VideoTech: Can you eloborate on teh "19 med stream" comment?

A stations' digital channel's (-1, -2, -3...no matter how many) are contained in one digital stream that has a bandwidth of 19 Meg. That is the feed that goes out to the transmitter and (usually) is the same feed given to the cable company. From that stream the cable company decodes each channel, picks out only the ones they will use and re-modulates them into the stream going to your home. Most cable companies (depending on the carriage agreement signed with the station) will usually just pick up the HD channel for retransmission. That may leave some of the other channels sent by the station without carriage to your home. The station would prefer you to have all of their signals but the cable company does not want to have to pay the station for all of them and/or dedicate the bandwidth. To solve the issue, many cable companies are now passing the entire 19meg stream from the station. They still cherry pick the channels they want for their system but the entire stream is delivered to the home and if you have a TV with a QAM tuner you can decode all of the channels. [A NTSC tuner decodes analog channels, an ATSC tuner decodes digital channel and a QAM tuner can decode the cable company's feed. Note to shoppers: Buy a set containing all 3 types of tuners]. It means actually tuning the TV instead of tuning the cable box to get those channels but it gives the viewers all of the stations channels. In many areas a station may offer only one digital channel (be it HD or SD) but many are now offering multiple channels. Some stations offer a weather channel for 24 hours of local weather instead of a few minutes 'on the 8's' while some offer additional programming channels (PBS for example, offers numerous feeds; PBS KIDS, PBS HD, PBS NOW, etc. which the analog channel picks and chooses from. The digital channels may offer the complete programming of each feed). Sometimes the channels are used for extended coverage of events that are only highlighted on the main channel. (In many cities, the Olympics were available non-stop on one of the digital feeds while the main network feed only showed a few hours each day.) If your cable company does not pass the full stream you will not get the additional sub-channels. In either case, having a QAM (pronounced Kawam) allows you to tune through the cable channels without having to rent a cable box. If you want premium (scrambled) channels, your set will also need a cable card slot to use a cable card supplied by the cable company. [Another 'feature' to look for in buying a set].

And yes, that is the short answer.

A stations' digital channel's (-1, -2, -3...no matter how many) are contained in one digital stream that has a bandwidth of 19 Meg. That is the feed that goes out to the transmitter and (usually) is the same feed given to the cable company. From that stream the cable company decodes each channel, picks out only the ones they will use and re-modulates them into the stream going to your home. Most cable companies (depending on the carriage agreement signed with the station) will usually just pick up the HD channel for retransmission. That may leave some of the other channels sent by the station without carriage to your home. The station would prefer you to have all of their signals but the cable company does not want to have to pay the station for all of them and/or dedicate the bandwidth. To solve the issue, many cable companies are now passing the entire 19meg stream from the station. They still cherry pick the channels they want for their system but the entire stream is delivered to the home and if you have a TV with a QAM tuner you can decode all of the channels. [A NTSC tuner decodes analog channels, an ATSC tuner decodes digital channel and a QAM tuner can decode the cable company's feed. Note to shoppers: Buy a set containing all 3 types of tuners]. It means actually tuning the TV instead of tuning the cable box to get those channels but it gives the viewers all of the stations channels. In many areas a station may offer only one digital channel (be it HD or SD) but many are now offering multiple channels. Some stations offer a weather channel for 24 hours of local weather instead of a few minutes 'on the 8's' while some offer additional programming channels (PBS for example, offers numerous feeds; PBS KIDS, PBS HD, PBS NOW, etc. which the analog channel picks and chooses from. The digital channels may offer the complete programming of each feed). Sometimes the channels are used for extended coverage of events that are only highlighted on the main channel. (In many cities, the Olympics were available non-stop on one of the digital feeds while the main network feed only showed a few hours each day.) If your cable company does not pass the full stream you will not get the additional sub-channels. In either case, having a QAM (pronounced Kawam) allows you to tune through the cable channels without having to rent a cable box. If you want premium (scrambled) channels, your set will also need a cable card slot to use a cable card supplied by the cable company. [Another 'feature' to look for in buying a set].


And yes, that is the short answer.

Ok, now for a stupid short question. Given what you say above, what about a cable company that proportably doesn't carry HD and says they have no plans to (Charter) in many parts of Vt?

Even though they only list the analog networks in their programing, is it possible they're picking up and passing along the whole digital stream and anyone with a QAM tuner could pick out the digital (HD) feeds for the basic 4 networks? Is there anyway to tell if you don't yet have a QAM tuner?

Folks may find this article interesting. It cites a pole taken this week on who consumers feel will have the most HD programming one year from now. http://www.tvpredictions.com/poll040907.htm

Ok, now for a stupid short question. Given what you say above, what about a cable company that proportably doesn't carry HD and says they have no plans to (Charter) in many parts of Vt?

Even though they only list the analog networks in their programing, is it possible they're picking up and passing along the whole digital stream and anyone with a QAM tuner could pick out the digital (HD) feeds for the basic 4 networks? Is there anyway to tell if you don't yet have a QAM tuner?

Do you have digital cable to the home? (I.E. Are there some channels you have to have a cable box to get?) HD is not the issue as is the cable head end. If it is a digital head end, then yes, even tho they may not have an HD tier they COULD pass the full stream but I'm guessing they don't.

If they are specifically saying they do not plan to add HD, my guess is they are mainly an analog plant and it may be too cost prohibitive given the number of subscribers, to upgrade to digital. In that case, you probably will never get the full stream. In the remote areas, you will probably end up with a DISH type system to get cable networks in HD and an antenna to get local HD. Even when analog is turned off for over the air, they will probably use their receiver to pick up the stations HD and then down-convert it for their analog stream. [The requirement that OTA broadcasters convert to digital by 2009 does not cover cable who can still continue to deliver analog to your home]

If your digital set had a QAM tuner you would see that option in the menus as the set would have to switch your inputs between antenna, cable or AV inputs. (Note:Cable in this case being QAM and not the old HRC/IRC options).

I'm sure there is a thread about this.Could someone tell me if this is a good antenna for picking up local HD channels? It is the Terk HD-Slim Profile Outdoor Antenna.Are there any good threads recommending which HD indoor or outdoor antennas work well? I'm about 40 miles from the towers.

I'm sure there is a thread about this.Could someone tell me if this is a good antenna for picking up local HD channels? It is the Terk HD-Slim Profile Outdoor Antenna.Are there any good threads recommending which HD indoor or outdoor antennas work well? I'm about 40 miles from the towers.
Go to www.hdtvprimer.com and the "Erecting a TV antenna" link and there is a comparison of several antennas. I think a Channel Master 4228 would be the antenna for you. Also go to www.antennaweb.org to see what it says about reception and antennas for your location.

Hi Guys,

Although I'm overseas most of the year, I come home in the summer and sure would like to at long last get HDTV. Where I live the rest of the time there's no such thing as HD Broadcasts.

1. Is there reception of HD Channels with decent programming (not only ads & sports / MTV which aren't my bag - I like movies and docs) ?

2. Do you need analog or a digital reception?

3. Do any locally available HDTV providers offer short term subscriptions (ie only for summer months)?

Thanks for any help. I'm 15 miles South of Burlington, but don't know anyone who has HDTV and the stores I've visited are less than informative. Thx also if you know of a good place in the Burlington area to get info/equipment.

Cheers,

After losing some signal strength on all OTAs, and not getting a lock on WCAX since the warmer weather, I finally got around to adding about 4ft to my antenna mast. Most OTAs signal strength went up by about 5. Wcax went from 56-58 to 65 and is staying locked. :D

Hi Guys,

Although I'm overseas most of the year, I come home in the summer and sure would like to at long last get HDTV. Where I live the rest of the time there's no such thing as HD Broadcasts.

1. Is there reception of HD Channels with decent programming (not only ads & sports / MTV which aren't my bag - I like movies and docs) ?

2. Do you need analog or a digital reception?

3. Do any locally available HDTV providers offer short term subscriptions (ie only for summer months)?

Thanks for any help. I'm 15 miles South of Burlington, but don't know anyone who has HDTV and the stores I've visited are less than informative. Thx also if you know of a good place in the Burlington area to get info/equipment.

Cheers,
The over-the-air (OTA) broadcasts for HD are CBS, NBC, ABC, VPT and FOX, and they are all now broadcasting digitally from Mt Mansfield, as well as in analog from their original locations. OTA is free, except for the investment of an antenna, cables and connectors, but you do need a digital (ASTC) tuner to receive the digital HD broadcasts. HDTVs will have the tuner built in, but HD ready TVs require an external tuner. For all the cable type networks you will have to get either satellite or cable and ask them about short term subscriptions.
www.antennaweb.org will give you some idea of what you can receive OTA and www.hdtvprimer.com will give you most of the info you need. Check Radio Shack, Lowes and Home Depot for antennas and other installation stuff.

Hi SkiSmuggs,

Your help is super, making it several days / weeks less work to find out what's available and then figure out what to do about it - much appreciated ! :cool:

So I guess I'll head down Shelburne Road where the Radio Shack franchisee is an older gent who's run the shop for ages. He ought to know what I'll need for an antenna. Camel's hump is within line of sight, and I ought to be able to receive stuff from across Lake Champlain if only they'd broadcast from New York State, likely no such luck.

Has Lowes recently come to Vermont? Another store in Williston, or maybe elsewhere? They'd be a better bet than Home Depot where you can never find anyone who knows more than what is written on the shelf pricesheet. :(

My TV is HD ready but has no receiver, so I guess I'd better head to the HD receiver section at AVS. :D

I'll probably try to find a local antenna installer, that HDTV primer that you linked to had some interesting vital information. Although I'm a DIYer most of the time, it seems that first antenna installs are seldom successful, regardless of who installs them. So an installer will save you money by taking back the unsuccessful antenna and won't charge for the second install. In my book this is definitely an occasion where using a pro makes sense.

Thanks again,

Brett,
Glad to help. Actually, many Radio Shacks don't carry rooftop antenna supplies anymore and the closest Lowes is Plattsburgh, so the pro installer may be your best bet. I ordered my antenna via internet and found a some of the rest at Home Depot. Also, Camels Hump is not on Mount Mansfield. Mansfield is where Stowe Ski Resort is.

Dancing with the Stars not in HD. Very disappointing.

Dancing with the Stars not in HD. Very disappointing.

Yeah...the audio problem seems to be fixed...but now there's no HD at all!

Boston Legal isn't either. No way to reach them. Ugh. Too bad we don't have a way to alert them via phone.

Boston Legal isn't either. No way to reach them. Ugh. What a mickey mouse station!

And the strange part is FOX44 is the same parent company and they are absolutely perfect...never had a single problem with their HD feed. The shows are always in HD when they're supposed to be, no audio or video problems.

That's because all Fox affiliates are controlled remotely from the Fox Network, so there can be no errors in switching to the network feed.

It is time to write Sarah Carpenter at WVNY--again and again! (scarpenter@abc22.com) You have to wonder if anyone's actually monitoring the channel 22 transmission.
It would be interesting to me to hear about the interraction that one member had with the engineers about this problem. How can they get it right like last week and yet fail miserably this week.

Do you have digital cable to the home? (I.E. Are there some channels you have to have a cable box to get?) HD is not the issue as is the cable head end. If it is a digital head end, then yes, even tho they may not have an HD tier they COULD pass the full stream but I'm guessing they don't.
Currently I only sub to their basic programming, so no box but I know they require one for their extended basic. My mother has it and uses their box to change channels. I know they also refer to some of their extended basic channels as "digital cable" but the picture quality is no better than the SD I get with satellite.
If they are specifically saying they do not plan to add HD, my guess is they are mainly an analog plant and it may be too cost prohibitive given the number of subscribers, to upgrade to digital. In that case, you probably will never get the full stream. That was my assumption until I read your prior post: "To solve the issue, many cable companies are now passing the entire 19meg stream from the station. They still cherry pick the channels they want for their system but the entire stream is delivered to the home and if you have a TV with a QAM tuner you can decode all of the channels".In the remote areas, you will probably end up with a DISH type system to get cable networks in HD and an antenna to get local HD. I have Dish Network for everything including HD but they don't yet provide the Vt locals in HD. The only reason I have basic cable with Charter is it's packaged with my high speed internet.

If your digital set had a QAM tuner you would see that option in the menus as the set would have to switch your inputs between antenna, cable or AV inputs. (Note:Cable in this case being QAM and not the old HRC/IRC options).
I don't believe my HDTV has QAM - at least nothing specifically in the menu but if there was a chance I could get the local networks in digital (HD), I'd consider getting some kind of QAM receiver.

How can they get it right like last week and yet fail miserably this week.I've had some behind-the-scenes insight into how television stations operate, and other technical enterprises. It's a bit of a sham sometimes, because from the consumer's perspective, things appear to be higly streamlined and automated but, at the back-end, there really are people pushing buttons and making things happen in real-time. People make mistakes. This brings to mind the line from the Wizard of Oz: "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!"

I know they also refer to some of their extended basic channels as "digital cable" but the picture quality is no better than the SD I get with satellite.Why would you expect digital SD over cable to be any better than digital SD over satellite?

I don't believe my HDTV has QAM - at least nothing specifically in the menu but if there was a chance I could get the local networks in digital (HD), I'd consider getting some kind of QAM receiver.I know about a lot of HDTVs which have built-in tuners that support both ATSC and QAM, but only advertise the ATSC capability. There's no harm in hooking it to the cable feed, doing a channel scan, and seeing what you get.

Alternatively, you could buy one of those inexpensive USB dongles that's an ATSC/QAM tuner just as a way to find out if there are any QAM channels in the clear coming down the pipe.

re: WVNY failure to switch to HD feed:

The audio problem was hardware, software and inter-unit levels and was the responsibility of the vendor who sold them the equipment.. It was intermittent and very hard to debug, especially by a vendor from out of state.
The "not throwing the switch" video problem is a local responsibility. It would seem that if anyone were monitoring the picture on a HD monitor.....

Update:
I wrote to Sara this morning and received this reply: "This was an operator error, but we have taken the steps to prevent this from happening again."

I don't believe my HDTV has QAM - at least nothing specifically in the menu but if there was a chance I could get the local networks in digital (HD), I'd consider getting some kind of QAM receiver.

What is yor HDTV's make and model number?. If it's a Sony HDTV with a model number starting with the letters "KD" it probably has a QAM tuner.

.

Boston Legal isn't either. No way to reach them. Ugh. What a mickey mouse station!This was a network problem as discussed in this thread (http://avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10265872).

This was a network problem as discussed in this thread (http://avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10265872).

Yeah that's correct. I posted here before I saw that thread. There was no HD on any ABC station except on the West Coast, the problem was in New York, not Burlington. Apologies to WVNY, who tries, and successfully fixes their problems instead of leaving an annoying white line at the top of the screen and NEVER responding to emails.

re: WVNY failure to switch to HD feed:

The audio problem was hardware, software and inter-unit levels and was the responsibility of the vendor who sold them the equipment.. It was intermittent and very hard to debug, especially by a vendor from out of state.
The "not throwing the switch" video problem is a local responsibility. It would seem that if anyone were monitoring the picture on a HD monitor.....

Update:
I wrote to Sara this morning and received this reply: "This was an operator error, but we have taken the steps to prevent this from happening again."
I got the same exact reply. It says something when they have to create a "one message serves all". I will suggest that they establish a phone line into master control so people could report these problems.

Hey everyone. Thanks for all the info along the way. I can't believe this forum has gone to 77 pages so far!

I need some help with picking an antenna for OTA HDTV. I know there are lots of places to get reviews and specs, but I'm hoping some of you can shed some light on my issue. I live in a townhouse off Spear St. in SBVT. Becasue its a townhouse, I can only put an outdoor antenna on my porch, which happens to be on the west side of my unit. I have a porch off the second and third floor, though the third floor one is just a small one (extends out 4' from unit). The direction I need to face the antenna to face Mansfield is E by NE, which is the other side of the unit form the porches. I set up a Radio Shack 15-2187 antenna (with 50 to 100' RG6 cable) and was able to get WCAX and Plattsburg PBS from lower porch with about a 50-60% signal (TV doesn't have numbers for the signal). Then I moved it to the higher porch, and was able to get NBC, but not WCAX now. And the ignal didn't stick. I'm about 19 miles from mansfield per antennaweb.org, plus I'm kind of down a hill, so there's no line of sight. I'm thinking at this point now that I'll put an antenna inside, but my TV is in the basment and getting RG6 run from the antenna to the TV is going to be a pain.

So, I'm wondering what anyone thinks about me putting an antenna in my basement (concrete foundation up to the second floor) and point it out the small window (1.5' by 3') towards mansfield? Will the concrete prevent too much signal from getting through? I tried putting a TERK TV5 antenna there and got nothing, but I didn't expect it too. Would you have a suggestion on which antenna might have the specs to do this? Or, is it a pipe dream and I should lay off the hash pipe? I can also set up an antenna inside upstairs somewhere, but getting the signal to my TV will be a problem since the house is wired with RG59 instead of RG6, and the wife will kill me if I start ripping holes in the wall...

martinm0,

[Note: I wrote an initial response, but after re-reading your post, I've editted my initial response to do a complete re-write]

If I were you, I'd try hanging the RS antenna on the inside of an East-facing wall on the 3rd floor, and use the existing RG59 wiring to connect it to the receiver in the basement. Actually, I'd first haul the receiver to the 3rd floor and connect it to the antenna up there to see what kind of signal I had before moving it to the basement - to get a sense of how much signal loss can be attributed to the cable. If hauling the HD receiver up to the 3rd floor is not an option, then if you have a small analog TV, you can use that with the RS antenna and tune it to analog channels 3, 22, or 33 to judge how much signal you have to work with, and to fine-tune the pointing angle of the antenna.

vttom - Thanks for the response. I returned the RS antenna as I've been buying and testing just to figure out what I'll need to use in the end. It was the biggest and most gain I've used so far; it was pretty ugly too, especially if I had to mount it inside, so any suggestions on what might work from the 3rd floor window would be appreciated. Do you believe that trying to pull a signal from the basement window probably won't work? I do have large trees outside too (about 75' away from east side of house), plus the hill, so it would be pulling the signal through them most likely. At 19 miles away, would you think I'd be able to pull a decent signal on all the Mansfield stations? I know there are lots of factors that come into play with that. I'm just trying to figure out if I need a high gain yagi style, or if any old directional will do. I'd like to keep it in the basment if I can as its closer to the TV and I don't have to hide it or anything.

I really don't think pointing out a basement window is going to work. Antennas are designed to work in "free space", which means as far away from ground as possible. Higher is almost always better. For indoor antennas, I highly recommend something like the Terk HDTVa, or the Phillips PHDTV3. They both appear to have signal amplifiers, which is good to have when you want to drive 10s of feet of cable.

Why would you expect digital SD over cable to be any better than digital SD over satellite?I wouldn't expect it Tom. If you follow the dialog back, I was responding to VideoTech's post and trying to ascertain whether Charter, even though they are an "SD only" cable company in Vt, might possibly be passing through the full digital stream even though they were only using and marketing the analog signal.

I've had basic cable & full-tier satellite for many years and HD on Dish since before it became HDLite or "Dish HD" as they now like to call it, so yes, I'm painfully aware that SD of any sort over cable is pathetic.

What is yor HDTV's make and model number?. If it's a Sony HDTV with a model number starting with the letters "KD" it probably has a QAM tuner.

.It's the one Dish was bundling with their "HD-In-A-Box" promotion a few years back. It has the Dish logo on it but I know it's an RCA D34W20.

When I had the local Comcast guy out at my house the other day he told me that the Radio Shack line splitter and amplifier was crap and I should use the ones that Comcast offers. I won't argue that my RS 15-2506 probably isn't the best option, but it works. However, the Amtronix splitters that they use I find to be the best ones I can get my hands on (and free). Has anyone bought a signal amplifier from Comcast at all that can comment on it? I guess its a single line amp, then you use the splitters to break it out. He told me they go for about $20 at the local store. I'm thinking of grabbing one and trying it out. Anyone have any thoughts on how many of these I can run in succession? I need about 7 different feeds for tv and internet.

vttom - Thanks again for the insight. I've been debating about trying the Terk HDTVa. You think its got enough gain to pull in through my wall/window? Also, I know I should use the least amount of cable possible, but you think there's an issue running the feed though 100 feet of RG6? Would I need another signal booster in line to make that work? Any other thoughts from anyone would be appreciated. Thanks!

My experience has been that the loss due to a longer cable run is more than made up for by the increased signal from locating the antenna higher up. If the antenna you choose has a built-in amplifier, then I wouldn't worry about adding any additional outboard amplification.

As for splitting you CATV 7 ways... What you want to look for is a VHF/UHF/CATV distribution amp. However (and please, other forum members correct me if I have this wrong), CATV amplifiers are 1-way, so if you have a cable modem, that would have to come off a 2:1 splitter up-stream of the distribution amp:

CATV feed >----[2:1 splitter]----[Cable Modem]
|
+----------[Distribution Amp]
| | | | | |
V V V V v V
To various devises

It's the one Dish was bundling with their "HD-In-A-Box" promotion a few years back. It has the Dish logo on it but I know it's an RCA D34W20.

The RCA D34W20 has neither ATSC nor QAM tuners. It is a dual-NTSC tuner set.

Yeah that's correct. I posted here before I saw that thread. There was no HD on any ABC station except on the West Coast, the problem was in New York, not Burlington. Apologies to WVNY, who tries, and successfully fixes their problems instead of leaving an annoying white line at the top of the screen and NEVER responding to emails.
I wouldn't apologize quite so soon. I contacted WCVB in Boston and they said:"Yes Boston Legal was aired in High Definition. Thank you for your e-mail."
-WCVB Programming Department.
I think that the folks at WVNY need to ask Santa for an HD monitor in the control room. It would be nice to go back to the days when the FCC required stations to have off the air monitors.
You are right about WPTZ--I can't believe sending out a signal that looks like there were only 150 lines of resolution can be acceptable. At least when WVNY gets it right they have a great HD picture.

My experience has been that the loss due to a longer cable run is more than made up for by the increased signal from locating the antenna higher up. If the antenna you choose has a built-in amplifier, then I wouldn't worry about adding any additional outboard amplification.

As for splitting you CATV 7 ways... What you want to look for is a VHF/UHF/CATV distribution amp. However (and please, other forum members correct me if I have this wrong), CATV amplifiers are 1-way, so if you have a cable modem, that would have to come off a 2:1 splitter up-stream of the distribution amp:

CATV feed >----[2:1 splitter]----[Cable Modem]
|
+----------[Distribution Amp]
| | | | | |
V V V V v V
To various devises

You are correct. Most consumer grade (I.E. Radio Shack) DA's would be one way. The cable company has in line amps that are bi-directional however, getting them to put one in without it being their idea would be a trip.

Your diagram would be correct for a normal analog Catv plant. If there are any digital cable boxes, they too would have to go before the DA.

The general rule of thumb would be to put a 2way In-Line amp prior to any splitters (So that the overall signal is high enough to compensate for any splits). The first split would be a 2 or 3 way (Internet & Line to additional splitter -or- Internet & Digital Box & line to additional splitter). The next splitter would be to another splitter for the additional feeds. Logic is that you up the signal level to compensate for the splitter loss. In your diagram, if the level due to the first splitter goes lower than acceptable, the DA would also be amplifing noise. If the incoming signal was high enough, then your diagram would work just fine.

Vermont HD Enthusiasts;

For the last few days my VPT HD OTA reception has been lousy...apparently decent signal strength but the signal itself is all pixelated..constantly. All the others are fine (off Mansfield)...any recent news with PBS?

Thanks, Vermonter (in Jericho)

Vermont HD Enthusiasts;

For the last few days my VPT HD OTA reception has been lousy...apparently decent signal strength but the signal itself is all pixelated..constantly. All the others are fine (off Mansfield)...any recent news with PBS?

Thanks, Vermonter (in Jericho)
I've been having the problem for weeks. I used to get 97-98% signal. When I first starting having problems, it showed at 82% and now it is 77% and I don't get a picture at all. Sent an email a couple of weeks ago. The response was sorry for your problems, but we are broadcasting at full strength.

Vermont HD Enthusiasts;

For the last few days my VPT HD OTA reception has been lousy...apparently decent signal strength but the signal itself is all pixelated..constantly. All the others are fine (off Mansfield)...any recent news with PBS?

Thanks, Vermonter (in Jericho)

I've had the same problem. I used to get WETK, WVTB and WVTA. Now even WVTA at 19 miles doesn't come in, but my antenna is pointed at Mansfield, not Ascutney which is part of the problem.

Same problem here in Richmond. VPT-HD, channel 33-1 is all pixellated. The sound is fine and signal strength is over 50% but the picture is awful. This just started happening about 3 days ago.

VPT-HD signal strength has gone up from 80's to 100 over the last few days before that there was some pixelation now solid picture but with some video drops.

I wonder if the wet snows plastered the VPT transmission equipment and now the rains have washed it off. I haven't checked today, but on Friday evening the signal was in the 70s with no picture for me.

FWIW - We watched VPT-HD last night between 9 and 10 PM. The picture and sound were flawless - no dropouts. However, I have noticed that at some point over the last few months their signal stength has dropped a bit (used to be in the high 90's, now it's in the mid-80's).

I wonder if the wet snows plastered the VPT transmission equipment and now the rains have washed it off. I haven't checked today, but on Friday evening the signal was in the 70s with no picture for me.
I receive it at 100% but 33-1 show ...a slide show! 33-2 is perfect. It's seem to be the same problem they had last november (I think it was something with the PSID).

I just put in a replacement Dish vip 622 receiver and now I only show two VPT channels (SD and HD). Previously I had five VPT channels listed--all of them with programming. Anyone else have this happen?

I just put in a replacement Dish vip 622 receiver and now I only show two VPT channels (SD and HD). Previously I had five VPT channels listed--all of them with programming. Anyone else have this happen?I just did a scan w/ my ViP622 a few days ago, and it found all 5. However, they're not really 5 different subchannels. It's really just 2 subchannels, and the other 3 are aliased to one of the other 2. I always found this annoying. Perhaps they've finally fixed it.

Thanks for the VPT info; I'll check it out later today when I get home.

Back in the october timeframe VPT was "sending" data suggesting 5 channels; they were listed as different feeds (like PBS adventure etc etc)..then they changed and went to the 2. Its back somewhere in the thread.

vttom and VideoTech:

Thanks for the info on my set up. To cover my bases, the Radio Shack spiltter is bi-directional, and have not had any issues with it since I bought it. Then the other week, I guess Comcast came out to my townhouse unit and put a lock box on the outside connections and have had a crappy signal on my locals, FX and Comedy Central. The tech that came out said it was intereference being sent by one of the tv's in the house. He put a filter on it, but it really hasn't fixed anything.

So, this is how I have my lines split at the moment. Main line into house, split into two lines. One line feeds my cable modem (split twice at the end for the modem and my MCE PC), the other line feeds into the 1x4 bi-directional amplifier. From the amplifier, I have another line split two ways (one to the TV, the other to another MCE copmuter) and another line split two ways to other tv's. (Whew!) So, when I want to remove the RS amplifier, where should I be trying these inline amps from Comcast? I figure I'll need one off the main line coming in before the first split. Any ideas where, or if, I should place more in line? Or, should I splitt the line first, then run two amplifiers? I understand that if there's noice or interference that it will amplify that too. Any other thoughts welcomed!

VPT 33.1 is unwatchable with pixalization. 33.2 is OK. I had to watch Nova on 57.1 from New York State this evening. Signal strength is in the 90's as always. They must have a PSIP setup probem.

Update: my two newest ATSC tuners tune it OK. The oldest one (which is the one I use most often) is the one which is unwatchable. It received it fine until last week. All three units are Sony's. Must be a subtle PSIP problem.

I just watched VPT's "The First Flower" on Nova and the pictures were magnificant. No breakups nor pixilation with a Terk indoor antenna in Williston. Unfortunately, it looks as though the problem is at your end.
Their Chief Engineer also emailed to say that they have, indeed, shut off all sub carriers except the HD and SD feed. They plan to add them back when there is programming available.

A few weeks ago, I started having problems with receiving VPT-HD (WETK), then I lost WCAX-HD yesterday, but realized that only my main TV was having problems, so I thought it might be an antenna cable problem. I connected another TV to the living room coax, and it had no problems with either WETK or WCAX, so it appears the ATSC tuner in my living room TV is going bad. Still on warranty, so I'll call Panasonic.

Update: My wife just called to say she is now having problems with WCAX on the bedroom TV (Sceptre), so maybe it isn't the TV. Anyone else having new issues with WCAX and WETK?

Update #2: Today was dry, sunny and breezy, and when I got home at 5:30, everything was working again. Methinks it may have been moisture in the outside connectors for the 3 antennas. I'll redo them and get some silicone grease to seal them with this weekend.

Anyone else having new issues with WCAX and WETK?I watched WCAX-DT's 3.2 subchannel from about 7:00 to 7:15 this morning. Didn't notice any problems with the signal. Was using the ATSC tuner built into my 20in. Vizio HDTV.

vttom and VideoTech:

Thanks for the info on my set up. To cover my bases, the Radio Shack spiltter is bi-directional, and have not had any issues with it since I bought it. Then the other week, I guess Comcast came out to my townhouse unit and put a lock box on the outside connections and have had a crappy signal on my locals, FX and Comedy Central. The tech that came out said it was intereference being sent by one of the tv's in the house. He put a filter on it, but it really hasn't fixed anything.

So, this is how I have my lines split at the moment. Main line into house, split into two lines. One line feeds my cable modem (split twice at the end for the modem and my MCE PC), the other line feeds into the 1x4 bi-directional amplifier. From the amplifier, I have another line split two ways (one to the TV, the other to another MCE copmuter) and another line split two ways to other tv's. (Whew!) So, when I want to remove the RS amplifier, where should I be trying these inline amps from Comcast? I figure I'll need one off the main line coming in before the first split. Any ideas where, or if, I should place more in line? Or, should I splitt the line first, then run two amplifiers? I understand that if there's noice or interference that it will amplify that too. Any other thoughts welcomed!

Just for my reference, could you let me know the model number of the amp that you got from RS. I did not know they carried a Bi-directional and I like to keep tabs on that sort of thing.

Based on your description, I would put the amp just as it enter your town house. I would then get an 8 way splitter and run each line on its own. Right now you are half-ing your signal, then amping it then half-ing it again. Too messy.
A simple 8 way would be cleaner.

VideoTech - The model for the RS amp is 15-2506. There is a single line bi-directional that is 15-2505. Its not a bad piece of equipment, though I haven't really used many decent ones in the past. But I will agree with you that it is way too messy as is.

Also, the cable coming into my house and going to most of the upstairs is RG-59 (**cringe**). Anything I can do to make the best of this, besides replacing it with RG-6? Any recomendations for an 8 way splitter? Would that be powered, or does that negate the signal booster previously mentioned?

Just saw it on WCAX:

http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=6390772

Can someone confirm for me that Comcast sends out unencrypted local HD that can be picked up with a QAM tuner? I know it has been stated earlier that people had, but I was wondering if there's any change since the switch. I have a QAM tuner that is known to be bad, but I've never used it and wanted to get confirmation before I go to war with the manufacturer. I have the basic cable package (2-77); no digital box.

And bummer on Mountain Lake. That seems like its gonna be rough for a while. The article has a rather gloomy outlook for them. I hope its not as bad as they make it out to be.

The tower collapsed. Can't really get an worse! Remember how tough it is to build a mountain-top tower with our short summers? Good thing it happened in the spring and not in the fall.

When they rebuild, I wonder if they'll just broadcast digital only. It's probably not worth putting up an analog one if they have to take it down again in only a few months.

When they rebuild, I wonder if they'll just broadcast digital only. It's probably not worth putting up an analog one if they have to take it down again in only a few months.

That sounds like a good idea but they'll have to get permission from the FCC to discontinue analogue broadcasts before Feb 17, 2009. The 85% market penetration rule is still in effect for early analogue shutdowns prior to that date. The rule was set by Congress in the 1996 Act and was not abolished under last year's legislation. Only its open-ended nature was over-ridden by the setting of a hard cutoff date.

According to what was said in WCFE's press conference yesterday, they are looking at erecting a temporary tower within 3 weeks, but it will be a few months before a new permanent tower can be constructed.

At the moment they are still broadcasting, but only Charter Cable customers in Plattsburgh and Clinton County can view WCFE since Charter has a direct feed.

The Montreal Gazette seems to be unaware of the situation. There was nothing in this morning's paper and WCFE's programming is still listed. I wonder how many people in Clinton County read the Gazette. :)

I think it's more likely the FCC won't grant them an analog CP. I think they have now frozen those.

I haven't seen any filings yet on the FCC's site.

I wonder if one of the Mt. Mansfield stations will lend a 480i subchannel to them so that they could get their local signal out to cable providers in the meantime.

As for the Gazette listings, at least they're not as bad as the Journal de Montreal. They still have the listings for WMTW every day, even though they've been off of that mountain for years! Also, the morons still list "Fox" as a cable channel even though it's loud and clear OTA.

VideoTech - The model for the RS amp is 15-2506. There is a single line bi-directional that is 15-2505. Its not a bad piece of equipment, though I haven't really used many decent ones in the past. But I will agree with you that it is way too messy as is.

Also, the cable coming into my house and going to most of the upstairs is RG-59 (**cringe**). Anything I can do to make the best of this, besides replacing it with RG-6? Any recomendations for an 8 way splitter? Would that be powered, or does that negate the signal booster previously mentioned?

The following post in the AVS Antenna Thread may be of interest to you...

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10343681&&#post10343681

WCFE update Tower Update (http://www.mountainlake.org/NEWS/PR_4_20_07_Tower_Update.pdf)

THE DUST HAS NOT YET SETTLED FROM THE FALL OF PBS TRANSMISSION TOWER
On Wednesday, April 18th, Mountain Lake Public Telecommunication
Council WCFE, lost its transmission tower.
PLATTSBURGH, NY – Mountain Lake PBS is still dealing with the aftermath from the collapse of its transmission tower. The
collapse occurred during the morning of Wednesday, April 18th. The 400 foot tower collapsed completely, and partially damaged
the transmitter building at its base. The full extent of the damage to the operating equipment situated on the tower, and within the
transmitter building itself, is still unknown.
It is believed that an increase in ice and snow build-up due to the nor’easter storm that passed through the region on Sunday and
Monday is the primary cause for the destruction. However, forensic engineers have yet to draw any conclusions as to what the
actual cause may have been.
Mountain Lake has insurance to cover a portion of the replacement value for the tower, but because the location on Lyon
Mountain is so remote, the public television station is anticipating hefty extraneous costs to make the long-term replacements.
Typically a tower of that size costs over a million dollars just to build, and does not include other expenses. In the last year, the
public television station spent $1.5 million to upgrade to digital, as well as reinforce the tower’s construction. Recently, they
received two reviews certifying the tower’s structure as being sound.
In addition to affecting Mountain Lake’s broadcasting abilities, the station leased tower space to at least a dozen emergency
services and communications companies, who are also affected by the devastation. The station is working with the tenants to
retain equipment and help establish temporary fixes.
Mountain Lake PBS does plan to rebuild. Replacing the transmission tower is expected to take place this summer, as the
weather becomes more adequate on the mountain. Mountain Lake PBS is working to enact several temporary solutions to
reestablish their broadcast to viewers throughout the north-country region. One such solution may be implemented over the
weekend, and would return viewing to the Montreal and Burlington areas.
The catastrophe could not have come at a worse time for Mountain Lake. Their biggest fundraising event of the year, the Arts
Auction, is scheduled to take place next weekend, April 27th through April 29th. At this time, only Charter Communications cable
customers, servicing the Plattsburgh area, are able to receive Mountain Lake PBS.
To learn how you can help Mountain Lake PBS, contact the station at 1-800-836-5700 or visit their website at
www.mountainlake.org

Maybe they'll become a subchannel on one of the nets. If I had to bet I'd pick WVNY since WPTZ, WCAX, and WETK already have subchannels, and WFFF is on a temp antenna (I know, it reaches Montreal and WVNY doesn't, but that's my guess).

I got my antenna up on the roof today and now I get locks on WCAX and WETK :) Now we need the spring time sun to melt the snow on Mansfield so WFFF can crank up the power.

I know WFFF is in a temp situation but are they on their own little tower or off the WPTZ/WCAX one, the WETK one or a little lower on their own? If anyone could elaborate on their situation it would be appreciated :o

I know WFFF is in a temp situation but are they on their own little tower or off the WPTZ/WCAX one, the WETK one or a little lower on their own?

I believe that WFFF's temporary broadcast antenna is located on the WCAX tower near the bottom of the tower.

With WCFE 57.1 knocked off the air because of their tower collapse, 33.1 is now the only PBS HD game in town. Threre have been a few posts here about 33.1 seeming to drop in power in the past few weeks and/or becoming unwatchable with pixelization. Other folks have responded that it works fine for them.

I have been unable to get anyone from the station to contact me to work on this problem, but I believe the following to be the situation. Approximate two weeks ago, the station reconfigured their digital signal for some reason. In doing that they didn't quite get the PSIP correct (similar to the problem they had when they first came on the air in October). The PSIP contains information about how the signal bit stream send out by the station is configured (subchannels, rates, formats, etc). Some ATSC tuners are able to handle the PSIP miscode, others not. In my case I have 3 Sony ATSC tuners. The two newer ones decode the signal fine, the oldest one does not. They key indicator that it is a PSIP problem and not a signal strength problem is that 33.2 is fine. It is transmitted part of the same bitstream as 33.1. If the bitstream were subject to reception problems, there would be some breakup on 33.2 also. Beyond that the pixelization is not random as it is when a signal weakens, it is just a set of fairly fixed size boxes. It is unfortunate that not all tuners have the problem because that would make it easier to get it fixed.

So , if you can receive 33.2 OK, don't spend time adjusting your antenna. Please write to the station. It would be helpful to include your equipment make so they can begin to sort out which types work and which types don't. Perhaps if enough folks let them know there is a problem, we can all get back to watching PBS-HD.

HDBruce,
Thanks for posting your thoughts and symptoms of the 33.1 problem as it fits my situation to a "T." My oldest TV barely gets 33.1 but 33.2 is just fine. My newest set has no problem with 33.1.
I called Panasonic about the problems I was having with WCAX and WETK and they found a firmware update that addresses the issues and are sending it to me.
In the meantime, I will notify WETK about the problem so that they might look into it further.

SkiSmuggs, thanks for the reply. It's good to know that it's not just Sony equipment that has the problem. My older unit can't be upgraded, so if this new PSIP configuration remains, I won't be able to watch PBS-HD on my home theater equipment until WCFE comes back on the air.
The difficulty with this situation is that their PSIP is probably not "wrong", just not compatible with all tuners. It was working fine until recently, as do all the other area stations, so it is possible to set it up correctly.
I'm going way out on a limb here, but this looks to me like the digital equivalent of a sync problem in the old analog days. Somehow what 's being described to the tuner in terms of how to decode 33.1 doesn't exactly match what's being sent (1080p vs 1080i for instance) and the older tuner can't adapt, while a new tuner may be smart enough to try for fit or change to a default. I suspect a "digital sync" problem because of the regularity and generally fixed size of the boxes in the picture. When I've seen digital signals break up because of low signal strength it has been much more random. 33.2 is described in such a way that the tuner can decode it correctly. However, as I say, I'm way out on the limb now.
It will probably take as much debug and interaction as the recent fix to the Ch 22.1 DD5.1 sound problem did. Now if they'd just engage with me or someone else.....

HDBruce,
I had sent an email 2 weeks ago to engineering and they replied they were broadcasting at 100%. Now, with more specifics, they may look into it further. For me, on the Panasonic, I get full picture and sound for several seconds, followed by a few seconds of black screen and no sound, then back again. If I hear anything or if the firmware upgrade fixes it, I'll post my findings. Since you can't do a firmware upgrade, maybe you should consider an external tuner. I would just hate to buy one now knowing that a year from now they will be better and only cost 50-75 dollars.
BTW, I use my Sceptre TV to pass a converted digital to analog signal via it's A/V outputs to my DVR. The recording is not only much better than OTA analog, but it is also 16:9. So when external tuners become cheap, we can use them to feed analog VCRs, DVRs and Tivos with decent results.

In Pointe-Claire, I have had no problems whatsoever lately with VPT HD on my Sony KD34-XS955 TV ( a 2004 1080i CRT model) with its integrated ATSC tuner. Signal strenth has been 98 and Signal to noise ratio 30 to 31 dB.

OTOH, on my Samsung DTB-H260F tuner (a 2006 model) VPT HD is close to unwatchable. I have the tuner plugged into a JVC analogue set via component -video.. Signal strength is very high (all 10 bars lit) but the video suffers from 1-2 second freezes, pixelation and occasional picture break up. But VPT-D2 has had no problems and has a more watchable picture than my on my Sony. WCFE-HD, WFFF-HD and WPTZ-HD come in fine.

I haven't tried reconfiguring the Samsung tuner for use with the Sony HD set, so I can't say whether or not the output format of the tuner has any effect.

I didn't mention WCAX-HD in the foregoing because the Samsung tuner's sensitivity appears to drop off sharply above channel 51. Also, I cannot pick up WVNY-HD

There isn't much doubt that the VPT-HD problem is tuner related, but these older tuners were working fine with strong signals and flawless reception until a few weeks ago. So the problem also seems to be broadcast signal related, meaning a change has been made in the broadcast signal that causes problems for older tuners. We can hope that by contacting the engineering departments of the broadcasters, they can examine changes they've made and return to a more universal signal. Otherwise, we can explore if our tuners are firmware upgradable, and if not, look for other options.
One option I have is to upgrade from E* satellite SD to HD and use their tuner to feed my TV. They do allow for OTA signals to be merged with the satellite feed.

There isn't much doubt that the VPT-HD problem is tuner related, but these older tuners were working fine with strong signals and flawless reception until a few weeks ago. So the problem also seems to be broadcast signal related, meaning a change has been made in the broadcast signal that causes problems for older tuners. We can hope that by contacting the engineering departments of the broadcasters, they can examine changes they've made and return to a more universal signal. Otherwise, we can explore if our tuners are firmware upgradable, and if not, look for other options.
One option I have is to upgrade from E* satellite SD to HD and use their tuner to feed my TV. They do allow for OTA signals to be merged with the satellite feed.

In my case it is the newer 5th gneration tuner that exhibits the problem. The older tuner has no problem. However, I do agree that some change has been made at WETK that cannot be handled by all tuners.

Some posters have recently noticed VPT's change from 5 sub-channels to 2. This change was actually implemented last November, not recently. So it is not the cause. The fact that the posters only noticed the change recently is due to the way their tuners handle VCT (Virtual Channel Table) changes in the PSIP stream...they update sub-channels that have changed without erasing info for sub-channels that have been removed. With some tuners a new complele scan (rather than a "channel add" scan) is required to erase sub-channels that no longer exist. (Even that doesn't work with some tuners). The use of the VCT was not made mandatory by the FCC until October, 2004. Prior to that the use of the VCT was optional and some tuners do not handle all of the optional features of the PSIP protocol.

My Sony tuner requires a new complete scan to erase obsolete sub-channels. The add digital channel function only updates active sub-schannels and leaves inactive sub-channels in its internal table. OTOH, my Samsung tuner automatically adds new sub-channels and deletes obsolete sub-channels, based on what the PSIP stream contains every time the user tunes in a digital channel. If the channel is off air at the time, it makes no changes. The most recent example of this difference occured when WCFE added sub-channel 57.3 and removed it a few days later.

Brett,
Glad to help. Actually, many Radio Shacks don't carry rooftop antenna supplies anymore and the closest Lowes is Plattsburgh, so the pro installer may be your best bet...
Hi SkiSmuggs,

Thanks for the advice. Would you or any other Vermonters know of an HD antenna installer willing to accept clients in South Chittenden County?

TIA

Hi SkiSmuggs,

Thanks for the advice. Would you or any other Vermonters know of an HD antenna installer willing to accept clients in South Chittenden County?

TIA
There was an installer posting in this forum a while back but his handle escapes me. He mentioned doing signal checks with a pole mounted antenna prior to doing the installs so he would get a lot of questions answered prior to installing anything.
Does anyone know who it is?
Update: I found it. He is AntennaMan1 and lives in Newport Center. Maybe he can recommend someone in the Chittenden area.

Anyone know when FOX will start working to correct/repair their current temporary setup?

Probably the end of June when all the snow and ice will be gone.

I'm getting WCFE 57-1 but all it's showing is a test pattern and PLATSBUG on the bottom. I have no way to tell, but judging by signal strength on my TV this is either coming from WCAX, WETK or a temp tower.

FYI, the signal is coming in as 480i 'undefined'.

Yep, just tested. It's WCAX (showed up by manually entering 53).

Update, there's picture now but no sound. Can someone who can monitor bitrates see how much they had to lower the CBS-HD bitrate in order to fit this one in (I noticed they didn't remove the weather subchannel)?

Yep, just tested. It's WCAX (showed up by manually entering 53).

Update, there's picture now but no sound. Can someone who can monitor bitrates see how much they had to lower the CBS-HD bitrate in order to fit this one in (I noticed they didn't remove the weather subchannel)?

According to my Sony tuner, it is being broadcast as 4:3 480i. The diagnostics screen shows that it is indeed on channel 53. WCAX has changed their weather channel from it normal 16:9 480i (frame size 704x480) to 4:3 480i (frame size 640 x480) to free up some bandwidth in order to squeeze WCFE into their digital stream. (There is still no analogue signal).

Still no sound.

The signal has gone back and forth from one thing to another, I got test pattern, picture no sound, test pattern, no sound, nothing at all, and then it was working fine but it froze. I'm sure this is going to hurt CBS-HD. They should have put it on WVNY or WFFF since they are each 720p and have no subchannels.

WETK 33.1 Vt PBS
I had a call from the station this afternoon. While we were talking the engineer made a change which cleared up my picture on my older tuner without degrading the picture on the newer tuners. It is now rock solid again.

Would those of you who have reported new problems with 33.1 in the past few weeks kindly try it now and report back. If this change fixes the problems that some tuners have been having, it will give the station something solid to look into.

Thanks.

WETK 33.1 Vt PBS
I had a call from the station this afternoon. While we were talking the engineer made a change which cleared up my picture on my older tuner without degrading the picture on the newer tuners. It is now rock solid again.

Would those of you who have reported new problems with 33.1 in the past few weeks kindly try it now and report back. If this change fixes the problems that some tuners have been having, it will give the station something solid to look into.

Thanks.
Big improvement last night! I wondered if they had done anything. I think I had some occasional drop out, but a huge improvement overall. Thanks for the update and I will continue to monitor. Oh, yes, signal strength now shows 97-98% instead of the 70s and 80s previously.

WETK 33.1 Vt PBS
I had a call from the station this afternoon. While we were talking the engineer made a change which cleared up my picture on my older tuner without degrading the picture on the newer tuners. It is now rock solid again.

Would those of you who have reported new problems with 33.1 in the past few weeks kindly try it now and report back. If this change fixes the problems that some tuners have been having, it will give the station something solid to look into.

Thanks.
Fix the problem for me (Tuner=LG Fifth gen).

WETK 33.1 Vt PBS
I had a call from the station this afternoon. While we were talking the engineer made a change which cleared up my picture on my older tuner without degrading the picture on the newer tuners. It is now rock solid again.

Would those of you who have reported new problems with 33.1 in the past few weeks kindly try it now and report back. If this change fixes the problems that some tuners have been having, it will give the station something solid to look into.

Thanks.

33.1 is now coming in perfectly on both my Samsung DTB-H260F tuner (latest gen tuner that had problems) and my older Sony KD34-XS955's tuner (which did not have problems).

Would any Videotron customers check to see if WCFE's regular programs are now available on Videotron since WCFE has been able to piggyback on to WCAX's digital stream.

Also please check to see if PBS-HD is back on Videotron. WETK has removed the VPT logos from the bottom of the screen which suggests to me that Videotron is using the WETK feed to replace the unavailable WCFE feed. (Last November WCFE removed the Mountain Lake PBS logos from 57.1 when Videotron first started using their feed of PBS-HD).

Thanks in advance.

I read elsewhere that Videotron replaced WCFE's PBS-HD with the one from WTVS Detroit's one. I don't know if they switched it back to WETK, and the SD one to WCFE.

Note, anyone who works at the networks don't read this, but does anyone think that the CBS-HD feed looks worse than it did before the third subchannel was added? I can't notice a huge difference.

I did. You notice especially during cross-fades. The picture gets all pixelated. Can't they compress the weather channel and the WCFE feed more to leave more room for CBS? Who here has a bitrate analyser?

Perhaps someone with a Dish 622 can tell me if you can get WCFE now that it's a subcarrier of WCAX. I've got a recently replaced receiver that shows an extra channel active on 53...but the channel does not appear on the channel lineup--nor can I add it manually.
On a different topic, I judge WVNY's "switching problem" on the presentation of Boston Legal. Again last night, at the halfway point in the program, the center dialogue channel was cut off and replaced by the surrounds. However, some engineer must be on top of things becaused he/she fixed the problem immediately. I still think this this is one of the strangest anomalys I've encountered in the many months since the locals went HD.

My main TV picked up WCFE on 57.1 without even a rescan. I'll have to do a rescan on my other set to pick it up.
WETK on 33.1 is now solid, thanks to the folks here who let them know they had a problem, and especially to HDBruce for working with the engineer to resolve the problem.
I even received a follow up email from engineering asking if my problem was fixed.

I happened to catch this blurb on the WCAX morning newscast...

http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?s=6418583

That would explain why I'm not finding WCFE on 3-3. They're mapping it to 57-1. I didn't know you could remap subchannels to a different "parent" channel.

-Tom

WCFE on 57.1 vs 53.3.
I had to rescan all three tuners to get 57.1 Interestingly enough, two of them have it correctly identified as 57.1 (on physical channel 53) but the newest one (tuner vintage 10/06) shows it as 53.3 and won't recognize 57.1 Try 53.3 if you are still having trouble after a rescan. (There's black magic here....)

I happened to catch this blurb on the WCAX morning newscast...

http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?s=6418583

That would explain why I'm not finding WCFE on 3-3. They're mapping it to 57-1. I didn't know you could remap subchannels to a different "parent" channel.

-Tom


Under the PSIP protocol the default major channel number (what you call the "parent") is the physical channel number (i.e. no re-mapping) and that is what many stations used in ATSC digital broadcastings early days. Most stations made use of the then optional VCT (Virtual Channel Table) which allowed them to specify a major channel number different from the physical channel number, in order to use their analogue channel number as the major channel number and thereby associate their "brand name" with their new digital broadcasts. On October 14, 2004, the FCC made the use of the VCT and the use of the station's analogue channel number as the major channel number mandatory. One of the stated reasons for this mandate was to reduce confusion among viewers by eliminating the need for them to remember 2 channel numbers for the same station. The mandate did not change the capabilities of the VCT, only its usage.

The VCT does allow for, and has always allowed for, the use of a different major channel number for each of the sub-channels it defines. WCAX has taken advantage of this fact in assigning a major channel number of 57 and a subchannel number of 1 to one of the streams carried in their signal on channel 53. Of course, the major channel number for the other two streams being broadcast on 53 remains 3.

Unfortunately many early ATSC tuners did not incorporate all of the optional features of the PSIP protocol in their firmware, so there are still some older tuners that do not recognise the VCT and require the use of the physical channel number as the major channel number.

HDBruce: What is the model number of the tuner that requires you to enter 53.3 to pick up 57.1? If is actually an older model, I am not surprised. But if it is actually a 2006 model, I am surprised. What you describe should not occur with any post-2004 model tuner. You should go to the manufacturer's web site to see if a firmware upgrade is available.

I hope the FCC intends on getting rid of its requirement to map to the analog channel after the transition. Also, if WCFE makes it back on the air in digital only, it would only make sense for them to show us as channel 38, NOT 57.

Has anyone else noticed that the date contained in WPTZ's digital stream is 3 always days ahead? Most of the world thinks today is Wednesday April 25, 2007 but WPTZ digital stream says it is Saturday April 28. No wonder there is never any program info to display, assuming they even bother. What a pathetic effort.

Has anyone else noticed that the date contained in WPTZ's digital stream is 3 always days ahead? Most of the world thinks today is Wednesday April 25, 2007 but WPTZ digital stream says it is Saturday April 28. No wonder there is never any program info to display, assuming they even bother. What a pathetic effort.

Fortunately, I'm able to pull in the Albany, NY NBC from my location. A week or two ago I was pulling in both NBC's from both Albany, & Burlington and did a comparison. While the HD stuff was pretty much the same from both, the digital SD content from Albanys WNYT- NBC was hands down the winner!

It's a Sony XBR2 LCD set, first released last October.

I guess I wasn't really 'watching' WCAX last night. The affect of the subchannel have definitely been noticable to me tonight during Jericho, Criminal Minds, and CSI: NY. I can DEFINITELY tell the difference.

It's a Sony XBR2 LCD set, first released last October.

I find that very strange. On my 2004 vintage Sony, it's 57.1

Have you tried a "digital channel add" scan rather than a complete scan?

Has anyone noticed anything odd with WVNY this morning? I was able to receive it in the low 70s (highest ever received here) for a while, but only a few minutes ago, it went back to 60 and constantly breaking up as usual. Were they tweaking something there or something?

I'm still getting WCAX, WFFF, WETK at 100 and WPTZ at 95.

Just curious,

When the transition takes place in 2009, will it help as far as clearing up some of the RF clutter over the airwaves, and ultimately help in reception of DTV signals?

Has anyone noticed anything odd with WVNY this morning? I was able to receive it in the low 70s (highest ever received here) for a while, but only a few minutes ago, it went back to 60 and constantly breaking up as usual. Were they tweaking something there or something?

I'm still getting WCAX, WFFF, WETK at 100 and WPTZ at 95.

Maybe...maybe not. Today's supposed to be a good tropo-ducting day, or at least it was earlier this morning. Take a peek.

Color WAS violet earlier today.

CLICK HERE (http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html)

That is exactly my experience. My levels are off by almost 20% on some channels. Ugh.

We've been experiencing drops in WCAX over the past few weeks, too. Today, all stations are fine except WCAX-DT which is in the low 30's-40's ... rest are 80+. We're in South Hero....

Anyone else having trouble with 3-1?

Thanks

We've been experiencing drops in WCAX over the past few weeks, too. Today, all stations are fine except WCAX-DT which is in the low 30's-40's ... rest are 80+. We're in South Hero....

Anyone else having trouble with 3-1?

Thanks

My signal on WCAX is actually up 5 to 10 percent today.

Just curious....for those of you who are with COMCAST,

What is the bare minimum package you have to subscribe to in order to get the local HD feeds (WCAX, PBS-HD, WTEN, WPTZ,, WVNY) and NESN-HD???

I tried to look at the COMCAST website to figure it out, but it's confusing as hell.

Digital Starter, Digital Classic???? My Tv doesn't have a built in tuner...it's a 57" monitor, not ATSC nor QAM. What's needed for equipment thru COMAST?

TIA.

Just curious....for those of you who are with COMCAST,

What is the bare minimum package you have to subscribe to in order to get the local HD feeds (WCAX, PBS-HD, WTEN, WPTZ,, WVNY) and NESN-HD???

I tried to look at the COMCAST website to figure it out, but it's confusing as hell.

Digital Starter, Digital Classic???? My Tv doesn't have a built in tuner...it's a 57" monitor, not ATSC nor QAM. What's needed for equipment thru COMAST?

TIA.

I'm not positive, but I'm fairly certain that you need digital starter plus an HD cable box.

Just curious....for those of you who are with COMCAST,

What is the bare minimum package you have to subscribe to in order to get the local HD feeds (WCAX, PBS-HD, WTEN, WPTZ,, WVNY) and NESN-HD???

I tried to look at the COMCAST website to figure it out, but it's confusing as hell.

Digital Starter, Digital Classic???? My Tv doesn't have a built in tuner...it's a 57" monitor, not ATSC nor QAM. What's needed for equipment thru COMAST?

TIA.

Also keep in mind that WVNY and WFFF still have not been added to the HD lineup.

Anybody else been experiencing crackles in the audio on NESN-HD during the Sox games?

Also keep in mind that WVNY and WFFF still have not been added to the HD lineup.

Anybody else been experiencing crackles in the audio on NESN-HD during the Sox games?

Not yet, but eventually.....YES????

Here we go again. That's right, the crack engineers at VINY were asleep at the wheel again last night and Boston Legal lost its dialogue tracks at the half-way point. I think that 22 is on auto pilot. You would think a bit of corporate pride would surface and champion a fix for this continuing error. With the combined resources of the ABC Engineering Department at their disposal, one would think that they would have solved this months ago.

Here we go again. That's right, the crack engineers at VINY were asleep at the wheel again last night and Boston Legal lost its dialogue tracks at the half-way point. I think that 22 is on auto pilot. You would think a bit of corporate pride would surface and champion a fix for this continuing error. With the combined resources of the ABC Engineering Department at their disposal, one would think that they would have solved this months ago.

Yup, I guess the problem hasn't been resolved afterall. It was the same deal as last time. The background sound was still there, but the center channel was gone.

Here we go again. That's right, the crack engineers at VINY were asleep at the wheel again last night and Boston Legal lost its dialogue tracks at the half-way point. I think that 22 is on auto pilot. You would think a bit of corporate pride would surface and champion a fix for this continuing error. With the combined resources of the ABC Engineering Department at their disposal, one would think that they would have solved this months ago.
Be sure to hammer them with emails & phone calls so they are aware of the problem.

Does anyone know if DirecTv is displaying the HD channels in their Program Guide for our local channels?? Thanks for any info!

Hello,

Here's a brief statement before I ask my question. I live in Burlington and I don't know if anyone here in town has noticed, but there are these Comcast guys walking around town dishing out deals on digital cable and high speed internet access. Anyway, one guy came to my door today with an offer I couldn't refuse. He offered me digital cable with over 100 channels including all hdtv broadcast (excluding premium channels like HBO, Showtime, etc) for $25.95 a month and high speed internet access for $19.95 a month for a whole year and I can cancel anytime. Well, I got my HDTV (Westinghouse LVM-37W3, 1080p) less than a month ago and I couldn't resist the offer.

My question, is there a particular model stb(set top box) I should ask for to receive the best quality digital cable and does anyone know what inputs and outputs they have or does Comcast only use one model stb for all their customers?

Thanks

P.S. Oh, and one more question. I have a pretty good quality cable amplifier that outputs/amplifies my cable signal at 14dB. Should I use it with my digital cable and cable internet via a Y splitter (halving the signal to each device), because I wonder if it might effect the signal for the modem and cause dropped connections or something.

I'm a long-time DishNetwork customer and recently upgraded my programming to add the regional sports channel NESN. I also have the DishHD package. I was a little bit surprised to discover that Dish does not carry NESN in HD. I wrote an email to dishquality@echostar.com to inform them of my disappointment. If anyone else reading this feels the same way, I urge you to do the same.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I forgot to mention what spurred me to do this in the first place... The other day ESPN2-HD (which Dish does carry) was slated to show the Red Sox game in HD. But NESN was carrying it too, so Dish blacked it out on NESN2-HD and I had to watch it in SD on NESN. Furthermore, NESN is just a SD-ified version of NESN-HD, so all the graphics and commentary say "NESN-HD" which really rubs it in.

I'm a long-time DishNetwork customer and recently upgraded my programming to add the regional sports channel NESN. I also have the DishHD package. I was a little bit surprised to discover that Dish does not carry NESN in HD. I wrote an email to dishquality@echostar.com to inform them of my disappointment. If anyone else reading this feels the same way, I urge you to do the same.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I forgot to mention what spurred me to do this in the first place... The other day ESPN2-HD (which Dish does carry) was slated to show the Red Sox game in HD. But NESN was carrying it too, so Dish blacked it out on NESN2-HD and I had to watch it in SD on NESN. Furthermore, NESN is just a SD-ified version of NESN-HD, so all the graphics and commentary say "NESN-HD" which really rubs it in.
Direct doesn't carry NESN HD either in this area. Next year whoever carries the Sox in HD will probably be my carrier of choice

I wrote to Dish about NESN-HD a couple of months ago, stating I would sign up if they carried it. They replied saying that they do not have any plans to carry regional sports networks in HD at this time.

.... so I wrote back to them saying they have lost a potential customer... never got a response to that one ;)

I thought that some folks might be interested in this story about Dish Network's plans to launch 2 new HD birds in order to compete with Direct's claim to soon offer 100 HD channels. http://www.tvpredictions.com/ergen050907.htm

I thought that some folks might be interested in this story about Dish Network's plans to launch 2 new HD birds in order to compete with Direct's claim to soon offer 100 HD channels. http://www.tvpredictions.com/ergen050907.htm

For those who didn't read to the end of part 2 of the article, the new HD channels are supposed to go live in 2008, as well as a new DVR that will hold up to 500 hours of recording.

I think that many HD lovers might like to sign up for this daily newsletter. I've seen no downside to the site and the author really seems to get his information from reliable and authoritative sources. Enjoy: http://www.tvpredictions.com/

greetings,
I have been enjoying CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX & PBS in HD since ... last year ? The last two days I am unable to receive channel 3 - WCAX in digital (HD) - "channel not available". The signal level shows 0%.; but I continue to receive channel 5 (NBC), and others in the 70, 80%. I try re-scan, manual add... nada... Any suggestions ?
I have a Panasionic plasma with just a UHF loop. Thanks.
phivt

phivt,

Since the UHF loop was working for you, you might try one off the indoor amplified UHF antennas like the Silver Sensor. Suspect the loop just isn't delivering enough signal.

I'm sure there is a thread about this.Could someone tell me if this is a good antenna for picking up local HD channels? It is the Terk HD-Slim Profile Outdoor Antenna.Are there any good threads recommending which HD indoor or outdoor antennas work well? I'm about 40 miles from the towers.

I"m 51 miles from the transmitters and get all the channels with rabbit ears. I'll be installing this antenna in a few days. Should be at least as good as the rabbit ears and hopefully a lot better. My place is in Royalton, VT. Apparently we have a direct line to Mt Mansfield. I was pleasantly surprised when I was able to get all the network channels...

http://www.google.com/products?q=42XG%20Uni-Directional%20Antenna&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&sa=N&tab=wf


I'll let you know how it goes.

Ursa

Want to know wich channel you can get?
Will you need a pre-amp?

This site (http://www.tvfool.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=45) have a very usefull tool.

I would be currious to see estimation result versus real result.

WNVY ->rx_dBm= -94.4 I receive it between 75 to 80%
WFFF ->rx_dBm=-91.7 I receive it between 85 and 90%
WCAX ->rx_dBm=-81.5 I receive it at 100%

Thanks SkiSmuggs,
I tried a non-amplified indoor RadioShack ant, the result is still the same: Channel not available, no signal at all not even at a low percentage. What I don't understand is NBC, ABC, PBS and FOX come in at 80% - 90% and nothing for CBS. Shouldn't I at least get some low % signal ?

phivt,

Since the UHF loop was working for you, you might try one off the indoor amplified UHF antennas like the Silver Sensor. Suspect the loop just isn't delivering enough signal.

Thanks SkiSmuggs,
I tried a non-amplified indoor RadioShack ant, the result is still the same: Channel not available, no signal at all not even at a low percentage. What I don't understand is NBC, ABC, PBS and FOX come in at 80% - 90% and nothing for CBS. Shouldn't I at least get some low % signal ?
Once a signal gets below some threshold, it just (on my TV) shows as "channel not available" or "poor signal quality" and I get no picture, but if I go to my signal meter, it may show 15-18% or some other signal strength too low to lock on. An amplified indoor antenna may boost the signal enough to lock on. Even with an outdoor antenna, I've had problems with WCAX in the past. They broadcast with the most wattage, but I've received stronger signals from the other stations.

Ok, you just convinced me to try another antena.
Thanks.

Once a signal gets below some threshold, it just (on my TV) shows as "channel not available" or "poor signal quality" and I get no picture, but if I go to my signal meter, it may show 15-18% or some other signal strength too low to lock on. An amplified indoor antenna may boost the signal enough to lock on. Even with an outdoor antenna, I've had problems with WCAX in the past. They broadcast with the most wattage, but I've received stronger signals from the other stations.

WCAX news at 11 is in 4:3, I recall seeing the news in 16:9 last night but I didn't catch the news at 6. And I definitely remember seeing local commercials in 16:9 during the ACM's.

I'm a long-time DishNetwork customer and recently upgraded my programming to add the regional sports channel NESN. I also have the DishHD package. I was a little bit surprised to discover that Dish does not carry NESN in HD. I wrote an email to dishquality@echostar.com to inform them of my disappointment. If anyone else reading this feels the same way, I urge you to do the same.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I forgot to mention what spurred me to do this in the first place... The other day ESPN2-HD (which Dish does carry) was slated to show the Red Sox game in HD. But NESN was carrying it too, so Dish blacked it out on NESN2-HD and I had to watch it in SD on NESN. Furthermore, NESN is just a SD-ified version of NESN-HD, so all the graphics and commentary say "NESN-HD" which really rubs it in.

Done. Will do again!
A few months ago, I wrote a letter, sent several emails, and made several phone calls on just this subject...DishNetwork response: no plans to carry NESN in HD. Extremely disappointing. Dish also has no current plans to carry our locals in HD. A few weeks ago, I spent about 45 minutes with a CSA manager with DirecTV explaining how if they would carry NESN-HD or locals in HD, I would switch in a heartbeart. It was a nice conversation, but neither NESN or locals in HD are in their plans anytime soon. What's even more frustrating is that DirecTV *does* carry NESN in HD...just not in our service area. WTF! :mad:

I will happily repeat the effort with the naive hope that enough customers will help turn the tide...but not holding my breath!

Moral of the story....if you live outside of Comcast area (I do), and live in bad OTA reception area (I do), you are SOL for both NESN and locals in HD. :(

Probably no chance but I wonder if a case could be made with the FTC for product degradation and / or false advertising. Anyone viewing NESN with an HDTV could reasonably assume they're getting NESN-HD since that's what they're being told in the banner.

Most networks provide a disclaimer ("In HD where available") but I'm not sure if NESN does. And if the HD feed is what's being broadcast and it's being reduced to 480 somewhere along the way without notice, then that seems like false pretenses.

Maybe if all you guys started following a REAL team like the Yankees and not those jokers in Boston you could see more of your games in HD :p

Maybe if all you guys started following a REAL team like the Yankees and not those jokers in Boston you could see more of your games in HD :p

Sure.....that's why they're 8.5 games back!!! GO SOX!!!!

I wasn't too impressed with NESN HD. They broadcast the games live in HD last year but when they reran the game a few hours later it was always reaired in SD., WTF. No longer have comcash so I don't know if it's still that way, of course I wouldn't put it past comcrap to be behind the reairing in SD and not NESN.

I wasn't too impressed with NESN HD. They broadcast the games live in HD last year but when they reran the game a few hours later it was always reaired in SD., WTF. No longer have comcash so I don't know if it's still that way, of course I wouldn't put it past comcrap to be behind the reairing in SD and not NESN.


Sox in 2 and rebroadcasts are all in HD now. They made that change this year.

As for quality of the HD, sox games are by far the best produced HD program out there. At least to my eyes they are.

I"m 51 miles from the transmitters and get all the channels with rabbit ears. I'll be installing this antenna in a few days. Should be at least as good as the rabbit ears and hopefully a lot better. My place is in Royalton, VT. Apparently we have a direct line to Mt Mansfield. I was pleasantly surprised when I was able to get all the network channels...

http://www.google.com/products?q=42XG%20Uni-Directional%20Antenna&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&sa=N&tab=wf


I'll let you know how it goes.

Ursa


Got the antenna installed. Signal went from 70% to 89% even with a 60' lead in wire and no preamp. The antenna does not interfere with the Dish reception....

Mark your calendars...

Anyone with a Dish 622...help. Although I can successfully scan for new digital channels, and even though the channel count shows that WCAX is transmitting the WCFE signal, the WCFE designation does not show up on the channel list. I've tried to add it manually but there's no luck with that either.

Crapcast came to my house the other day to work on a signal problem. I was told if the problem was inside my hous it was a $30 min charge. Just something to think about.


Still worht the money to get SOX HD all HD all the time

For everyone interested in OTA reception TV Fool just added Google Earth maps for the stations in the Burlington metro area. Check it out, its pretty cool

http://www.tvfool.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15

Thanks habscolts, that was useful. A couple of questions. I am a Dish customer, vip622, and I am trying to take advantage of their antenna program. Anybody have any luck with this? Secondly I am looking for an installer in the Barre area, any recommendations? Even if I can't receive the HD channels, a decent signal for VPR would be nice. Thanks

I am a Dish customer, vip622, and I am trying to take advantage of their antenna program.What, pray tell, do you mean by "their antenna program"? I have a Dish ViP622 and am quite happy with it. If I better understood your question I'd probably be able to answer it.

What, pray tell, do you mean by "their antenna program"? I have a Dish ViP622 and am quite happy with it. If I better understood your question I'd probably be able to answer it.
Dish Network has an OTA antenna install program available to customers in certain DMA's to receive their HD locals. The Burlington VT DMA is one that is qualified. There is a thread on satteliguys website in the dish hd forum. it is a sticky. Basically it is a discounted price for the antenna and the install. I think it is to make up for promising us our HD locals then not delivering. I never meant to imply I didn't like my 622, I think t is a great box.

Dish Network has an OTA antenna install program available to customers in certain DMA's to receive their HD locals. The Burlington VT DMA is one that is qualified. There is a thread on satteliguys website in the dish hd forum. it is a sticky. Basically it is a discounted price for the antenna and the install. I think it is to make up for promising us our HD locals then not delivering.Interesting. I hadn't heard about it. I'm fortunate enough to live in a spot with LoS to the towers on top of Mt. Mansfield, so I get excellent reception with an indoor antenna.

Approx. where are you located? Have you consulted http://www.antennaweb.org to find out how far away the towers are, what direction, and what type of antenna you'll need?

I live in Barre, about 27 miles from he towers. Antennaweb tells me Lg directional with a pre amp (recommendations appreciated). Any recommendations on installers would be great also.

I live in Barre, about 27 miles from he towers. Antennaweb tells me Lg directional with a pre amp (recommendations appreciated). Any recommendations on installers would be great also.

A Channel Master 4228 along with a Channel Master 7777 pre-amp. Mount as high as possible to get as much line of sight as possible.

Do you have direct line of sight to Mansfield???? If so a pre-amp probably wouldn't even be needed.

Hey crew. I need some help deciding if I can even pick up OTA broadcasts where I am. First off, I'm in a townhouse in South Burlington where the only place I can put an antenna on the unit is on the westward facing side of the unit. The unit is down a hill and I have no line of sight to Mansfield. Antennaweb said I'm 19 miles away and I threw up a radio shack antenna which was large and round (forgot the model but I mentioned it a few pages ago). I got only CBS and NBC if I remember correctly, but it was hit or miss. I never could pull in the other stations and now currenlty get the HD over comcast through QAM tuner. Since I cannot have the antenna on the outside of the unit on the east bound wall, what does anyone think my chances are of actually being able to get a useable signal? At 19 miles away I figured I would be pretty well set, but with the lack of line of sight and all these hills in the way, does anyone think I can stuff an antenna in my attic and get a signal through the roof? Or through the side of the house? I'm feeling like its a lost casue and its really starting to eat at me.

I also wish Windows MCE would take a QAM signal so I can do HD DVR, but that's another gripe and another forum all together...

I'm feeling like its a lost casue and its really starting to eat at me.Have you tried tuning your TV to a Mt. Mansfield UHF analog station (ch22 and ch33 broadcast from Mt. Mansfield, ch44 does not)? You can use that as a subjective way of evaluating how clean of a signal you're getting. You can also use it to help position and point the antenna to minimize ghosting and interference. Just try putting 20ft or so of coax between the antenna and the TV, tune to ch22 or ch33 analog, then walk around the unit holding the antenna and see how good of a signal you can manage. Then, once you've got the best-looking analog picture you can muster, run your digitial channel scan and see what you get.

I'm feeling like its a lost casue and its really starting to eat at me.
The attic may cut the signal by about 30%, but that certainly doesn't mean it won't work. Get a medium distance directional (maybe Yagi type) antenna. Use antennaweb.org to get the direction to the Mansfield towers and use a compass to aim it. If you get a signal but it isn't strong enough, then get a pre-amp. Don't give up without even trying anything.

I would reconmend one of the CM spartan 3 amps over the CM7777 if you're using an antenna with a 300ohm output so you don't need to use a balun.

Did anyone else notice the loss of the center/dialog channel 40 minutes into Boston Legal this evening? I'm afraid the problem solved months ago may be back.

Did anyone else notice the loss of the center/dialog channel 40 minutes into Boston Legal this evening? I'm afraid the problem solved months ago may be back.
The "crack" engineering team at WVNY has never gone more than two weeks in a row without screwing up Boston Legal. What a great way to ruin the season finale!
Wouldn't you think that they would put all possible efforts toward fixing this problem? Knowing of this recurring event. the very LEAST management could do would be to give instructions to the engineer on duty to monitor the audio--carefully. I've made this suggesting to Sara Carpenter a number of times and after that the following BL program seems to go off without the dreaded audio mess--only to be followed another problem the week after that.
My assumption is that as an affiliate of ABC that they have access to the network's engineering department. Why the two entities in consort can't fix this problem astounds me.
I think that it is important that folks contact Sara Carpenter at WVNY and complain about this constant, annoying and ridiculous failure.
Ah, for the days when the FCC would get involved in such transmission problems...

Did anyone else notice the loss of the center/dialog channel 40 minutes into Boston Legal this evening? I'm afraid the problem solved months ago may be back.

Yup, the problem is back. An email will go out today to Ms. Carpenter.

WFFF has always been right on the edge here in Hanover Center, NH with signal levels in the mid 70's. For the last week or so the signal has dropped into the mid 60's and become unwatchable. There's no change in the signal levels of the other Mt. Mansfield stations so I'm not sure what's going on. An initial check-out hasn't found any problems here but who knows...

Anyhow, I was wondering if anyone has any info on WFFF's plans to move from their "temporary" antenna?

Mike

According to the tech I worked with on the audio loss earlier this year WVNY is not the only ABC affiliate with this problem. It is caused by ABC not sending out some "metadata" in their digital audio stream that all the other networks do send. He has talked to Dolby Labs and a new piece of gear arriving next week should fix it. Let's keep our fingers crossed, but we are lucky that we have a interested tech working on this (from Wisconsin!).

When they rebuild, I wonder if they'll just broadcast digital only. It's probably not worth putting up an analog one if they have to take it down again in only a few months.

It depends on the timing. There is no access road to take equipment and materials up to the tower site. Everything has to be done via helicopters, as it was in 1977. If there are forest fires to fight, then the helicopters might not be available and their ambitious schedule will be delayed and the analogue service will be endangered.

If they can get the new tower on Lyon Mountain up by October they will restore analogue broadcasts on Channel 57. Their concern is with the fairly large percentage of WCFE viewers who rely on antennas who will otherwise no longer have access to WCFE. Remember, the cheap converter boxes won't be available until 2008. Even with the digital broadcasts and cable services restored, WCFE estimates that 40% of their audience stilll cannot receive their signal.

If they have to wait until next spring to complete the tower they probably won't restore analogue service. Since channel 57 is "out of core", the FCC will not object to the early shutdown of WCFE's analogue service; in fact, they encourage it.

Source: "The Fall and Rise of Mountain Lake's Tower" broadcast on May 31 by WCFE followed by a Q&A period, plus personal correspondence with the station.

WFFF has always been right on the edge here in Hanover Center, NH with signal levels in the mid 70's. For the last week or so the signal has dropped into the mid 60's and become unwatchable. There's no change in the signal levels of the other Mt. Mansfield stations so I'm not sure what's going on. An initial check-out hasn't found any problems here but who knows...

Anyhow, I was wondering if anyone has any info on WFFF's plans to move from their "temporary" antenna?

Mike

Hey Mike,
I don't receive WFFF but one night last week WVNY started to drop out when it usually in the upper 70s and WCAX dropped 5-10% down to 45% but it was still dropout free. I haven't checked since then though. On your WFFF temp question, I e-mailed them a while ago...


We are restricted by the weather…..can’t access Mt. Mansfield before the end of May. We have a tower crew scheduled for early June….so it won’t be done until mid-June. I’m very surprised you can’t receive the signal even though we’re operating at a reduced power.

I'm hoping the bump up in power and height will make my 5% single lock on hopefully around 50.

Hey Brian. Yeah, I watched the special and talked to the station about the same thing.

One thing I can add though is that they expect to go on-air with a digital transmitter (channel 38) on a 110-foot tower from the studio's backyard in Plattsburgh by this coming Friday. Once operational, WCFE will remove its feed from WCAX on Mt. Mansfield. As for the reach of the signal, terrain will obviously be a limitation, but in terms of power, they plan on broadcasting (if I remember correctly) at 35kw. The signal we used to get from Lyon Mountain was running at only 2kw!

I noticed they were off the air sometime in the last hour. Now they're back but at a lower power. Technical issues or are they in the process of replacing the faulty transmitter overnight?

According to the tech I worked with on the audio loss earlier this year WVNY is not the only ABC affiliate with this problem. It is caused by ABC not sending out some "metadata" in their digital audio stream that all the other networks do send. He has talked to Dolby Labs and a new piece of gear arriving next week should fix it. Let's keep our fingers crossed, but we are lucky that we have a interested tech working on this (from Wisconsin!).


Just to clarify: This particular issue (loosing center channel while maintaining LFE) is rather unique. A Dolby tech speculated what might be happening but this was a first for him as well.
But an ABC station having an issue is not totally unique.

Hey Brian. Yeah, I watched the special and talked to the station about the same thing.

One thing I can add though is that they expect to go on-air with a digital transmitter (channel 38) on a 110-foot tower from the studio's backyard in Plattsburgh by this coming Friday. Once operational, WCFE will remove its feed from WCAX on Mt. Mansfield. As for the reach of the signal, terrain will obviously be a limitation, but in terms of power, they plan on broadcasting (if I remember correctly) at 35kw. The signal we used to get from Lyon Mountain was running at only 2kw!

I am keeping my fingers crossed on that situation. Let's see if videotron can receive that signal at their head end. My neighbours rely on videotron. In fact one just took down their tower and antenna yesterday against my advice.

As for me, I hope there are no terrain issues. I'd hate to lose WCFE's regular programs until the new Lyon Mountain tower is completed. I can still get PBS HD via VPT, but I usually watch MLPBS's feed.

As for the power output from Lyon Mountain, back in 2004 when they first went on the air with digital Charlie Zarbo was amazed that I was getting them at all, let alone the high signal strength and S/N ratio that I reported..

Yeah. Apparently Lyon Mountain propagates really well into Montreal.

If WVNY is still stuck on keeping its channel 13 disaster on Mt. Mansfield hopefully they can see the benefit of applying for a small 2kw UHF translator on Lyon Mountain. In fact, probably it would be nice for all 4 commercial stations to set-up translators on Lyon Mountain (directional towards the west), since they could even reach Ottawa from there!

I noticed they were off the air sometime in the last hour. Now they're back but at a lower power. Technical issues or are they in the process of replacing the faulty transmitter overnight?

They were off the air for a few hours on Saturday afternoon as well. Fortunately they were back on in time for the hockey game. I was afraid I was going to be forced to watch it in analogue on CBC. (Mount Royal blocks CBC Montreal's digital signal to the entire West Island).

Yeah. Apparently Lyon Mountain propagates really well into Montreal.

If WVNY is still stuck on keeping its channel 13 disaster on Mt. Mansfield hopefully they can see the benefit of applying for a small 2kw UHF translator on Lyon Mountain. In fact, probably it would be nice for all 4 commercial stations to set-up translators on Lyon Mountain (directional towards the west), since they could even reach Ottawa from there!

I get everything from MtMansfield except for WVNY 13 (thanks to CTV at 12 in Montreal)

I live in St-Sauveur (Prevost) and have a straight line of sight to MtMansfield with our old, rusty, recycled Channel master 4221

we are more than 200 miles away

Even when CTV (CFCF-12) is off the air WVNY-DT 13 doesn't come in much better...

Hi, first time poster. I live in Montreal in the district of St-Henri, just below "The Glen" tunnel from Westmount, in a third floor apartment with a balcony facing east, shaded a little bit to the south. To the left of the balcony is the Ville-Marie Expressway overpass, which looms over the neighborhood. Part of Mont-Royal is also directly north of that, so we're sort of at the bottom of all of that. Our balcony is right in front of our living room, where the TV and such are set up.

I thought it would be impossible to pull in HD channels without some serious work (which our landlord would definitely not allow - satellites have been already banned, so putting an anttenna on our roof is out) after I tried scanning the channels with out HDTV out of the box. Miraculously, I managed to pull in the WPTZ NBC HD channel (5.1 and the weather channel 5.2) in with $10 RCA rabbit ears from FutureShop, and on one occasion the CBC HD channel (on 6.1), but this was only for a couple of minutes. The WPTZ NBC HD channel came in all the time, but I could only get it at night, though, usually after 10 o'clock (on really clear nights I have gotten it as early as 8 PM). In the last three or four days, I haven't been able to pull it in at all (for what I presume is bad weather-related reasons). I managed to pull in the channels by hanging my rabbit ears off of a curtain rod facing the window of the balcony door. For whatever reason, it managed to pull the strongest signals there (the signals at its peak usually ranged from the low 50s to high 60s at the best, mid/high 30s to 40s at its worst, non peak times).

What I'm wondering is, would it be worth the investment to buy one of those $40 or $50 electric-boosted indoor antennas to try and pull in more of the channels? I saw one posted on here several months ago that looked like a miniature version of the old ariel antenna my parents had on a tower next to our house when I was a kid. I think it was a U.S. radio shack type deal. When I do a TV scan, the ATSC channels that the TV recognizes are UHF 14 (which it pulls in well on 5.1 and 5.2), 19, 20, (occasionally) 21, 32, 53 and (occasionally) 58. The reception for all of those usually range from low single digits to high 20s, so they never come in. I've gotten one of the PBS ones to come in for like 5 seconds at a time when I'm practically hanging my antenna out the door, but that's about it. CBC has come in for a few minutes on one occasion as well. So I'm guessing the potential to pull all of them in is there.

Since positioning of an inside antenna seems to be a problem, think about using a 4-bay antenna (Antennas Direct DB4, Wineguard PR4400 or Channel Master 4224) with a J-mount to an outside door or window frame facing Mansfield. If that is out of the question, an amplifed indoor antenna like the Silver Sensor should be a step up from what you have now. Get a compass to help aim it, or aim it using an analog broadcast (Chan 22) from Mansfield to get the best signal, then scan.

21 and 58? :confused:

loss of signal strength across all stations except VT PBS.
WPTZ down from 90 to 70 - no signal from WVNY and WFFF.
Fine last night but not this morning.
Anyone else? Any work going on?

was getting all channels in the 90's now today i noticed i can not get either abc nor fox, anyone know what has happened? looks like something major, not just a dip in signal but none at all.

Same here - they must be doing some work up there.

I just noticed Fox is currently off-the-air. They must be replacing the transmission line that was crushed last fall so they can put their "real" antenna up and start broadcasting full power 47kw instead of 18kw. The signal was already strong for me, but for others who had trouble getting it, it might come in a little better once the upgrade is done.

While they're at it, anything they can do to tweak the "9V battery-powered" WVNY transmitter so that it can actually reach a populated area? :p

I received this email Sunday from WFFF,

It should be no later than the end of this week. Tower work begins tomorrow, so it will depend on how long it takes them to complete the work. Check back in a couple of days.

Bill

So that should explain the low signal strength

VPT now is now broadcasting a second SD sub-channel, 33.3 VPT-CRE simultaneously with their HD 33.1 and SD 33.2.

Barf. One more reason to eagerly await the resurrection of WCFE-DT. :)

Barf. One more reason to eagerly await the resurrection of WCFE-DT. :)

I believe that WCFE also has plans for a second SD sub-channel. (See posts 2253 through 2264 in this thread).

I've nearly lost WVNY. Does anyone know if their transmitter work has been completed?

What the heck is up with Comcast still not carrying Fox & ABC HD? Anyone got some insight? I live downtown BTV and cannot get them with an antenna.

Out of dtae info

What the heck is up with Comcast still not carrying Fox & ABC HD? Anyone got some insight? I live downtown BTV and cannot get them with an antenna.

I'm still wondering this. They've been broadcasting for over 6 months and supposedly there's already a line running from WVNY and WFFF to Comcast in Burling ton. What's taking them so long getting these channels added to the lineup? I guess dropping the HDNet channels from the linup is more important to them.

Unfortunately I can't pick them up either, even though I'm only 13 miles from the antennas. Being in a valley and so close, it all goes right overhead.

What the heck is up with Comcast still not carrying Fox & ABC HD? Anyone got some insight? I live downtown BTV and cannot get them with an antenna.

ditto, I called up Comcast and asked and the woman I spoke to said something about they get their HD feed from our local abc and fox channels and they haven't upgraded their systems yet, but when they do we'll get those channels. However, I didn't trust a single word the woman said as it seemed like she was giving me excuses. Infact, ever since I signed up for Comcast they've told a bunch of lies like how much the service was going to cost me and then jacking the price up $22 when they came to hook it up. You live and you learn.

I called again today and Comcast does get their HD signals from the local networks fed to them and abc and fox haven't upgrade for hd yet. However, the woman I spoke to went further to say, because of my location (Burlington, VT), there's also some legal mumbo jumbo that needs to be addressed, but they wouldn't say more as she's already told me too much.:eek: She also said she doesn't know when we're going to get them as it could be tomorrow or many, many, months down the road, but they are working on it.

I just found out that NH public television is now broadcasting on digial channel 50 out of Hanover NH. Their analog transmitter failed during the winter and they decided not to replace it and went straight to digital. This gives another possible choice of PBS for those whe have trouble getting VT PBS.

I just found out that NH public television is now broadcasting on digial channel 50 out of Hanover NH. Their analog transmitter failed during the winter and they decided not to replace it and went straight to digital. This gives another possible choice of PBS for those whe have trouble getting VT PBS.

What are the station call letters?

What are the station call letters?
It used to be WHED-TV....Don't know if it still is, though.....

NH public television main channel call letters are WENH. However, the translator station broadcasting on digital 50 is W15BK

NH public television main channel call letters are WENH. However, the translator station broadcasting on digital 50 is W15BK

So it's the channel 15 analogue signal that has been discontinued, replaced by digital on channel 50. Doesn't do the channel 15 viewers who only have analogue TVs much good. It's too bad the inexpensive digital converter boxes won't be available until next year.

Hey guys,

Since most of you are rather versed in antenna installations, I figured I'd run this by you. Due to the general hassle of trying to place an antenna outside of a condo, I ended up temporarily mounting a CM-4221 inside of a window, which happens to be perfectly aimed toward Mt. Mansfield. My tuner shows 3 signal strength levels - 25, 50, 75, 100%. All channels come in at 100%, except for WVNY which comes in at 75%.

My question is that periodically, the signal will break up just for a fraction of a second. I'm trying to see if I can avoid this. It seems to be on any channel, except for Fox for some strange reason.

Firstly, the antenna, since I mounted it indoors, is not grounded. Does that affect the reception of this type of antenna? I don't believe it does, but I wanted to check.

Secondly, would adding some kind of a signal amp help me out potentially, or would I just overload the tuner? The tuner is a PC-based AverMedia A180, so if it blows, ah well... I really don't care *that* much ;) It's not like I'm destroying my HDTV's tuner.


If anyone has any advice, I'd appreciate it. I plan on moving into a house in about 6-8 months, and will correctly mount it wherever i end up.. and hope for near LOS ;)

Thanks, guys!

What you are seeing seems to be usual for digital signals. I've camped at a few campgrounds with HD cable and see the same thing, only much worse than my OTA signal at home. Often it is probably the feed to the transmitter rather than your setup, so I wouldn't worry about a pre-amp for now. The grounding is for electrical surges (lightning) and are not required any more for your indoor installation than for a set top antenna. I hope this helps.

canadianeh, it sounds to me like you've plenty of signal, and an amp would not help. It sounds more likely that there's some kind of interference. I've found the best way to debug interference problems is to connect the antenna to an analog tuner (if you have one) and tune into channel 22 and/or 33, where you can tweak the antenna and downlead to minimize the appearance of sparkles, snow, ghosting ,etc.

Hey guys,

Since most of you are rather versed in antenna installations, I figured I'd run this by you. Due to the general hassle of trying to place an antenna outside of a condo, I ended up temporarily mounting a CM-4221 inside of a window, which happens to be perfectly aimed toward Mt. Mansfield. My tuner shows 3 signal strength levels - 25, 50, 75, 100%. All channels come in at 100%, except for WVNY which comes in at 75%.

My question is that periodically, the signal will break up just for a fraction of a second. I'm trying to see if I can avoid this. It seems to be on any channel, except for Fox for some strange reason.

Firstly, the antenna, since I mounted it indoors, is not grounded. Does that affect the reception of this type of antenna? I don't believe it does, but I wanted to check.

Secondly, would adding some kind of a signal amp help me out potentially, or would I just overload the tuner? The tuner is a PC-based AverMedia A180, so if it blows, ah well... I really don't care *that* much ;) It's not like I'm destroying my HDTV's tuner.


If anyone has any advice, I'd appreciate it. I plan on moving into a house in about 6-8 months, and will correctly mount it wherever i end up.. and hope for near LOS ;)

Thanks, guys!
I've found, being in the flight path of the Burlington airport, that quite often a jet flying over will create a signal loss for a few moments. Certainly this is far more severe than anything that I ever found with analog signals. Perhaps we all have more to fear from US Air than their penchant for losing luggage.

Hey everyone, a note on the NHPTV transmitter from Hanover. Has anyone actually picked up the signal yet? I'm less than 3 miles from the tower and my television won't pick up an ATSC signal on channel 50. This could be because my antenna is pointed at Mansfield but I doubt this is the case since I am able to pull in WNNE and WVTA from Ascutney which is about 20 miles without a problem. I also saw on the FCC website that their construction permit was for an extremely low ERP, maybe .15 k? Anyways, I don't think the loss of analog 15 is a big deal for folks in my area. We are adequately covered by NHPTV from 49, 52, and 11, not to mention WVTA. I'm pretty sure I was the only one who noticed the station going off the air in the winter, I think it was around March sometime, I remember posting about it in here. I was debating sending them an e-mail but when I saw WPTZ's signal strength jump up because of the lack of co-channel interference I quickly changed my mind.

NH Public Television on channel 50? What about WZMY-TV (MY) channel 50 in Derry, NH?

Hey everyone, a note on the NHPTV transmitter from Hanover. Has anyone actually picked up the signal yet? I'm less than 3 miles from the tower and my television won't pick up an ATSC signal on channel 50. This could be because my antenna is pointed at Mansfield but I doubt this is the case since I am able to pull in WNNE and WVTA from Ascutney which is about 20 miles without a problem. I also saw on the FCC website that their construction permit was for an extremely low ERP, maybe .15 k? Anyways, I don't think the loss of analog 15 is a big deal for folks in my area. We are adequately covered by NHPTV from 49, 52, and 11, not to mention WVTA. I'm pretty sure I was the only one who noticed the station going off the air in the winter, I think it was around March sometime, I remember posting about it in here. I was debating sending them an e-mail but when I saw WPTZ's signal strength jump up because of the lack of co-channel interference I quickly changed my mind.

Yes I have been receiving the signal on digital channel 50. Since you are so close to the tower you may have to repoint your antenna toward Moose Mt to get the signal.

I just checked on the TV Fool/Google Earth thing for W15BK in digital. It turns out that the station is transmitting at an extremely weak power, and about 40% of Lebanon and 15% of Hanover (where the transmitter is located) can receive no signal at all. The Burlington stations have a stronger signal at my location than W15BK, so it would take at least a Channel Master 4228 to pull in a station less than 3 miles away. Good work NHPTV! It's a good thing I can receive strong signals from 2 VPT stations and I could easily receive the other two if I adjusted the antenna. As for NHPTV, its definitely not worth it to lose WCAX, WETK, WPTZ, and WVNY to pick it up.

I just checked on the TV Fool/Google Earth thing for W15BK in digital. It turns out that the station is transmitting at an extremely weak power, and about 40% of Lebanon and 15% of Hanover (where the transmitter is located) can receive no signal at all. The Burlington stations have a stronger signal at my location than W15BK, so it would take at least a Channel Master 4228 to pull in a station less than 3 miles away. Good work NHPTV! It's a good thing I can receive strong signals from 2 VPT stations and I could easily receive the other two if I adjusted the antenna. As for NHPTV, its definitely not worth it to lose WCAX, WETK, WPTZ, and WVNY to pick it up. And as KML-224 pointed out, it was not a well thought out decision to put the station on 50 because of interference with WZMY. There are so many options that would have worked better, including putting the station on channel 15! New Hampshire Public Television and Vermont Public Television seem to have had some serious issues picking digital stations, and many will probably be surprised in February 2009 when they can pick up the PBS from St. J (18), Rutland (9), and Hanover (50), if they decide to broadcast at an ERP above .05 kW, which were all bad decisions based on very close analog transmitters on the same station.

By the way, anyone who is using an antenna for reception should consult tvfool.com or there's a thread about it in the HDTV Reception Hardware Forum. The Google Earth tool is one of the neatest things I have seen for determining television reception. There are files to download for the Burlington DMA (which includes Montreal stations), as well as other DMA's which cover the area. Check it out!

Here is the latest from Dish HD. Sorry still no NESN but...
DISH Network Expands Nation's Largest HD Package
More National HD Channels, More HD Regional Sports Networks
ENGLEWOOD, Colo., July 10, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- EchoStar Communications Corporation (Nasdaq:DISH) and its DISH Network(tm) satellite TV service today announced exciting enhancements to its industry-leading DishHD programming package.

On July 11, DISH Network will launch eight Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) in high definition (HD) that feature game-only baseball content, including Fox Sports Network Arizona (Ch. 365), Fox Sports Network Northwest (Ch. 376), Fox Sports Network Cincinnati (Ch. 377), Fox Sports Network Pittsburgh (Ch. 378), Fox Sports Network Detroit (Ch. 380), SportsTime Ohio (Ch. 381), Fox Sports Network North (Ch. 386), and SportsNet New York (DISH Network Ch. 388). With the launch of nine HD RSNs earlier this year, these new additions bring DISH Network's total lineup of HD RSNs to 17, with more channel launches planned for Aug. 15.

Also on Aug. 15, DISH Network will add seven national HD channels to its DishHD programming package, including MHD, featuring music programming from MTV, VH1 and CMT; Golf/Versus HD; Animal Planet HD; The Science Channel HD; TLC HD; Discovery HD, and History HD, which will debut on Sept. 1. With these additions -- plus more planned for mid-September -- DishHD subscribers will continue to have access to the largest national HD lineup in the United States.

I just noticed Fox is currently off-the-air. They must be replacing the transmission line that was crushed last fall so they can put their "real" antenna up and start broadcasting full power 47kw instead of 18kw. The signal was already strong for me, but for others who had trouble getting it, it might come in a little better once the upgrade is done.

While they're at it, anything they can do to tweak the "9V battery-powered" WVNY transmitter so that it can actually reach a populated area? :p
Foxfan - thank you very much for your post on WFFF increasing their signal strength! Because of that post I retried my attic antenna, which I had tried in the winter with no success. Fox now comes in loud and clear. I watched the All Star game last night in glorious HD, and now can look forward to Saturday baseball, the World Series, the NFL regular season and the Super Bowl in HD without having to rely on Comcast (heaven knows when they'll add Fox).

To any readers out there who tried and failed to get Fox OTA before, its worth a shot to give it a try again with the increased signal strength. It was just enough to get me over the hurdle. I get signal strength in the 70-75% range now, and I was getting about 35% in the winter. I live in Essex, VT, not too far from the towers in terms of miles, but on the far side of a hill with lots of pine trees, so I don't have direct line of sight to the towers.

One other interesting thing - I get the best reception with the antenna tilted up about 30 degrees. The signal must be following the contour of the hill, since the antenna is pointing much higher than where the tower really is. (The antenna is one of those Radio Shack outdoor models like the ones you see in pictures from the 50's).

OK,

I have the Philips silver sensor that has worked fine for quite some time and now I am seeing that even with 80% signal on 3, 5, 22, 33, 44 and 53 I get no picture. This happened about 2 months ago and I thought the channels were just not broadcasting that day and now I am concerned.

Any chance my TV had something go wrong with it?

- Kuli

OK,

I have the Philips silver sensor that has worked fine for quite some time and now I am seeing that even with 80% signal on 3, 5, 22, 33, 44 and 53 I get no picture. This happened about 2 months ago and I thought the channels were just not broadcasting that day and now I am concerned.

Any chance my TV had something go wrong with it?

- Kuli

It's doubtful. I bet its just the rain, I've been getting a lot of dropouts tonight with relatively strong signal strengths.

WCAX has been 4:3 SD since about 9:20 when they went to that special report. This seems odd for them since they do some of their local commercials as well as news in 16:9

Here is the latest from Dish HD. Sorry still no NESN but...
DISH Network Expands Nation's Largest HD Package
More National HD Channels, More HD Regional Sports Networks
ENGLEWOOD, Colo., July 10, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- EchoStar Communications Corporation (Nasdaq:DISH) and its DISH Network(tm) satellite TV service today announced exciting enhancements to its industry-leading DishHD programming package.

On July 11, DISH Network will launch eight Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) in high definition (HD) that feature game-only baseball content, including Fox Sports Network Arizona (Ch. 365), Fox Sports Network Northwest (Ch. 376), Fox Sports Network Cincinnati (Ch. 377), Fox Sports Network Pittsburgh (Ch. 378), Fox Sports Network Detroit (Ch. 380), SportsTime Ohio (Ch. 381), Fox Sports Network North (Ch. 386), and SportsNet New York (DISH Network Ch. 388). With the launch of nine HD RSNs earlier this year, these new additions bring DISH Network's total lineup of HD RSNs to 17, with more channel launches planned for Aug. 15.

Also on Aug. 15, DISH Network will add seven national HD channels to its DishHD programming package, including MHD, featuring music programming from MTV, VH1 and CMT; Golf/Versus HD; Animal Planet HD; The Science Channel HD; TLC HD; Discovery HD, and History HD, which will debut on Sept. 1. With these additions -- plus more planned for mid-September -- DishHD subscribers will continue to have access to the largest national HD lineup in the United States.
Looks like Dish Network is the way to go. DirectTV keeps making these promises of more HD channel content, but Dish keeps on delivering. Now all we need is Burlington in HD and I'll be a happy camper.

Is anyone closer to Plattsburgh able to check out what's happening on channel 38? I could get a weak signal last night but couldn't lock it.

FYI, this would be the temporary "backyard" WCFE-DT transmitter.

Does anyone know for sure that Fox is now broadcasting at full power? I have not noticed any improvement in their signal compared to last winter.

Also, any news on what the plans are for 22.2 and 44.2 which are now just showing test patterns.

I'm getting a signal strength in the low 90's from their temporary transmitter in Plattsburgh. I only got about 70 from the Lyon Mountain site. So far they have only transmitted their SD signal on this transmitter, however.

as a reference for people around Montreal :

I live 90 km north of Montreal, near the St-Sauveur ski slopes. Here is the channel line-up I get with an UHF Channel Master 4221 (4 bays) :

Analog

2 SRC
3 CBS
5 NBC
6 CBC
7 TVA Sherbrooke
9 SRC Sherbrooke
10 TVA
11 Global
12 CTV
17 Tele-Quebec
22 ABC
24
30
33 PBS
35 TQS
46 Global

Digital

2 SRC HD
3 CBS HD
5 NBC HD
6 CBC HD
22 ABC HD
33 PBS-HD Vermont
44 FOX-HD
57 PBS-HD NY

now if only CTV could move their A$$es and go HD in Montreal it would be nice.

One other comment on my new setup, relative to amplifying the signal from the antenna. I compared the Radio Shack 15-1170 to the Channel Master Titan 2 (model 7777). The prices are about in the same range ($39.99+tax for Radio Shack, $57 with shipping/insurance from eBay). However, the Channel Master is significantly better.

With the Radio Shack unit I get Fox HD steady, with signal strength about 73-75%, but ABC HD is spotty with signal strength jumping around between the 30's and a high of 50%. With the Channel Master I jump to 83% and again a steady picture on Fox HD, but the bigger difference is on ABC HD where I jump to 50-56% with a steady picture. I don't get any of the other HD signals steady enough to use them on the antenna, but since I get them via Comcast I was really just trying to get Fox and ABC to fill the gap. Hope this helps for those of you on the bubble for getting reception.

Does anyone know for sure that Fox is now broadcasting at full power? I have not noticed any improvement in their signal compared to last winter.

Also, any news on what the plans are for 22.2 and 44.2 which are now just showing test patterns.

Yeah, on June 13th they switched over.

OK thanks. I guess I'm too far away to see any improvement in their signal strength.

Switched over on June 13th eh. I didn't see any gain in Montreal either.

WFFF was always strong for me so I can't really compare.

Hi Guys,

Getting ready to bite the bullet and buy my first HDTV antenna. The Superstore in Williston has this one in stock - they say it is the best for getting reception in out of the way places like where I live:

http://www.audiovox.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=10001&productId=14126&langId=-1

Would you know of any installers who can plunk it in the right position near the attic roof and wire it to the house? Also, any of you hear how the Audiovox Slim Profile Outdoor HDTV Antenna works versus maybe a better antenna?

Thanks in advance,

Brett
in Charlotte (South of Burlington)

Hi Guys,

Getting ready to bite the bullet and buy my first HDTV antenna. The Superstore in Williston has this one in stock - they say it is the best for getting reception in out of the way places like where I live:

http://www.audiovox.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=10001&productId=14126&langId=-1

Would you know of any installers who can plunk it in the right position near the attic roof and wire it to the house? Also, any of you hear how the Audiovox Slim Profile Outdoor HDTV Antenna works versus maybe a better antenna?

Thanks in advance,

Brett
in Charlotte (South of Burlington)
Let us know how it works out. The Channel Master 4228 is considered by most to be the best long range antenna; however it is almost UHF only, but will pick up the top end of VHF (10-13).

Does anyone else on here use the 4228? I think I have had very good luck with the VHF on mine. I have been able to get a signal on every upper VHF channel from as far away as Boston and Montreal. And for low VHF, I get a clear picture on analog 3 from 65 miles away but I think a coat hanger would probably have similar gain.

Thanks for the quick update, but that channel master will get me in hot water with town zoning - my house is smack in the center of town at the most visible corner and I can't trim the hedge without half the village stopping in their cars to make comments. No way that huge rake type antenna is going to go unnoticed. So I'll have to beta test the Audiovox unit for others here...

Thx

now if only CTV could move their A$$es and go HD in Montreal it would be nice.

Personally, I gave up on CTV and I am looking forward to new HD OTA Network proposed by HDTV Networks Inc. who submits application to CRTC for new national over-the-air television network specializing in high-definition programming for Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Halifax. In the CRTC acknowledgement "http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/eng/notices/2007/pb2007-62.htm" they mentioned that << Given that spectrum allotment in certain markets is limited, the Commission may consider utilizing spectrum designated for the transaction of existing broadcasters transition from analog to digital as set out in PN 2002-31.>> witch means that in Montreal this new station may end-up on channel 21 wich was assign to CTV in Montreal.

For the past few mornings I have been receiving both Montreal CBC digital signals. I've occasionaly locked 2.1 (French on Ch 19) before but never 6.1 (English on Ch 20). 2.1 has a signal strength in the 60's and 6.1 has a strength in the 50's. I haven't heard of antenna relocations to Mt. Royal or power increases so I assume this is the result of some favorable atmospherics. I'm picking these signals up from a side lobe of my attic-mounted antenna, so the signal is really quite strong.

Rather than asking Comcast about when they'll be carrying WVNY and WFFF, I asked the affiliates themselves. I sent the message a couple weeks ago and finally got a reply today.

Jason~
Thank you for taking the time to email us.
Currently, we are in negotiations with Comcast to become available on
cable. We have already established a link to their site, so as soon as
those negotiations are complete, WVNY will be ready to go.

Sara Carpenter

Question about non-local HD on Comcast... We bundled internet and cable, got VOIP (seems okay at the moment) and an HD DVR that is stationed in our bedroom on our HDTV there.

There are lots of HD cable channels. We don't have the digital tier or anything upgraded like that. Shouldn't our other TV (with QAM tuner) be able to get those HD channels, or are they scrambled even though they're free?

I'm not sure I like how the cable box sends the picture to the TV, but I guess that's a different rant. Comparing the DVR to TiVo is like comparing Windows 95 to a present-day Mac. :)

The cable company is not allowed to scramble the OTA channels whether SD or HD. If you have a QAM tuner, you should be able to see those channels along with any other service you are paying for.

P.S. I agree...Even a Windows 95 PC is smarter than a current day MAC. :)

I wasn't clear... :) I don't mean the OTA (local) HD content. The TV already gets CBS, NBC, and PBS, along with the associated weather subchannels. Via cable. No box.

However, there are other HD channels the box is pulling in, like Discovery-HD and NESN-HD and those sorts of channels that are not broadcast OTA.

My question is, how are those other channels put through the cable, and why can't my QAM HDTV pick any of them up without a box? Are they scrambled so we indeed need a box to get them? Just curious.

Yes they are scrambled and the QAM tuner cannot decode them unless you have a cable card (and a cable card slot on your TV).

Rather than asking Comcast about when they'll be carrying WVNY and WFFF, I asked the affiliates themselves. I sent the message a couple weeks ago and finally got a reply today.

That's a good idea. I emailed them too just to let them know people are eagerly awaiting for this to happen.

ALERT! All Montreal stations are now off the air.

I just checked WVNY-13's signal but see no improvement despite CFCF-12 being off the air.

Anyone else want to try it out?

Update: Sorry, they're back on the air. :(

Hey, guys.
I did try skimming some of the pages but it was impossible for me to absorb all 84 pages of conversation.... I'm a student at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont and will be residing at "Spinner Place" in Winooski next year. I recently invested in a 50" Sony 1080p HDTV and was wondering from anyone with knowledge of the area --- what will be better for HD programming? OTA? Cable? Satellite? I don't know what services are offered in the area, what channels there are, etc. I'd love to get ABC/NBC/CBS/FOX/CW all in HD if at all possible... though I do see that some stations aren't up yet. If anyone could offer any advice or knowledge on the subject, I'd be most appreciative :) Thanks!

Joe

I recently invested in a 50" Sony 1080p HDTV
Geez. When I was in college, I was one of a small handfull who actually had my own TV. It was a used 13" CRT TV. My how times have changed.

and was wondering from anyone with knowledge of the area --- what will be better for HD programming? OTA? Cable? Satellite? I don't know what services are offered in the area, what channels there are, etc. I'd love to get ABC/NBC/CBS/FOX/CW all in HD if at all possible... All the networks you mention, except CW, are broadcasting in HD over the air. Some of them (I forget which) are available in HD from Comcast cable. None of them are available in HD from either Dish or DirecTV.

So, your best bet if you're only interested in getting the networks in HD is to stick up a bow tie and rabbit ears. If you're in a large building, it helps to have an exterior wall which faces East, which is where the transmitters are located relative to Winooski.

If, however, you have more than 1 or 2 walls between you and the outdoors to the East, not much signal is going to get through, in which case your only option would be to go with Comcast. I should mention that the networks are sent over cable "in the clear", so you don't need to sign up for anything more than basic cable service in order to get the locals in HD using the built-in tuner on your HDTV.

I just got my E*HD upgrade yesterday and I am very pleased with the content. With the standard package, it was 200 channels and nothing good is on. The HD package has a lot of quality programming.
In preparation for the install, I ordered (from Monoprice.com) and ran a 50' composite bundled cable under the house from my living room primary location to the secondary 32" HDTV in the bedroom, so we wouldn't lose the local OTA from the usual coax to TV2. The picture in the bedroom from the HD receiver, although in SD, is very good (better than analog OTA and much better than the standard satellite picture had been on my primary TV). The installer said that he'd done hundreds of these and I was the first to use the composite connection. He thought the picture looked better than the coax hookup.
Of course the 52" primary TV gets the full HD and looks great. I moved my OTA cable from the TV to the VIP-622 DVR/receiver, did a channel scan that sucked up 12 local digital OTA channels. I edited out the two test pattern transmissions and got a higher signal strength on the 622 than I had been getting on the TV tuner. I used the HDMI connection and no longer have to switch the TV input between OTA and the satellite S-video. The content on the 27 new HD channels is great, with several movie channels (none are premium), Discovery HD plus a couple of other channels that feature the kind of stuff seen on VPT, Discovery and National Geographic. The NASCAR race at the Brickyard in Indy was beautiful on ESPN-HD and there a a few specialty channels for sports, arts, food, home & garden, music, etc.
I don't think cable or D* can compare.

I've got the ViP622, too. I like it a lot. Bit of a bummer that only one of the 2 outputs is HD. However, I've found a "workaround"...

I'm using the TV1 HDMI output to one HDTV display, and the TV1 Component Video + analog audio outputs to a 2nd HDTV display in a different room. With the ViP622 in "single mode" instead of "dual mode", I can still use the RF remote in the other room and get full HD PQ there (instead of having to live with SD PQ in the 2nd location). The down side is that I can't watch 2 different programs on the 2 displays at the same time. On the rare occassion we want to do that, I've got myself covered by also wiring the TV2 Composite Video + analog outputs to the 2nd display.

I've got the ViP622, too. I like it a lot. Bit of a bummer that only one of the 2 outputs is HD. However, I've found a "workaround"...

I'm using the TV1 HDMI output to one HDTV display, and the TV1 Component Video + analog audio outputs to a 2nd HDTV display in a different room. With the ViP622 in "single mode" instead of "dual mode", I can still use the RF remote in the other room and get full HD PQ there (instead of having to live with SD PQ in the 2nd location). The down side is that I can't watch 2 different programs on the 2 displays at the same time. On the rare occassion we want to do that, I've got myself covered by also wiring the TV2 Composite Video + analog outputs to the 2nd display.
Pretty slick! I'll keep that in mind. I wonder if they will ever make TV2 HD outputs. As it is, they are down converting the HD signal. I'd think it would be cheaper just to pass it on. I'm sure when they designed the 622 they didn't envision folks having more than one HDTV.

Pretty slick! I'll keep that in mind. I wonder if they will ever make TV2 HD outputs. As it is, they are down converting the HD signal. I'd think it would be cheaper just to pass it on. I'm sure when they designed the 622 they didn't envision folks having more than one HDTV.I've also discovered when in "dual mode", and watching the TV2 Composite Video output, that the 622 acts as if there is no HD at all. It won't even let you tune in a down-converted HD channel. (they might have changed this, I haven't checked recently)

I've also discovered when in "dual mode", and watching the TV2 Composite Video output, that the 622 acts as if there is no HD at all. It won't even let you tune in a down-converted HD channel. (they might have changed this, I haven't checked recently)
I haven't had any trouble getting the downverted 94xx channels from TV2's composite input. The only problem I had is when I inadvertently scheduled a recording on Tuner2 and my wife was miffed at not being allowed to change sat channels. :rolleyes:

I know that the WCAX news isn't HD, but is it 480p or just 480i widescreen? It looks amazingly good for non-HD and it looks so much better than our other local newscast.

I know that the WCAX news isn't HD, but is it 480p or just 480i widescreen? It looks amazingly good for non-HD and it looks so much better than our other local newscast.
I thought it was HD - too good a pic not to be

I know that the WCAX news isn't HD, but is it 480p or just 480i widescreen? It looks amazingly good for non-HD and it looks so much better than our other local newscast.
WCAX says that it is HD and it looks that way to me. Does anyone know why WPTZ's SD broadcast looks so much worse than everyone else's? Even when I got it via satellite, it looked like they smeared petroleum jelly on the lens, but the SD transmission via the digital OTA still is awful, but their HD broadcasts are good.

Anybody having problems getting the UHF HD signals from Mt Mansfield this morning (Aug. 3)?

I can get HD on 22-1 (VHF) and all the analog UHF that I normally get (33, 22).

But I can't get 3-1, 3-2, 5-1, 5-2, 33-1, 33-2, 33-3, 44-1, and 57-1 this morning. I have gotten these stations fine in the past. Today, all these station now have very low signal except 5-1 and 5-2, which have a strong signal but no picture.

Is it me? Located in Hanover NH.

Dan

WPTZ HD (Channel 705) is down on Comcast right now...

Anybody having problems getting the UHF HD signals from Mt Mansfield this morning (Aug. 3)?

I can get HD on 22-1 (VHF) and all the analog UHF that I normally get (33, 22).

But I can't get 3-1, 3-2, 5-1, 5-2, 33-1, 33-2, 33-3, 44-1, and 57-1 this morning. I have gotten these stations fine in the past. Today, all these station now have very low signal except 5-1 and 5-2, which have a strong signal but no picture.

Is it me? Located in Hanover NH.

DanI just now checked, and I don't see any change in the signal strengths for any of the OTA HD locals. Channels 5-1 and 5-2 are broadcasting "dead air".

Did a rescan on my TV and all is well except WPTZ-DT (5-1 and 5-2). Sounds like it is them not me.

thanks,
Dan

How many hd channels come with direct tv?

HBO and Showtime (if you subscribe to either/both), ESPN and ESPN2, Universal, TNT, Discovery HD, HDNET and HDNET movies, a HD PPV channel and various specials from time to time (eg: The Concert for Diana last month). They will light up everything available in HD (NESN, A&E, MTV, National Geographic, CNN, The Weather Channel, ...) in mid-September if the satellite they launched last month checks out OK. The Burlington locals will come in HD sometime later, probably mid-2008.

Did a rescan on my TV and all is well except WPTZ-DT (5-1 and 5-2). Sounds like it is them not me.

thanks,
Dan
I think that WPTZ may have had a lighting hit. I saw them losing their signal while they were broadcasting a news block. At that point the anchors were talking about the fierce lighting outside and then the picture started breaking up. Although the SD signal broke up three times, it came back on the air. The HD 5.1 did not. I assume it is a problem at the studio as the actual modulated signal from the mountain is still up.

re WPTZ breakup. I"ve seen it a few times also when it is raining cats and dogs outside and the rain is heading towards Mt. Mansfield. I think they have a pretty long microwave link up to the mountain and may be having rain fade problems. Just speculation.

Hey Green Mountain Boys (and Gals),

Good to see VT represented on this forum. I am in the beginning stages of buying a whole new home theatre system, and have been doing SO MUCH research. One of my big concerns is HD service and content. I have never had HDTV and only a few of my friends have it so I don't have much to go by.

So I think my options are D*, Dish, and Comcast, right? What is E*?

How is the HD from D* in the Burlington Area? I know some of my friends get HD from Comcast, but I heard there new D10 satelite is gonna have so many HD channels, I just want to confirm that when it goes live that Burlington residents will be able to receive the signal with the right gear (HR20 right?).

Basically if anyone could just chime in and give me your opinions and thought that would be really appreciated.

Thanks all.

Hey Green Mountain Boys (and Gals),

Good to see VT represented on this forum. I am in the beginning stages of buying a whole new home theatre system, and have been doing SO MUCH research. One of my big concerns is HD service and content. I have never had HDTV and only a few of my friends have it so I don't have much to go by.

So I think my options are D*, Dish, and Comcast, right? What is E*?

How is the HD from D* in the Burlington Area? I know some of my friends get HD from Comcast, but I heard there new D10 satelite is gonna have so many HD channels, I just want to confirm that when it goes live that Burlington residents will be able to receive the signal with the right gear (HR20 right?).

Basically if anyone could just chime in and give me your opinions and thought that would be really appreciated.

Thanks all.

E* is Echostar (Dish Network). D is Direct TV - Right now Dish will give you the most HD but no locals.

So I went to watch the preseason football tonight and see that the NFLHD channel that I have always had not tells me that I need to call to get it. Any idea what is going on?? All I care about with comcrap is just the HD channels and always have to get all the other packages just to get them and I never watch those channels. Anyone know of a way to get just the HD channels - all of them including NFLHD - and not have to buy all the lower tier stuff?

A few weeks ago when HDNet and HDNet Movies got switched out for National Geographic and A&E, they also said NFL HD would be moving to the sports package.

WCAX says that it is HD and it looks that way to me. Does anyone know why WPTZ's SD broadcast looks so much worse than everyone else's? Even when I got it via satellite, it looked like they smeared petroleum jelly on the lens, but the SD transmission via the digital OTA still is awful, but their HD broadcasts are good.
WCAX has just confirmed to me what seems obvious--and that is that their local news is shot in 16x9 but in SD not HD. Still they are visually miles ahead of any of the competitors. "Locally owned" has come to mean engineering excellence at channel 3 while the conglomerate Hearst empire gives us the worst SD low res picture imaginable. Of course, this doesn't even take into account the other market stations that continue to make millions in this area without doing anything serious about giving back to the community. They, in fact, are virtually just switching stations for their networks.
Here is the comment from Channel Three's new Chief Engineer:
All local WCAX production (commercials, promos, and news) is shot in standard def 16x9 and up converted to HD.
Regards,
Joseph Tymecki
Chief Engineer, WCAX

Good point teacher, from what I've seen, WPTZ looks better on Comcast and D* than over the air, which is puzzling. The SD picture is so horrible, especially during in-house programs, such as the news, that I have switched over to watching WCAX's news even though they don't cover the Upper Valley as much. Hopefully one of these days WFFF or WVNY will get their acts together and produce some news or do something other than pass through programming. It's also basically illegal that the same company owns both of the stations which I feel definitely should not be allowed even though they 'technically' aren't.

You can't blame stations for not covering the upper valley. No offense, but virtually "nobody" lives down there.

As for WVNY and WFFF not having local content and for being operated under one roof, keep in mind that WVNY has been close to bankruptcy many times and has had to cancel its local news because of its precarious financial situation. Local news for Burlington-Plattsburgh is already so saturated with two stations sharing such a relatively small audience. I think only a Montreal-focused news operation could be profitable for WFFF/WVNY. You have to go where the viewers (and subsequently ad money) are! Would you rather have no ABC and Fox affiliates whatsoever?

Hey Green Mountain Boys (and Gals),

Good to see VT represented on this forum. I am in the beginning stages of buying a whole new home theatre system, and have been doing SO MUCH research. One of my big concerns is HD service and content. I have never had HDTV and only a few of my friends have it so I don't have much to go by.

So I think my options are D*, Dish, and Comcast, right? What is E*?

How is the HD from D* in the Burlington Area? I know some of my friends get HD from Comcast, but I heard there new D10 satelite is gonna have so many HD channels, I just want to confirm that when it goes live that Burlington residents will be able to receive the signal with the right gear (HR20 right?).

Basically if anyone could just chime in and give me your opinions and thought that would be really appreciated.

Thanks all.

If you want national HD channels the best option probably is Directv. In mid-September the new satellite(s) will go live and they will be the leader in HD. The major gripes with Directv currently is that they down-rez channels to something like 1440x1080i, but with some of the MPEG4 locals, which is what the new nationals will be, are being provided at full resolution. Also, D* most likely won't have Burlington locals until May-July next summer.

Comcast is the other option. I believe they currently have the most and best quality HD, but that will likely change with D*'s new satellites. Also, they only have WCAX and WPTZ in HD. Who knows when they will ever carry WVNY and WFFF.

E*, or Dish Network carries a lot of HD channels but there are a lot of niche channels (like Kung Fu, Game Play, etc), holdovers from Voom which was an HD specialty satellite network. However they also carry Universal, TNT, ESPN, etc., but nothing major that D* or Comcast doesn't have. The quality has been pretty good even though there are recent gripes of down-rezzing. They don't have any major plans announced for the future but it is doubtful they will have the capacity of D* in the near future and they have no plans to carry Burlington locals.

If I we're in your shoes, I would subscribe to D* and buy a cheap indoor antenna to see what you can do for locals. If you want more info the HDTV Programming forum has a ton of info on all of the providers.

You can't blame stations for not covering the upper valley. No offense, but virtually "nobody" lives down there.

As for WVNY and WFFF not having local content and for being operated under one roof, keep in mind that WVNY has been close to bankruptcy many times and has had to cancel its local news because of its precarious financial situation. Local news for Burlington-Plattsburgh is already so saturated with two stations sharing such a relatively small audience. I think only a Montreal-focused news operation could be profitable for WFFF/WVNY. You have to go where the viewers (and subsequently ad money) are! Would you rather have no ABC and Fox affiliates whatsoever?

I don't care about ABC, WMUR does a much better job overall as an ABC station than WVNY, and WPTZ in general, which is odd because they are both Hearst owned. And the only time I ever watch Fox now is for baseball since I don't get it digitally, and when I do I usually watch the New York City one. So yes, I could go without ABC and Fox from Burlington. I don't know why you think a Burlington station covering Montreal news would work since you already have 9 stations in Montreal, not to mention that Canadian viewership doesn't count since it's out of DMA. And Burlington is the 90th largest DMA out of about 210. In the 120 DMA's below it, I'm sure there are markets with more than 2 newscasts. And I know it isn't the population of Montreal, but in the "Upper Valley" area there are about 220,000 people, which is about 50,000 more than the slice of New York in our DMA. I always hear about the Target or something or other going up in Plattsburgh, but never a whisper about Lebanon, Claremont, Hartford, or Hanover (all of which are of a comparable size).

If you want national HD channels the best option probably is Directv. In mid-September the new satellite(s) will go live and they will be the leader in HD. The major gripes with Directv currently is that they down-rez channels to something like 1440x1080i, but with some of the MPEG4 locals, which is what the new nationals will be, are being provided at full resolution. Also, D* most likely won't have Burlington locals until May-July next summer.

Comcast is the other option. I believe they currently have the most and best quality HD, but that will likely change with D*'s new satellites. Also, they only have WCAX and WPTZ in HD. Who knows when they will ever carry WVNY and WFFF.

E*, or Dish Network carries a lot of HD channels but there are a lot of niche channels (like Kung Fu, Game Play, etc), holdovers from Voom which was an HD specialty satellite network. However they also carry Universal, TNT, ESPN, etc., but nothing major that D* or Comcast doesn't have. The quality has been pretty good even though there are recent gripes of down-rezzing. They don't have any major plans announced for the future but it is doubtful they will have the capacity of D* in the near future and they have no plans to carry Burlington locals.

If I we're in your shoes, I would subscribe to D* and buy a cheap indoor antenna to see what you can do for locals. If you want more info the HDTV Programming forum has a ton of info on all of the providers.
DISH Network Expands Nation's Largest HD Package
More National HD Channels, More HD Regional Sports Networks

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., July 10, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- EchoStar Communications Corporation (Nasdaq:DISH) and its DISH Network(tm) satellite TV service today announced exciting enhancements to its industry-leading DishHD programming package.

On July 11, DISH Network will launch eight Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) in high definition (HD) that feature game-only baseball content, including Fox Sports Network Arizona (Ch. 365), Fox Sports Network Northwest (Ch. 376), Fox Sports Network Cincinnati (Ch. 377), Fox Sports Network Pittsburgh (Ch. 378), Fox Sports Network Detroit (Ch. 380), SportsTime Ohio (Ch. 381), Fox Sports Network North (Ch. 386), and SportsNet New York (DISH Network Ch. 388). With the launch of nine HD RSNs earlier this year, these new additions bring DISH Network's total lineup of HD RSNs to 17, with more channel launches planned for Aug. 15.

Also on Aug. 15, DISH Network will add seven national HD channels to its DishHD programming package, including MHD, featuring music programming from MTV, VH1 and CMT; Golf/Versus HD; Animal Planet HD; The Science Channel HD; TLC HD; Discovery HD, and History HD, which will debut on Sept. 1. With these additions -- plus more planned for mid-September -- DishHD subscribers will continue to have access to the largest national HD lineup in the United States.

I don't care about ABC, WMUR does a much better job overall as an ABC station than WVNY, and WPTZ in general, which is odd because they are both Hearst owned. And the only time I ever watch Fox now is for baseball since I don't get it digitally, and when I do I usually watch the New York City one. So yes, I could go without ABC and Fox from Burlington. I don't know why you think a Burlington station covering Montreal news would work since you already have 9 stations in Montreal, not to mention that Canadian viewership doesn't count since it's out of DMA.

The problem with adjacent or out-of-market affiliates is that you get a lot of syndicated shows duplicated and as a result can miss out on many of them.

The Fox station doing Montreal news would work great. There may be nine, but only one anglophone station CFCF (CTV) has evening local news, and people have to wait until 11:30 for it! A Fox-style (police chases, etc.) 10pm newscast would certainly beat them in the ratings! :D

As for being out of DMA, what counts is the actual ad dollars, not the DMA rank. This works in the stations' favor; they probably get to buy syndicated programming only at a "Market 90" rate but can sell advertising at a "Market 15" rate.

In order to get ABC HD in Burlington area do I have to get the local station, or is there another "national" ABC HD channel in the D* package?

I wanna watch LOST in HD!

thanks.

The FCC today listed the final channel destinations for digital TV transmissions. (http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-138A2.pdf). Interesting is the fact that WCAX will move to channel 22. Let's hope that change gives more opportunity for better reception of their signal.

You won't ever qualify for the national network HD channels (CBS/NBC/ABC and Fox from NYC/LAX) because the local stations won't grant you a waiver. However, in Colchester you have a very good shot getting the locals in HD over the air from Mt. Mansfield with an antenna. If you can't get a good signal with an antenna, your only option will be to be go cable now and/or wait for D* to carry the locals in HD (probably some time in 2008).