It's you. The transmitter's humming along happily, 100%.

Originally posted by steverobertson
Bob,

No preamp on the antenna. I just find it very frustrating because of all the channels, channel 4 does the best job with HDTV along with CBS. We have talked privately in the past and for awhile it looked like everything was working great up until last week. I know that all the stations are on the same tower and can't understand why all the other ones work great but still have trouble with channel 4. I would think 38 would have the same problem? Could it be the DST 3000?

Maybe you should try an attenuator, if the signal is overloading the receiver, or you are getting multipath, reducing the signal strength might help. I wonder if they make band attenuators so you could only attenuate the frequency used by UHF 30?

-Dave

This is very strange. 38.1 "Channel Not Available" and No signal at all on sony hd200.

38-1 is fine on Mits HD-5.

Well, got it back. had it set on a favotites, which used to map saying 38.1. now it has changed and says WSBK.

Bob Hess must have been up to something recently, or I am just crazy.

Thanks all.

Mr.H,

Thanks for the info.

-Dave

Originally posted by HDorBust
Maybe you should try an attenuator, if the signal is overloading the receiver, or you are getting multipath, reducing the signal strength might help. I wonder if they make band attenuators so you could only attenuate the frequency used by UHF 30?

-Dave

Not familiar with this where do you install it and where can I get one and what is the cost?

Thanks for the advice

They do make TV channel attenuators -- I got one at Stark
for about $27 that can be adjusted for any two UHF TV
channels, or you can set both knobs for the same channel
and get twice the attenuation. I live about 2 miles from
WUNI, which totally overloads my preamp. The attenuator
works great. (Yes, I have both knobs set for channel 27,
and am perfectly happy that their DTV transmitter is
running low power!).

-Bob

RJD,

Question I have is where is it installed?

It is installed at the input to the preamp:

ANT -> *Filter* -> Preamp -> Coax -> Distribution Amp -> TV's

Thanks for the info.

Originally posted by marathon14
Well, got it back. had it set on a favotites, which used to map saying 38.1. now it has changed and says WSBK.

Bob Hess must have been up to something recently, or I am just crazy.

Thanks all.

We haven't done a thing. No changes!

- Bob

Strange, Haunted receiver. Gremlins.

Originally posted by HDTVorBust
Question about the Rhode Island Towers, is there any news on them? Are they still going to start broadcasting May 1st? They are still listed as starting May 1st. I can't wait because I am in fringe area for boston. I can get CBS and ABC and PBS usually, but not fox or NBC.

I have been using the name HDorBust for almost a year now between this forum and another, I don't think it is very nice to attempt to copy it.

-Dave

Bob Hess,

My MyHD PC Card is showing generic program information for WSBK-DT. Any news on when it will contain real data?

Still waiting for Enterprise in HD...

Thanks,

oh jeez...get over it.. I didn't even see yours. I didn't copy it. what are you 12?

In updating my Massachusetts station status list I found some big news at the FCC.

PBS Boston area viewers of WGBH-DT and (soon again hopefully) WGBX-DT may want to read the latest news on simulcast waivers. It involves a pair of stations in Milwaukee, but comments here in this thread where WGBH might see them, could affect both what our stations do, and what the FCC eventually decides to do.

Briefly the issue is should stations like our PBS pair be allowed to do HDTV on 1 channel and say 4 SD programs on the other one, or should they be considered separate as the law currently requires, so they would only be able to do 1 HD degraded and 1 SD on each channel!

And what about after the transition when everything is HD?

Here is where to get the pdf file. Note there were 3 rulings and the section on Milwaukee is the one of interest, especially considering the FCC's comments:

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-03-1292A1.pdf

or for text:

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-03-1292A1.txt

Any one else have a problem with reception of CBS (King of Queens, etc.) last night?

Something up with the atmosphere tonight ? I am getting strong signals from all stations - even 56.1 is up in the 70's - did a scan to see if could get anything new and voila !! - I picked up 53.1 - 53.5 from Norwich CT. That must be over 100 miles from here - wish it was this good all the time !!

All of a sudden my DTC-100 is not mapping Ch. 5 correctly. I have it and my Hughes connected to the same antenna input. I get a 100% signal on the Hughes with no problem, but my RCA refuses to map to 5-1 and I am only getting 20-1. All other Boston stations are mapping correctly on the RCA. And yes I tried a rescan without the antenna, and tried manually re-entering the stations. Again all other Boston stations mapped correctly but WCVB remained at 20-1. Anyone else seeing this problem?

Forgot to add, my promise module is
mapping 5-1 correctly as well.

Yes Benji - I am recieving 5.1 as 20.1 as well on my dtc100 - has been going back and forth the last 2 weeks.

Had real problems last night with channel 20 during NYPD Blue. The video was "pausing" every couple seconds. This didn't seem to affect the local news which came on right afterward, but it made the show unwatchable. This did not appear to be a reception issue, as the interval between pauses was regular, and did not occur on any other channel. I also noticed the remapping problem. I assume the two are somehow related????

jckessler,

I taped NYPD so I could watch the C's, I'll check it tonight but I did notice it took longer to tune in to WCVB (2-3 seconds). The signal meter still read 100 but the delay was only on WCVB, I tried all other locals and no noticable delay.

Dave

In the general scheme of things I suppose it's not important if WCVB-DT comes through on 20-1 or 5-1, but it just makes me feel more HDTV-secure when everything works the way it was designed to work. I also noticed the slight tuning-in delay of 5-1 on my Hughes receiver.

Originally posted by Benji
All of a sudden my DTC-100 is not mapping Ch. 5 correctly. I have it and my Hughes connected to the same antenna input. I get a 100% signal on the Hughes with no problem, but my RCA refuses to map to 5-1 and I am only getting 20-1. All other Boston stations are mapping correctly on the RCA. And yes I tried a rescan without the antenna, and tried manually re-entering the stations. Again all other Boston stations mapped correctly but WCVB remained at 20-1. Anyone else seeing this problem?

I also lost 5-1 last night on my DTC-100. Everything else seemed to be fine.

That's called tropospheric ducting. See

http://www.angelfire.com/space/vk2lrr/tropospheric_ducting_explained.htm
which is a fairly technical explanation.


This is the same phenomena that is creating havoc with some police
departments in New Jersey, as they use the same frequencies as
DT-20 for their radio system. See

http://www.southjerseynews.com/issues/november/m110102a.htm
which also has a simpler explanation of the ducting effect.

Originally posted by j_murdock
I also lost 5-1 last night on my DTC-100. Everything else seemed to be fine.


same here -- CH5 has done something, eh ??

Check channel 20-1; they seem to have stopped remapping to 5-1.

I've now lost 5-1 on my Mits Promise Module. Getting 20-1. Bummer.

I've called WCVB, they're looking in to it.

On a positive note, the Boston area is now the proud owner of 4 new digital stations,on the air, as I type this...44-1, -2, -3, and -4. The signal strength is good, not quite as strong as 2-1, 2-2 and 2-10. Still nothing from Providence.

What a waste of bandwidth

This is the e-mail I just received from WGBH regarding WGBX-DT:

Dear WGBH DT19 & 43 Viewer,


Thank you for your interest in DT 19 & 43. We have enjoyed these
opportunities to share information and updates with you as we continue
testing our digital stations.


We are happy to announce that we will be re-launching the testing of
our DT 43 station following the schedule listed below.


44-1 WGBX Standard Definition
44-2 PBSX East Coast
44-3 PBS Kids
44-4 PBSX West Coast


This testing phase will start 10 am 5/1/03 and will be on 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week, full power, for the next few months.


Thanks for your continued patience as we move ahead with our HDTV
stations. We hope you continue to enjoy programming on all of our
stations!


Sincerely,
WGBH Audience and Member Services



Of course I have no idea what PBSX East Coast and PBSX West Coast are.

SMK

Dear Member Services-

Thanks very much for sending me the announcement of the continued testing of WGBX-DT. Unfortunately, I must register my disappointment that you are operating with four subcarriers of sub-standard resolution. Many of us have counted on WGBH to lead us proudly into the digital TV realm with the stunning high definition broadcasts of which the new medium is capable. We don't need 4 more channels of ntsc quality content when cable and satellite already provide hundreds of channels of mediocrity.

The WGBH DT signal is suddenly compromised by a third subcarrier, substantially diminishing the impact of your HDTV content. You must be aware that nearly every individual capable of receiving digital tv can receive it in hd. Thus, many of us who have made an investment in new equipment are quite frustrated at the dearth of HDTV content. You are doing us no favor by the policy of providing quantity over quality.

In the four months that I have been able to receive you digital signal, I have seen only one program which might have justified my investment--the HDTV broadcast of Cole Porter's, "Kiss Me Kate." Would you please explain why you are lagging the commercial networks to such an extent in HDTV?

Many Thanks,

Lee Eiseman

lee,

Excellant, couldn't have said it better myself

If the could just move the simulcast of analog 2 to 43, and leave 19 at full HD bandwitch, I'd have no complaints.

Originally posted by jckessler
If the could just move the simulcast of analog 2 to 43, and leave 19 at full HD bandwitch, I'd have no complaints.

Looks like they could do that, but only for 6 months. Then the simulcast requirements apply to each station separately, unless the FCC changes this in their review, or they get a waiver.

I also would like full HD for now but I think it should be on 43 to help people in central Mass with 19 analog interference! They clearly don't have enough HD content to fill two channels yet, at least till the government gives them permission to show some of their library of past HD shows! I suspect the copyright laws are killing off television in general here! They had more HD that was super around 2 years ago, at least on channel 57 before WGBH-DT got started!

PBSX East and West are national feeds - I know with Directv they give you that national feed if your local PBS station is not on the bird.

Can anyone else who receives WNDS-DT (35-1) confirm the color issues ? Last night the colors were all screwy, but there was some color... Tonight the color is completely gone, I'm watching 'That 70's Show' right now in complete B+W.... the analog UHF signal on 50 is fine, color is normal.

Is this a WNDS problem or my STB ?

Never mind, speak, and ye shall be fixed. It just kicked back to normal. Their picture still sucks, but at least the color is back.

WCVB told me that their Lucent converter that sends the PSIP data is broken. A replacement is expected in 1 or maybe 2 weeks.

I think you're being a little unkind to WGBH. The thing is that there isn't a lot of HD programming out there. If there was I could see complaining about Ch 44.

As for programming, The Gin Game is going to be in HD this weekend.

I agree that it would be nice to have full bandwidth HD PBS programming, but the FCC simulcast rules get in the way.

One solution would be to temporarily suspend the SD subchannel when WGBH and the PBS loop air the same program, and go to a single full badwidth stream. VPT does something like this.

Just out of interest I did a quick survey of the bandwidth being used by local stations. All signals contain the same number of bytes of data, but if a station doesn't use all the badwidth it puts out stuffing.

Stuffing Vid1 Aud1.1 Aud1.2 Vid2 Aud2.1 Aud2.2 Vid3 Aud3.1 Aud3.2 Vid4 Aud4.1 Aud4.2
Ch 2 3% 21% 1% 0% 72% 2% 1%
Ch 4 7% 91% 2%
Ch 5 4% 93% 2%
Ch 7 10% 88% 2%
Ch 38 20% 77% 2%
Ch 44 1% 28% 1% 1% 19% 2% 2% 19% 2% 2% 19% 2% 2%
Remember that 2.10 doesn't use any additional badwidth, as it is just a remapping of 2.1's elementary streams.

Originally posted by lee eiseman
Dear Member Services-
...
We don't need 4 more channels of ntsc quality content when cable and satellite already provide hundreds of channels of mediocrity.
...
Lee Eiseman

Just FYI, an SD signal can be far superior to an NTSC signal, both because it is digital and not limited by the color spectrum of NTSC. However, garbage in, garbage out, which is mostly true of the PQ I have seen on 2-1. I suspect they feed 2-1 with an A/D converter, even if the source material is digital to begin with.

That said, I would also prefer another HD broadcast rather than 4 channels of SD, or at least 1 SD and 1 HD like 19 is doing. People complain about it not being full bandwidth, but it is still better than SD!

Even 2-3 ED's would be better, widescreen could be shown as widescreen. People also complain about FOX, but 480p is what you get with progressive scan DVD, which is pretty darn good, even on an HD set.

[original posted by lee iceman [/I]

Many of us have counted on WGBH to lead us proudly into the digital TV realm with the stunning high definition broadcasts of which the new medium is capable. We don't need 4 more channels of ntsc quality content when cable and satellite already provide hundreds of channels of mediocrity... many of us who have made an investment in new equipment are quite frustrated at the dearth of HDTV content. You are doing us no favor by the policy of providing quantity over quality.

While I share many of your thoughts, Lee -- I'm not so sure I'm as anti-multi-casting as you. Imagine if every channel in off-air reception range started multi casting in a similar way. From where I live -- CH's 2,4,5,6,7,9,8,10,11,12,21,25,27,38,44,50,56,60,66,68 -- times 4 is 80 channels of content. We could tell the cable/satellite people to go to h*ll to the tune of hundreds of dollars per year! Of course, how many SD's would you trade for one HD?? I think that's the real question and I hope a good balance is eventually reached. Have 19 a true HD and 44 multicast 4 SD's?? Have 30 a true HD and 39 multicast?? I see SD and HD as eventually being like AM and FM. When we want good rich entertainment we go FM -- but AM still thrives while playing an important and useful role.

As it is (with *very* few of us actually having HD sets) on any given night we can watch between 4-8 true HD sources during prime time hours (if you kinda count FOX). Not too bad.

Now don't flame me Lee -- cause as I said I share many of your thoughts and you state them well! But the same technology that will bring us HD could *also* save us a LOT of monthly cable bills.
Hmmmmmmm.

Originally posted by sha_now
PBSX East and West are national feeds - I know with Directv they give you that national feed if your local PBS station is not on the bird.

Can anyone else who receives WNDS-DT (35-1) confirm the color issues ? Last night the colors were all screwy, but there was some color... Tonight the color is completely gone, I'm watching 'That 70's Show' right now in complete B+W.... the analog UHF signal on 50 is fine, color is normal.

Is this a WNDS problem or my STB ?

Yup-- It's Them not You! I can see 50's tower out my bedroom window so I know I'm getting signal! They just haven't quite got the D-side working yet.

ON my dish 6000 channel twenty remaps to channel 4 WBZ but shows WCVB content. Really weird.

Originally posted by Benji
On a positive note, the Boston area is now the proud owner of 4 new digital stations,on the air, as I type this...44-1, -2, -3, and -4. The signal strength is good, not quite as strong as 2-1, 2-2 and 2-10. Still nothing from Providence.

Anybody else having trouble getting audio on these new channels? I get audio on 44-1 but no audio on -2 through -4.

It was all broken up on all - could not watch it :(

Originally posted by j_murdock
Anybody else having trouble getting audio on these new channels? I get audio on 44-1 but no audio on -2 through -4. I'm not getting audio either on those sub-channels with my DTC-100 but no problem with my Hughes E-86 or Mits Promise Module.

43 is one of my easy channels to get. Comes in over a wide arc with my antenna rotor.

sub-channels all had good audio on my Samsung 165 and on my Zenith 420 tuners.

Originally posted by Benji
I'm not getting audio either on those sub-channels with my DTC-100 but no problem with my Hughes E-86 or Mits Promise Module.

Must be a DTC-100 issue then. I guess it's about time us DTC-100 users have some issues. I was starting to feel guilty hearing about all the issues other boxes were having.

There seems to be a definite problem with the WGBX PSIP this evening, that wasn't there yesterday. The are sending out corrupt Event Information Tables (EITs).

This might be giving some STBs problems.

_Paul

I am having a hard time getting a steady siganl from WGBH 19 tonight. I get Hipix readings of 83, then 0, then 50-- it's bouncing all over the place. I live in Concord and my large Radio Shack antenna seems very sensitive to slight directional and pitch settings.

The odd thing is the new 44 multiplexed signals are very strong and rock solid. Aren't they on the same tower? And should I have a smaller non-directional antenna if this is multipath? I would think Concord MA should be close enough to get all channels simultaneously, and I can't.
Thanks!
Spearse

Looks like 46 is on the air, getting a signal but not enogh for a picture. No loss as it looks like it is a shopping channel.

WCVB Channel 20 has been giving me no end of problems lately. STILL getting the "jerky motion" problem, on all non-locally originating programming. Local news and such looks fine, but everything from the network is unwatchable, with repeated video pausing. Hopefully getting that encoder working again will solve these problems.

Was really disappointed that they didn't send out Gladiator in HD, but it probably wouldn't have been watchable anyway with the current problems.

spearse,

Even signals from the same tower can have very different multipath characteristics. Channels 19 and 20 (and 43) use the same transmitting antenna, but I have a much easier time tuning in 20 than 19 at my location, despite their power, location, and frequency being almost identical. I would guess a smaller antenna would be less directional and make multipath interference worse. You could try an antenuator if you think you're overloading the tuner, though.

WCVB just went from HD to STD (Jerky) for Alias. This really is @#$%^

Tim

It's back on in 16x9 HD!

Anyone notice during American Dreams tonite on channel 7.1 that the video was intermittently jerky, not a constant stutter, but randomly and I had a steady 93 signal on my E86.

Jim

Alias is HD after the first commercial.

reception update...
I'm sure everyone here is interested in the hapless Mythical Phenix's (yes, that is an acceptable spelling) reception issues, but I thought I'd toss out an update. I'm in Bolton, with a Winegard HD9095 antenna in my crawlspace. Prior to Christmas, I had relatively decent reception (20-x,30-x,31-x,39-x,42-x and 19-x but only when it rains). After Christmas, reception really deteriorated. I attributed it to all the snowcover we had, and made some adjustments in my orientation to get things back. Well, now that the snow is gone, things are bad again. So, on a lark, I picked up a Zenith Silver Sensor at Circuit City and plopped it on top of my DVD player. Now I get everything I got before (but stronger signals) and also 19-x very reliably. So my ~7 inch antenna beats my 95 inch one. Of course, all of this would be for naught if Comcast had CBS HD on their digital cable...

Anybody else having trouble with the sound on WGBX's digital four-way? On a DTC-100 I get the first one fine, but even though the others sometimes work, usually they just stutter for a few seconds, then go silent. I get all the other stations with no problems (have always left "programming info" off) so I'm wondering what's up.

Bill

Did others find "The Gin Game" somewhat lacking in sharpness? Otherwise, a good show...

Bill,

I had the exact same problem last evening. I get perfect sound on 43-2, but the next three nothing. I was going to post on it this morning. I also have a DTC-100 not using the PSIP guides.

Also, can anyone help with getting schedule information for the other three sub-stations? If PBSX east and west are national PBS feeds, I would like to know what the schedule is as there is sometimes something on those national feeds I might want to watch on a schedule different from WGBH.

SMK

I think at least some of the PBS schedules are here:

http://www.pbs.org/whatson/index.html

Does the West simply lag the East by three hours?

Again wishing they could replace one of these feeds with 2-1, leaving the HD all by itself on 19. :)

Damn simulcast rules...

Originally posted by vfrjim
Anyone notice during American Dreams tonite on channel 7.1 that the video was intermittently jerky, not a constant stutter, but randomly and I had a steady 93 signal on my E86.

Jim

I've been seeing that problem on channel 7 for the last week. Yeah, American Dreams was no different. Random stuttery glitches.

Originally posted by jckessler
There's no NBC HDTV for a while; see the thread in the "HDTV programming" forum...

what do u mean by this???? i couldnt find any thread there about it.

NBC stopped HDTV broadcasts so that they could do more war coverage. However, NBC is back to their regular HDTV schedule at this point.

That was over a month ago when the war in Iraq was going on. NBC has been doing HDTV again for at least 3-4 weeks since that time.

ah i see. well anyway i thought that might be the problem i'm having but i guess not. for some reason i can get every other hd station except channel 7 and WB. i have a radio shack 15-2160 on the roof, and all others come in good. any suggestions? thanks in advance!

i should mention that i live in Peabody. :)

hmm. 43.* seems to have much better signal strength on my tv than does 2.* ! and 43.3 is pbs kids - oh dear, now i need an ATSC tuner for the kids tv too. :|

let's see, the WCVB Lucent PSIP encoder failed! hmm,
too bad cisco doesn't make one yet, it would be way nicer. ;)

in other news, reception trouble with 7.1 continues. but tonight is a bit gray and getting cloudier so it is receiving fine currently. unfortunately i haven't seen an HD Law&Order or Boomtown in many weeks! :(

i see people saying bad things about Zenith ATSC tuner & the forthcoming Zenith PVRs! i hope it's not that bad!

also, i was at my mum & dad's house and saw that RCN in lexington is offering HD ! what do you say JHE - obviously you must try it? and take down your 150 foot antenna mast? never! well, is there a thread for discussing cable HD - sure there is - for those comcast dudes - i just don't know where it is :) clue rental appreciated.

Has WCVB gotten their problems fixed yet?

Hoping to watch NYPD Blue tonight without any video pausing...

No they haven't. Still 20-1 on the DTC-100.

I watched The Practice season finale (2 hours) last night without any problems.

Sunday night I couldn't watch the Alias finale because of the audio/video troubles.

Bob Hess,

How's the VHF testing going out in Chicago?
Any chance WBZ-DT will get to keep channel 4?
Seems like it would be nice if you could just swap 30 and 4 for a week so we could see which works better here!

Also, what are the chances the NAB request to re-do all channel assignements will happen?

Given the trouble folks seem to be having receiving WBBM-DT 3 in Chicago, I certainly hope the low band VHF stations keep their digital channels UHF.

Originally posted by jhe
Bob Hess,

How's the VHF testing going out in Chicago?
Any chance WBZ-DT will get to keep channel 4?
Seems like it would be nice if you could just swap 30 and 4 for a week so we could see which works better here!

Also, what are the chances the NAB request to re-do all channel assignements will happen?

please don't, that means that I would have to install a new antenna to get 4.1, and probably not a small one, so that would leave me with the garbage RI station (IMO) when the finally go live :(

I was hoping that they would not go back to thier original station #'s for atleast 2-4 years...

WCVB-DT now mapping to 5-1 on my Mits Promise Module. It has also started sending programming information, and now along with WHDH are the only stations doing this. Still coming in on 20-1 on my DTC-100 however.

Did a re-scan on my DTC-100 and now receiving WCVB-DT on 5-1 with program information, but unfortunately no picture or sound. I tried punching in 20-1 but it re-mapped to 5-1. I guess it's time to fire off an email to the SE at ch.5.

I live in Hudson, NH. I am seeing some reception issues on WGBH 2-2 (19-2) for the HDTV broadcasts. I was wondering if anyone else is experiencing these problems.

They are either partial frame freeze or pixalization and sometimes complete dropouts of the broadcast. On my SIR-T165 I observed the signal reception indicator and was getting 8 bars (e.g. 1/2 reception level) and observed both frame freeze and pixalization without any loss of signal levels. These occur within about 3 minute intervals with approx. 3-15 events during that period. Occasionally the signal level will completely drop to zero on the SIR-T165 and the NO SIGNAL will be indicated for about 5 seconds and then the reception will return.

I decided to get another STB a Zenith HDV420 to check if it was an STB problem. I am seeing the same issues of frame freeze/pixalization/NoSignal. Also, I get the signal reception quality a little above half-way (in the GOOD range) continuously.

This is puzzling in that the signal quality is apparently Good but HD information on both STB is being lost for some reason. I get perfect reception on all other HD OTA broadcasts from WCVB, WMUR, WHDH and WBZ.

Is anyone else seeing a problem like this one?

Originally posted by jhe
Bob Hess,

How's the VHF testing going out in Chicago?
Any chance WBZ-DT will get to keep channel 4?
Seems like it would be nice if you could just swap 30 and 4 for a week so we could see which works better here!

Also, what are the chances the NAB request to re-do all channel assignements will happen?
Impulse noise is still a serious problem for the 8VSB modulation method that is used in this country. Impulse noise in the analog picture appears as horizontal white dots moving through the picture. This stuff kills the DTV signal. You generally only see it on channels 2-6. The decision as to what channel we will elect to stay on will be a serious decision and I'm sure we will wait until the last minute to make that decision. I will be only one of several votes and would guess that today the vote would be unanimous to stay on 30. As 8VSB receivers get better and better, impulse noise may become less of a problem. I, however, am not an expert in this department.

By the way, it would be insane for us to do test on channel 4 in Boston! There are a few low-band VHF stations, like Chicago, that can be the test cases.

Bob

The PSIP for WCVB-DT seems to be messed up. My HiPix doesn't like it either, no sound or picture.

The problem is that the TVCT (Virtual Channel Table) has the incorrect video and audio PIDs listed. They are listed correctly in the PMT (Program Map Table), but the TVCT should match.

PMT:
PCR PID = 0031
Elem PID = 0031, Video
Elem PID = 0034, AC-3 Audio
AC-3 Registration

TVCT:
5.1 WCVB-DT Frequency = -2147.-4MHz, TSID = 0x0551, Source ID = 1, Program = 1
"Station Address"
PCR PID = 0031
Elem PID = 0011, Video
Elem PID = 0014, AC-3 Audio
I am also seeing corrupt ETTs (Extended Text Tables) in their PSIP.

hmorgan-

i live in amherst, nh and i dont have any problems with 2-2.

Question for Bob Hess, has the FCC allocated any DTV stations to ch.6? If not,when NTSC goes off, will NTSC stations on Ch.6 have to go to their UHF Digital assignment after the transition to free up space for addiotonal FM radio? Thanks

Just to confirm what Mr.H has posted:

F38310, built-in DTC-100: Am unable to tune in 5-1 (20 - channel remaps properly now) and get only a blank screen with no audio. Signal strength is listed at about 75 using a rooftop antenna in Somerville, MA. All other channels coming in fine. --M

Originally posted by mgpt6
Question for Bob Hess, has the FCC allocated any DTV stations to ch.6? If not,when NTSC goes off, will NTSC stations on Ch.6 have to go to their UHF Digital assignment after the transition to free up space for addiotonal FM radio? Thanks
I am not responsible for a station on channel 6, and never have been, so I have not been keeping up with what has transpired regarding channel 6. What I do know is the following:

1. There are DTV stations allocated to channel 6 including one in New Haven, CT.

2. There has been at least one proposal to reallocate channel 6 (82-88 MHz) from the television service to the FM radio service, thus expanding the FM band. I do not recall if the FCC ever released a decision on this proposal.

As far as I know, as of today, an analog station operating on channel 6 has the right to remain on channel 6, in a digital mode, after analog television is shut down.

- Bob

WCVB-DT has turned off PSIP in their signal. Sound and picture is back, but it does mean they won't map to 5.1 until they get it fixed.

_Paul

Bob, thank you for your response. Hope CBS and Comcast have a deal soon,look forward to your fine work on WBZ and hopefully,UPN 38 as well.
mgpt6

Thanks guys... I thought the WCVB 5.1 channel was something wrong with my set... I'm glad to see I'm not the only one having trouble with it lately.

Also, I'm having the problems others have reported about WGBX... I get the first subchannel fine, but no audio on the other subchannels on my DTC-100... But my MyHD card in my PC gets the audio fine.

I can also confirm that as of this morning I received audio only on wgbx 44-1, the other subchannels came through without audio. Will check WCVB-DT this evening. --M

WCVB-DT now apparently functioning at 100%! The PSIP program information is showing actual details, as well as the program, unlike WHDH, which shows no details. It would be nice if all the DTV channels would follow Ch. 5-1's example. I am able to access this through my DTC-100.

Is something going on? Agency is breaking up like crazy for me.

No problems during the District or the Agency here.

I called the station and all is fine there. I rotated my antenna a bit and it was fine. Odd... I haven't needed to move my antenna for a long time. Oh well.

Can anyone recomend a good antenna guy for the Walpole area

Thanks in advance

I'm having issues with WGBX- every time I tune it in, my set(Mitsu WS55859 with integrated tuner) resets. at first I did recieve it fine- all 4 feeds, but over the past week, no go. This is only happening on WGBX (43/44)


Is it me or are Red Sox games on WSBK-DT still awfully soft? I'm expecting pristine with essentially studio monitor quality as I recieve on other stations, even with their SD material.


Tim

I am with you I think the games on 38 are very soft as well plus I hate the score box that they use it is way to big and ugly

Tim,
Same reset problem on my Zen DTV1080 last week with 44. [A problem with the stream that is apparently not affecting all STBs.]
I haven't tried it since then.

Keith

Then I guess it's till happening. I got hit by it yesterday.

Anybody have contact info for engineering at WGBH/WGBX?

Tim

Tim...I'm not having any problem with 44 on my Mits tuner, but not getting any audio on my DTC-100 on 44-2, 3 and 4.

As of last night no WPRI (13) yet. I think that when the begin testing, I'll get them as I'm roughly 10 miles from the transmit site and recieve their analog with my UHF only yagi- that's pointed toward Needham.

I believe that they are officially awating their permit to begin transmission along with WNAC.

I would expect that at this point, they are all more or less ready to flip the switch.

WLWC is listed as awaiting their permit too. Does that mean that the DTV gear is in place and about ready (Bob?) I'm closer to 5 miles from their transmit site, and suspect that even at 1Kw I could get them just fine!

As an aside, and probably worth a new thread, What will happen to all of these Analog transmitters when they get turned off? Will DTV signals be moved to the heights that are being used now for Analog, or will the transmit antennas be simply abandoned in place. I'm not very knowledgeable about being able to reuse a transmit antenna for a different frequencies, or if they are tuned for their assigned frequencies or not.

Tim

I suspect that the problem some tuners are having with 3 of the Ch. 44 subchannels is that the "AC-3 audio descriptor" is missing from the Program Map Tables (PMT) for those subchannels. This descriptor describes the type of audio stream, frequency, channels, etc.

The first entry below is for 44.1, the second is for 44.2
PMT:
PID = 0020, length = 93, version = 1, section = 0/0, Program = 2
ATSC Registration
Smoothing Buffer: Leak Rate = 19392400 bits/sec, buffer size = 2048 bytes

PCR PID = 0021
Elem PID = 0021, Video
Captions: eng
Video stream alignment: video access unit
Elem PID = 0024, AC-3 Audio
AC-3 Registration
Complete Main, 48KHz, 2/0 channels
Languages: eng
Elem PID = 0025, AC-3 Audio
AC-3 Registration
Complete Main, 48KHz, 2/0 channels
Languages: eng

PMT:
PID = 0030, length = 52, version = 8, section = 0/0, Program = 3
ATSC Registration

PCR PID = 0031
Elem PID = 0031, Video
STD: leak valid flag = true
Elem PID = 0034, AC-3 Audio
AC-3 Registration
Elem PID = 0035, AC-3 Audio
AC-3 Registration

Help! I am suddenly having a hard time with pixelations of several channels. I have had rotate my antenna (channel master quad bowtie in attic) which usually helps reduce it but I didn't use to have to rotate it at all. What is going on? Is it possible that the leaves on the trees are cuasing interfernce with my OTA signal? I don't live that far from the towers (I live in Wellesley). I am not sure what to do.
Thanks,

It could very well be the trees I have noticed channel 4 giving me problems again

Yep. 4 was particularly troublesome last night. Am I going to be cursed and have to go with Comcast HDTV? They have no HD CBS and their SDTV is lousy. I find DirectTV and OTA to be a fine combo...when it works. My wife can't understand why I go through all this. Sometimes neither do I.

elbig,

Sounds like we have the same wives I am actually having someone come out and move my antenna hopefully next week. It is really strange that channel 4 and 38 are the only one's that give me problems. I am with you knowing what I know now I probably would have waited I have spent way to much time and money trying to get this whole thing working right. I even have 3 18 inch dishes installed now

I agree 4 and 38 are the most troubling right now. I wish I had known when Comcast was going HDTV. I just installed all this in January. I couldn't get any good info about HD cable back then. Oh well. I have so much invested in the current setup I want to make it work. Maybe I can sneek in HD cable and my wife won't notice... yeah right!

The problem with comcast is they don't offer these stations from what I have been told this like this throughout the country and of course this is the best station for HDTV. I agree with all the money tied up in Directv if I was to bring cable in now I would be in divorce court tomorrow. Do you live in Boston? or the burbs?

Wellesley.

Boy you should be able to use a coat hanger to get the digital channels

I agree. Everything has been fine until recently. I checked the antenna. All the leads seem to be fine. I am puzzled. I used a silver sensor indoor while I was waiting on the channel master. It worked reasonably well at the time.
It's frustrating for sure.

Could your antenna be out of position? Also mine was not secured as tight as it should have been to the house and when it's windy I notice my problems starting. I also have a tree branch that is over hanging the antenna which could be part of the problem. I am biting the bulit 1 more time to see if I can get this problem taken care of it is the last piece of the puzzel to having full cpability of the wonderful world of HDTV. I just put in my 3rd 18 inch dish to get SAT C so I am ready when Directv gets their act together whenever that is.

I have my antenna in my attic on a rotary so I can adjust it. I never had to move it after my intial intsall until now.

BOB HESS: Could the leaves on the trees be my problem? I hope not because there is not much I can do about it.

Good luck with it hope you find a solution

Reception tonite was especially weird, meaning, I had the strongest signal on my E86 that I ever saw, all channels were between 93 and 100, including WLVI(41)! (and I did not have to move my rotor!) I am betting this is not normal and I should not get my hopes up, but was wondering if anyone else experienced this tonite?

Jim

Jim...I am by no means an expert on this subject, but I believe this is an atmospheric condition called troposheric ducting that allows us to receive unusually strong signals at certain times. Chances are that everything will be back to normal by tomorrow morning. I don't normally receive Ch.s 25 or 66, but are receiving both right now.

Bob Hess,

From the FCC STA for WPRI-DT, with their spot beam aimed out over the ocean, it looks like they wound up with your old 4 KW satellite dish you started with! And from the height it looks like you supplied the transmission line as well!

If this is the case thanks for recycling.

Wow, that's depressing for me if people in Boston aren't getting good reception.

I'm all the way out in Shrewsbury and 4 and 38 are the BEST signals I get. NBC (7) is fine too... but ABC only comes in on occassion. I can get nothing on Fox or WB.

PBS has been so weird! At first, I got the PBS-HD beautifully. Now I barely ever get it. I got 2s station fine at first as well, but now the same thing. Almost never. But just the other day 44 started coming in great.. athough I never seem to see ANY real HD on it.

Originally posted by jhe
Bob Hess,

From the FCC STA for WPRI-DT, with their spot beam aimed out over the ocean, it looks like they wound up with your old 4 KW satellite dish you started with! And from the height it looks like you supplied the transmission line as well!

If this is the case thanks for recycling.
WPRI is a CBS affiliate, but not an "Owned and Operated" station. In short, other than being a CBS affiliate and a news sharing partner, we have no connection with them.

By the way, we never operated on satellite. The original antenna was a panel antenna, not much bigger than a Channel Master 4228, mounted at the 500 foot level of the tower. The antenna was beamed at Boston.

Bob

Originally posted by elbig
BOB HESS: Could the leaves on the trees be my problem? I hope not because there is not much I can do about it.
This could very well be the problem.

- Bob

Originally posted by Bob Hess
WPRI is a CBS affiliate, but not an "Owned and Operated" station. In short, other than being a CBS affiliate and a news sharing partner, we have no connection with them.

By the way, we never operated on satellite. The original antenna was a panel antenna, not much bigger than a Channel Master 4228, mounted at the 500 foot level of the tower. The antenna was beamed at Boston.

Bob

Guess it's the "Eyewitness News" that makes you look connected. And didn't mean to imply you were on satellite.
I just think of your old start up antenna as a dish, since so little signal reached me. Guess a panel would attenuate pretty much also at 90 degrees or beyond.

So it's just a coincidence that our two area CBS stations started out with a unidirectional antenna beam.

Oddly enough my OTA reception problems has gone away. I haven't done anything in particular but my antenna is pointing a bit different than before. I can receive all my HD OTA as before. I live quite close to the towers so I have no idea what was causing the problem. I am not complaining however. I am glad to be back.

Me too elbig. The HDTV gods must be smiling on us.

The spot beam explains why I cannot recieve WPRI in Taunton. I'm les than 15 minutes drive from the transmit site.

Tim

The spot beam explains why I cannot recieve WPRI in Taunton. I'm less than 15 minutes drive from the transmit site.

Tim

Tim...What makes you think WPRI-DT is on the air yet?

Just from reading here- I have not picked it up on my TV yet so they are either Off the air or transmitting directionally away from us.

re: WPRI-DT

I don't think they are on air yet.

The FCC database lists their STA in the station search, but it does not show in the applications search as anything except a filing so something must still be in process.

Note: They now show it aimed at Providence instead of toward the Atlantic Ocean. It will still be a problem for RI viewers to the south. I am wondering what the remaining problem is.

Maybe this week there will be some movement. Thurs and Fri seem to be DTV days at the FCC.

Has anyone else been having problems with WFXT breaking up?

I live in Pawstucket and have two DTC-100's with a RS antenna in the attic and keep program guides turned off. I have always gotten excellent reception on all the Boston stations. WFXT has come in about 55 to 65 on the antenna meter since I hooked everything up. Two weeks ago I started having a few break ups during 24 (to be truthful it's the only thing I watch on WFXT, so there may have been more problems than I have seen). The meter still shows the same high 50's for signal strength, but it is fluctuating more than usual. When I first tune to the channel, the receiver locks on for the first minute or so, then I start getting audio and video break up. I thought it might be a problem with the trees leaving out, but I know last summer I had absolutely no problems with WFXT. I have not changed antennas, position, etc. All other channels have always been coming in fine with no problems. In fact, just about this same time, for reasons I can't understand, WLVI's signal strength has increased to the high 40's low 50's and I can actually watch it. Even with those low signal strength numbers, it never breaks up.

Any thoughts? Is anyone else having trouble with WFXT?

TIA

SMK

Bump

For some reason the above post did not "reset" this thread to the top of the list.

Any ideas?

SMK

SMK,

We've had a very wet spring. Wet ground gives you different multipath at your antenna and often causes some stations to get better and others to get worse.

Channel 31 has been stable and glitch free every time I watch lately (which isn't too often but I do watch a little each week.)

When the ground is wet I generally have to aim my antenna an extra 10 degrees counterclockwise for most channels. This effect will vary at each location but I have yet to find anyone that gets stable signals on all channels, all the time from one antenna aim, among the people I know with digital tv. Anybody that does is very lucky.

Originally posted by jhe
When the ground is wet I generally have to aim my antenna an extra 10 degrees counterclockwise for most channels. This effect will vary at each location but I have yet to find anyone that gets stable signals on all channels, all the time from one antenna aim, among the people I know with digital tv. Anybody that does is very lucky.

This is the whole problem with OTA DTV as I see it. It's too much trouble to tune in!!! Why can't DTV signals be picked up as easily as analog TV signals? I don't get it? Can someone please explain the theory to me? My cell phone is always on digital and has no trouble with signal loss no matter where it is pointed...

I was also having issues w/FXT.

I figured it was the rain but maybe not.

Originally posted by Jakes
This is the whole problem with OTA DTV as I see it. It's too much trouble to tune in!!! Why can't DTV signals be picked up as easily as analog TV signals? I don't get it? Can someone please explain the theory to me? My cell phone is always on digital and has no trouble with signal loss no matter where it is pointed...

Be interesting to know just how bad it really is. I see lots of problems listed here, but there could be lots of people with no trouble that don't show up here at all.

But as to your questions:

1 There was the old fight over 8 VSB and QAM. I won't rehash it here, but 8 VSB was chosen for us either because it is better due to it's longer range, or because Zenith was backing it and was at the time a US company and HDTV was going to save our economy. Take your pick.

Problem is 8 vsb can't handle multipath well yet but it has gotton better and should improve more with better tuners.

The result for us today is we have a great system for people in the country without major hills, and a less good system for city dwellers, as I understand it. But the new distributed transmission systems and better tuners should be able to fix these two problems soon, and cut station electricity costs as well.

2 Multipath is a problem with analog tv too. At my location there were several channels virtually unwatchable due to ghosts and I had annoying ghosts on most channels. But with digital you get a blank screen. With ghosts you can watch and just learn to ignore them.

I have found DTV to be overall easier to get than analog TV, if you want a really good picture. I have some glitches, but I have eliminated the ghosts as well as the snow I used to see on the distant ones. For me the perfect picture is worth a few more hassles. To get a watchable mediocre picture you could say analog is easier.

3 When people call me on cell phones in their car the signal regularly fades out and they have to call me back when they get out of a valley. If you live on a hill you will likely have no trouble with tv either.

Besides, telephone is very low bandwidth. Our tv system could be made just great if we were willing to do without HD!

4 Looks like most people got hooked on cable and got out of the habit of using antennas. So people either try to use indoor antennas or the cheap junk at the local store and then wonder why it doesn't work very well. Back when everyone used antennas towers and 30 ft rooftop masts were common where I lived, just to get a very snowy picture. You don't see many today anywhere. When you see an antenna now it is typically on a chimney mount with a 5 ft mast.

Then you have web sites that suggest wrong antennas for people, that claim a medium fringe with amplifier will get stations at 100 miles away!

Bottom line it is a pain in the neck and I hope someday Directv carries the HD locals.

Originally posted by steverobertson
Bottom line it is a pain in the neck and I hope someday Directv carries the HD locals.

:) I'd prefer cable.

Thanks jhe. I can get all stations with my indoor antenna, but I get sick of having to get out of my chair and turn the damn thing to watch some of the stations. Unfortunately, an outdoor is not an option for me since I rent. Oh well.

I have both because the outdoor one is not dependable especially with channel so if I am having trouble I switch to the inddor silver sensor that I just picked up. Not sure that this is much better still need to play with it but it works almost as good as the outdoor one from what I have seen so far.

JHE's answer is well thought out. Bottom line is that improved receiver, antenna and encoding technology should greatly improve DTV reception in the future. In addition, every station should be carried by cable since we are in a cable universe.

Remember, we are all "early adopters" and this is still a new technology that needs to mature. The broadcasters, cable companies, and manufacturers are beginning to work together which should also improve things in the future.

Bob

Originally posted by Bob Hess
JHE's answer is well thought out. Bottom line is that improved receiver, antenna and encoding technology should greatly improve DTV reception in the future. In addition, every station should be carried by cable since we are in a cable universe. Bob

That's what I was waiting to hear Bob. Now tell me when CBS will be on cable and then I can put my STB on ebay.:D

Originally posted by Jakes
:) I'd prefer cable.

Thanks jhe. I can get all stations with my indoor antenna, but I get sick of having to get out of my chair and turn the damn thing to watch some of the stations. Unfortunately, an outdoor is not an option for me since I rent. Oh well.

Seems like somebody should make a silver sensor rotator! I've been tempted to try the Jensen remote control rabbit ears for my old analog tv set, but have seen nothing else yet, and I doubt that would work well on digital.

TV Technology keeps talking about new antennas that get feed back from the tuners and adjust automatically. Seems that would be a big step forward. These are supposed to be available in indoor and outdoor versions.

At my location, I've found digital to be much easier to deal with than analog. Partly because VHF signals get into my apartment very poorly (facing away from Needham, in a concrete building), but I find my UHF digitals much easier to watch than ghost-ridden UHF analog signals. (Analog 44 looks particularly bad).

I do have to play around with my antenna for different stations at different times, but I've always had to do that for analog reception as well. Digital dropouts can be frustrating, but occasional dropouts are less distracting to me than constant, lousy reception.

I had the HD100. I received 5.1, 2.x, and 38.1 very well. I would get 4.1 by tuning the antenna, channels 7.x sometimes, and 25.1 and 56.1 rarely. Occasionally drop outs or bad weather would prevent reception. I bought the HD200 on EBay almost a month ago. I now get all channels except 56.1 without moving the antenna at all. I am receiving the channel so well I am returning my cable box today. I like the HD200 with the new features and OTA and D* without switching. The cable box was the 3100 and the 3250 will not be out in Shrewsbury for awhile. Now, If ESPNHD would show up on D* I will not need to go back to cable in the fall.

Tom,

How much was the HD200 I think some of my problem may have something to do with the DST 3000

FYI here's how the tuners I've used rate for reception in difficult conditions:

Worst to Best

DTC-100 RCA(got 57 about 50% of the time barely watchable)
TU-DST50 Panasonic
150 Samsung
165 Samsung (gets 57 best, about 90% of the time watchable.)
420 Zenith (Best on locals, esp after a rain storm.)

========
I should note the Panasonic 50 is no longer viable, due to
problems from multiple audio streams like channel 19 has.

Every report seems to indicate the newer Sony/Zenith and Samsung boxes require much less signal to lock, and handle multipath better.

I had big multi-path problems. The HD200 handle this much much better. I have checked or watched FXT for almost 4 weeks without a hiccup. I got the hd200 for a total of $ 625.

I have read where this and the Zenith are good boxes I am amazed that you can pull in Fox from out there I am about 10 miles from the towers and can't get a good locked on signal. But I really don't care about Fox other than football season and even then I will watch CBS or Sunday ticket first.

JHE,

Thanks for the information. I assumed the problem was multipath, but I didn't understand what was different that it was not a problem last summer. I guess the moisture could be the difference, if wet ground really does reflect the signal more strongly. Obviously, last year was a drought. I will try re-positioning the antenna and see what happens.

SMK

I would agree that my Zenith is a lot better at locking on channels
than my older Panasonic. I have multipath problems with ch. 42,
but the Zenith doesn't have a problem while the Panny loses lock.
The Zenith is also a lot more forgiving about PSIP problems too.

Originally posted by jhe
FYI here's how the tuners I've used rate for reception in difficult conditions:

Worst to Best

DTC-100 RCA(got 57 about 50% of the time barely watchable)
TU-DST50 Panasonic
150 Samsung
165 Samsung (gets 57 best, about 90% of the time watchable.)
420 Zenith (Best on locals, esp after a rain storm.)
Funny, I have tried almost all of them at my house and I keep going back to my trusty DTC-100. The Panny TU-DST52 might be a shade better than the DTC-100. Just my unscientific opinion.

Bob

I've tried pretty much all of the tuners (satellite-hybrids only) and I still find the Hughes E-86 the best. The DTC-100 is a close second and probably the most trustworthy at doing what it was designed to do, which is considerably less than the others.

Bob,

I am sure each location will be different. My multipath is very bad and for channel 57 it is very dynamic as well. (Some weather conditions I have to get it by aiming at the bounce off a nearby hill!) The RCA and the Zenith could not handle this well. Sensitivity wise the RCA was quite good.

I have had problems with the RCA however and also the Samsung 165 from analog signals preventing me from adding a digital channel. This happened often on channel 30 back when you were at 4 KW. It took me several weeks before my Samsung would see channel 29 over the analog 29 from somewhere. I got very sick of re-scanning after being tuned to the wrong channel in the summer and turning my antenna past Hartford! That was the main reason I switched.

As for why I rate the Zenith tops in the group: Currently they are about equal most days except when multipath gets very dynamic on 57 and then the Samsung excels.

The Zenith beats it in two other ways however: Antenna aim is far less critical, and with wet ground both work, but virtually all winter the Samsung could not get glitch free reception on 41 at all, and many nights 19 and 42 were troublesome. I attribute this to the Zenith handling the extra multipath reflections from snow.

Note that with my troublesome channels 19, 41, 42 and 57 each tuner has required a different aim! When the antenna is positioned for perfect reception on one, another may get only a blank screen.

Also note: channel 30 now always works the easiest. But even for channel 20 I usually have to re-aim, except with the Zenith.

Me too [with good DTC-100 reception]. I'm in one of those lucky locations where an external, chimney mounted (6 stories up), multi-element UHF/VHF antenna has a horizon view just a couple of degrees apart of all three of the Needham antennas through a nice slot between tall buildings. The DTC-100 does them all from one position; haven't adjusted it since I put it up 3 yrs ago. Now if 'GBX would fix that audio problem that the DTC-100's can't tolerate...


Bill

I've been pretty lucky too. After some initial setup issues, I haven't had to re-aim my attic mounted antenna for well over a year. The Sammy T150 I use has been pretty good, though ABC PSIP stream causes it to lock up from time to time like Fox's used to. Of course, there was a 2 week period this past winter when I couldn't receive NBC.(probably due to the amount of snow we had...?)

mike

Originally posted by Benji
I've tried pretty much all of the tuners (satellite-hybrids only) and I still find the Hughes E-86 the best. The DTC-100 is a close second and probably the most trustworthy at doing what it was designed to do, which is considerably less than the others.

I choked when I read this, my E86 SUCKS for sensitivity and the DTC-100, Samsung TS160, HiPix card ALL blow it away for reception, the E86 is the ONLY box that makes me constantly move my antenna and I would trade it to anyone that would give me a DTC-100 with a Transcoder (I miss my DTC-100).

Jim

I had significant dropouts here in Southern NH when I had a 4228 in the attic (with my Toshiba DST-3000 - E86 clone). I was getting a signal through some fairly dense trees.

I had another 4228 installed on a 20 ft mast with guy wires and roter. Occassionally I have gotten dropouts, and I have had to adjust the antenna position. One thing I found is that I was originally about 30-40 degrees off-beam, I was getting great reception most of the time, but 7-1 was rarely watchable. Once I adjusted the rotor I found a position that gets me all of Boston except 56-1

With the current position, I haven't seen a dropout in ages, and I get 7-1 at mostly full strength. I don't think the brake is too good on the CM rotor, so after high winds I might have to tweak the position.

If you have a signal meter and see the signal bouncing around a lot, I would suspect multi-path, try rotating the antenna to a position where the signal is steady, it doesn't have to be 100%. I can receive with a 40% signal or more. At this moment, FOX is between 51 and 58 and getting great reception with no dropouts.

Originally posted by vfrjim
I choked when I read this, my E86 SUCKS for sensitivity and the DTC-100, Samsung TS160, HiPix card ALL blow it away for reception, the E86 is the ONLY box that makes me constantly move my antenna and I would trade it to anyone that would give me a DTC-100 with a Transcoder (I miss my DTC-100).

Jim I use an in-door set-top antenna on a window sill, and get great reception on all Boston digitals (except 25 and 56) with virtually no dropouts. The signal strenghth on my Hughes E-86 is about 30% stronger than my DTC-100 attached to the same antenna. I stand by my statement.

Last night while watching the sox I could not receive 38-1 with the outdoor antenna so I hooked up my silver sensor and bang 80 signal strength. What I don't understand is why only 80 when 4-1 came in rock solid 100? I thoink I am going to have to get used to the fact that when I want to watch channel 4 or 38 I will have to use the silver sensor my outdoor one just does not give me a consistent signal.

The joys of HDTV. Can't wait for the hockey game tonight

Steve,

You're pretty close to the towers; perhaps you're getting too much signal? Radio Shack has 0-20dB variable attenuator you could try.

My Zenith Tuner actually came with a fixed 10dB attenuator, suggesting that overload may be pretty common.

jckessler

Thanks for the advice someone else mentioned this in the past maybe you. The silver sensor worked great last night during the hockey game I think I will play with this for awhile.

I saw some discussion that DT29 was on-the-air. I live
less than two miles from the WUNI transmitter, but my
Zenith 420 was seeing no signal. I was working on my
system last weekend and made an interesting discovery:

I can only receive their signal if I point my antenna (CM4228)
directly at their tower. If I'm off by more than a few
degrees, I get almost no signal (or the signal is cancelled
out my multipath). Interestingly enough, I do not get
any overload, even though I'm using the above antenna
with a 27dB preamp. It should be interesting to see what
happens when they go to full power.

-Bob

Using a new MDP-120 I did get slightly better reception over my Zenith Sat520.

Same antenna, farther away I did get 29-1, broken picture.

Noted Digital 44 multiplexed 4 ways, WGBX, PBS-E, PBS-Kids, PBS-W. Very cool.

Now if I could only get WLVI Digital.

Tim

Tim-
You are also having issues with WLVI-DT? I would suggest writing them a note and letting them know you are having issues.
I lost WLVI-DT on my tuner about 3 weeks ago, wrote them, and then called a week later and they said I was the only person that has experienced the issues with their station. I went from a great signal and picture to great signal and no picture. I think they changed the PSIP and don't know about it. I hope they will fix this soon.

-Brad

My Mitsubishi HD-5 box has died as a result of a DirectTV firmware upgrade, and Mitsubishi has offered me a $500 store credit to replace it (since they don't make it anymore).

I want a HDTV receiver that also does DirectTV, so I'm looking at the Samsing TS160. How has it been for Boston? I seem to recall issues with the Samsung locking up due to PSIP data.

Any one have another STB they'd like to suggest?

Thanks!

-j

Take the $500 credit and purchase the Hughes E-86 box. It's a SR-HD5 cousin but still the best box out there, unless you prefer one of the newer models with DVI and 720p output. My box is going strong after 2 years. I've tried most of the newer ones and returned them all in favor of the Hughes box. I get strong signals on all Boston digitals except 25 and 56. This is with an in-door antenna from 30 miles away.

The Toshiba DST-3000 is an E86 clone. I have been pleased with its stability, so I second the previous opinion. The guide is slow, that is my only real complaint. Most of the problems reported with other STBs never affected the Toshiba.

I also use the MyHD PC card. I think later receivers like MyHD may be more tolerable of multi-path than the DST-3000. If you want to record HD to a PC hard disk, this may be an option for you, but you will most likely want the PC to be dedicated to HD recording (Mine is a Pentium III, 866MHz, 512MB memory). Note that the MyHD cannot play another program while it is recording like non-HD TIVO can.

Originally posted by bbissell
Tim-
You are also having issues with WLVI-DT? I would suggest writing them a note and letting them know you are having issues.
I lost WLVI-DT on my tuner about 3 weeks ago, wrote them, and then called a week later and they said I was the only person that has experienced the issues with their station. I went from a great signal and picture to great signal and no picture. I think they changed the PSIP and don't know about it. I hope they will fix this soon.

-Brad

Brad,

I wrote them and did get a reply that the FCC was forcing them to do low power.

Tim

Question for Bob Hess: Are there any plans for the special July 4th programming, either local or national segments, to be in HD? Watching the esplanade concert in HD/5.1 would be a real treat. The Red Sox game in HD would be a nice touch also. Of, course, I'm assuming WBZ has access to an HD truck. Probably too much to expect.

Did anybody else notice towards the end of the first period in last
night's hockey game on ABC the audio went from DD to stereo and
and stayed that way? No big deal, but when things like that happen
I always wonder if it's something particular to my setup that caused it.

thanks

larry

Bob,

I second Benji's question I know you had mentioned in the past that there maybe a Red Sox game in HD this year any update?

Originally posted by Benji
Question for Bob Hess: Are there any plans for the special July 4th programming, either local or national segments, to be in HD? Watching the esplanade concert in HD/5.1 would be a real treat. The Red Sox game in HD would be a nice touch also. Of, course, I'm assuming WBZ has access to an HD truck. Probably too much to expect.
Well, it pains me to say that we will not be doing this in HD. It all came together too quick. Maybe next year.

- Bob

Originally posted by steverobertson
Bob,

I second Benji's question I know you had mentioned in the past that there maybe a Red Sox game in HD this year any update?
Fenway is being wired with fiber for HD broadcasting. We may still do a game. Just nothing for sure yet.

Bob

PooperScooper,

I also noticed that with about 7:30 in the first period, the audio went from DD to Dolby Surround.

Bob,

Thanks for the update and I guess we will keep our fingers crossed that we can get atleast 1 game in.

How about the Pats this year think there is any chance of seeing them in HDTV?

Steve...Aren't there any Sunday or Monday night Pats games? They will definately be in HD.

Benji,

As a matter of fact I believe 2 Sun night games and 1 Monday night game. I am hoping that CBS does a couple of the Pats games as part of the Sunday ticket. If I had to guess the home Miami game is a 4:15 start so it should be shown nationally and that could be 1 other HD game.

Bob Hess,

I haven't heard anything on Enterprise in HD yet, do you have an update?

Thanks,

Bob Hess,
Is CSI suppose to be DD? It only shows up as dolby prologic for me.

Also, any status updates on channel 28?

Thanks,

Jim

Originally posted by vfrjim
Bob Hess,
Is CSI suppose to be DD? It only shows up as dolby prologic for me.

Also, any status updates on channel 28?

Thanks,

Jim
Jim,

CSI is not offered in Dolby Digital. We pass through Dolby Surround Sound from CBS.

Bob

Originally posted by HDorBust
Bob Hess,

I haven't heard anything on Enterprise in HD yet, do you have an update?

Thanks,
Nothing new. Perhaps in the fall.

- Bob

Was fun to see Everwood in widescreen last night at 8pm.
It was even diffferent from the prgramming on the analog
channel. Then, twenty minutes into the show, a loud click and
we were back to what was on the analog channel.

Looks like they were carrying the West Coast feed until
someone realized it and flipped the switch.

Does anybdy know if channel 5 has fixed the problem with the encoder needing to be reset to stop the blurry picture we receive watching the basketball games.

Steve...I recorded game 3 on my Mits 2000U and it's obvious that ch. 5 still has not addressed that problem. I'm beginning to wonder if they are even aware there is a problem to be addressed. I hope whatever, it's resolved in time for the first MNF game.

Supposedly I read on another thread that ABC NY was to contact them and and the Chicago station to make sure they not only knew of the problem but also fixed it. I have sent a couple of emails with no response. I sure hope it's fixed because it is extremly annoying.

I'm a bit curious as to why it wasn't a problem with the Stanley Cup finals. I realize, there are different crews and different equipment involved but such was the case for the games in Texas and the games in Jersey. Really puzzling.

I don't think it was as bad in the hockey games but I did notice it especially in the firt couple of games. But it is very strange as to why the NBA games were so different. I also think I read where ESPN was producing the hockey games and ABC was doing the Basketball so maybe that is the reason.

Have you tried contacting anyone at channel 5?

No Steve, I haven't. It's not a concern to me until I see a blurry Tom Brady on a MNF game. All the regular ch 5-DT programming looks just fine to me. So I'll let someone else get after them.

I agree everything else looks fine. Well I will fight the battle so that Tom looks good to you on MNF or SNF.

bumping this with some Charter Cable HD info...

I talked with a supervisor at Charter Cable in Worcestor this morning and
they have dropped their HD service due to lack of demand. The cost of equipment was a factor as well.

The interesting part of the conversation had the first level support person
telling me that an additional reason was that the local (boston) towers
couldn't support HDTV signals so there were no local channels to carry.

I pointed the supervisor at these discussions...

That is pretty sad

My counterpart at WPRI says they are on the air testing today on 13-3. Video but no audio.

Bob

Getting a signal strength reading of 44 on my HD-5 in Winchester for WPRI-DT, not bad if they are only low power.

On D* PRI is showing up as WPRI-DT, again it looks like the dash is causing problems w/the APG.

Getting an astounding 100% signal on my Hughes with my indoor antenna, and an 82% on my DTC-100. They are multicasting 12-1, 2, and 3. 12-1 is the HD station with a stretched image and no audio, while 12-2 is their weather radar. 12-3 is the analog convert,complete with audio.

Nothing on the Cape. Bummer.

I'm still getting the signal but no audio or sound now.

Zip in Plymouth as well on both Panny and Sammy STBs, with outdoor antenna on rotor aimed due west at Providence.

yep, 100% signal, no audio and fully stretched video on 12-1, weather on 12-2 and video and sound on 12-3.

Jim

Bob Hess...Do you have an email # we can communicate with to the station engineer at WPRI? Nothing on WPRI's website. I think it's interesting to note that the image I receive on analog 12 is far superior to what I am receiving on digital 12-3. And I am getting an A+ signal strength on my Hughes E-86. I hope this doesn't translate to an inferior 1080i signal once WPRI gets its HD equipment from CBS. When WHDH was broadcasting an SD image on 7-2, the picture was excellent,comparable to its 7-1 channel.

Originally posted by Benji
Bob Hess...Do you have an email # we can communicate with to the station engineer at WPRI? Nothing on WPRI's website. I think it's interesting to note that the image I receive on analog 12 is far superior to what I am receiving on digital 12-3. And I am getting an A+ signal strength on my Hughes E-86. I hope this doesn't translate to an inferior 1080i signal once WPRI gets its HD equipment from CBS. When WHDH was broadcasting an SD image on 7-2, the picture was excellent,comparable to its 7-1 channel.
I'll make sure he knows about this forum. Probably the best way to communicate with the station.

Bob

From WPRI engineer:

thanks, working on some issues, should be at full power in a day or two, waiting on the CBS high def receiver.

Thanks Bob.

I tried getting it last night with no luck on my silver sensor but I have come to expect these things

I sent an e-mail to the WPRI webmaster yesterday, and received an answer this morning from William Hague (assume he's the Bob Hess of WPRI) that the station should be at full power within the next couple of days, and that he's still waiting for the CBS HD receiver.

Sorry, I just realized I repeated information already reported.

That is a sign of old age

Funny Steve (but sadly, probably true). Hey Steve, you probably have your silver sensor on the wrong side of your house. If it were on a south facing window sill, you could probably pick up this signal. Even at 70% strength, it is very strong in Taunton.

Unfourtunatley my south facin window is on the other side of the room. If I run 1 more cable I will be thrown out of the house for sure. I do have a SE window available and I guess when they get to full power that will make a huge difference as well.

Beji don't feel bad I am probably not to far behind you

Let's get our priorities straight here. What's more important a happy marriage or another digital channel? Hope your wife doesn't read this forum.

Oh, and Steve, I won't divulge my age but I went to Virginia Tech back in the late 60's and served in the Navy during a portion of the Viet Nam war.

Now I feel better because now I know I am behind you by a very strong decade. Thatis a good question my wife or TV let me think about that for 2 seconds. I think you know the answer. She wouldn't get on this forum if they were handing out 100.00 bills she thinks this whole thing is ridiculous. She also thought getting the Sunday ticket for the first time was a waste but now she can't live without it.

Weak but locked (mostly). 2 ticks on SIRT-151 signal strength. Small VHF beam to the SE on roof.

Didn't work over the past couple days. Propagation must be good today, or their power has been increased.

Ch 12 - 12.1 - 12.2 - 12.3 all coming in very strong here in Falmouth on the Cape. Signal strength of 82 on my dtc100 - using a wineguard HD8600 rooftop antenna pointed towards WBZ's digital tower

Anyone else having problems with Law and Order on 7.1? I am getting no signal.

I have a signal but no picture on 7.1.

Jim

Bob Hess, is there a problem with WSBK-DT tonite? I have no audio but full signal.

Jim

Has PRI increased their power yet ? No luck getting it just outside of Boston...

Originally posted by sha_now
Has PRI increased their power yet ? No luck getting it just outside of Boston...

Still weak at my house: Pretty much works on one tuner, not on the other.

I haven't had any luck yet from Walpole

Still nothing at all in Harwich

The good news: I get a 100% signal with my indoor antenna facing away from Rehoboth (towards Needham). The bad news: because of WPRI multicasting to 3 subchannels, the quality of the 1080i upconvert pales by comparison to WBZ.

I really don't need the RI station other than when I have a problem with channel 4 which happens from time to time. I hope I can use it as a backup station for those days. I am going to try the silver sensor again tonight seeing that my wife won't be home and I won't have to listen to her complain that I am messing up het tv viewing.

Bob Hess...Do you know Mr. Hague at WPRI? Maybe you could convince him to lose the subchannels, because it appears they are going to badly degrade the HD image once ch. 12 gets the HD receiver.

Originally posted by Benji
Bob Hess:Do you know Mr. Hague at WPRI? Maybe you could convince him to lose the subchannels, because it appears they are going to badly degrade the HD image once ch. 12 gets the HD receiver.

Nah, they can leave the subchannels, I need weather info anyways and other then that I watch WBZ for all my CBS shows anyways, 1 DT channel = much nicer picture :)

Jim...I agree about watching WBZ instead of WPRI but we can get strong signals. There are many viewers of WPRI who may not be able to get WBZ. They owe it to their viewing public to clean up that signal.

Yeah I know, even their SD programming looks worst then WBZ's SD programming right now, must be the subchannels, but like I said, I get same signal to both :)

But you know that unfortunately many channels with sell program spots on their subchannels to fund the stations, and it will make everyone suffer that want to watch it, I expect WPRI to be one of them.(IMO)

Jim

You guys mind if I interject with a total newbie question?

I made may first foray into Digital with my Sony HD100 and Sony KF-60XBR800 for HDnet on DirecTV. I love it and want more now.

I have tried getting OTA HD from the various local stations with no luck. I live in Shrewsbury (next door to Worcester, MA for those less familiar). I have tried 3 different antennas connected to my HD100. I get the extra channels (4.1, 5.1, etc.) when I have the receiver 'auto-program'. I don't know if those channels are added because they are sensed or if it is bacause the list gets downloaded from a master list at DirecTV based on my ZIP code. Regardless, I see nothing on those channels.

The antennas have included the Terk TV55, Terk TV44, and some Zenith arrow-shaped one. Using the information from http://www.antennaweb.org , I thought I had the right antennas for my area to receive at least ONE digital braodcast. None of them worked.

Any help any of you can provide would be MUCH appreciated. Thanks!

MrLANlord,

Read the shrewsbury hd cable thread. There is some info from shrewsbury residents and the type of antennas they used.

Shrewsbury is a good distance from the Needham towers, you'll likely need a larger antenna in the attic, or (even better) outside.

Well, I am considering the Channel Master 4228 antenna and, if I need one, the Channel Master 7775 amp.

I have left a few PMs with what appear to be some of my neighbors on board here (small world). I'm hoping they can get back to me to properly set my expectations.

Thanks...

Samsung TS160 and channel 38.1 Issue,

I was wondering if anyone (except myself) has this issue, I get a voice sync issue randomly, it happens everyonce in a while and I have to change the channel and change it back to fix it. This does not happen on any of my other receivers and maybe it is faulty PSIP info because no other TS160 users have that problem in other areas of the country, anyone have this problem with thier TS160?

Thanks,

Jim

I had that problem with my TS160 the other night, but it was on... I think WCVB instead. Really serious sound sync problem - switched to the HDTV cable box (comcast) - no problem. Switched back to the TS160 - big problem.

Same solution - change channels around.

Probably a question for the Hardware area, but I'm asking it here because in Boston there are so many DTV stations on air and so few on Comcast...

Is there any chance of a cable STB that will allow you to integrate OTA DTV? I use D* now and have all the Boston stations in the guide and it works well.

The boss will not tolerate having to switch inputs to get CBS, PBS-K, etc.

I also had some lip sync problems with my 160 the other night (Sunday or Monday, I forget which). Changing the channels solved it, but it was on more than just UPN38. Regardless, it was short lived and isn't currently occurring.

One other key reason for WPRI to get on the air full power by September... NFL games, and the possibility of alternate out of market NFL games different than what BZ is broadcasting for the day.

Originally posted by MrLANlord
Well, I am considering the Channel Master 4228 antenna and, if I need one, the Channel Master 7775 amp.


This is the exact combination I am using from my attic in Westford(equidistant?) with pretty good success.
I started out with the CM 4248 but found it much too directional;now I hardly fuss with the rotor at all except to chase WHDH(7) once in a while.

Did WENH boost power recently? I'm getting WENH with about 80% of the signal here in North Central Mass, but serious multipath with it as well. Could be due to conditions, but a few weeks back I picked up 24-1 out of VT, even with the antenna pointed at Boston and it comes in every night pretty solid.

-Mike

Wonder what's up with WHDH-DT and the black sidebars? Also has anyone noticed that WFXT-DT seems to be a bit stronger lately. I couldn't receive it at all for a while, but the past week or so, I'm getting a useable signal most of the day, especially in the evenings.

I have been having trouble receiving WENH DT-57 lately. Have scanned and rescanned on my DTC-100 and haven't had a hint of signal in a while. I was always able to get a strong signal under all conditions. I can still get WGBH-DT19 fine -- so I haven't missed anything. Still -- Anyone else having trouble or have suggestions??

I just realized last night I wasn't getting WENH afterall... I've been getting WLED-DT on 49, their sister station/mirror. It has a PSIP of 11-x which is what had me confused into thinking it was WENH. Seems like they changed something recently because it was impossible to watch even at 80% power with what seemed like multipath, but haven't had a problem with it now for a week.

-Mike

Hmmmmmm. Anyone else??

WENH-DT has been working better than usual for me lately.

WENH-DT57 is back! I was able to tune in Sunday Night and I am getting a (fairly) strong signal of 70. I don't think I have changed anything --- and I am still curious if anyone else noticed any trouble the past week or so.


thanks again,
ted

Hi, I am using a RadioShack VU-190 XR antenna with a pradioshack 15-1109 preamp in my Attic in Plaistow NH. I get all the Boston digital stations (19, 20, 23, 30, 31, 39, 42, 43) no problem except WLVI 41

I've tried moving the antenna and all that does is weaken the other stations without even getting a blip from WLVI. So, I've been considering moving the antenna out of my attic and onto my roof.

Now, since I already get all the other stations I care about fine, my only reason for doing this is to get Smallville. Before I spend the money and attempt to kill myself on the roof, what are my chances of getting WLVI in Southern New Hampshire? Can I get a show of hands of people in New Hampshire who've managed to get WLVI?

Thanks,

-Pat

I'd wait. The station is only at 30kW right now, but they're supposed to go to 550kW this fall (although the date could always get pushed back).

I bet when they boost the power, you'll have no problem pulling it in.

Pat...looks like a big goose egg!Don't feel bad. I can't get it in Taunton either.

That is because WLVI doesn't like Hokie's

Originally posted by jckessler
I'd wait. The station is only at 30kW right now, but they're supposed to go to 550kW this fall (although the date could always get pushed back).

I bet when they boost the power, you'll have no problem pulling it in.

Thanks, looks like I will be waiting. I knew they were on low power, but hadn't heard that they had specific plans to increase. Have they gotten FCC clearence?

Originally posted by steverobertson
That is because WLVI doesn't like Hokie's Stop being a hemhroid!

Don't know what the WLVI situation is other than they are approved to operate on reduced power (30kW) through Nov. This is the information in jhe's "Massachusetts DTV Station Status" thread.

I'm assuming they'll increase power in the fall, but I guess it could be a bit longer.

Bob Hess,
I was wondering if there could be a problem with the WSBK-DT transmissions? (I receive all HD channels out of Boston including WLVI-DT and do not have this problem) I use a Samsung SIR-TS160 and lose audio sync all the time but only on WSBK-DT. This occured on other TS160's that I have had in the past (total of 3), but does not occur on my E86, HiPix or MyHD card.

How it occurs is that video and audio are fine, then all of a sudden, I get a glitch and then they lose sync. Changing the channel and back fixes it but it gets to be a hassle. It is not because of the lack of signal because it NEVER fluctuates from 69% on the meter, it is rock steady. Please let me know if you find something out.

Thanks,

Jim

Originally posted by pginty
Hi, I am using a RadioShack VU-190 XR antenna with a pradioshack 15-1109 preamp in my Attic in Plaistow NH. I get all the Boston digital stations (19, 20, 23, 30, 31, 39, 42, 43) no problem except WLVI 41

I've tried moving the antenna and all that does is weaken the other stations without even getting a blip from WLVI. So, I've been considering moving the antenna out of my attic and onto my roof.

Now, since I already get all the other stations I care about fine, my only reason for doing this is to get Smallville. Before I spend the money and attempt to kill myself on the roof, what are my chances of getting WLVI in Southern New Hampshire? Can I get a show of hands of people in New Hampshire who've managed to get WLVI?

Thanks,

-Pat

Can't get it up in Manchester on a hill. I too am waiting for Smallville in HD. Maybe this fall. I think etcary in Nashua is able to receive it.