Any local HD in Anchorage yet? I may be relocating there.

No regular broadcasts, but at least one station is testing at low power from the Hillside. Try channel 22.

GCI Cable will begin carrying HDTV December 30, 2003. This is for Anchorage and Mat-Su only at this time. GCI has started sending flyers to customers in these areas.

Initially only BravoHD and ShowtimeHD will be carried, although most available satellite HD services will transition in through first and second quarters 2004. When the local broadcasters have converted to DTV, GCI will carry them as well. Look for this to happen summer 2004.

What makes this possible is the elimination of most analog channels. Therefore Digital cable boxes will be required for all service. This conversion has been happening for several months in Anchorage, and has already been done in the valley. The basic digital converter is a DCT-1000 series GI/Motorola, this is not HD capable. However, GCI will be offering an upgraded converter for an additional $5/month, and this is where it gets exciting.

The upgraded converter is a Set Top Box capable of HD and DVR, Digital Video Recording. I beleive this indicates it will be the Motorola DCT-6208. Much information is available on this unit in the HDTV Hardware section, although I don't think any large cable system has deployed it yet. GCI will be one of the first, it sounds like.

I will be sure to post more information as soon as I have one of the new converters.

I talked to KTVA Channel 11 today... They will not be broadcasting a digital signal until summer 2004. antennaweb.org has them listed as broadcasting on channel 28 since 09-03. They still do not have the new broadcast tower up yet.

No HD Superbowl this year :(

Cheers

Macro,
Where did you get the $5/mo pricing from. I got a flyer from GCI stating that the motorola 6208 will cost $9.99/mo and $14.99/mo (without additional subscription packages). This seems like a bit much for just 2 channels (one of which you must have a separate subscription to). I'd be very interested in this if there were more HD channels available. Do you have some inside info on when more channels will be available? I might be talked into this deal if I knew that more channels were coming soon.

Of course, having a DVR capable of HD recording is probably worth the money. I remember reading something about this unit being capable of being a "DVR server" for other cable boxes. Am I out to lunch on this because I can't seem to find any info now on that capability?

Borg,

MaCro is talking about a 5$ more a month from the cost of the present digital cable STBs, assuming you have one of the qualifing packages.

This month, GCI Cable raised the price of the analog cable STBs to 5$ a month. Funny how for the past year, GCI has told me that they could not offer HD content until all the analog STBs are gone.

Like you, I am waiting until they have a real HD offering before getting a HD STB.

Never heard of a DVR server, you can find more info on the DCT6208 on the Motorola web site: http://broadband.motorola.com/dvr/dct6208.asp

Cheers

Right...that makes sense. That's a good price for a DVR ... and even better for one that records HD.

I talked to GCI yesterday about that motorola and apparently they've recalled all the units for the time being. The customer service rep didn't know why and also didn't know when it would be out again. She said she couldn't offer me one due to the recall. I'm curious to know why they were recalled.

Update...
I found out that the recall is due to a glitch that will erase the drive every 8 days or so. They say the new unit will be here 1 march...

Borg,

That is interesting news. I have the box and have not been contacted by GCI about the recall? Is it truly a recall, or are they just halting new subscribers I wonder.

I have some recorded content that I will leave on the drive and see what happens. I am out of town all next week and will chime in on this thread with what happens - it will be well over 8 days on the drive by then.

If you're interested in my impression so far here it is:

No DVI of Firewire enabled (at least on my box). That is disappointing for several reasons, one of which was I was hoping to record HD to my JVC D-VHS via Firewire. A rumor I heard was that GCI was afraid of copyright issues, but I think that is kind of iffy as an excuse. Yes I have read about firmware this and firmware that to turn the stuff on in the future, but if you look hard enough out there, these features are turned on with other cable companies now.

The HD material so far is limited. Bravo has more than Showtime, but tends to be boring material. At least half of what Showtime is showing is upconverted and looks bad.

I swear there is a sound sync issue with dialog mainly on the HD material. I've tried tweaking my receiver every which way, but either it gets worse or I bring it back to a point where it is hard to tell, but my brain is definitely telling me something is wrong.

The TV guide is better than the regular digital box IMHO.

The PVR works as advertised including the "pausing" of live TV, I guess it remains to be seen if my stuff gets deleted. I did have one issue though where I was recording a show and the TV guide times were out of sync with real time and the recording stopped prematurely.

The SD material looks pretty good especially in the digital domain, the analog stuff (below the upper 50's) is as good as the old analog box which isn't saying much. GCI tends to blame that on the broadcasters.

The box is actually quite noisy. Although no fan is visible, part of the noise has to be from one. This noise is constant, could be the rotation of the hard drive I suppose, but there are so many quiet drives out there it seems silly to have one you can hear so well in this type of unit. The hard drive also makes quite a lot of head noise when it is in use such as recording or playback. Again there are quiet drives out there?

The supplied remote is the same generic piece of crap they give you with the basic digital box. It is pre-programmed to handle all the PVR stuff though, so no hassle there. No backlight is a problem. This remote will be morphed into my Pronto, so not a biggie for me.

The unit has inputs on the front for, video, audio, usb and a smart card reader, but no explanation on how to use them. In fact the user manual has notes on all these options with the disclaimer that they might not be supported (including the Firewire, USB, DVI, and Ethernet on the back of the unit).

Which leads me to the user manual. Two words: fire starter.

Whew, that was a mouthful!

Doug,

First off, welcome to the forum -- very nice first post! It's good to have some more Alaskans on here.

Thanks for the review; nice work. It sounds like Motorola needs to do some work on their product yet. I'm suprised about the noise; What would you compare the noise to? I have an HTPC and projector in my HT, both of which make noise but are fairly quiet -- only noticable when there is no other sound around.

You may be right about GCI. The second CS rep I spoke with seemed to know what they were talking about...but then again my experience with GCI is that rarely do they know what they are talking about. Did you try calling them about it?

On another note, it's sad that this motorola box isn't everything it's cracked up to be, because it's likely that this is all we'll see for HD up here for a while. I wish we had a say in which brand GCI uses...

Okay, I'm back. I checked my stored recordings - still there. But thats moot because waiting for me in my mail was a letter from GCI. The letter is to inform me of issues with the unit and a recall by Motorola. They give me several options including keeping the current unit the new ones arrive in “about 90 days” (date of letter Jan 14).

The issues according to the letter are:

Automatic power resets approximate every 8-10 days (FYI - approximate typo actually in the letter:)), resulting in loss of TV Guide Interactive Data (TBA) and any programming currently being recorded

And

Occasional freezing of the guide

I have experienced none of these so far?

The envelope included a nice color glossy multi-fold TV Guide Quick Reference Guide customized for the 6200 series units (although the remote pictured in the guide is not what GCI gives you).

As for the noise, it’s hard to equate the level. The constant sound is like a hair dryer on low as heard though a door? Since none of my gear made much sound in the past, maybe I’m just being picky? I’m guessing eventually it will just become part of the din of everyday noise.

Doug

So am I the only one watching D22 over-the-air in Anchorage? There is now a D22-1 and D22-2 where channel 2 is used for testing of music-only. Took me a little fiddling and a software update to get my MyHD-120 to recognize the subchannel properly.

I'm hoping KYES soon starts testing broadcasts of its actual analog content soon -- even if it is only 480p.

I even picked up analog channel 29 -- up on Mt. Susitna -- with my SilverSensor antenna, although it isn't intended for such reception.

Now I just need a big omni-directional antenna...oh and some other TV stations to get their acts together.

Roginator...

If there were more HD OTA in the Anchorage area I would probably put down the bucks for a OTA HD STB. The meager GCI offering can not get me to bite yet.

My home theater is in the lower level of my split-level home. Would I need the antenna in my attic for the digital ota signal or would one of those tabletop antennas work below ground?

Just seems like a lot of money to spend for one HD channel, would probably be nice to show and tell the HD video, but would just probably make me more upset over the local stations dragging their feet in getting us HD content of the major networks.

Cheers

Roginator-

I probably can't even get a signal up here in eagle river. Do you know where the antenna is? What kind of programming are you watching on 22?

I too am waiting for things to settle a bit (especially the prices) before I spend a lot of $ on a HD STB. The GCI HD-DVR offering seemed like a good deal; no upfront $ and only $10/mo more. Even if there is only 2 HD channels, the DVR alone is worth the $10. Plus, with no commitment, I could return it if something better came along. Too bad they are having problems with the unit -- or I'd have one right now.

geoworm - if you're looking to demo HD content, and you have a HTPC, try the new windows media 9 HD clips.

Borg,

I was going to paste the link to the KYES DTV site, but as I am a newbie on this forum it won't let me until after 5 posts. So lets get creative. The main website address is achieved by using www, their call letters - KYES, and of course a dot com, and then you want to append /dtv/index.html to that web address.

Everything you want to know about KYES and DTV is there. I don't think you will receive it in Eagle River.

Doug

Here's the link... http://www.kyes.com/dtv/index.html

If GCI had offered HDNET with their initial HD offering... I would had signed up for the HD service.

My Home Theater is a work in progress. My equip rack is 10 meters from the projector, so I think that is too long for a DVI cable to a HTPC. Maybe in the future...

At present, I'm just waiting for GCI to offer more HD content. Must be time for more phone calls to nag them.

Cheers

Eventually, KYES may end up broadcasting HDTV from their current site in Eagle River. They've had legal problems with the site owners in the past doing any kind of modifications.

Heck, If he just kept broadcasting from his roof on the Hillside I'd be happy. I have a nice clear view of it and signal strength is ok now using just 20 watts!

If anyone else is watching, have you checked out the digital music subchannel?

Originally posted by dougrw
Borg,

I was going to paste the link to the KYES DTV site, but as I am a newbie on this forum it won't let me until after 5 posts. So lets get creative. The main website address is achieved by using www, their call letters - KYES, and of course a dot com, and then you want to append /dtv/index.html to that web address.

Everything you want to know about KYES and DTV is there. I don't think you will receive it in Eagle River.

Doug

Thanks.
I definitely won't receive it until they broadcast up here in ER. I wonder if Anchorage will be able to pick it up then...
The KYES owner/operator would be a good person to have on this forum...anyone know him?

My Home Theater is a work in progress. My equip rack is 10 meters from the projector, so I think that is too long for a DVI cable to a HTPC. Maybe in the future...

Yes, that is a bit long for DVI. You probably don't want to settle for VGA either. HDMI sounds promising for long runs....now we just need video cards to support it.

I see from one of the links on the KYES site that FOX in Anchorage is supposedly going to start broadcasting HDTV on March 1, 2004.

While I've learned to take these dates with a grain of sand, that's only a month away!

From what I understand, FOX normally only broadcasts 480p over HDTV.

480p...
I guess it's better than nothing!

Hey folks, thought I'd drop by for an update. I received a call from GCI customer service the other day to inform me the "new" 6208's were in and did I want to come by and do an exchange or schedule a service call. I decided not to hassle with the call so I went in person.

They were very curtious and it was hassle free. I filled out a questionaire about the current service and what would be good in the future - I got a GCI beenie moose for my effort!

Got home and re-inserted the unit into my system and started poking around. I read on other threads that the 6208 needed the 7.07 (?) bios for Firewire and sure enough this box had it. I got a cable, plugged it into my JVC DVHS and my Mits automatically sensed a new 1394 device. (The JVC hooked to the Mits 1394 directly of course)

So good news, bad news, just as in other threads discussing the 6208, the images via Firewire are unwatchable - pixallation, freezing and the sort. The sound however as far as I could tell seemed fine, I suppose I could digitally record music from cable (concerts, 800 and above music channels, etc)? This used to be something those of us with Hi-Fi VCRs used to do for extra long fairly decent recordings of vinyl - if I remeber correctly, the speed of the recording, ie LP, did not effect sound because it came off the tape in linear fashion rather than helical.

Anyhoo, the new 6208 is the same in every other aspect as the old one except GCI issued a new style generic remote. I think I liked the old one better. The supplied documentation is the same, yet another fire I can start without the Daily News. There is still no explantion of how or when one might use the Audio/Video/USB/Smart Card inputs on the front. I'll admit I have not hooked anything to them yet, so perhaps an OSD pops up telling you it see's something on that input? Still you'd think the manual would explain that. Perhaps I need to go to the Moto website and do some poking around.

I recorded Die Another Day off of Showtime HD (and watched at the same time of course) - awesome is all I can say! And the recording as expected, is a carbon copy. Of course it used 24% of my recording time just for that one movie! I heard through the rumour mill that the 1394 cabability on these units was never designed for video playback, but for storage expansion - I hope that feature (if true) comes along quickly, I'll need the space.

Doug

That's good news doug. I'm on the list to get one of those 6208's....I wonder when they'll call me...

I made my monthly call to GCI today to ask when we will get more HD channels to chose from. The cust rep started reading from a script (or maybe its a memorized canned response) that all the analog boxes have to be out of service and a 100% digital cable tv network to give us more HD channels.

I then asked how we got two HD channels when there are still analog cable. She responded that GCI deleted the HBO and Showtime analog channels to make room for the two HD channels.

I asked if GCI has a time table when they will offer more HD channels and she started with that script reading again. I stopped her and asked her to directly answer the question, and she hum and hawed and finally said that it looked like October before we would get more HD channels.

I asked what HD channels GCI would be providing and she said they were taking down suggestions from all the phone calls like mine. I then suggested that they should put up an online survey on the web site. She said she would forward idea that along.

I also suggested that if they would change the BravoHD channel to ESPNHD, that I would be signing up for the HDTV box. She said that was the most popular suggestion that they have been getting.

While I was on a roll, I suggested that they just pull the plug on all analog content and she said they could do that if they could forward their help center calls to my phone. Maybe next call I will use someone else's phone number. :D

geoWorm,

ESPN HD was one of the channels I mentioned on the survey I completed when I swapped my 6208. I totally agree that Bravo has to go - every time I flip over to it, its Olympic Hockey or Cirque De Sole. Don't get me wrong, I like hockey as much as the next guy, but come on!

If they deleted Showtime and HBO analog to get two HD channels, then I wonder why they didn't offer Showtime and HBO HD instead of Showtime and Bravo?

I have heard that "analog must go" line in other threads regarding cable companies not providing HD content, I think there is truth to that.

As far as analog in Anchorage, I have a co-worker with an analog box still and I have been bugging her to get rid of it, however she sees no current value in switching. She only gets basic and doesn't watch much of that anyway, so the hassle is not worth it to her. I tried to impress her with digital cable box features like the TV Guide system and told her to check her bill because her analog box was now the same price as the digital, and it all fell on deaf ears. I'm not sure how GCI is going to get these people to switch without something drastic - like killing analog as you suggested!

Doug

The GCI rep I spoke with a while back gave me the impression that they will carry the local stations in HD as soon as they start HD broadcast.

Borg...

Thanks for reminding me to do my monthly calls to the local stations. I usually get less information from them. In Dec and Jan I was really bugging KTVA because the Superbowl would had been nice in HDTV. Just think how much more detail we would had with Janet's wardrobe malfunction. :rolleyes: OK...maybe that was a bad thing to point out.:eek:

But back on topic. The locals stations still do not have their digital transmission antennas up. Back in Oct, they (all local stations) received another six month extension of the DTV deadline from the FCC. I understand there is some issue in the courts, IMHO the local stations don't have or don't want to spend the money to give us a DTV signal.

If GCI had enough digital STBs, then they could roll trucks to all locations and swap out the analog boxes. Waiting for the public to volunteer up their analog boxes will not happen until GCI sets a drop dead date.

Just think how many more HDTVs could be sold by the retail business if there was a local DTV signal. Retail business owners should be putting pressure on local politicians to get this antenna issue resolved.

Time for more coffee...

Cheers

I just got the HD-DVR box from GCI. I don't know how i lived so long without a DVR. So far I am very pleased with the performance. The box actually is $9.99/mo more and not the $5 as was previously stated in the thread. I can't speak to the HD performance yet as I need a VGA-component breakout cable for my projector. Anyone know where I can find one of these in town?

Originally posted by Borg
I just got the HD-DVR box from GCI. I don't know how i lived so long without a DVR. So far I am very pleased with the performance. The box actually is $9.99/mo more and not the $5 as was previously stated in the thread. I can't speak to the HD performance yet as I need a VGA-component breakout cable for my projector. Anyone know where I can find one of these in town?

Which box did you get? The 6208? Is the firewire active?

Borg,

Congrats on signing up! As far as your breakout is concerned, I was at Shimeks a while back talking w/Jim and he mentioned how a guy wanted to hook up HD to an RP TV that did not have component, so he was going to get him some sort of breakout for that purpose. Perhaps they could also help you in your situation?

akshark,

Not speaking on behalf of Borg, but as I posted earlier, the box GCI is supplying is the 6208 and mine had firmware version 7.07 and the firewire is active, however there are issues with picture quality at this point - blocky\pixellated and freeze ups via firewire.

Doug,
Did you ever contact GCI about the firewire? Not that I ever follow what an operating manual says....but it does say to contact the service provider before adding any components like that. Maybe GCI needs to send some type of flash update down the wire in order to make it work properly. I'd be interested in adding an external HD for more storage -- especially for HD content.

I'll give Shimeks a call and see what they have for cables. I found one online for $10....but it's $20 shipping (the ONE bad thing about living up here).

AKshark-
As stated by Doug....

Also, there are 2 things I don't like about it:
-No 30 sec skip function (although the FF is very fast)
-The DVR menu needs to be a bit more robust...i.e. the ability to record by program title regardless of time.
Other than that it's a nice little setup.

Originally posted by Borg
I can't speak to the HD performance yet as I need a VGA-component breakout cable for my projector. Anyone know where I can find one of these in town?

I would try Frigid North if Shimeks or Prymaid didn't have the cable.

Borg,

Originally posted by Borg
Did you ever contact GCI about the firewire?

Actually I hadn't thought of that, maybe I will. I guess I just assumed I'd get blown off for asking it to do something they aren't exactly supporting. Your right though, and I should at least give them a shot.

Doug

I'd say you have a 99% chance of getting blown off, but hey, it never hurts to ask...

Just got my HD-PVR from the Abbot GCI store yesterday. Swapped out our analog boxes for a handful of standard Digital Cable boxes and one Motorola HD-PVR. Kinda ticked off they didn't give me ANY video cables. Spent about 100 bucks getting some component cables, SPDIF cable, and a handfull of S-VIDEO and RCA cables :mad:
So far my experience has been positive. BravoHD and ShowtimeHD have fantastic picture quality .. Watching the Saturday night boxing fight in 1080i right now :D . I only hope they start offering the likes of HDNet, ESPNHD, etc.. soon, I want more than 2 HD channels :D .

Quick question to any of you locals getting the KYES OTA feed, what all is needed to recieve this signal? Do I just need an OTA HD reciever and a set of bunny ear antennae?

See

http://www.kyes.com/dtv/

Yea I checked out thier DTV page, I'm kinda new to the OTA stuff tho.

I'm tempted to go out and get a Samsung T151 and the Zenith Silver Sensor Antenna just to see if I can pull the signal in, but GCI is "supposedly" going to start dishing out HDNet, ESPNHD, etc over thier digital cable service.

Justin,
Do you have some "inside info" on when they plan to add those channels?

Silver Sensor may not be of much use once KYES switches to a lower channel, but for $20+ it's not a major expense.

I get KYES fine with this (http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?c=2&b=b&qp=0&bookmark=bookmark_0&oid=33186&catoid=-8760) antenna.

I live near Minnesota and 100th.

Originally posted by akshark
I get KYES fine with this (http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?c=2&b=b&qp=0&bookmark=bookmark_0&oid=33186&catoid=-8760) antenna.

I live near Minnesota and 100th.

akshark... I live in the same area, my house is a split-level with my theater being in the lower level. I wonder if that type of antenna work in my situation to pick up channel 22.1? Still don't know if its worth it to buy an OTA HD STB for just a demo channel.

I reckon when GCI cable does provide the local stations in HD it will be a compress signal while the OTA signal will be uncompressed.

Cheers

Originally posted by geoWorm
Still don't know if its worth it to buy an OTA HD STB for just a demo channel.



I am using Dish Networks 6000 reciever with the 8VSB adapter.

I will likely switch to GCI when the get some more HD content.

Naw, not any "inside" info. When I went to sign up the customer service rep said GCI plans on rolling out the same HD channels that are part of the Dish network HD 9.99 package (HDNet, HDNet Movies, ESPNHD, DiscoveryHD etc..)

I live like 4 streets up off dearmoun, anyone think I can pull that KYES signal down?

If I can get a definative yes, then I would have no problem shelling out the cash for an OTA STB. I'm an HD whore :D

One more quick question, has anyone with the new DCT HDPVR been able to record with ANY D-VHS deck? I read in a previous post that a recording attempt from a JVC deck was unsuccesfull. I'm probably going to pick up the JVC 40k deck I've been eyeballing during spring break, would be great to be able to record to the D-VHS deck instead of the limited 80GB HD in the PVR, :)

Justin_K,

Originally posted by Justin_K
One more quick question, has anyone with the new DCT HDPVR been able to record with ANY D-VHS deck?

I have the JVC 30K, and the answer is "no" so far. As I mentioned in an earlier thread, I jump from the 6208 to the JVC then the JVC to my Mits RPTV. The image both live and recorded suffers from all sorts of issues - pixellation\blocking and freezing, however the sound is always fine.

The issue is with the 6208 and not the VCR so I don't think the 40K would solve any of these issues over the 30K, but I can't be 100% sure on that.

Doug

Originally posted by Justin_K
Naw, not any "inside" info. When I went to sign up the customer service rep said GCI plans on rolling out the same HD channels that are part of the Dish network HD 9.99 package (HDNet, HDNet Movies, ESPNHD, DiscoveryHD etc..)

Any idea if they will charge extra for those, or if they will be included in the $9.99/month fee for the DVR?

Borg: I have no idea, Im hoping they will just bundle it as free service for paying the extra 9.99 a mo for the HD PVR, the CS rep didnt have any concrete facts, it seemed more like speculation, but she was somewhat certain that those networks would be broadcast sometime during 2004. She mentioned that ESPNHD was getting alot of requests. I wouldn't mine that either, Im dieing to see a baseball game in high def :)

I spoke with a GCI rep today (clueless) He said 4 more channels (HD) were expected by the end of the year..... :(

I wonder if one of them is the SpiceHD channel :D
I just hope we are getting some OTA local channels by next year.
I wanna watch the SuperBowl in High Def so bad :)

We'd better get the superbowl in HD next year!

Wouldn't surprise me at all if all the HD GCI has come Jan 2005 is still ShowtimeHD and BravoHD :rolleyes:

If GCI doesn't add at least another one or two HD channels before September I'm going to switch over to Dish network.
We were initially looking at them before Digital Cable but theres an 850.00 out of pocket charge for all the different dish units and recievers ( Thier HD PVR is 1049.99 :eek: )

We chose GCI because of no out of pocket rape and its competetively priced.

On a side note, can anyone tell me if GCI gives you all the movie channels for the first week or so when you sign up?
All I signed up for was Showtime and that was on Friday afternoon.
As of Today (Monday) I have *ALL* 47 premium movie channels. (No PPV tho)

Justin_K,

I can't say for sure, but I too had all the channels until just this weekend, I think that was right around a month. I only pay for the Showtime package to get it in HD.

As for additional HD channels I can say that I had a conversation with a couple of GCI engineers in a different department at GCI (not cable in other words) and they repeated what I have heard in the past - its all about remaining analog cable. Until they can get everyone off of analog they do not have the bandwidth to offer more HD without dropping any existing channels. Take that with a grain of salt, I am not an expert on cable networks, but they also had no reason to bulls**t me.

As for cost, I also wonder what the plan is, but since we have to pay for Showtime to get Showtime HD, I'm thinking at least some additional channels will be premium.

Doug

Well they should all be off analog soon enough.... From what I hear anyway.

CS Rep from GCI said they are phasing out the analog boxes (that's why they keep taking off channels from the upper bounds .. E! and Comedy Central last week etc..) They are going to keep removing channels until everyone switches over for the digital box (cost is the same if you dont want to change your plan, and you arnt forced to when you swap the box.) From what I understand, GCI intends to have everyone on thier digital boxes by the end of the summer. But who knows what will happen. From my long time experience with GCI as a cable TV subscriber and [former] cable modem user, all I can say about thier service is that its less than stellar ;)

And if they are complaining about bandwidth, how bout taking off some of those retarded music channels.
I mean cmon, some of em are cool but they got like Bluegrass and Inbreeding rape music on there (apologies to any inbreeding rapists out there who enjoy bluegrass music) :P

I imagine the music channels don't take up that much bandwidth anyway. But I agree...WAY too many of them. I wonder if people really do listen to some of those weird ones.

Justin / Doug,
Have either of you tried to plug an external firewire hard drive into the DVR yet? I'm curious if that will have the same problems as the D-VHS deck.

I havnt tried that yet. I read the PDF manual and it says theres a possibility of using an external firewire HD for supplementary storage but I don't think that feature is implemented yet.

Could be wrong tho ;)

OK,
I finally got my projector hooked up with a VGA breakout cable. My initial impression of the HD material is that Bravo looks real good, and showtime does not. This seems to jive with what Doug has already reported. I think I can get better PQ than showtimeHD with a DVD scaled thru my HTPC.

I'm not having any sync issues with the sound as doug reported, it seems to be working just fine. I'm using a toslink cable and the dolby digital signal is being passed just fine.

Now we just need more "quality" HD channels.

Borg: Bravo looks better because its native 1080i. The majority of what Showtime shows is upconverted to 1080i. Try watching the Thursday night boxing matches on Showtime - they are true 1080i. The ONLY thing I watch on Bravo is West Wing (I dont particularly like the show, but damn it looks nice :D ) I really hope GCI adds some more HD soon tho. I don't know how much more Cirque De Soleil my HDTV can take ;)

Interesting read of the FCC DTV extensions from Oct 03...

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-03-250A1.pdf

Will Alaska stations get another extension in Apr 04?

They've been delaying it so much I wouldnt be surprised if we dont have OTA locals in 2004:rolleyes:

Have any of you heard this or know anything about it?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=3705385&highlight=anchorage#post3705385

Not good news if it's true.

Received this info from KTUU the other day....thought I would share it here..
Anyone have any more updates on Anchorage HDTV??...................................................... .....................................................


I apologize for the delay in getting this info to you. Al returned from out
of state a week later than expected and then he's been inundated with a
backlog of work issues, much having to do with the HD conversion.
I was able to have a conversation with him yesterday and was told that GCI
is not going ahead with us providing them an HD signal for the Olympics
broadcast this summer. That's disappointing for both the viewers and KTUU
as well.
Al expects our station to begin broadcasting in HD sometime in the 4th
quarter this year, and most likely toward the end of it. As you can
imagine, there are numerous hoops to jump over and red tape to deal with to
obtain this goal. Here's hoping that everything with the FCC, the equipment
conversion, and the legal issues goes smooth as silk!

Take care,

Laura Swen

KTUU-TV
Anchorage, Alaska

Let me see if I understand this... they don't want to install the antenna/transmitter for HDTV yet expect GCI to jump through hoops putting it on the cable network after they've dragged their feet for two years?

If they actually expect to be on the air in December (hah) they'd probably be doing a test signal right now. Anyone picking one up? I can just see some poor SOB up on the tower at that time of year.

Sorry if I seem somewhat impatient, but this is getting ridiculous. If there are legal issues with the FCC, just get Sen. Stevens to kick some FCC butt!

I'll post the excerpt again instead of the link:

...as far as I know, Oceanic Time Warner has some HD signals in Honolulu, the OTA stations have not gone HD in Anchorage or Honolulu because of the Government Monitoring Station and low level of interference they require in these 2 markets. This has also stalled HD Radio in these markets.

I wonder how much truth there is to this... Is this what they mean by "legal issues?"
If true, it would make sense that they want to put a signal on cable instead of OTA

Greetings.

It is great to see a few others interested in HD up here. It is quite the bummer that there is such a lack of HD content for us.

I am picking up the KYES-DT channel off of a Dish 811 receiver - it is a great demo channel, but I don't watch too much of the content. I can also pickup a digital station from KDMD-33, but all of content is SD.

I've been trying to pick up Dish's HD content off of the 110 satellite with a standard size dish... but to no avail. A friend was able to do this about 175 miles west of Anchorage at a cabin. Do any of you know if it is possible to do in Anchorage? If not, do any of you know a good place to get a 48" dish in town that is not $500 or $600?

Oh, by the way, if you haven't already been there, titantv.com is a great tv guide site and there is a section which shows tentative dates for when local stations will broadcast digitally - no clue to its accuracy. It is under Command Center -> DTV/HDTV Tools -> Digital Stations Coming Soon.

Right now, FOX is the closest date at 9/1/04

Just got this from GCI regarding olympics in HD:

This is a follow-up to my earlier response concerning the Olympics. Our Regional Marketing Director informed me that it is not that GCI will not be airing the Olympics in HD so much as the only HD Olympic coverage is available, provided the local NBC affiliate has a digital HD feed. Unfortunately, none of the local NBC affiliates in Alaska offer an HD feed yet, and so GCI Cable is unable to provide that programming to our HD customers. If you have any other questions, please let us know.

So NBC blames GCI and GCI blames NBC. That figures!

Exoskeleton - welcome to the thread. I don't know much about finding a cheap dish, but maybe someone else has some ideas. Personally I'd like to see some VOOM service up here!

Anyone else here in Anchorage having video and audio drop outs on local channels? I have been having this problem for about 4 weeks now.

If they don't get it fixed soon I will have some dishes for sale.........

Borg, VOOM service would definitely be nice to have, but I wouldn't switch until they had local channels. I asked about their receiver and they said that even their integrated OTA tuner only picks up digital channels, not analog ones. That wouldn't work for us.

akshark, I haven't had any trouble with the local channels provided by Dish. I just wish they came in clearer.

We really need more hdtv content.

I spoke with a GCI rep last week..she said they would be adding alot!? of HD channels very soon.

I pressed her for more details but she said she could not talk about it.

Anyone have more details?

I talked to a GCI rep yesterday and asked when we would be getting more HD channels. The rep stated that there was still too many analog cable boxes in service and it would be sometime in 2005.

I then suggested that they at least get ESPN HD so we could have one football game in HD and the rep stated that they can only get BravoHD and ShowtimeHD. I suggested that they get rid of one or both of those choices and get some real HD channels... and the rep kept to the script and stated they could only get those two.

I then suggested that they look at the Nielsen Ratings and make a better choice. The rep took my name, number and said they would forward my suggestion up.

FoxTV has the superbowl this year and they will not probably be broadcasting in digital by then... Looks like it will be a grainy superbowl :(

Cheers

Anybody know about Dish Network and their HD service in Anchorage. And what's up with GCI only offering 2 HD channels that nobody wants to watch???

Dish HD requires a large dish (usually 48 incher) and a clear look at the 105 bird.

Does anyone have any experience with the Dish Network and HD in Anchorage as far as signal strength and reliability (such as with bad weather).

Well, since starting this thread I have ended up in Fairbanks and HD seems to be hopeless. Anyone getting HD up here?

Fairbanks has a few DTV stations.

DTV Stations on the Air (http://www.fcc.gov/mb/video/files/dtvonair.html)

But then TitanTV is only showing the PBS stations as broadcasting any HD content. You should call the NBC station (KTVF-DT) and ask why they are broadcasting DTV on channel 26.1 without any HD content.

Cheers

KYES in Anchorage is now showing the Wealth Channel instead of the HD-Net demo feed. Digital channel 22-1 up on the hillside at low power.

Latest from GCI:

Thank you for your recent inquiry regarding additional HDTV programming
available with GCI. We are currently working on adding additional HD
channels. The tentative date for the addition of new HD channels is
sometime this November.

We are also adding several new channels in our regular digital system on
October 26th 2004. There are approximately 20 new channels being added from
National Geographic Channel, WE (Women's Entertainment) Biography Channel,
Goodlife TV, Do It Yourself Channel, Outdoor Channel and Fuel just to name a
few. We are looking forward to being able to offer our customers a variety
of new channels and packages. We are even offering more combination
packages offering cable TV, local phone, long distance and cable modem
hypernet with not only more channels, but with much faster speeds and
features on the cable modem.

For more information on these and any of our services please contact a GCI
representative either via email or 265-5400.

New HD channels as of 9 Nov...
It's about damn time!!! Maybe we will have the superbowl in HD?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?s=&attachmentid=28740

Agreed... long time overdue!

Here is a link to the full GCI promo.

Anchorage GCI Cable Lineup (http://www.gci.com/pdfs/promos/cable/anch_notice.pdf)

Still no HBO-HD :(

Can't wait until the Bills - Patriots game

Not holding my breath for a Local Fox broadcast of the Superbowl in HD...

Cheers

I thought the NFL network HD might have some games but it looks to me like it's a simple rebroadcast of the normal NFL network. Damn...

http://www.nfl.com/nflnetwork/home

You think $6.99 is worth it for those 5 channels?

I think its worth it,, but its a judgement call. Im just glad I'll get to watch something other than Bravo and Showtime now :) The main channel Im interested in is ESPNHD because Im huge into sports and Sunday Night Baseball is always in HD, they've got some NBA and NFL games lined up as well. StarzHD looks to be a nice addition too. From a quick glance at thier schedule, Freddy Vs. Jason and LOTR Return of The King will be airing multiple times this month. I called today to add ithe HD package to my plan but they said they wern't taking orders till the 9th. I'll be calling bright and early Tuesday morning :D

Hmm, went to titantv to check out the upcoming schedule of our newfound HD programming and found some interesting info.

600 BRAVO-HD (Bravo HD+)
601 SHOHD (Showtime West HDTV)
602 SZHDW (Starz West HDTV)
603 HBOHD (HBO West HDTV)
604 MAXHDW (Cinnemax HDTV West)
605 TMCHD (The Movie Channel HDTV)
626 ESPN-HD (ESPN HDTV)
627 DISC-HD (Discovery HD)
628 HDNTM (HDNet Movies)
629 HDNET (HDNET)
652 TNTHD (TNTHD)
653 NFLHD (NFL Network HDTV)

I didn't see Cinnemax or HBO on GCI's latest sales sheet, maybe those channels will be rolled out with the others on the 9th as well. Things are shaping up nicely :) :) Now all we need is some damn OTA NBC, CBS, ABC and FOX :D :D

Last I heard was that KTUU will broadcast digital starting anywhere from December to Feb. The newscast won't be HD for a while but any NBC programming in HD will be available. I'll believe it when I see it.

On another note, I asked about using the firewire port on the 6208 for an external hard drive and GCI says it's not available. I've read elsewhere on the forum here that with the 7.10 and above firmware you can use a D-VHS deck. Mine is showing 7.10, anyone with a D-VHS want to try it?

I'm beginning to doubt if we'll EVER get any of the major OTA DTV signals here. (NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, etc..)

I'm crossing my fingers tho.

GCI says they will broadcast the local HD signals over thier cable system so we wont need any OTA tuners or antennas to get the content which will be nice.

I can't wait till Tuesday to watch all the new HD crap tho, already planning on skipping class and calling in sick to watch TV all day
:D :D

Well, the channels are up! At least we can watch the sunday evening game in HD now. Now all we need is motorola to support external firewire hard drives.

Yay HD!
Ordered my package this morning, Sportscenter looks pretty damn good. Unfortunately, don't see MaxHD or HBOHD, must be a fluke on titantv's listing.
Theres a few basketball games coming on Thursday night on TNTHD, should be good stuff

And let me add on how totally useless the NFL HD Network is.
It's just a damn rebroadcast of the SDTV feed in 4x3 windowbox format. I mean christ, whats the point of that?

It was pretty funny talking to the GCI rep this morning and having them click on their own TV Listing link from gci.com that takes you directly to tvguide.com and it shows HBOHD on channel 603. The rep said she would report that, but we would not be getting HBOHD.

Originally posted by Justin_K
Yay HD!
Ordered my package this morning, Sportscenter looks pretty damn good. Unfortunately, don't see MaxHD or HBOHD, must be a fluke on titantv's listing.
Theres a few basketball games coming on Thursday night on TNTHD, should be good stuff

Did you notice on the GCI channel lineup GCI Channel Lineup (http://www.gci.com/promos/cable/anchorage_1qa.htm)
That GCI lists channel 629 as HDNET Sports?

Where are the sports? Oh... Bikini Destinations... silly me :D

Originally posted by Justin_K
And let me add on how totally useless the NFL HD Network is.
It's just a damn rebroadcast of the SDTV feed in 4x3 windowbox format. I mean christ, whats the point of that?

I just tried TitanTV and I must say, what a nice website! They really did a good job putting that together. TVGuide has a long way to go.

Here's what would be really nice...
Have GCI use TitanTV instead of TVguide and have the ability to use that web interface to set your recordings on your DVR. It can't be that hard, can it? I think I'll send an email to GCI requesting this feature.

I agree about NFL HD net....what a waste of bandwidth.

Originally posted by geoWorm
Did you notice on the GCI channel lineup GCI Channel Lineup (http://www.gci.com/promos/cable/anchorage_1qa.htm)
That GCI lists channel 629 as HDNET Sports?

Where are the sports? Oh... Bikini Destinations... silly me :D

That listing is incorrect, it says HDNet Sports but its really just the standard HDNet channel.

Got some HD episodes of Smallville coming on tommorow should be good stuff since we dont have a HD UPN/WB feed

heh, The "NFL Game Of The Week" 1 hour show is in HD on the NFL HD network, only thing Ive seen so far on the channel in high def.

Did anyone catch the NBA games on TNTHD today? It seems like theres a lot of macroblocking mpeg artifacts on TNT. I have a problem with one of my cable jacks (the one with the HD box) with a weak analog signal. Channels 1-13 or whatever come in VERY low quality, the digital and HD channels seem fine, although I can't say for sure if its 100 %. I had to have GCI come and install a signal amplifier because my original cable quality was so craptastic, not sure if this is affecting my HD signal and giving me these artifacting errors.

I'm having a problem too...
The problem I'm having is severe blocking, video and sound dropouts when you change channels (only on HD channels). It sometimes takes up to 20-30 seconds in order for the motorola to "catch up" and display the high def channel properly. Sometimes it doesn't ever catch up and ends up just going black. I'm using the component connection. It does this on two different displays on different connections, so I know for sure it's the box. I also had some signal strength issues with my cable modem before -- don't know if it's related but they fixed it a few months back.

The Nuggets game last night looked fine to me. Only on fast moving shots could I see some artifacting, but that's probably due to a lower bitrate broadcast to save bandwidth.

I notice the same thing when I channel hop thru the HD stuff. One time after waiting 30 secs for the channel to come in, I hit pause, waited 2 secs and hit play and everything was fine. I'm also using component outs, DVI isn't enabled is it?

I remember the same thing when the digital boxes first came out many years ago. Probably a bandwidth issue at the headend controllers.

I'm wondering if setting the box to native 720p will be better for Sunday's ESPN-HD Bills - Pats game. Since ESPN and ABC broadcast HD in 720p and my display device is native 1280 x 720?

During last nights ESPN-HD college game I didn't notice any difference in the sound as compared to channel 29. I'm using the s/pdif connection to my a/v receiver.

FWIW, I have noticed what seems to be dolby 2.0 surround from channel 2.

Cheers

Originally posted by geoWorm
I notice the same thing when I channel hop thru the HD stuff. One time after waiting 30 secs for the channel to come in, I hit pause, waited 2 secs and hit play and everything was fine. I'm also using component outs, DVI isn't enabled is it?

I remember the same thing when the digital boxes first came out many years ago. Probably a bandwidth issue at the headend controllers.

I'm wondering if setting the box to native 720p will be better for Sunday's ESPN-HD Bills - Pats game. Since ESPN and ABC broadcast HD in 720p and my display device is native 1280 x 720?

During last nights ESPN-HD college game I didn't notice any difference in the sound as compared to channel 29. I'm using the s/pdif connection to my a/v receiver.

FWIW, I have noticed what seems to be dolby 2.0 surround from channel 2.

Cheers

ESPNHD is broadcast in 720p so if you set the DCT6208 to out @ 720p it will be displayed in its native resolution on your display instead of being upconverted to 1080i and in theory should look better. I must say the DCT6208 does a pretty damn good job of upconverting 720p > 1080i. And the reason you didnt notice any sound difference is because ESPNHD doesn't broadcast a Dolby Digital 5.1 signal. They use a proprietary matrix format called Circle Surround 5.1 but it will show on your reciever as most like Pro Logic II. Try the stuff on TNTHD or HDNet, the majority of those broadcast should be in DD5.1

Also, did anyone else here get The Movie Channel HD for free? I had Showtime for the sole purposes of ShowtimeHD but to be honest, with the exception of maybe 1 movie a month, that channel is crap. I switched to Starz which has a MUCH better movie lineup and Im also recieving TMCHD which I believe is part of the Showtime subscription. Oh well, I'm not complaining =P

Originally posted by Justin_K
Also, did anyone else here get The Movie Channel HD for free? I had Showtime for the sole purposes of ShowtimeHD but to be honest, with the exception of maybe 1 movie a month, that channel is crap. I switched to Starz which has a MUCH better movie lineup and Im also recieving TMCHD which I believe is part of the Showtime subscription. Oh well, I'm not complaining =P

Yeah, same here. I'm getting both TMC and Starz. I'm guessing it's the same type promo as when you first get your 6208. I got all movie channels for about a month.

When I switch my 6208 to 720p I get video dropouts. They are about 1-2 sec in duration and happen about every 5-15 min. The sound stays on during the dropout. You guys seeing the same?

Originally posted by Borg
When I switch my 6208 to 720p I get video dropouts. They are about 1-2 sec in duration and happen about every 5-15 min. The sound stays on during the dropout. You guys seeing the same?

I switched my 6208 to 720p before Sunday's ESPH-HD Bills - Pats football game. I didn't notice any dropouts.

I have noticed that the picture quality on the HD channels are darker and I have to boost my brightness and gamma settings on the projector. Thank goodness for presets.

Cheers

Are any of you able to pause or rewind channel 49 (discovery)?
I am unable to do this. I wonder if this is part of that new legislation making it illegal to ffwd thru commercials....I didn't think it was signed yet..?? I won't be a happy camper if I can't ffwd thru commercials; that's one of the main reasons to pay $15 more per month for the 6208.

Borg: My Discovery channel pauses and RW/FF etc just fine.

To everyone else, I *HIGHLY* recommend you take a look at the following thread

Record from 6208 to PC (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=403695&highlight=DCT6208)

I have been downloading HDTV movies ever since they have been released on the net and have compiled a collection of around 275-300 movies in 1080i and 720p formats. Only problem is the movies are generally 10-15 GB and take quite sometime to download on our relatively crappy broadband connections here in Anchorage. The methods in the above mentioned thread will allow you to make your own perfect HDTV caps in 1080i (raw MPEG2 transport streams) and save you a heap of download time. If you have a HTPC, I *HIGHLY* suggest you try this. Made perfect 1920x1080i caps of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Pirates Of The Caribbean off StarzHD last week =).

BTW, you can also cap regular SDTV cable feeds if you are into that sort of thing

Right after I posted that (about CH 49) I called GCI and they said "Huh? Let me check ours.....wow, ours won't pause either."

After reading your post Justin I checked mine again and sure enough it works now. I've read a few of those posts about recording to HTPC but I just don't have the HD space to make it happen.

I know this is a little OT but it's one of the only places I could find a group of Alaskans on the forum. I've got three CRT projectors for sale and I'd love to be able to sell them within the state for obvios shipping reasons. What I have are:

Electrohome Marquee 8000 w/ beautiful tubes
Sony VPH-1270Q
Sony VPh-1271Q

If any one is interrested PM me or drop me a email at ufdah at alaska dot net.

Anyone else notice that BravoHD is now Universal HD?
Check out the following article:
http://www.mediaweek.com/mediaweek/headlines/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000709383
Looks like we'll get some better programming than what bravo used to carry. They'll even carry some unedited universal movies.

Ufdah, I'm not in the market (just purchased a panasonic AE700), but how'd you end up with three crt's?

Originally posted by Borg
Anyone else notice that BravoHD is now Universal HD?
Check out the following article:
http://www.mediaweek.com/mediaweek/headlines/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000709383
Looks like we'll get some better programming than what bravo used to carry. They'll even carry some unedited universal movies.

Ufdah, I'm not in the market (just purchased a panasonic AE700), but how'd you end up with three crt's?

I'm wondering if they are talking about the new Battlestar Galactica series that is due to start in January, and if so, will it be on 'U HD' the same day or week as Sci-Fi channel. Doesn't look like Sci-Fi channel will be going HD anytime soon.

Borg - How do you like the AE700? I just had to replace the lamp in my year old Sanyo Z2. HD on 106" screen is awesome.

Cheers

Geoworm - My AE700 hasn't shipped yet, the place I ordered it from doesn't have any in stock yet and it may be a while. How do you like your Z2? I've heard good things about the Z3.

Originally posted by Borg
Geoworm - My AE700 hasn't shipped yet, the place I ordered it from doesn't have any in stock yet and it may be a while. How do you like your Z2? I've heard good things about the Z3.

The Z2 is more than I expected for the price. I orig was going to get a HS-20, but the waiting list was long last year and I wanted it before superbowl. The salesman at ProjectorPeople talked me into the Z2. I had to return it after six weeks due to bad streaking in the middle of the screen, but I had it back in service in less than a week. Having the lamp go out after 2,737 hours was a little disappointing, but it was only two weeks from being a year old. The Z2 does well with digital SD channels from GCI cable, and NBC, ABC, & CBS is not that bad either. FOX & UPN are very grainy on 106" screen. HD stuff is the bomb.

Back on topic... will we be able to watch the SuperBowl on a big screen from the inferior KTBY FOX broadcasts? Will KTBY FOX be broadcasting a DTV signal by then? Looks like KTUU-DT is awaiting a FCC permit. KTVA-DT is suppose to be live on Jan 1, 2005.

Cheers

geo

Wow, 2737 hrs in a year. Nice job...that's more than 7 hrs/day!

KTVA-DT is suppose to be live on Jan 1, 2005.

Cheers

geo [/B]

Don't hold your breath on this one!

hey! That's today!! (aiming antenna towards Spenard)

I'm not alone!

Hi guys I'm pretty new to this stuff can any of you recommend who the best provider for basic TV as well as HD up here (Anchorage) right now I've got Dish Network and I'm trying to decide if I should stick with them or try GCI or Direct TV.

KYES has started broadcasting in HDTV!

Well...er... um... the picture quality is sorta low. And there are some problems with the picture... jerkiness and changing colors... and the bandwidth currently allocated to the subchannel 4 on digital channel 22 is not very high. I would probably cringe if watching it on a large TV. Hey...Rome wasn't built in a day. It's still in testing.

But technically, they are the first again! Now where's KTVA, KENI, KAKM. KIMO & KTBY??? Are they waiting until one of us complains to the FCC about their foot-dragging?


UPDATE: Picture quality is much improved over earlier this evening. Still not HDTV, but close to SDTV. I'm going to try to burn a DVD to test the quality on my analog TV.

I thought they were already doing that on CH22 for a while now?

They've been showing demo HDTV material -- lately the Wealth Channel on subprogram 1, but this is the actual, local KYES feed. (on subprogram 4)

Someday they might even upgrade the KYES feed to HD quality.

For the miniscule dollars he's put into it so far, it's utterly amazing how far he's come with HDTV.

Does anyone in Anchorage even have an ATSC tuner???

I wonder if GCI will now carry KYES in digital?

GCI will not likely carry KYES as a digital channel until they go to true HDTV. There's not much point in carrying it as digital if the signal quality is roughly the same as analog.

The chief tinkerer at KYES, Jeremy Lansman, says that the present quality can be improved with better equipment. Apparently I missed a test of the best quality they are capable of at this point. (he is still experimenting). Most of what he says is wayyy over my head, but he definitely seems to know what he's doing. I hope the same can be said for the other TV station techies.

I tried a test capture of a show with MyHD card. Running it through ProjectX to fix any sync issues caused ProjectX to run out of memory. I tried making a DVD anyway and the picture looked pretty strange.

Capturing the full HDTV subprogram seems to work ok. A/V sync and occasional signal loss seem to be the stumbling blocks to successful capture of that.

christ I wish we had some OTA DTV so we could watch the damn NFL playoff games in HD. I don't see any scheduled on ESPNHD :mad:

But on the bright side, American Ninja comes on HDNet Movies next week - Funniest 80's movie ever! :D

It looks like HD is going to finally be offered in Fairbanks. An email from GCI advised that they would deliver in May 05. No word on networks.

I believe FOX switched to 720p sometime last year. I'm not sure how this will apply to KYES though, but I'd assume they will eventually be 720p like all the other FOX affiliates.

Shaun,

Thank you for contacting us concerning HD service in the Fairbanks/Eielson service area. This service is tentatively scheduled to be available around the end of this year, 2005; however, a definite timeframe has not yet been announced.

Thank you for your interest! If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to either e-mail us or call 452-7191 or 1-800-800-4800 and a customer service agent will be happy to assist you.

Debby T.
E-Mail Specialist
GCI Customer Service

-----Original Message-----
From: Simian [mailto:simian@acsalaska.net]
Sent: Monday, February 28, 2005 2:29 AM
To: rcs@gci.com
Subject: HDTV


Hello I am just wondering if you will be adding HDTV to the FAIRBANKS/EIELSON service area?
thanks
Shaun

Good to find a round-up of other local HD addicts. ;) I'm currently using a second generation (aka Post Recall) 6208 box from GCI. (Our first box has a serious attitude ... pixelation, failure to sync with the signal, lockups, audio stuttering, etc.) They thought it was line quality, but that turned out to be exceptionally good in my area. (Exactly between the Pioneer Home and New Sagaya downtown.)

As was previously mentioned by another person, the HD content has a lower black level than an SD signal. (Using component connections.) All of my other equipment (DVD Recorder, DVD Changer, X-Box) seem to operate with the same Black Level as the GCI HD feed. Does anyone know how to get the box to adjust the black level on SD material so that I don't have to keep switching presets on the TV?

I just finished tinkering with my connections. I use a 3 year old Sony HD CRT. I've always used one of the Component Inputs on the CRT for video. I just 'borrowed' a DVI cable and tried it out. The connection works, and looks 'different'. It doesn't have any difference in detail that I can see, but the colours are different. More green comes through on the DVI port, as well as a brightness level that's significantly higher. (Noticable even with sunlight streaming into the room.) I'm sure DVI looks correct on fixed-pixel displays, but on my CRT, component looks a lot better.

Has anyone had their CRT calibrated by an ISF certified tech? I have a work-order in with Pyramid to do it, since it was never done. I've talked to the tech (Craig) on the phone and he said it could take a couple hours if I want to have the convergence fixed. (Well, duh?) Pyramid sounds like they're going to give me a discounted rate on the service because it's supposed to come with sets when purchased (which I didn't realize when I bought mine.) That's nice of them, considering the purchase was three years ago. We haven't set a date for this to happen, though. I have all the time in the world to wait, and he's up to his elbows in work, so I'm just waiting my turn. I'm just anxious to see the process, much less the result. :D

BraytonAK,

When I got the 6208 from GCI Store in South Anchorage, they told me the DVI port was disabled. Am I reading your post correct and you are using the DVI port of the 6208?

Interesting... now just need to find someone with a 10 meter DVI cable to try it out on my LCD projector.

Cheers

Ha! Maybe that's further proof that the GCI folks don't always know the right answer. I wouldn't be surprised if no one goes through and has all boxes configured identically. But yes, just a basic DVI cable from Frigid North (will be used on a computer soon). All I had to do was plug it in and switch to the input on my TV. I switched back to Component at the end of my 'trial', and as soon as I pulled the DVI cord, the TV itself put up a blue screen with a warning message about an incompatible DVI feed and that I should use Component, instead. haha

Maybe you could give it a shot! Frigid North does have a seven day return period... {Hint}{Hint}

I just did a channel scan and found KTVA appears to be airing a standard definition broadcast on digital channel 28!

It looks like hell on my computer monitor, but at least they are actually doing something. Can't wait to see CSI and Numb3rs in hi-def!

Watch it take Ch 11 a year to finish testing, then GCI another year to decide to add it to the line-up... (But not before charging more for it.)

GCI really is a rip-off. Our last bill was $117 for just cable TV. That's with HD and DVR and all the premium channels. It's sad that I can get four services from ACS for less than that. (Local, Long Distance, Cell and DSL 960k.)

I really wish we had competition from outside companies. I get so tired of hearing about all that is available down there, yet we get things whenever GCI and ACS feel like it. Grr.

Had an interesting experience with my cable service recently. I service person called to ask if my problem had been corrected, which was that Ch 2 had become snowy. I knew that Ch 2 was analog and finally found it to be a loose connection. He asked if Ch 4 and 11 were different lately, and I said that they looked a little clearer, and 4 lost the static and hissing in the audio. He explained that 4 and 11 recently were changed to digital distribution on the system, and that within a couple weeks, 2, 5, 10 and 13 will be changed to digital distribution, also. If 2 had already been digital, I never would have noticed the bad connection to begin with! So it sounds like our local channels are being changed over. Maybe thats to free up some bandwidth, too? I would love to know if people with analog boxes are being cut off from those channels now? GCI should deactivate them and get it over.

I also had Carl from Pyramid stop by and calibrate my set. It's a 3½ year old Sony, the KV-36HS500. At the start of his session, he said that the image was looking decent to start with. That made me think that maybe I wouldn't notice much difference afterwards.

He started out trying to correct some convergence anomolies, and got it down to only have one obviously bad spot. He then used an Avia DVD to adjust the black level, which also wasn't too far off. After that it was time to stick the nifty suction cup on the screen and measure it with the computer. Right away, the computer showed that the set was 156% high on Blue, and 55% high on red. After some back-and-forth tweaking of the cut and drive levels of the colours, he narrowed it down to a 0% ~ 2% deviation.

The difference in B&W material was immediately noticable. It went from looking like an artificial grey, to looking just like a true B&W TV. I had to laugh when I noticed that the grey on the screen matched the grey on the cabinet of the set. We put on 5th Element for a moment, which bursts with orange colours, and then some HD material. All of the colour seems more natural now. Very realistic and not synthetic. It wasn't as drastic of a difference as it probably could have been, but it's noticable. The fact that Yellow is now YELLOW, is amazing. ;-)

Lastly, a question: Anyone else with an HD set notice that the video quality of SD from GCI is very...strange, compared to HD, DVD or any other source? I can always see a greenish tint to their SD material, less contrast (by far) and much higher brightness than necessary. Am I the only one?

If analog boxes are being cut off from 4 and 11, I wouldn't be able to receive 4 and 11 on my bedroom TV which is hooked straight into the cable without any cable box. They both work fine.

Channel 4 was noticeably sharper Sunday night during the Simpsons. There used to be awful ghosting on that show, but it looked as sharp as a DVD Sunday.

I asked KTVA when they'd be airing real HD material. They replied "our plans are to upgrade in the next year. HD is an expensive upgrade."

ARGH!

hahaha Yeah, they said that a year ago, didn't they? ;-)

hahaha Yeah, they said that a year ago, didn't they? ;-)

And thats what they will say again next year :D :D

Okay, question for folks with the Motorola HD box... Have you noticed the colour getting out of whack? I notice that the on-screen menu will lose saturation and become a strange darker shade of the intended colour. I can't tell for sure if it's affecting the image quality of the selected channel, though. There's already a huge difference in colour, brightness, saturation and contrast when changing from Component to S-Video outputs. Just curious if I have yet another defective space heater on my hands, or if all the boxes are like this?

Brayton-

I haven't noticed the menu issue you describe.

Although I haven't used anything but the component connection, it doesn't surprise me that there is a big difference from s-video.

Looks like GCI added HBOHD (603) and MAXHD (604) last night. Things ared getting better and better =)

Finally --- HBO-HD

Why didn't GCI make an announcement or put a message on the cable box?

Too bad Deadwood is over, that would had been great to see in HD. When is Sopranos suppose to start?

We need the NBC, CBS, FOX, and ABC feeds in HD. Its been nice watching the NBA games on TNT & ESPN and next week the finals will be on ABC. Maybe the Peanut Farm will have the ABC-HD feed?

Cheers

What kind of new equipment do they have down there at the peanut farm? Just wondering if it would be worth my time to check it out...

Peanut Farm just opened their new addition. According to the news report, they have eight new plasma displays. Have not been there myself yet to check it out.

Cheers

Went there this afternoon to watch the Heat/Pistons game 6, no HD on any screen. In the new addition they have 6 small plasma screens (42" appx) and 8 FP screens (106" appx). Big oval bar in a narrow long room, booths on the side each have a LCD tv mounted on the table with a sign "reserved for 4 or more".

Wife said it would be a good place for breakfast when NFL starts again. WooHoo!

Cheers Again!

Now how can they have no HD with a setup like that? What were they thinking? Did you happen to see what kind of projectors they are using?

Now how can they have no HD with a setup like that? What were they thinking? Did you happen to see what kind of projectors they are using?

They must be nuts :D

Hi all.
Stumbled on this thread a couple of days ago. I've been waiting on OTA DT for some time now and I read the FCC applications from the local stations from time to time from FCC.gov website. I'd post the links but AVS won't let me yet.
Anyways, from what I gathered from the letters written to the FCC almost all stations are going to be transmitting from a central tower on the other side of the Knik arm called the "Frank A. Mengle" site. Apparently a more localized one was in the works but the owner of the site was asking in effect 4x the land value.
The latest letter I've read is from the KIMO station detailing that tho May 4th, 2005 is the proposed deadline they need an extension till September 15th, 2005.
Here is the proposed schedule.

May 6, 2005. Complete modifications to transmitter building to accommodate
digital equipment.
• May 16, 2005. Delivery and commence construction of STL for digital facilities.
• June 20, 2005. Commence tower preparatory work.
• July 20, 2005. Installation of DTV transmitter.
• August 15, 2005. Commence testing and proof and digital facilities.
• August 31, 2005. Commence final full-power testing.
• September 15, 2005. Commence digital service.


All this information is pulled from the FCC's public website, search for the stations, find the link to thier applications, open the application and read the attachments...

I'd be interested in knowing if anyone is getting more OTA DTV test signals and such?

Also, for those PC HDTV hobbiest (I wanna be), there is a new Fusion HDTV PC card available that supposedly increases channel reception by quite a bit.

You can read about it in the AVSforums if you search for
DVICO Fusion 5 HDTV tuner

I just did a channel scan using my MyHD card with a Silver Sensor antenna perched on the back of my sofa aimed towards the Goose Bay tower.

I didn't get a signal, but a channel 3-1 showed up in the channel list. No idea who would be using THAT channel configuration.

I was also doing a search for "Anchorage HDTV" and came up with a couple of hopeful references. In one from April of this year? it said that a couple of stations (KTUU and KIMO?) were planning to ramp up in June! and another was a note about a luncheon meeting where Al Bramstedt, Jr. was to talk about KTUU and HDTV. I think that was either last week or some time this week.

Thanks Roginator. I found those websites discussing HDTV as well. Bummer, I'm a member of IEEE and I didn't get a notice of that meeting w/ Bramstedt. I have a coworker who did attend and this is her synopsis

Basics: Only 2 stations plan to go HDTV: Channel 2 & Channel 7—Provided PBS does not loose funding. Have you heard about that issue?

All the other stations will go digital only. He said to wait a while longer to buy HDTV. The costs are still too high. He is certain that Dish will ultimately go HDTV. I believe he said that they are in negotiations with GCI to carry 2 HDTV channels. There is a concern about Channel 2 drowning out Channel 11’s analog station before they take it of the air. Channel 2 will ramp up power in increments to avoid this. By 200? (I think 2009) analog TV will be gone from Anchorage to Homer.

Here is a "Guess" by Sean Bradley at KIMO
"My guess is no later than August 15th."

Question: With your Silver Sensor, do you pick up KYES well? Where abouts in Anchorage? I am close to the corner of 100th & O-malley.

Question: With your Silver Sensor, do you pick up KYES well? Where abouts in Anchorage? I am close to the corner of 100th & O-malley.

I can get the weak signal put out by KYES fairly well, despite the trees I have in the way. I'll get dropouts at times, but that's to be expected at such a low power. I have a pretty good line-of-sight to the Hillside location of KYES and I think I may have a line-of-sight to the KTVA tower in Spenard. THAT signal comes in really well -- probably due to higher power. I'm near Alaska Regional Hospital. (That building just may block my view of the Goose Bay tower.)

I was looking at a website listing the proposed power of the local HDTV stations. KTUU was rated at 1000kw while KTVA was only 50kw?? Perhaps KTVA is being limited due to its location in the center of Anchorage.

I tried another channel scan aimed at Goose Bay just now and picked up a channel 23. It didn't have an appreciable signal, so maybe these are just anomalies. I tried slowly rotating the antenna to see if anything happened, but nothing did.

If the local stations aren't going to broadcast in true HDTV, we should lobby Congress to allow us to receive the major networks via satellite. That's the only way the local TV stations can be pressured into upgrading -- when all their viewers disappear.

Basics: Only 2 stations plan to go HDTV: Channel 2 & Channel 7—Provided PBS does not loose funding. Have you heard about that issue?

All the other stations will go digital only.

Are we talking about local news shows going HDTV or network shows going HDTV. I understand the cost to bring up a production studio to HDTV but once the station goes DTV, there shouldn't be any added costs to transmit the network shows in HDTV... or am I missing something here?

Cheers

Thats a good question. I assume the same, they should be able to transmit the network shows in HD.

Hopefully there will be some HD football this fall :)

I asked this guy at KIMO about the HDTV transmission. Here is our correspondence.

Thanks Sean. Its really hard to get any kind of clues about DTV service in Anchorage. I know it must be a hassle. One more question if you don't mind.

At an IEEE meeting last week we learned that supposedly only maybe two stations will broadcast in High Definition. Is that something KIMO will have around the mid August date or will that be a upgrade later?

Greatly Appreciated.

~Jason

Sean's reply...

KIMO will send what the network sends in Hi Def..however most of the network programming and local news will be transmitted digitaly..


I assume he means the the local news and programming will be something less than HD.

I've been feeling like we are getting somewhere with the HD OTA but I guess I shouldn't hold my breath I've read a lot of posts where the dates have been passed over. :cool:

blech, looks like GCI finally enabled encryption on the firewire ports. Can no longer record HDTV programs from my 6208. Think I might as well trade it in for a 6400 box now. Recording capability was the only reason I held on to the 6208. Anyone here got the 6400? How is it?

Justin,
I think it's a 6412, but I can't confirm that. It's almost exactly the same except it's lacking the RF modulated output that the 6208 had. I was using that port to make a long run to another CRT TV in my house, but primarily use the component. I had an RF modulator laying around so it wasn't a big deal for me, but if you are using that port on the 6208 then you'll need a modulator. The dual tuner isn't activated yet and I'm showing firmware 8.12 which I think was the same as the 6208 I had.

According to Motorola's website it also has a bigger hard drive. I was told by a GCI service rep that it has the same hard drive. I think I believe motorola because it seems now that I can record a lot more HDTV on this one.

Does anyone know if GCI has activated DVI port on the 6412 or the 6208 boxes? I see at the Motorola site that they are present, but recall somewhere that they did not work (component only). I am in the process of getting my new HD television (which has HDMI and component) and want to keep the wall wiring to a minimum by using a HDMI/DVI cable to the cable box from the TV set.

Thanks

Sundog - The DVI worked on my 6208...haven't tried on the 6412 yet.

For all with the HD-DVR, if you'd like to program 30 second skip into your remote, here's the procedure:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5825633&&#post5825633

the code to put in is only 3 digits though, so 173 works instead of 00173. I mapped it to the "FAV" button since I never use it anyway.

CBS.com says KTVA is broadcasting in HDTV...

hmmmm

CBS Stations in HDTV (http://www.cbs.com/info/hdtv/hdtv_stations.shtml)

Guess I'll have to tune in tonight for CSI:Miami to see. I'm doubtful.

Nope... still just standard definition.

Roginator,
Have you tried hooking up your MyHD card to GCI cable to see if any of their channels are clear QAM? If so I think I might have to buy one for my HTPC.

I have the older 120 model, the MYHD-130 is supposed to allow for unencrypted QAM reception from cable.

2005 IEEE Alaska Section Annual Awards Banquet, September 17th. Guest speakers are Al Bramstedt, KTUU; Terry Shimek, Shimeks Audio; and someone from GCI.

I don't have any details except that HDTV broadcasts will be discussed.


ROGINATOR....any new channels pop up on your scans lately?

Nope. I check about once a week to see if anything shows up, or if KTVA has gone HDTV on us, but nothing so far that I've seen.

Thought I'd share an email I received:

> Hi Everyone:
>
> I talked to a person at GCI Cable, and he told me that GCI is putting
> KTUU's HD/SD data on the cable. If you have a TV which is QAM capable,
> you can feed the cable signal directly into the TV, select Channel 52
> and see the HD/SD video from MCR. You cannot look at it on their (GCI)
> digital cable boxes yet, because they are just testing. Soon it will be
> available to everyone via the Digital Cable box.

If anyone tries this, let us know how it goes.

After reading the big article on local HDTV in today's ADN (9/4/05), I decided to check for stations again.

It appears KTUU (NBC) is now experimenting on digital channels 10-1 and 10-2. Oddly, my best reception where I live was when I aimed my little indoor antenna west towards the KTVA antenna in Spenard. Still, the station was just barely receivable. I'm hoping they are testing at very low power (crossing fingers).

The ADN article stated that many stations would be going to digital in the next few weeks. Hmm..sure. I believe them.

Correction: I just did a channel scan while aimed towards KTVA. Now KTUU shows at channels 2-1 and 2-2. Signal is very weak -- so weak I can't tell if it's HD or SD.

ADN story (http://www.adn.com/money/story/6929595p-6828361c.html)

It "appears" that one subchannel is SD and the other is HD... or so they have it labeled. It looks very good when I can get a signal lock, but the signal is very weak over here near Alaska Regional Hospital.

Yay! KTUU seems to have boosted power today, so now I can watch without constant pixelation. Signal strength shown on my MyHD-120 is still quite low, but the picture looks pretty good.

Time to start thinking about getting a big-assed TV...hmmmm... Best Buy has a sale going...

Cool, Cool!

I guess I better get off my but and get the tuner card for my computer...

Hey, Anchorage HDTV viewers, seems this would be the most likley place to post this. I have made the full circle switch from GCI-Dish-GCI and now have some Dish equipment to sell,(Dishes,receivers,ect.) If you or anyone you know is interested please let me know, you can contact me at akshark@gci.net.

Thanks
Scott

Just talked to a GCI rep and he said he just received an email that stated KTUU will be located on channel 652 starting tomorrow at 7:00 am.

Hey, Anchorage HDTV viewers, seems this would be the most likley place to post this. I have made the full circle switch from GCI-Dish-GCI and now have some Dish equipment to sell,(Dishes,receivers,ect.) If you or anyone you know is interested please let me know, you can contact me at akshark@gci.net.

Thanks
Scott

Whatcha got 4 sale?

Scott, what made you switch back to GCI? HDTV? I went to GCI for about 3 months. I got sick of all the additional charges, GCI B.S., and the DVR was crap compared to the Dish 510 I own.

But alas...No HDTV for me.

Jason,

I moved to a new house with a mountin behind me, so I do not have a clear view of the southern sky. I have a 6000 receiver with both modules, a 301 receiver and 2 dishes. (4 footer and a 30 inch)

Just talked to a GCI rep and he said he just received an email that stated KTUU will be located on channel 652 starting tomorrow at 7:00 am.

Has anybody confirmed this yet? Channel 652 is TNT-HD.

Cheers

Confirmed! TNT moved to 651. KTUU now on 652! Have yet to see true HD. Maybe tonight...here's what they do in HD from the NBC website:
"Crossing Jordan, ER, Joey, Las Vegas, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Medium, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and The West Wing are currently broadcast in HDTV. Occasionally, theatrical films and made-for-TV movies are also broadcast in the high-definition format."

OTA reception of KTUU seems to have gone back to almost-unwatchable again where I am.

If someone can view KTUU on cable, let us know! I don't have a QAM-capable HDTV card and am too lazy to re-cable everything at the moment to see if it's not scrambled.



OOPS
My bad... cable had a loose connection. Picture looks fine again. Just in time for Scrubs and ER!

NBC Nightly news was an upconverted SD with black vertical bars.

ER in HD... well the wife is happy!

My future recording of Sunday's episode of 'Wanted' on TNTHD now says 651, cabebox is smarter than I thought... Now if it would only adjust time changes like my ReplayTV.

Cheers

Roginator, I just bought a fusionHDTV5 card for my PC. Any tips? I was wondering what cpu speed and ram I might need. I have a 2ghz Athlon and 512 DDR ram. I read a lot of good things about the silver sensor so I picked one of those up as well. Should be testing next week.

Thanks.

Make sure you have a fast video card and get the latest software updates for the Fusion.

And look at the threads in the Home Computer area here.

Just watched Leno and Conan in HD last night, looked fantastic. Even the late night reruns @ 2 and 3 am of Leno/Conan were in HD. I hope we get CBS soon for some football.

You should have seen the KYES demo channel when 100% of the bandwidth was devoted to ONE show. It looked even better -- no MPEG artifacts.

I guess we will have to wait a few years (maybe forever) before KTUU drops their analog signal and boosts the HDTV bandwidth.

I guess we will have to wait a few years (maybe forever) before KTUU drops their analog signal and boosts the HDTV bandwidth.

Is that why the HD on KTUU doesn't look as good as HDNet?

Is that why the HD on KTUU doesn't look as good as HDNet?

I'm pretty sure HDNet has the highest bitrate out of any of the channels on GCI's list.

I've capped a number of shows off every different channel and the HDNet caps are always the biggest in size and highest in bitrate.

Just out of curiousity, is your KTUU HD feed really "bad"? I agree it doesnt look as good as HDNet but it's definately nice to look at.

Originally, when KYES was airing HDNET, they used almost the entire channel's bandwidth for the picture. It was fantastic... like watching photographic slides. Now they have a somewhat lower bandwidth HD channel showing Wealth TV, a simulcast of KYES, a low-res video/high-res audio channel and a couple of other audio feeds.

The HD channel is still very nice, but could be nicer. Those people who purchase 1080i HDTVs soon will be somewhat disappointed to find the picture isn't all that much better than the current crop of HDTVs.

If I ruled the FCC, I'd decree that during primetime, the full bandwidth would be allocated to broadcasting a single program.

I'm pleasantly surprised at the nice quality of the KTUU picture. I'm not sure what KTVA is doing wrong, but even with a much stronger signal, the SD picture looks much worse. I'm guessing poor equipment. Hopefully they'll fix that soon and get real HD on the air.


Sure enough, as soon as I complimented the KTUU picture, it seems to have gotten worse. I can't tell if it's my antenna (a cheap Silver Sensor) or reduced power at the transmitter.

Sure enough, as soon as I complimented the KTUU picture, it seems to have gotten worse. I can't tell if it's my antenna (a cheap Silver Sensor) or reduced power at the transmitter.

Hmm. Im viewing KTUU thru GCI's digital cable feed on my DCT6208, looks great. If I have some time this weekend I'll try and dig out my WinTV-HD card and find my HD Antenna and see what my reception is like.

Just out of curiousity, is your KTUU HD feed really "bad"? I agree it doesnt look as good as HDNet but it's definately nice to look at.

It's not "really bad"...just the worst of all the HD channels on my cable DVR. It has a very soft, upscaled look to it. To put it into perspective though, when they're airing the HD programs it is WAY better than the SD KTUU channel.

It could also be that you can see any flaw on my 7 foot wide screen. I imagine the difference would be less noticable on a smaller screen.

UHD is even better than KTUU which is strange because, if I'm not mistaken, UHD airs NBC HD programming.

I personally find TNTHD to be the worst of the GCI broadcast HD feeds. The artifacting is horrendous on NBA games. Looks like a damn SEGACD game when theys tart moving up the courts. I caught the tailend of that Hurricane Katrina charity game, blech. Looked disgusting.

True... I had forgotten about TNT. I've noticed the same thing. On the other hand I've seen some really nice looking movies on there. A lot of their stuff seems to be stretched/upconverted SD.

Yea some of TNTHD's movies look good, thier sound mixes are usually fantastic DD5.1 I recall they aired Pirates Of Silicon Valley in TrueHD and it looked fantastic. But yes, most of thier stuff is stretched to 16x9 and the people look like fat midgets.

I'm pleasantly surprised at the nice quality of the KTUU picture. I'm not sure what KTVA is doing wrong, but even with a much stronger signal, the SD picture looks much worse. I'm guessing poor equipment. Hopefully they'll fix that soon and get real HD on the air.

Sure enough, as soon as I complimented the KTUU picture, it seems to have gotten worse. I can't tell if it's my antenna (a cheap Silver Sensor) or reduced power at the transmitter.

Got my Fusion HDTV5 card and a silver sensor the other day and boom I'm getting OTA HD which I'm pleased with. The silver sensor has great reviews but I can't seem to tune any of the 3 digital signals I've seen thus far. I have a set of rabbit ears with a UHF loop and that pulls in KTVA really well, KTUU so..so, and can't quite get KYES. I'm just off of Minnisota bypass at W. 100th.

I've only briefly played with this setup, is anything KTVA broadcasts in HD?

I get very high signal strength from KTVA in Spenard. I almost have a direct line of sight to their tower. Alas, it is only standard definition -- and fuzzy at that. Channel 28-1 (may show up as 11-1)

KYES is located due east of you on the hillside. If you have a window on the east, place the antenna there and aim it to mountains. Channels 22-1, 22-2, 22-3, 22-4 Signal strength is somewhat less.

KTUU has both HD and SD feeds on channel 10-1 and 10-2 (may show up as 2-1 and 2-2) From where you are, aim north towards downtown. You may be pushing the limits of an indoor antenna at that range. Signal strength for me is quite low, yet I manage to get a good picture most of the time.

My best reception is always with the antenna sitting in a bay window... even if the broadcasting antenna is on the opposite side of the house. Don't ask me why. It's a typical wood house.

And double check all your cable connections from antenna to HDTV card!

KAKM!!! On Channel 657????

That's what I just saw at TitanTV.com

I did a little more surfing and found this interesting -- and apparently recent .pdf newsletter from KAKM:

http://kakm.org/soundbites/soundbites-2005-3dtv.pdf

Hello,
I'm not sure how many Anchorage people are checking on this thread, but I thought that I would check and see if anybody knows what the current status of KAKM is.

I heard that KAKM HD was up and transmitting, but I do not find it.

I put up a rooftop antenna last week and get KTUU in HD, KTVA in SD and KYES HD (Wealth TV on 22.1) and SD on 22.4.

Also, is KTUU HD transmitting on full power yet?

I have a Dish 921 that does not lock on the signal from KTUU (both HD and SD) or KTVA very well. It has pixelization break up every 1 to 2 minutes. KYES is stable. My Hitatchi TV locks onto all channels without an problems at all. I am hoping that KTUU is still low power and once it goes full power, the problem will go away.

This is with a CS1100 that I got at Frigid North and is mounted 30' above ground. Unfortunately I am just to the south of Klatt Elementary school and have a sloped metal roof between me and KTUU and KTVA transmitters. I got the deep fringe 1100 so as to avoid problems with the roof. The analog signals are not very good, with herring bone patterns in most channels.

There is an FM transmitter a mile away, so I'm not sure if I am seeing interference from it, the roof or just a low power signal.

Jim Parker

Try this great URL

http://www.kyes.com/antenna/interference/fm/fmfilter.html

Notice particularly the bit that says with HDTV signals, there's no way of telling if they are being interfered with by looking at them.

Fortunately, you should soon be able to watch these HD channels on GCI cable if you can't filter your antenna signal.

Yay! I just picked up a few seconds of ABC on channel 12. Power seems to be even lower than KTUU. It seems to help when I stand next to antenna... maybe the signal is bouncing off me. Time to diet!

I now seem to be picking up a signal of similar power on channel 8 -- KAKM I assume. There's no picture though -- just blackness.

Update! I get a picture on channel 8! It's not showing anything that's now playing on the analog broadcast stations, so I assume it's some sort of PBS network feed? I suspect my little Silver Sensor antenna is flakey. Signal strength is a miserable 21% on my MyHD120 HDTV card.

Further Update: After realizing I had to use the MyHD software to properly add channels, I added in all THREE KAKM channels - KAKM-HD (yay), KAKM-DT (blah) and KAKM-SD? The SD channel only had an audio tone. The HD channel has different programming than the DT channel -- which is what we watch on our analog TVs. They come in as 7-1, 7-2 and 7-3, but are actually located on channel 8. Which leds me to wonder whether a different antenna might be called for.

BTW, tomorrow at Best Buy (9/16/05) they are having a grand-reopening with the addition of an area for recently-purchased Magnolia Hi-Fi. If you thought HDTVs were expensive before, just wait! I peeked in today and the new mini-store within-a-store is much nicer for checking out big TVs.

BTW, tomorrow at Best Buy (9/16/05) they are having a grand-reopening with the addition of an area for recently-purchased Magnolia Hi-Fi. If you thought HDTVs were expensive before, just wait! I peeked in today and the new mini-store within-a-store is much nicer for checking out big TVs.

If they only had front projection...did they add a theater room too?
If you have a good room for it, front projection is the only way to go for home theater.

I rescaned the channels this morning and found that KAKM is transmitting. The HD signal is coming in pretty strong. It has different programing than is on the analog channel 7.

The Dish 921 is not showing guide data for KAKM, UPN HD or KTVA 11. I'm not sure if the problem is in the 921 (which is known for OTA guide problems) or the stations are not transmitting the data.

Roginator: Thanks for the link. That is just what my analog channels look like. I'll see if Frigid North has any and post the results.

Was just watching Saturday Night Live on KTUU and noticed that the signal was constantly breaking up when I watched the HD channel, yet was rock-solid when watching the SD channel. Why would this be?

And today KTUU started airing Enterprise. Did they use the HD version of Enterprise? NooooOOOOooooo...it's the same old low-res version.

Continuing in my series of gripes and complaints: It "appears" that PBS is only going to air their packaged feed in HDTV, while the programs we know and love will be aired at significantly reduced resolution. I could be wrong about this, but if this is true, and they don't air shows such as Masterpiece Theater and Mystery! at full resolution... what's the %&$$*& point?

I got a FM trap at Frigid for $5 yesterday. I installed it on the analog input on the TV and the signal cleaned up. It looks pretty good now. So, I reconnected the roof top antenna to the Dish 921 with the trap installed. The signal strength that the 921 shows jumped from 80 to 100 on a 0 to 125 scale. However, KTUU HD still pixelates but not quite as bad as before.

KAKM has a little bit of pixelization every 3 to 5 minutes on the 921, but is watchable. The 921 shows a signal strength of 112. KTUU just breaks up too much to watch.

My Hitachi TV is rock solid on KTUU. The 921 must not have as good a tuner as the TV.

Yeah, I was bummed about Enterprise being SD also.

Enterprise will never be in HD but it's not KTUU's fault. UPN, in their infinite wisdom, refused to distribute the show in anything other than an SD version for fear that it would be pirated and show up all over the internet. They may be right, but it would have been nice.

The public channels all over the country use a similar format as what you're seeing on KAKM. Their standard fare is always shown on the .1 channel and somewhere farther down the line they feed an HD service provided to them by PBS nationally. It's all HD (well, almost all) and bears no relation to their analog service. There are some good shows, but not what you're used to seeing there. That feed is typically available from late afternoon through prime time. During the day they usually use the bandwidth for multiple SD channels doing educational stuff.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Lance

"CBS and UPN announced that they have partnered with Zenith to broadcast scripted primetime television programming in high definition format. The partnership marks CBS's fifth consecutive year of offering its primetime programming in HDTV and the first year for UPN, which will kick off HDTV broadcasts with STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE and JAKE 2.0 starting Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2003"

You can download HDTV versions of Enterprise now. I imagine they are compressed so much it's hard to tell.

They appear to still be tweaking the signals from Goose Bay. KTUU's signal strength is much higher than it was, but the HD picture is again almost unwatchable due to pixellation. It reminds me of when I was a kid and our old TV went wacko whenever a small plane flew overhead (we were in the flight path of Merrill Field). It's doing that again.

And KIMO (ABC) is coming in strongly enough so you can see their SD signal. Apparently they don't have an HD signal at present. Picture quality rivals that of KTVA -- poor.

Now all we need is FOX!

They appear to still be tweaking the signals from Goose Bay.

They broadcast from goose bay? All of them? If that's the case I imagine I have a chance of picking up signals in eagle river. Is anyone on the forum getting any signal here in eagle river?

Theoretically, NBC, ABC and PBS broadcast from Goose Bay. Here's a link showing the location of the Goose Bay tower in relation to Eagle River. (hope it works!)

http://www.sueandpaul.com/gmapPedometer/?centerX=-149.49920654296875&centerY=61.31055624619718&zl=4&fl=s-e-h-0-1&polyline=ko%7BuJ%60jwq%5BlxTahhA
Oddly, ER appears to be almost the same distance as me. It looks a lot closer on the map.

I can't get a signal aiming my little antenna at Goose Bay. I have to aim more towards Mt. Susitna. Perhaps AK Regional is blocking the direct signal.

The link didn't work, but I can see the same on a map. We do look a tad closer up here.

If you have not seen it, try antennaweb o r g
The forum will not let me post a url until I have 5 posts.

Click on the "select antenna" and put in your zip code. Be sure to look at the street level map. It is a great web site.

OK I have 5 post now. :)

www.antennaweb.org

The link didn't work, but I can see the same on a map. We do look a tad closer up here.

You tried clicking on the link or did you try copying and pasting? Clicking works for me, copying and pasting probably won't.

(I just tried using T-I-N-Y-U-R-L to make the link shorter and AVSForum thinks it's some sort of cuss word or something..)

Yeah, just tried clicking on it. There must be a cookie ID in the URL or something. I think I'm SOL for getting a signal where I'm at. There's a big hill between me and goose bay.

Anyone heard if/when GCI will activate the dual tuner function in our HD-DVR's? Earlier this year a CS rep told me late summer...well, here we are...

Here's a simple Google maps URL to see the tower at Goose Bay...
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=wasilla,+ak&ll=61.422390,-149.874544&spn=0.014276,0.035062&t=h&hl=en

I used this other site to draw a line between the tower and my location, showing distance in miles.
http://www.sueandpaul.com/gmapPedometer/

Those 2 links SHOULD work for everyone!

I've been watching the KTUU HD feed via Cable for about a week now. It took a while for the Tivo Guide to be updated to reflect the channel realignment, but I can't use Tivo for HD, anyway. Thus, I must trudge through the hell that is the Motorola interface.

Has anyone else noticed, at least using GCI, that you can almost "anticipate" when the signal is going to skip or stutter on any channel? It seems that this happens whenever a show fades to black. End, middle or beginning of a show.

Is there anyone in town using a Media Center PC to control the cable box and take in Audio / Video? My dream would be to have it connected to the Firewire port for simplicity and use the remote IR emitter to control the box. I know someone on here has had the box working with Firewire, but I don't know how the box behaves in that aspect. We may even get a couple Media Center extenders to spread HD throughout the house. :-D Comments anyone?

I dont use the box as a Media Center PC control device, but I do have my DCT6208 connected via Firewire to my XP box. A While ago GCI turned off the firewire ports, but I emailed them repeatedly and pointed out that the FCC mandates leased set top boxes be provided with a functioning firewire port upon request of a customer, so they turned it back on =). With the firewire enabled, you can make flawless mpeg2 transport stream recordings of any HDTV program. You can also watch "Live" HD streamed over the firewire on your computer. If you are interested in doing this there are plenty of topics on this forum concerning the topic, or PM me and I'll lend you a helping hand.

I dont use the box as a Media Center PC control device, but I do have my DCT6208 connected via Firewire to my XP box. A While ago GCI turned off the firewire ports, but I emailed them repeatedly and pointed out that the FCC mandates leased set top boxes be provided with a functioning firewire port upon request of a customer, so they turned it back on =). With the firewire enabled, you can make flawless mpeg2 transport stream recordings of any HDTV program. You can also watch "Live" HD streamed over the firewire on your computer. If you are interested in doing this there are plenty of topics on this forum concerning the topic, or PM me and I'll lend you a helping hand.

Wow, it's good to have people like you around to stick up for us! haha I don't have any Firewire cables, so I won't be able to test mine. The last time I looked at the setup screen, it said Firewire was enabled.

If I have the Firewire cable connected to my computer, will Nero be a program that can capture this stream and save it to the hard drive? I've never actually tried to capture a stream before. I've toyed with the idea of putting a NAS on my home network and have Media Center, Windows and some other software store documents on that. It sure would beat the measley hard drive in the Motorola.

I'll search out some of this info on the forum. Very intriguing. My goal isn't to copy broadcasts from the box to be copied to DVD's or something, but rather to just have more plentiful space for time-shifting the HD material. And if Firewire does it, maybe Media Center can use it without a Tuner card. Yee haa!

Nero cant capture any data from the firewire stream. You can use either CapDVHS or dctrecord to record a raw transport stream to your HD and archive/watch it later. You can stream the data "live" and watch the feed on your computer monitor using Videolan (VLC). If you have TV-Out and plenty of HD space, you can timeshift as much data as you can store. You can use CapDVHS to set record times for programs to dump stuff to your PC HD in the form of a transport stream. Then later, you can stream the recorded files to your HD display via TV OUT. This is exactly what I do with my PC, ATI 9700 + HDTV Dongle, and Pioneer HDTV. Works fantastic. You can also choose to archive away any movies/shows you want although it will take plenty of discs. But if I so choose, I can throw in any of 500 or so HDTV movies and watch them at will. =)

You can also choose to archive away any movies/shows you want although it will take plenty of discs. But if I so choose, I can throw in any of 500 or so HDTV movies and watch them at will. =)

I would imagine you could also use the VC10 codec to compress the HD stream for easier storage on DVD's. I wouldn't have a clue where to start on that beyond downloading WMP10 and encoder. You may be able to find something on this site:
http://www.videohelp.com/

Ah, I see! Thanks for the wealth of info!

I would imagine you could also use the VC10 codec to compress the HD stream for easier storage on DVD's. I wouldn't have a clue where to start on that beyond downloading WMP10 and encoder. You may be able to find something on this site:
http://www.videohelp.com/

There are a number of things you can do to compress the stream for smaller sizes. Most notably, xvid and WMV9. I prefer to keep them in thier raw mpeg2 transport stream form because they can be transferred to D-VHS tapes in this format. Additionally, players such as the IOLinkplayer 2 can play native transport streams. With DVD-R prices so cheap these days I don't really flinch if I have to burn an extra DVD per movie.

Is anyone picking up the over-the-air signal from KAKM (PBS)? It seems to be at a power too low for me to receive now -- unless my antenna is aimed incorrectly.

I can get KTUU quite well. And KIMO. And they are both located on same antenna as far as I know.

I receive KAKM fine at the end of the Eagle River Valley, as well as KIMO and KTUU. And this is with a standard VHF antenna. Was planning on putting up a digital antenna, but my reception is so strong that I do not need to.

I receive KAKM fine at the end of the Eagle River Valley, as well as KIMO and KTUU. And this is with a standard VHF antenna. Was planning on putting up a digital antenna, but my reception is so strong that I do not need to.

Do you have good line of sight?

I seem to be having some sort of antenna problems. What I could use is a signal strength indicator that shows up in giant characters on my computer monitor.

Either that or an outdoor antenna with a rotator. Ahh someday.

My indoor antenna is aimed more towards Mt. Susitna than Goose Bay. Maybe I'm getting some sort of weak bounce off the mountain. If I aim it a few degrees either way, the signal is too weak for reception.

Do you have good line of sight?

I think I have a direct line of sight.

A question for those using the Motorola DVR for HD viewing on GCI...

Does the show you are watching ever hiccup (drop audio, pause for a moment and then stutter) when the show fades to black? I've noticed this not only just as the credits are about to roll, but anywhere that a show or movie will fade out.

-Begin Fade-out
-Drop Audio
-Stutter Audio
-Skip forward into video
-Play (sometimes with sync pixelation)

I am getting a lot of pixelation, random, seems more often on KTUU-HD. and the higher channels than on the lower ones.

Audio drops out then the video starts to pixelate. lasts for 2-5 seconds.

I dont use the box as a Media Center PC control device, but I do have my DCT6208 connected via Firewire to my XP box. A While ago GCI turned off the firewire ports, but I emailed them repeatedly and pointed out that the FCC mandates leased set top boxes be provided with a functioning firewire port upon request of a customer, so they turned it back on =).
Do you have a link to the FCC info? Also, what GCI email address did you use?
Thanks............

I am getting a lot of pixelation, random, seems more often on KTUU-HD. and the higher channels than on the lower ones.

Audio drops out then the video starts to pixelate. lasts for 2-5 seconds.
I talked to GCI this w/e and was told there has been greater than usual solar flares causing interference. I don't think it was a run around since they offered to have a tech come out and check my signal anyway.

One more tidbit. A GCI guy told me that Channel 2 is now HD (we know that), channel 7 should show up on 657 any day (maybe it is now?), 11 and 13 are converting to ED instead of HD to save money. :mad: Signal will certainly be cleaner, but not HD. Don't know about channel 5.

One more tidbit. A GCI guy told me that Channel 2 is now HD (we know that), channel 7 should show up on 657 any day (maybe it is now?), 11 and 13 are converting to ED instead of HD to save money. :mad: Signal will certainly be cleaner, but not HD. Don't know about channel 5.

And watch me lunge for the jugular if they try to advertise themselves as being HD, instead of DTV. I was getting annoyed with Ch 13's horrible audio quality on everything they air, but I figured that since they're spending their money on the DTV equipment, I'll be patient and let them work on that, which is more important. Ch's 13 and 4 have always been the "low-fi" channels in this town. DTV may help make it less noticable.

As far as the solar flares go, that has credibility. I've seen mention of the solar activity being a lot higher this year.

akshark: Yeah, I get the random screw ups, too, but one I can always count on is the fade-to-black burp.

One more tidbit. A GCI guy told me that Channel 2 is now HD (we know that), channel 7 should show up on 657 any day (maybe it is now?), 11 and 13 are converting to ED instead of HD to save money. :mad: Signal will certainly be cleaner, but not HD. Don't know about channel 5.

Damn...
I guess we'll only see the sunday evening football game in HD... Doesn't sound good for an HD superbowl for a long time. It would also be nice to see "Lost" in HD.

I've also seen some pixelation on my 6412. It seems only to happen shortly after switching channels. I'm not seeing the fade to black problem. Could that be a 6208 problem? I'm still waiting for the firmware update to enable the dual tuner function...

Damn...
I guess we'll only see the sunday evening football game in HD... Doesn't sound good for an HD superbowl for a long time. It would also be nice to see "Lost" in HD.

I've also seen some pixelation on my 6412. It seems only to happen shortly after switching channels. I'm not seeing the fade to black problem. Could that be a 6208 problem? I'm still waiting for the firmware update to enable the dual tuner function...

Has GCI ever said anything about really allowing the dual tuner function? That's ONLY on the 6412, isn't it?

One more tidbit. A GCI guy told me that Channel 2 is now HD (we know that), channel 7 should show up on 657 any day (maybe it is now?), 11 and 13 are converting to ED instead of HD to save money. :mad: Signal will certainly be cleaner, but not HD. Don't know about channel 5.

I just spoke to the GM of KIMO and he said it would be about a year before they transmit a HD signal, he did confirmed that they are transmitting a EDTV signal now. I asked why they can't give GCI the ABC network feed in HD and was told that GCI will not take a signal that way and they don't want to give up the bandwidth on the cable tv until the station is broadcasting in HD. He did say that they will be testing a HD signal off and on and that one of the tests will be the superbowl. Hopefully GCI will carry it.

Cheers

A question for those using the Motorola DVR for HD viewing on GCI...

Does the show you are watching ever hiccup (drop audio, pause for a moment and then stutter) when the show fades to black? I've noticed this not only just as the credits are about to roll, but anywhere that a show or movie will fade out.

-Begin Fade-out
-Drop Audio
-Stutter Audio
-Skip forward into video
-Play (sometimes with sync pixelation)

I have noticed drop audio on the non dvr digital box, but not within the last few weeks.

I will get picture pixelation on both of my cable boxes (HD & regular). SCI-FI on Friday nights are extremely bad during Stargate and Battlestar on the regular cable box. The mid season finale of Battlestar was in a stretch mode for some reason, the SCI-FI logo in the bottom right of the screen only showed SC.

652 will sometimes drop the picture / audio and display a pink screen for a second. Strange, hard to say if it is KTUU or GCI problem.

651 had some minor pixelation during the NASCAR race on Sunday. Yeah, why watch football in SD when you can watch a race in HD... any 4 or 11 lurkers paying attention?

I wonder if the stutter problems could be with the Moto DVR box?

Cheers

Has GCI ever said anything about really allowing the dual tuner function? That's ONLY on the 6412, isn't it?
Oh yeah... that was another thing I asked about since I have a 6412. I was told they are beta testing the dual tuner operation and it should be soon. We'll see. The upside is that it will be done remotely, you don't have to switch boxes or have a tech come out to your house. Whether it will be automatic or you will have to request the change, I don't know.

I was also told that the reason that it hasn't been enabled is that it causes premature burnout given the extra heat. Translation... costs them a bunch in replacements. Seems odd that the rest of the country seems to have dual tuners enabled and I haven't heard of any problems.

That's ONLY on the 6412, isn't it?

You are correct. But the good thing is, it's free!
(at least GCI hasn't charged me anything more for the 6412... hopefully it'll stay that way)

Oh yeah... that was another thing I asked about since I have a 6412. I was told they are beta testing the dual tuner operation and it should be soon. We'll see. The upside is that it will be done remotely, you don't have to switch boxes or have a tech come out to your house. Whether it will be automatic or you will have to request the change, I don't know.

I was also told that the reason that it hasn't been enabled is that it causes premature burnout given the extra heat. Translation... costs them a bunch in replacements. Seems odd that the rest of the country seems to have dual tuners enabled and I haven't heard of any problems.

Okay, isn't that just a perfect admition of a problematic design of the product?

I have taken a liking to the term Space Heater for these stupid cable boxes. There really isn't any reason they need to be so damn hot. I can barely put my hand on the top of mine sometimes, and it sits by itself in the open. It appears that Motorola is using cheap power supplies, rather than more efficient switching power supplies.

I have noticed drop audio on the non dvr digital box, but not within the last few weeks.

I will get picture pixelation on both of my cable boxes (HD & regular). SCI-FI on Friday nights are extremely bad during Stargate and Battlestar on the regular cable box. The mid season finale of Battlestar was in a stretch mode for some reason, the SCI-FI logo in the bottom right of the screen only showed SC.

652 will sometimes drop the picture / audio and display a pink screen for a second. Strange, hard to say if it is KTUU or GCI problem.

651 had some minor pixelation during the NASCAR race on Sunday. Yeah, why watch football in SD when you can watch a race in HD... any 4 or 11 lurkers paying attention?

I wonder if the stutter problems could be with the Moto DVR box?

Cheers

652 has been oddly reliable. Of course it can stutter when fading to black. But other than that, it hasn't been too bad. I've always been annoyed by TNT (651, now) because they play SO much SD material and stretch it. That's not HD, and if we could pick channels a la carte, I'd pass on that one.

I tend to think that some of the burps in playback are from line noise on the cable. HD obviously requires more data, so it's more susceptible to momentary blips. The blurry SD channels seem fairly reliable. I'm downtown, right between City Market and the Pioneer Home, by the way.

Any rumors of ACS trying IPTV? I thought MTA was attempting that?

You are correct. But the good thing is, it's free!
(at least GCI hasn't charged me anything more for the 6412... hopefully it'll stay that way)

hahaha They must have missed that opportunity. Soon, they'll be charging a fee to use the display on the front of the box. hahaha

I just spoke to the GM of KIMO and he said it would be about a year before they transmit a HD signal, he did confirmed that they are transmitting a EDTV signal now. I asked why they can't give GCI the ABC network feed in HD and was told that GCI will not take a signal that way and they don't want to give up the bandwidth on the cable tv until the station is broadcasting in HD. He did say that they will be testing a HD signal off and on and that one of the tests will be the superbowl. Hopefully GCI will carry it.

Cheers

I can understand KIMO's long rollout period. They seem to be struggling, at least it always appears that way.

EDTV is 480p, right?

ugh, I want some CBS/ABC in HD, not ED

Sat 9-24-05, I exchanged my 6208 box for a 6412 box. On Sun after the guide was populated, I created recurring recordings for the upcoming week for channel 652.

Sunday and Monday nights recordings worked, but when I looked at My Recordings late Thursday night, the recordings for Wed & Thu was from Channel 2. I still had not deleted Mon night recording from 652 and looking ahead that recurring recording was now scheduled to record channel 2.

Thursday night, I fixed all the recurring recordings back to channel 652. Checked again yesterday and they were scheduled to record channel 2.

Has anybody else noticed this?

When GCI changed TNTHD from 652 to 651, I did not have to change my recurring recordings, they automatically adjusted.

Could this problem exist because Channel 2 and Channel 652 has the same name?

I searched other forums without success, decided to post here for the GCI Anchorage readers.

Cheers

[QUOTE=BraytonAK]I can understand KIMO's long rollout period. They seem to be struggling, at least it always appears that way.
QUOTE]

KTUU marketing should take advantage of HD broadcasting, get some advertising dollars from Schimek's, Pyramid and other high end dealers.

KTUU is the real Superstation in Alaska.

Cheers

... Checked again yesterday and they were scheduled to record channel 2. Has anybody else noticed this?
...

Yes I have. I thought it was my mistake for recording the wrong channel even though I could have sworn I recorded 652. Now I see that I may not be going crazy after all. Have you called GCI about it?

Yes I have. I thought it was my mistake for recording the wrong channel even though I could have sworn I recorded 652. Now I see that I may not be going crazy after all. Have you called GCI about it?

They changed again from Channel 652 to Channel 2...

Just got off the phone with GCI, tier 2 support said I was the first one to report that problem. They wanted to send a tech to the house and check the cable box settings. I said I couldn't wait for a 5 hour window. I explained that others have noticed the same thing. They are going to test it in there lab to see if they can duplicate the problem.

My suggestion is for all with the problem is to spend 20 mins and call GCI.

Now back to MNF in SD... :(

Cheers

At 6:30pm today I set my box to do a weekly recurring recording of 652 at 7pm on Mondays, which records Surface. It certainly recorded Surface in HD today, and looking at the Future Recordings list, it's still set to 652. Will have to keep an eye on it to see if it changes.

Called GCI. They "claimed" that hadn't heard of that problem before. Either they are lying or it was a new group of support people. We may have to exchange our DVRs if we're the only ones with this issue...

Here's a question of a different sort.... I've got the 6412 and a plasma monitor that does not generate closed captions. In order to use cc on the 6412, I have to go into the setup menu to turn them on or off. I was told one of the more knowledgable reps in the Northern Lights store that there is a way to configure so you can turn cc on/off with the remote.

Well, I had a tech come out at the store's recommendation and he hadn't heard of such a thing.

Anyone have any info on this?

Thanks........

Here's a question of a different sort.... I've got the 6412 and a plasma monitor that does not generate closed captions. In order to use cc on the 6412, I have to go into the setup menu to turn them on or off.
Anyone have any info on this?


a quick google search didn't turn anything up... expect everyone complaining how kludgey it is to turn CC on and off.

Where did you get your A/V cabinet? Looks nice. Is it open on the back side? How is the ventilation?

Cheers

Called GCI. They "claimed" that hadn't heard of that problem before. Either they are lying or it was a new group of support people. We may have to exchange our DVRs if we're the only ones with this issue...

It has been documented that Comcast has the same problem. This site has a proposed solution...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_6412


Cheers

a quick google search didn't turn anything up... expect everyone complaining how kludgey it is to turn CC on and off.

Where did you get your A/V cabinet? Looks nice. Is it open on the back side? How is the ventilation?
Thanks for trying. I've been searching and asking to no avail. I think it will have to be a design change (maybe just firmware), if they ever decide to do it.

I got my console at Fred Meyer for less than $250 as a kit. I put it together and finished it myself. I cut a few inches off the legs and attached the casters on my own. I also put in black window screen instead of the glass in the doors. It came with a back panel, but I didn't install it, leaving the back open. That, combined with the screen in front, makes for very good ventilation.

Fred's still has this unit available. In fact, it is part of a set. You can also get tall shelves for one or both sides, optional solid doors for the shelves and a bridge for the top.

Here's the manufacturer's photo of the complete set:
http://img284.imageshack.us/img284/5375/whittiermediaconsole2uy.jpg

657 (KAKM) is up! woot 2 down 3 to go. It's nice to see some progress anyway.

On another note, anyone successfully using MythTV and Firewire on their 6208? Apparently it is working for some, but I've been unable to get things up using KnoppMyth.

Yeah, but which KAKM is on GCI? They have a Hi-Def KAKM, and a low-def KAKM which consists of the normal programs on the analog channel 7. Not sure what the 3rd KAKM channel is -- it's always showing color bars when I check it. In some parts of the country they have educational stuff part of the day.

Not exactly sure, but the programming is different than channel 7 and seems like pretty good picture quality to me.

On another note, I've installed MythTV over Linux Fedora Core 4 and it works beautifully with the firewire connection on my DCT-6208, even changes channels properly. HD content playback is pretty good with my Nvidia GF4 Ti4200 and A64 3500+. Still working on getting the right modelines for my Hitachi 51F500, so if anyone out there can give me some pointers on this I'd be extremely appreciative.

Here's a question of a different sort.... I've got the 6412 and a plasma monitor that does not generate closed captions. In order to use cc on the 6412, I have to go into the setup menu to turn them on or off.


Isn't it a legal requirement that all televisions have to be capable of displaying closed captioning on their own? This is something that happened back in the mid 90's. Is your Plasma display Industrial, or does it not do CC on every input? That's a very strange limitation, considering the legalities.

Isn't it a legal requirement that all televisions have to be capable of displaying closed captioning on their own? This is something that happened back in the mid 90's. Is your Plasma display Industrial, or does it not do CC on every input? That's a very strange limitation, considering the legalities.


If it is just a monitor with no tuner built in, then it doesn't have to have CC. Any STB is required to decode and display CC.

If it is just a monitor with no tuner built in, then it doesn't have to have CC. Any STB is required to decode and display CC.

Yeah, that's what I meant by "Industrial". Monitor vs TV with Tuner. I know some people have bought the Monitors instead of sets with tuners because they're cheaper.

Regarding CC...... The Pio TVs will decode CC through antenna, composite, and maybe S-Video, not through component or HDMI.

My kludge may be to run the STB to two inputs, HDMI and composite. I'll watch HDMI and when CC is needed, switch to the composite input. Better than messing with the settings on the STB unless it's a good quality feature movie or something.

Hopefully a future STB will allow turning CC on and off with the remote in the future, particularly since more TVs won't do it as well with digital inputs.

Not exactly sure, but the programming is different than channel 7 and seems like pretty good picture quality to me.
657 is very good quality! Unfortuately they seem to be among the worst offenders with their stationary logo always showing in white!

Anyone know anything about GCI and the new revision of the Moto 6412 called "Phase III" (as shown in this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=558602))?

It has HDMI out and RF out as well as some reported improvement in SD PQ.

I would like all three of these things. The RF output would help with my closed caption dilemma.

Anyone know anything about GCI and the new revision of the Moto 6412 ...

This is the first I've heard of the new box. Nice to see them doing upgrades to it. Would be even nicer if GCI jumped on the bandwagon....I'm not holding my breath.

I heard that GCI is about to dump the low-end moto box for something else entirely.. Not sure if thats true for people who want HD or DVR.

Got snail mail from GCI today. They are enabling the dual tuner and I-Guide on Nov 1!