RG6 has better shielding but don't know that it would resolve your problem. Moving the antenna outside may help. What do antenna.org and tvfool say about antenna requirements for WFCE?

RG6 has better shielding but don't know that it would resolve your problem. Moving the antenna outside may help. What do antenna.org and tvfool say about antenna requirements for WFCE?

Good point! moving it outside might do it, I use RG11 by the way

Do you really have rg58? I think that's 50 ohms, RG59 is 75 ohm tv cable, although it has a lot of loss.
Oh, I would avoid twin lead at all costs[/QUOTE]

Typo, it's RG59. My point was that it wasn't the better shielded RG6.

RG6 has better shielding but don't know that it would resolve your problem. Moving the antenna outside may help. What do antenna.org and tvfool say about antenna requirements for WFCE?

Both say I need an outside mount on a better (directional) antenna. I really like the attic mount to not worry about weather, and didn't expect to care about WCFE at the time.

When I first put in the HD-1080 I had it inadvertently oriented 180 deg from the Mansfield towers and was able to pick up WFCE occasionally even with the attic mount, but drop-outs on WVNY made me realize I had it backward.

I really don't want to spend much time or money on this, given it's really just a "would be nice if..." If I were going to invest any real effort, I would be to try to get CBC once they go digital, but I think that's likely to be a long shot.

I've noticed that WCAX-DT is now running some NSN sports programming on their 3.2.

Good idea. 24hr. local weather is a little too much.

One thing though. They seem to be taking a 4:3 image and they're stretching it to fill their 16:9 raster. Terrible. Makes watching the games weird. I corrected the image on my TV by using the Aspect function. It would be even better if they corrected it on their end so that this distortion was not present.

I'm all for 16:9 being used on all sub-channels as they do with their weather. But not when the source material seems to be 4:3

So, if this was your situation, and you only wanted to spend <$50, what would you try?


I would try a mast mounted pre-amp, which is fairly easy to do... except for getting back up in the attic to hook it up. A Winegard 8700 would help to overcome the losses in your cable and splitters.

...
I'm all for 16:9 being used on all sub-channels as they do with their weather. But not when the source material seems to be 4:3

Agreed. OAR (original aspect ratio) all the time, no matter what it is. 4:3, 16:9 or 2.35:1. No stretching or zooming in. I also wish they would be more careful with audio. I get the feeling that most broadcasters, including WCAX, just leave Dolby Digital 5.1 carrier on all the time. When a show is not in 5.1, don't force it through. Switch to 2.0 or mono or decode it to 5.1 properly. Don't smear the center channel (voice) across the left & right channels. Anyone else notice this? And no, my audio system is not the problem.

I get the feeling that most broadcasters, including WCAX, just leave Dolby Digital 5.1 carrier on all the time. When a show is not in 5.1, don't force it through. Switch to 2.0 or mono or decode it to 5.1 properly. Don't smear the center channel (voice) across the left & right channels. Anyone else notice this? And no, my audio system is not the problem.

A number of receivers don't take kindly to this, either in terms of producing loud popping sounds or lip sync. Thus, 5.1 is left on all the time by most stations.

- Trip

...Thus, 5.1 is left on all the time by most stations.

- Trip

Really? Then why do commercials drop down to 2.0 and sound better than the shows?

Beats me. The station I worked at upconverted everything to 5.1 to prevent glitches.

- Trip

Really? Then why do commercials drop down to 2.0 and sound better than the shows?
They sound LOUDER to me, not better. Since your TV only has two speakers it merges the sounds from all channels and dialog sometimes gets buried. The commercials don't have anything but dialog so they will sound clearer.

First of all, I never use the 2 speakers in the TV. I have a dedicated 5.1 sound system.

I will try to explain the situation better... This is my theory. When I listen to a show that has been produced in true 5.1 sound and the receiver indicates 5.1, the dialog comes from the center speaker only. I am happy. Sometimes, a commercial is produced in 5.1 and the receiver indicates 5.1, the dialog comes from the center speaker only, I am still happy. Sometimes, a commercial is produced in 2.0 (stereo or Dolby Pro Logic) and the receiver indicates 2.0. It can now decode 2.0 to 5.1 using the built in (Usually Dolby Pro Logic II) converter. Dialog comes from the center speaker only, still happy. Moving along. Sometimes a program is produced in 2.0 and the station switches their audio gear properly, my receiver indicates 2.0. It can still decode 2.0 to 5.1 properly. Dialog comes from the center speaker only and again, still happy. Okay, here it comes... A program is produced in 2.0. and the station leaves the 5.1 mode on. Going into more detail. Now because the 5.1 mode is on, and is receiving 5.1 audio streams. It sends them to the 5.1 speakers. It has no choice but to do this and nothing more or less. However, the station has a program with 2 audio streams and is trying to fit them into 5.1 streams. How are they doing this? I think they do some of the following things and maybe more.

1. They rout the 2 audio streams into the left and right channels of the 5.1 mode leaving the other 3.1 channels (center, 2 surrounds and the .1 sub speaker) unconnected and silent.

2. They rout the 2 audio streams into some kind of Pro logic decoder, then send the 5.1 outputs of this decoder to the 5.1 stream.

3. They rout the 2 audio streams into a magic black box that mixes who-knows-what into 5.1 output stream.

Results...

1. The audio is coming only out of the left and right speakers of my 5.1 system. That means the dialog is not coming out of the center channel. It is quiet. The dialog is coming out of the left and right along with the rest of the music and effects. And because, the receiver is in the 5.1 mode, it cannot convert 2.0 to 5.1 I am not happy. There is a work around for this mode. If I switch to the analog mode, my receiver then sees it as stereo or Pro Logic and can then convert 2.0 to 5.1.

2. This is acceptable as long as the decoder they use is good and does not distort or steer the sound improperly. I am not too happy, but this is acceptable.

3. I have heard this mode. I don't know how they do it, but the dialog comes from all 3 front speakers. The music and effects comes from all over the place. I am not happy at all.

OK Here we go.

Let me see if I can explain this in a way that best suits what you're asking...

At the TV station, there is a Dolby 5.1 encoder (Typically a 569 encoder, just a model number). The encoder has three audio inputs, A1 has Left/Right, A2 has center/LFE, and A3 has Surround L/R. When this encoder is in "3/2L" mode (i.e. 5.1), it takes the three audio inputs and sends them out to the 5.1speakers. You hear the surround mix, as it is supposed to be heard. If the encoder is switched to 2/0 mode, it sends a signal to your equipment that the program is in 2.0 mode, and it ignores A2 and A3, so only L/R get sent to your equipment. A correctly processed L&R only program sounds normal.
However, if the encoder is set to the WRONG mode, you can have a lot of issues. If it is set to 5.1 and Yet only has 2.0 audio, due to the settings of the box, the audio will be low, and you will not be receiving correct audio path and levels. If the oppisite happens, and the encoder is set to 2.0 mode with a surround program being fed to it, you will only hear the left and right audio and lose all center channel programming. Now because you can be in the wrong mode, a lot of TV stations have opted to generate full time 5.1 surround. This also eliminates the switching from 5.1 to 2.0 and back, which generally ticks a lot of people off. (The switch is never clean, there can be a 'snap' {sync hit} or a delay as the unit switches). So there are pieces of gear, such as the Neural "Multi-Merge" device, that always puts out 5.1 surround, no matter what the input is. It has circutry that detects audio on the surround channels and either passes 5.1 if it is seeing those audio channels on the input OR it "up-mixes" 2.0 to 5.1 to create "artificial" surround during 2.0 programming. As trip said, a lot of stations are opting for this mode, due to viewer complaints and the issues with constantly switching surround modes.

Not sure if that helps answer your question but I hope it gets you in the right direction.

Has anyone else had problems with WPTZ's 6:30 NBC News broadcast the last few days? The audio has been slightly-to greatly-out of sync. I've monitored their sister station WNNE and their transmissions are fine. I've emailed them but, of course, get no reply. Undoubtedly they are too busy checking the Super, Super Super Doppler radar. Both over the air and satellite broadcasts are affected.
I hope for the day when Hearst sells channel 5 and then, when there is a local or regional owner, we might actually expect to see them purchase an HD character generator (school closing notices that don't force a drop back to SD) and, hope beyond hope, a VTR that can record HD to play back the syndicators without black bars on all four sides of the picture. Well, it's Christmas and I can dream, can't I?

Yes, the sound has been out of sync for the past few days.

Which syndicated shows have black bars? I'll admit I don't watch during the day, but since 10/18 they've been able to record Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy in HD smoothly and without black bars. They did have a few days of jittery picture at first, but now its clean daily.

I agree, we spend a lot of time with black bars these days even in network shows because they don't have the equipment to do a crawl in HD and have to revert to SD for their incessant messages about the battle between Hearst and DirecTV. And then they forget to switch back to HD for a while. Oh for a real TV station! They are by far the worst in the area. I hope DirecTV winds up paying them less rather than more.

WPTZ did get back to me saying that they could find no problems. However, the same sync problem was evidenced last night as well. The good thing, however, is that last night they actually joined the network on time for the first time in months. What pros....

WPTZ did get back to me saying that they could find no problems. However, the same sync problem was evidenced last night as well. The good thing, however, is that last night they actually joined the network on time for the first time in months. What pros....

What are you watching them on? (Over the air, cable, satellite)
Were you as condescending in your email to them as you are on here?

I found the problem to be, as I noted, on all transmissions--satellite and OTA. When it comes to my language, let me say that I wrote to them three times before I received a reply. I did so with professionalism and courtesy. I was told that they would check into it even though they saw no problem. I did a follow up test after another member of this form had experienced the same anomaly. I was polite and explained the situation as I experienced it--including the fact that it was not happening on the NBC transmission from their sister station WNNE. I experienced the problem on no other satellite channel and was intrigued as the amount of delay time between the picture and the audio was variable.
I stand by my ire that the overall technical aspect of their transmissions calls into question the intent of the Hearst corporate management in supporting timely updates to the channel’s equipment. I felt that this format was appropriate to say that while being candid with our readers here. To this day, I’ve not received a reply to my last message.

I had that same sync problem with the SNL Xmas special the other night...

I read this article today about new mobile devices for DTV and my face turned beat-red when I came across the last paragraph:

"...Because few people watch broadcast TV compared to cable or satellite, the Federal Communications Commission has started to look at ways to encourage or pay broadcasters to shut down their TV towers and turn their space on the airwaves over for mobile broadband use. Wireless broadband is an incontrovertible success, and carriers will eventually want more spectrum."

Clearly the FCC is now also on the take. And now with Comcast trying to take over NBC (which should be considered an anti-trust violation) things are going to become extremely bleak. Comcast will be happy to the shut down free NBC broadcast TV (to force people back to cable) and would be happy to switch over to providing mobile broadband as part of their own new service. The link to the whole article is here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110108/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_gadget_show_mobile_tv;_ylt=AjQvjAAbKaXpAnxYjus3TT.s0N UE;_ylu=X3oDMTFoamxtY3N2BHBvcwMxMzQEc2VjA2FjY29yZGlvbl90ZWNo bm9sb2d5BHNsawNnYWRnZXRzZm9yZnI-

Clearly the FCC is now also on the take. And now with Comcast trying to take over NBC (which should be considered an anti-trust violation) things are going to become extremely bleak. Comcast will be happy to the shut down free NBC broadcast TV (to force people back to cable) and would be happy to switch over to providing mobile broadband as part of their own new service. The link to the whole article is here:


I agree with this statement. The FCC should have required no overlap between Comcast subs and NBC O&O's. Think about it this way, you are a non NBC O&O in a Comcast cable market, with a Comcast O&O affiliate also in the market. When it comes time to negoiate your cable carriage agreement, you think they're going to be easy to work with, to keep the competition on the cable plant? It's clear that the "must carry" rules have been long thrown out the window, so is this next?

They showed the first 25 minutes of it again this evening with the wptz.com banners at the sides. Oh for some professionalism....or maybe they were just out for some pizza.

Speaking of local stations dropping into SD...

Back in December, Fox44 was dropping into SD during Glee to run this annoying crawl about Comcast threatening to drop Fox or somesuch. Pissed me off enough to email the station. The message, of course, went unanswered. Glee's been on hiatus this month, so I haven't had any reason to watch Fox44 in prime time for several weeks.

Are they still running the crawl, or have they resolved their differences with Comcast (or was it Charter)?

Don't know if they resolved their differences or just gave up, but the crawl is gone. I do know that Hearst resolved their differences with DirecTV and are now being paid MORE so that WPTZ/5 can be carried. DirecTV should be paying LESS for that mess!

From bad to worse...
Notice that WPTZ seems to have finally acquired a new character generator to do the lower thirds for school closings etc. Of course, in their infinite wisdom they have decided to stretch the top two-thirds of the picture making everyone look short and fat! I don't know why it makes me so crazy when they make these seemingly senseless decisions--but it does. I'd rather black bars then the aspect ratio manipulation. Let's hope that Hearst can see its way clear to dumping some of the extra money they'll realize from the latest Comcast/Direct TV battle into channel 5 engineering.
And speaking of battles, isn't it time for the FCC or Congress to take a stand on allowing carriers to keep programer's material on the air while new pricing talks and arbitration occur? I know that with Dish network I am still paying for ABC Family (HD) and Disney channels even though they were removed weeks ago because of contract negotiations.

Saw a comment on a Canadian forum that Fox44 has been difficult to receive recently. Checked signal strength this morning at 10:10 and it is bobbling between 50 and 60% with some breakups and total loss of picture. It's normally in the high 90% range here. The other stations on the mountain are all at normal strength.

update: Sunday morning 1/22 9AM. Still low signal strength and some total dropouts. All other stations from Mt. Mansfield and Plattsburgh normal.

Up in Mtl, catching it with no problems. Crossing my fingers for the superbowl :):)

This morning signal strength was up to about 70%, steady and locking nicely. This evening it is a steady 81% so those on the signal fringes should once again be getting a good lock.

Hi Folks,
Ch 12 in Montreal is now digital(remaps from ch51).
Curious if you all can catch the signal strong or not? Enjoy.

Nothing here in Shelburne, but I do have a small antenna aimed to Mount mansfield.

Nothing in Monkton, VT either. I have a DB4 antenna pointed at Montreal.

Not even a wiggle yet in Essex, VT.

Nothing in Williston.
Please do keep us posted when they increase their power.

Last night I did get a 30 to 40% signal. Not enough to lock, but at least it's there.

Whatever the problem has been, it now appears to be fixed. Signal strength/quality this morning is rock solid at 98%. It's nice that it's fixed because I wasn't looking forward to watching the Super Bowl on analog 12 from Montreal.

NBC 5.1 has been down for the last three hours - I don't think it's my setup as all other channels are strong. So much for watching the match play championship this afternoon...

NBC 5.1 has been down for the last three hours - I don't think it's my setup as all other channels are strong. So much for watching the match play championship this afternoon...

Wptz is operating at low power due to equipment issues... posted on another site today...

Any chance CW will be in HD anytime soon?

The General Manager told me that they were, "...working on it." Of course, that was almost two years ago!
It's my understanding that to accomplish this they would have to degrade their HD network feed.

Anybody know if the stations on Mount Mansfield are operating at a lower power? My TV's signal meter has dropped by about 30% on all the channels. At this point WFFF-DT (44.1 - rf43) has no picture lock on my end. Other stations such as WCFE-DT (57.1 - rf38) and CFCF-DT (12.1 - rf51) are transmitting from other sites and appear to be coming in just fine with no change in signal strength. I'm located in Montreal.

I used to live in Vermont and remember a lack of subchannels on all the channels. I recently saw somewhere (perhaps rabbitears or something similar) that WGMU-WNMN is basically hogging them all. They have Cool TV, Universal Sports, Antenna, Tuff, RTV, and perhaps a few others. I remember when I lived there WGMU was analog and was a waste, since it was off the air most of the time - then it just went away.
1- Is this real? Is WGMU back? I was just up there and saw WNMN on comcast ch 80 at my friends place, but is it over the air?
2- Is it as much of a pain in the neck to receive the OTA digital signal as it was on analog?
I ask because my parents are thinking about doing the HD upgrade (finally) and I was going to help them. They have DISH and I was going to rig up one of the OTA-Dish combiner boxes so they can have "that new fancy WCAXtra." I would never trust them to figure out how to switch from HDMI to OTA on the TV and that option seems the best. I think they would like some of the shows on RTV, etc and if WGMU is real, then I will try to get that in there, too. They live in Milton.

They have DISH and I was going to rig up one of the OTA-Dish combiner boxes so they can have "that new fancy WCAXtra." I would never trust them to figure out how to switch from HDMI to OTA on the TV and that option seems the best. I think they would like some of the shows on RTV, etc and if WGMU is real, then I will try to get that in there, too. They live in Milton.If you subcribe to the $5/mo locals package from DISH, and you have an HD DISH receiver, you get WCAX, WPTZ, Fox44, ABC22, and WCFE with all the sub-channels included right off the satellite. No need to put up an antenna. If you want to save the $5, then, yes, you can put up an antenna, but you'll have to teach your folks how to switch between the sat. receiver and OTA.

When did they put the sub-channels on Dish?

News to me. I have Dish Network with HD Locals and I do not get the sub-channels, (PBS is not in HD, VT or NY). I just run my off air antenna into my hd receiver and no "combiner box" Unfortunately I am blocked from Mt Mansfield OTA but do get Albany and WCFE

When did they put the sub-channels on Dish?"Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it"

The sub-channels are from my OTA antenna plugged into my DISH ViP622. Oops. Sorry for the confusion.

Incidentally, I don't get a whiff of anything digital from WGMU/WNMN.

I forget exactly how that works... does it "mix" the OTA and Satellite feeds together of channels? Does it show 3-00 from Dish then 3-1 and 302 for OTA and you could weed out the repeats/non-HD with a favorites list?

Hi EJ,

Last I checked wgmu is analog 39 from Monkton with RTV. Pretty much non-existent in Milton.

I forget exactly how that works... does it "mix" the OTA and Satellite feeds together of channels? Does it show 3-00 from Dish then 3-1 and 302 for OTA and you could weed out the repeats/non-HD with a favorites list?The DISH ViP622 EPG shows all channels, including overlaps. For instance, I see:

003-00 WCAX SD (from sat)
003-00 WCAX HD (from sat)
003-01 WCAX HD (OTA main channel)
003-02 WCAX HD (OTA subchannel)

Same idea for WPTZ, VPT, etc.

This is actually rather useful. The reason being that the 622 has 2 sat. receivers but only 1 ATSC receiver. So, if I happen to be recording, say 003-01 and want to change the channel to 005-01, it will tell me it needs to stop the recording to do so. But, if I want to keep the recording going, I can change to channel 005-00 HD instead (assuming the 2 sat. tuners are not otherwise occupied recording something else).

Good to know, thanks.
Theoretically, I could tell my parents to always record from 044-00, etc on the DVR and changing the channels wouldn't be any different. They wouldn't understand that you could record two things at once, so two recordings at once wouldn't be an issue.
I assume that you could record 2 things from Dish and watch an OTA channel at the same time.
Does dish have WPIX HD yet on the Superstations package? It doesn't look like it on the site, but I am hoping that changes...

Julius Genachowski is pandering to big wireless and cable again and is going to allow them to payoff broadcast companies - we the people will lose our right to free broadcast tv and the corporations will win big. Genachowski should be protecting us from this instead he's selling out like the rest of Washington. Hopefully our local stations will not succumb to this and take the payoffs....

Spectrum fight: Mobile broadband vs. TV broadcasts http://usat.ly/gFcx9O via USA TODAY

CBC CBMT-DT might be on air at full power from Mount-Royal this Friday evening, just in time for the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Got this info from digitalhome.ca HDTV forums.

So you Guys in Vermont and Northern NY could do a new scan on your tuners, HDTV's or TiVo's.

I know some members were wondering when CBMT-DT would be full power.
CBFT-DT SRC French CBC should be at full power next week.

Great news. Do you know the actual digital number? Thanks for keeping us posted.

CBMT's transitional station on Mount Royal will be on channel 20 with 107 kW. It should move to Ch. 21 with 436 kW in the Fall. It's possible that it will be operating from the backup antenna lower on the tower until the end of the year.

Current ETA for CBMT-DT on Mount Royal is Friday evening or Saturday morning.

I figured that the CBC might test their new transmitters late at night this week. At 3AM last night I was able to get 2.1 here in Essex, VT with a signal strength of 59%. They were transmitting a PSID of CBFT-D. The signal locked nicely with no errors. However, every 5 minutes or so the error rate would go up sometimes accompanied by pixilization. The signal strength never dropped. Bodes well for the permanent cutover.

This is from Digital Home.ca

A message on the French forum indicates the moratorium on new transmissions from Mount Royal has not yet been lifted, so don't hold your breath for CBMT-DT this weekend. The equipment is ready. All that's missing is the okay from Industry Canada.
Next week is a better bet.

I know this isn't a political thread - but does anyone care about this? Do you think it will infringe upon free broadcast tv? And what do you think about NBC being purchased by comcast?
FCC: TV Airwaves May Improve Clogged Mobile Networks
First 22-04-2011 04:28 PM EDT | Updated: 23-04-2011 12:00 AM EDT

Federal Communications Commission chief Julius Genachowski told Washington D.C.'s Economic Club on Wednesday that the dwindling electromagnetic spectrum available to wireless carriers has led to a spectrum crunch that is causing dropped cell phone calls and poor reception nationwide.
The rapid adoption of smartphones and tablets has driven a huge demand for mobile data, and the FCC argues that unless wireless companies have more access to spectrum, the U.S. could fall behind in global communication.
The FCC's solution is to get television broadcasters to voluntarily sell some of their airwave space to the highest bidder.
"The single biggest thing we can do to free up contiguous, high quality spectrum for mobile broadband is incentive auctions," Genachowski said, according to Reuters.
The plan requires broadcasters to forfeit 120 megahertz of spectrum, which would create 22 percent more space for the crush of data from cellphones and wireless devices, writes the New York Times.
"The F.C.C. wants broadcasting spectrum because those wavelengths are particularly hearty -- they travel well through buildings, an advantage for mobile smartphones," the Times reports.
But broadcasters aren't exactly leaping at the opportunity.
"We are not going to volunteer. Spectrum is our lifeblood," CBS chief executive Leslie Moonves told the Times.
AT&T recently admitted to the FCC that data traffic from popular mobile devices, like the iPhone, was gobbling up available wireless spectrum. The carrier hopes that its proposed merger with T-Mobile will improve service.
However, Genachowski warned on Wednesday that AT&T's problems may indicate a larger trend.
"The math that drives the spectrum crunch is aggregate demand from all consumers in the U.S. compared to aggregate supply of spectrum," he said, according to Reuters. "We have to free up new spectrum for mobile broadband in order to close the gap between aggregate demand and aggregate supply."

^^^^^^

Isn't that what the transition to digital TV was all about?

^^^^^^

Isn't that what the transition to digital TV was all about?

Actually I didn't realize that the transition to digital tv was about selling frequencies to cell companies. Quite frankly I was hoping that we would see new channels and more multicasting - and this seemed to be the opposite and would limit the ability for affiliates to expand once they gave up their "spectrum". I guess I shouldn't worry as long as existing spectrum is kept in place for existing channels with plenty left to spare. In some of the initial articles I read it sounded like some struggling stations may sell all of their spectrum, take a big payoff and decide to go off the air. And who knows what comcast will decide to do with all of the NBC affiliates - again maybe I'm wrong and comcast will still support free OTA.

I'm probably one of the few people with only OTA (no cable or dish since sept 07) so I get nervous when changes are proposed by companies with alternate intentions....

For those close to Montreal. The SRC & CBC stations in Montreal seem to be up and running from Mount-Royal. Not sure if they are full power or not. Probably not.

CBFT-DT (2.1 - RF19)
CBMT-DT (6.1 - RF20)

FROM Digital home.ca:

They are using the backup transmitter at 5 kwatts output power for a ERP of 100 kwatts.

The final transmitter will be 30 kwatts output power for aprox 500 kwatts of
ERP.


Starting September 1st, you will be receiving both CBFT and CBMT at practically equal signal strengths (five times the power of today). Both stations will broadcast from the same (combined) antenna (different from the currently used separate antennas), located at the very top of the Mont-Royal tower. This will provide equal coverage for both stations at any given location where the signal can be received.

Question: If my tv signal strength bars are already maxed out now with CBC, do I need to worry about over loading or anything?

I was even going to install a cm7777 for Abc and Fox later next month. Too much??

Question: If my tv signal strength bars are already maxed out now with CBC, do I need to worry about over loading or anything?

I was even going to install a cm7777 for Abc and Fox later next month. Too much??

Where are you located?

What TV's show as "signal strength" is not always directly related to the received level. It is often just an indication of how much gain is applied by the AGC circuit. In other cases, it's a measure of signal quality (how many errors in the digital stream were detected)

When did wptz start broadcasting their local news in widescreen - I noticed this for the first time last night....looked pretty good.

Actually, I thought it was rather terrible. The signal is either good upscaling of SD or they have purchased the worst HD cameras possible. I noticed that they also had about a 15 line blank at the top of the screen with the VBI actually showing through. The resolution around every side of the screen was less than I usually see with quality HD broadcasting--meaning, I guess, that the resolution was not what it should be.
At times I thought that their graphics generator was doing HD but at other times it seemed as though the graphics were up-scaled also.
I guess that Widescreen is the term I'd use to describe the picture also--not HD. Is it better than the past signal--certainly. Have their directors improved technical aspects--such as hitting the network news on time--certainly. Does their new look measure up to NBC's HD--not on my set.
Perhaps my very old eyes are deceiving me but I'd be interested in the reaction of some of the members who have actual broadcast experience. Is WPTZ broadcasting the local news in HD or not.

I watched the late news for 10 minutes last night on our large projector screen. It isn't HD and isn't even particularly good SD. At least the aspect ratio is correct (it isn't stretched), but it appears that they have just taken their standard cameras and blown them up and thrown away the top and bottom of the image.

I just happened to check these two channels from Montreal this evening and was surprised to find them coming in very well here in Monkton, VT. The signal strength on both is above 70% at the moment with no errors.

Anyone else having similar good luck? I'm hoping it's because they've increased their power output, but my guess is it's just weather related, because the UHF analog channels out of Montreal (17, 35, 46) are pretty strong tonight as well.

Around 4/15 both CBC stations moved their digital transmitters to the tower on Mount Royal. They are still not at full power nor are they using their permanent antennas. The move to the permanent antennas and a 4X or 5X power increase will come at the Canadian digital cutover on 9/1/2011. At that time CFCF 12 (CTV) will also move to RF CH 12 on a permanent antenna with similar power levels to the CBC; it is currently transmitting from a temporary antenna on a municipal tower at low power on RF Ch 51.

Since the CBC move I can get 6.1 pretty consistently with a signal percentage of 50 to 70%. Sometimes it drops lower and won't lock. 2.1 is not as easy to lock. I can see signal wiggles on CFCF-DT but have never locked it. My antenna is not optimized for Montreal. I'm optimistic that when the moves to the permanent antennas and higher power levels occur in September I'll be able to watch CBC and CTV reliably.

FWIW...

I tried pointing my wimpy indoor antenna North to see if I could pick up anything. Nope. Nothing. So that's the story from Essex, VT. One of these days, though, I may try re-pointing my bigger antenna in the garage to see if I can get anything.

Sadly, the same story from Williston with a wimpy Terk indoor.

I'll try tomorrow with my outdoor antenna which is halfway up the side of my house. In the meantime check out this article which validates my concerns about the fact that the NBC/Comcast deal was an inside job and the FCC was on the take.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-20065357-266.html?tag=mncol;posts

Does anyone in Essex or Milton have the new fairpoint high speed fiber internet? I am not happy with what my bill from comcast is going to be starting July 1st and was looking at one of their bundles. They say 3mb download is available at my house in milton. I was wondering how accurate that is.

My 2 year pricing is up and my bill for TP is going from $130 to close to $180. When I started they said the package would go up $25. Now they say the package is going up that, but now I have to pay for the box and DVR access in addition to that $25. What a crock..............

I live in Essex, and I've had a 7Mb plan from Fairpoint for nearly a year. I just now ran a speed test and it came in at 5800kbps down/782kbps up, which is typical. Except for a password glitch that knocked me offline for a couple of days while I waited for Fairpoint to straighten things out at their end, the uptime and bandwidth has been great.

I got it as part of a telephone/DSL bundle. Monthly bill is just under $100.

I use OTA + DishNet for my TV programming. That comes to something like $60/mo (includes HD receiver w/ DVR).

About 50% of the time, both 2.1 and 6.1 from Montreal are strong and lockable from 7AM until about 9AM here in Essex, VT. More rarely later in the day depending on atmospherics.

For those of you suffering with satellite internet as I have, I've been watching all the Fairpoint work in my area (Lamoille County) with great interest. I just called today, DSL is available at 3MBS, 7MBS or 15MBPS. They will have it set up in a week, will ship me a self install modem via Fed-Ex. Yes! After the promotion, it will be $30/month for 7MBPS versus the $80 I pay now for 1.5 with satellite.

I've been checking mostly in the evening, and can get spotty, pixelated reception of both channels maybe 50% of the time, but only watchable about 25% of the time. 2.1 is consistently stronger than 6.1 here in Monkton.

This probably isn't the right forum for this question, but I can't seem to find an active AVSForum which sounds appropriate. So, here goes...

I've noticed lately that the "aliased" HD channels are disappearing from my DishNetwork program guide. For instance, it used to be that when I pulled up the EPG, I see Comedy Central in SD on channel 107, and then right next to it a channel "107 HD" which was Comedy Central HD.

However, lately, when I bring up the EPG, I see Comedy Central in SD on channel 107, but there is no HD version next to it. I have to page all the way up to channel 4088 to find Comedy Central HD.

What gives?

BTW - If it matters, I have the ViP622 and 2-dish 110/119 (Dish500) + 61.5 setup.

I use a modified guide that eliminates all SD channels that have an HD twin so I don't have to see so much crap or have my wife pick the SD channel because she doesn't pay attention to such things.

There is an "All HD" favorites list already. But we've always used "All Sub". If we switch, the channel order is different, and we're pretty used to seeing them in the "All Sub" order. Oh well, I suppose we can go that route if we need to.

It's just weird that this 1 feature that worked for years has suddenly gone wonky.

Say goodbye to most of the NBC sports content that would otherwise be broadcast for free OTA:

http://usat.ly/o9paKU

I just started to receive CBFT (2) on digital 19 on my Dish Net 722 unit. The signal level is 60 with pristine stable pictures. Interestingly enough, I have a small indoor Terk antenna pointed at Mt. Mansfield--not Montreal. I am in Williston, VT with, of course, no direct line of sight to the towers. Here's hoping that the rest of the Montreal stations are as easily accessed. I'd be interested how other folks are doing with the increased signal power.

I get 2.1 and 17.1 (RF 27) pretty much 24 hours a day now. I can see a signal on 15.1 (RF 15, Global, was analog 46) but can't lock it yet.

Big changes coming by 9/1 when analog transmission will end. 12.1 (now very weak on RF51) will go digital on that date on RF 12. 10 will go digital on RF 10. 6.1 (RF 20) will increase power and move to RF 21. 17.1 will move from RF27 to RF 26. Bottom line: keep scanning.

This is a table of Montreal analog to digital RF channel changes and 'final" power levels that I think is pretty accurate:
2–>19 CBFT (SRC) 447.82K
6–>20–>21 CBMT (CBC) 436.34K
10–>10 CFTM (TVA) 11K
12–>12 CFCF (CTV) 10.6K
17–>27–>26 CIVM (Télé-Québec) 160.6K
29–>29 CFTU (Canal Savior) 0.387
35–>42–>35 CFJP (TQS) 13.75K
46–>15 CKMI (Global) 8K
62–>49 CJNT (multilingual) 4K

Word has it that CJNT rf49 will be OTA on Aug 27th.

I may have spoken to soon because every time a bird in Winooski "breaks wind", I lose the Canadian signals. I am going to wait until Sept. 1st and put up an outside antenna--shades of what I was doing over 50 years ago to get WRGB in Sch. NY.
Thanks guys for all of your valuable info.

According to a member on another site, CBC-TV has switched from rf20 to rf21 this morning

CFCF Channel 12 analog shut down permanently early this morning at 12:05AM. They are now transmitting as 12.1 on RF channel 12. I'm getting a nicely locked signal at 48% this morning.

This morning I had 2.1 (RF19), 6.1 (RF21), 10.1 (RF10), 12.1 (RF12) and 17.1 (RF 26) with ~50% signals. At this point (10AM) only 10.1 and 12.1 are strong enough to lock in.

(If you have previously locked 6.1 or 17.1, note that you have to rescan because they changed RF channels on the cutover date.)

I've had a UHF and high VHF antenna running into a combiner for 5 years, but lost OTA WVNY (22/13) since Irene. I figured the either the combiner or the cable from the VHF antenna was bad, but thought it was a good time the try the DB4 that Antennas Direct sent me a year ago when I had contacted them about a part. Since I wasn't getting VHF anyway, I put the new DB4 with an upgraded 300/75 ohm connector on in place of the two older antennas. Bingo, I now have WVNY at 81% (similar to the VHF antenna), plus all the UHF stations at or close to 100%. I'm good.
The new connector is VHF friendly.

So, after months of funny business in my EPG (namely, the failure of some HD channels to map-down to the 3-digit channel), I noticed over the weekend that Comedy Central HD disappeared entirely.

I did some Googling and was pretty convinced that I needed to get my 61.5/110/119 setup converted over to the 1000.4 EA dish.

Well, after a call to Dish this morning, 40 minutes, 2 levels of CSR, and several reboots, etc., they concurred and scheduled an install for Wednesday.

So, after months of funny business in my EPG (namely, the failure of some HD channels to map-down to the 3-digit channel), I noticed over the weekend that Comedy Central HD disappeared entirely.

I did some Googling and was pretty convinced that I needed to get my 61.5/110/119 setup converted over to the 1000.4 EA dish.

Well, after a call to Dish this morning, 40 minutes, 2 levels of CSR, and several reboots, etc., they concurred and scheduled an install for Wednesday.

Tom,
I did that a year ago and if I were to do it over, I would use a 500 Plus and a 500 dish for the EA as the signal was better and less prone to weather fade.

Tom,
I did that a year ago and if I were to do it over, I would use a 500 Plus and a 500 dish for the EA as the signal was better and less prone to weather fade.
Out of curiosity, with this 500/500+ setup you propose, exactly which dish would you point where?

The reason I ask is that I currently have a Dish 500 pointed at 110/119 and a 2nd dish pointed at 61.5. Can I just re-point the Dish 500 somewhere? 110 and 119 are 9 degrees apart while 72 and 77 are 5 degrees apart, I can't use the Dish 500 to get 72 and 77, can I? Alternatively, 61.5 and 72 are 10.5 degrees apart (closer to 9 than 5), could I use the Dish 500 to get those 2 and the 2nd dish to get 77?

Bah... Nevermind. I went back through the forum and found this post:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=18280553#post18280553

which pretty much sums up the options.

I like the aesthetics of going from 2 dishes to just the one 1k4.

Well, the installer has come and gone. He spent about 2hrs installing the new dish. He was extremely professional and thorough. Signal strength for all sats is upper 40s to mid 50s. All my weird issues with missing map-downs and missing channels have been resolved.

I'm very pleased with the results. I've attached before and after photos...

That cleaned up very well. How did they cover the holes in the siding where the lower dish was?

That cleaned up very well. How did they cover the holes in the siding where the lower dish was?The old dishes were only screwed into the corner board, not the siding. The only holes that needed filling were therefore in wood. I went out and did that myself this afternoon with some silicone caulk. The next dry day we have I'll slap some paint over it.

I recently installed an HD antenna. to date I have been unable to get 3-1, 3-2. sometimes i can see a bit of an image (no sound) and it looks like a couple of stations meshed together. Wondering if anyone else is experiencing same? ideas for solutions? thx

We need a lot more info, like what kind of antenna, inside or outside, line of sight to Mt Mansfield, how far from the towers are you. WCAX is one of the strongest signals and WVNY is the weakest.

CBMT (CBC Montreal) recently moved from physical channel 20 to channel 21, which is right next to WCAX (physical channel 22).

Some tuners are more sensitive than others to adjacent channel interference. That could explain you seeing stations "mashed together".

In fact, I'm having trouble receiving CBC (21) and Global (15) on my Sony TV's tuner when aiming at Mt. Mansfield, likely due to 22 and 14 overpowering them. Other Mt. Royal stations are fine, as is the reception on two other tuners.

Another possibility could be interference from CHCH's Ottawa repeater which is also on physical channel 22. Are you on the West Island?

We need a lot more info, like what kind of antenna, inside or outside, line of sight to Mt Mansfield, how far from the towers are you. WCAX is one of the strongest signals and WVNY is the weakest.

hmmm...how can i tell if i am in line of site? I live in saint-laurent, the antenna is an 8 bay hd, on my roof, and is facing south. oddly wvny comes in great, wcax is the only of the major american networks that i dont get at all. thx.

You're probably getting interference from RF22 from Ottawa, as the other poster said. I have the same problem down here in NC; NBC17 from Raleigh and Fox21 from Roanoke VA are both RF17. I can get rid of it most of the time by off-setting the direction the antenna is pointed. If I point it directly at the NBC17 tower, it is in perfect line to get Fox21 from the back so I turn it a little toward the SW and it works perfectly. You could try pointing it more SE (since Mt Mansfield is SE of MTL not S) and that might work. Couldn't hurt to try. I can't wait to go back to VT and try out all these fun new MTL signals!

Don't know what happened, but suddenly as of a few days ago, 3-1 & 3-2 come in crystal clear--and I didnt change a thing on my end! now the only major US network I dont get is ABC (WVNY 22), which as I understand per above, I will just have to live without. at least I get letterman now!

Hi all,

I'm new here and have a question if you don't mind. I live in an apartment in downtown Burlington and I just bought a passive antenna last night (indoor one since I live in an apartment and I really cant mount a rooftop one); however, I'm not receiving Fox44 at all. Should I go back to the store and buy an amplified one?

I receive NBC and CBS crystal clear with no problem.

Any help is appreciated!

Thanks!

I would definitely get the amplified one. I have a friend in Essex who barely gets Fox44/CW44.2 without amplification but he would have a better signal than you would get downtown.

Out of curiosity, are you getting ABC22?

I've found that placement of the small antenna is critical. I found that with my TERK (amplified) unit that merely changing the placement a few inches brought the WFFF signal up to 90%. I hesitate to tell you to take it back because digital reception is so iffy, but if you got it at a place like Best Buy they'll exchange it for you with no restocking fees during this Christmas season. Good luck....

I've found that placement of the small antenna is critical. I found that with my TERK (amplified) unit that merely changing the placement a few inches brought the WFFF signal up to 90%. I hesitate to tell you to take it back because digital reception is so iffy, but if you got it at a place like Best Buy they'll exchange it for you with no restocking fees during this Christmas season. Good luck....Amplification isn't necessarily going to help. Before exchanging anything, try different locations. It's most important that you locate the antenna with as few walls between it and the outside. You're better off putting the antenna in a different room and running more cable if that's what it takes to get it closer to an outside wall.

Also, consider the directionality of the antenna. In our area, an omnidirectional antenna is of no use because all of the DTV signals are transmitted from the same mountain. You should be using a uni-directional antenna pointed straight toward Mt. Mansfield, which is more-or-less due East from Burlington.

Oh, I forgot to mention.... If you're down the hill towards the lake, the hill is going to block a lot of signal and you simply may not be able to get all the channels no matter what you do.

I can't remember right now but I believe I do get ABC.

I've tried a few different positions all near a window and nothing; I am down towards the water so I bet you're right about the hill blocking the signal. Either way, I can live without it it just would have been nice.

And I did end up trying an amplified antenna; I received the same amount of channels.

Thanks!

I am sorry if I sent you off in the wrong direction. Amplification made a very positive difference to my set up. If it makes you feel any better, I've spent a good deal of money on a system to pick up the Montreal stations--with absolutely no effect what so ever. This is a strange game we play. I would still add a few more feet of cable to your new antenna and try it in as many different places as possible. If you're a PBS fan, you might want to point the antenna toward Plattsburgh and scan to see if you get WCFE. Again, sorry if you wasted money.

Atmospherics are great today. I'm getting a lock on 2.1, 6.1 10.1, 12.1, 15.1 and 17.1 from Montreal this morning. Normally only 2.1, 6.1 and 10.1 come in with any regularity.

Thanks for the tip. I'll try again.

If you can receive the Montreal stations via antenna off the air and if you have a Directv DVR with OTA capability, read on.

Directv DVRs such as the HR20 or others with the AM-21 module use a station guide published by Tribune Media to establish what stations are available locally via antenna. The guide does not cover Canadian stations, leaving folks in locations such as Burlington-Plattsburgh, Buffalo, Detroit and Seattle without access to the otherwise available Canadian networks.

There is a work around which involves picking a US market with stations on the same frequencies and remappings as the desired Canadian stations. (The guide data is worthless and recordings must be scheduled manually.)

For the Burlington-Plattsburgh area Fargo, ND fills the bill. If you enter 58102 as your secondary zip code you will be able to tune 2.1, 6.1, 10.1 and 12.1 from Montreal directly. I haven't found a zip that would also include 15.1.

Does anyone know if there is a similar fix for Dish receivers?

Has any of our group here locally had a Dish Network Hopper and Joey installed? Reactions would be helpful for those of us debating whether or not to jump into the new technology. Thanks

Is there anyone around with an analog tuner who can look to see if W16AL is still on the air?

Thanks.

- Trip