Does anyone receive true DD 5.1 audio from any OTA stations?

I recently purchased a new TV with an built-in ATSC tuner. I can receive most of the local OTA stations in HD (when they broadcast it), but the audio does not sound like 51 surround sound. The TV has a digital optical output which I connect to my audio receiver's optical input. The receiver recognizes the digital signal, but I only hear audio on the front speakers.

Is this because the stations are not broadcasting 5.1 audio or is there a problem with my TY?

Fox & NBC are the only local stations with DD 5.1

Originally posted by AfricanGrey
Does anyone receive true DD 5.1 audio from any OTA stations?

I recently purchased a new TV with an built-in ATSC tuner. I can receive most of the local OTA stations in HD (when they broadcast it), but the audio does not sound like 51 surround sound. The TV has a digital optical output which I connect to my audio receiver's optical input. The receiver recognizes the digital signal, but I only hear audio on the front speakers.

Is this because the stations are not broadcasting 5.1 audio or is there a problem with my TY?

What shark73 said is correct. I don't receive OTA but on my cable receiver I have to set up digital in the settings as well for it to receive 5.1. Do you have a settings on your OTA receiver?

Not all shows on these networks are broadcast in 5.1.

And welcome to the forum, AfricanGrey!

Originally posted by AfricanGrey
Does anyone receive true DD 5.1 audio from any OTA stations?

I recently purchased a new TV with an built-in ATSC tuner. I can receive most of the local OTA stations in HD (when they broadcast it), but the audio does not sound like 51 surround sound. The TV has a digital optical output which I connect to my audio receiver's optical input. The receiver recognizes the digital signal, but I only hear audio on the front speakers.

Is this because the stations are not broadcasting 5.1 audio or is there a problem with my TY?

I get OTA (and Adelphia). I do get 5.1 audio via my Dish 811 OTA receiver to my Yamaha receiver, on the locals when the program is presented in 5.1 (and on the networks doing 5.1).

-Todd

Anyone having trouble with the WEWS (Channel 5/15) OTA signal? I've consistently had about 75% signal strength for this channel and then this past weekend it dropped to almost nothing! I haven't tried tweaking the antenna yet, but all the other stations are still there so I thought I'd ask. Thanks.

Originally posted by Dweezilz
I get OTA (and Adelphia). I do get 5.1 audio via my Dish 811 OTA receiver to my Yamaha receiver, on the locals when the program is presented in 5.1 (and on the networks doing 5.1).

-Todd

Thank you for your verification that there is, at least, some OTA 5.1 being broadcast. I guess I will just wait for a NBC or FOX program to be identified as being broadcast in 5.1 and check my equipment then.

Originally posted by hookbill
What shark73 said is correct. I don't receive OTA but on my cable receiver I have to set up digital in the settings as well for it to receive 5.1. Do you have a settings on your OTA receiver?

Not all shows on these networks are broadcast in 5.1.

And welcome to the forum, AfricanGrey!


Thank you for your kind welcome and your response.
I do not have a stand-alone OTA receiver, as my television has the receiver built-in. Therefore, there are no settings for turning digital on or off. I just use the optical output from the TV and assume that it would "carry" a 5.1 signal if one was present.
The reason I am asking about this is because my Kenwood receiver only has one optical input so I need to swap cables from my DirecTivo and the television (if there is 5.1 content present).

The optical out from the TV should work fine for 5.1. Most if not all of Fox's primetime HD shows have DD 5.1 and all of the Fox HD NFL games have 5.1.

I'm not a big fan of the shows on NBC, so I'm not sure which shows have 5.1.

Maybe someone else can help you with that one.

WKYC broadcasts all the "Law and Order" shows in 5.1. The Tonight Show, too (plus others I'm sure).

Fox definitely broadcasts all NFL games in 5.1, but the next one isn't until Friday, so I'm sure you can find something to check it before then. Since many primetime shows are in repeats this week, I'm not sure about whether older repeats are also broadcasting in 5.1 on either Fox or NBC.

Hi,


Originally posted by AfricanGrey
. I just use the optical output from the TV and assume that it would "carry" a 5.1 signal if one was present.
The reason I am asking about this is because my Kenwood receiver only has one optical input so I need to swap cables from my DirecTivo and the television (if there is 5.1 content present). [/B]

Dont you just love those Kenwood Manuals?

I have had my Kwood HTIB 606 for almost 3 years now and am just now
finding out how to work it. and also to verify that it is doing what I think it is!

One tip, Grab a test DVD like Sound and vision (From the magazine) . With
a known input mode you can play with the options on the receiver till you get what you want.

Another tip, I can't figure out if my surrounds are running untill I get right up to them and press an ear against them. Maybe they are just turned down.

There is no need to fear the coxial input. they work fine.

I agree if you get a digital stream from the optical jack the AMP should be
able to figure it out.

Welcome to the group, congrats on the new set!

/Dan

Was in Dayton over the weekend and my buddie has T-W. Their HD is pathetic in the northern Dayton area. I think there were only 2 network offerings and about everything else was a premium option (ESPN HD, Universal HD, INHD, etc.)

Thank goodness for Cox. Even the local Fox affiliates 5 o'clock news cast looks great.

Attention DirecTV folks: D* has apparently turned on the Fox HDTV feed in O&O markets. I believe it'd be channel 88 (east coast, probably out of Fox's O&O in NYC).

Since WJW is a Fox O&O, and since there are no major overlap problems with other Fox non-O&O affiliates in nearby markets, folks in NE Ohio should be getting this. Well, aside from those in the relatively small area in the Mahoning Valley covered by LPTVers Fox 17/62. :D

Oh, for those who don't know... "O&O" is industry shorthand for "owned and operated", which in this case means that the network owns the local affiliate.

Hi guys,

This has nothing to do with HDTV but since there are so many Browns fans, I was wondering if someone can give me a summary about why the original Browns moved to Baltimore? From my point of view it doesn't make sense, everyone in the area is very loyal to the Browns despite the fact that they....well....they are not too good.:)

Why did Art Modell move?

Find the book, "False Start", by Terry Pluto (Akron Beacon Journal sportswriter). It just came out. While much of it discusses the new Browns, it also gives background on the old team's move out of town.

Basically, Art Modell needed money and Baltimore offered it.

Has anyone noticed that WKYC-HD has audio-video sync issues.

I have been watching the tonight show and some other daytime shows and it seems that it is almost always there.

maybe it is my setup -- I am using fusion HDTV tuner OTA.

Hey everyone, not sure if anyone mentioned this already, but I just noticed today on Adelphia's message channel that they are going to be adding The NFL Channel HD January 17th on channel 778! That is very cool. I hope they add TNT-HD soon so we can see LeBron in HD!

-Todd

Handsworth mentioned it a bunch of messages back, but it was easy to miss with the large volume lately (which is a good thing!)

Originally posted by electrocutioner
Has anyone noticed that WKYC-HD has audio-video sync issues.

I have been watching the tonight show and some other daytime shows and it seems that it is almost always there.

maybe it is my setup -- I am using fusion HDTV tuner OTA.

I don't think it's your setup, I see the same thing with WKYC, the Tonight Show, WOW cable and the SA8000HD cable box. It's not there all the time though, sometimes the audio sync is perfect, other times not.

When I'm watching a recording and the out of sync thing happens I can sometimes fix it just by pausing, then playing. Other times I have had to restart the show. Sometimes I just can't fix it.

I will say that this happens a lot less with the 8300.

Thanks much, Dan.

Been having lots of trouble configuring 25-10 so it works across several brands of STB.

Gary




Originally posted by intermod
Hey Gary,

Yes! I know its is a little intermittent. I think they use volenteers to read
the newspaper but there is audio on it right now. Sounds like a radio show,
male and female voice bantering about sports.My Info banner says New York Times and they are speaking about the Mets... When there is audio on it
it has always sounded fine.

Looks like dolby 2.0 Signal strenght almost 60. actually it is just as strong as WNEO just not a favorable direction for me to pick up other stations
but I have logged a few Detroit stations with the Yagi (Jerrold Sharpshooter)
pointed up that way.

Keep up the good work. The video on 26-1 is really great!

Dan

Originally posted by Gbluhm
Thanks much, Dan.

Been having lots of trouble configuring 25-10 so it works across several brands of STB.

Gary

Welcome to the board, Gary! Some of us have bugged you elsewhere ;) But you've always been gracious and up front about it.

I'm, unfortunately, out of range of WVIZ-DT's current signal. When you guys get the long-awaited full-power setup going out of North Royalton, I'll be happy to let you know how it works with the el cheapo U.S. Digital STB. Or maybe I'll drag it along with me in the car and try it on Brookpark Road with my laptop. :D

(Not related to HD)

Channel 1 has a new announcement. Starting tomorrow, they'll be passing along digital signals for the local channels in the 800 range, including both CBS and WUAB. An earlier poster mentioned these channels on his guide and it's obvious they were in a middle of a test at the time.

Well, that is good news! I'll have to reset some of my recordings at least they won't look like garbage anymore!

Originally posted by jtscherne
(Not related to HD)

Channel 1 has a new announcement. Starting tomorrow, they'll be passing along digital signals for the local channels in the 800 range, including both CBS and WUAB. An earlier poster mentioned these channels on his guide and it's obvious they were in a middle of a test at the time.

This is very good news. Adelphia's OTA analog channels stink!

Now, if we could only get WOIO/WUAB on the HD tier...

I hope this doesn't cause the Guide Data to disappear again. If it does, I hope my contact at Adelphia is there tomorrow.:)

I live in Bath and have had WEAO PBS HD for a few months OTA. In the last 2 days signal is gone. Anyone else have this problem ? All other channels come in fine at same signal strength. Ch 49-1 had 93% signal. I am hoping that it is them. Nothing has changed at my end. Any help would be appreciated.

rlockshin - wish I could help you, but neither me nor my HD OTA STB is anywhere near Akron the next day or two. And even if I was near home, my house is without power!

And that may very well be the problem with WEAO-DT...the snow and ice storm nightmare that recently visited the area. I bet they're out of power like my house is, and I bet they don't have a generator backup for the DT signal.

Need a little help here. Maybe you all can help. I moved over to Wide Open West and have been extreemly happy. Now I'm having a problem with the ESPN HD channel. I'm convinced it's something on my end, but I can't figure it out.

I have an SA Explorer 8000 HD (DVR).

ESPN-HD is channel 211.

For the last couple days I haven't had and "annoucers" voices. Watching a football game I just get the on field sound. (it's actually very nice) But when watching Sports Center, I hear all the sound effects and the taped commentary is there, but when the annoucers are on the screen, silence.

There's got to be someplace that I've accidentaly set it to feed the wrong audio signal with that channel, but I don't know where.

thanks,

-G

Originally posted by Groupal
For the last couple days I haven't had and "annoucers" voices. Watching a football game I just get the on field sound. (it's actually very nice) But when watching Sports Center, I hear all the sound effects and the taped commentary is there, but when the annoucers are on the screen, silence. The most likely explanation that I can think of is that your receiver is routing those signals to a non-existent center channel speaker. If you don't have a center channel speaker set up, make sure that your receiver is properly configured with that information.

But it could also be an error on the part of the broadcaster or cable company. We've seen that sort of thing happen before.

Definately not an ESPN-HD problem as on Adelphia & Dish Network it's fine. I could be a WOW issue, but I don't think that's as likely as it being an equiptment issue on your end. I would route the sound DIRECTLY to your TV & see if you hear all the sound. If you were routing into a reciever before & through the TV there are still no announcers, then it's either your Cable Box (they are flakey when it comes to sound) or WOW. I have the same exact box & on the HD channels, from time to time, I'll get no sound. If it switch channels & go back, the sound returns.

Let us know what you find. I'd say it's the box or your receiver/speaker setup or even the speaker cable.

-Todd

Well, I do have the Component Line and the Audio lines going directly into the TV. (Waiting for Uncle Sam's Check before we put in the Sound system in the spring).

I'll put a call into WoW and see if they know what's going on.

thanks,

-G

talked to CS at WOW. They are sending a tech out next week. He thinks my box is bad. I know I have to pull the plug on it and let it reboot every couple of days. The sounds goes out on all Digital chanels.

I put a request in to get an SA 8300 insted of the 8000. he wasn't sure if they had them or not. We'll see. At least they credited me for a month of the Extra HD package for it.

-G

Does anyone have a phone # to call to get CBS to flip the switch for the football game (Chiefs-Raiders) that just started!??!?! :confused:

Luckily there is a problem at D* today and Im getting CBS HD channel 80 in the clear. I HOPE it doesnt shut off during the game. C'mon WOIO get with the damn program!!!

Just called the 877 # that Fred DeGrandis posted for WOIO's general switchboard/newsroom and after checking, I was informed that no one is back there to flip a switch. It is Christmas for them too, she said. Fair enough, but unacceptable! This game is going out in HD and this whole area will see it in SD because they did not think ahead. Ridiculous!

WOIO, analog 19, D-10, CBS
general 877-929-1943

Maybe others could call too and ask for Master Control to get HD going?

Just called the number for Channel 19 and they said the football is not in HD today!

Originally posted by KenNEO
Just called the number for Channel 19 and they said the football is not in HD today!

Haa!! Keep calling people! The reason it is not in HD today is beacuse they did not do their jobs. It really is not my intent to flame, but c'mon...

At least let the jews amongst us should pick up the slack today for our gentile brothers! ;)

DAMN!!! D* corrected its error and just shut off the CBS HD feed on Channel 80, C'mon already WOIO!!!!!

While I appreciate the idea of being able to receive local channels with a digital signal, I kind of wonder if this is in fact what is going on. I couldn't see any difference in WOIO analog or digital. Another thing on every other digital channel I receive my home theater system reports a dolby signature with them. Not 5.1 like on HD but not just a converted analog signal which is what I get on all the analog local channels.

Anybody else done any comparisons?

Is the Browns game going to be shown in HD? It is widescreen SD right now

I have it in HD (ESPN HD via Wow cable, Westlake) but no commentator audio, just crowd noise. Reminds me of the Jets game years ago that had no announcers. Kinda nice, really.

Ted_B

Anybody else watching the Browns game in HD on Wow cable...and getting no announcers? I get them on the SD channel, but not the HD one. I just rewired my HT and wondering if I missed something, but after running calibration tests, etc all 7 channels outputs are normal. Weird. Some local commercials on the broadcast are missing audio too? It's like it's a decoder issue.

Ted_B

I'm watching the Browns on ESPN-HD via Adelphia. No sound problems on the HD feed, but I'm just in standard stereo...no 5.1 setup here.

FYI - for anyone still seeing it in SD...tune to ESPN-HD. WEWS, which has the local rights to this Sunday Night Football game, can only show the game in SD. They can't pick up the ESPN-HD feed. You need to go to cable for HD on this game.

It's standard this way...none of the OTA stations that carry the SNF contests air them in HD. But ESPN-HD is not blacked out locally during an SNF game involving the local team.

Originally posted by hookbill
While I appreciate the idea of being able to receive local channels with a digital signal, I kind of wonder if this is in fact what is going on. I couldn't see any difference in WOIO analog or digital.

Same here. The digital (SD) local feeds on 80x are the same awful quality - in many cases - as the analog feeds in the lower numbers. Some of the channels are better than others...of course, WOIO/WUAB is at the bottom, as they are in all definitions.

(Viacom/CBS? Someone? Come in and buy 19/43 off of Raycom like you're buying KOVR/13 Sacramento from Sinclair! Save us from Raycom!)

Someone with better connections at Adelphia would be able to answer this... but I'm under the impression that most of the local network affiliates do a direct fiber optic feed into the Adelphia headend. If this is the case, does 19/43 NOT do this? That'd explain the "over air signal" quality of both the analog 4/6 and digital 804/806.

If Raycom ever manages to reach an agreement with Adelphia to carry WOIO and WUAB's HD/DT feeds, I'm half convinced they'll make even THAT signal look bad. The SD video on WOIO-DT's signal (during local news, etc.) is the most washed out digital signal in the market.

I just did some back/forth comparisons...and believe it or not, the digital (SD) version of WOIO/19 on Adelphia 804 is actually WORSE than the analog version on 4!

The digital version appears to be having trouble encoding the analog snow that is present in the WOIO OTA analog signal. It's "sharper" than 4, but that "sharpness" appears to be making the analog snow sharper as well.

I had one regular DVR recording for WOIO that I moved to 804, but I'm gonna move it back to 4. My TiVo hasn't switched yet, because the lineup hasn't picked up the addition of the 80x channels.

Of course, if Raycom got its head out of its nether regions and come to an agreement with Adelphia on WOIO-DT/WUAB-DT, this wouldn't happen!

Originally posted by Inundated
from Sinclair! Save us from Raycom!)

Someone with better connections at Adelphia would be able to answer this... but I'm under the impression that most of the local network affiliates do a direct fiber optic feed into the Adelphia headend. If this is the case, does 19/43 NOT do this? That'd explain the "over air signal" quality of both the analog 4/6 and digital 804/806.


I'm not certain about the fiber optic feed. If that was so, then I should receive a signal in my HTS indicating a dolby like signal. What I'm getting is what I see when my HTS converts analog to digital just like it does on the analog broadcast, i.e. If I watch anything in the 100's and above my HTS shows a clear digital signal with a dolby pro logic use attached to it. On these new "digital stations" I'm not getting that. I should get the same signal I get off all the other digital stations.

I'd call and ask Adelphia about it, but you know what that would lead to. "Let's reboot your box" and then "We need to make an appointment to send a tech out to your house."

I really don't want to bother my Adelphia contact about this as I consider this minor.

Originally posted by hookbill
I really don't want to bother my Adelphia contact about this as I consider this minor.

Well, if you change your mind about that and do, let us know. I'm curious about the answers to my questions above.

Local stations will often feed their signals directly to cable systems via fiber optic cable not just because of clarity, but because it allows them to "stay on the air" even if their transmitter goes out. Some stations, like WKYC/3, have that SD simulcast on their digital signal that's meant to feed cable systems, but if THAT transmitter goes out, the signal is gone.

It's not really my cup of tea, but I noticed while turning past WUAB/43 tonight that the UPN sitcom "Girlfriends" had a "simulcast in HDTV" graphic.

However, WUAB is not passing the HD signal through.

Does WUAB do this a lot? WOIO has "Everybody Loves Raymond" in HD right now. And I'm pretty sure I've seen "Enterprise" in HD on WUAB.

Update: Whatever the 9:30 PM comedy is on WUAB, someone finally woke up and kicked on the HD switch.

CBS (WOIO) in HD is here on channel 212.

Congrats! Maybe the Adelphia logjam will be broken too...

The DTC100 in my F38310 is now mapping NBC as 2-4, 2-5, 2-6 for HD,SD and radar. Whats up with that?
/Dan

I just managed to find a decent (for the moment) antenna placement to pull in WKYC-DT again. It was coming in before with what should have been a viewable signal, but no picture. I did a rescan and antenna move and it seems to have done the trick. And with my indoor antenna's VHF dipoles now in something resembling an "X", I'm getting nearly a full signal out of WKYC-DT, the first time that's ever happened.

Regarding the mapping problem - maybe it's this...a message posted in the Roanoke, VA thread by WDBJ-TV/DT general manager Bob Lee. Maybe you need to rescan WKYC-DT...

"A new FCC regulation will require local digital stations to change the way "PIDS" data is inserted into the signal effective January 1. With short notice, most stations are scrambling to make the deadline -- and most won't get it done this week. Changing the way this data is inserted will mean your receiver will no longer be able to understand the signal it is getting until it "re-learns" the station. Each local station will have to make modifications to its encoder, and each is likely to do so on a different day. That means you may well see some stations you have been receiving just disappear over the next couple of weeks -- one at a time -- until your receiver scans again. There is also some concern that certain older ATSC receivers may not be able to decode the new data stream at all."

Originally posted by rlockshin
I live in Bath and have had WEAO PBS HD for a few months OTA. In the last 2 days signal is gone. Anyone else have this problem ? All other channels come in fine at same signal strength. Ch 49-1 had 93% signal. I am hoping that it is them. Nothing has changed at my end. Any help would be appreciated.

I called the station this morning. They had some problems on 12/22 and 12/23 but know of no current issues. I am getting a 50-60% signal from 50.1 about 17 miles away from the Copley tower in Strongsville with a Silver Sensor (no amp).

I wasn't here on the 22nd or 23rd, but I have no problems with 50.1 now. It's the same blow-the-doors-out full signal.

" Regarding the mapping problem - maybe it's this...a message posted in the Roanoke, VA thread by WDBJ-TV/DT general manager Bob Lee. Maybe you need to rescan WKYC-DT..."

Yup, that did it. Thanx

I also noticed that WVIZ-DT picked up a sub-channel with an SD feed of the Ohio House of Reps. Its not there now.

Dan

Unfortunately, I can't pick up WVIZ-DT here in Akron, with my indoor antenna... not a whit of signal no matter how I position or amplify it. I'm very much looking forward to it going full power next spring/summer...especially if they'll have offerings different from WEAO, which I can pick up here in my teeth. (Now, if only I could wire an antenna from my teeth. ;) )

WKYC-DT appears somewhat affected by atmospherics or whatever...it's a no show tonight in the very same antenna position I had it in earlier. But the rescan seemed to work fine. I wonder when the other stations in the market are going to do this process in the next week or two.

And I also wonder:

* When Adelphia and Raycom are going to come to an agreement regarding WOIO-DT/WUAB-DT, already...who do I have to sacrifice to make this happen, anyway?

* When other DT stations in this market will go on the air, finally...particularly WBNX-DT. Or heck, even WVPX-DT, if only to get the Akron area newscasts on my digital tuner, even with no HD! I rescan the channels fairly frequently, hoping that these two stations (or others) will show up out of nowhere.

for the people that have comcast hd, cbs just showed up on my box and works great. Good stuff.

didnt see that someone put that just to tell you guys again.

Originally posted by oachalon
for the people that have comcast hd, cbs just showed up on my box and works great. Good stuff.

Yep, I have it too! Now if Comcast would only get the dual tuner HD DVR's in stock, I'd be set.

Has anyone noticed as of late WKYC is not showing NBC network programs in Dolby 5.1? I know they were having some sound problems a few weeks back and it seems that either them or NBC have elected to just broadcast without the 5.1.

Originally posted by Inundated
I wasn't here on the 22nd or 23rd, but I have no problems with 50.1 now. It's the same blow-the-doors-out full signal.

Signal was pretty solid yesterday for me (50-60%), but today, the best I can get is 5-10% (measured on the analog channel as the digital channel shows no signal) no matter how I position the antenna. I called the station and they had no knowledge of any problem. All of my other stations are 90%+ signal (3,5,8,19,43,61).

Is anyone experiencing problems with 50.1 today or is it possible that I was just lucky yesterday in pulling in the stronger signal. It was my first day playing with the Silver Sensor, so I really have no reference point for what to expect on a day-to-day basis. I'm only about 17 miles from the tower.

Any feedback or ideas would be appreciated. Thanks.

ajstan - where are you in relation to Copley, where the WEAO-DT stick is?

I have never had any long-standing problem getting WEAO's digital signal. At all. Of course, I'm roughly 7 miles from the tower...which, in case you're wondering, is up Rt. 261 from Rolling Acres Mall, along with WVPX/23 and WONE-FM 97.5.

I also have no problems with a non-amplified indoor antenna getting any of the Cleveland DT stations out of the Parma antenna farm (aside from occasional hassle with WKYC-DT due to its low-VHF allocation on channel 2), and I'm about the same distance from them as you are from WEAO's stick. Unfortunately, WVPX hasn't been able to turn on the digital transmitter yet, so you don't have an A/B comparison from the same site.

Anyone here have an email addy for a contact at WEWS Channel 5?!!! Thanks!!

tnt hd should be the next thing comcast should give us.

Inundated - Thanks for the quick response. I'm in Strongsville, which is NNW of Copley. If the signal you were able to get today was the same as you had yesterday, I may have just been catching a lucky bounce yesterday when I got the 50-60%.

WEAO is about 180KW on their DT allocation (DT 50)...that's one of the lower UHF powers in the market. WUAB-DT 28 is only a little more powerful - 200KW - and it's somewhat closer to you in the Parma antenna farm region.

I don't know how often WEAO-DT gets up into Cleveland, but you should be well within its expected broadcast range (map courtesy of the FCC)... I bet if you got an antenna outside, you'd get it much more reliably. FYI - I'm getting it at full strength even with the antenna pointed away from it, tonight:

http://www.fcc.gov/ftp/Bureaus/MB/Databases/fm_tv_service_areas/maps/DT588045.gif

Many thanks for the research and the info. If I can't get 50.1 with an indoor antenna, I may have to punt and just wait for WVIZ to go live at the Parma tower to get PBS on a regular basis.

Interesting note on WUAB being lower power. It was the one station (other than 50.1) that I had trouble pulling in before I got the Silver Sensor.

Thanks again for the help.

Originally posted by hookbill
Has anyone noticed as of late WKYC is not showing NBC network programs in Dolby 5.1? I know they were having some sound problems a few weeks back and it seems that either them or NBC have elected to just broadcast without the 5.1.

Yes! Actually, I have yet to hear any Dolby 5.1 content from any of the OTA digital stations. I understand that only NBC and FOX are occasionally broadcasting in DD 5.1, but I have never heard it.
Perhaps I am expecting too much, but when I compare the DD5.1 sound from a DVD to the DD 5.1 supposedly broadcast from the OTA stations, it is like night and day.
Does anyone know of any OTA programs that use DD 5.1 audio to a discernible extent?

Originally posted by AfricanGrey
Yes! Actually, I have yet to hear any Dolby 5.1 content from any of the OTA digital stations. I understand that only NBC and FOX are occasionally broadcasting in DD 5.1, but I have never heard it.
Perhaps I am expecting too much, but when I compare the DD5.1 sound from a DVD to the DD 5.1 supposedly broadcast from the OTA stations, it is like night and day.


Actually I watched Law & Order: SVU on my DVR recorded I believe on Tuesday last night and that broadcast was Dolby 5.1. But that was the first I seen in a while. House, on Fox, is also 5.1.

To your point: Sound on DVD vs broadcast, I would tell you to pick up a copy on DVD of one of your favorite shows. I picked up Dead Like Me, season 1 and I don't see any difference in the Dolby sound from the broadcast and the DVD. I would suggest that the big difference that is really noticeable on broadcast television is sports. Dolby 5.1 football puts you right in the stands (even that annoying guy pops up once in a while behind you.):)

The ABC affiliate in Youngstown(channel 36, 33-1) is broadcasting in 5.1. Two shows that I've watched that I know use it are NYPD Blue and Lost.
Steve

Originally posted by SteveC
The ABC affiliate in Youngstown(channel 36, 33-1) is broadcasting in 5.1. Two shows that I've watched that I know use it are NYPD Blue and Lost.
Steve

Steve....don't know what your listening to over there, but ABC does not broadcast in 5.1. Lost and NYPD Blue are both ABC shows. The only broadcast networks that are in Dolby 5.1 are NBC and FOX.

Sure it does... WEWS doesn't.

From the ABC HD FAQ:

Benefit: Digital Sound
Just as your CDs sound better than your old audiocassette tapes, HDTV's digital audio signal sounds better than standard television's analog sound. Also, some HDTV programs include Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. Properly decoded, each audio track can be sent to a different speaker, creating a three-dimensional sound field in your living room. Many of ABC's prime time programs contain Dolby Digital surround sound for your listening pleasure.

Originally posted by ajstan99
Many thanks for the research and the info. If I can't get 50.1 with an indoor antenna, I may have to punt and just wait for WVIZ to go live at the Parma tower to get PBS on a regular basis.

You shouldn't have to wait that much longer...as I noted on the thread earlier, WVIZ-DT should be at full power by around early summer of this coming year. They had a long, drawn out legal battle with Infinity Broadcasting (WNCX), where they have their tower, about the digital upgrade. That's been resolved, and WVIZ is in the process of designing and building the digital site.

There's a very fascinating look at Cleveland sites - and a picture of the WVIZ tower - here:

http://www.fybush.com/sites/2004/site-040212.html

For me, in northwest Akron with an indoor antenna, believe it or not, my strongest Cleveland signal is WQHS-DT. (Too bad it's not in English and doesn't do HD!) Then, it's usually, in relative order of ease, WJW-DT, WEWS-DT, WUAB-DT, WOIO-DT, pretty much even, and then bringing up the "I have to keep moving the aerials" rear, WKYC-DT down in low VHF hell on DT 2. I don't usually have many problems with WUAB, though...once I get 'em, they're usually a solid lock.

WEAO-DT and WDLI-DT are rock solid pretty much no matter where I point the antenna. (WDLI's digital signal at DT 39 - despite being licensed to Canton - is actually over in Brimfield, near Kent, near the WNIR-FM and WAOH-LP 29 facilities off I-76/Rt. 43. I THINK 39 and 29 are on the same tower. 17's analog stick is still out there on U.S. 62 in Louisville.)

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how we can put "pressure" on WEWS and WOIO to start broadcasting in DD 5.1?

I'd like to "put pressure" on WOIO/Raycom to finally get off the pot and come to an agreement with Adelphia!

:D

Unfortunately, Raycom is not the most forward thinking broadcast company in the country. And we should be fortunate they're just "passing through" HD on 19/43 and not processing it, or they'd probably make it look worse. Their SD upconvert of the news on the DT channels looks almost worse than an analog signal.

Originally posted by jtscherne
Sure it does... WEWS doesn't.

From the ABC HD FAQ:

Benefit: Digital Sound
Just as your CDs sound better than your old audiocassette tapes, HDTV's digital audio signal sounds better than standard television's analog sound. Also, some HDTV programs include Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. Properly decoded, each audio track can be sent to a different speaker, creating a three-dimensional sound field in your living room. Many of ABC's prime time programs contain Dolby Digital surround sound for your listening pleasure.

Ok, I stand corrected. You know something interesting, I really think that shows like Lost for some reason sound better then most Dolby 5.1 shows on my HTS. If it sounds that good without Dolby 5.1, I'd sure like to see what it sounds like with.

Nice find!




Inundated said,

"There's a very fascinating look at Cleveland sites - and a picture of the WVIZ tower - here:
http://www.fybush.com/sites/2004/site-040212.html"

Originally posted by intermod
Nice find!

Scott's actually a friend of mine, and I've gone with him on some of these trips... we occasionally get a group of people, like we did in Chicago last year. The one where Scott and someone else (not me, sad to say!) got to sit in on Paul Harvey's midday broadcast...I was along on that trip.

Oddly enough, when he did that page, I wasn't! I don't think he's hit the Akron/Canton sites in a page yet. It'd be fun to watch him snaking up Dreisbach Drive...

Originally posted by Inundated

For me, in northwest Akron with an indoor antenna, believe it or not, my strongest Cleveland signal is WQHS-DT. (Too bad it's not in English and doesn't do HD!) Then, it's usually, in relative order of ease, WJW-DT, WEWS-DT, WUAB-DT, WOIO-DT, pretty much even, and then bringing up the "I have to keep moving the aerials" rear, WKYC-DT down in low VHF hell on DT 2. I don't usually have many problems with WUAB, though...once I get 'em, they're usually a solid lock.



Same exact results & strength order here in Twinsburg with outdoor Stealthtenna.

-Todd

Originally posted by Dweezilz
Same exact results & strength order here in Twinsburg with outdoor Stealthtenna.

I have never had a problem with WQHS-DT's signal. They also blast their audio loud, so you know it's them...not to mention the different language. :)

It's funny that the strongest DT station in the market is the Univision O&O, in a area with one of the smallest Hispanic populations of any major TV market!

How do you get the Akron/Canton-based signals up there in Twinsburg, specifically WEAO-DT and WDLI-DT? And can you get WVIZ's digital signal from the Whip Antenna Next to the Building? :D

Yeah I find it funny too that the strongest station OTA is Univison! ha! Now if we could only get them to go HD with those lovely ladies & we'd be all set!

I definately can't get WVIZ! Luckily I get that with Adelphia for now. I do get a the religious station (not sure the call letters). They are multicasting into a bunch of channels (I don't watch it ever). Is that one of the Akron stations? I also get 50.1 but I haven't paid much attention to know what it is even.

-Todd

Originally posted by Dweezilz
I definately can't get WVIZ! Luckily I get that with Adelphia for now. I do get a the religious station (not sure the call letters). They are multicasting into a bunch of channels (I don't watch it ever). Is that one of the Akron stations? I also get 50.1 but I haven't paid much attention to know what it is even.

The religious station is Canton's WDLI, analog 17 digital 39. It's the former WJAN-TV 17, now owned by TBN. Their digital stick is actually in the same location as WVPX/23, in Copley Township not terribly far from Rolling Acres Mall.

http://www.fcc.gov/ftp/Bureaus/MB/Databases/fm_tv_service_areas/maps/DT657954.gif

They have applied to move their analog 17 there as well.

50.1 is Akron's PBSer, WEAO (the analog 49 half of PBS 45 & 49). They're also over there in Copley with WVPX and WDLI-DT. They run the PBS HD feed 24 hours OTA, which I believe is the same thing you're seeing out of WVIZ's HD feed on Adelphia.

In my "funny question" department - today's one of those days I'm getting WKYC-DT 2 with surprising signal strength. This happened a few weeks ago, and I'm trying to remember what the weather was like...it has to be atmospheric, because A) it's not usually this strong and B) they don't have any facilities changes in the works. Is anyone else being surprised by WKYC-DT's signal today? I seem to recall the last time this happened, a whole bunch of people were surprised.

**************Ok guys it worked.*****************

Thanks to everyone on the site. I have gone from only having NBC HD to having CBS HD, FOX HD and NBC HD. The only reason I don’t have ABC HD is because the reps said they are still in talks, and that since I'm in the "NYC AREA :-)" it will show up when they are done. I kept my billing address the same while "moving" to NYC. On the first try the rep didn’t know how to split the BILLING and the PHYSICAL address up. She sounded like she didn’t know what she was doing. So of course I called right back. The next rep transferred me to the "movers dept." where they made my physical address in NYC. It took less than 5 min on the phone with the rep. As I was talking to her, I saw the changes on my HD tivo. My local area channels went away, and then the tivo downloaded new info. DONE!

Now to address some of the previous posts. Do I feel bad that I had to lie, I mean “move” to get HD. Look at it this way? When the speed is 55, do you do 60 or 65? 75% of us do. Are we breaking the law? Yes. Do you really care? No. Are you going to do it again? Yes. That is the same way I feel about this whole FCC law. We are rebroadcasting the same programs in different markets using up all the bandwidth, make other great channels like history channel look like crap, for what? Local affiliates money?

{Soapbox mode on}
We are the ones who are spearheading this whole HD thing. I never buy what I see on TV anyway because it was ALREADY discussed here or in other forums before they put it on TV. We are paying big dollars to watch TV!!! Why should we have to go through all this hassle! We are paying for OUR hobby and the GOV. plus affiliates are sticking it to us! That’s not right! I don’t care what all you haters say. This is OUR hdtv. (Matter of fact I’ll make a new thread for this subject.)
{Soapbox mode off)

I have a new problem. UPN, WB and all the other local networks are not coming in. I think it’s due to the spot beam sat not transmitting those channels over in Ohio. When I lived in Columbus, OH I could “move” to Cincinnati, Ohio or Cleveland, OHIO and get the locals there.

Also I’m surprised that noone has posted this here, about “moving” to GET the locals. I really want to here your thoughts on this New Years Eve. The bad and good.

ha ha ha
sorry guys.
wrong forum.
my bad.

Originally posted by iamatis
ha ha ha
sorry guys.
wrong forum.
my bad.

no problem, enjoyed reading your story - might've missed it otherwise.

Originally posted by Inundated
In my "funny question" department - today's one of those days I'm getting WKYC-DT 2 with surprising signal strength. This happened a few weeks ago, and I'm trying to remember what the weather was like...it has to be atmospheric, because A) it's not usually this strong and B) they don't have any facilities changes in the works. Is anyone else being surprised by WKYC-DT's signal today? I seem to recall the last time this happened, a whole bunch of people were surprised.

With my old antenna, WKYC was usually around 50% signal, but I did get a bump to 80% and higher on occasion, including when others noted the apparent signal strength increase. Now it's above 90% but I don't know if it's the signal or my new antenna.

For those interested, I shot an email out to Adelphia regarding the quality of the digital channels. I was told that they are digital and if I had any questions as th whether they were or not to unplug the box and see if I can see them without a converter.

They didn't bother to tell me how I was suppose to see channel 800 since most televisions don't go past channel 175.:rolleyes:

Originally posted by hookbill
For those interested, I shot an email out to Adelphia regarding the quality of the digital channels. I was told that they are digital and if I had any questions as th whether they were or not to unplug the box and see if I can see them without a converter.

You didn't ask them if they were digital, you asked them about the quality. Yipes.

Very few People With Clues at Adelphia...

Originally posted by ajstan99
With my old antenna, WKYC was usually around 50% signal, but I did get a bump to 80% and higher on occasion, including when others noted the apparent signal strength increase. Now it's above 90% but I don't know if it's the signal or my new antenna.

I'm still getting a strong OTA signal out of WKYC-DT today, and the sky conditions are completely different...yesterday, it was grey and overcast, and today it's clear and sunny. There must be other things going on here...as I said, I know WKYC-DT hasn't increased power or anything, as they don't even have such an increase in the FCC pipeline.

One other thought I had - DT 2 is prone to electrical interference. Maybe some of that is less over the holidays (?).

My STB doesn't have a numerical signal strength indicator, but I'd say it's about 70-75% right now, judging from the signal strength bar. That's pretty much the best WKYC-DT has ever been for me, even with the antenna in this very same position.

All,
Check your receivers. HD Feeds for ABC East and West up and running this morning on 86 and 87. Looks great!

721'd here on 86 and 87. Luckily I get a strong signal from WEWS so the NY/LA feeds arent needed. Only O & O I get is the NY FOX HD

No, I don't have DirecTV, so it's not on my receiver. ;) Not everyone here has DirecTV...

And in Cleveland, you won't get it anyway. WEWS is not owned by ABC. The ABC HD feeds on D* will only show up if the affiliate is owned by the network, or if you have other circumstances that get you distant affiliates...DNS, etc.

Cleveland area folks WILL, like DC above, get FOX out of NYC, because the network owns WJW/8.

Does anyone else in Lake County area have Comcast HDTV box. On ch 210 intermittently I get the video blanking out, sometimes for a second or two and other times longer. It starts with a narrow band of tearing at the top then blanking. There is no interruption in the sound. No problem in OTA signal. I haven't noticed it on the other HD channels but they recently turned on 212 (CBS) so I haven't watched it much yet. Anyone else seeing this...
Bill

WEWS has been running the Fiesta Bowl in upconverted SD.

I gave 'em a call, and it's in HD now.

"This ABC BCS bowl game in High Definition is brought to you by Inundated!" ;)

Originally posted by Inundated
WEWS has been running the Fiesta Bowl in upconverted SD.

I gave 'em a call, and it's in HD now.

"This ABC BCS bowl game in High Definition is brought to you by Inundated!" ;)

Thanks, Inundated. It looks good. So did the Rose Bowl, actually.

Originally posted by Inundated
You didn't ask them if they were digital, you asked them about the quality. Yipes.

Very few People With Clues at Adelphia...

I wish I saved a copy of what I said to them but what I told them besides the basic question was that the sound on my home theater system wasn't reading digital, it was reading converted analog, and I mentioned I spoke to you (not your name, just to someone who lives around the Akron area) and they said the picture quality sucked too.

None of those issues were addressed in their response.

wfwiles i have comcast hd in lake county and i am not having that problem on that channel or any of the other channels. Mine is working perfect.

Originally posted by Inundated
I'm still getting a strong OTA signal out of WKYC-DT today, and the sky conditions are completely different...yesterday, it was grey and overcast, and today it's clear and sunny. There must be other things going on here...as I said, I know WKYC-DT hasn't increased power or anything, as they don't even have such an increase in the FCC pipeline.

One other thought I had - DT 2 is prone to electrical interference. Maybe some of that is less over the holidays (?).

My STB doesn't have a numerical signal strength indicator, but I'd say it's about 70-75% right now, judging from the signal strength bar. That's pretty much the best WKYC-DT has ever been for me, even with the antenna in this very same position.

I checked and mine is still 0-5%, I have never been able to get WKYC. I get all the other OTA's. I live in Reminderville, pretty much right in the middle of Twinsburg and Aurora. Just curious if any others have this problem.

I never get a signal from KYC. I have a roof mounted Stealth and live in Barberton.

FWIW, I just came back from vacation and couldn't receive wkyc. So, I rescanned for digital stations on my TV and it found it again. It's always been one of the easiest stations for me to receive. I live in Ohio City and have a SquareShooter in my attic.

Kermit

Hi,

It happened on or about 12/28/04. Inundated reported the FCC required
a change in the PSIP data. See page 103 in this thread.

/Dan

I'm not sure if any of the other stations had to do the PSIP changes at the last minute...I didn't lose any of the other OTA signals in the past few days.

The other stations...their changes either A) didn't affect receivers or B) did it earlier. I'm guessing, too, that WKYC-DT is one of the few multicasters in the market.

Most of Wide Open West's HD tier is dark tonight (channels 200 - 211). I wonder if it's related to the "springtime" thaw we're having now. I had problems last spring with the digitals thanks to moisture in the taps on the pole.

So much for WKYC-DT OTA again. It's back to its usual bouncing-can't-lock-upon signal. (Unlike the PSIP issue before, it's at least trying to display a picture.)

My strong suspicion is that there are sources of electrical interference that were turned off for the holidays...as the signal was fine this weekend. Channel 2 (WKYC's DT allocation) is especially sensitive to such interference.

I guess WKYC-DT is going to mostly be a no-show until A) I get a huge antenna, which I can't do here or B) maybe the 5th generation receiver will handle this signal better. Oh well. At least I can watch 'em on Adelphia, but this is forestalling a move to a dish for me.

Originally posted by DCSholtis
721'd here on 86 and 87. Luckily I get a strong signal from WEWS so the NY/LA feeds arent needed. Only O & O I get is the NY FOX HD

86 and 87 are 721'd here as well. Fox on 88 and 89 are 721'd as well. How are you getting NY FOX HD on D* here in the Cleveland area?

My DirecTV setup is at the office in Mayfield Village and I haven't "moved" anywhere :D

I have a waiver for ABC. Fox is an O & O....you need to call D* and type in ext 721 when asked for the ext # on your screen. Ask the first level CSR for the HD group or DNS group. Tell them that you live in Cleveland and want Fox HD turned on.

That's all well and good but 8-1 is the best signal I got way down here in south Portage Co. So will this work with CBS and NBC? thier signal stinks.

Originally posted by gass
That's all well and good but 8-1 is the best signal I got way down here in south Portage Co. So will this work with CBS and NBC? thier signal stinks.

No. You would need to have waivers in place already to get CBS or NBC HD from DirecTv.

And even if CBS and NBC were O&O's here, which they are not... you might have gotten zapped anyway by WKBN or WFMJ in Youngstown, which likely put a grade B signal over much of Portage County. No such problem with FOX/WJW... not only is WJW owned by the network, but their affiliate in Youngstown is an LPTV combo that doesn't get outside the market.

Anyone else having trouble with 5-1 OTA tonight? All other Cleveland signals are coming in strong.

Originally posted by ajstan99
Anyone else having trouble with 5-1 OTA tonight? All other Cleveland signals are coming in strong.

Coming in perfectly here in Medina OTA. Good game.

Thanks for the quick reply Zman. Very odd. I'm getting a full signal on 5-0, but still nothing at all on 5-1. Doesn't appear to be a multi-path issue.

WVIZ-dt 26.????

WVIZ-DT looks like thier PSIP is screwed up. keeps flashing the ID and
the subchannel is not correct. It also puts my set into sat. mode as well asl
resettting the time to 1970.

/Dan

Originally posted by ajstan99
Anyone else having trouble with 5-1 OTA tonight? All other Cleveland signals are coming in strong.

UPDATE: I rescanned the channels. 5-1 was not detected. Neither was 15-1. Every time I punched in 5-1 on the remote I would immediately get redirected to 5-0. I then tried going to 15-1 and finally 5-1 showed up at 95% signal strength but still drops to 0 every so often. Maybe WEWS did that PSIP thing last night?

Originally posted by paule123
86 and 87 are 721'd here as well. Fox on 88 and 89 are 721'd as well. How are you getting NY FOX HD on D* here in the Cleveland area?

My DirecTV setup is at the office in Mayfield Village and I haven't "moved" anywhere :D

Call up the Eligibility Dept at D* tell em to activate Channel 88 for you. Channel 8, WJW is a FOX O&O.

Originally posted by ajstan99
UPDATE: I rescanned the channels. 5-1 was not detected. Neither was 15-1. Every time I punched in 5-1 on the remote I would immediately get redirected to 5-0. I then tried going to 15-1 and finally 5-1 showed up at 95% signal strength but still drops to 0 every so often. Maybe WEWS did that PSIP thing last night?

I've been watching since 8 tonight with no problems at all. 95% signal strength with no dropouts. I haven't done any rescans or anything, either.

Does anyone else have PSIP problems with PBS? On my HD TiVO, I get two channels for PBS. It shows up as 49.1 and 50.1. 50.1 is the only one that works, but the programming information only shows up on 49.1.

Removed Quote, wrong message quoted......


It looks like the problem is a compatibility issue with the cable box and the Audio Authority 1154 switch. OTA box works fine thru it. Connected the cable box directly th TV and haven't seen any dropout for a couple days. e-mailed AA but no responce. Guess I'll be looking for another switch....

Half way through I got pixelation and lost of sound. Came here to see if anybody else had problems, if it is weather related or ota problem or cable company.

I wasn't watching live, I was watching on my 8300 DVR.

Originally posted by hookbill
Half way through I got pixelation and lost of sound. Came here to see if anybody else had problems, if it is weather related or ota problem or cable company.

I wasn't watching live, I was watching on my 8300 DVR.

Yes, I lost LOST about midway through. I am using OTA and we were having a lot of freezing rain at the time, so I guess we blame mother nature this time.

Over on the programming section, they are discussing ESPN2HD, which announced at CES that Adelphia had an agreement to carry the channel (along with Directv). I wonder if this means that it might actually show up today (the channel goes live at 7:00 PM ET tonight).

Originally posted by jtscherne
Over on the programming section, they are discussing ESPN2HD, which announced at CES that Adelphia had an agreement to carry the channel (along with Directv). I wonder if this means that it might actually show up today (the channel goes live at 7:00 PM ET tonight).

I heard it was suppose to be sometime in January, so if not tonight probably real soon.

In order to comply with FCC regulations, I have to make some PSIP changes to WFMJ-HD and WBCB on 21-1 and 21-2 today at 12:30 PM. If you're getting us on cable we will go away for awhile until the cable techs rescan their tuners. For you OTA people, you will probably have to re-enter channel 20 or 20-1, or do a rescan to get us back. What you have to do depends on your particular set top box. In some of the older set top boxes it may be necessary to power it off and back on. If you've monitored any of the other threads in the Info and Reception area, you'll see this is going on around the country as many broadcasters that have been on the air for a year or more are catching up with changing rules. Sorry for the inconvienince, but if it's any consolation, this will be a bigger pain for me than you.

I am getting the Fox East feed on DirecTV channel 88 now. After getting the run-around on the phone about this and endless hold times I decided to punt and e-mail customer service. Believe it or not (a mere 2 days later), I got a friendly e-mail telling me the channel is activated!

-- Paul

I used the generic feedback form here:
http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/glb/Form_Feedback.dsp

Select "HDTV" as the topic and fill in your name, account number, etc. My email read like this:

***
Hello,
I would like to get the FoxHD feeds turned on for my HTL-HD box. I understand that my Cleveland Fox station WJW is a FOX O&O station and as such I am permitted to view the Fox East/West coast HD feeds on channel 88/89.
Thanks.
***

Originally posted by AfricanGrey
Yes, I lost LOST about midway through. I am using OTA and we were having a lot of freezing rain at the time, so I guess we blame mother nature this time.

Great! At least I wasn't the only one. I'm on TimeWarner Akron. I'm just curious how lost I will be since I lost Lost last night. :)

What a pain... I tried to watch it, but then the box rebooted. I assume the problems continued for the entire episode. I also taped Alias, so I don't know if that was messed up too or not.

FYI it did come back on for the last 15 minutes. Initially it was in 480i but after a couple of minutes it went to 720p.

My wife and I kind of had fun filling in the blanks. Actually because you had a general idea of what was going on it wasn't too difficult to figure out just by watching. We added our own dialog just for laughs.

I finally had to give up. Everytime I tried to watch it the box would re-boot at the same part. My recording of Alias also failed (rebooted after about 1 minute). Luckily I Tivo'd Alias, so I didn't miss the actual episode...

No problem on the ABC affiliate(ch 36, 33-1) in Youngstown. Plus the sound is DD 5.1.

Hi all! I recently went to antennaweb and they tell me I'm within 5 miles of all of the stations I want to tune in. I can tune in most with my cheap-o indoor UHF antenna. The only one I can't get is NBC, but it says I'm within a mile of the tower. ANy help? Thanks in advance for any responses!

Tim

Originally posted by padstack
Hi all! I recently went to antennaweb and they tell me I'm within 5 miles of all of the stations I want to tune in. I can tune in most with my cheap-o indoor UHF antenna. The only one I can't get is NBC, but it says I'm within a mile of the tower. ANy help? Thanks in advance for any responses!

Hi, Tim, and welcome to our busy little group!

You can read the thread and you'll get the idea why WKYC is so hard to nab. They operate on DT channel 2, which is the only TV channel in the spectrum worse than their analog channel, 3. DT 2 is incredibly susceptible to electrical noise, and technically speaking, an antenna to match it should be something on the order of 90 inches long.

I don't mean to say you won't be able to get them...you're really close. And if that antenna is really UHF only, it won't do you any good on WKYC-DT...try a standard set of rabbit ears and see if it works for you on VHF, where WKYC-DT is. If it doesn't, you could have to twist, turn and contort the rabbit ears...but a mile out, maybe just switching to something that handles VHF will help.

I'm using rabbit ears. MAybe it's just not meant to be! :) I'll work on it some more.

I'm in kind of a hole in seven hills. There are a few big trees around me too. I put the rabbit ears in the attic to try to help some, but I guess I'm still going to need to "finagle" a bit!

Thanks for the welcome!

Originally posted by padstack
I'm in kind of a hole in seven hills. There are a few big trees around me too. I put the rabbit ears in the attic to try to help some, but I guess I'm still going to need to "finagle" a bit!

You'd think WKYC-DT would come in, in your teeth, there in Seven Hills, eh? ;)

We had someone a ways back in this thread who lived not far from you, and was under a mile from one of the local stations...WEWS-DT, I believe...and was having trouble picking it up. I thought that perhaps WEWS was literally "aiming over his head". I don't know if there's any truth to that, or if the same's happening to you :D

Others on the thread here may give you help with a decent VHF antenna. Yeah, that seems kind of odd since you're near the station's tower. There may be other electrical interference issues going on here, though.

Good luck!

I would buy into the "shoot over my head" theory. That's exactly what 3 different cell phone companies have told me was happening wiht their signals @ my house. I can turn off of Crossview (which is just of of ROckside & I-77) and have a full signal. I turn onto E ridgewood - full signal. About 100 yards up is my house and the signal drops to 0.

Maybe that is the problem w/ the digital signal...

Oh well. I pick everything else up perfect. RIght now, a roof-top antenna isn't worth it for just NBC. I even tried putting one inside my attic (signal was worse), tried one of the fancy rabbit ears w/ a booster (signal was worse). NOthing has worked any better than my $10 set of Wal-Mart Rabbit ears from my old 20" cheapo TV from college.

I guess it could be worse!

Hi,

It sounds like multipath. I had the same problem with 5 (15) accross the street from me. My son and I hooked up the same rabbit ears you have (it sounds like) to the back of my set, tossed em' on the floor behind it and everything was cool. UHF antennas are "STressed" just to cover the UHF band. Off resonance operation of an antenna are 1% sceince, 1% installation quality and 98% luck. Well if you still have that feedline running up tp the attic
you could just cut a dipole for 2 (60mcy) and thumb tac it to your attic rafters.

Welcome to the group!

/Dan

PS. Can you get WVIZ-DT 26-1?


Originally posted by padstack

Maybe that is the problem w/ the digital signal...

Oh well. I pick everything else up perfect. RIght now, a roof-top antenna isn't worth it for just NBC. I even tried putting one inside my attic (signal was worse), tried one of the fancy rabbit ears w/ a booster (signal was worse). NOthing has worked any better than my $10 set of Wal-Mart Rabbit ears from my old 20" cheapo TV from college.

I guess it could be worse! [/B]

Nope. I can't get WVIZ-DT yet. Is that one on a VHF or UHF frequency?

I'm pretty ignorant on the dipole thing you mentioned. I looked it up on Yahoo! and found a link to http://www.angelfire.com/mb/amandx/dipole.html and it gives good instructions on it, but I need the frequency in MHz.

Thanks for the help so far!

Here ya go!

http://kyes.com/antenna/rabbitear.html

also:
Try this:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=434937&perpage=20&highlight=Cleveland%20reception&pagenumber=3
Channel 2 is 54-60 MHZ, sorry about the old-school MCY.
WVIZ-DT is on channel 26.1 althogh my PSIP is mapping it 26.3 now a days.
They transmit from state and Brookpark. Keep us posted please.

/Dan

Sweet! I'll give it a shot and keep you posted!

Hello everyone, I was hoping some of you may be able to shed some light on an antenna issue I am having.. I called direct tv last week with my new waivers in hand, excited to add the local HD channels to my service, when they informed me that they no longer accept the waivers I worked so hard to get.....Bummer.....

Since then I have tried several options for OTA reception...Rabbit ears, and funny satelite shaped jobbies from rat shack, as well as 6' antenna in the attic.....Putting an antenna outside is not really an option for me right now...I have a brand new home in a new development with a homeowners assoc.. I understand that I have the right to put one up despite the homeowners assoc, but prefer not to if at all possible.

Has anyone had any luck with an indoor\attic setup. If so specifically what\ how did you get it to work? I am able to get the stations with 45-50 signal strength, but only one or two at a time, I have to move the antenna and swivel it as well to get others.. Anyone currently in my area having success, thank you in advance for your help

Chad

Originally posted by turninunits
Hello everyone, I was hoping some of you may be able to shed some light on an antenna issue I am having...

Has anyone had any luck with an indoor\attic setup. If so specifically what\ how did you get it to work? I am able to get the stations with 45-50 signal strength, but only one or two at a time, I have to move the antenna and swivel it as well to get others.. Anyone currently in my area having success, thank you in advance for your help

Chad

I live in Canton and, using a ChannelMaster 4228 (UHF only) antenna in the attic, I can reliably receive all Cleveland channels except as you might expect WKYC-DT. Even WOIO-DT comes in fine using the 4228.

Originally posted by turninunits
Hello everyone, I was hoping some of you may be able to shed some light on an antenna issue I am having..

I have to move the antenna and swivel it as well to get others.. Anyone currently in my area having success, thank you in advance for your help

Chad

I live in the Fairlawn area and am getting decent reception. I have a Channel Master 3018 Near Fringe antenna mounted in the Attic. I get 5.1, 8.1, 19.1, 43.1, 50.1 & .2 in the 70 to 95% range. They occasionally drop in the 40 - 50% range and lock is intermittent. I to not have to move the antenna to get these. I have it basically pointed in the direction of 3,5,8 antennas about 350 degrees. WKYC-DT 3.1 and 3.2 are consistently at 41% with no lock. I am considering adding a amplifier to see if that helps bring in 3 as well as help with the intermittent issues with the other channels.

Brian

Originally posted by turninunits
Hello everyone, I was hoping some of you may be able to shed some light on an antenna issue I am having..

Welcome to the group, Chad!

As I mentioned elsewhere, I'm probably in a better position to receive the Cleveland signals with an indoor antenna. I'm closer to the Parma antenna farm than you are, and may be higher up, too. But the others here have some great suggestions...the upshot is that you'll probably have to put a ChannelMaster 4228 or similar (Antennas Direct DB4, I believe) up in the attic. It'll get you much better results up there than any of the indoor stuff you've messed with.

And don't expect much out of WKYC-DT (2, the digital half of Channel 3). Look above for help on that station. There's way too much electrical noise and such. And the 4228 is a UHF-only antenna, which means it'll probably still get you WOIO-DT (DT 10) since it's on high VHF, but won't get you WKYC-DT. You might check into the Antenna topic at the top of this section and ask about a way to add a separate VHF antenna if you really wanna get WKYC/NBC. I get it very occasionally with my indoor antenna, but my running thought is that it's only because there's less electrical interference in general on holidays.

Do we have any idea when (if) WEWS and WOIO will go 5.1 sound?

Originally posted by Argee
Do we have any idea when (if) WEWS and WOIO will go 5.1 sound?

I haven't heard any rumblings about that.

At times, I'm surprised WOIO isn't only in mono. :o

I'm in Medina, and I get all Cleveland stations at 80-90% using a 120" Rat Shack antenna in the attic. If you're trying an outdoor type antenna in the attic, make sure you're pointing the Yagi end (the Y-shaped end) northwest toward the antenna farm in Parma. With a little trial and error, you should be able to pull in most everything including the PBS station broadcasting from Copley. The mapping is 50.1, but I can't remember the broadcast channel. It should be strong enough for you that you shouldn't have to tweak or turn the antenna to get it since you're in Akron.

You can also check www.antennweb.org to get recommendations for the type of antenna and orientiation necessary for your specific street-level location.

Good luck!

The Akron-based PBS station, with tower in southern Copley near Rolling Acres Mall, would be WEAO...the analog 49 half of "PBS 45 & 49". The other part is WNEO/Alliance. 49/50 is meant to serve Akron/Canton, and 45/46 is meant to serve the Youngstown market, with a tower down in Salem.

Did I miss a post? I just got back from a week in Vegas at the CES. I just was looking at the Adelphia channel grid and what do I see: WOIO on channel 804. Finally! Just in time for the divisional games. Anyone know when this happened?

Originally posted by jtscherne
(Not related to HD)

Channel 1 has a new announcement. Starting tomorrow, they'll be passing along digital signals for the local channels in the 800 range, including both CBS and WUAB. An earlier poster mentioned these channels on his guide and it's obvious they were in a middle of a test at the time.

800's are the digital feeds....not HD.

Does WOIO plan on boosting power at any time in the near future? I am close to Youngstown and I can get WJW Fox 8-1 over the air and 43 WUAB over the air but I can't get a good signal from WOIO 19.

Originally posted by hoops10
Does WOIO plan on boosting power at any time in the near future? I am close to Youngstown and I can get WJW Fox 8-1 over the air and 43 WUAB over the air but I can't get a good signal from WOIO 19.

I believe they are restricted in regards to the amount of signal they can send due to a station in Detroit. Boosting their power would interfere with that Detroit station, thus they are at the max allowed by the FCC.

That is the story I heard a while back. I can't verify.

-Todd

Hoops,
Any word as to when the CBS affiliate in Youngstown(WKBN) will start broadcasting digitally? I'm hoping they will have better equipment than WOIO and actually be able to do 5.1 audio. Any idea as to what the cause of the delay is?
Steve

Originally posted by SteveC
Hoops,
Any word as to when the CBS affiliate in Youngstown(WKBN) will start broadcasting digitally? I'm hoping they will have better equipment than WOIO and actually be able to do 5.1 audio. Any idea as to what the cause of the delay is?
Steve

There are some thoughts about WKBN-DT in the Youngstown HDTV topic in this forum.

I have sent numerous emails to WKBN and have received no response from them at all. CBS is the only station I can't get OTA and it bothers the hell out of me.

Don't hold your breath on WKBN-DT or its equipment being any better than WOIO.

They're sister stations. Raycom owns both WOIO and WKBN.

Tony,
Thanks for the heads up on the Youngstown thread. For some reason it never occurred to me that one might exist. I've subscribed to the thread and sent an email to engineer@wkbn.com asking what their time-frame is. I'll post any response to both forums.
Steve

Update: I'm told Raycom no longer owns WKBN....it's a company called Piedmont.

I'm pretty sure Raycom had WKBN at one point in the not so distant past.

Mea culpa (#2): I believe I was confusing Raycom with Gocom, which DID own WKBN until the sale to Piedmont. Sorry 'bout that!

Hoops,

Originally posted by hoops10
I have sent numerous emails to WKBN and have received no response from them at all. CBS is the only station I can't get OTA and it bothers the hell out of me.


Yeah, that would bother me too, they run plenty of power on one of the biggest sticks in NE Ohio. They are the station I use for go/no-go testing of
propagation. Can you get anything out of Pitt. or Erie?

/Dan

Originally posted by intermod
Yeah, that would bother me too, they run plenty of power on one of the biggest sticks in NE Ohio. They are the station I use for go/no-go testing of
propagation. Can you get anything out of Pitt. or Erie?

I believe he was talking about WKBN's DT signal, which is not up yet...as far as I know.

Ooops, My bad.

/Dan

I believe he was talking about WKBN's DT signal, which is not up yet...as far as I know.

Originally posted by Shark73
800's are the digital feeds....not HD.

I got all excited for nothing. I was in a post CES stupor.

Hey, folks, I'm new to the forum. Glad you're all here.

Awhile back, there was some discussion of the digital local channels on Adelphia, in the 800- range. A few people commented that those channels didn't look much better than analog. I recall seeing the message on Adelphia about this, and I think there's some confusion.

The message stated that, for those with digital cable boxes, channels 3,4,5,6,8....would now be digital. It said something to the effect of "if you're having trouble with those stations, the analog stations will now be in the 800-range.

I don't know how this works technically, but presumably those without digital boxes still get the analog versions on channels 3,4,5,6,8....

I've done a bit of A-B comparisons, and the very subjective results seem to confirm this. A Cavs game last week looked better on 6 than it did on 806.

Hi galevin, and welcome.

I've done some comparisons too. The problem I have is that it doesn't look as good as all the other digital channels. I will admit the sound is better through my Home Theater System.

Some days in comparing them it does look better. Like watching football last weekend, I noticed the game on 804 looked better and sounded better then on channel 4 (WOIO).

I still think it can be improved. The best way to improve this would be to let us have ALL the digital stations in HD.:)

This is what I got from the technical people at Adelphia. The digital channels ,3,4,5,6,8 and the HD channels 703,704,705 and 708 are using the the same interface or "cage" to relay the broadcasts. The 800's are analog and are there for backup in case of equipment failure. If you do not have a cable box, then your local channels are analog. However the audio coming from these channels will vary.

The 800's look bad to me vs. even the analog, at least with our two problem children, 19 and 43 (4/6 and 804/806). I can't figure out why they don't at least look identical...except that maybe the encoding equipment to deliver them to the digital boxes is encoding the snow on the analog channels.

Anyone with D* lose their locals just now due to the weather?? Its kinda weird first time thats ever happened to me.

Originally posted by DCSholtis
Anyone with D* lose their locals just now due to the weather?? Its kinda weird first time thats ever happened to me.

I don't have D* but I'm not surprised you had that problem. My XM sattelite radio kept loosing it's signal earlier in the evening.

As a former Direct TV customer I can tell you that you will experience that from time to time, probably more during severe weather in the Spring.

Those little interuptions doesn't stop Direct TV from being better then anything cable offers!

Originally posted by hookbill
Those little interuptions doesn't stop Direct TV from being better then anything cable offers!

Amen.

I've never had a weather interruption that has lasted more than 15 minutes, and then only when the leading edge of a very strong thunderstorm or very heavy snowstorm rolls through. Although when we had this last ice/snow storm, I did lose about half of the channels (probably one half of one of stalks on the dish worth) due to some ice buildup. I wasn't going to climb up on the roof to clear it off, and it took about 3 or 4 days for it to melt.

Problem was that it took out all of the kids channels. Arrgh. Didn't realize just how few kids DVDs we had! :)

'Bout time the kids turned the thing off!

Originally posted by hookbill

Those little interuptions doesn't stop Direct TV from being better then anything cable offers!

I agree with you there 100% it was just weird to see the locals go down as they are spotbeamed and usually they are the only channels that stay up during bad weather conditions. Though I have to say they weren't down long. Everything local and non local came back about 1am

I am considering upgrading to digtial cable, and I have a couple of questions for any Adelphia customers using the HD/DVR:

Does the DVR have video inputs that can be used as a source for recording? I would like to send the output of my HD OTA tuner into the DVR, so I can record from the HD channels that Adelphia does not yet carry.

Does Adelphia offer more than one model number or configuration of DVR? If so, what should I ask for?

Thanks,

Chris.

Originally posted by Chris Isble
I am considering upgrading to digtial cable, and I have a couple of questions for any Adelphia customers using the HD/DVR:

Does the DVR have video inputs that can be used as a source for recording? I would like to send the output of my HD OTA tuner into the DVR, so I can record from the HD channels that Adelphia does not yet carry.

Does Adelphia offer more than one model number or configuration of DVR? If so, what should I ask for?

Thanks,

Chris.

Question #1. No, I don't believe you can do that. Inundated can tell you for sure but I don't see how that would be possible.

Question #2. I would ask for the SA 8300. It has an active HDMI output and currently it is the only one to have that. Plus it has a pass thru option which means it will automatically select the right screen for you. Just make sure you do the set up, the Adelphia rep will probably just set it at 1080i.

Originally posted by Chris Isble
I am considering upgrading to digtial cable, and I have a couple of questions for any Adelphia customers using the HD/DVR:

Does the DVR have video inputs that can be used as a source for recording? I would like to send the output of my HD OTA tuner into the DVR, so I can record from the HD channels that Adelphia does not yet carry.

Does Adelphia offer more than one model number or configuration of DVR? If so, what should I ask for?

Thanks,

Chris.

Question #1. No, I don't believe you can do that. Inundated can tell you for sure but I don't see how that would be possible.

Question #2. I would ask for the SA 8300. It has an active HDMI output and currently it is the only one to have that. Plus it has a pass thru option which means it will automatically select the right screen for you. Just make sure you do the set up, the Adelphia rep will probably just set it at 1080i.

Originally posted by Chris Isble
Does the DVR have video inputs that can be used as a source for recording? I would like to send the output of my HD OTA tuner into the DVR, so I can record from the HD channels that Adelphia does not yet carry.

I have an 8000HD...and believe it or not, there are actually "VIDEO/AUDIO INPUT" jacks on the back.

That's the good news.

The bad news? The video input is analog composite, not component or DVI.

The worse news? Even if that's what you were looking for, I don't see anywhere in the system where you could record that video, or even watch it.

So, basically...no.

Hookbill has the 8300HD. I've thought about upgrading, but I don't do DVI/HDMI and I don't know what advantages it'd provide me otherwise over the 8000HD. Oddly enough, the 8000HD also has a DVI port, though I don't know if it's active in the current software version.

Either way, starting anew, I'd say definitely get the 8300.

Originally posted by Inundated
I have an 8000HD...and believe it or not, there are actually "VIDEO/AUDIO INPUT" jacks on the back.

That's the good news.

The bad news? The video input is analog composite, not component or DVI.

The worse news? Even if that's what you were looking for, I don't see anywhere in the system where you could record that video, or even watch it.

So, basically...no.

Hookbill has the 8300HD. I've thought about upgrading, but I don't do DVI/HDMI and I don't know what advantages it'd provide me otherwise over the 8000HD. Oddly enough, the 8000HD also has a DVI port, though I don't know if it's active in the current software version.

Either way, starting anew, I'd say definitely get the 8300.


Right now I am using composite out of my LG LST-3510a to a VHS VCR to record HD. Even though it's no longer HD, it is still a better picture than VHS off the cable. I figured if it was possible, the DVR should do a better job than the VHS.

When I asked Adelphia, they told me that I would be able to record this way. That's why I immediately went online to ask here. :D

Any documentation I found on the 8000 said it had video inputs "for future use". I couldn't find much on the 8300. If those inputs were enabled in the 8300, it would be a big deal for me.

I'm already using the one DVI input on my TV for the LG box, so the DVR will be connected via component. But as you say, it makes sense to ask for the newest box.

Originally posted by Chris Isble


Does the DVR have video inputs that can be used as a source for recording? I would like to send the output of my HD OTA tuner into the DVR, so I can record from the HD channels that Adelphia does not yet carry.


No such consumer device exists. To convert an uncompressed analog HDTV signal back to a digital datastream would take a massive amount of computing power to do any kind of a reasonable job. Even more significant would be the size of the datastream produced - it would eat hard drives for breakfast. All present HD capable DVRs operate the same way - they simply write the incoming compressed digital datastream to the hard drive. No conversion is needed. Unless your STB has been expensively modified to output the raw digital datastream to an outboard storage device(DVHS deck), you are out of luck. Your best options are to either get a STB/DVR combo device such as an LG LST-3410A or get a PC based HD tuner card that writes the digital datastream to the PC's hard drive. I have one of the latter and it works great. These cards cost between $150 and $250.
Steve

Originally posted by Chris Isble

I'm already using the one DVI input on my TV for the LG box, so the DVR will be connected via component. But as you say, it makes sense to ask for the newest box.

If you promise not to tell anyone ( :) ), I don't even HAVE an HD set now. I'm feeding analog 480i component video to my SD Toshiba 32", and it still looks pretty darn good. I guess I have a good set.

I hope you find what you're looking for on the 8300HD...if the inputs were somehow enabled and you were OK with recording HD on composite video (which isn't as good as even 480i component, tho), then I guess that'd work.

Adelphia has made the NFL Network HD feed live on channel 778, and its SD counterpart's on 178.

Note: the only actual HD show on the NFL Network is the "Game of the Week", an edited version of their spotlight game. Despite the fact that the guide actually shows a Bengals/Browns game from October (!!!), the game this week is the Eagles/Vikings game from earlier this year. (I thought it was the playoff game this week, but Terrell Owens is playing. ;) ) It's on in HD now and looks really good. The first-run slot for this game is in the evenings a couple of days a week, I believe, I think Tuesday or Wednesday night at 9 PM, with some afternoon replays the next day.

No other channels were added today...Adelphia has an agreement for ESPN2HD, but that's not in the guide yet.

This is just an fyi, a little something that if you don't know about it, well, it may tick you off but just for general knowledge. On 8300 and 8000 they run SARA software. I've learned from other threads that there are all kinds of different versions of this software out there. Some has a whistle or a bell to it but I think it is based on how it works with your cable system. I've noticed that the version we run is lower then most I see out there, however it seems to be able to do in some cases a thing or two more then higher versions.

What else I've learned is some cable systems are on something called passport software. What's cool abou this stuff is it will allow you to set up your recordings by priority like a season pass in TiVo. That way if you have a conflict somewhere two or three weeks after you set up your recordings it will not just not record, but will go with the order you set up in priority.

We probably will never see that because of the cable system capatability issued, but it is interesting that these machines can even do that.

Hi guys,

Anyone know is the adelphia HD locals are encoded. I am thinking about gettng a Fusion card to live with MYHD. The Fusion will record qam.

Thanks in advance,

Originally posted by Rich Klim
Hi guys,

Anyone know is the adelphia HD locals are encoded. I am thinking about gettng a Fusion card to live with MYHD. The Fusion will record qam.

Thanks in advance,


My tuner can be configured for cable or broadcast. I tend to leave it on the antenna, because I get more channels, and a slightly better picture.

The last time I checked, ABC, NBC, FOX, and PBS are currently in the clear. CBS and UPN are not available in HD over Adelphia. Everything else is in the Plus package.

New to the board.


Does anyone have a realistic time frame in which we recieve DTV HD Locals in the Cleveland market?


REally do not want to have to go through the hassle of the antenna if it will be only a few months?

Originally posted by DUTCH1
New to the board.


Does anyone have a realistic time frame in which we recieve DTV HD Locals in the Cleveland market?


REally do not want to have to go through the hassle of the antenna if it will be only a few months?

There's been no official announcement from D*, but previous statements would make 12 months a likely guesstimate. However, don't expect PQ to rival what you'd attain with an antenna.

Originally posted by CPanther95
PQ to rival what you'd attain with an antenna. [/B]

Originally posted by DUTCH1
New to the board.


REally do not want to have to go through the hassle of the antenna if it will be only a few months?

Welcome.

Instead of installing an antenna, you'll most likely need a new dish and STB to get the locals from D* according to recent reports.

Sounds like an antenna will actually be the easier route. :rolleyes:

Cleveland is market #15 size-wise, so we'll likely see the D* HD LILs here before the end of the year. I think they were aiming for the top 30 markets once they get the new satellites up...sometime this summer, I believe.

But ZMan is right. We're talking two new satellites here, and D* is moving to MPEG4 compression.

Re: HD locals on Adelphia - the law requires them to put the locals "in the clear" via QAM, if I understand right.

I noticed my 8300 rebooted last night. Searching around in the diagnostics screen I saw new SARA installed, version 1.85.17.3. I have no idea what changes are involved with this upgrade, if I notice something I'll report it.

Originally posted by Inundated
Cleveland is market #15 size-wise, so we'll likely see the D* HD LILs here before the end of the year. I think they were aiming for the top 30 markets once they get the new satellites up...sometime this summer, I believe.

But ZMan is right. We're talking two new satellites here, and D* is moving to MPEG4 compression.

Re: HD locals on Adelphia - the law requires them to put the locals "in the clear" via QAM, if I understand right.

The press release that I saw at CES from D* listed the markets and Cleveland was not included in the initial roll out. My guess is more than a year, but who knows at this point.

Originally posted by ParsonsBri
The press release that I saw at CES from D* listed the markets and Cleveland was not included in the initial roll out. My guess is more than a year, but who knows at this point.

That's the list of the first 12 markets that'll be available by mid-2005. It's my understanding that the top 30 should be up by the end of the year.

I got home tonight and found that WOW pushed new software to my SA8000HD, SARA 1.83.16.a10. The good news is the DVI port is now active. The bad news is my NEC 42VP4 plasma is not HDCP compliant so I can't use it. Thank you Hollywood, for making my $3000 investment into a paperweight (well not really, component is "good enough", but it's fun to rant...)

I tried plugging in my new toy the Dell W1700 LCD TV with DVI into the SA8000HD and I only see the left half of the image stretched across the screen. The SA8000HD has some "Please u" purple message on screen with no TV picture displayed (black screen). I can only see half the caption box on screen so I have no idea what it's telling me to do, maybe run setup on the box again or something. "Please update" something, "Please unplug" something maybe.

While experimenting plugging and unplugging the DVI cable I managed to screw the thing up with the DVI handshake to the point I had to unplug the box from the wall and reboot. At one point I had a picture but no digital audio to my HT receiver. Sigh.

UPDATE: (doh!) I unplugged the SA8000HD from the wall and replugged it with the DVI connected to the Dell W1700. Now the on screen display looks correct. I think I confused the box with my earlier experimentation and the DVI handshake got messed up. Unfortunately the Dell W1700 is apparently not HDCP compliant according to the SA8000HD's on screen warning message !! Aaaaargh!! I wonder how many pissed off people are calling their cable companies wanting to know why their DVI inputs won't work thanks to Hollywood's paranoia?

Originally posted by paule123
I got home tonight and found that WOW pushed new software to my SA8000HD, SARA 1.83.16.a10. The good news is the DVI port is now active. The bad news is my NEC 42VP4 plasma is not HDCP compliant so I can't use it. Thank you Hollywood, for making my $3000 investment into a paperweight (well not really, component is "good enough", but it's fun to rant...)

I tried plugging in my new toy the Dell W1700 LCD TV with DVI into the SA8000HD and I only see the left half of the image stretched across the screen. The SA8000HD has some "Please u" purple message on screen with no TV picture displayed (black screen). I can only see half the caption box on screen so I have no idea what it's telling me to do, maybe run setup on the box again or something. "Please update" something, "Please unplug" something maybe.

While experimenting plugging and unplugging the DVI cable I managed to screw the thing up with the DVI handshake to the point I had to unplug the box from the wall and reboot. At one point I had a picture but no digital audio to my HT receiver. Sigh.

UPDATE: (doh!) I unplugged the SA8000HD from the wall and replugged it with the DVI connected to the Dell W1700. Now the on screen display looks correct. I think I confused the box with my earlier experimentation and the DVI handshake got messed up. Unfortunately the Dell W1700 is apparently not HDCP compliant according to the SA8000HD's on screen warning message !! Aaaaargh!! I wonder how many pissed off people are calling their cable companies wanting to know why their DVI inputs won't work thanks to Hollywood's paranoia?

I'm not quite sure I understand the Hollywood paranoia thing, but I think that if you search around on the boards, maybe specifically on the SA8000 thread you can fine a solution to this problem your having. I seem to recall reading messages about what to do when this occures.

Edited to add: the only thing I have noticed so far on the upgrade I received yesterday is that there was a problem with the picture freezing in FF with the 8300. I tested it several times last night and the picture did not freeze up.

Originally posted by Inundated

I've thought about upgrading, but I don't do DVI/HDMI and I don't know what advantages it'd provide me otherwise over the 8000HD. Oddly enough, the 8000HD also has a DVI port, though I don't know if it's active in the current software version.

Either way, starting anew, I'd say definitely get the 8300.


Double the hard drive space for recording. I'd say that makes it worth it for you even if you don't use DVI/HDMI. Also, to me, the pass-through feature alone is worth it so the box will switch out of 1080i mode for the non-HD channels. That way my TV can do it's formating instead of having to use the box. On the 8000HD, you have to manually switch modes if you want this to work. I'm on the waiting list for the 8300HD but it'll be until mid-Feb they said.

-Todd

Originally posted by hookbill
I'm not quite sure I understand the Hollywood paranoia thing


hookbill, I'm just lashing out as a frustrated user who now has two DVI-capable displays in the house, but neither are HDCP compliant, effectively making DVI useless. Such is the nature of being an "early adopter" I suppose...

It's really the fault of the manufacturers (NEC on the 42VP4 and Dell on the W1700) for not supporting HDCP in the hardware.

We'll see how long HDCP holds up as an effective copy-protection scheme. It's just a matter of time before some teenager in the Netherlands cracks it :D

Originally posted by Inundated
That's the list of the first 12 markets that'll be available by mid-2005. It's my understanding that the top 30 should be up by the end of the year.

I stand corrected, and I am glad I'm wrong. I just hope I dont lose my DNS. The only reason is occasionally I forget or dont have time to watch a show, I then catch it on the West coast feed. Not that big of a deal.

Originally posted by ParsonsBri
I stand corrected, and I am glad I'm wrong. I just hope I dont lose my DNS. The only reason is occasionally I forget or dont have time to watch a show, I then catch it on the West coast feed. Not that big of a deal.

I believe you can keep your DNS, but NOT if you request HD LILs. Someone who knows SHVERA better than I do could probably answer that question better than I can.

Originally posted by Dweezilz
Double the hard drive space for recording. I'd say that makes it worth it for you even if you don't use DVI/HDMI. Also, to me, the pass-through feature alone is worth it so the box will switch out of 1080i mode for the non-HD channels. That way my TV can do it's formating instead of having to use the box. On the 8000HD, you have to manually switch modes if you want this to work. I'm on the waiting list for the 8300HD but it'll be until mid-Feb they said..

Double the HD space? Does the 8300HD have a 320GB drive? I'm pretty sure the 8000HD has a 160 in it. I know some of 'em have 80GB drives, but think the ones Adelphia sends out are the 160's.

Passthrough means nothing to me...believe it or not, I'm not even using an actual HD set. I'm feeding 480i via component video to my Toshiba 32" analog set.

I've decided not to buy an HD tube set in the same range, because I don't believe it could look much better than this picture, which is *very* good. My "actual HD" set will likely be an LCD/DLP/Plasma set at some point.

Originally posted by Inundated
Double the HD space? Does the 8300HD have a 320GB drive? I'm pretty sure the 8000HD has a 160 in it. I know some of 'em have 80GB drives, but think the ones Adelphia sends out are the 160's.


I've decided not to buy an HD tube set in the same range, because I don't believe it could look much better than this picture, which is *very* good. My "actual HD" set will likely be an LCD/DLP/Plasma set at some point.

Nope, HD space is the same as 8000HD. Inundated, I respect you as a very knowledgeable fellow, but I would find it real hard to believe that your 480i picture can look real close to my HDMI fed 1080i Sony CRT unit.

It's your money, spend it as you wish. Certainly I wouldn't mind having a LCD/DLP/Plasma, but my wallet couldn't take it.:)

Originally posted by bkuner
I live in the Fairlawn area and am getting decent reception. I have a Channel Master 3018 Near Fringe antenna mounted in the Attic. I get 5.1, 8.1, 19.1, 43.1, 50.1 & .2 in the 70 to 95% range. They occasionally drop in the 40 - 50% range and lock is intermittent. I to not have to move the antenna to get these. I have it basically pointed in the direction of 3,5,8 antennas about 350 degrees. WKYC-DT 3.1 and 3.2 are consistently at 41% with no lock. I am considering adding a amplifier to see if that helps bring in 3 as well as help with the intermittent issues with the other channels.

Brian

I'm in Stow using a Channel Master Stealthtenna currently indoors pointed out the window and get the same results as Brian with one exception, 43.1 hardly ever comes in.

Brian - I would be curious to know your results with the amp.

Chris

Originally posted by hookbill
...I wouldn't mind having a LCD/DLP/Plasma, but my wallet couldn't take it.:) [/B]

I work a consumer electronics company and I can tell you that Plasma prices will plummet this year, starting soon. We are already seeing sub $2000 pricepoints for 42" HD plasma in the second quarter. That wont be from Sony for instance, but who cares. Most use the Samsung panels anyway. The thinking of the plasma display folks is that they want to head off the proliferation of larger LCD screens as those prices will also dive. You will be able to get a 32" HD ready from my company for $1500 retail in June.

Originally posted by hookbill
Nope, HD space is the same as 8000HD.

Hmm..that's pretty strange. I got my 8000HD the 1st day they had them & I was told then by Adelphia that it had 10 hours of HD recording time & about 40-50 hours of SD recording time, which is the same as the non-HD DVR. The Scientific Atlanta website confirmed that as well back then. People were even complaining about only 10 hours of HD recording time & I was pretty irritated as well.

Now, I have not confirmed what mine has in it, but I've maxed it out a few times & I don't believe I had more than 8 hours of HD & a few hours of SD. I'm not positive, but I really don't think I had 20 hours of HD on there. When I look at the SA website now, it says 20 hours of HD recording & 90 hours of SD. Now that is consistant with double the space as I had mentioned. Maybe they upgraded the HDD to a larger size??

My guess is that originally, the 8000SD had 80 gig drives & Adelphia did indeed have those before switching to the 160 gig unit. So, in the end, sorry if I confused the issue, but it looks like some people got the 80 gig units. Either that, or I'm confused as usual! ha! I'll fill mine up with HD to test & see.

-Todd

Originally posted by Inundated

I've decided not to buy an HD tube set in the same range, because I don't believe it could look much better than this picture, which is *very* good. My "actual HD" set will likely be an LCD/DLP/Plasma set at some point.

Do you mean that HD will not look as good on a direct view 32" HDTV as does 480i SD material on your 32" SDTV?? That doesn't make any sense to me & if that is what you mean, I can without a doubt say that is not the case. I have a 51" CRT based Sony HDTV & I'd challenge any set out there on HD content. It looks killer. More comparable to your situation, are my in-laws who have a 30" Sony direct view HDTV. Not only does the HD look killer, but the SD looks very good as well. No way does any SD look better on ANY SD 'tube' (direct view) TV than it does on this TV, plus the HD will blow away any SD material on any SD TV. Direct View CRT is still the king according to most respected publications (see Sound & Vision Jan. edition)...it's just bigger & heavier than LCD/Plasma. The only thing I can agree with you on is that SD material probably looks better on your 32" TV than it does on my 51" Sony RPTV.

Like hookbill said, it's your money (meaning if you can't afford one that's understandable), but unless I misunderstand, I can't agree with you less about 480i vs. crt based HDTV's.

-Todd

Originally posted by hookbill
Nope, HD space is the same as 8000HD. Inundated, I respect you as a very knowledgeable fellow, but I would find it real hard to believe that your 480i picture can look real close to my HDMI fed 1080i Sony CRT unit.

Well, the better picture source makes ALL pictures look good. It's the same effect you get when you shoot a digital still picture in a high resolution (say 1900x1200 or something) and reduce it with Photoshop or something to 800x600. That picture looks somewhat better than if you shoot originally in 800x600, because there are more underlying pixels.

I've seen tube HD sets (in the $700-1000 range) with HD content feeding them, mostly the usual demo loops. Maybe live programming looks better, but the picture really IS remarkable even on my SD set with true HD content feeding via component video. Not S-video, not composite, but component.

Maybe it's closer to a cheaper CRT unit. ;)

It may or may not be "true HD", but it looks pretty damn good... the ABC coverage of the Inauguration has been breathtaking more than once. Maybe my eyes are just deceiving me, but I can't see it getting SIGNIFICANTLY better. 3D, maybe? ;)

It's your money, spend it as you wish. Certainly I wouldn't mind having a LCD/DLP/Plasma, but my wallet couldn't take it.:)

I'm thinking the "sweet spot" will drop far enough for, say, a 42 inch DLP/LCD/Plasma, that I'll consider it a good buy, in the next year or so.

Originally posted by Dweezilz
Like hookbill said, it's your money (meaning if you can't afford one that's understandable), but unless I misunderstand, I can't agree with you less about 480i vs. crt based HDTV's.

What I'm watching is not "true SD" content. I'm watching HD 720p/1080i stuff downconverted in both the 8000HD and the OTA box to 480i, and feeding the *component* inputs on my Toshiba 32" HD set.

It's probably a misstatement to say it looks as "nearly good as HD would" in a comparable direct view CRT set, so I'll take that back. It's looked, to me, "good enough", with some absolutely beautiful PQ, to hold off on buying a relatively equivalent sized direct view CRT set. I'm watching ABC's HD coverage of the Inauguration even as we speak via WEWS-DT and Adelphia's feed, and it's compelling.

Again, this is full HD content (at the source) downcoverted in the box, and fed out on component video to the SD set.

So I guess what I should have said is that it looks "good enough" to me, and compelling enough, to hold off and get a larger set instead of directly replacing this 32" set with the exact same size HD set. (And I've come close, twice, to "pulling the trigger" on relatively inexpensive 32" sets by Toshiba and Sanyo.) Heck, I might even get a 34" direct view HD set.

I realize I'm pushing about the best possible PQ out of this set now. I don't know what the resolution is (pixels) vs. a 32" direct view HD 4:3 set, say...or a 30" direct view HD 16:9 set, which is basically what the letterbox makes it equivalent to.

That makes total sense now, I'm glad you explained. Yeah I'm sure that your current setup looks good enough in that you wouldn't want to just waste $1000 if it ruined the chances of getting a larger set. Some of those cheaper 32" 4:3 HD sets are garbage & probably won't be worth it as they won't look all that much better (those aren't $1000 by the way...much cheaper). I have seen some of the more expensive 4:3 HD sets that looked good, although I'm not one to recommend any 4:3 set for HD or DVD. That said, I'm am sure that your setup isn't close to widescreen HD, even at those sizes (30"- 34"). I saw the $2000 Sony 34" direct view TV in all it's glory at Best Buy while I was in Florida a few weeks ago & it was simply spectacular. I was actually shocked how smooth, detailed & sharp the picture looked. I love my 51" Sony, but man that expensive 34" looked amazing. Ironically, they had their lineup of SD TV's & HDTV's all displaying the PBS demo loop. The SD TV's were obviously downconverted to 480i. I'd agree that the picture actually looked pretty great on some of the SD TV's, but on the widescreen direct view HDTV's which were side by side with some of the SD TV's, it look a million times better. The size factor is definately in the works here (heck my 19" Panasonic makes basic cable look great too!) & while it might make the picture look pretty good, I can promise the detail level is no where near the same. A 32" is comparable to 29" 16:9. Not sure what lines are avaiable on 4:3 HDTV as I pretty much ignore those, but on the 30" 16:9, it's considerably higher than your 32" SDTV.

I understand what you are saying though. When you are ready, go for a Grand Wega 60" LCD! Now that's great looking! ha!

regards.

-Todd

Originally posted by Dweezilz
Either that, or I'm confused as usual! ha! I'll fill mine up with HD to test & see.

-Todd

Well, I stand corrected. Seems Adelphia was wrong when I first got my 8000HD as I have about 12 hours of HD on there now & I'm at 50% only. I guess it's not suprising that Adelphia told me something that was wrong! I guess I have filled it up in the past with a mixture of HD & SD and just didn't realize how much I had on there.

I've heard the 8300HD is less buggy though & a better over-all unit. For a free swap, I'll pick mine up (plus the pass-through).

-Todd

I've heard the 8300HD is less buggy though & a better over-all unit. For a free swap, I'll pick mine up (plus the pass-through).

-Todd [/B]

Yes, I agree it is less buggy, and when you get the latest SARA download one of the annoying bugs gets removed. The 8300 has crashed on me one time in the last couple of months I've had it as the 8000 would crash if I pushed buttons too quickly on the remote. And don't forget HDMI is active on the 8300.

FYI....My Sony is a 30" set I got in July. I only paid 899.00 it's a Wega and it has outstanding pq. It is of course 16x9.

Originally posted by hookbill


Yes, I agree it is less buggy, and when you get the latest SARA download one of the annoying bugs gets removed. The 8300 has crashed on me one time in the last couple of months I've had it as the 8000 would crash if I pushed buttons too quickly on the remote.

FYI....My Sony is a 30" set I got in July. I only paid 899.00 it's a Wega and it has outstanding pq. It is of course 16x9.

Yep, that's the TV my in-laws have. It's nice for sure.

Originally posted by Dweezilz
I understand what you are saying though. When you are ready, go for a Grand Wega 60" LCD! Now that's great looking! ha!

Nah, I'm already spending too much business-wise to justify that! ;)

I know the actual HD direct view sets have more lines...I know that. But this still looks "spectactular" enough for me to hang in here for a while while I decide where to land in the HD arena. Heck, if I even get one of those Sony CRT sets you talk about (I think Hookbill has one), I might propose marriage to it. :D

One problem is that I want to see an HD set with the same sources I have, and see just how dramatic the improvement is. As you correctly note, the demo loops in the stores don't tell me much...I wanna watch what I watch at home.

A local BB, which shall remain nameless location-wise, actually tried to show an NFL playoff game live in HD with an antenna. But...duh...the person who set it up left the projection TV on "zoom", and it was zoomed in the MIDDLE of the 16:9 picture!!! Arrgh!

Re: 8000HD, yes, it's 160 GB out of Adelphia. If the passthrough were important to me, I might get it. PQ may be a little better, too, compared to the 8000HD. I just don't feel like dealing with the Adelphia gauntlet unless I have to!

Originally posted by Inundated


One problem is that I want to see an HD set with the same sources I have, and see just how dramatic the improvement is. As you correctly note, the demo loops in the stores don't tell me much...I wanna watch what I watch at home.

A local BB, which shall remain nameless location-wise, actually tried to show an NFL playoff game live in HD with an antenna. But...duh...the person who set it up left the projection TV on "zoom", and it was zoomed in the MIDDLE of the 16:9 picture!!! Arrgh!

Re: 8000HD, yes, it's 160 GB out of Adelphia. If the passthrough were important to me, I might get it. PQ may be a little better, too, compared to the 8000HD. I just don't feel like dealing with the Adelphia gauntlet unless I have to!

Yeah I know what you mean about Adelphia. I am interested to see if the 8300 looks better on my 51" Sony, plus the pass though, so I'll deal with their normal hassle & pick one up.

One thing I can promise is that once you get a good quality 16:9 HDTV, the difference will be huge! Football games alone are spectacular beyond words. You don't even need to demo that to just know it'll be so much better than what you have. Hard to go by what you see at best buy though, plus those guys are usually clueless. Not sure where you live, but I'd recommend going into an AudioCraft or AudioVisions (I think that's their name) to see real HD. I think they might have Adelphia HD there to look at. Also, I've found that Circuit City often has their TV's showing some nice HD believe it or not. At any rate, when you do take the plunge, you'll be loving life!! Good luck!! Let us know when you get one.

-Todd

Originally posted by Inundated
Re: 8000HD, yes, it's 160 GB out of Adelphia. If the passthrough were important to me, I might get it. PQ may be a little better, too, compared to the 8000HD. I just don't feel like dealing with the Adelphia gauntlet unless I have to! I've had the 8000 since Adelphia first delivered them early last year. I'd really like to upgrade to the 8300, but I can never seem to get my 8000 cleaned up enough that I'd be willing to part with it! There's always something recorded on it that I (or my family) still want to watch.

One of the nice features of the 8300 is the ability to add more hard drive space to it, so I wouldn't have to worry about filling it up.

Originally posted by Jim Gilliland
I've had the 8000 since Adelphia first delivered them early last year. I'd really like to upgrade to the 8300, but I can never seem to get my 8000 cleaned up enough that I'd be willing to part with it! There's always something recorded on it that I (or my family) still want to watch.


What I did was watch everything recorded in HD before I turned it in. I put everything else on VCR.

Originally posted by hookbill
What I did was watch everything recorded in HD before I turned it in. I put everything else on VCR.

Yeah I'd like to do that with my other non-hd DVR to get more space, but I have like 8 episodes of west wing & a bunch of law & order too. I don't think I have any blank VCR tapes anymore since I haven't used it in like a year!! although with the crappy fast forward of the 8000, it's not much different than fast forwarding through a tape. ha!

Just got the 8300hd today for downstairs hdtv though.

-Todd

WVIZ-DT 26.3 MAKES TITAN TV!

Just noticed it. Also just noticed 26.4 a screen of color bars and the time, pretty handy ehh? 26.9 is often CRRS but it comes and goes.

They are still transmitting from the studio at state rd. and I 480

I don't even want to know whats up with the PSIP.

Ok. I'm glad they are broadcasting in HD. But this has got to be the worst newscast on the air.

I say that because of all the shameless promotion of American Idol. I have never seen anyone promote a show like this. I turn the news on at 5:00 and there is something about AI every 15 minutes.

And really it's not a great newscast anyway. Dick Goddard is so old he frequently doesn't know how to operate a computer. Then they got that one guy who thinks portraying himself like Ted Baxter, the guy from the Mary Tyler Moore show, is cool.

I really like WOIO but I feel guilty watching them since they won't even sign up with Adelphia for HD.

Channel 3 is stretch o vision at it's worst. Channel 5 is better.

Well, gotta gripe somwhere so I came here. I'll try and get over myself.
:)

I was happy when I was able to receive WEAO-DT couple weeks ago but now I can't :confused: Is that station still transmitting regularly?

Also from the thread WVIZ-DT has started to transmit too? Just wondering because I can't seem to pick that up either :confused:

Robert

Originally posted by hookbill
I really like WOIO but I feel guilty watching them since they won't even sign up with Adelphia for HD.
:)

Yipes. I don't know how you can stand to watch "19 Action News" without your head exploding. ;)

FOX 8 isn't what it used to be, years ago, to be sure. The FOX Show Pandering has gone into overdrive, and the newscast has a lot more "lifestyle" stories than it used to (i.e. stories about, for example, losing weight, etc., as opposed to hard news). However, when they actually step away from the American Idol Altar and the "New Diet Pill" Altar, their hard news reporting is still some of the best in the market. It's just very hard to find. ;)

And the addition of Bill and Stacey at 10 can't bode well. (I'm guessing that Bill's the Ted Baxter clone you were talking about.) Bill and Stacey are more "personable" as far as chit-chat, and if you're looking for real news...yipes.

That having been said, I can't deal with 19 at all. They're ALL flash and dash and hype and tabloid. Their weather guy looks like he's coaching a high school basketball team, with that "lean down and fight the weather front!" routine he does. Their new (auditioning) weekend sports guy, Charlie Minn, is an insult to sports anchors across America.

WKYC/3's probably the best "hard news" station out there these days, if you can deal with the stretchovision in digital mode. (On my 480i 4x3 set, it doesn't look too bad if you use the box to squish it back down.) Channel 5 has also gone down the This Newscast Is About Our Hot Show "Desparate Housewives" route, and is nearly as giddy as 8 is these days as far as chit-chat goes.

Originally posted by takosan
I was happy when I was able to receive WEAO-DT couple weeks ago but now I can't :confused: Is that station still transmitting regularly?

Also from the thread WVIZ-DT has started to transmit too? Just wondering because I can't seem to pick that up either :confused:

As far as I know, WEAO-DT is still up, though I can't check right now. How far are you from Akron?

And WVIZ-DT's full power signal won't be up until about the summer. WVIZ had a legal dispute with Infinity Radio, the site's owner, about work Infinity wouldn't allow them to do to get WVIZ-DT up. They put a temporary transmitter up at the studios on Brookpark Road, which you might be able to get if you can see it or live in the Parma area, or have a cable-TV-headend sized antenna ;)

The legal dispute was settled, and WVIZ is now in the process of designing and building its full-power DT operation at the analog site in North Royalton.

I'm in western suburbs of Cleveland so pretty far from Akron. Just checked right now again & my SIR-T150 did receive a picture for a second or two but lost it. This morning there were no signals.

I think I started this thread asking for advice back in August of 2003 because I couldn't get any station to go over 50% sensitivity. After getting feedbacks, I tried several times over the past year to find the best direction to point the antenna but it never goes beyond 50%. Still, I get no dropouts so I gave up.

Maybe I was just lucky couple weeks ago because 50.1 & 50.2 were coming in beautifully. I shall see this summer if WVIZ-DT will also start coming in for me :)

Robert

Originally posted by takosan
I think I started this thread asking for advice back in August of 2003 because I couldn't get any station to go over 50% sensitivity. After getting feedbacks, I tried several times over the past year to find the best direction to point the antenna but it never goes beyond 50%. Still, I get no dropouts so I gave up.

OK, so if you're getting problems getting ANY local stations over 50% signal...getting solid reception out of WEAO-DT may be a stretch for you. I've seen stuff like that happen before...only in my case, the offender is low-VHF-hell-occupant WKYC-DT 2. The digital side of Channel 3 comes in some days like it was going to be near perfect, but most of the time, it's almost impossible to receive clearly for me. I'd suspect that if I COULD put up a big, rooftop antenna, I might have a shot at it, but maybe not...multipath may be a larger issue for me on WKYC-DT.

You should have a much better shot at WVIZ-DT when it goes full power, at least as good as you can get the other stations in that general area.

Well, everything is great with my new 8300HD except for one thing. Seems the box has a very limited range for remote reception. I tested with the old remote from my other box & it's exactly the same on this 8300hd. They work for the length of the family room, but the box stops responding at the front of the kitchen. The box also seems to not respond at time even at close range unless I'm pointing directly at it. Both remotes control my Sony TV perfectly from my kitchen but neither will control the box from there. The old 8000HD worked perfectly from across the entire kitchen. Because we watch the TV from the kitchen when we are eating (sometimes), this is a major problem.

Does anyone else have this issue or do you think it's a defective box?

-Todd

Originally posted by takosan
I was happy when I was able to receive WEAO-DT couple weeks ago but now I can't :confused: Is that station still transmitting regularly?

Robert

I had the same problem. I had WEAO coming in strong for a day or so the week after Christmas - then nothing, no matter where I placed the antenna. Couldn't get the analog station either.

Last Saturday, I tried again, and got a lock with the antenna in a totally different position than before. It's been solid ever since - hopefully it will stay that way.

Originally posted by hookbill
Ok. I'm glad they are broadcasting in HD. But this has got to be the worst newscast on the air.

All of the local newscasts are pretty bad. The CBS affiliate will do the same pandering when the new "Survivor" comes out, for instance. I tend to lean towards WEWS 11 o'clock news, but the weatherman there is an annoying idiot. When he was new, he had a knack for screwing up the five day forecast pretty consistently and forced me over to WKYC to get the weather (the weather is really the only reason to watch these local newscasts anyway)

I regularly watch WGN News at Nine (9CT, 10ET) out of Chicago. For one thing, I'm a former Chicagoan, for another thing it's simply the best "local" newscast in the country. Period. If you're a weather geek, Tom Skilling's forecasts are unsurpassed.

Originally posted by Dweezilz
Well, everything is great with my new 8300HD except for one thing. Seems the box has a very limited range for remote reception. I tested with the old remote from my other box & it's exactly the same on this 8300hd. They work for the length of the family room, but the box stops responding at the front of the kitchen. The box also seems to not respond at time even at close range unless I'm pointing directly at it. Both remotes control my Sony TV perfectly from my kitchen but neither will control the box from there. The old 8000HD worked perfectly from across the entire kitchen. Because we watch the TV from the kitchen when we are eating (sometimes), this is a major problem.

Does anyone else have this issue or do you think it's a defective box?

-Todd

Well, first since I really have no idea how long your family room is, or any of the others it's kind of hard for me to give a difinitive answer in comparison to mine. I have measured from the kitchen to the box and that's about 25 ft. I've noticed usually if I'm in the kitchen I have to step into the living room to do anything.

Of course there could be several other factors. I'm sure you've cleaned off the front panel. The batteries that come with the remote are usually pretty good so probably not that. Other things that may be in line of site with the remote could be a problem too.

For my thinking, 25 ft is about right for a remote.

Originally posted by paule123
All of the local newscasts are pretty bad. The CBS affiliate will do the same pandering when the new "Survivor" comes out, for instance. I tend to lean towards WEWS 11 o'clock news, but the weatherman there is an annoying idiot. When he was new, he had a knack for screwing up the five day forecast pretty consistently and forced me over to WKYC to get the weather (the weather is really the only reason to watch these local newscasts anyway)

3's the most low-key, least-hyped newscast in the market. I have my problems with even them, but they're pretty solid...and they do have the Akron operation which runs on 23 (unfortunately, not even available in SD digital right now).

WJW FOX 8 can't be the worst newscast in the market as long as the folks at Reserve Square still put out newscasts for 19 and 43. Any news operation which hypes one of its anchors going naked, and shows it, has a long way to go to regain my viewership.

Originally posted by hookbill
Well, first since I really have no idea how long your family room is, or any of the others it's kind of hard for me to give a difinitive answer in comparison to mine. I have measured from the kitchen to the box and that's about 25 ft. I've noticed usually if I'm in the kitchen I have to step into the living room to do anything.

Of course there could be several other factors. I'm sure you've cleaned off the front panel. The batteries that come with the remote are usually pretty good so probably not that. Other things that may be in line of site with the remote could be a problem too.

For my thinking, 25 ft is about right for a remote.

My kitchen table is about 25-26 feet from the box. Front panel sticker was taken off & it's clean. Batteries replace with good ones. Everything has worked from the kitchen except this box. The explorer 3100 worked fine from the kitchen, the HD box worked fine (3200HD?), the 8000HD worked fine, my dish network HD receiver works fine, yamaha reciever works fine, cd player works fine, & TV all work fine. I programmed this remote to control my DVD player & TV. Both work fine from the kitchen. The 8300HD is the 1st box in 5 years in this setup that won't work from the kitchen. Seems the range tapers out at about 20-23 feet. Keep in mind, this range is NOT the range of the remote, as it controls my other componants from well over 30 feet! It just won't control the 8300HD from past about 23 feet. My pronto can go up to 33 feet and then some & it won't control the box either from there. If someone else could test their's for me I'd really appreciate it. I'm guessing I have a defective box or for some reason, the 8300's receiving eye is much weaker than all their other boxes. If hookbill's box is only good from 20 feet as well, then it may be a flaw in the software (I'd think the hardware is the same as their other boxes)

Originally posted by paule123
....the weather is really the only reason to watch these local newscasts anyway.... The weather forecast, as presented by local TV news, is largely a work of fiction. They do everything they can to dramatize it, with the result that you really can't put any trust in in at all. If it's snow, they call for a blizzard. If it's cold, they tell you about "wind chill", if it's hot, they forecast even hotter. If there's a line of thunderstorms, they'll preempt programming to show off their Dopler radar (got to show a return on that investment!). Anything to draw in a few more viewers.

If you want an accurate forecast, point your browser to a National Weather Service feed. You'll be amazed at how often it differs from what the TV guys are reporting, and how often it turns out more accurate.

Originally posted by Dweezilz
My kitchen table is about 25-26 feet from the box. Front panel sticker was taken off & it's clean

Well, bad news. I called Scientific Atlanta & sure enough, they went with new hardware for the sensor on the 8300HD & they are aware that it is a problem. Unfortunately, no software can fix it as it's a hardware only issue he said. It's range will be significanlty less than the 8000HD or any other SA box for that matter. It's range is about 20-22 feet which he confirmed as accurate. It will be necessary to have a good direct angle to the box or it will also have issues picking up the signal. It also doesn't work with any extenders that Remote Central has tested with. I was suprised that their support actually refrenced Remote Central! He even told me it was a t.o.a.d. etc...! No clue why they would have gone with different & MUCH worse hardware but maybe it was a money saving issue. Bad choice.

So, I guess I just can't use it from my kitchen. He did say a pronto MIGHT be better if it send a stronger signal so I'm going to try it. I haven't programmed it yet into my Pronto but I'll report back soon.

On the bright side, I do notice an improvement in PQ on the HD channels with this box so that's a plus!

-Todd

Dweezilz, just curious how big is your display? I was thinking of switching from the SA8000HD to the SA8300HD but have a hard time thinking the PQ would get significantly better on my 42" plasma. This weekend I was playing with component vs. DVI from my Samsung SIR-T165 OTA box and could not see a difference. The Sammy DVI output looked identical to the SA8000HD component out.

Do you think SD material looks better on the SA8300HD?

So far I really haven't paid much attention to SD material, but my HD definately looks better to me. Even the wife thought so. SD probably won't look that much better I would guess. I have a 51" Sony rear projection HDTV. I'd say it's worth the shot to upgrade. The downfall is the remote sensor, but on the positive side is the pass-through so it'll auto-switch from SD to HD mode when you change channels.

Dweezliz, are you running your 8300 through HDMI to your projection set?

Just curious.

No, my TV doesn't have an HDMI input. I have DVI, but going through componant.

Originally posted by Dweezilz
No, my TV doesn't have an HDMI input. I have DVI, but going through componant.

If you wanted to use the DVI on your tv, you could try a cable with HDMI on one end and DVI on the other. These cables came included with the HDTivo for this purpose.

I already have my Dish Reciever going into DVI but I'm probably getting rid of it soon anyway. In comparing like channels via DVI Dish box & Adelphia's HD box, the Adelphia's picture seem to have way more color but maybe not quite as sharp a picture. Not sure if this is a lacking in my DVI port on the TV or in the Dish box. At any rate, I've heard that on an RPTV, the benefit in PQ using DVI is minimal anyway. Hard for me to judge since the two inputs looks SO very different on the same channels.

Wow, I've never seen it so quiet around here.

On a related note, I noticed that my picture was incredibly washed out and hard to see this morning. Then I realized that it was just sun glare coming through the window. It's been so long since it's happened, I forgot the symptoms. :cool:

Ok, ok. So the real reason for the post was just a bump so we don't miss any new members that might wander in after their recent purchase of a Super Bowl-set.

Anyone know if the cav's game tonight will be blacked out on ESPN? I was wondering if the would black out the game if it is on FSN or WUAB. I hope not. Looking forward to seeing thre cavs in HD.

I think since its a National game it would be in the clear to us.

I have recently upgraded to Cox HD and have noticed something disturbing.I was wondering if anyone here that has Cox HD service in or around the outlying area of Cleveland has noticed this.
While viewing a HD broadcast I notice a cracking or popping through me reciever and speakers.Of course i went ahead and rechecked my connections throughout my whole HT set up,everything is in order and correct.
While viewing a SD channel,or playing a dvd,cd,or listening to music via the tuner
I never hear this cracking /popping.It's only on the HD feed.
Has anyone in this area experienced this ??

Braccio, you may want to search AVSForum for the make/model of your HD set top box and see if it's a known issue with audio breakups.

I know my SA8000HD used to have audio breakups specifically with Fox live sporting events in DD5.1 audio via the optical audio out. The problem has largely disappeared, either because Fox fixed something and/or Wide Open West cable upgraded the software in the STB.

As a workaround for my audio glitches, I was able to change the SA8000HD audio output settings via the remote from "dolby digital" to "stereo" and that fixed it -- but I lost surround effects of course.

-- Paul

I get it also but I'm using the D*. Its the networks OR the locals switching from a comercial break back to the HD program. WEWS is really bad.

Originally posted by gass
I get it also but I'm using the D*. Its the networks OR the locals switching from a comercial break back to the HD program. WEWS is really bad.

And FOX is probably the best because they don't toggle betwwen dolby 5.1 and normal broadcasting.

A friend of mine just got Cox cable with HD.I asked her if she has experienced the audio anomoly and sure enough she said she did.
I then called tech support at Cox and made a tech aware of this.He said he would have a senior tech call me on Mon.Till then I'm waiting.When or if I get an answer,I'll let you all know the outcome.
Those that replied,thank you for your input!
P.S. The STB I'm using is the Scientific Atlanta Explorer 3250HD.

Finally, Finally, Finally at last. I found out that Adelphia (Cleveland) has signed with Raycom. WOIO will be on sometime this week or as far out as 30/40 days. I heard they already have the signal, they just need permission. Look for it on 704 or 719.

Yes!!!!!!!! In time for March Madness!

Now, about ESPN2HD? Baseball season opener maybe?
(Greed continues to appear) :-)

Originally posted by handsworth
Finally, Finally, Finally at last. I found out that Adelphia (Cleveland) has signed with Raycom. WOIO will be on sometime this week or as far out as 30/40 days. I heard they already have the signal, they just need permission. Look for it on 704 or 719.

Hallelujah!

:D

I hate to be a sore winner here, but any idea if WUAB/43 will be in there, too? :)

Originally posted by jtscherne
Yes!!!!!!!! In time for March Madness!

Now, about ESPN2HD? Baseball season opener maybe?
(Greed continues to appear) :-)

Adelphia (nationwide) has already signed a deal to carry ESPN2HD...and in fact, some lucky folks in Connecticut (!) already have it on Adelphia systems there.

Shouldn't be that much longer...

I know about the national deal; I'm just being a PITA....

Originally posted by handsworth
Finally, Finally, Finally at last. I found out that Adelphia (Cleveland) has signed with Raycom. WOIO will be on sometime this week or as far out as 30/40 days. I heard they already have the signal, they just need permission. Look for it on 704 or 719.

Now this is really big news! I'll be checking every morning as soon as I get up.

Hopefully they have it up maybe by tomorrow, February sweeps is starting. All the CSI's in HD. Numb3rs, Cold Case. Too Cool.

Oh yeah that basketball thing too!!!!!

I hope that the Adelphia announcement means that us Time Warner folks aren't far behind.

Can't wait to see JAG and NCIS in HD.

Let me start by making it clear that this is not a statement in denial of what Handsworth said. He has shown to be very reliable when it comes to letting us know when something new is coming up.

The WOIO hd thing is a major score for those of us who have been waiting so long. I too have a pretty reliable connection at Adelphia. Because Handsworth left a lot of leadway as to when this would become available and also because I had some trouble understanding what he meant by "needs permission" I contacted my person at Adelphia.

She told me that she doesn't know anything about it at this time. Now I would say that since Handsworth said it, you can believe it. But I really don't understand is what they would need "permission" for if they have reached agreement.

So Handsworth, if your out there....please comment.