Obviously you must not have kids. A lot of the movies in our library have been watched 10+ times.

You are correct.:p

That's for sure! My grandkids love watching the same movies over and over. Pixar and Disney movies are a significant portion of our collection. We also limit purchases to selections that are usually nominated for best film or movies that we do enjoy repeat viewings of like Titanic, or to great nature stuff like Planet Earth or March of the Penguins. I've watched Band of Brothers, Saving Private Ryan and We Were Soldiers repeatedly 3-5 times apiece.

Ok, I can understand it if you have kids it makes sense, especially with nature films and a lot of other interesting educational films. I guess if I had to buy a movie these would be the exceptions. My next 4 movies being sent to me via BB TA is Planet Earth on Blu-ray, but I have to admit when I watched them on the Discovery channel, Sigourney Weaver's voice was making me fall asleep. I hear the British version is better.:)

Anyway, the reason I posted my view is because after I purchased my Blu-ray drive I looked at my now obsolete collection of DVD's and wondered why I even bothered buying them when I can get them so cheap from blockbuster.

admit when I watched them on the Discovery channel, Sigourney Weaver's voice was making me fall asleep.


Perchance to dream of Ripley? :D

At least this is a start ;)

ADD 5160 WVNY{BURLINGTON, VT} MPEG4 HD Tp 13 Spot 16 Rainbow 1 61.5w UNAVAIL HIDE HD MAP 22

ADD 5161 WCAX{BURLINGTON, VT} MPEG4 HD Tp 13 Spot 16 Rainbow 1 61.5w UNAVAIL HIDE HD MAP 3

ADD 5162 WPTZ{NORTH POLE, NY} MPEG4 HD Tp 13 Spot 16 Rainbow 1 61.5w UNAVAIL HIDE HD MAP 5

ADD 5163 WFFF{BURLINGTON, VT} MPEG4 HD Tp 13 Spot 16 Rainbow 1 61.5w UNAVAIL HIDE HD MAP 44

Does anyone know when Comcast is planning to add more HD channels in the area?

Does anyone know when Comcast is planning to add more HD channels in the area?

They've been adding a lot in other markets, but I haven't seen any info indicating that more are coming to the Burlington area. It sure would be nice if they would add SciFi HD before the Battlestar Gallactica season ends :)

They better get there butts in gear because Burlington Telecom just announced their lineup. Needless to say, they have a little but more going on than Comcast. I would switch, but i'm moving out of Burlington shortly. Anybody have any Comcast info?

At least this is a start ;)

ADD 5160 WVNY{BURLINGTON, VT} MPEG4 HD Tp 13 Spot 16 Rainbow 1 61.5w UNAVAIL HIDE HD MAP 22

ADD 5161 WCAX{BURLINGTON, VT} MPEG4 HD Tp 13 Spot 16 Rainbow 1 61.5w UNAVAIL HIDE HD MAP 3

ADD 5162 WPTZ{NORTH POLE, NY} MPEG4 HD Tp 13 Spot 16 Rainbow 1 61.5w UNAVAIL HIDE HD MAP 5

ADD 5163 WFFF{BURLINGTON, VT} MPEG4 HD Tp 13 Spot 16 Rainbow 1 61.5w UNAVAIL HIDE HD MAP 44

A good sign. Anyone heard any scuttlebutt on DirecTV HD locals for the Burlington DMA? (I'm in the spot beam for Boston, however, so I might just have to "move").

At least this is a start ;)

ADD 5160 WVNY{BURLINGTON, VT} MPEG4 HD Tp 13 Spot 16 Rainbow 1 61.5w UNAVAIL HIDE HD MAP 22

ADD 5161 WCAX{BURLINGTON, VT} MPEG4 HD Tp 13 Spot 16 Rainbow 1 61.5w UNAVAIL HIDE HD MAP 3

ADD 5162 WPTZ{NORTH POLE, NY} MPEG4 HD Tp 13 Spot 16 Rainbow 1 61.5w UNAVAIL HIDE HD MAP 5

ADD 5163 WFFF{BURLINGTON, VT} MPEG4 HD Tp 13 Spot 16 Rainbow 1 61.5w UNAVAIL HIDE HD MAP 44
Where exactly are you seeing this uplink activity and how do you access it?

http://www.satelliteguys.us/uplink-center/

http://www.satelliteguys.us/uplink-center/
Thanks!

At least this is a start ;)

ADD 5160 WVNY{BURLINGTON, VT} MPEG4 HD Tp 13 Spot 16 Rainbow 1 61.5w UNAVAIL HIDE HD MAP 22

ADD 5161 WCAX{BURLINGTON, VT} MPEG4 HD Tp 13 Spot 16 Rainbow 1 61.5w UNAVAIL HIDE HD MAP 3

ADD 5162 WPTZ{NORTH POLE, NY} MPEG4 HD Tp 13 Spot 16 Rainbow 1 61.5w UNAVAIL HIDE HD MAP 5

ADD 5163 WFFF{BURLINGTON, VT} MPEG4 HD Tp 13 Spot 16 Rainbow 1 61.5w UNAVAIL HIDE HD MAP 44

There were also the following PBS stations in the same tread

8941(33) - WETK [MPEG4 SD] added to Echostar12 61.5 TP 13 Area 6 beam (Not Available)(Burlington, VT)
8942(57) - WCFE [MPEG4 SD] added to Echostar12 61.5 TP 13 Area 6 beam (Not Available)(Plattsburgh, NY)

From the last Charlie Chat I believe, they said the Burlington DMA will be turned on in May 08.

But this is definitely a good sign that they might keep their promise (but with Dish you never know)

I am moving my D* account to Vermont (Newbury) and notice that none of the local channels (Burlington) are carried in HD. Does this mean that I won't receive any of the major network channels in HD?

I am moving my D* account to Vermont (Newbury) and notice that none of the local channels (Burlington) are carried in HD. Does this mean that I won't receive any of the major network channels in HD?

In Newbury, you should be able to get at least FOX as an HD DNS feed without a waiver. You'll probably need a waiver on the rest, and expect CBS and NBC to deny the waivers.

http://directvdnseligibility.decisionmark.com/app/AddressForm.aspx

Thanks for the reply and info. According to the D* Eligibility Review for LA & NY tv stations, I will be eligible to receive CBS, FOX & NBC. Because of WMUR-TV I would need a vaiver for ABC. So until D* adds HD to the 3 DNS networks I am eligble to receive I'll gladly pay the extra $1.99 per channel.

Thanks again!

Thanks for the reply and info. According to the D* Eligibility Review for LA & NY tv stations, I will be eligible to receive CBS, FOX & NBC.

Excellent. Most of the people I know over that way aren't so lucky, and usually don't get the NBC and CBS feeds.

Over here in Grantham, NH, I get all the DNS feeds, although if I was a mere 3 miles to the east I'd have the Boston networks and no 72.5 dish...

I am moving my D* account to Vermont (Newbury) and notice that none of the local channels (Burlington) are carried in HD. Does this mean that I won't receive any of the major network channels in HD?I looked at a map, and it seems to me you have a reasonalby good chance at pulling in the VT HD locals OTA if you're interested in putting up a high-gain roof-top antenna.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will certainly consider this depending on how the installation goes later this month. Would save me the $1.99 for th 3 DNS plus I could get ABC out of Littleton.

Last week Ch 22/ABC showed two different segments (0 minutes in, ~ 35 minutes in) of Boston Legal in SD. Then on Sunday Ch 3/CBS showed the last portion of the Masters (after the win) in SD. Yesterday 44/Fox showed the first 7 minutes of Bones in SD. I thought we had gotten past this amateurishness.

Our DirecTv regional rep, said yesterday, Burlington HD locals are scheduled to come online in June.

Our DirecTv regional rep, said yesterday, Burlington HD locals are scheduled to come online in June.

Grudge match race! DirecTv vs Dish! :D Yes I know Dish's signals were promised long ago but I'm trying to stay optimistic. ;) I remember how long it took til DirecTv got locals here(2004). My Dish friends use to laugh at me because I had cable prior just to get locals. Do you know if the HD's will be delivered via the rented Canadian bird at 72.5 or will you need one of those new 5lnb dishes? One thing I would hate to give up is my VIP622.

E* is scheduled for May 8th, I believe, for Burlington HD locals. I've been getting them OTA since they came online, but know that is not a option for many. My guide should show a plethora of HD locals then.

Grudge match race! DirecTv vs Dish! :D Yes I know Dish's signals were promised long ago but I'm trying to stay optimistic. ;) I remember how long it took til DirecTv got locals here(2004). My Dish friends use to laugh at me because I had cable prior just to get locals. Do you know if the HD's will be delivered via the rented Canadian bird at 72.5 or will you need one of those new 5lnb dishes? One thing I would hate to give up is my VIP622.

The 72.5 bird was a temporary measure. If we get HD locals in June, it should be either from D11 or from something freed up from shuffling other stuff around, and will need the 5lnb dish.

Sci-Fi and USA HD just added to Dish Network lineup. Channels 9432 and 9431. CNN HD was added 2 days ago.

Sci-Fi and USA HD just added to Dish Network lineup. Channels 9432 and 9431. CNN HD was added 2 days ago.

Watch'n Monk right now. Nice pic. :D The guides are not updated yet for this evening on both but maybe later or for sure tomorrow AM. Well for sure some folks will now stop bitch'n ... well til next week! ;):D

Guide is updated for at least the VIP622's

Sci-Fi and USA HD just added to Dish Network lineup. Channels 9432 and 9431. CNN HD was added 2 days ago.

I sure wish Comcast would add SciFi HD.

So my DTV coupon arrived yesterday and I did some homework on DTV converters. Here are a couple of links to DTV Converter box reviews:

http://www.newtvinfo.com/home.html

http://www.birds-eye.net/article_archive/dtv_converter_box_review_and_where_to_buy.htm

These boxes are NOT all created equal. Many only have fair digital tuners in them. Interestingly, RS carries the two best reviewed sets, the Zenith and the Digital Stream. I picked up the Digital Stream DTX-9900 this morning and am very pleased with it. It is the only one that has the option to display a 16x9 transmission at 14x9, which mostly fills the screen of a 4x3 TV, but without ruining the aspect ratio. The DS comes with a universal remote so it can also control your TV, plus it is a fairly small, neat box.

So my DTV coupon arrived yesterday and I did some homework on DTV converters. Here are a couple of links to DTV Converter box reviews:

http://www.newtvinfo.com/home.html

http://www.birds-eye.net/article_archive/dtv_converter_box_review_and_where_to_buy.htm

These boxes are NOT all created equal. Many only have fair digital tuners in them. Interestly, RS carries the two best reviewed sets, the Zenith and the Digital Stream. I picked up the Digital Stream DTX-9900 this morning and am very pleased with it. It is the only one that has the option to display a 16x9 transmission at 14x9, which mostly fills the screen of a 4x3 TV, but without ruining the aspect ratio. The DS comes with a universal remote so it can also control your TV, plus it is a fairly small, neat box.


The 14:9 AR is a compromise ratio decided upon jointly by broadcasters and content providers (including advertisers) in the UK in 1998. Under the agreement, widescreen programs would be shown as full 16:9 on the digital channels but cropped to 14:9 for analogue broadcasts. The compromise took into account the fact that most analogue TVs in the UK were 4:3 sets with fairly small screens. The manufacturers of digital sets for the UK market then started incorporating a 14:9 setting in their 4:3 digital sets as well.

If you watch BBC World News on many PBS stations you'll see that they are shown at 14:9.

In Canada, CBC was showing widescreen programs from the UK in 14:9 for a while, but switched to showing them in 16:9 back in 2005.

As for the comments about a QAM tuner, or lack thereof, in the review of the Digital Stream Box, the reviewers failed to mention that QAM tuners are not allowed in the coupon eligible converter boxes. If the DS box actually had a QAM tuner then the box would not have received NTIA certification for the coupon program. DS should have removed the references to cable in its manual.

E* is scheduled for May 8th, I believe, for Burlington HD locals. I've been getting them OTA since they came online, but know that is not a option for many. My guide should show a plethora of HD locals then.
Dish is now showing April for Burlington-I'll believe it when I see it!

Dish is now showing April for Burlington-I'll believe it when I see it!
Soon. :D
Never hold your breath with Dish. The 3 new HD channels we got this week were scheduled for last week.

I've looked far and wide, but have not been able to find if a component video modulator/demodulator exists. When I'm talking about is something that takes the 3 component video signals, plus L+R audio (or even digital audio), and modulates them over independent carriers onto a single coaxial cable for distribution to a demodulator at the other end of the cable hooked up to the component video inputs of an HD display.

Does such a thing exist?

Incidentally, my motivation is to figure out how to get the output of my HD satellite receiver/PVR to a bedroom which is 3 floors away at HD quality (right now, I am using the receiver's built-in RF modulator, but that down-converts it to NTSC).

VTTOM,
I think you will have to go with separate baluns and Cat 5 for the component video and audio.

Does anyone know what the deal is with this, http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=127553#10000
, an application for a 5000 kW analog station in Vergennes? Hopefully it is a sign of things to come. Maybe My39 has been sold or The CW will be getting its own station. The company that applied has a lot of Spanish stations but I don't think that would make much sense in the Burlington market.

Considering that application is from 2000 and hasn't been acted on, (and conflicts with WCWF in Saranac Falls) I wouldn't expect to see anything there.

Plus, Pappas is in real financial trouble at the moment. They'll be lucky to manage to build out the stations they have now (most aren't on the air or are at extremely low power).

- Trip

I've looked far and wide, but have not been able to find if a component video modulator/demodulator exists. When I'm talking about is something that takes the 3 component video signals, plus L+R audio (or even digital audio), and modulates them over independent carriers onto a single coaxial cable for distribution to a demodulator at the other end of the cable hooked up to the component video inputs of an HD display.

Does such a thing exist?

Incidentally, my motivation is to figure out how to get the output of my HD satellite receiver/PVR to a bedroom which is 3 floors away at HD quality (right now, I am using the receiver's built-in RF modulator, but that down-converts it to NTSC).

Is there some reason you can't use HDMI and an HDMI extender?

Is there some reason you can't use HDMI and an HDMI extender?Because that would require me to pull a new cable, which is out of the question. I'm just surprised that noone has improved upon the RF modulator concept for the HDTV era.

Because that would require me to pull a new cable, which is out of the question. I'm just surprised that noone has improved upon the RF modulator concept for the HDTV era.

Several companies are very close to releasing wireless HDMI offerings. That will probably work for you, but they're bound to be pricey.

E* is scheduled for May 8th, I believe, for Burlington HD locals. I've been getting them OTA since they came online, but know that is not a option for many. My guide should show a plethora of HD locals then.
Burlington locals in HD are scheduled for Wed, April 23 for Dish Network. "Soon" is even sooner than I thought it would be. :-)

Burlington locals in HD are scheduled for Wed, April 23 for Dish Network. "Soon" is even sooner than I thought it would be. :-)
Yep just saw that! Lets hope we can take that one to the bank! :D:D And this Sunday is Talladega!

http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-hd-discussions/132848-new-dish-hd-locals-4-23-08-a.html

Finally!!! Yes, Talladega will look awesome!

This is from Engadget:
DISH Network ready to launch HD locals in eight more markets?
by Darren Murph, posted Apr 22nd 2008 at 5:10PM

Call it a hunch, but we're being told that DISH Network is gearing up to launch HD locals in eight new markets within the next 24 to 48 hours. Right around a week after it got busy with its last round of HD local rollouts, we're fully expecting a handful of other cities to get the same treatment. In no specific order, Greensboro, NC, Providence, RI, Burlington, VT, Greenville, SC and Knoxville, TN will all see high-def versions of their nearby ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX stations. Meanwhile, Huntsville, AL (CBS, NBC, FOX), Jackson, MS (ABC, CBS, NBC) and Mobile, AL (ABC, CBS, FOX) will be receiving higher-resolution versions of three out of the four major broadcast networks. Keep a close on that EPG, and be sure to let us know when these areas go live.

This is from Engadget:
DISH Network ready to launch HD locals in eight more markets?
by Darren Murph, posted Apr 22nd 2008 at 5:10PM

Call it a hunch,

The guys a regular Kreskin. The cities he named were all named on the Retailer Chat 5 hours before he had his "hunch".

Oh yeah, Vermont HD locals are now live on Dish.

Anyone need about a dozen 4228 & an equal number of 4221s?

Oh yeah, Vermont HD locals are now live on Dish.

Anyone need about a dozen 4228 & an equal number of 4221s?
To quote President Ford: " My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over."
Now where is my SPEED! :D

Oh yeah, Vermont HD locals are now live on Dish.

Anyone need about a dozen 4228 & an equal number of 4221s?

Don't despair, AntennaMan, the HD locals on Dish don't include the 4 digital channels of VPT, 44's CW or the 2 local weather/news channels of WCAX or WPTZ. I'm certainly not removing my OTA as it gets me 7 more channels than without.

Don't despair, AntennaMan, the HD locals on Dish don't include the 4 digital channels of VPT, 44's CW or the 2 local weather/news channels of WCAX or WPTZ.
Dumb question time Ski: What is 44's CW? Is that Country Western?

Dumb question time Ski: What is 44's CW? Is that Country Western?
Not dumb at all. I didn't know until a few months ago that The CW is, I think, a minor network from Warner Bros. that had been sharing time on Fox, but got split out into a digital sub-channel, 44-2. They've had hits like "The Reaper" and "Gossip Girl" Here is a link:
http://www.cwtv.com/

Dumb question time Ski: What is 44's CW? Is that Country Western?

The CW network was formed by the merger of the old UPN and WB networks in the Fall of 2006. Fox 44 used to have 2 hours per night of "The WB Time" from 10 pm to midnight, 6 nights a week. That became "The CW Time". Then late last year 44 decided to show all CW programs on their 44.2 sub-channel rather than on their HD sub-channel (44.1). So, 44.1 is Fox44 and 44.2 is "The CW".

Channel 44 carries the CW TV network on a digital subchannel.

EDIT: Of course I typed and submitted the above without hitting "refresh". Eh. But don't worry, as the way the way FOX in NY has programmed things, the subchannel doesn't affect HD bandwidth from network programs.

Not dumb at all. I didn't know until a few months ago that The CW is, I think, a minor network from Warner Bros. that had been sharing time on Fox, but got split out into a digital sub-channel, 44-2. They've had hits like "The Reaper" and "Gossip Girl" Here is a link:
http://www.cwtv.com/

It's not so much sharing time as it is Fox44 going out to get programming to fill their schedule.

During the week, Fox only provides their affiliates with 2 hours of primetime programming. Thiis means that Fox affiliates need to get some primetime programming elsewhere. Fox44 got their extra programming from the WB Network. (Other Fox stations get their extra programming from other sources). At first they only had 1 hour of "The WB Time" per night from 10 pm to 11 pm. In the Autumn of 2003 they extended it to 2 hours per night, from 10 pm to midnight. In 2006, The WB merged with UPN to form "The CW". Some programs from each of The WB and UPN were retained while others were cancelled. The CW is owned jointly by CBS and Warner Bothers.

The WB had programs such as "Charmed", "Smallville" and "Seventh Heaven". UPN had "Veronica Mars", "Friday Night Smackdown" and "Enterprise"
.

Channel 44 carries the CW TV network on a digital subchannel.

EDIT: Of course I typed and submitted the above without hitting "refresh". Eh. But don't worry, as the way the way FOX in NY has programmed things, the subchannel doesn't affect HD bandwidth from network programs.

Actually, by definition all digital channels are sub-channels, be it HD or SD.

Dish Net has four locals up in HD. They include: WCAX,WFFF,WPTZ and WVNY. No PBS...ugh. Sadly, I find that the compression is severe--there's no way I am dismantling my OTA antenna.

Dish Net has four locals up in HD. They include: WCAX,WFFF,WPTZ and WVNY. No PBS...ugh. Sadly, I find that the compression is severe--there's no way I am dismantling my OTA antenna.
For sure all the OTA'rs will agree with you! PBS would of been nice but to at least get it in SD is OK by me. I don't watch it much but the last series I did follow was The War. I was pleased to see that a pilot from Minnesota was still kick'n! I can't remember his name but there was a small series of 2 hr episodes produced back in the 90's that followed his career in the Army Air Corp. He flew a P-47 Thunderbolt. I was riveted to that series. Truly one of the greatest generation.

For sure all the OTA'rs will agree with you! PBS would of been nice but to at least get it in SD is OK by me. I don't watch it much but the last series I did follow was The War. I was pleased to see that a pilot from Minnesota was still kick'n! I can't remember his name but there was a small series of 2 hr episodes produced back in the 90's that followed his career in the Army Air Corp. He flew a P-47 Thunderbolt. I was riveted to that series. Truly one of the greatest generation.
PBS is presenting a new series called "Carrier" that I think you'll appreciate. It starts Sunday the 4th and promises to be an insightful look at the a unique floating city at a time when the troops were off to war.

PBS is presenting a new series called "Carrier" that I think you'll appreciate. It starts Sunday the 4th and promises to be an insightful look at the a unique floating city at a time when the troops were off to war.
Thanks for the heads up! I looked at the PBS website and confirmed with my 622's guide that it actually starts this Sunday! I have set my timers! :D

I moved from Essex Vt to Willsboro NY recently and I am looking for a DVR solution. We had Comcast in VT with a Scientific Atlanta 8000 HD (I think) and it worked great. The local cable Co here only offers SD however I have a straight shot view of Mansfield. My HD TV is a panasonic 42" plasma monitor (no tuner).

I am looking for a box with the following features:
OTA HD and cable SD tuner
HD DVR capability
Programmable guide (where I can program record OTA and cable programs)
Component outputs (for the monitor)
I dont want to pay for a subscription (like TIVO)

I read the Echostar TR-50 is coming out but will it be late? Will is be available? And if I go that route I am afraid I will be a beta user (bugshooter).

My wife is starting to get impatent..... we really got used to the DVR experience. Should I bite the bullet and get a TIVO? Any other options?

I moved from Essex Vt to Willsboro NY recently and I am looking for a DVR solution. We had Comcast in VT with a Scientific Atlanta 8000 HD (I think) and it worked great. The local cable Co here only offers SD however I have a straight shot view of Mansfield. My HD TV is a panasonic 42" plasma monitor (no tuner).

I am looking for a box with the following features:
OTA HD and cable SD tuner
HD DVR capability
Programmable guide (where I can program record OTA and cable programs)
Component outputs (for the monitor)
I dont want to pay for a subscription (like TIVO)

I read the Echostar TR-50 is coming out but will it be late? Will is be available? And if I go that route I am afraid I will be a beta user (bugshooter).

My wife is starting to get impatent..... we really got used to the DVR experience. Should I bite the bullet and get a TIVO? Any other options?

I think you're asking for a lot for free. Anyting with all those features will most likely have a subscription fee unless you go with a home-built system that can run free DVR software. Weren't you paying a fee to Comcast for your old DVR?

A TiVoHD will do everything you want (except the no fee). If you just have basic cable for SD, you won't need cable cards. For digital cable, you will need cable cards.

One note on the Echostar TR-50, is that it is an OTA only DVR, so no cable. But it will have an MPEG4 decoder and an ethernet connector so it can record off the internet. But it will be subscription free and still have a weekly electronic program guide.

I moved from Essex Vt to Willsboro NY recently and I am looking for a DVR solution. We had Comcast in VT with a Scientific Atlanta 8000 HD (I think) and it worked great. The local cable Co here only offers SD however I have a straight shot view of Mansfield. My HD TV is a panasonic 42" plasma monitor (no tuner).

I am looking for a box with the following features:
OTA HD and cable SD tuner
HD DVR capability
Programmable guide (where I can program record OTA and cable programs)
Component outputs (for the monitor)
I dont want to pay for a subscription (like TIVO)

I read the Echostar TR-50 is coming out but will it be late? Will is be available? And if I go that route I am afraid I will be a beta user (bugshooter).

My wife is starting to get impatent..... we really got used to the DVR experience. Should I bite the bullet and get a TIVO? Any other options?

The TR-50 should be out in July. Echostar has been recruiting beta testers, so it should be a tested product when it comes to market. They now have all the beta testers they need, but here is the notice posted a couple of days ago:

EchoStar is looking for 8 Beta Testers (could be more) for the EchoStar TR-40 (soon to be called DTVPal) OTA Digital TV Converter. This is the notice from Echostar for TR-40 testers:

We are near the end of the Beta Testing and need to put the final software versions to the test. You must be willing to put the box through its “paces”, to include testing Menus, Locks, Timers, and channel quality/availability. In order to be considered, please send an email to EMAIL REMOVED PROGRAM FULL with the Subject “TR-40 Beta Tester Request”. Include your name, location (city and state), and hours available to test.

Once you have been accepted, you will receive an email with further instructions. This will be a quick turn-around as we anticipate sending the units out either this Friday (25 April 2008) or Monday (28 April 2008).

If you are accepted, and prove to be a valuable Beta Tester, you will also be considered to Beta Test the upcoming TR-50 (OTA Digital TV Converter with DVR).

I think you're asking for a lot for free. Anyting with all those features will most likely have a subscription fee unless you go with a home-built system that can run free DVR software. Weren't you paying a fee to Comcast for your old DVR?

A TiVoHD will do everything you want (except the no fee). If you just have basic cable for SD, you won't need cable cards. For digital cable, you will need cable cards.

Thanks Tivo and Smuggs. Yes, I am looking for a simple solution that meets our needs and if I can get it for free why not? I was paying quite a bit for comcast - between internet, high def, hbo, and dvr I was paying too much.

As for tivo a $12 a month subscription fee wont break me ..... but why? For a programming guide and a user interface that could be provided by another for free - maybe not as good but would meet my needs.

I compare tivo to content providers when the internet was young. Information and the ability to connect required a subscription. Now most online content is free.

Hi all -

I posted a couple of times to this forum when we upgraded our TV last October, somewhat complaining about my inability to pick up the digital broadcasts from Mt Mansfield even though we're <10 miles away and have a direct line to the broadcast towers of sight from our back yard (although not from the living room where the TV is).

Anyway, after I let the the TV finish it's channel search for cable channels it did pick up the digital and HD broadcasts I had been looking for. At the time I assumed that I was getting them from our Comcast cable feed, but I had a conversation with a local Comcast rep yesterday that made me scratch my head.

I had called for more info regarding a promo offer (via phone solicitation) my wife fielded earlier in the week. I was asking about the details (would I need a converter box, how much does that cost, etc) and was told that I would need an HD converter box if I wanted to watch the HD broadcasts. This surprised me because we currently do get the local channel HD signals (WCAX, WPTZ/WNNE, WFFF, WETK). Right now we pay for "broadcast" cable service, nominally channels 2-22, with some excluded, i.e. ESPN2 on channel 11.

So my question is this, does anyone know if what we're receiving is just the OTA signal, was the guy at Comcast just clueless, or maybe are we just the beneficiary of some "constructive interference" somewhere in the system?

Does anyone else just have this level of service from Comcast and do or don't you get the HD channels? (I should note, that I can also tune in the Comcast digital music broadcasts as well.)

I'm not complaining about our service (although I do wonder if paying $20 a month to get CBC and WCFE is worth it, since everything else watch we should be able to get OTA if I were to stick pretty much any antenna in the right location). I an just interested in knowing what it is that we're watching so that if we have a problem down the road, I know if I should bother to call Comcast to fix it (or would that just mean that I risk they "turn-off" my extras.

I had called for more info regarding a promo offer (via phone solicitation) my wife fielded earlier in the week. I was asking about the details (would I need a converter box, how much does that cost, etc) and was told that I would need an HD converter box if I wanted to watch the HD broadcasts. This surprised me because we currently do get the local channel HD signals (WCAX, WPTZ/WNNE, WFFF, WETK). Right now we pay for "broadcast" cable service, nominally channels 2-22, with some excluded, i.e. ESPN2 on channel 11.
Most likely the QAM portion of the TV's tuner is simply picking up all the unencrypted signals including HD off of the cable. That pretty normal although not always for locals in a given cable company's area. You need a set top box for the rest of the encrypted HD's. Seems to me if you are that close to Mansfield with LOS you should be able to just get OTA with either an outside or inside antenna. The regular OTA'rs here should be able to help you and save you $$.

... and was told that I would need an HD converter box if I wanted to watch the HD broadcasts. ... They're telling you that because they want to sell you an premium HD package. If you want to just get the locals, then you can continue to do exactly what you've done (the locals are re-transmitted down the cable unencrypted, as required by the FCC, so any HDTV with a built-in "QAM" tuner will be able to pick them up).

If you want to get the HD versions of cable channels, like ESPN HD, etc., then, yes, you will need to sign up for an HD package and get an HD converter box from the cable company.

Now that we finally have locals from Dish I'm somewhat surprised that the national news is in SD but the local news is in(mostly) HD.I'm specifically refering to WCAX but I think it applies to the others.
Is this just a VT thing or is CBS (and the other networks)still in the stone age nationwide?

Although channel three's news seems to be in high def--it is not. It is more like "HD lite" as they upconvert an SD signal to 16x9. WFFF and their partner WVNY do have a full HD signal on the local news.
CBS has yet to convert the evening news to HD nor has ABC for that matter. NBC has delivered the evening news show in true HD for months now--and it is done with a really professional touch from their new NBC/CNBC studios in New York.
It is an interesting thought that the local stations have truly led the way on HD conversion compared to the networks. WRAL has been doing local news in HD for almost five years now! I can't think of another major technological change when the networks weren't, with their vastly superior financial position, ahead of the locals.

...If you want to just get the locals, then you can continue to do exactly what you've done (the locals are re-transmitted down the cable unencrypted, as required by the FCC, so any HDTV with a built-in "QAM" tuner will be able to pick them up)....

Ok, so a follow up question, what determines a local station that would be required to be re-transmitted? I'm curious about WCFE, the NY PBS station. I would consider that a local station, but I don't seem to be able to pick up any of their digital broadcasts. Not a big deal to me, since I suspect their HD programming would be the national PBS shows that I could get on WETK, but it certainly seems odd that I don't. (For what it's worth we get both the WNNE and the WPTZ HD broadcasts, and I don't think the WNNE signal would be considered all that local for Jericho.)

I suspect even if they were truly "local" the same law probably wouldn't apply to the broadcast stations from Canada (namely CBMT, the CBC station, which I would love to get in HD). Anyone know for certain?

Finally, a request to the OTA'ers in the Jericho area, what stations do you folks receive? I know I should be able to get anything broadcast from Mt Mansfield (WCAX, WPTZ, WFFF, WETK, WVNY) but can of you pick up WCFE or any of the Canadian broadcasts?

Ok, so a follow up question, what determines a local station that would be required to be re-transmitted?My understand of the FCC requirements regarding local channels comes down to:

1) Cable companies must carry certain local channels, but this must-carry requirement only applies to an SD signal. Broadcasting an HD version is at the cable company's discretion.

2) If they choose to offer a local channel in HD, then they must do so in an unencrypted fashion so that any QAM tuner-equipped HDTV can receive.

Dish Network announced today the additional HD channels below:
ABC Family HD
• AMC HD
• BET HD
• The Biography
Channel HD
• Bravo HD
• Cartoon Network HD
• CMT HD
• Disney Channel HD
• ESPN News HD
• HBO2 HD
• IFC HD
• MGM HD
• MTV HD
• Nickelodeon HD
• WGN HD
• The Weather
Channel HD
• VH-1 HD
I am also finding that the four locals are looking much better lately. It's great to have them on line because now you can record two HD channels at once--you could also add an SD channel bringing the total to three.

Sorry I should have added in my actual text that the channels from Dish are promises at this point. It is, in my experience, the first time they've actually named the channels.

So my question is this, does anyone know if what we're receiving is just the OTA signal, was the guy at Comcast just clueless, or maybe are we just the beneficiary of some "constructive interference" somewhere in the system?

I went to the Comcast office in Williston to investigate an HD box, and the woman at the front desk tried to tell me the same thing: that they don't transmit the local HD signals, that if I was getting them, it was OTA.

Of course, that's nonsense. She was blowing smoke by me, and honestly, I think she's been told to say that, it wasn't as if she had any technical knowledge about these kinds of things.

There's a marked difference in picture quality between the HD signals I get from Comcast and the OTA signals I get when I detach the cable and hook up rabbit ears. The Comcast HD local signals are markedly inferior....if those were truly OTA signals I am getting, wouldn't they be identical? Of course they would.

When I go OTA with rabbit ears, I get Mountain Lake PBS on 57. I don't get it at all on Comcast.

When I go OTA with rabbit ears, I don't get WCAX, WVNY or VT PBS.

When I go OTA with rabbit ears, I get Mountain Lake PBS on 57. I don't get it at all on Comcast.

When I go OTA with rabbit ears, I don't get WCAX, WVNY or VT PBS.

If you really want OTA, try something better than rabbit ears (mostly for VHF and most digital TV is UHF). If limited to inside antenna, an Antennas Direct DB2 placed in a window on the tower side is way better than rabbit ears. Otherwise, go with an outside antenna that favors UHF.

I was a little skeptical at first but recentely built my own UHF HDTV antenna for practically free out of coat hangers, some wire, and a piece of wood. You would be amazed at how well these work. I am in Burlington down near the lake and pull in 13 digital channels OTA with this antenna crudely mounted on my window next to my TV. People in Canada are reporting picking up good signals 110 miles out from Mt Mansfield.



Here is the one I built.
uhfhdtvantenna(dot)blogspot(dot)com

Great reading on the topic here but you need to register I believe.

www(dot)lumenlab(dot)com/forums/index.php?showtopic=9613

[QUOTE=BW577;13779975]I was a little skeptical at first but recently built my own UHF HDTV antenna for practically free out of coat hangers, some wire, and a piece of wood. You would be amazed at how well these work. I am in Burlington down near the lake and pull in 13 digital channels OTA with this antenna crudely mounted on my window next to my TV. People in Canada are reporting picking up good signals 110 miles out from Mt Mansfield.

Yep, not too difficult to build an antenna. You can make a good VHF antenna for WVNY-DT (broadcasting on 13) with a 27.5 inch strip of flat twin lead to merge with the one you built. I don't understand why folks are so quick to give up after poor reception with rabbit ears when better solutions are cheap and easy. Digital transmission requires a better antenna than analog.
http://www.wfu.edu/~matthews/misc/dipole.html

People in Canada are reporting picking up good signals 110 miles out from Mt Mansfield.

yup, I'm 110 miles away and I get your digital tv stations with an old Channel master 4221 and a preamp.

BUT...

I live up a mountain on the opposite side of the Champlain/St-Lawrence valley. I know people 125 miles away in the Laurentian Mountains still receiving HD with old yagi type deep-fringe antennas. Elevation is the key.

I'm about 90 miles away as the crow flies, with quite a bit of mountain between here and Mansfield, and I get get a vaguely useful HD signal as well (if I didn't have HD DNS channels, I'd probably try to tweak some more gain out of my antenna setup...)

We're glad our friends in Canada can enjoy our digital channels. Now if you'd just get CTV to do over the air digital and get all the antennas on the mountain and at full power, we'd consider the favor returned. It would be so nice to watch the Olympics this summer without all the BS NBC is going to put us through. I can get 2.1 in the morning when conditions are right but have never gotten a flicker on 6.1 or the others.

Now if you'd just get CTV to do over the air digital and get all the antennas on the mountain and at full power, we'd consider the favor returned.

I'm harrassing them about it but still get a "NO" as reply.

CTV get all the best shows from the US so for us it's a "one channel fits all"

This is 2 weeks in a row now that the ABC local affiliate (no names but its initials are WVNY) has dropped the center channel (dialog) for an entire between commercial breaks segment on Women's Murder Club. I didn't think this was rocket science

This is 2 weeks in a row now that the ABC local affiliate (no names but its initials are WVNY) has dropped the center channel (dialog) for an entire between commercial breaks segment on Women's Murder Club. I didn't think this was rocket scienceAlong those same lines... Did anyone watch American Idol last night? The balance was terrible... The vocals were OK in the middle, but the band was WAY to quiet, and the audience applause in the back channels were WAY to loud.

On an interesting note - while trying to improve the situation, I switched my 5.1 receiver from Dolby Digital into Stereo mode. The vocal vs. band balance didn't change, but the audience noise disappeared completely (I was expecting to get some of it in the stereo mix).

This is 2 weeks in a row now that the ABC local affiliate (no names but its initials are WVNY) has dropped the center channel (dialog) for an entire between commercial breaks segment on Women's Murder Club. I didn't think this was rocket science

Send a PM to VideoTech. He was helping WVNY straighten out the problem the last time it happened, and I'm sure he'd be interested to hear that the problem is back again.

Along those same lines... Did anyone watch American Idol last night? The balance was terrible... The vocals were OK in the middle, but the band was WAY to quiet, and the audience applause in the back channels were WAY to loud.

On an interesting note - while trying to improve the situation, I switched my 5.1 receiver from Dolby Digital into Stereo mode. The vocal vs. band balance didn't change, but the audience noise disappeared completely (I was expecting to get some of it in the stereo mix).

YES! We noticed and it was very irritating as it almost made for a Capella performances. Made no difference whether we were OTA or Dish, the sound of the band was very weak.

Dish Network press release:
ENGLEWOOD, Colo., May 11, 2008 (PrimeNewswire via COMTEX News Network) -- DISH Network Corporation (Nasdaq:DISH), today announced plans to bolster its rapidly expanding HD programming with the launch of an additional 22 national HD channels beginning Monday, May 12. These additions include:

-- ABC Family HD (DISH Network -- Disney HD East (Ch. 172)
Ch. 180) -- ESPNews HD (Ch. 142)
-- Biography HD (Ch. 119) -- Hallmark Movie Channel HD
-- Bravo HD (Ch. 129) (Ch. 187)
-- Cartoon HD (Ch. 176) -- MGM HD (Ch. 385)
-- Cinemax 5 Star (Ch. 381) -- Sci Fi HD (Ch. 122)
-- Cinemax HD West (Ch. 380) -- Smithsonian HD (Ch. 374)
-- Comcast Sports Network Bay -- Tennis Channel HD (Ch. 400)
Area HD (Ch. 419)* -- Toon Disney HD (Ch. 174)
-- Comcast Sports Network New -- Travel Channel HD (Ch. 215)
England HD (Ch. 435)* -- USA HD (Ch. 105)
-- CNBC HD (Ch. 208) -- Weather Channel HD (Ch. 214)
-- CNN HD (Ch. 200) -- World Fishing Network HD (Ch. 396)

*Launch Wednesday, May 14

Can't wait to see if these channels are available when I get home

Easy to read list...

-- ABC Family HD (DISH Network Ch. 180)
-- Biography HD (Ch. 119)
-- Bravo HD (Ch. 129)
-- Cartoon HD (Ch. 176)
-- Cinemax 5 Star (Ch. 381)
-- Cinemax HD West (Ch. 380)
-- Comcast Sports Network Bay Area HD (Ch. 419)*
-- Comcast Sports Network New England HD (Ch. 435)*
-- CNBC HD (Ch. 208)
-- CNN HD (Ch. 200)
-- Disney HD East (Ch. 172)
-- ESPNews HD (Ch. 142)
-- Hallmark Movie Channel HD (Ch. 187)
-- MGM HD (Ch. 385)
-- Sci Fi HD (Ch. 122)
-- Smithsonian HD (Ch. 374)
-- Tennis Channel HD (Ch. 400)
-- Toon Disney HD (Ch. 174)
-- Travel Channel HD (Ch. 215)
-- USA HD (Ch. 105)
-- Weather Channel HD (Ch. 214)
-- World Fishing Network HD (Ch. 396)

Dish Network press release:
ENGLEWOOD, Colo., May 11, 2008 (PrimeNewswire via COMTEX News Network) -- DISH Network Corporation (Nasdaq:DISH), today announced plans to bolster its rapidly expanding HD programming with the launch of an additional 22 national HD channels beginning Monday, May 12.


Man, Comcast really needs to step it up.

Man, Comcast really needs to step it up.
... and DirecTv needs to start checking its rearview mirror! Dish is coming on!:D No SPEED tho, but I guess thats to be expected.:( I never knew that Comcast had its own Sports Network and we're getting it.:eek:

... and DirecTv needs to start checking its rearview mirror! Dish is coming on!:D No SPEED tho, but I guess thats to be expected.:( I never knew that Comcast had its own Sports Network and we're getting it.:eek:
Yep, I knew Dish would catch up eventually. And they are doing this in spite of no new satellites! They are using the space formerly occupied by Sky Angel and using MPEG4. Not to mention the 10 Voom channels they dropped Monday night. Wish they had kept Film Fest.

After dropping 10 Voom channels Monday night, Dish dropped the 5 remaining and most popular Voom channels last night. Other than the best DVR available, Dish now has nothing to distinguish it from DirecTV. Still far more HD than cable though. :D
There has always been controversy on whether Voom was worth the bandwidth or not as they tended to have a lot of repeats, plus niche channels. However, Voom was always full time HD with no commercials. Many of the newly added "HD" channels (same on D*) are only part-time with a lot of SD, upconverted or (worse) strech-o-vision content plus commercials. If you wanted to "wow" someone with HDTV, Voom was the place to go.

Could be all the cards are not on the table yet. Before I rush to judgment, I'd wait to see what happens at Team Summit, which starts Friday (I think).

Could be all the cards are not on the table yet. Before I rush to judgment, I'd wait to see what happens at Team Summit, which starts Friday (I think).
Agreed. While I was mostly ambivalent torwards Voom channels they were still content for many who enjoyed them. Oh well, I guess I will just go fishing.... Wait I've got the WFN!:D

Oh man. My ViP622 experienced some kind of glitch last night...

In the EPG, the OTA HD locals were only showing "Digital Programming", and the locals over satellite weren't showing up at all. This caused my American Idol timer to fail to record the show last night [grumble].

I re-booted the box, and everything was restored.

I've never seen this happen before. Has anyone else?

Oh man. My ViP622 experienced some kind of glitch last night...

In the EPG, the OTA HD locals were only showing "Digital Programming", and the locals over satellite weren't showing up at all. This caused my American Idol timer to fail to record the show last night [grumble].

I re-booted the box, and everything was restored.

I've never seen this happen before. Has anyone else?

Not me. Suggest you go to: http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-network-forum/
where the experts are.

Not me. Suggest you go to: http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-network-forum/
where the experts are.
What he said:D and also go here on dbstalk where there is a forum for 622/722's http://www.dbstalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=107 Be sure to use the search function first regardless as some folks get awfully pissy(jerks). ;)

Agreed. While I was mostly ambivalent torwards Voom channels they were still content for many who enjoyed them. Oh well, I guess I will just go fishing.... Wait I've got the WFN!:D

I must admit I feel like a pair of brown shoes at a formal wedding! The shows and channels I love the most inevitably are the ones that the majority seemingly can do without.
I am truly angry at losing channels like Gallery and Voom News, Rush and World Cinema.
Why is it that anything with a cultural interest or a unique perspective is dismissed by Dish--often in deference to adding yet another sports channel? How did Charlie become the de facto grantor of public opinion? Couldn’t Dish open its coffers and support some cultural or unique programming--even if it's not really profitable? Is money the only controlling factor at Echo Star? How about a change of attitude that takes into account viewers who might enjoy a different perspective?
I suppose that I should be grateful for the addition of so many new channels. I’ll try to control my enthusiasm over being able to watch a 24 hour fishing channel. Ah, yes, all fins…all the time! How about the west coast feed of a movie channel? Oh, that’s right I have a PVR that Dish has pushed for years. How about the SciFi Channel that is managing to show programs like Jake 2.0 in SD when Mark Cuban’s channel was airing it in full 1080i over a year ago?
I don’t pretend to understand the business intricacies of these decisions even though I’ve read the court decision against Voom. But, just once, just once mind you, I’d like to see us poor bastards in brown shoes win one!

I know what you mean as I will miss Rave, Rush, Equator and FilmFest. I does seem that anything that appeals to intellect doesn't last long and what appeals to the unwashed masses :D goes on for years.

Is it me or does TNT HD absolutely suck? The image seems pixelated and grainy, but I have no other choice if I want to watch Spurs/Hornets game 7 :confused:

Is it me or does TNT HD absolutely suck? The image seems pixelated and grainy, but I have no other choice if I want to watch Spurs/Hornets game 7 :confused:

It's not you. Most of TNT HD is simply widescreen 480p.

It's not you. Most of TNT HD is simply widescreen 480p.

I think NBA games are in true 720P; the image doesn't appear stretched at all. However, the PQ stinks big time: grainy, dim, pixelated.

I think NBA games are in true 720P; the image doesn't appear stretched at all. However, the PQ stinks big time: grainy, dim, pixelated.

I agree the picture is awful on TNT...especially during fast motion and transition shots. I have to think this is the result of their high compression rates. I sometimes toggle back and forth between OTA HD and cable HD broadcasts on CBS, ABC, NBC, etc and there is simply no comparison. OTA is clean and crisp while the cable broadcasts have significant pixelation.

We should all write into Comcast and let them that we do in fact notice this...it's very apparent if you ask me.

We should all write into Comcast and let them that we do in fact notice this...it's very apparent if you ask me.

Since I bought my 52" XBR4, I've noticed how bad compression is on every channel. MOJO is almost not worth watching because of it (not that it has much content to merit watching anyway). And last night I watched a little bit of The Cowboy Way on HBO, where even very small movements caused pixelation due to the combination of film grain and high compression. As far as broadcast goes, I've only ever been able to see the networks on Comcast due to my location, but I'd love to be able to pick them up OTA. This makes me glad I have Blu-ray so I can put my HDTV to good use.

I suspect even if they were truly "local" the same law probably wouldn't apply to the broadcast stations from Canada (namely CBMT, the CBC station, which I would love to get in HD). Anyone know for certain?

Finally, a request to the OTA'ers in the Jericho area, what stations do you folks receive? I know I should be able to get anything broadcast from Mt Mansfield (WCAX, WPTZ, WFFF, WETK, WVNY) but can of you pick up WCFE or any of the Canadian broadcasts?

When we lived in Underhill we were able to receive 2, 6 CBC and 12 CTV very well. We received a couple other French stations marginally, I want to say they were like 17 and 19? We were at about 1350 ft using a 12 ft antenna mounted on the roof. I'm guessing in Jericho your elevation is considerably lower so you may have more difficulty.
Now we're in South Burlington and would like to get CBC and CTV OTA, but I'm guessing that's going to be nearly impossible now that we're in a dense neigborhood at around 350 ft. I'd really like to get them in HD, but it sounds like that is absolutely impossible. Those were our favorite stations and we miss them very much. :(

When we lived in Underhill we were able to receive 2, 6 CBC and 12 CTV very well. We received a couple other French stations marginally, I want to say they were like 17 and 19? We were at about 1350 ft using a 12 ft antenna mounted on the roof. I'm guessing in Jericho your elevation is considerably lower so you may have more difficulty.
Now we're in South Burlington and would like to get CBC and CTV OTA, but I'm guessing that's going to be nearly impossible now that we're in a dense neigborhood at around 350 ft. I'd really like to get them in HD, but it sounds like that is absolutely impossible. Those were our favorite stations and we miss them very much. :(

Does anyone in the Williston/Burlington area get an HD signals from Montreal? Are they even broadcasting in HD yet?

I'm at about 800 feet on a north-facing hill in Essex. I can occasionally get CBC French on Ch 19 (2.1) usually early in the morning. I have received CBC English once on 20 (6.1). Neither is broadcasting from Mt. Royal but rather from the CBC building roof down in the city and both at low power. CTV (Ch 12) has not gone digital at all yet in Montreal. There are also two stations (both in French I believe) broadcasting digitally from buildings in the city at low power. I've never had a whisper from either. Many folks in greater Montreal can't get the stations! The problem is that the towers on the mountain are "full" and the Canadian equivalent of the FCC is not pushing for conversion to digital until 2011. So, it will be a few years until there is full power transmission from the mountain and we get to see the Olympics in HD without all the BS NBC makes us sit through.

Hello, I'm looking to find out where I ask for advice and information, mainly for Plattsburgh but also for South Barnet area in the Northeast Kingdom in VT, about 20 miles south of St. J. Our VT house is near Monroe, NH and initial investigation shows only 3 channels available, which would require a huge antenna, so we'll likely keep cable (Charter sucks).

We live in an apartment in the Town of Plattsburgh, south of the old base just before Cliff Haven and south of all the car dealers.

We mainly watch the prime-time channels, which I guess would be 3 and 5 and 8 in Plattsburgh.

Initial research suggests that an indoor medium power antenna would bring in these channels and maybe also PBS. Is this a good estimate??

What antenna and DTV converter are recommended, or where can I find good places to seek recommendations?? (It would be nice but not necessary to pick up Canadian channels.)

Thank you, Tom

Tom12010,
From Plattsburgh, most of your TV stations will come from Mt Mansfield and probably require a medium directional OUTDOOR antenna, possibly with a pre-amp. You can get a better idea by checking www.antennaweb.org and tvfool.com. Canadian and non-Manfield stations may require a 2nd antenna pointed at their towers. You could possibly go without a pre-amp for Mansfield by using a larger Channel Master 4228 and that would probably be my choice.
Good medium UHF antennas would be Winegard PR4400, CM 4221 or Antennas Direct DB4. To get WVNY (chan 22 on 13), you would need to add a high VHF like the Winegard YA6713. The CM 4228 will probably pick up WVNY okay.

A friend in S. Burlington contacted me to say after installing her DTV converter, that almost all channels had signals too weak to register. I found out she was using rabbit ears, so I took a spare DB4 to her house with a homemade high-VHF dipole attached, set it in a second story window and ran RG6 downstairs to her TV. In minutes she had about 15 digital channels. She was thrilled at both the number of channels and the picture clarity.
I hooked her up with a web site to order a Winegard PR4400 and a j-mount for a total of about $38 plus shipping.
She had been ready to throw in the towel on OTA. I think insufficient antenna is going to be a bigger problem for many than getting the converters. For those who can't install (apartments) outside antennas, a DB2 (close to Manfield w/no obstructions), DB4, PR4400 or CM4221 on the wall, in a closet, behind the sofa, etc will yield a big improvement over rabbit ears.

I hooked her up with a web site to order a Winegard PR4400 and a j-mount for a total of about $38 plus shipping.Is there any money in the idea of starting-up an antenna-consulting business that caters to consumers interested in maximizing their OTA HDTV reception?

Is there any money in the idea of starting-up an antenna-consulting business that caters to consumers interested in maximizing their OTA HDTV reception?
Not if they can find this site. :D
There are already antenna installers out there charging (I guess) $200 plus parts. The good ones earn their money with pre-testing prior to installation and good clean cable runs.
I'm not interested in replacing them; I just help out the occasional OTA challenged friend. It seems most folks have no idea what is required and the benefits of a good antenna. If they can't get it with rabbit ears, they give up or go (shudder) cable.

I just installed a 4 bay on the eave for a friend in S Burlington (20 miles w/trees, 2 story). The plan was to use the former CATV point of entry for distribution into the house. Disconnected cable from street and connected RG6 from antenna, and only picked up chans 3 & 5 with fairly weak signal. Ran RG6 thru window direct to TV and got most channels in the 80s (except for 22, of course). Found out the cable is distributed to 5 rooms and I know the unused ones should be terminated to reduce signal loss. Found a 4 way splitter in the basement and the outs were labeled -7db Out. I've never seen that before. Asked my friend to pick up a new 4 way and will peak the antenna on next visit plus terminate unused wall plates. Does CATV use different cables and splitters than OTA? I would really like to use the current distribution and I don't want to drill any holes or run cable thru walls or floors. My friend can't afford a professional installation.

http://www.channelmasterintl.com/2016.html
http://www.winegarddirect.com/viewitem.asp?p=HD-1080

Channel Master's new 2016 antenna looks like it should be great for many locations in the greater Burlington area. Haven't seen reviews but the UHF/high VHF specs should pick up all locals for medium antenna applications. The Winegard HD-1080 is another new antenna with similar specs but different design.
I was wondering when someone would figure out there is a need for this.

Found a 4 way splitter in the basement and the outs were labeled -7db Out. I've never seen that before. Asked my friend to pick up a new 4 way and will peak the antenna on next visit plus terminate unused wall plates. Does CATV use different cables and splitters than OTA? I would really like to use the current distribution and I don't want to drill any holes or run cable thru walls or floors. My friend can't afford a professional installation.
I know I probably won't be much help but prior to 2000 I had Adelphia... Their guys in trying to solve a problem where I got nothing but pixelation when the temp dropped below the 20's had them replace all cables outside and in looking at my setup in the house with a splitter, replaced the splitter and cables as well stating I was using cheapo junk. I'm sorry Ski but I don't remember what if anything was on the old or the new splitter they replaced it with. :( They were adament at that time that what I was using was junk. Was the house you are working on cabled by Adelphia or is it newer or possibly cabled by the current or previous owner?

I know I probably won't be much help but prior to 2000 I had Adelphia... Their guys in trying to solve a problem where I got nothing but pixelation when the temp dropped below the 20's had them replace all cables outside and in looking at my setup in the house with a splitter, replaced the splitter and cables as well stating I was using cheapo junk. I'm sorry Ski but I don't remember what if anything was on the old or the new splitter they replaced it with. :( They were adament at that time that what I was using was junk. Was the house you are working on cabled by Adelphia or is it newer or possibly cabled by the current or previous owner?

I'm sure it was cabled by Adelphia as it looks to be a professional installation. I posted the question at the technical level of this forum and a splitter replacement was recommended, possibly with an amplified splitter. I'll go with a standard splitter first.

... Found a 4 way splitter in the basement and the outs were labeled -7db Out. I've never seen that before. Asked my friend to pick up a new 4 way and will peak the antenna on next visit plus terminate unused wall plates.Instead of terminating the unused outlets, why not replace the splitter with a barrel connector so you only hook up the 1 outlet you're using? However, if you really are splitting it to send to multiple receivers, then by all means replace the passive splitter with a powrered UHF/VHF distribution amp.

Instead of terminating the unused outlets, why not replace the splitter with a barrel connector so you only hook up the 1 outlet you're using? However, if you really are splitting it to send to multiple receivers, then by all means replace the passive splitter with a powrered UHF/VHF distribution amp.
Good point! Although it will be distributed to at least 3 rooms, barrel connecting one line at a time will let me figure out where each cable goes, as 5 rooms were originally wired and this splitter only carries to 4. Thanks for clearing my head.

For you folks who have DirecTV. As quoted from the home page of SatelliteGuys.US

DirecTV Gives Gift
DirecTV wants to say Happy Fathers Day to all dads (and everyone else) with a special free preview of it's Premiere Package from 6am Friday Morning until 6am ET on Monday Morning! This free preview includes all of the HBO, Showtime, Cinemax and Starz Channels as well!

Has anybody seen WPTZ HD lately? Their newscast is much improved! Picture is 100% better. They must have changed something.

Has anybody seen WPTZ HD lately? Their newscast is much improved! Picture is 100% better. They must have changed something.

I agree. There seems to be no change in their studio cameras so I suppose that they are improving the infrastructure so they can go local HD in the fall. It's about time, as these guys looked like the bastard child of the Hearst organization.

My Winegard HD-1080 2-bay UHF/high VHF antenna arrived yesterday ($36 plus shipping). This morning I removed a Winegard 4-bay UHF, a Winegard YA6713 high-VHF, a UHF/VHF combiner and the coax associated with all that and replaced them with the HD-1080.
I live 14 miles from the towers on Mt Mansfield with LOS to them, ideal conditions for a downsized solution. The tuner is a VIP622 from E* Here are the results:

2 Antennas 1 Antenna
WCAX - 53 99 92
WPTZ - 14 96 88
WVNY - 13 87 81
WETK - 32 98 98
WFFF - 43 100 100

The mass on the mast is 1/3 of what it was and the appearance is much cleaner. I'm thinking this is a keeper.

http://www.winegarddirect.com/viewitem.asp?p=HD-1080

My Winegard HD-1080 2-bay UHF/high VHF antenna arrived yesterday ($36 plus shipping). This morning I removed a Winegard 4-bay UHF, a Winegard YA6713 high-VHF, a UHF/VHF combiner and the coax associated with all that and replaced them with the HD-1080.
I live 14 miles from the towers on Mt Mansfield with LOS to them, ideal conditions for a downsized solution. The tuner is a VIP622 from E* Here are the results:

2 Antennas 1 Antenna
WCAX - 53 99 92
WPTZ - 14 96 88
WVNY - 13 87 81
WETK - 32 98 98
WFFF - 43 100 100

The mass on the mast is 1/3 of what it was and the appearance is much cleaner. I'm thinking this is a keeper.

http://www.winegarddirect.com/viewitem.asp?p=HD-1080I'm curious, did you scan for Mountain Lake PBS (WCFE-DT)? I'm able to get it off the back-side of my antenna (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=10100396&postcount=2209) because it's almost exactly 180degrees from the Mt. Mansfield towers. I get it with the signal meter in the 70s on my ViP622, but it's a solid picture with no breakup (must be because there are no other signals coming from that direction that interfere).

I'm curious, did you scan for Mountain Lake PBS (WCFE-DT)? I'm able to get it off the back-side of my antenna (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=10100396&postcount=2209) because it's almost exactly 180degrees from the Mt. Mansfield towers. I get it with the signal meter in the 70s on my ViP622, but it's a solid picture with no breakup (must be because there are no other signals coming from that direction that interfere).
I re-scanned for all channels and did not pick up WCFE-DT with either setup. Antennaweb.org doesn't show it for my location either. I am about 15 miles north of Stowe.
Awesome DIY antenna, BTW.

There seems to be no change in [WPTZ's] studio cameras so I suppose that they are improving the infrastructure so they can go local HD in the fall. It's about time, as these guys looked like the bastard child of the Hearst organization.

I was watching their HD of the Tiger Woods/U.S. Open playoff today, and at one point they began rolling a crawl across the top of the screen about a thunderstorm warning. Now, I had no problem with the crawl, it's a public safety issue....but when the crawl was done, they left the picture in SD for a solid 5 minutes so that they could keep a logo in the top left corner that flashed a highly uninformative "Thunderstorm Warning/Thunderstorm Watch" message back and forth.

I got sick of waiting, so I called them to ask them please to return it to HD if they weren't going to have any information to impart of substance about thunderstorms. As you might expect, I kept getting put on hold and bounced to four different people before I finally reached one who knew what the heck I was talking about. And he had the nerve to defend the SD they'd dumbed down to, AND took a potshot at the relative unimportance of a mere golf tournament compared to "Public Safety".

Fine, weedforbrains, if you have information to impart, I'll buy that argument...but simply flashing the words Thunderstorm Warning and Thunderstorm Watch next to a tiny multi-state map don't accomplish much along that line.

Earth to WPTZ's engineering and Master Control room: it really does matter to your viewers if you are transmitting an SD or an HD signal on the HD channel. Even IF no-brain viewers like me are watching a mere golf tournament.

Sheesh.

My Winegard HD-1080 2-bay UHF/high VHF antenna arrived yesterday ($36 plus shipping). ...

http://www.winegarddirect.com/viewitem.asp?p=HD-1080

So I've been getting closer to dropping Comcast and getting a real antenna. (Yea, I know the sentiment here is likely, "what are you waiting for?" I just haven't yet been ready to drop CBC, but the picture today for the MLS game was so bad, I think I'm finally ready).

I think I'm down to choosing the Winegard HD-1080 or the SS-3000. Honestly, ease of installation is my primary concern. I'm hoping to stick the antenna in the TV cabinet right behind my 32" Panasonic (TC32-LX70) . I measured and I think up to a DB-4 would actually fit. I had previously been thinking DB2, but with WVNY on channel 13, I think the HD-1080 or SS-3000 might be better. I'm curious if anyone has any thoughts on what would be a best choice.

I'm ~7 mi from Mt Mansfield with LOS from the back yard but not from the TV. The only thing between the TV and the towers (besides my house's wall) is my neighbor's house. I could mount an antenna on the east side of the house under the eaves or put it in the attic and probably get to LOS (to dodge the neighbor's house it would probably end up behind a tree). As I mentioned in my original post back in October, with a $20 indoor antenna from Radio shack I really couldn't pick up anything other than the WCAX signal which really surprised me. From what little I know and have learned (mostly here) I think multipath signal is my issue and was why I was leaning toward the SS3000, but I really don't know for sure.

Anyway...looking for advice.

Thanks.

I think the Winegard HD-1080 would be a good choice for you. It is almost twice as big as a DB-2 and gets upper VHF. I would also go with an outside mounting using a J-mount or wall mount with mast. If you can get LOS, great, if not, point it over the house next door.

I could mount an antenna on the east side of the house under the eaves or put it in the attic and probably get to LOS (to dodge the neighbor's house it would probably end up behind a tree).For close, highly-drectional reception, I recommend the Silver Sensor (http://www.amazon.com/Philips-PM-HDTV1-Silver-Sensor-Antenna/dp/B00022O9VM). I have one on the top shelf of an upstairs closet feeding an HDTV in the bedroom. Works great. I'm about 20mi from the towers with LoS.

So here's what Ive tried, and I will take any insights and suggestions you might have...
I am on, lets say, Sabin St in Montpelier. On the hill by the college (backside of the hill from the signal, but still close the the peak). TVfool calls it a two edge diffraction, and antennaweb says we need a medium directional with a pre-amp.
I built one of those home-made DB4's and from the first floor through a window, I got a few of the analogs in very snowy, never getting a digital signal in any way.
I was thinking of the Wineguard HD-1080 with a pre-amp, either mounted in the attic (3rd floor) , or on the dish mount (2nd floor), since it has a NNW view even though its mounted on the southerly side of the house.
Oh and 30ft pines run along the west side of my house (less than an acre all total).
Thoughts?

So here's what Ive tried, and I will take any insights and suggestions you might have...
I am on, lets say, Sabin St in Montpelier. On the hill by the college (backside of the hill from the signal, but still close the the peak). TVfool calls it a two edge diffraction, and antennaweb says we need a medium directional with a pre-amp.
I built one of those home-made DB4's and from the first floor through a window, I got a few of the analogs in very snowy, never getting a digital signal in any way.
I was thinking of the Wineguard HD-1080 with a pre-amp, either mounted in the attic (3rd floor) , or on the dish mount (2nd floor), since it has a NNW view even though its mounted on the southerly side of the house.
Oh and 30ft pines run along the west side of my house (less than an acre all total).
Thoughts?
I haven't had to deal with a 2 edge diffraction before, but I'm thinking large directional and as much height as you can get, so I would go with a CM 4228 on the roof. The HD-1080 is a good antenna, but I don't think it will do the job under the tough conditions you have. My thoughts only.

I live in Starksboro. I recently installed an outdoor antenna on top of my house. After hitching it up to my hdtv, I was able to pull in all but 44.1. I can get an 80% analog picture when tuning to WFFFs' channel 44 analog. What gives? TVfool shows WFFF dt transmitting very little wattage, roughly 10% that of WPTZ and WCAX. Do they plan on increasing their output at all?
I am 21.4 miles from Mt Mansfield, 49 degrees magnetic, with a 2 edge path. No trees near house, but no LOS to transmitters.

Any updates regarding DirecTV Burlington locals? I read earlier on this thread that they were saying June... well it's coming to a close and I was curious if anyone has heard anything?

So here's what Ive tried, and I will take any insights and suggestions you might have...
I am on, lets say, Sabin St in Montpelier. On the hill by the college (backside of the hill from the signal, but still close the the peak). TVfool calls it a two edge diffraction, and antennaweb says we need a medium directional with a pre-amp.
I built one of those home-made DB4's and from the first floor through a window, I got a few of the analogs in very snowy, never getting a digital signal in any way.
I was thinking of the Wineguard HD-1080 with a pre-amp, either mounted in the attic (3rd floor) , or on the dish mount (2nd floor), since it has a NNW view even though its mounted on the southerly side of the house.
Oh and 30ft pines run along the west side of my house (less than an acre all total).
Thoughts?Have you tried a 360degree sweep of the antenna? Since it sounds like you're in the "lee" of a hill, you might be able to lock into a strong reflection from some other random direction. I like the idea of tuning into an analog UHF station (like 33) and watching how it changes as you sweep the antenna.

Someone else on this forum, who lives in Richmond, had a similar problem. You might want to read through the last several pages of this forum (or search for Richmond). I've fogotten how that was resolved (or even if it was resolved).

I live in Starksboro. I recently installed an outdoor antenna on top of my house. After hitching it up to my hdtv, I was able to pull in all but 44.1. I can get an 80% analog picture when tuning to WFFFs' channel 44 analog. What gives? TVfool shows WFFF dt transmitting very little wattage, roughly 10% that of WPTZ and WCAX. Do they plan on increasing their output at all?
I am 21.4 miles from Mt Mansfield, 49 degrees magnetic, with a 2 edge path. No trees near house, but no LOS to transmitters.
What antenna? WFFF analog is in a different direction. Try using 33.1 and your signal meter on your tuner to aim the antenna and fine tune to maximum strength. You will need someone to help and walkie talkies or cell phones to communicate. Also get away from the antenna after each adjustment so you don't interfere with signals. You do live in a difficult area. And you need an antenna that is great for UHF reception. Rather than a generic combo antenna, you may need something like a 4228 and combined with a high VHF for WVNY.
If you check http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html you will see that the 4228 and DB8 are the two best for channel 43 (44.1). Or you could try adding a pre-amp to your antenna.

Any updates regarding DirecTV Burlington locals? I read earlier on this thread that they were saying June... well it's coming to a close and I was curious if anyone has heard anything?

I emailed Directv back in the Spring and sure enough I received a reply stating, " Waiting for the new sat. to reach its proper orbit, it will probably be in the fall for your local markets, if everything goes according to schedule". Wptz & wcax in the summer....wvny also in the winter....OTA....I am NOT suppose to receive anything according to antenna.org....but I am apprx. 55' in the air using seperate deep fringe uhf/vhf antennas with a signal booster. LOS is quite bad.

I live in Starksboro. I recently installed an outdoor antenna on top of my house. After hitching it up to my hdtv, I was able to pull in all but 44.1. I can get an 80% analog picture when tuning to WFFFs' channel 44 analog. What gives? TVfool shows WFFF dt transmitting very little wattage, roughly 10% that of WPTZ and WCAX. Do they plan on increasing their output at all?
I am 21.4 miles from Mt Mansfield, 49 degrees magnetic, with a 2 edge path. No trees near house, but no LOS to transmitters.

Do not use Channel 44's analogue signal to aim your antenna because Fox44's analogue transmissions come from Terry Mountain near Peru, New York while their digital tansmissions are from Mount Mansfield, Vermont.

In the analogue world: WCAX, WVNY and WETK broadcast from Mount Mansfield, VT; WPTZ and WFFF broadcast from Terry Mountain, NY; WCFE broadcasts from Lyon Mountain, NY.

In the digital world: WCAX, WVNY, WETK, WPTZ and WFFF broadcast from Mount Mansfield; WCFE broadcasts from Lyon Mountain.

Hey SkiSmuggs,

As far as I know, my TV doesn't have a signal meter, Sony 42" LCD HDtv. Since first posting, I have installed the antenna and hitched everything up semi-permanent. Now I get 44.1, 33.1, and 22.1 consistent, 5.1 inconsistent, and no 3.1. I have tried to adjust by myself, climbing up ladder, adjusting and listening to tv thru window.

The funny thing is a month ago I purchased a Terk indoor amped antenna and put it out on my deck. With that I got everything BUT 44.1.

My wife is not crazy about the antenna aesthetically, so going bigger is not an option, this antenna is a EZ-HD from Denny's. I do have a lot of coax running between the antenna and the TV. 90' to the preamp, then 70' to TV. Could I be losing signal this way?

Most of the Sony LCD TV's I've seen (lots) do have a signal meter. On older sets go into the menu, go to settings and then find diagnostics. On the newer crossbar menu sets, it is under "product information" as I recall. The "meter" will work for all digital signals.

Hey SkiSmuggs,

As far as I know, my TV doesn't have a signal meter, Sony 42" LCD HDtv. Since first posting, I have installed the antenna and hitched everything up semi-permanent. Now I get 44.1, 33.1, and 22.1 consistent, 5.1 inconsistent, and no 3.1. I have tried to adjust by myself, climbing up ladder, adjusting and listening to tv thru window.

The funny thing is a month ago I purchased a Terk indoor amped antenna and put it out on my deck. With that I got everything BUT 44.1.

My wife is not crazy about the antenna aesthetically, so going bigger is not an option, this antenna is a EZ-HD from Denny's. I do have a lot of coax running between the antenna and the TV. 90' to the preamp, then 70' to TV. Could I be losing signal this way?

Pretty sure you have a signal meter on your menu. 90' to the pre-amp? Do you mean to the pre-amp power supply? The pre-amp (correct me if I'm wrong, somebody) should be at the antenna. That EZ-HD antenna doesn't look like it's got much for UHF. I think the Channel Master 2016 or the Winegard HD-1080 would be more appropriate for your location. Both are compact (given your wife's dislikes). Without that concern, I would go with a 4221 and a Winegard high-band VHF joined with a UHF/VHF combiner. If you go with the 2 compact choices, definitely use the pre-amp.

Well, the preamp itself is right below the antenna. Power enters coax back @ 90'. I was able to run home @ break and check signal strengths.

WCAX 3.1 41(nothing)
WPTZ 5.1 41-68(intermittent)
WVNY 22.1 95
WETK 33.1 65-70
WFFF 44.1 70-76

So, my VHF signal is great.
As it is right now, I can shorten the coax run to the TV by 50', with some work. Would this make a difference? Tuning with this strength meter should help alot.

My apologies, but the following digression is kinda interesting...

I'm visiting my parents' in central Maine this week, and I've been getting their HDTV setup using their existing roof-top antenna. It's only pulling in 2 of the 4 locals broadcasting OTA HDTV signals because the antenna is VHF-only, and the 2 stations it's getting are upper VHF and lower-UHF. The other 2 are well into the UHF spectrum and a little farther away distance-wise.

What's interesting, tho', is that according to antennaweb, those 2 other stations intend to transition back to their original, VHF frequencies after the HDTV cut-over in Feb. 2009.

So 3 of the 4 local OTA HDTV stations here will ultinmately be broadcasting over VHF frequencies (ch2, 7, 9, and 19). I find this interesting since it seems to go against the nation-wide trend towards UHF frequencies post-transition.

On the up-side, this does have the benefit for my parents that after the transition, they will probably be able to start receiving the 2 remaining digital stations with their VHF antenna.

Well, after further tuning I was able to get WPTZ 5.1 up to 65-70. Talking with a buddy, I was told that many stations will increase their transmit power. Can anyone back this rumour up? The link below shows WCAX requesting to increase to 550kW.

What's interesting, tho', is that according to antennaweb, those 2 other stations intend to transition back to their original, VHF frequencies after the HDTV cut-over in Feb. 2009.

So 3 of the 4 local OTA HDTV stations here will ultinmately be broadcasting over VHF frequencies (ch2, 7, 9, and 19). I find this interesting since it seems to go against the nation-wide trend towards UHF frequencies post-transition.

Huh?

I didn't think this would even be legal. I thought that the new HD world required that TV stations abandon VHF frequencies so that they could be allotted to police, fire, rescue, emergency, etc....

Have I been wrong, and misled, all this time?

Channels 52-69 are going away. Channels 2-13 are sticking around, though most stations have abandoned 2-6.

Interesting note for vttom, WABI-DT applied to move from 19 to 12 last week. So it's entirely possible that Bangor may end up as a completely VHF market.

- Trip

Huh?

I didn't think this would even be legal. I thought that the new HD world required that TV stations abandon VHF frequencies so that they could be allotted to police, fire, rescue, emergency, etc....

Have I been wrong, and misled, all this time?

You have been misled.

Effective February 18, 2009 TV broadcasting in the USA will be restriced to channels 2-36 and 38-51 leaving 49 channels for TV use. This is defined under Title III of the "Deficit Reduction Act of 2005" that became law on February 8, 2006 when it was signed by the President. This bill also set the hard deadline of February 17, 2009 as the analogue shutdown date for Full Power TV broadcasters. Low power stations are not required to stop analogue broadcasting but they must comply with the reduced channel allotments.

Note the exclusion of channel 37 which is useless for TV broadcasting due to cosmic interference but is useful for Radio Astronomers and is consequently reserved for their use. Cosmic interference is also the reason for the 4 MHz gap between channels 4 and 5.

Back in 1996 the FCC did briefly propose to eliminate the VHF-Low band (channels 2 to 6) in addition to eliminating the upper UHF channels and issued a request for comments. They received so much negative feedback that they backed off from this proposal after a couple of months. This aborted proposal was misinterpreted by many who thought that it included the entire VHF band. It didn't. There was never any intention to eliminate the VHF-High band (channels 7 to 13). Unfortunately the myth that the entire VHF band would disappear from TV broadcasting has persisted to this day, despite the fact that the Act defining the post-transition channel allotments became law more than 2 years ago.

[QUOTE=Brian_O;14169995]You have been misled.

Effective February 18, 2009 TV broadcasting in the USA will be restriced to channels 2-36 and 38-51 leaving 49 channels for TV use. This is defined under Title III of the "Deficit Reduction Act of 2005" that became law on February 8, 2006 when it was signed by the President. This bill also set the hard deadline of February 17, 2009 as the analogue shutdown date for Full Power TV broadcasters. Low power stations are not required to stop analogue broadcasting but they must comply with the reduced channel allotments.

Note the exclusion of channel 37 which is useless for TV broadcasting due to cosmic interference but is useful for Radio Astronomers and is consequently reserved for their use. Cosmic interference is also the reason for the 4 MHz gap between channels 4 and 5.

Very interesting overview. I was certainly under the impression that all of the VHF frequencies were going away and I could not, therefore, understand why WVNY was allowed to broadcast on channel 13. Of course, it still seems difficult to understand why they would select to broadcast on a channel which requires folks to use an antenna that differs from the rest of the Mount Mansfield gang.
Also, why would WCAX select channel 53 if they knew that they would have to change channels again after ther February deadline? Any insight would be appreciated. Any chance that wvny will see the "UHF light?"

Very interesting overview. I was certainly under the impression that all of the VHF frequencies were going away and I could not, therefore, understand why WVNY was allowed to broadcast on channel 13. Of course, it still seems difficult to understand why they would select to broadcast on a channel which requires folks to use an antenna that differs from the rest of the Mount Mansfield gang.

Lower power costs.

Also, why would WCAX select channel 53 if they knew that they would have to change channels again after ther February deadline? Any insight would be appreciated. Any chance that wvny will see the "UHF light?"

There was no "choice" involved really. Each station was assigned a second channel by the FCC. If a station wanted to do all the paperwork and wait on the FCC (and, in your case, Canadian coordination), they could get it changed, but I guess WCAX decided against this.

WVNY, however, moved themselves from 16 to 13 I believe. I'm not sure if there was an interference concern with 16 or if it was purely to save power.

- Trip

So 3 of the 4 local OTA HDTV stations here will ultinmately be broadcasting over VHF frequencies (ch2, 7, 9, and 19). I find this interesting since it seems to go against the nation-wide trend towards UHF frequencies post-transition.I didn't think VHF was off-limits. What struck me about this is the fact that in this case, the locals here appear to be using their transitional frequencies as just that, transitional, and plan to move back to their original frequencies post-transition. While in our neck of the woods, the locals seems to favor their new frequencies and are giving up their originals.

If I had to guess, I'd say they're doing it out of consideration of the installed base of VHF-only antennas, since the analog broadcasts around here are almost exclusively VHF. They're saving everyone the trouble of going out and buying UHF antennas (at least for those who are willing to wait for the analog to digital cut-over).

Don't laugh, but is there any possibility that the dreadful WWBI will recommence broadcasting on channel 27? It went off the air "temporarily" last August (2007) so that they could make transmitter upgrades. In September, the word from them was that they hoped to be back on the air by mid-October but that didn't happen and then an early winter set in.

Up until a couple of weeks ago the Gazette carried program listings for 27 (what would be on if they were actually on the air, I guess). They were also listed in the TVTimes that accompanies the Saturday edition of the Gazette. No programs were listed but the station was in the list of stations carried with an "off the air" notation. However, now all mention of 27 has been removed from both sources. Have they just gone out of business? Or will they actually return. Note that as a low power station they do not have to go digital, but they claimed to have plans to do so.

Just in case there are some who do not know the post-transition (after Feb 17, 2009) RF channel allocations for the Plattsburgh-Burlington stations broadcasting into the Montreal area, they are:

WVNY(ABC) 13
WPTZ(NBC) 14
WCAX(CBS) 22 (Currently on 53)
WETK(VPT) 32
WCFE(MLPBS) 38
WFFF(FOX/CW) 43

Speaking of WVNY, is there anyone on the island of Montreal that can receive WVNY's weak digital OTA on 13? If so, what antenna are you using and what pre-amp, if any. A rough identification of your location (e.g. Pointe-Claire near Stewart Hall) would also be helpful. I am trying to determine if I need a channel 7-13 antenna such as the Winegard YA-1713 to get this one channel.

Brian_O - you need to talk to foxfan...

Speaking of WVNY, is there anyone on the island of Montreal that can receive WVNY's weak digital OTA on 13? If so, what antenna are you using and what pre-amp, if any. A rough identification of your location (e.g. Pointe-Claire near Stewart Hall) would also be helpful. I am trying to determine if I need a channel 7-13 antenna such as the Winegard YA-1713 to get this one channel.

I am in St. Laurent close to Mourelatos with an old CM4228, 10Y13S and a CM7777 amp on a 10 foot pole above my 2 story semi-detached. I get all channels from Mt. Mansfield reliably except WVNY. It does not come in at all on one of my receivers and only sometimes the another.

Brian_O - you need to talk to foxfan...

About? WWBI? WVNY?

About WVNY - he's been unhappy with their transmission since day one.

He is not the only one.
Even though ch. 22 is or was one of the easiest to get, very few lucky ones around Montreal get ch. 13. Feb. 2009 if WVNY does not increase power it will be the end of ABC for most in Montreal.

Speaking of WVNY, is there anyone on the island of Montreal that can receive WVNY's weak digital OTA on 13? If so, what antenna are you using and what pre-amp, if any. A rough identification of your location (e.g. Pointe-Claire near Stewart Hall) would also be helpful. I am trying to determine if I need a channel 7-13 antenna such as the Winegard YA-1713 to get this one channel.


I can! From St-Eustache with a 10y13s (In the Attic) and a CM-7778. I get it at 80% to 95%

island of Montreal[/b] that can receive WVNY's weak digital OTA on 13? If so, what antenna are you using and what pre-amp, if any. A rough identification of your location (e.g. Pointe-Claire near Stewart Hall) would also be helpful. I am trying to determine if I need a channel 7-13 antenna such as the Winegard YA-1713 to get this one channel.

I live 14 miles LOS from the towers and I had to get a high-band VHF to get WVNY.

Hi all -

I went to go look locally for a coupon eligible DTA convert box. I started at Walmart where they have a nice big empty shelf where they are supposed to be and then went to Circuit City where they only have one Zenith model for $60. I haven't been to Best Buy or Radio Shack yet, but based on their websites I'm not sure I'm going to find many options.

From what I've read elsewhere, I think I want to get a DTVPal unit for the VCR, but was hoping to avoid the $10 in shipping charge. I also wanted to one other box for our 2nd TV but was hoping to find one for under $50 (which is why I went to Walmart).

Anyway, what's the experience from this group, or has everyone gone with the new TV option ;-)

Try Radio Shack. Last time I was there, they had both the Digital Stream and the Zenith.
I stopped in at RS in Morrisville today and they had the newer Digital Stream with analog passthru.

Hi all -

I went to go look locally for a coupon eligible DTA convert box. I started at Walmart where they have a nice big empty shelf where they are supposed to be and then went to Circuit City where they only have one Zenith model for $60. I haven't been to Best Buy or Radio Shack yet, but based on their websites I'm not sure I'm going to find many options.

From what I've read elsewhere, I think I want to get a DTVPal unit for the VCR, but was hoping to avoid the $10 in shipping charge. I also wanted to one other box for our 2nd TV but was hoping to find one for under $50 (which is why I went to Walmart).

Anyway, what's the experience from this group, or has everyone gone with the new TV option ;-)

I picked up a couple of Philco units at The Super Store for $52 each.

Last time I was a Best Buy in Williston (about 2 wks ago) they had a huge stack of Insignia brand converter boxes for ~$60 each.

Anyone know when and if Comcast will be adding any new HD channels since they say they're moving analog channels around to make room for more HD?

Anyone know when and if Comcast will be adding any new HD channels since they say they're moving analog channels around to make room for more HD?
From Swanni:
Washington, D.C. (July 7, 2008) -- Comcast is preparing to invest heavily in expanding its High-Definition TV lineup, says an influential industry analyst.

That's according to an article in Multichannel News.

Thomas Eagan, a senior media analyst with Collins Stewart, an investment banking group, says Comcast has concluded that it needs to add more high-def channels.

The cable operator now carries around 40 HD channels in most markets (fewer in some), but that's less than half than what HD channel leader DIRECTV offers.

Comcast has tried to downplay the disadvantage by promoting its high-def Video on Demand service. But Eagan says that's not enough to keep subscribers happy.

"I think HD channels are more important than HD choices,” Eagan told Multichannel News. “I think people want HD channels, not just HD On Demand.”

Eagen forecasts that Comcast will switch its systems to all-digital, eliminating analog channels which would increase its high-def capacity. However, the analyst says the switchover will be costly.

“Whether they use digital to analog converters or digital set-top boxes — maybe they will use a combination of both — I think it’s going to result in a big 2009 (capital expenditure) number,” he said.

From Swanni:
Washington, D.C. (July 7, 2008) -- Comcast is preparing to invest heavily in expanding its High-Definition TV lineup, says an influential industry analyst.

That's according to an article in Multichannel News.

Thomas Eagan, a senior media analyst with Collins Stewart, an investment banking group, says Comcast has concluded that it needs to add more high-def channels.

The cable operator now carries around 40 HD channels in most markets (fewer in some), but that's less than half than what HD channel leader DIRECTV offers.

Comcast has tried to downplay the disadvantage by promoting its high-def Video on Demand service. But Eagan says that's not enough to keep subscribers happy.

"I think HD channels are more important than HD choices,” Eagan told Multichannel News. “I think people want HD channels, not just HD On Demand.”

Eagen forecasts that Comcast will switch its systems to all-digital, eliminating analog channels which would increase its high-def capacity. However, the analyst says the switchover will be costly.

“Whether they use digital to analog converters or digital set-top boxes — maybe they will use a combination of both — I think it’s going to result in a big 2009 (capital expenditure) number,” he said.

Yeah, I've read all the hype, but I'm wondering if anything has been announced for the Burlington market?

Dish adds 17 national HD channels on August 1st. They are:
ActionMax HD (DISH Network Ch. 313)
CBS College Sports HD (Ch. 152)
Lifetime HD (Ch. 108)
Lifetime Movie Network HD (Ch. 109)
Planet Green HD (Ch. 194)
Encore HD (Ch. 340)
HBO 2 HD (Ch. 301)
HBO Comedy HD (Ch. 307)
HBO Family HD (Ch. 305)
HBO Latino HD (Ch. 309)
HBO Signature HD (Ch. 302
HBO West HD (Ch. 303)
HBO Zone HD (Ch. 308)
Starz Comedy HD (Ch. 354)
Starz Edge HD (Ch. 352)
Starz Kids & Family HD (Ch. 356)
Starz West HD (Ch. 351)

Exciting times for Dish HD subscribers and future ones! :D Next Wednesday early AM Echostar 11 launches from the Pacific too! This one better go well. :rolleyes:

I know I am in the vast minority but I still would gladly give up all of these HD channels to get VOOM back.
By the way, I've never actually seen any HD on the SciFi Channel or that, all important, Fishing Channel. Even programs like "Jake 2.0" which were broadcast in full 1080i on HDNet a year ago are in SD on the SciFi. Give me the pristine pictures from "Rush HD" and all of its 14 brothers on VOOM!

Well as far as SciFi goes I hope the new season of the quirky Eureka will look good when its season opener airs at the end of the month. I sub to AEP with HD so I will get all the new HD's at least for a while.. Right now my bill comes to $127+. I might drop down to one of the new HD only tiered packages with prem movies and locals but just how much my bill would drop vs the channels I do watch in SD(Fox news, FX and of course Speed) I have yet to figure out. ;)

I know I am in the vast minority but I still would gladly give up all of these HD channels to get VOOM back.
By the way, I've never actually seen any HD on the SciFi Channel or that, all important, Fishing Channel. Even programs like "Jake 2.0" which were broadcast in full 1080i on HDNet a year ago are in SD on the SciFi. Give me the pristine pictures from "Rush HD" and all of its 14 brothers on VOOM!

+1
We would get shouted down on the Sat Guys forums for saying so. When just flipping channels, it was always the Voom channels that warranted a stop because they were always beautiful HD with no commercials.

+1
We would get shouted down on the Sat Guys forums for saying so. When just flipping channels, it was always the Voom channels that warranted a stop because they were always beautiful HD with no commercials.
Other then the lack of commercials Voom lost me to the same reasons hashed over and over again. Lots of people feel the same way as you but we live in a $$ world. Do I feel cheated paying for a package that includes crap like WFN, yes, but no more then the shopping channels. Voom may of survived in more prosperous times, but we all know that isn't the case now.

So, maybe no one is really interested but I'm 75% of the way converted to OTA. Based on the recommendations here and in off-line advice, I purchased a Winegard 1080 antenna and a DTVpal DTA converter box.

I've had the antenna for a couple of weeks now, and right out of the box, sitting it on the floor next to our main TV with a digital tuner (Panasonic LX3270) I was able to pick up all of the stations I expected - WCAX HD, WCAXtra, WPTZ-HD, WPTZ-WX, WVNY HD, WFFF-HD, WFFF-DT, WETK HD, WETK Create, and at least one other WETK singal.

Unfortunately the depth on the 1080 is practically a little deeper than the 4" in the spec sheet due to way the bowties stand off from the rectangular part of the antenna so it would not fit in the TV cabinet itself. I've been holding off trying to decide where to mount it until I got a converter box to see how the signal would fare with that and our 2nd TV (and old 13" Toshiba TV/VCR combo from ~1999). More on that to come, but to keep the house exterior uncluttered, I'm 99% sure I'll be putting it into the attic on the next weekend I have free that isn't too hot (hopefully that will be before September). Given my home's orientation (east side nearly perpendicular to LOS), I think I'm just going to screw it directly onto one of the roof trusses

The DTVpal came today. While it pained me to pay the extra $10 in shipping (and I had to pay tax too) I ordered it from dtvpal.com. It took about 2 weeks to get here, in line with what the website said when I placed the order. My only complaint would be that they did not send me a tracking number. So, for ease of setup, I unhooked the cable feed into the splitter and hooked the antenna up right there in the cellar. I set up the DTVpal box according to the instructions, and voila, it ID'd all of the stations I'd found on the Panasonic. The signal strength on WFFF was 50-60% and cut in and out a bit, but everything else was solid 80%+. When I moved the antenna back up to the living room (ran the signal back down the current coax wiring) all the singals jumped to 90+%. Again, I'm 7 miles from Mt Mansfield with LOS from most of the yard, so I didn't expect anything less.

I really liked the extra options on the DTVpal box. Nice on screen information and programming guide. I haven't read through the manual yet to figure out the timer functions so I can get it to change channels for VCR recording. So far the one downside is that the on screen info takes up a huge portion of the screen. I need to see if there is a way to customize what it shows me. It does however allow you to continue to watch a show when you navigate through some of the menus. Set up was VERY easy. I'm not sure if there is a way to have it just "add" new channels without scanning for all channels which would be useful if you have a highly directional antenna setup and needed to rotate the antenna for different channels.

After 30 minutes of playing around with it, I'm very impressed and will likely buy a 2nd DTVPal unit for the upstairs VCR until it goes. I'm hoping that this is a good indicator of what the TR-50 will be like and that perhaps (depending on price) will be what I ask for as a Christmas present to replace the upstairs VCR.

Anyway, thanks to everyone on the list for various recommendations. If anyone cares, I bought the Winegard 1080 from SummitSource.com for just under $50 with shipping included and it came with 50' of RG6 (no connectors). I think a great value compared the ~$80 at Winegarddirect.com and comparable to the price for a DB2 at Antennasdirect.com (return policy at Summitsource.com however is pretty poor, so I'm glad it worked for me).

Andrew

... I need to see if there is a way to customize what it shows me. It does however allow you to continue to watch a show when you navigate through some of the menus. Set up was VERY easy. I'm not sure if there is a way to have it just "add" new channels without scanning for all channels which would be useful if you have a highly directional antenna setup and needed to rotate the antenna for different channels.

So I just scanned the users guide and you can scan for new channels or add them manually, but I haven't checked out what info you need to know to do the latter.

Unfortunately it does not look like I can reduce the amount of space the on screen information. Not a big problem.

So, maybe no one is really interested but I'm 75% of the way converted to OTA. Based on the recommendations here and in off-line advice, I purchased a Winegard 1080 antenna and a DTVpal DTA converter box.
Andrew
Of course we are interested. Information like this is why we come to this forum. Good report!
BTW, I am using the HD-1080 at 14 miles LOS. During this morning's storms, I was getting extreme pixelation on 22 (75%), so I switched over to the HD local on my Dish VIP622 and it was the same, so the station feed was the problem. I hope they get better after the transition.

I had 2 DTV converter box coupons that expired today, so I dropped into Best Buy in Williston to see if they had any left. They still have a good-sized pile of Insignia-brand boxes for $59.99. So I picked up 2.

Truth be told, I don't really need one, since all of my TVs are HDTVs with built-in ATSC tuners. I just bought them to play around with. I might take one apart and see if I can find component or RGB somewhere on the circuit board (I know, unlikely, it's probably a 1-chip solution).

I'll post what I find when I get a chance to play around with it tomorrow.

I'm a Comcast subscriber who has been avoiding their miserable nuisance box and using the straight coax feed into my sets...but now they've moved MSNBC out of their basic lineup, and the only way I can get it is by adding their box.

That's made me especially unhappy, because the box doesn't pass through the local HD channels.

I'm trying to think of a simple A/B type system that won't clutter up the look of the TV, so that I can switch between the box and the coax straight feed easily. It's bad enough I had to add the box, which is a piece of clutter I didn't want.

Anyone with suggestions?

I'm a Comcast subscriber who has been avoiding their miserable nuisance box and using the straight coax feed into my sets...but now they've moved MSNBC out of their basic lineup, and the only way I can get it is by adding their box.

That's made me especially unhappy, because the box doesn't pass through the local HD channels.

I'm trying to think of a simple A/B type system that won't clutter up the look of the TV, so that I can switch between the box and the coax straight feed easily. It's bad enough I had to add the box, which is a piece of clutter I didn't want.

Anyone with suggestions?An A/B system is unnecessary. Just split the coax with a regular splitter. Connect one output to the cable box input. Connect the other output directly to the TV. You'll want to connect the output of the cable box to the TV using component video (or S-video or composite video). Then use your TV's remote to switch between the built-in tuner and the video input.

My mother who is 93 subscribes just to the basic cable package(ch 2-22). She refuses to spend more money! Anyway she lost ch's 2 and 18. I called Concast for her and was told why it happened but if she wanted to view those channels she would be given a free box for a year and after that $3.95 per month. My question: Is this set-top box just some offshoot of Comcast's regular setups for folks with higher tied packages?

Just saw today's Free Press. They mentioned the $3.95 charge but no mention of a free box for a year. Maybe for just for the bottom package that I'm sure many seniors only subscribe to. Wonder what that other cable offering in my town has to offer her besides the recent controversy and a few more $$.

An A/B system is unnecessary. Just split the coax with a regular splitter. Connect one output to the cable box input. Connect the other output directly to the TV. You'll want to connect the output of the cable box to the TV using component video (or S-video or composite video). Then use your TV's remote to switch between the built-in tuner and the video input.

Thanks....

But I bought an A/B switch this afternoon at Radio Shack for $15 that works well. Still, I don't know why I didn't think of the S-video hookup, I feel pretty silly.

Just saw today's Free Press. They mentioned the $3.95 charge but no mention of a free box for a year.

The mailings I got from Comcast trying desperately to peddle their miserable box said the $3.95 monthly fee waiver for a year offer would expire on July 15.

It wouldn't surprise me to see the offer get renewed, though.

For those who are trying to avoid the tyrany of Concast and its satellite brothers, this may be of interest:
Antennas Direct cuts its ClearStream2 antenna in half, calls it ClearStream1
by Steven Kim, posted Jul 19th 2008 at 6:30PM

If your area poses any sort of "challenges" to getting OTA reception, you'd be wise to do a little research before plunking down money on an antenna. If you tap into the interwebs for that kind of knowledge, theres' a good chance you'll come across some happy customers of Antennas Direct. Last month, it rolled out the ClearStream2 model, but if you don't need that 50-mile reach then the new ClearStream1 model might be a better fit. At 10- x 10-inches, with a single loop (as opposed to the CS2's figure-eight layout), the CS1 will pull signals in from a swath 30-miles away 70-degrees wide. We'd say it's $59 well-spent, especially knowing some portion goes to the legal-comedian staff at Antennas Direct that warns: "Do not attempt to install if drunk, pregnant or both; Do not eat antenna; Do not throw antenna at spouse."

So I had a chance to play around with the Insignia DTV converter I bought the other day...

I liked the initial setup. Immediately after power-up, a 4 or 5 step "wizard" comes up that asks you for the TV's aspect ratio, channel scan, etc.

The channel scan was quite fast, and pulled in all the same channels as the built-in tuner on my Vizio HDTV (using my Zenith Silver Sensor for the antenna).

Picture quality is quite good, considering that the only output format available is composite video (not even S-video).

I also liked the fact that the remote control has a button labelled "signal" which brings up the signal meter with one click.

For kicks, I popped the lid off and took a look at the circuit board. There are 4 main components - the RF "tin can" and 3 ICs. I didn't check the part numbers, but from their size and shape I'd have to guess that they are (1) a video processor, (2) memory, and (3) a microprocessor.

WCFE have added two new subchannels probably for 'datacasting' since they are Stream Type: 0x0b ISO/IEC 13818-6 type B. It would be nice if someone at PBS could confirm or deny.

The following link explain briefly what datacasting is about.

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

With Launch of 44 New HD Markets More Than 88 Percent of U.S.
Television Homes Will Have Access to Local HD Channels from DIRECTV

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Jul 28, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- DIRECTV, Inc., the nation's leading satellite television service provider, continues to strengthen its HD presence with the addition of 44 new HD local channel markets. By the end of 2008, DIRECTV will provide local HD broadcast channels in 121 cities, representing more than 88 percent of U.S. TV households. DIRECTV will begin the rollout of the new HD local markets in August and continue through the end of the year. The new markets include:

* Augusta, Ga.
* Bangor, Maine
* Baton Rouge, La.
* Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas
* Boise, Idaho
* Burlington, Vt.-Plattsburgh, N.Y.
* Butte-Bozeman, Mont.
* Champaign-Springfield-Decatur, Ill.
* Charleston, S.C.
* Chattanooga, Tenn.
* Colorado Springs-Pueblo, Colo.
* Columbia-Jefferson City, Mo.
* Davenport, Iowa-Rock Island, Ill., Moline, Ill.
* Dayton, Ohio
* Des Moines-Ames, Iowa
* Dothan, Ala.
* El Paso, Texas
* Evansville, Ind.
* Fort Smith, Ark.
* Fort Wayne, Ind.
* Greenville-New Bern-Washington, N.C.
* Harlingen-Brownsville, Texas
* Harrisonburg, Va.
* La Crosse-Eau Claire, Wis.
* Little Rock-Pine Bluff, Ark.
* Macon, Ga.
* Lincoln-Hastings, Neb.
* Mobile AL-Pensacola, Fla.
* Myrtle Beach-Florence, S.C.
* Norfolk-Newport News, Va.
* Palm Springs, Calif.
* Peoria-Bloomington, Ill.
* Richmond-Petersburg, Va.
* Rockford, Ill.
* Rochester, N.Y.
* Savannah, Ga.
* Sioux Falls, S.D.
* South Bend-Elkhart, Ind.
* Springfield-Holyoke, Mass.
* Syracuse, N.Y.
* Tallahassee, Fla.
* Toledo, Ohio
* Traverse City-Cadillac, Mich.
* Youngstown, Ohio



"With the rollout of 44 new HD local markets, DIRECTV continues to strengthen its position as the leading provider of quality HD programming among cable and satellite competitors nationwide," said Derek Chang, executive vice president, Content Strategy and Development, DIRECTV, Inc. "Our DIRECTV 11 satellite has recently begun operations and significantly expands our capacity for more national and local HD channels. And as we have with the SuperFan(R) service for MLB EXTRA INNINGS(R) and NFL SUNDAY TICKET(TM) and our multi-screen coverage of US Open golf, we will continue to use HD to enhance our unique interactive services to provide our customers with more of what they want and expect from us - the best television experience available."

DIRECTV will deliver HD programming from the primary broadcast networks - ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC - where available and authorized, to customers who subscribe to any TOTAL CHOICE(R) programming package that offers local channels. DIRECTV HD customers will continue to pay only a $9.99 access fee, allowing them to receive DIRECTV's premier HD technology and all channels broadcast in HD that are tied to their particular base programming package.

Customers should visit directv.com to learn more about the full complement of DIRECTV's HD programming lineup including existing channels, new channels, details on equipment required for the new DIRECTV HD services and updates on when the new markets will launch.

With the DIRECTV 11 satellite just introduced to the fleet and the launch of the DIRECTV 12 satellite next year, DIRECTV will have the capacity to deliver 200 national HD channels and 1,500 local HD and digital channels in addition to new advanced programming services for customers nationwide.

About DIRECTV, Inc.

DIRECTV, Inc. (NASDAQ : DTV - News), the nation's leading satellite television service provider, presents the finest television experience available to more than 17 million customers in the United States and is leading the HD revolution with 95 national HD channels - more quality HD channels than any other television provider. Each day, DIRECTV subscribers enjoy access to over 265 channels of 100% digital picture and sound, exclusive programming, industry-leading customer satisfaction (which has surpassed all national cable companies for eight years running) and superior technologies that include advanced DVR and HD-DVR services and the most state-of-the-art interactive sports packages available anywhere. For the most up-to-date information on DIRECTV, please visit directv.com.

SOURCE: DIRECTV, Inc.

DIRECTV, Inc.
Robert Mercer, 310-964-4683
or
Darris Gringeri, 212-462-5136

Copyright Business Wire 2008

News Provided by COMTEX

Sounds like great news for all of us with D*

Has anyone checked out the TV offerings from Burlington Telecom, especially now that they have HD available? (I'm inquiring for a friend in Burlington.)

Has anyone checked out the TV offerings from Burlington Telecom, especially now that they have HD available? (I'm inquiring for a friend in Burlington.)
Can your friends put up a sat dish? Still the best by far from Dish or DirecTV. If they care for OTA free HD local channels, the usual suspects in this forum can help a lot! :D As for BT's HD offerings, the web site can fill you in to whats available. If you want a HD DVR from them, the site says call for details. That always means it $$:rolleyes:. Bundling packages seem to be the norm for cable.

WCFE have added two new subchannels probably for 'datacasting' since they are Stream Type: 0x0b ISO/IEC 13818-6 type B. It would be nice if someone at PBS could confirm or deny.

The following link explain briefly what datacasting is about.

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

Confirmed, WCFE/Mountain Lake PBS is now providing the UpdateTV service on two low bandwidth data channels through an agreement with PBS National Datacast. For more information go to:

http://www.updatelogic.com/

techno57

Thank you for the information.

Read about it here: http://dish.client.shareholder.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=325440

With tomorrow's HD additions and the above news, Charlie is gonna be busy!:D. I'm intrigued with the inclusion of 1080P for VOD, but will have to see what the concensus is before ordering even the discounted Legends movie. Just the regular HD PPV movies are a ripoff.:rolleyes: Compression will surely be a nagging complaint. ;)

Has anyone checked out the TV offerings from Burlington Telecom, especially now that they have HD available? (I'm inquiring for a friend in Burlington.)

I have the Burlington Telecom HD package. Overall it is OK service. The PQ is really good, the feed is 1080i for the HD and the SD channels look much better than Comcast digital feed. Channel lineup is pretty normal, see the website because it depends on what basic package you have. As mentioned the DVR's are "leased" so your friend will be paying extra each month. The main issues have hopefully been worked out. When they started rolling out the HD package it caused massive crashes throughout the city as equipment was upgraded. The system has been stable for the past 2 months.

Beware that there are limitation to Burlington Telecom that they will not tell you about. You can only use their equipment, other VCRs and DVRs will not fully work, they will not integrate with the channel guides. The BT DVR does now allow you to watch one channel and record another. When they first came out you could only record what you were watching, which pretty much defeats the purpose!

The pricing is very good, especially if you get a bundled package. Phone and Data services have been flawless. I have had a cable modem and DSL and the BT system is not only cheaper, but faster and far more reliable. I have had service problems only 2 or 3 times in the almost 2 years that I have had the system.

Chris

As mentioned the DVR's are "leased" so your friend will be paying extra each month. Chris, if you have BT's DVR, what is the lease cost per month? Just curious as I saw on the Web they only state to call them.

Chris, if you have BT's DVR, what is the lease cost per month? Just curious as I saw on the Web they only state to call them.

I haven't gotten a full months bill yet, but I think it is about $10.00 a month for the HD and $14 for the DVR. This is based upon a $24 package price. I may be off by a buck or two!

Chris

It's so stupid that they consider a thunderstorm to be a public safety issue. If people are watching TV, it is because they are at home, safe from the thunderstorms. The only ones at risk are those outside on a lake or golf course, who aren't watching TV. It's not like it's a tornado or a nuclear attack!

For those who haven't noticed, Comcast subscribers in VT now have 9 more HD channels. My only gripe here is that I'd gladly take FX HD like PA Comcast got over Disney or Family any day.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/EngadgetHd/~3/365196357/

For those who haven't noticed, Comcast subscribers in VT now have 9 more HD channels. My only gripe here is that I'd gladly take FX HD like PA Comcast got over Disney or Family any day.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/EngadgetHd/~3/365196357/


Agreed. But I won't complains since we're finally getting SciFi HD. Now I just need to wait for Comcast to push the new channels to my cable cards and for TiVo to update their channel lineup.

I'll admit, I haven't searched the past entries to see if this has been asked before, but has anyone else noticed that the sound is often (but not always) poorly synced on WPTZ/WNNE HD broadcasts? It seems to me that it's not all the time. I've once or twice swtiched between the Comcast cable feed and the OTA antenna and that didn't seem to make a difference. It was particularly noticeable when I was watching an interview after the women's beach volleyball game either last night or the night before (I don't recall which). I flipped channels and it did seem to be specific to WPTZ.

I'd like to know if it's my A/V set up that maybe I can fix or is it just an issue with the broadcast that I'll have to live with.

I'll admit, I haven't searched the past entries to see if this has been asked before, but has anyone else noticed that the sound is often (but not always) poorly synced on WPTZ/WNNE HD broadcasts? It seems to me that it's not all the time. I've once or twice swtiched between the Comcast cable feed and the OTA antenna and that didn't seem to make a difference. It was particularly noticeable when I was watching an interview after the women's beach volleyball game either last night or the night before (I don't recall which). I flipped channels and it did seem to be specific to WPTZ.

I'd like to know if it's my A/V set up that maybe I can fix or is it just an issue with the broadcast that I'll have to live with.
Yes! Noticed and complained about. It is not your setup. Hopefully, the February cutover to all digital will push the networks and local stations to get their act in order.

I'll admit, I haven't searched the past entries to see if this has been asked before, but has anyone else noticed that the sound is often (but not always) poorly synced on WPTZ/WNNE HD broadcasts? It seems to me that it's not all the time. I've once or twice swtiched between the Comcast cable feed and the OTA antenna and that didn't seem to make a difference. It was particularly noticeable when I was watching an interview after the women's beach volleyball game either last night or the night before (I don't recall which). I flipped channels and it did seem to be specific to WPTZ.

I'd like to know if it's my A/V set up that maybe I can fix or is it just an issue with the broadcast that I'll have to live with.

CBC's coverage of the Olympics has also been plagued by lip-sync problems. The voice arrives before the video. I haven't noticed any problems on NBC's other programming. BTW, I watch all OTA.

Agreed. But I won't complains since we're finally getting SciFi HD. Now I just need to wait for Comcast to push the new channels to my cable cards and for TiVo to update their channel lineup.

How long does this usually take. I haven't had any channel lineup changes I've cared about yet to really notice.

I was able to check out the channels last night on my set with the Comcast HD box. I was kind of disappointed to see that a lot of the new channels don't have very much in the way of of HD content.

I don't really watch anything on SciFi, but I think it's great to have for the many people who do. I just hope we can get FX by April when Rescue Me returns with a new season.

I remember so well being able to get CFCF and CBMT from Montreal in SD and really enjoying the programming. Does anyone know if we'll bee able to get their HD signal when they switch?
...and how about the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics... To me, it was worth all of the time, effort and expense to switch to HD just for that show alone. Kudos to NBC for their HD efforts.

I remember so well being able to get CFCF and CBMT from Montreal in SD and really enjoying the programming. Does anyone know if we'll bee able to get their HD signal when they switch?


CBMT has been broadcasting in HD on channel 20 since March 5, 2005. However, they are broadcasting from a "temporary" tower on the roof of the Radio Canada building in downtown Montreal rather than from the tower on Mount Royal where from their analogue signals emanate. The temporary tower is at a lower altitude than Mount Royal, so many people who have no trouble receiving CBMT's analogue broadcasts on channel 6 cannot receive their HD broadcasts. I live 10 miles from the Radio Canada building but cannot receive CBMT-HD because Mout Royal blocks the signal from reaching my location. SRC and TQS are also broadcasting HD from downtown Montreal on channels 19 and 42 respectively and I cannot receive them either. I get the analogue broadcasts of all these stations with ease. Until these stations are allowed to installed their digital transmission antennae on Mount Royal the situation will not change. It might not happen until 2011 when they turn their analogue transmitters off for good.

CFCF is a different matter. They have done nothing because CTV in Toronto won't authorize them to do so. (CTV have owned CFCF outright since 2001. Before that CFCF was only a CTV affiliate.) Don't hold your breath waiting.

Thanks for the info Brian. It's dissapointing but then there have been numerous disappointments on the way to getting HD signals. Please keep those of us in the "states" on track with any developments.

Foxfan,

Have you tried using a Wade-Delhi 10y13s to pick up WVNY-DT? It's a single channel yagi rather than a VHF-Hi antenna such as the Winegard YA-1713. I have heard of people having success with the Wade in St.Eustache and Dorion. The fellow in St.Eustache is using a 10y13s and a CM4221, both fed into a CM Titan 7778 to pick up all the Plattsburgh-Burlington digitals. He bought the Wade at Raybel Electronics in Montreal.

Note he is using the CM 7778 (16 db VHF, 23 db UHF) rather than the CM7777 (23 db VHF, 26db UHF) which he says provides too much UHF gain for his location The strong signals he receives from channels 17 and 35 in his location cause the 7777 to overload. He would have preferred a Winegard AP-2780 (17db VHF, 19db UHF) pre-amp but couldn't find one in the Montreal area.

You can find info on the Wade-Delhi Yagis at http://www.wade-antenna.com

Not exactly OTA reception related, but I wanted to try to reach knowledgeable locals.

I disconnected Comcast on Tuesday night and now have my 2 converter boxes (DTVPal) hooked up to my Winegard HD1080. One on the basement TV/VCR combo and one on the VCR on the main TV in the living room. The reception is good (as it ought to be given I'm 7 miles and LOS from Mt Mansfield). The DTVPal box in the basement surprised me and even picked up WCFE signals during convention coverage last night at ~55% signal strength, but by this morning they were lost again.

Getting closer to my question...

As I was flipping through the channels I wasn't very happy with the picture quality on the HD broadcasts. VPT's HD coverage of the DNC convention looked great most of the time, but then they'd switch to a new camera angle and I thought the picture went a little "soft." WCAX looked good (don't recall what was showing) as did Fox (I think House was on). WVNY however I thought looked awful (Wanna Bet?). The colors were all garish, like I'd switched the TV settings to "Vivid." WPTZ (America's Got Talent) on the other hand looked the opposite. It hardly looked like it was an HD broadcast at all. It was very soft and the contrast seemed all wrong as I couldn't make out darker details very well.

I'm assuming this is all broadcast related since my signal strength on WPTZ was 100%, but nonetheless, I started fiddling with my picture settings. I'd used the basic suggestions from CNET.com (http://www.cnet.com/1990-7874_1-5108543-1.html) in the past and tried to do it again to see if it made a difference. Using The Empire Strikes Back (only movie I had on DVD with good snow scenes) I adjusted it as recommended and was pretty happy with the DVD picture. What was interesting is that I ended up a different settings than I'd gotten to the last time I did it (probably used a different movie under different light conditions).

Now the actual question...

I thought I would like to try the intermediate adjustment suggestions, but don't really want to spend money to purchase a set-up DVD. Does anyone know if one of the local libraries might carry one? While I do have connections at the Essex Free Library, and could probably get them to carry one, I thought I'd ask here first it see if anyone knew.

I suppose I ought to ask if anyone else had similar opinions about the picture quality.

-Andrew

avshelden,
Not answering your question, but America's Got Talent was not an HD broadcast last night, so that should explain the softer look of it. HD broadcasts do look better converted to SD than SD broadcasts do.

Now the actual question...

I thought I would like to try the intermediate adjustment suggestions, but don't really want to spend money to purchase a set-up DVD. Does anyone know if one of the local libraries might carry one? While I do have connections at the Essex Free Library, and could probably get them to carry one, I thought I'd ask here first it see if anyone knew.

I suppose I ought to ask if anyone else had similar opinions about the picture quality.

-AndrewJust look for any DVD with the THX logo and pop it into your DVD player (the aforementioned StarWars DVD probably does). Navigate to the disc's setup menu and there should be a "THX Optimizer" option. They have a Video Optimizer that has some good screens for setting Contrast, Brightness, etc. and an Audio Optimizer which is a good way to check that you've got your speakers hooked up right.

I've never felt the need to use anything more exotic than that.

Thanks, I never noticed that was there before. Seemed to work pretty well, although I don't know what the story is on the blue tinted glasses they mention for the coor adjustment. I wonder where would one get those?

Thanks, I never noticed that was there before. Seemed to work pretty well, although I don't know what the story is on the blue tinted glasses they mention for the color adjustment. I wonder where would one get those?
Try http://www.thx.com/home/dvd/blueGlasses.html

Has anyone else had sound issues with the VPT 33-4? On our main TV with stereo sound, this weekend I've only been getting the "background" audio, and on our mono TV, no sound at all.

Also, it seems I've split my incoming signal a bit too much. The primary feed, 50' RG-58, (I know, RG-6 would have been better, but Summit Source sent it for free with the antenna) I split 1:2 to feed one outlet in the basement and one the living room. In the living room I then split 1:3 to feed the TV, VCR (via a DTVPal converter box), and also the stereo for radio reception. The basement TV holds the VPT signal pretty well with about 80% signal strength, but the main TV and DTVPal box both fluctuate ~65-75% and will drop the signal at the low end, the TV more often than the DTVPal. Can anyone recommend an inexpensive amplifier and source (I'm assuming this will fix my problem)?

Has anyone else had sound issues with the VPT 33-4? On our main TV with stereo sound, this weekend I've only been getting the "background" audio, and on our mono TV, no sound at all.

Also, it seems I've split my incoming signal a bit too much. The primary feed, 50' RG-58, (I know, RG-6 would have been better, but Summit Source sent it for free with the antenna) I split 1:2 to feed one outlet in the basement and one the living room. In the living room I then split 1:3 to feed the TV, VCR (via a DTVPal converter box), and also the stereo for radio reception. The basement TV holds the VPT signal pretty well with about 80% signal strength, but the main TV and DTVPal box both fluctuate ~65-75% and will drop the signal at the low end, the TV more often than the DTVPal. Can anyone recommend an inexpensive amplifier and source (I'm assuming this will fix my problem)?
I've just checked and have found no problems with VPT-4. The audio is good and in perfect sync.
However, for the past month, I've experience is strange, annoying "pop" or "crack" sound in the audio stream of VPT-1, the main PBS feed. It sounds for the world like a lose wire which is infrequently moved. It can be jarring when it is fed through a 7.1 sound system. It seems to be exclusive with VPT as I have checked the exact same feed from WCFE and it exhibits no such sound. Anybody else notice this?

However, for the past month, I've experience is strange, annoying "pop" or "crack" sound in the audio stream of VPT-1, the main PBS feed... Anybody else notice this?

I have noticed the "pop" as well. I won't say for certain, but I want to say it may have been evident when the camera angles switched.

I just checked, the sound issue I've noted is occurring right now (8:17 am) although I'm not certain that it was a constant problem. I'll have to check on it throughout the weekend.

I just checked, the sound issue I've noted is occurring right now (8:17 am) although I'm not certain that it was a constant problem. I'll have to check on it throughout the weekend.

Ok, now 9:16. They are showing Nature (Sea Lions) on VPT-4. No sound on the mono TV, normal sound on the stereo VT. I should note on the stereo TV, I get normal sound weather I run the signal through the TV's tuner or I run it through the DTVPal/VCR to the TV.

I've checked some past recordings from VPT and they all have the "pop", "crack" sound. I'll email them to see if they are aware of it.
By the way, my apologies for my spelling. I was typing at 3 AM and probably should have invested in a cup of coffee before replying to you.

Ok, now 9:16. They are showing Nature (Sea Lions) on VPT-4. No sound on the mono TV, normal sound on the stereo VT. I should note on the stereo TV, I get normal sound weather I run the signal through the TV's tuner or I run it through the DTVPal/VCR to the TV.

Ok, 10:00pm+... VPT-4 is fine, but now on WVNY-HD I'm running into the same issue. Great picture, strong signal, but I'm only getting the background music and sound effects, no dialog, but only on program (Desperate Housewives). Sound on (most) commercials is coming through fine and as soon as the ads end, the problem comes back for the program. I played with my connections to no avail. No sound at all on the mono TV. Background audio only when run through the converter box/VCR connection as well. I pulled out the splitters and still no change. I even tried switching audio settings between mono and stereo on the converter box and RCA vs coax connections.

I'm really not very experienced with the science behind all this, so does anyone here have any ideas on if there could be something in my setup interfering with just one portion of the audio? I'm stumped, especially if no one else is having issues. :(

You might go way back into this thread. I remember either WPTZ or WVNY having an issue of losing the center channel (dialog) on the 5.1 programs, often after a commercial break when they had switch to SD and back to HD. I think we had to hammer the stations with complaints and they finally looked into it and resolved it.

I've checked some past recordings from VPT and they all have the "pop", "crack" sound. I'll email them to see if they are aware of it.
By the way, my apologies for my spelling. I was typing at 3 AM and probably should have invested in a cup of coffee before replying to you.

Yes - I have the cracking sound as well, watching VPT HD. I've been afraid that there's a capacitor discharging or an arc-over somewhere in my system but it doesn't happen on other channels. I'm really glad to hear that someone else is experiencing it as well. Please keep us informed of their reaction if you communicate this to VPT

I have noticed the problem with VPT-1 audio, pops, crackles and the like. It has become unwatchable. Luckily I have Mountain Lake so I can enjoy Austin City limits without fear of my speakers exploding with the pops!

I have been hearing such sounds on VPR (Vermont Public Radio) broadcasting from the same location.

My neice just moved into NECI housing in Montpelier. She'd like to avoid paying for cable. What's the reception like in Montpelier for the Mt. Mansfield DTV stations?

Just getting my first DCTV next week, will have to use for now with my SD Dish Network package. I read elsewhere in this forum that I should still be able to pick up local HD channels - can anyone tell me what actually works in the Burlington/Vergennes area, and what the channel numbers are for these local HD channels?

Thanks
JC

Just getting my first DCTV next week, will have to use for now with my SD Dish Network package. I read elsewhere in this forum that I should still be able to pick up local HD channels - can anyone tell me what actually works in the Burlington/Vergennes area, and what the channel numbers are for these local HD channels?

Thanks
JC
Go to www.antennaweb.org and www.tvfool.com
Enter your address and any situation responses. The results will be a good indication of reception, what channels and what type of antenna. From the digital broadcasts (the only ones you should concern yourself with) on Mt Mansfield, you can get CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX and VPT for a total of 11 channels and sub-channels. All but WVNY are UHF and WVNY is using high VHF channel 13, so you will need an outdoor antenna of the appropriate size that does UHF and high VHF. Give us the results for further advice, but I am guessing something like a Channel Master 2016 or Winegard HD769x series.

My neice just moved into NECI housing in Montpelier. She'd like to avoid paying for cable. What's the reception like in Montpelier for the Mt. Mansfield DTV stations?
If that housing is in downtown Montpelier, I doubt if OTA reception is going to be very good as that is down in a hole surrounded by high terrain. Maybe someone who lives around there can pitch in, but I don't think an indoor antenna will pick up anything. Enter the address into www.antennaweb.org and/or www.tvfool.com to see what they say. From the center of downtown, antennaweb says you can only pick up one station with a large directional rooftop antenna.

I may end up using an external antenna, and have done some research on that already, but my question was about what local channels in this area are broadcasting in HD *on the Dish Network basic package* (e.g. not the HD package)..

JC



Go to www.antennaweb.org and www.tvfool.com
Enter your address and any situation responses. The results will be a good indication of reception, what channels and what type of antenna. From the digital broadcasts (the only ones you should concern yourself with) on Mt Mansfield, you can get CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX and VPT for a total of 11 channels and sub-channels. All but WVNY are UHF and WVNY is using high VHF channel 13, so you will need an outdoor antenna of the appropriate size that does UHF and high VHF. Give us the results for further advice, but I am guessing something like a Channel Master 2016 or Winegard HD769x series.

I may end up using an external antenna, and have done some research on that already, but my question was about what local channels in this area are broadcasting in HD *on the Dish Network basic package* (e.g. not the HD package)..

JC
The SD versions of the locals for this area from Dish are 3, 5, 22 and 44. To receive the HD versions of the same channels(Sat 61.5) requires on of Dishes HD packages.

The SD versions of the locals for this area from Dish are 3, 5, 22 and 44. To receive the HD versions of the same channels(Sat 61.5) requires on of Dishes HD packages.FYI - Dish also gives you 31 (WNNE out of New Hampshire) and 33 (VPT) when you order the locals package. All but ch. 31 have an HD counterpart if you also order an HD package (so, to be clear, you have to order BOTH a locals package AND an HD package to get the locals in HD).

JC_VT, to get the HD locals from Dish you will need to get a Dish HD receiver & a wing dish pointed to 61.5. You say you have an SD setup, so I'm assuming you don't have an Dish HD receiver? Just having an HDTV isn't enough to get the HD locals from Dish. You don't have to sign up for any of the HD packages to get the HD locals, but you may have to pay the $7/mo HD "enabling" fee.

FYI - Dish also gives you 31 (WNNE out of New Hampshire) and 33 (VPT) when you order the locals package. All but ch. 31 have an HD counterpart if you also order an HD package (so, to be clear, you have to order BOTH a locals package AND an HD package to get the locals in HD).
Gees... I must be getting old. I forgot those 2. :D

Hi all -

So I'm guessing most people will read this and think why should that matter, but since my DTVPal converter relies on the time sent out from the OTA broadcasts, it messes up the timers feature that allow my VCR work with the digital broadcasts.

My plea is for as many members here as possible to contact WFFF/WVNY and ask them to fix it. Right now they are running about 20 minutes behind. I sent one email late last night, but figured if they hear from multiple people, they'd be more likely to correct it.

If your TV can display program information, you would notice this if you displayed the program info any time in the first 20 minutes of any program. If you do that, it will show you the info for the program that just ended instead.

The email for WFFF I used was gm@fox44.net.

Thanks
Andrew

If that housing is in downtown Montpelier, I doubt if OTA reception is going to be very good as that is down in a hole surrounded by high terrain.Black hole is more like it...

We visited my niece today and gave her an old TV of ours. I tried my Silver Sensor real quick on 22 and 33 analog from her apartment and got barely enough signal for the vertical sync to lock onto a very snowy picture. I didn't even bother trying the DTV converter box. Fortunately, she mainly wants the TV for the PlayStation and watching DVDs anyway.

I suppose if one were determined, one could put up a high-gain rooftop antenna and get a much better signal, but that's out of the question in this case.

FYI - Dish also gives you 31 (WNNE out of New Hampshire)

Actually, WNNE is Ascutney, VT, with studio in WRJ. Do they have any unique programming other than that short segment of the news? 99% of the time they are the exact same as WPTZ

Foxfan,

Have you tried using a Wade-Delhi 10y13s to pick up WVNY-DT? It's a single channel yagi rather than a VHF-Hi antenna such as the Winegard YA-1713. I have heard of people having success with the Wade in St.Eustache and Dorion. The fellow in St.Eustache is using a 10y13s and a CM4221, both fed into a CM Titan 7778 to pick up all the Plattsburgh-Burlington digitals. He bought the Wade at Raybel Electronics in Montreal.


I already do have a single-channel yagi for channel 13, even one designed for MATV and cable head-ends. Still doesn't fix the problem.

Same programming, different commercials, all out of Plattsburgh.

WRJ is a news bureau.

I happened to notice that, as of yesterday afternoon at least, Best Buy in Williston had an open-box Toshiba HD-A3 HD-DVD player on sale for $80. I almost bought it on a whim. I then went looking for HD-DVDs. You can still buy them new from Amazon at about 1/2 the price of the same title on Blu-Ray. I am tempted...

I happened to notice that, as of yesterday afternoon at least, Best Buy in Williston had an open-box Toshiba HD-A3 HD-DVD player on sale for $80. I almost bought it on a whim. I then went looking for HD-DVDs. You can still buy them new from Amazon at about 1/2 the price of the same title on Blu-Ray. I am tempted...
I picked up two of them in March when Toshiba bowed out for $85 each. If you get it and the 2 HD-DVDs are missing, I've got unopened copies of the first 2 Bourne movies available cheap. I am really enjoying some of the HD-DVD concerts like The Moodie Blues and The Eagles. And, of course, Planet Earth.

I happened to notice that, as of yesterday afternoon at least, Best Buy in Williston had an open-box Toshiba HD-A3 HD-DVD player on sale for $80. I almost bought it on a whim. I then went looking for HD-DVDs. You can still buy them new from Amazon at about 1/2 the price of the same title on Blu-Ray. I am tempted...

I also have some HD DVDs I've replaced with their Blu-ray counterparts that I want to part with. Dealing with somebody local would be preferable for me. If you're interested, PM me for details.

D* states they will be offering HD Locals in September, Does anyone know if we will receive all 4 major networks??? The tv listings section on their website only shows NBC,FOX HD duplicates..for a possible launch this week!!??

You know it occurs to me that if you were able to get the HD DVD version of Video Essentials (Joe Kane) for a really discounted price that buying the player might be a good idea. Kane has repeatedly said that the HD DVD version of "Essentials" is the better of the two formats of his disc.
Indeed, you would have a good back-up player plus you would have a unit that could seriously help in setting up your equipment now and in the future.

I happened to notice that, as of yesterday afternoon at least, Best Buy in Williston had an open-box Toshiba HD-A3 HD-DVD player on sale for $80. I almost bought it on a whim. I then went looking for HD-DVDs. You can still buy them new from Amazon at about 1/2 the price of the same title on Blu-Ray. I am tempted...
So how many times are you going to watch the movies before it gets old. Yeah $80 for an upscaler is good but unless you are going to let BD go by til whatever comes next I would still hold out for a BD player. Sony has a price drop coming for the 350 at the end of this month. $299 list. By Christmas there will be more and for less. ;)

I happened to notice that, as of yesterday afternoon at least, Best Buy in Williston had an open-box Toshiba HD-A3 HD-DVD player on sale for $80. I almost bought it on a whim. I then went looking for HD-DVDs. You can still buy them new from Amazon at about 1/2 the price of the same title on Blu-Ray. I am tempted...

Here's the thing about buying this for $80 rather than BD for $300-500: you can find out if HD movies are worth a $300-500 upgrade for you. I determined that with my 720p 52" RPTV, that there just wasn't enough "wow" to drive me to BD at current prices. And for $80, I still have a nice upconverting DVD player and a bunch of $15 HD-DVDs. The only HD-DVDs that really knocks my socks off are Planet Earth ,The Eagles Farewell Tour and The Moody Blues Lovely to See You concert.

Hi Brian O.

My parents are in Dollard des Omeaux behind Centenial Plaza and use a Philips SDV7400k/17 on the rooftop. They get WVNY at ~40% strength and CBC/SRC at ~35%. I'm not sure about the signal stability except to say that on a cloudy night, the CBC signal is better. When choosing the orientation, it bacame apparent that no amplifier was needed. With the amp. the signal strengths for all channels actually decreased since noise must have been amplified more than the actual signals.

Good luck.

DirecTV activated the Burlington/Plattsburgh HD locals this morning.

For those with MPEG4 recievers and a 5-LNB dish, WCAX, WPTZ, WVNY, WETK, WFFF, and WCFE are now available in HD.

DirecTV activated the Burlington/Plattsburgh HD locals this morning.

For those with MPEG4 recievers and a 5-LNB dish, WCAX, WPTZ, WVNY, WETK, WFFF, and WCFE are now available in HD.
Are you receiving all of them(HD feeds) with your dish? DirecTv site shows only WPTZ, WVNY and WFFF with HD feeds. Maybe later or just not uptodate listings?

WCAX & WETK aren't HD yet, though the guide lists the programming as HD. Also this means new customers going forward will only need to have the KaKu dish installed to receive locals, no wing dish needed.

I'm not home now so I'm going to need some help to piece together the info from what I heard on here and DBSTalk :)

Right now we have WVNY, WFFF, and WPTZ available from D* in HD right?

WETK and WCAX are on the online guide and may be coming soon?

What about WCFE, WLED, and WNNE? (WNNE seems like wasted bandwith)

I heard that WCWF has also appeared as an analog channel?

If this is true why no My39 and the CW? I can't believe we may get ION before MyNetowrkTV and the CW.

CW has been only available OTA as 44.2 for some time in the BTV/PLB market ... we have D****TV ... my wife likes to watch 'America's Next Top Model', and the only way we have been able to see it is to either attach an OTA antenna to our (HR20-700) receiver or directly to our LCD TV ... if OTA reception hadn't been optimal for us, we would have had to pay D****TV a fee for access to their 'national' CW channel (from D.C., I think) ...

... so I wonder if D****TV will make CW available (i.e., add the 44.2 channel to their satellite feed?)

- ianbtv
Cambridge, VT USA

P.S. As I understand it, satellite providers (D*** & D****TV) are not obliged to provide local subchannels ... a shame for those not able to receive OTA HD ... lots of extra/interesting programming on the PBS subchannels, for instance ...

... also worth noting that D****TV's CW feed (from D.C.) isn't even available as HD (if purchased)!

CW has been only available OTA as 44.2 for some time in the BTV/PLB market
My daughter watches CW via Comcast. A show she got me interested in(via DVDs) is Supernatural. I'm on E* and if you read back in this thread I didn't even know what CW stood for. I thought Country Western?? One of the regulars here straighten me out!;)

My daughter watches CW via Comcast. A show she got me interested in(via DVDs) is Supernatural. I'm on E* and if you read back in this thread I didn't even know what CW stood for. I thought Country Western?? One of the regulars here straighten me out!;)

CBS/WB. It's the CBS owned UPN in merged with the WB.

I'm not home now so I'm going to need some help to piece together the info from what I heard on here and DBSTalk :)

Right now we have WVNY, WFFF, and WPTZ available from D* in HD right?

WETK and WCAX are on the online guide and may be coming soon?


WCAX is now in HD.

I actually saw channel 2 (CBC 20) for a little while on Saturday from my home in North Cambridge.

Here is a rundown of the channels I can receive:

100 % of the time - Channels 3, 5, 57

Ocassionally I can Get: 33

Briefly I have watched: 44

Have seen once only: 2, 22

My antenna is a very old Channel Master 'Master-line' antenna with a winegard pre-amp. The original CM amp (that is housed within the antenna) got taken out by lightning years ago. ( sure would like to find a replacement).

A question for the board:
What is the best deep fringe antenna to buy? I tried replacing my antenna listed above with an 8-bay Winegard reflector antenna. The Winegard did not perform as well as my old antenna.

I have been looking at Antenna Direct's 91XG Uni-Directional Antenna.

Does anyone have any experience with this antenna?

Best regards

So you are at the base of Mt Mansfield? A street and zip code would give a better idea with TVFool.com

Interesting application. It gave me a few more channels to look for, but I would be lucky to get all the locals.

Interesting application. It gave me a few more channels to look for, but I would be lucky to get all the locals.
I've heard that tvfool is more accurate, but I find www.antennaweb.org easier to decipher. Select show digital only, then click on the color at the left to find the type antenna required.

I actually saw channel 2 (CBC 20) for a little while on Saturday from my home in North Cambridge.

Here is a rundown of the channels I can receive:

100 % of the time - Channels 3, 5, 57

Ocassionally I can Get: 33

Briefly I have watched: 44

Have seen once only: 2, 22

My antenna is a very old Channel Master 'Master-line' antenna with a winegard pre-amp. The original CM amp (that is housed within the antenna) got taken out by lightning years ago. ( sure would like to find a replacement).

A question for the board:
What is the best deep fringe antenna to buy? I tried replacing my antenna listed above with an 8-bay Winegard reflector antenna. The Winegard did not perform as well as my old antenna.

I have been looking at Antenna Direct's 91XG Uni-Directional Antenna.

Does anyone have any experience with this antenna?

Best regards

From my camp on Metcalf pond, with an indoor antenna, I can get all of the channels on Mt. Mansfield.

If I were you, from N. Cambridge, I would check your wiring. Make sure you have at least RG6 Quad Shield. Potentially with an old antenna that you describe,you may have just RG59 and it may be a long run and old stuff.

If you use the 91XG, try it without a pre-amp first. You may be too close to Mt. Mansfield to even need a pre-amp. It is likely you're overloading in with the 8-bay reflector.

~ryan

Interesting application. It gave me a few more channels to look for, but I would be lucky to get all the locals.

Your problem is the 2-edge thing, but make sure your antenna is aimed at 194 degrees compass and don't use an amplifier as you are too close. Also tilt the antenna up toward the ridge line as that is where the signals will be the strongest. BTW, I used a Winegard PR4400 to show a friend what she could receive, so she ordered one and we only got a weak signal. Turned out the 300-75 balun on the antenna was bad. Got a new one at Radio Shack and she was good.
Just using your zip code 05464, antennaweb.org shows no digital reception for that location so your best bet may be a Dish Net antenna. If you have an HDTV, they have a good deal on the Turbo HD (HD only) package.

Your problem is the 2-edge thing, but make sure your antenna is aimed at 194 degrees compass and don't use an amplifier as you are too close. Also tilt the antenna up toward the ridge line as that is where the signals will be the strongest. BTW, I used a Winegard PR4400 to show a friend what she could receive, so she ordered one and we only got a weak signal. Turned out the 300-75 balun on the antenna was bad. Got a new one at Radio Shack and she was good.
Just using your zip code 05464, antennaweb.org shows no digital reception for that location so your best bet may be a Dish Net antenna. If you have an HDTV, they have a good deal on the Turbo HD (HD only) package.

I get nothing at 194 degrees as I have Bartlett hill in between my location and Mansfield. I have to point my antenna due west to get anthing from Mansfield (I think I am getting a reflection off from something). As far as a balun goes, I have tried the one that came with my Winegard antenna and that caused too much signal loss. I have also tried one from RS with the same result. My best result was to tie the coax directly to the antenna (I know this causes and impedance mismatch - but it works the best thus far.)

Also, without the preamplifier, I only get ch 57.

As far as pay TV, I think they should pay me to watch it.

RYAN Wrote: From my camp on Metcalf pond, with an indoor antenna, I can get all of the channels on Mt. Mansfield.

If I were you, from N. Cambridge, I would check your wiring. Make sure you have at least RG6 Quad Shield. Potentially with an old antenna that you describe,you may have just RG59 and it may be a long run and old stuff.

If you use the 91XG, try it without a pre-amp first. You may be too close to Mt. Mansfield to even need a pre-amp. It is likely you're overloading in with the 8-bay reflector.

~ryan

All the local channels with an indoor antenna from Metcalf pond??? WOW!

I have changed my feed line, It was RG6 and had oxydation on the shielding and the center conductor, it was about 15 years old. I have replaced all of my wiring with new rg6. The cable I'm using has a braid and foil shielding (is that quad shielded?) I don't think I am experiencing overloading, but I will strip off my preamp and try that.

Thanks for the input people! :)

All the local channels with an indoor antenna from Metcalf pond??? WOW!

I have changed my feed line, It was RG6 and had oxydation on the shielding and the center conductor, it was about 15 years old. I have replaced all of my wiring with new rg6. The cable I'm using has a braid and foil shielding (is that quad shielded?) I don't think I am experiencing overloading, but I will strip off my preamp and try that.

Thanks for the input people! :)

Yeah, I'm using an older radio shack amplified indoor antenna. Bought it back in 2003 for home. I was never happy with it but I'm glad I didn't throw it out. We're right at the south end of the pond, between So. Shore Dr. and Pond Rd. ABC, CBS, PBS, NBC and Fox all come in on my Zenith DTT901.

Double check all the connections. Did you buy the cable pre-made? Or did you make the connections yourself? Quad shield is 2 layers of foil and braid. Slightly thicker than regular RG6 and slightly more expensive.

With any outdoor antenna, you should be fine without a pre-amp if you're within LOS +- of Mt. Mansfield.

~ryan