close to their station is frustrating. I get the analog channel almost as good as you'd want it (too good in fact, to the point of ghosting), but can't get a signal on 41, where it counts. I can't (and won't) install an aerial antenna just for one channel - can anyone tell me where WLVI's DTV transmitter is located ? And are there any known plans to upgrade that awful signal.

I'm very happy so far with most of the channels, it's crystal clear and such a major improvement over analog or even Directv locals, and I'm getting a great signal on most of the channels. I just pray Fox 25 figures out the issues with Channel 31 - and FAST. And I'm just dumbfounded by the WB56 situation - why can I get the Channel 23 Spanish station out of Marlborough, but not Channel 41. Anyone have any answers ?

DMM do you receive Channel 41 easily in Somerville ?

i'm in cambridge and i get 41 almost as good as i get the other channels. you may just have to play around with your antenna placement some more--it makes such a huge difference for me (moving it a few inches or turning it a few degrees makes the difference between a great picture and no signal at all).

bob

Thanks for the reply. Since my antenna describes itself as "highly directional", do you have any info on where their transmitter is so I can try and point it in the right direction ?

You can use http://www.antennaweb.org and a compass.

I get 41 very well in Cambridge too. All of the towers for the main Boston stations are close together in Needham.

If you're using an indoor antenna, I would play around with placement. Slight differences in position can make all the difference in the world. I would think you'd be able to get something...

Thanks for the link and info, I'll do my best this evening to try and find a signal for WLVI.

I also came across this link, which has some info :

www.bostonradio.org/radio/tvdial.html (http://www.bostonradio.org/radio/tvdial.html)

I don't think it's 100% up to date (it still shows WGBH 2-1 and 2-2 as 'CP'), but it does show that WLVI has the weakest DTV signal in the area at 30 kW on 41. But they're approved for 500 kW, so what the heck are they waiting for ?

And I guess Fox 25 is getting enough emails and complaints to be sending out form letters ; after emailing them last night, I received this :

"Since moving the station into its new facility WFXT-DT has had problems with just about every piece of equipment associated with it. Yesterday we discovered that the piece of equipment that converts the 480I signal we feed it and the 480P signal fed by FOX to 480P 60 was not operating correctly. It had to be taken out of service and returned to the manufacturer for repair. In the meantime, WFXT-DT was configured to transmit a standard definition 480I signal which we are receiving fine on all of the DTV receivers at the station. We expect the converter back by Friday February 7th. At that time we will change the transmissions back to 480P 60.
Steve James
VP, Engineering
WFXT"

Look familiar ? :rolleyes: C'mon FXT ! Fix it !

--

UPDATE -- used that website and a trusty compass to find the proper azimuth to point my antenna -- rescanned the digital channels (unplugged the antenna from the IRD when it got to 31 so I wouldnt freeze my unit - plugged it back in when it passed 31) and I was finally able to pull in Channel 41 (56-1). Sweet ! The signal isn't overly strong, but I get it at 45-65% - good enough to receive it. Now if WFXT could get it together, I'd be a happy camper.

When does WGBH 44 (DTV 43) start broadcasting ?

Originally posted by jjk58
Found via google
[ok, I admit, I was a bit bored this afternoon... 8^) ]

It's the upper end of the Military Drone Aircraft Control band



Let's see... military drone aircraft band...
Say, you're not with Al Quaeda are you?

So does all this discussion about Samsung STBs locking up when tuning in ch 25 mean that I didn't need to ship my unit (a Samsung 151) to New Jersey for repair yesterday? The box simply became nonfunctional - I tried unplugging (including disconnecting the antenna), but nothing seemed to work - dead.

If this is indeed related to Fox broadcast signals, how do I prevent the problem from recurring when the repaired box comes back?

Bob P

Interesting tidbit-I have a Samsung SIR-T150 with v2.0 and I have no problems at all with WFXT 25. Been watching it on and off every day and never a problem. Ch. 7 on the other hand is unwatchable with the lip synch issues-drives me nuts.

Originally posted by pascucci
So does all this discussion about Samsung STBs locking up when tuning in ch 25 mean that I didn't need to ship my unit (a Samsung 151) to New Jersey for repair yesterday? The box simply became nonfunctional - I tried unplugging (including disconnecting the antenna), but nothing seemed to work - dead.

If this is indeed related to Fox broadcast signals, how do I prevent the problem from recurring when the repaired box comes back?

Bob P

My Samsung T160 locked up too except a unplug/plug in fixed it. Also if you get into the service menu and reset to defaults it will come back. I had mine set to return to Samsung when I found out the problem originates at FOX and when they fix it our boxes should work O.K. I'd like to see a firmware update to stop the boxes from locking at all, whether or not FOX has a problem.

So does all this discussion about Samsung STBs locking up when tuning in ch 25 mean that I didn't need to ship my unit (a Samsung 151) to New Jersey for repair yesterday?
It appears that way. Alot of us with the 151, 160 and 165 are experiencing the same issues to varying degrees. If you were unable to switch off Fox 25 channel 31, there's your reason for the unresponsiveness. Someone a few posts back mentioned the process of unplugging the unit, removing the air antenna connection on the box, plugging it back in, switching it quickly to another channel, and then reattaching the antenna - perhaps that may have worked for you, allowing you not to have to send it back. The problem is, if Samsung can free up your box, they will probably not be able to duplicate the problem in New Jersey without Fox 25's signal.

If this thing isn't sorted out by Monday, I will be calling Samsung and staying on the phone as long as it takes until I can talk to someone high enough up to have a clue. I'll do my best to explain to them that the flood of incoming receivers from the hub for repair or replacement are all being caused by something "funky" in Fox 25's DTV signal. It'd be in their best interest to analyze the problem, and either release a firmware update, or get on Fox 25 to correct the problem. Sending up a qualified Samsung engineer to Boston to deal with this will cost them (and us) less money and/or frustration than a ton of consumers from the Boston area sending in their boxes to be unfrozen... only to be frozen again if they go near channel 31 (assuming Fox doesn't do something to correct this).

I replied back to Steve James' form email this morning, asking him to address the specific issues with Samsung hardware, but have not heard back. Which is fine for now, I'd rather they be working to fix this than answering their emails. I'm not going to badger them about this, but I'm not going to let them stick their head in the sand about it either - if they won't respond to us, we need to get Samsung to light a fire under them to correct this situation.

If this is indeed related to Fox broadcast signals, how do I prevent the problem from recurring when the repaired box comes back?
Staying away from DTV 31 seems to be the only way to keep the problem from recurring. To scan in my channels without a freeze I had to use a quick-connect coaxial RG-6 cable on my antenna.. the second the auto-tuner got to channel 31, I yanked out the coaxial to the antenna. It passed 31 without freezing up, so then I inserted the cable again for it to finish it's scan - works fine, and I'll just stay away from manually tuning to 31 until there's some sort of resolution to this problem. (...crosses fingers... I miss my 24 and Simpsons...):confused:

I have no good sound sync on NBC right now. Mister Sterling. What gives? Why is this a problem so often? Is it my RCA 38" tube, or the broadcaster?

Bad synch for me on NBC as well. Its REAL bad when I use the RCA Audio out jacks, but a little better when using the Digital coaxial out. Still noticable though. This is a WHDH issue, not a hardware issue.

I'm new to HDTV reception in the Boston area (Sudbury, MA) as well. I'm using a Samsung SIR-T165 with an attic mounted Winegard 7080P pointed towards Needham (~130 degrees with magnetic declination factored in). Used the Delorme TopoUSA program to get a crude elevation profile, and the towers are about 13 miles away with some hills in Wayland (with a water tower on top) providing a challenge to my direct line of sight. The other likely reception issue are the numerous very tall pine trees surrounding the property.

Analog reception was pretty poor with significant ghosting on VHF and unsharp UHF with some snow-like noise mixed into the picture. The worst VHF was WGBH with an almost unwatchable picture. I'm sure an outdoor mounting would have improved the performance, but my first interest was in solving this problem without going outside. DT reception is great!

Consistantly I'm getting without issues:

WGBH-DT
WCVB-DT
WUTF-DT
WBZ-DT
WSBK-DT
WHDH-DT

In the past few days I've also been getting WLVI-DT some of the time. When tuning to 41, if first shows "no signal" and then locks in a couple of seconds latter. Last week I was also getting WFXT-DT but have been bitten by the lockup bug like everyone else (I ended up sending one unit back to J&R thinking it was broken because of the WFXT-DT problem). Like others have mentioned, the audio sync problem with WHDH-DT is extremely distracting. I called WHDH and spoke with them about this problem and said it should be fixed when they do an equipment upgrade (no timeframe given). Was thinking about this problem and thought the best way to get them moving on this is to complain about this problem to some high profile advertisers who show on this station. If the income source for the station start complaining, I bet it will get attention rather fast.

One other thing I've tried with antennas has suprised me. I also hooked up an Channel Master 3023 UHF antenna in combination with the Winegard. The performance did not improve at all on either UHF or VHF. When I just hooked up the 3023 and looked at UHF performance alone, it was significantly worse than the smaller Winegard on UHF. Both antennas were very precisely aimed. I'm thinking the proximity of these antennas to each other may be an issue. What should be the minimum distance between them on a mast?

I am having problems with 7-1 both Audio and video. Anyone else?

I checked 31 or 25-1 this afternoon. It now works on my Samsung 151. It didn't this morning. Hopefully, it's all fixed now.

It now works on my Samsung T165.

Just in time for the race.. Good timing!

Sweet ! 31 (25-1) is working for me, no more freezing on my Samsung 160. Thanks FXT engineers, whatever you did, it worked. Let's keep it that way.

Anyone else having trouble with 7-1 tonight?
Signal strength is 50% of normal. Lots of pixelation and freeze frames followed by no signal.

4.1 was poor last night. Luckily 5.1 was fine for Alias.

Originally posted by lnh
Anyone else having trouble with 7-1 tonight?
Signal strength is 50% of normal. Lots of pixelation and freeze frames followed by no signal.

kingping was solid for me until about 10.50ish when it just fell apart
and I switched back to cable

also, re Fox, I don't even see it now, so in a different sort of way, my
165 isn't having a problem with the signal :-)

Originally posted by elbig
4.1 was poor last night. Luckily 5.1 was fine for Alias.
Everything operating normally at WBZ.

Bob

whatsup with Fox - they whent back to 480 ???? I saw them in 720p and it was much better... sigh...

i saw 7.1 problems during "kingping" (i like that typo) at about the same time last night - near the end of the show. signal strength was ok.

by the way, to folks seeing problems with lipsync/audio-sync - you might try power cycling your STB or changing channels & then changing back. when i used a SIRT150 for a month, i sometimes saw audio-sync issues that could be worked-around that way...

I think the lip sync issue is more than a'reset' problem. I ALWAYS have the problem when watching Law & Order on either my Mits SR-HD5 (Hughes E86 sat box clone) or the tuner in my TV (Mist WS-65869). While the box is rarely reset, the TV is powered on and off all the time. I don't think I ever experience the problem while watching Leno which makes me think it is a network/production issue and not a WHDH problem.

I have a Mit 65511 and also experience periodic lipsync problems. I find that whenever I turn the TV off and then on again, the lipsync is improved, but it's still a little off. My guess is there's still an issue with the broadcast from WHDH-DT. While I'm at it, WHDH-DT is still showing up as 42-1 instead of 7-1. I posted this a couple of weeks ago and several others confirmed this at the time. It also seemed like the others experienced the same issue on something other than the built-in tuner of the Mits. Anyone else still experiencing this?

Fox is now coming in widescreen on my dish 6000, not sure the scan rate. However, the digital volume is still very soft (need to run at +5dB). Analog volume is normal. This is the first widescreen in about a month.

The lip sync problem is specific to 42, and I think it's a problem originating at the source, since so many are seeing it, on different hardware. I don't have this problem on the other stations I receive.

42 switches between being remapped to 7 and not remapping on my Zenith (HDV420) box. This has been consistent for the past several months, and is very annoying if you're flipping and suddenly go from 7 to channel 56!

WHDH consistently has lip sync problems. Every prime time show I've tried to watch for the past week has been off a frame or two. Audio is always late.

Interestingly, the locally generated live news seems to be fine. Can anyone else confirm this observation?

It must be something to do with their network feed/translation.

All other Boston stations, (when they're working) are in sync (most of the time, anyway :-) ). I'm using a Samsung 151.

whatsup with Fox - they whent back to 480 ???? I saw them in 720p and it was much better... sigh...

Back to Native format, the way it is sent to them from Fox and unless Fox changes format, it will stay that way.

Jim

Originally posted by sglorios
WHDH consistently has lip sync problems.

they're working the problem as I've just traded some email
with station folks. The comment was:

"We adjusted the audio delay today. Let us know if it's better."

Its good to hear channel 7 is working on the problem. Here's hoping they can make it a little better than it is now.

Anyone else having problems with channel 4 tonight ? The signal is awful (in and out for a few minutes now) and I'm getting 100 % on every other station except of course WB, which is worse than normal I guess because of the snow (I really wish they'd hurry up and power up)..... and now as I'm writing this it stayed on for a few minutes at 100 % signal, but now is back down to 0 % again...

Nevermind, gave my antenna a nudge and that fixed it.

I am having a hard time with 4-1 tonight as well. I am playing wth the ant but no luck so far.

Originally posted by elbig
I am having a hard time with 4-1 tonight as well. I am playing wth the ant but no luck so far.

4-1 in Attleboro full strength as usual - 5 miles from RI border. Roof mount w/rotator.

4-1 definitely a little more troublesome than usual. I'm guessing it's probably the snow mucking things up.

Snow has a big effect. For me this last storm made every
channel much better!

No problems with 4-1 last night. I guess the snow did have an effect. Also somebody mentioned ithat they can't wait until 4-1 is full strength or something like that. What is that all about?

Originally posted by elbig
No problems with 4-1 last night. I guess the snow did have an effect. Also somebody mentioned ithat they can't wait until 4-1 is full strength or something like that. What is that all about?

4-1 is channel 30 and is full strength now.

41 is WLVI-DT and we are waiting for that to go to full power. It is currently at 30 KW, lower power than the other
Needham stations.

Does anyone know the current power outputs of each of the Boston Stations (4.1, 5.1, 7.1, 25.1, etc...) I've been have great signal from 4.1 and 5.1 but 7.1 and 25.1 are much weaker.

PinnacleDev,

Look for the Massachusetts DTV Status thread (search for "Massachusetts" if you don't see it) in this forum. jhe has kindly compiled this information, and updates it regularly.

Originally posted by PinnacleDev
Does anyone know the current power outputs of each of the Boston Stations (4.1, 5.1, 7.1, 25.1, etc...) I've been have great signal from 4.1 and 5.1 but 7.1 and 25.1 are much weaker.

see http://www.100000watts.com

or my list at:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=1862781#post1862781

Hope I'm not going off-topic in a thread titled Boston DTV Tower, but has anyone heard anything about AT&T/Comcast launching HD service in Boston? Over on another board, there is a lot of talk about the big announcement being right around the corner, but of course no one can cite to anything official. Anyone "in the know" care to enlighten us?

Joe

I know they have trial users at this point.

I heard they're still negotiating with the local stations for rights to carry the digital signals.

-j

Is it just me or is 7.1 weird tonight during Friends?

Hey now. I thought I'd let everyone know that AT&T Broadband is now giving out digital STB's (Motorola DCT-2000) with Dolby Digital outputs (both coaxial & tos-link) as well as S-Video output. I just picked up my new digital cable STB last night. I've been waiting for that S-Video and DD output for a long time now. Just wanted to share the knowledge in case anyone else wants one of the newer boxes. It's a free upgrade. I know it's not HDTV yet, but it's better than nothing for now.:)

What this guy is talking about regarding the audio testing in the 800's is the same sort of "chatter" (strange how words enter our vocubulary) I've heard elsewhere.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=226652

I'd think HD cable is right around the corner in the Boston area. I did a scan of the cable input with my Mits TV (built in ATSC & QAM tuners) this morning in Winchester and I can get both HBO & Showtime HD channels on 82.01 and 82.02. I pay DirecTV for HBO & Showtime and only have extended basic with AT$T so it is strange that these two channels are coming in at all.

Looks like it might finally be time to cancel that DirecTV subscription.

He is their response.
"
We anticipate offering HDTV service by the end of the month, and hope to take orders as soon as the 18th..

In order to provide this service to our customer, we will provide a Motorola DCT-5100 converter unit. We do not have plans to offer a different unit at this time. This unit *can not* be obtained at any of our Payment Centers, you will need to schedule an installation appointment so our technician can install this converter for you.

At the time of the launch we plan to offer four HDTV channels: two local Boston Broadcaster channels, HBO and Showtime. In order to receive either of the two premium movie channels, the channel must already be part of your analog or digital television subscription."

however, I am no where ready to dump the dish.

Any guesses on which two locals it will be?

Originally posted by woz
He is their response.
"
We anticipate offering HDTV service by the end of the month, and hope to take orders as soon as the 18th..

In order to provide this service to our customer, we will provide a Motorola DCT-5100 converter unit. We do not have plans to offer a different unit at this time. This unit *can not* be obtained at any of our Payment Centers, you will need to schedule an installation appointment so our technician can install this converter for you.

At the time of the launch we plan to offer four HDTV channels: two local Boston Broadcaster channels, HBO and Showtime. In order to receive either of the two premium movie channels, the channel must already be part of your analog or digital television subscription."

however, I am no where ready to dump the dish.

Any guesses on which two locals it will be?

I'll bet Bob knows something about it. Bob, would you be at liberty to say anything? :D

Also, I asked AT&T about enabling the firewire connection for recording and the cable modem connections. Their response:
"they will be for future use and will not be activated at this time"

I would really consider cable for the local stations in HD (as backup to OTA), but it does not look like they all will be available in the beginning. Also, I really want to be able to record, so enabling the firewire connection would definitely get me to sub.

Well, considering that the channel numbers are 805 and 807 I think you can guess which ones they are. Channel 4 must still be in negotiations.

Dave

As I posted elsewhere, I've read that CBS is usually slower in negotiations than the other networks. That's because CBS is the leader in network HD programming, both in terms of quantity and quality, and CBS doesn't want cable systems overly compressing their HD signal, lowering the HD standard which CBS has worked so hard to raise. Of course, I'm just regurgitating (informed?) opinions of others, but it makes sense.

Bob, I don't expect that you're able to chime in here, although it's always a good thing when first-hand knowledge replaces speculation. On a different subject though, did you ever get much interest for the idea of a tour out at the WBZ facilities?

Joe

Originally posted by jsirbak
On a different subject though, did you ever get much interest for the idea of a tour out at the WBZ facilities?

Joe

Get much interest??? My guess as to why we haven't got the invite yet is because there are so many who are interested; understandable to say the least.

I am frustrated with trying to find an antenna to work for OTA HDTV, so I tried hooking up my AT&T cable to the integrated HDTV and QAM cable tuner on my Mits RPTV. I can get HBO, Showtime, NBC Ch. 7, ABC Ch. 5, and WLIW a New York PBS station all in HD. Channels 5 and 7 are coming in as HD but as 4:3 format, my TV will not allow me to change the format went in the DTV mode. I guess I will return all the antennas I have tried.:) :) :) :)

FAiello,

What channels are 7, 5, and WLIW being broadcast on? What cable standard did you select, "Standard", "IRC", or "HRC"?

Thanks,

Dave

Channel 7 is 85.02, Channel 5 is 85.01, and WLIV is on 85.03. I am using "IRC" cable. Nothing came in on "HRC". I was also able to pick up ESPN NBA-TV and The Cartoon Network but they were not in HD. Good Luck!!

Looks like WHDH-DT is messing with their PSIP stream? My Panny TU-HDS20 has had both 7-1 and 42-1 in the lineup now for a week or so (used to be just 7-1) Today, when I attempt to receive either of these channels, the STB does the ol' power cycle reboot. Well, at least it seemed like they had addressed the lip synch issues prior to this latest issue.

On a separate note, anyone local have or getting a Panny TU-DST52? (The new OTA-only STB for $399)

today 7.1/42.1 is doing the PSIP dance - looks like they are encountering the same PSIP-encoder bug that so many fox affiliates have encountered... signal strength is fine here in southern NH>

Originally posted by jsirbak
As I posted elsewhere, I've read that CBS is usually slower in negotiations than the other networks. That's because CBS is the leader in network HD programming, both in terms of quantity and quality, and CBS doesn't want cable systems overly compressing their HD signal, lowering the HD standard which CBS has worked so hard to raise. Of course, I'm just regurgitating (informed?) opinions of others, but it makes sense.

Bob, I don't expect that you're able to chime in here, although it's always a good thing when first-hand knowledge replaces speculation. On a different subject though, did you ever get much interest for the idea of a tour out at the WBZ facilities?

Joe
Joe,

Paragraph 1: Makes sense to me, but I cannot comment as to CBS's opinion on this issue.

Paragraph 2: The tour was going to be a tour of the multi-station DTV transmitter facility. Unfortunately, there has been nearly continuous construction at the site for the past three years. I am hoping for a spring or summer tour but we may be doing more construction on the tower at that time. Don't know for sure yet.

Bob

Anyone having problems with WSBK-DT (UPN 39.1) today?

On my Samsung SIR-T165 is will sometimes come in fine, and other times the front panel light/information will show it's locked-in, but then I get a blue screen and the infamous "Hello" message on the front panel display. In these situations the picture never comes up on the screen. Doing a channel up will usually unlock the device and a channel down will usually bring in 39.1 on a second attempt. When it comes in, the signal strength is very good. Could the heavy snow have something to do with this?

On a second note, I'm also trying out a Zenith HDV420 at the same time. The Zenith doesn't seem to be inflicted by this problem (but has some other issues).

I’m having the same problem with T165.

Originally posted by lnh
Anyone having problems with WSBK-DT (UPN 39.1) today?

On my Samsung SIR-T165 is will sometimes come in fine, and other times the front panel light/information will show it's locked-in, but then I get a blue screen and the infamous "Hello" message on the front panel display. In these situations the picture never comes up on the screen. Doing a channel up will usually unlock the device and a channel down will usually bring in 39.1 on a second attempt. When it comes in, the signal strength is very good. Could the heavy snow have something to do with this?

On a second note, I'm also trying out a Zenith HDV420 at the same time. The Zenith doesn't seem to be inflicted by this problem (but has some other issues).
We have checked and all normal with WSBK-DT.

- Bob

Thank you Bob.

Your response leads me to believe the SIR-T165 is at fault here. My experience with it over the past couple of weeks is that it's high level feature set and image quality are excellent, but it has a number of bugs/faults/inconveniences. Kind of like a temperamental sports car.

Just a heads up, tonight's Chronicle is in HD. From the website

"Monday, Feb. 17: Treasures Of The Trustees
Some are well known, others obscure. But all of the 94 properties of The Trustees of Reservations provide places for recreation, inspiration and solitude.

Tonight, Chronicle takes you inside these intriguing preserves, from Bartholomew's Cobble in the Berkshires to the Crane Estate on the coast in Ipswich. And we'll show them in their full finery in HDTV. "

On cable today (ATT/Comcast), 802-Local Access
805-DWCVB
807-DWHDH
870- HBOHD
877-SHOHD
Hope well see 804.838.and 856 as well as a spot for ESPN-HD

Called Comcast, got new HD box for install in a week. Call now.....
HD box is $2 month than Standard Digital Box with 15.95 one time set up charge

I lost reception to HBO-HD, SHO-HD, and PBS-HD. Now I only have
WCVB-Ch. 5 and WHDH-Ch. 7 with my QAM tuner. I can understand HBO and SHO but why PBS?

Most likely because today is the roll-out date for Comcast and they only have contracts with 5 & 7 for free distribution. HBO and Showtime are most likely encrypted now.

I called 1-888-comcast and got an install date for this Thursday (2/20). I think there is an articale in the Boston Globe about the roll-out of HDTV via Comcast in the Boston area. I'll have to do another post this week after the installation.

Originally posted by mgpt6
Called Comcast, got new HD box for install in a week. Call now.....
HD box is $2 month than Standard Digital Box with 15.95 one time set up charge

mgpt6 - Does this mean that Comcast is officially rolling out cable HDTV service in your area? Where in Mass are you? I'm in Ashland and as of a couple of weeks ago I was still getting the same "sometime in 2003" timetable.

Thanks,

You should be able to get it, but the only way is to call 1-888-comcast and find out. I live in Dorchester/Boston, so no problem.

Boston Globe article:

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/049/business/Comcast_plans_service_rollout+.shtml

Comcast is coming to my house on Friday with my new HDTV STB.:D

DHP_ I live north of Boston, called the toll -free number. They have special sales rep for HDTV

Hey Bob Hess, I noticed no sound on 4.1 this AM then I saw a test screen for sound calibration, now it is back to normal, what happened? I had to change to channel 12 :( to watch a show this AM.

Jim

Oooh. Well, PBS I'm looking forward to, especially if it's not subject to the same crappy picture on the multicast GBH-DT OTA channel.

Anyone know how the STB will work? Will we have to switch between TV inputs (component vs. S-video, or component 480i vs. component 480p/1080i) when we switch channels from SD to HDTV? Do the STB's have a resolution switch to ouput everything at 1080i?

Originally posted by vfrjim
Hey Bob Hess, I noticed no sound on 4.1 this AM then I saw a test screen for sound calibration, now it is back to normal, what happened? I had to change to channel 12 :( to watch a show this AM.

Jim
Jim,

Our error. CBS did a test this morning of Dolby 5.1 audio. It required a reconfiguration of out satellite receivers and we did not restore the feed in time for Young and the Restless.

Bob

I'LL ANSWER MY OWN QUESTION.

I called Comcast and they will be giving us the Motorola DCT5100 (http://gicout60.gic.gi.com/customer_docs/user_guides/495012-001-a.pdf). A very nice unit IMO. Click the above link to learn everything about it.

Does anyone know if the issue with Comcast carrying CBS/WBZ in HD is a network or a local issue. I've seen posts elsewhere stating that CBS is not on other cable systems but could the local channel put their programming on and blackout the network feed?

I called the comcast 888 number and set up an appointment for this Friday AM. As asked by somebody else above, I need to find out what the outputs are. I'm hoping/assuming that the box has at least component outputs for HDTV. Are there any others, like DVI? I also need to find out if the standard cable uses the same outputs as the HDTV? If yes does this mean my PJ will be resynching between 480i and 720P (0r 1080i) when I change channels?

The old motorola boxes only output DD2.0. Is it safe to assume that at least WCVB DT, SHO HD and HBO HD will be DD5.1? I hope we are not still stuck with stereo.

Originally posted by woz
The old motorola boxes only output DD2.0. Is it safe to assume that at least WCVB DT, SHO HD and HBO HD will be DD5.1? I hope we are not still stuck with stereo.

Actually, you can get a newer model Motorola DCT-2000 than the one you have right now with DD5.1 from Comcast (that's what I have). The newer DCT-5100 HDTV STB will also have DD5.1 on the stations carrying the signal.

The Globe article quoted above makes reference to RCN making moves to HDTV offerings, however, when I called them the customer rep just said they don't have a timetable yet due to "low demand"...

Mark H

Hey, what does this have to do with Boston DTV tower anyway?

[trying to tread lightly here, but]

Ideally, posts related to Comcast HDTV cable rollout could be posted here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=226652

A buddy of mine who lives in southwestern Connecticut just got his Comcast cable service upgraded to HDTV. He is experiencing the same lip sync issues on ABC and NBC as those of us with OTA reception. Sigh.

Anybody seing poor picture quality with the PBS demo loop? I'm watching WGBH (2-2) and I'm seeing faint red lines running accross the screen. It's almost like scan lines on a computer monitor. This is the only channel I'm having trouble with and I'm getting a pretty strong signal.

I've noticed some static in the left channel(via spdif) on 4.1 Tonite, anyone else? I've tried other HD channels and did not have any problems, this occured with my E86 and HiPix Card.

Jim

I also experienced some distortion on the audio on 4.1 last night. I assumed it was something to do with the 5.1 testing Bob Hess spoke about recently. I was also seeing 1/4 second breakups in video. Using my old dtc-100

John

Anyone know what's up with WHDH (42)? Didn't see any HD last night, even though the shows were "In Hi-Definition where available."

Originally posted by jalferes
I also experienced some distortion on the audio on 4.1 last night. I assumed it was something to do with the 5.1 testing Bob Hess spoke about recently. I was also seeing 1/4 second breakups in video. Using my old dtc-100

John
Thanks, guys, for the "heads-up" on this one. We have been doing testing of the new 5.1 equipment required to air the Grammys from CBS. WBZ has been equipped with 5.1 capability for several years now but the CBS feed is new. None of this testing should have affected last night's programming. Nevertheless, we are poking around. We do have a new satellite receiver on-line, associated with the 5.1 infrastructure and this might have something to do with it.

As I have posted here in the past, we have a DTV hotline in our Master Control. If you suspect we have a problem, please call but understand that the operators are very busy and you may have to leave a message. 617-787-7043

- Bob

Originally posted by jckessler
Anyone know what's up with WHDH (42)? Didn't see any HD last night, even though the shows were "In Hi-Definition where available."

For the past month or so, WHDH-DT has been coming in on both 42.1 and 7.1 on my Panny receiver, apparently due to a PSIP/STB incompatibility glitch, although it remaps correctly to 7.1 on my Sammy receiver. Last night 7.1 was blank on the Panny, with a signal but no program material. 42.1 was functioning OK but, as jckessler pointed out, the HD programming was downconverted to SD.

On another front, 56/41 comes in securely on the Panny box, but has been mostly unstable on the Sammy HT-150. Over the weekend I upgraded the Sammy software from ver. 1.8 to ver. 2.0. Very little overall change, except that 56/41 now can't be received at all. The program guide information is available in 10 seconds instead of several minutes as before, but since none of the Boston area digital stations is supplying any program guide information, this is at the moment a useless feature.

I noticed lately on WBZ-DT a new kind of momentary flash across the screen.

It happens infrequently (perhaps I noticed it two or three times Monday night).

It is exhibited as a large perforated block that travels left to right across the picture. The block takes up the lower third of the picture. It happens in a flash so it is BARELY noticable.

Has anyone else seen this? I'm wondering if it is my SRHD5, or in the bitstream. I suspect it is a broadcast artifact as I only see it on OTAHD which for me is primarly WBZ .

Sounds like what I was talking about a few posts ago. Glad it is not just me.

John

I saw it more than a few times last night between 9-11pm. It's like
a green "thatch" pattern. I've never seen something like this on any
of the other local stations.

larry

Also, last night on PBS HD (2-2) I noticed "horizontal noise" especially in
certain colors like red. This morning it was fine.

larry

Originally posted by PooperScooper
I saw it more than a few times last night between 9-11pm. It's like
a green "thatch" pattern. I've never seen something like this on any
of the other local stations.

larry
Has anyone seen this on our 4x3 upconverted programming or just the CBS HD programming? I have not noticed the problem on my home set.

Bob

Bob

I believe it is only HDTV broadcasts

John

Originally posted by PooperScooper
I saw it more than a few times last night between 9-11pm. It's like
a green "thatch" pattern. I've never seen something like this on any
of the other local stations.

larry

Well, I usually see something like you describe (green thatch) on WCVB 720P programming as my STB begins to upconvert to 1080i.
Maybe you're seeing a similar upconversion but one done earlier in the process (CBS maybe?) ? Bob?

Steve Longo
Westford
Dish 6000/8VSB

Originally posted by FAiello
I am frustrated with trying to find an antenna to work for OTA HDTV, so I tried hooking up my AT&T cable to the integrated HDTV and QAM cable tuner on my Mits RPTV. I can get HBO, Showtime, NBC Ch. 7, ABC Ch. 5, and WLIW a New York PBS station all in HD.

I do not believe you are pulling in WLIW from New York. Using an OTA receiver in Randolph, MA, I pull in two PBS stations, labeled 2-1 and 2-2. The first is the Boston's PBS channel's main feed (shows are normally not in HD), the second channel is a HD demo loop from various PBS stations around the country. You will see WLIW for awhile, but then it may be an Oregon station, then a Florida station, etc. In reality, it's a Boston channel showing HD stuff from around the country.

I'm using an RCA amplified VHF/UHF/FM indoor antenna and can pretty much get all Boston channels except channel 7 (42-1). If I play with the antenna I can get it in once and awhile, but not always hold the signal. One the snow melts (hopefully by April) I will be wiring a RS double bowtie with preamp to the attic and hopefully will get all the channels.

Steve,

What you said could be true. I've only had my Zenith 520 pulling in
OTA HDTV for 5 days now. :) I'm using a Terk TV55 laying on top
of my DVD/CD racks against the east wall of my house. Fox is the only
signal problem. If I see the 'thatch pattern' again, I'll try playing with
the different conversion settings on the stb.

larry

Bob Hess,

It seems to be happening only on HDTV programming, nothing happened during the day today on the shows that I watch.

Jim

Originally posted by Bob Hess
Has anyone seen this on our 4x3 upconverted programming or just the CBS HD programming? I have not noticed the problem on my home set.

Bob

I have it captured on last nights JAG. Now if I only had a way to send you an 8.5 GB file! If there was an easy way to extract a subsection of a .tp file from MyHD I could probably put it on a CDROM.

Anyone know of any tools?

-Dave

I got Judging Amy on .ts(approx 8.5gig) files from last nite, it had the(green thatch) issues that you described.

Jim

Originally posted by vfrjim
I got Judging Amy on .ts(approx 8.5gig) files from last nite, it had the(green thatch) issues that you described.

Jim
It is our problem and is associated with a new satellite receiver we are using. We have a fix but, for tonight, we will be switching back to the old receiver.

Bob

Is anybody else noticing audio dropouts on CSI tonight? It's like a rapid pulsing of very short dropouts - very noticable in the scenes with background music.

I am not seeing any other video glitches, and the audio on the commercials does not have the problem.

Craig

I did not notice anything strange with the reception tonight on CSI

Is anybody else noticing audio dropouts on CSI tonight? It's like a rapid pulsing of very short dropouts - very noticable in the scenes with background music

Yep, I did and I called WBZ, they told me that they are still experimenting with the new Satelite receiver in preperation for the Grammy's and they are trying to work out the bugs, atleast there was no "green thatch" pattern appearing tonite, just audio issues.

Jim

Originally posted by vfrjim
Yep, I did and I called WBZ, they told me that they are still experimenting with the new Satelite receiver in preperation for the Grammy's and they are trying to work out the bugs, atleast there was no "green thatch" pattern appearing tonite, just audio issues.

Jim
I watched CSI and did not notice any dropouts on my DTC-100. We were not doing anything that would cause a problem like this. As a matter of fact, all equipment associated with the Grammys was off-line.

Bob

Audio Testing on 4-1 right now...
:-)

-JR

And they just had colorbars! But during the day I do not have a dark room! Rats!!! Whatever happened to stations putting up test signals all night after hours? Please revert back to that.

There is no "after hours" for WBZ. They are 24/7.

yes, i have noticed green thatch flashing on 4.1 lately during HDTV shows. sony 34xbr2. such as last night's CSI. i have not noticed any audio problems but usually i am listening to the analog audio tracks (and was doing so last night.)

Nice job Bob Hess & Crew and CBS. Thankyou.

Stan

Wanted to express appreciation as well for the best station and engineer in the whole USA !! The show is AWESOME - goose bump material !!! Thanks WBZ and Bob Hess for all your efforts - you are the best !!!!!

Originally posted by jalferes
Wanted to express appreciation as well for the best station and engineer in the whole USA !! The show is AWESOME - goose bump material !!! Thanks WBZ and Bob Hess for all your efforts - you are the best !!!!!

Agree %100. This is the best HDTV viewing on my t.v. thus far this year. The 5.1 auido is just as good as the 1080i. From the stunning opening of Simon and Garfunkle up to 'No Doubt' seeing the level of deail in the performers face is well worth the "price of admission".

I'm currently watching via OTA antennae (in house), hardly no drop-outs. I wish Comcast hurries up and adds this channel to their HDTV offerings. I hate switching!!!

Many thanks go to Bob Hess and the staff at WBZ, you guys/gals did a great job at tonites broadcast of the Grammy's and when I called the station tonite to report the signal was not switched back to HD after a commercial break, he promptly fixed the problem within seconds,

Thanks,

Jim

Bob Hess...I am repeating a question here I posed in the Comcast-Boston thread. Do you have any idea when WBZ and WSBK will be added to Comcast (digital of course)? And I agree 100%...the PQ and SQ were fantastic this evening on the Grammys. Congratulations Bob, WBZ and CBS for an exceptional presentation.

Picture Quality on Ch.4 (NTSC) was good when fliiping to the Grammys,but Ch.4 WAS NOT broadcasting in stereo,so no Prologic Surround,jusr Mono. Hope WBZ gets added to Comcast real soon. Was watching some of Alias on CVB-DT. Dolby Digital 5.1 was very good. Picture seemed soft. Is this to be expected on my Sony 36xbr800? Video on PBS Loop on GBH-DT is vibrant and detailed.

mgpt16...picture on 5-1 may appear to be somewhat soft because it is transmitted in native 720p and upconverted to 1080i on your TV.

Benji, could a factor be that the Moto 5100 is upconverting the 720p to 1080i before going to the Sony? mgpt6

mgpt6...I'm not familiar with the Moto5100 but I think I remember reading somewhere in this thread that it will send out a native 720p signal, which you can change in the menu to 1080i to match your TV. If your TV is 1080i (I believe it is)and you are seeing 5-1,then the box is upconverting the signal. A 1080i set will not accept an unconverted 720p signal.

Originally posted by mgpt6
Picture Quality on Ch.4 (NTSC) was good when fliiping to the Grammys,but Ch.4 WAS NOT broadcasting in stereo,so no Prologic Surround,jusr Mono. Hope WBZ gets added to Comcast real soon. Was watching some of Alias on CVB-DT. Dolby Digital 5.1 was very good. Picture seemed soft. Is this to be expected on my Sony 36xbr800? Video on PBS Loop on GBH-DT is vibrant and detailed.
CORRECTION:

Channel 4 WAS broadcasting in stereo. Comcast was not carrying the signal in stereo. We reported it twice to Comcast on Friday.

Bob

Originally posted by Benji
Bob Hess...I am repeating a question here I posed in the Comcast-Boston thread. Do you have any idea when WBZ and WSBK will be added to Comcast (digital of course)? And I agree 100%...the PQ and SQ were fantastic this evening on the Grammys. Congratulations Bob, WBZ and CBS for an exceptional presentation.
Not a clue!

Tell Comcast you want them to carry our signals!

Thanks for the congrats. I will pass them on to my engineering staff who are among the best in the biz.

- Bob

Fantastic job on the grammys. I'm itching to get another 3.1 speakers now.... :)

Even in stereo, the sound was probably the best I've heard on any broadcast, not to mention the reference quality picture.

QUOTE:

Bob Hess...I am repeating a question here I posed in the Comcast-Boston thread. Do you have any idea when WBZ and WSBK will be added to Comcast (digital of course)? And I agree 100%...the PQ and SQ were fantastic this evening on the Grammys. Congratulations Bob, WBZ and CBS for an exceptional presentation.

~~~~~~~~~~~`

The Comcast reps that installed my HD on Fri. said that CBS/WBZ wants to charge them for carrying the HDTV signal, while the other locals don't charge.

Just repeating what they told me.......

Bob, thanks for letting me know that Comcast messed up. I checked Ch,4 this morning, and only the SAP signal is getting through on Comcast. ,still no Stereo. I imagine it sounded great in ProLogic surround from the other posts here

I also thought the WBZ 4-1 Grammy broadcast was great! But my receiver
only indicated it was getting 5.0, no LFE channel showed up. Anybody
else notice this? If not, what would make the LFE not be received?

I am running OTA HDTV via a Zenith 520 with the optical link to my Pio Elite 49Txi. Signal strength was around 80%. Could it be an issue with the 520?

thanks

larry

My Onkyo receiver said 3/2. I only watched the first 1/2hr.

I've got a Zenith 520 as well and noticed that there was no .1 last night during the Grammys

Originally posted by bfriend
I've got a Zenith 520 as well and noticed that there was no .1 last night during the Grammys

Oh the irony... considering Zenith was the sponsor for the HDTV event.

For your reference, my Samsung SIR-T151 decoded 5.1DD for the Grammies. It sounds like the Zenith STB is having trouble decoding the signal, perhaps similiar to the Samsung/WFXT problem a few weeks ago. Samsung owners (myself included) called WFXT and in turn, WFXT fixed their signal. I would suggest that you contact Zenith or WBZ, or both.

Interesting. Nice to see I am not alone. My Zenith has the old 0.8 (I think)
firmware. New firmware will be download via DirecTv sometime next month.
So, it could be the Zenith 520. What was the problem with WFXT's
signal and the Samsung? What did WFXT tweak? Maybe Bob could
check at WBZ. There are some 520's out with the new firmware. Anybody
here have it and can report?

thanks

larry

Bob: BZ-TV4 back in stereo on Comcast. NCAAs will be in 5.1 Surround end of March, hope BZ-DT is on Comcast....

Hi, just read on another thread, that "First to Die" on nbc last night was in HD. But here in Boston it was only 4:3 SD on WHDH-DT via Comcast on 807 last night.

I was flipping channels and saw "First to Die" definitely was 16:9 on Comcast....not 4:3

I didn't see anyone specifically mention this problem above, so....

Although my Integra DTR-7.2 reported a DD 5.x signal from my Panny TU-HDS20 during the Grammy's on WBZ-DT last night, it only seemed to have 2ch L/R stereo encoded??? There was definitely no sound being output from my center front or L/R/C rear speakers. Anyone else notice this?

I've been receiving perfect DD5.1 from WCVB-DT for over a year now during programs like Alias (including last night) so I'm sure its nothing to do with my equipment.

mgpt6 - I happened to flip by WHDH-DT during "1st to Die" and it was definitely 1080i OTA....sounds like a Comcast problem....

Let me add my congratulations to Bob and staff for their excellent work. If we had more like them at other stations more viewers would be demanding HDTV.

By the way, my Zenith 520 was giving a terrific Dolby digital 5.1 sound, with the speakers picking up separate tracks. It was the best sound I have heard on OTA.

Also First to Die was in HD --

I also noticed the lack of .1 on last night's broadcast of the Grammy show. I have the Mits 65511 w/ integrated tuner and the Integra 7.1 AVR. The funny thing is there was plenty of bass even from my Maggie MMGs so I didn't catch it at first until I was flipping around during a commercial. Besides, CBS seemed to have upped the volume because the Grammy show was louder than any other channel. I even rechecked my sub cables and ran a sub test from the receiver. Definitely not the equipment. The good news is that bass on the MMG's is more than adequate.

If my receiver didn't show each channel of DD being received, I probably
would not have noticed. My front L/R are quite capable at reproducing bass.

Metamatt, what's your software version? Your the only person with a 520
who claims to have gotten 5.1 last night.

thanks

larry

Originally posted by PooperScooper
I also thought the WBZ 4-1 Grammy broadcast was great! But my receiver
only indicated it was getting 5.0, no LFE channel showed up. Anybody
else notice this? If not, what would make the LFE not be received?


The LFE channel was developed by Dolby specifically for special bass effects. It does not replace deep bass recorded in the other five channels.

In fact, in their mixing guidelines, Dolby recommends NOT using the LFE channel in music recordings except for rare instances such as recording real cannon blasts in the 1812 Overture and stuff like that.

It would not surprise me at all if the guys doing the mixing of the Grammies simply did not use the LFE channel. There's really no reason for them to use it. I expect very few TV broadcast sound mixes to use the LFE channel. The LFE channel is going to get thrown away for anyone using the built-in TV speakers, so they've got to mix the bass into the five main channels anyway. So trying to mix live music to sound good with and without the LFE channel would just add another layer of complexity to what is already a very technically challenging sound engineering job (real-time Dolby Digital 5.1 mixing and encoding is technically on the cutting edge).

If your system is properly configured with all of your speakers set to SMALL (high-pass), the deep bass below 80 Hz (or whatever crossover setting you have set in the receiver) from all of your main channels will be redirected to your subwoofer. With this "ALL SMALL" configuration, the sub plays the deepest bass from all five channels (taking a huge load off your main channel amplifiers). It also plays the LFE channel, if anything is recorded in it. This is the system configuration recommended by THX and it's available in every Dolby Digital A/V receiver. Very few sytems (probably less than 1%) should be configured with any speakers set to LARGE in the receiver.

Hope this helps.

thanks, hwc, I'm just trying to make sure my 520 is working correctly.
If somebody (like CBS, WBZ) said the that only 5.0 was broadcast, I'd
be happy :). However, I believe, the "hype" was stated as 5.1 and
somebody else here claims they received 5.1. Part of the problem
is some people may automatically associate Dolby Digital with 5.1
and don't realize that you can have Dolby Digital mono (1.0), stereo (2.0)
etc. In fact, someone else in the hardware forum said that same thing
about only broadcasting 5.0 because it doesn't make much sense
to use the LFE. I agree.

So, Bob Hess, if you are reading this. Do you know what was actually
broadcast? 5.0 or 5.1 ?

thanks
larry

Originally posted by PooperScooper


So, Bob Hess, if you are reading this. Do you know what was actually
broadcast? 5.0 or 5.1 ?

thanks
larry
We were configured for 5.1 operation. Absolutely, positively! Whether or not CBS used the channel is a question I cannot answer. We verified proper .1 operation prior to the show in on-air tests.

- Bob

thanks bob!

P. Scooper:

I'm pretty sure that the channel indicator lights on your DVD or other Dolby Processor will light up based on the presence or absence of the proper "flags" embedded in the soundstream. In other words, the guy doing the Dolby encoding is supposed to set a flag in the encoder saying this recording is 1.0, 2.0, 4.0. 4.1, 5.1 or whatever. From what you guys are saying, CBS even set the flag properly for 5.0.

Just because your 5.1 lights are on, however, doesn't actually mean anything is recorded in LFE channel. Likewise, I can't blame CBS (or DVD advertisments) for not advertising "Dolby 5.0". Consumers would be confused as heck by that as "Dolby 5.1" has become what people say when they mean more channels than Dolby Stereo 2-channel matrix.

The more I think about it, I suspect that we will never see the LFE channel used on TV broadcasing except for airing of movie releases. The guys doing the sound mix have to produce something that will play on 2-channel systems, Dolby Pro Logic systems, and Dolby Digitial 5.1 systems. Recording in the LFE channel makes doing that nearly impossible.

Movie production gives you the luxury of mixing a separate Dolby Stereo and Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, both of which appear on the optical film print (and usually on the DVD). That would be impractical on a live TV broadcast. TV audio will rely much more on the 'downmix' capabilities of Dolby Digital receivers.

WBZ will air The Odd Couple in HD on Sunday, March 9 from 5-7 AM. This movie will run on our HD side only.

- Bob

Well, hwc, I'm assuming it was 5.0. The only reason I've been somewhat
persistent to find out is that I know there are firmware issues with
the current rev in my 520. My 49Txi seems to do a good job with
showing the correct number of channels it sees. It even has little
"(((" and ")))" soundwaves that show up around the LFE channel icon when signal
is active. :) I have to check and see if that just means it's currently
sending the sub a signal or whether it means it's sending "bass managed"
signal from "small" speakers. (or both).

larry

ABC is broadcasting DD now and my receiver is showing 5.1. So, I'm
assuming the Grammys were 5.0.

larry

Bob Hess,

I can't wait to watch Enterprise in full HD, any idea how much longer we have to wait?

Thanks,
-Dave

Bob Hess...I can't wait to watch the Red Sox in HD. Any idea when?

Originally posted by Benji
Bob Hess...I can't wait to watch the Red Sox in HD. Any idea when?

I'm not Bob Hess, but I don't believe CBS is scheduled to cover any Red Sox games this season. They haven't for the past few years. We have to hope that Comcast picks up ESPN-HD, and that a Sunday night game with the Red Sox is in HD.

Did anyone notice that WGBH aired "Kiss Me Kate" in HDTV last night?

Their marketing people claim to have no advanced knowledge of when the PBS HDTV feed will transmit actual programming instead of the endless HDTV loop. It was a good show except for dropouts every five minutes. Also. directors need to learn that they can use more long shots in HDTV. We don't need talking and singing heads anymore.


Lee

Jakes,

I think Benji is referring to the fact that the parent company of both WBZ and WSBK (not the CBS network) will be carrying a number of Red Sox games locally so I would guess it is their option about what equipment to use for the broadcast cameras (HD or SD).

Dave

Originally posted by D_Doherty
Jakes,

I think Benji is referring to the fact that the parent company of both WBZ and WSBK (not the CBS network) will be carrying a number of Red Sox games locally so I would guess it is their option about what equipment to use for the broadcast cameras (HD or SD).

Dave

I didn't know that. That's great though... I'd love to see them in HD!

This is the year.