did anyone else see wptz hd show up in their comcast guide today as channel 795? it's gone now but is this a good sign?

When D* gets their 2 new birds up later this year, they have announced the following HD services:

"-- A&E
-- National Geographic
-- Bravo
-- NFL Network
-- Cartoon Network
-- SciFi Channel
-- CNN
-- Speed
-- Food Network
-- TBS
-- FX
-- The History Channel
-- HGTV
-- The Weather Channel
-- MTV
-- USA Network

DIRECTV will also extend its leadership in HD sports programming by offering hundreds of games and other HD programming available from Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) around the country, including YES Network, Comcast Sports Net, New England Sports Network and FOX Sports."

Cnn wil start HD in September, and the others are either already there or are coming. Finally getting NESN HD will mean the Red Sox in HD. By the end of 2007 we should in good shape between local and D* HD.

did anyone else see wptz hd show up in their comcast guide today as channel 795? it's gone now but is this a good sign?

Yes, very good sign, thanx for the info. I just checked and it is not there now. I have been checking the 700's every day now and your info is the first indication things are moving along.

MrJ

the change ticket for adding wptzHD and dt weather as well as wcax dt weather is sched fo tonight. so if all goes well in the morning all 3 channels will be in the line up
the change ticket reads burlington area so i am not sure if it will reach all vt areas at this time or not.

Some folks may be interested in this:
NAB: Online Consumer Antenna Calculations Improved
January 31, 2007

For those who prefer their HD content straight off the air and uncompressed, be advised that AntennaWeb, a Web site designed to help consumers select antennas based on their market and location, has been updated and augmented in recent months.
A series of improvements has been incorporated into the software tool used on the Web site, which is funded by the Consumers Electronics Association and operated by Decisionmark (soon to be TitanTV Media), according to NAB's technical newsletter for engineers.

NAB said CEA's R5 committee, on which NAB sits, has developed a set of improvements--including a modified terrain database, improved obstacle data, different algorithms, and more planning factors for DTV and NTSC.

The Antenna Recommendation algorithm recommends a class of receiving antennas (characterized by color code) optimized for a specific location and set of installation options. It calculates the antenna with the smallest power margin >= 0 dB that is predicted by the Individual Location Longley Rice (ILLR) model to provide the required signal to the receivers. The model provides the color of the antenna predicted to work best at that location, NAB said.

Calculations are intentionally designed to be conservative.

Yes, very good sign, thanx for the info. I just checked and it is not there now. I have been checking the 700's every day now and your info is the first indication things are moving along.

MrJ

yeah it was wptz hd, and then the ptz weather channel and wcax weather channel as mentioned above. noticed it around 2 pm and at 5 my roommate said they were gone. hopefully they'll be back by tomorrow.

You guys are "lucky" to have any hd locals on comcast. Waitsfield cable offers no hd content and has no plans to offer it in the near future. I think they must by 2009? They're getting left behind.

So when we got our HDTV about 6 weeks ago, switched to E* for their # of hd channels and price vs. D*. But the analog locals are awful quality! I've been pulling in some OTA HD content with a roof-mounted, amplified antenna, but we're in a really tough area....lots of mountains between us and Mt Mansfield. We get spotty reception of wcax, wptz, vpt....mostly unwatchable though cause of the drop-outs. We can get wvny (which is VHF for their digital channel) reliably.

Tried several different VHF/UHF combo antennas and UHF only attennas with careful aiming, installation, and lots of experiementation have yeilded some improvements, but not to the point of "good" reception. I think bad multipath (plus a WEAK signal area) is a problem here.

Is anyone else out there in a difficult reception area for OTA broadcasts?
What antenna are you using?

Any info you can relate would be appreciated. Thanks

-Edit: what am I using now?

The best results so far with radio shack VU90-XR and CM 7778 pre-amp.
I also have CM 4228 - 8 bay but it doesnt work as well, even with careful aiming (not as good with multi-path??)
I also tried a TD (AntennasDirect) XG43 yagi style, but the radio shack old-school still works better.
Currently I'm mounted on roof peak with 10' mast, getting me about 45 feet off the ground, even tried the 4228 about 60' up in a tree with a clear view of the nearest hill to the north (22 deg)...but no better....yeah, my wife liked that experiment! LOL

Scanned the comcast channels with my mythtv system and I now receive wptz_hd, wptz_wx and also oddly enough got wnne_dt. no HD on this am but look fine.

Scanned the comcast channels with my mythtv system and I now receive wptz_hd, wptz_wx and also oddly enough got wnne_dt. no HD on this am but look fine.

What channel assignments do they have?

I have Comcast cable in Burlington. My set is a panny 42" plasma. For some reason, when I have my 8300 box set to pass through, ESPN HD in 720P leaves a couple of black lines(about 3 or four lines of pixels) at the top of the screen. When I switch it to 1080i, no problem, the image fills up the entire screen. I think ESPN HD broadcasts in 720P, so I'm wondering what the problem is: the cable or the tv. Any ideas? Anyone experience a similar issue?

When D* gets their 2 new birds up later this year, they have announced the following HD services:

DIRECTV will also extend its leadership in HD sports programming by offering hundreds of games and other HD programming available from Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) around the country, including YES Network, Comcast Sports Net, New England Sports Network and FOX Sports."

Cnn wil start HD in September, and the others are either already there or are coming. Finally getting NESN HD will mean the Red Sox in HD. By the end of 2007 we should in good shape between local and D* HD.

Considering one of their 3 million dollar satellites just blew up, I expect their plans may change some.

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m313/Smthkd/?action=view&current=NSSExplosion.flv
http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=88142

The launch vehicle that blew up was not carrying a Directv bird. The only delay would depend on how damaged the platform is. I don't know if they could change the launch site.

Scanned the comcast channels with my mythtv system and I now receive wptz_hd, wptz_wx and also oddly enough got wnne_dt. no HD on this am but look fine.

I have an DVR w/ comcast and now get WPTZ on channel 705..... this is real good news. Hopefully the rest of the available locals will follow soon.

What channel assignments do they have?

In MythTV that's a little confusing. I believe they were listed as 3 different subs on channel 112. I see the last poster had them on 705 in the cable box. I don't understand how that mapping actually occurs. Maybe they set the box to display any channel they want regardless of the frequency? Anyway, good that they're showing up!

I have a CableCard set up on my bedroom TV. I just checked and it doesn't have channel 705. I tried to "force" it a few different ways:

* Entered "705" on the remote -- wouldn't even try to change to this station

* Went to the "Manual station adding" section in my TV's setup menu -- apparently, the TV does not allow this function for the CableCard

* Went to the "Auto station detecting" section in my TV's setup menu -- this added all of my analog channels and regular cable channels only, and not the CableCard channels

Is this just one of those things where the information will get sent to my CableCard eventually but not yet? Note that the cable box in my living room has channel 705 as of today. Will I need to contact Comcast every time they add a new channel?

Thanks for any info.

just started getting wptz hd on comcast today(ch. 705), so that's good news. anyone notice some weird underscan going on or is it just my set? seems like the image cuts out three or four pixels from the top of the screen. same thing happens to me on espn hd when my stb is set to 720P. anyone else experiencing this problem?

I have a CableCard set up on my bedroom TV. I just checked and it doesn't have channel 705. I tried to "force" it a few different ways:

* Entered "705" on the remote -- wouldn't even try to change to this station

* Went to the "Manual station adding" section in my TV's setup menu -- apparently, the TV does not allow this function for the CableCard

* Went to the "Auto station detecting" section in my TV's setup menu -- this added all of my analog channels and regular cable channels only, and not the CableCard channels

Is this just one of those things where the information will get sent to my CableCard eventually but not yet? Note that the cable box in my living room has channel 705 as of today. Will I need to contact Comcast every time they add a new channel?

Thanks for any info.

Comcast tends to forget that they have customers using cable cards. It's a different process than updating cable boxes. My cable cards still show TNTHD on 775 instead of 764 because Comcast never bothered to push the new channel mapping to me. I'm going to call them today and ask them to fix TNTHD and add WPTZHD.

I have a CableCard set up on my bedroom TV. I just checked and it doesn't have channel 705. I tried to "force" it a few different ways:

* Entered "705" on the remote -- wouldn't even try to change to this station

* Went to the "Manual station adding" section in my TV's setup menu -- apparently, the TV does not allow this function for the CableCard

* Went to the "Auto station detecting" section in my TV's setup menu -- this added all of my analog channels and regular cable channels only, and not the CableCard channels

Is this just one of those things where the information will get sent to my CableCard eventually but not yet? Note that the cable box in my living room has channel 705 as of today. Will I need to contact Comcast every time they add a new channel?

Thanks for any info.

I have a cable card and will check tonight to see if I get 705 and post tomorrow. I'm betting that I won't, because it seems to take them a long time to get around to the cable cards. Your average cable technician and CSR are pretty ignorant when it comes to the cable card.

I've spoken to 3 different people at Comcast. None of them know anything about channel 705 and no one has a clue how to move TNTHD to 764 where it belongs. They've obviously got great customer service.

Thanks for the info. Looking forward to hearing any updates from any CableCard users.

While all the cable card users out there are giving us updates on channel 705, can you also please take a look and see if you get TNTHD on 775 instead of 764? I'm beginning to think it's just me.

While all the cable card users out there are giving us updates on channel 705, can you also please take a look and see if you get TNTHD on 775 instead of 764? I'm beginning to think it's just me.

FYI, I just got my CableCard last week, so it was never on 775 for me at all.

just started getting wptz hd on comcast today(ch. 705), so that's good news. anyone notice some weird underscan going on or is it just my set? seems like the image cuts out three or four pixels from the top of the screen. same thing happens to me on espn hd when my stb is set to 720P. anyone else experiencing this problem?

Yup, PTZ on 705 here in east mont. No weather channels yet. I will keep looking.

Yes I too am noticing the same "underscan phenomenon"

edited to add content

MrJ

does anyone else in the VT area have a similar problem with underscan when watching espn hd in 720P?

Just noticed! Comcast/east mont WCAX weather on 168 and WPTZ weather on 169. I will continue to stare at the IPG until more HD comes my way! ;)

MrJ

does anyone else in the VT area have a similar problem with underscan when watching espn hd in 720P?

i was under the impression that espn broadcasts in 1080i, i might be wrong but maybe that's part of the problem

Still no new channels via cable cards.

Still no new channels via cable cards.

Bummer, and I suppose when you call a Comca$t csr about it you get a blank stare, right?

MrJ

i was under the impression that espn broadcasts in 1080i, i might be wrong but maybe that's part of the problem


hmmm...when I set the stb to passthrough, espn is broadcast in 720P.

espn and abc are both 720p...

fox is also 720p...cbs, nbc, and pbs are 1080i.

After observing as long as I have been (and the rest of you too), it really is funny at this point how long it's taken Comcast to deliver the new local digital channels. And does anyone have any new jokes about Wptz and how behind they are?

I've been without cable tv for some time now living off of the OTA's and streaming video/tv clips. Life does indeed go on. Sorry cableguy.

wait I retract that last joke about PTZ!

yes that is happening with the OTA signal as well...

In MythTV that's a little confusing. I believe they were listed as 3 different subs on channel 112. I see the last poster had them on 705 in the cable box. I don't understand how that mapping actually occurs. Maybe they set the box to display any channel they want regardless of the frequency? Anyway, good that they're showing up!

I am using a Panasonic 42" with internal tuner/no cable card or box. So any news of channels in the clear and where they are would be appreciated. I will check the 112 area next time im there.

Well, I checked last night and no channel 705 or 169 or anything different with the cablecard. TVIoHD - my TNT in HD comes in on Channel 764 so I do believe that you may be the only person in VT who gets TNT on 775. I'm thinking that the unlucky people with cable cards will probably have to wait at least 2 weeks to get the new channels. That is how long it took for TNT in HD to show up after people with boxes got theirs. Cable companies despise cable cards and do what ever they can to dissuade customers from getting them, because they can't sell pay-per-view and other crap to them that they don't want. ComCrap is simply making us pay the price for our frugal ways.

Bummer, and I suppose when you call a Comca$t csr about it you get a blank stare, right?

MrJ

Exactly. You're lucky if you get someone who even knows what a cable card is.

Well, I checked last night and no channel 705 or 169 or anything different with the cablecard. TVIoHD - my TNT in HD comes in on Channel 764 so I do believe that you may be the only person in VT who gets TNT on 775. I'm thinking that the unlucky people with cable cards will probably have to wait at least 2 weeks to get the new channels. That is how long it took for TNT in HD to show up after people with boxes got theirs. Cable companies despise cable cards and do what ever they can to dissuade customers from getting them, because they can't sell pay-per-view and other crap to them that they don't want. ComCrap is simply making us pay the price for our frugal ways.

Thanks, I'm sure Comcast will be very eager to help with my TNTHD problem if I'm the only one experiencing it. It wouldn't even be a big deal that it's on the wrong channel, but all of my TiVo guide info for TNTHD is on 764, so I can't schedule any recordings.

The cable companies really do hate cable cards. It will be interesting to see what happens in July when the ban on integrated cable boxes takes effect and Comcast is forced to use cable cards for everything. They're already appealing to the FCC.

TiVoHD where did you hear about banning intergrated cable boxes? Are you reffering to cable boxes with DVR's built in or something else?

Read a little more on it on the net and it looks to me that the FCC has just cost anyone with cable money. If all the cheap non cablecard boxes need to be replaced who do you think is going to pay for that? Comcast, yea right.

When I had Adelphia and had the high speed internet each and everytime I had a problem with it the first question they asked was if I owned the cable modem. Since it was rented they couldn't use the excuse that it was my modem not their service.

Cable cards are nice and it will help companies like TiVo. I understand if not forced to the cable companies will not develope cablecards but this is going to lead to a court action and like with anything else the court will order a stay until things make their way through court (anyone say blackberry?) So what's next? Will E* and D* going to be forced to offer the same?

Yup, I'm sure the end result of the integration ban will be an increase in fees for the customer. Comcast will still be able to provide customers with a set top box, but it will have to be a box that uses cable cards (or something similar) for the decryption. If that's the case, they sure better figure out how to support people with cable cards because they're failing miserably so far.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070111-8599.html

I just spoke with Adam in the Comcast Technical Troubleshooting office in South Burlington. They actually weren't aware that cable card customers were not receiving 705 yet. He's getting an engineer involved to figure it out. If anyone has any technical questions or problems with Comcast, don't bother calling Customer Service. You can reach Adam and Drew at the Technical Troubleshooting hotline at 1-866-662-1049.

While I had him on the phone, I asked about FOX and ABC in HD. He basically said that they're still in contract negotiations. He hasn't heard any prospective dates, so it's still probably a ways out, but he's hoping it will be within the 1st quarter of 2007 since they're getting so many inquiries about it. Since WFFF and WVNY are both run by the same company, they'll probably work out the contract for both channels at the same time.

The launch vehicle that blew up was not carrying a Directv bird. The only delay would depend on how damaged the platform is. I don't know if they could change the launch site.

You're right, I misread the article.
It was actually a $300 million New Skies-8 satellite that blew up and in the same paragraph they included DirectTV Group in a list of those "Firms likely to be forced to scamper to adjust their plans".
My apologies.

TiVoHD,

Thanks for putting in the leg-work. We cablecarders are all in your debt, or at least we will be when things get updated. Thanks for the tech hotline, too. I hope I never have to use it.

Dont know if it's been posted yet, but A&E HD is now part of Dish Network's HD package. Channel 9419

anyone know whats going on with WVNY? There analog is normal but their digital channel is showing an ABC Engineering Lab tape or something of the sort, going over lip sync, channel id sequence, there was some flashing 720p thing. The basketball game was in HD but after that I think it switched over to this.

edit: yup my feelings were right, it's an ABC HD engineering tape. Not very entertaining though.

Is anyone having trouble receiving WPTZ-HD (channel 705) on Comcast? I'm receiving a blank screen - I was all excited to get Heroes in High Def tonight, but unless Comcast and/or WPTZ fixes something soon, I don't think that's going to happen...

-Will

Is anyone having trouble receiving WPTZ-HD (channel 705) on Comcast? I'm receiving a blank screen - I was all excited to get Heroes in High Def tonight, but unless Comcast and/or WPTZ fixes something soon, I don't think that's going to happen...

-Will


hasn't been on all day, doesn't look good for primetime

Is anyone having trouble receiving WPTZ-HD (channel 705) on Comcast? I'm receiving a blank screen - I was all excited to get Heroes in High Def tonight, but unless Comcast and/or WPTZ fixes something soon, I don't think that's going to happen...

-Will


I'm seeing the same issue. I hope it gets fixed by heroes. The HD stuff worked fine on thursday night(besides the last 5 minutes of the office being in standard def.)

I'm seeing the same issue. I hope it gets fixed by heroes. The HD stuff worked fine on thursday night(besides the last 5 minutes of the office being in standard def.)

Does anyone know if this is a WPTZ problem affecting broadcast and Comcast, or is it a problem with the Comcast-specific feed? The Today Show was in perfect HD this morning until around 9:00 when I left the house.

WPTZ-DT OTA is working fine here

WPTZ-DT OTA is working fine here
Thanks! At least I know who to harass now...

Anybody know what channel PTZ is on without a Comcast box? For instance, I get CAX and CAX-WX on 113-4 and 113-3 respectively, service to Porter's Point in Colchester. I keep having the TV do a search but it doesn't find PTZ.

(VPT is 113-2...)

I get everything OTA with an indoor antenna but it would be nice to use cable if I can.

Anybody know what channel PTZ is on without a Comcast box? For instance, I get CAX and CAX-WX on 113-4 and 113-3 respectively, service to Porter's Point in Colchester. I keep having the TV do a search but it doesn't find PTZ.

(VPT is 113-2...)

I get everything OTA with an indoor antenna but it would be nice to use cable if I can.

I just did a scan:


SCANNING: 723000000 (us-cable:112, us-irc:112)
LOCK: qam256 (ss=77 snq=70 seq=100)
PROGRAM: 1: 1.1 WPTZ-HD
PROGRAM: 2: 9.99 WPTZ-WX
PROGRAM: 3: 1.3 WNNE-DT
SCANNING: 729000000 (us-cable:113, us-irc:113)
LOCK: qam256 (ss=78 snq=60 seq=100)
PROGRAM: 2: 21.2 WETK_HD
PROGRAM: 3: 21.3 WCAX-2
PROGRAM: 4: 21.4 WCAX-HD

I just did a scan:


SCANNING: 723000000 (us-cable:112, us-irc:112)
LOCK: qam256 (ss=77 snq=70 seq=100)
PROGRAM: 1: 1.1 WPTZ-HD
PROGRAM: 2: 9.99 WPTZ-WX
PROGRAM: 3: 1.3 WNNE-DT
SCANNING: 729000000 (us-cable:113, us-irc:113)
LOCK: qam256 (ss=78 snq=60 seq=100)
PROGRAM: 2: 21.2 WETK_HD
PROGRAM: 3: 21.3 WCAX-2
PROGRAM: 4: 21.4 WCAX-HD

Thanks. Maybe it wasn't there when I was scanning. Looks like 112.X should have something?

Edit: Yep, 112.1 112.2 and 112.3 have WPTZ, Weather, and WNNE respectively.

Interestingly, my TV wouldn't find them unless I disabled the digital info aquisition setting. Not sure what it's actually called in the menus. It's what gets rating info, program titles, and that sort of thing.

Sill no 705 love for my cable cards. I called Comcast again for a status update and was told that the issue has been submitted to Engineering. That doesn't really give me a warm and fuzzy feeling.

For those of you in the Upper Valley, New Hampshire Public Television was recently granted a construction permit from the FCC to build a digital translator on Moose Mountain in Hanover. It will be on Channel 50 but with extremely low power (.05kW), but hopefully it will be on the air this summer. It isn't much power, but should be able to fill the gap between the WEKW, WLED, and WENH.

As of this evening I now have 705, 168, and 169 on my cable cards. They even fixed my TNTHD problem. Is everyone else with Cable Cards seeing the new channels now?

Now if they just add 722 and 744, I'll really be happy!

No 705, 168, or 169 for me. Are they just going to appear out of the blue, or do I need to do something in my tv's menus?

I didn't have to do anything, they just started working. But it probably depends on your TV (or TiVo in my case).

Well, I guess I was only half right. Those channels are all there on one of my TVs, but I just checked my other TV and they're not there yet. I guess if they're not there by tomorrow, I'll give Comcast a call again.

Can anyone explain why the Duke v North Carolina game last night was blacked out on ESPNHD on Comcast in Burlington? The SD ESPN broadcast was not blacked out. My friend called Comcast and they claimed UPN had exclusive HD broadcast rights here but we don't even get UPN much less UPN in HD. I was about to smash my TV last night, the whole reason to have HD IMO is to watch games like this. What bullsh*t...

The cable cards in my other TV had all the new channels this morning, so now I'm all good. I guess they must be sending out the programming signals to cable cards slowly.

Can anyone explain why the Duke v North Carolina game last night was blacked out on ESPNHD on Comcast in Burlington? The SD ESPN broadcast was not blacked out. My friend called Comcast and they claimed UPN had exclusive HD broadcast rights here but we don't even get UPN much less UPN in HD. I was about to smash my TV last night, the whole reason to have HD IMO is to watch games like this. What bullsh*t...

Did they say UPN when they meant CW? In any case, there is no CW HD here either...

Did they say UPN when they meant CW? In any case, there is no CW HD here either...

It was probably a Comcast-wide decision (or at least regional) without regard to whether each local market actually receives CW-HD.

Did they say UPN when they meant CW? In any case, there is no CW HD here either...

I didn't actually talk to them myself but I think you're right, they must have meant CW.

No 705, 168, or 169 for me. Are they just going to appear out of the blue, or do I need to do something in my tv's menus?


I still don't have these channels. Fortunately, I pick up NBC OTA on my TV, so this isn't really killing me. Unfortunately, it doesn't bode well for when they add channels that I do care about.

Can anyone explain why the Duke v North Carolina game last night was blacked out on ESPNHD on Comcast in Burlington? The SD ESPN broadcast was not blacked out. My friend called Comcast and they claimed UPN had exclusive HD broadcast rights here but we don't even get UPN much less UPN in HD. I was about to smash my TV last night, the whole reason to have HD IMO is to watch games like this. What bullsh*t...

the game was blacked out in "ACC Territories" and since we get BC games up here and BC is now in the ACC, Duke/UNC was blacked out, and probably will be again when duke visits unc...I wish i had checked the sd broadcast though, didn't realize it wasn't blacked out and missed out altogether.

the game was blacked out in "ACC Territories" and since we get BC games up here and BC is now in the ACC, Duke/UNC was blacked out, and probably will be again when duke visits unc...I wish i had checked the sd broadcast though, didn't realize it wasn't blacked out and missed out altogether.

Well it's blacked out because it's supposed to be on a local channel for broadcast, in HD or SD depending if the channel can handle their signal. What channel in Burlington/Comcast is that supposed to be?

Luckily for all of us the 2nd Duke/UNC game is on CBS so we'll have that in HD without any of these stupid problems.

Well it's blacked out because it's supposed to be on a local channel for broadcast, in HD or SD depending if the channel can handle their signal. What channel in Burlington/Comcast is that supposed to be?

Luckily for all of us the 2nd Duke/UNC game is on CBS so we'll have that in HD without any of these stupid problems.

key words "supposed to be"...between stupid blackout rules and the terrible football market, vt is a bad place to be a sports fan

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9725350#post9725350

I still don't have these channels. Fortunately, I pick up NBC OTA on my TV, so this isn't really killing me. Unfortunately, it doesn't bode well for when they add channels that I do care about.

Maybe they just added the new channels to my specific cable cards because I called and complained. I can't imagine that they're just going to wait for every cable card customer to call before giving them new channels. On second thought, I CAN imagine.

I got 705 and the new weather channels over Comcast using my cable card about a week ago now. They seem to be working well, but I'm totally underwhelmed with the quality of image. It would also be nice if WPTZ broadcast their news in HD since I've alway preferred them over WCAX.

Thanks. Maybe it wasn't there when I was scanning. Looks like 112.X should have something?

Edit: Yep, 112.1 112.2 and 112.3 have WPTZ, Weather, and WNNE respectively.

Interestingly, my TV wouldn't find them unless I disabled the digital info aquisition setting. Not sure what it's actually called in the menus. It's what gets rating info, program titles, and that sort of thing.

Im in killington with a Panasonic 42 using the internal tuner and still not seeing anything new. I ran the auto search twice wth no luck. Anyone got any ideas?
I only get 21-2, 21-3 & 21-4

EDIT: According to comcast only WTEN has been added in killington area but you MUST have a cable box to get HD's from them. So much for their help.

Are any other cable companies providing any digital (HD) networks yet? I can't imagine they will survive if they don't do something soon but Charter seems to think they can keep poking along forever without any HD.

It's the franchise thing that kills competition. Does anyone know how to go about getting ones town to allow a different cable company to come in?

This is silly. It's 2007. The analog stations are supposed to go dark in less than 2 years. Many throughout the country have 2 or more options for getting the HD feeds of all the national networks but here in VT many of us are still without the digital feeds for all or at least some of the major networks. Normally competition would insure we'd have at least some source for them but because of the way the laws are written, many of us still fall through the cracks.

Sorry for the rant, it's just I can't believe I'm looking forward to yet another Daytona 500 in SD. And worse yet, they took away my NY distants, so I'm stuck with Fox 44 from Dish which is really crappy (so are the rest of the LiLs).

Walt, I think you would have better luck getting Dish to start offering HD locals than getting a new cable provider. Since you are in a small area I doubt there's much interest by any other company to take over your area. I would place any large bets that you'll be watching any races this year in HD unless you can get the signal from Mt. Mansfield, sorry.

[QUOTE=zenbig42]first post
Cool forum
I called D* last week and they said they would be carrying Burlington/Plattsburg local channels in HD sometime starting in march 2007. We'll see if they live up to that promise.

Waltinvt:

If I were you I would hope for this long before you ever get another cable company in Bradford. It is sad that these cable companies have no other competition other than satellite but that is the hard true reality of it. One exception is in Burlington, where Burlington telecom is eating Comca$t alive. :D

Good Luck,

MrJ

I called D* last week and they said they would be carrying Burlington/Plattsburg local channels in HD sometime starting in march 2007. We'll see if they live up to that promise.

That's good news. How reliable is your source? Was it just a regular CSR or somebody higher up? Have you got a name / number?

I hadn't expected VT HD LiLs from "D" for a long time since they were so far behind "E" on the analog LiLs.

One exception is in Burlington, where Burlington telecom is eating Comca$t alive. :D

Unfortunately, I don't believe this is the case as BT has been having their share of issues. While I was truly excited when I first learned of BT's plans, especially since I live in their installation area, the reality is that BT's had their share of rollout problems and are continually fine-tuning their products. I have heard numerous first hand accounts of outages and other problems with service and support. Their cable lineup does not even remotely compare to Comcast's offerings, and one of the biggest problems currently is that they do NOT currently offer any HD channels. Talk about a deal breaker. And since the service is IPTV, it is not currently compatible with TiVo, which is another deal breaker for me. And, to be honest, while their rates are a bit cheaper than Comcast's, it is not as drastically cheaper as you'd expect. So, a weaker lineup, no HDTV channels, no compatibility with TiVo, spotty service issues and support....and all for a few bucks cheaper than Comcast? No thanks, for me at least. While the competition can only help us as consumers, BT has a ways to go before you can compare them fairly to Comcast. Once they resolve some of these issues, I will gladly hop on their bandwagon and ditch Comcast for good.

That being said, I will definitely be getting a fat new internet connection at home through BT.

Unfortunately, I don't believe this is the case as BT has been having their share of issues. While I was truly excited when I first learned of BT's plans, especially since I live in their installation area, the reality is that BT's had their share of rollout problems and are continually fine-tuning their products. I have heard numerous first hand accounts of outages and other problems with service and support. Their cable lineup does not even remotely compare to Comcast's offerings, and one of the biggest problems currently is that they do NOT currently offer any HD channels. Talk about a deal breaker. And since the service is IPTV, it is not currently compatible with TiVo, which is another deal breaker for me. And, to be honest, while their rates are a bit cheaper than Comcast's, it is not as drastically cheaper as you'd expect. So, a weaker lineup, no HDTV channels, no compatibility with TiVo, spotty service issues and support....and all for a few bucks cheaper than Comcast? No thanks, for me at least. While the competition can only help us as consumers, BT has a ways to go before you can compare them fairly to Comcast. Once they resolve some of these issues, I will gladly hop on their bandwagon and ditch Comcast for good.

That being said, I will definitely be getting a fat new internet connection at home through BT.

Apechild, I stand corrected. I worked on BT's new HQ on Church St. and at their head end on Shelburne Road. I got wrapped up in the hype I guess. It sounded so promising. A brand new state of the art system. All that fiber! I guess I just assumed they would have HD by now. That is a deal breaker for sure.

Thanx, MrJ

That's good news. How reliable is your source? Was it just a regular CSR or somebody higher up? Have you got a name / number?

I hadn't expected VT HD LiLs from "D" for a long time since they were so far behind "E" on the analog LiLs.

Actually, I suggested that you "hope" for this. I have no sources because I originally did not write it, just wanted to copy you on another's quote, so maybe he has further input. However, earlier on this thread there are links to D* launching 2 new satellites this year and expanding their HD programming so who knows?

Regards, MrJ

Unfortunately, I don't believe this is the case as BT has been having their share of issues. While I was truly excited when I first learned of BT's plans, especially since I live in their installation area, the reality is that BT's had their share of rollout problems and are continually fine-tuning their products. I have heard numerous first hand accounts of outages and other problems with service and support. Their cable lineup does not even remotely compare to Comcast's offerings, and one of the biggest problems currently is that they do NOT currently offer any HD channels. Talk about a deal breaker. And since the service is IPTV, it is not currently compatible with TiVo, which is another deal breaker for me. And, to be honest, while their rates are a bit cheaper than Comcast's, it is not as drastically cheaper as you'd expect. So, a weaker lineup, no HDTV channels, no compatibility with TiVo, spotty service issues and support....and all for a few bucks cheaper than Comcast? No thanks, for me at least. While the competition can only help us as consumers, BT has a ways to go before you can compare them fairly to Comcast. Once they resolve some of these issues, I will gladly hop on their bandwagon and ditch Comcast for good.

That being said, I will definitely be getting a fat new internet connection at home through BT.

From what I hear, yes second hand, I wouldn't get too excited about the BT internet either. I hear it's fast only to their service hub but a timing using Toast or other speed testers shows the same or slower speeds than comcast (that's a 5MB symetrical service). I really wish them well but right now don't see any bang for the buck. BTW, there was some talk on the mythtv mailing list by a guy in BTV who was decoding the IPTV signal directly on his PC without the box. That would be great (if they ever get HD working).

Actually, I suggested that you "hope" for this. I have no sources because I originally did not write it, just wanted to copy you on another's quote, so maybe he has further input. However, earlier on this thread there are links to D* launching 2 new satellites this year and expanding their HD programming so who knows?

Regards, MrJ

I can see why I misunderstood your post (# 2104) now - at 2nd look, I can see you were trying to "quote" someone else but you had something messed up in the quoting format and it wasn't clear.

Is anyone else here on the killington/mendon comcast system? Are you seeing anything other than VPTV and WACX on 21.2, 21.3 & 21.4? Any luck locating WTEN (ABC) or the other locals?

Are any other cable companies providing any digital (HD) networks yet? I can't imagine they will survive if they don't do something soon but Charter seems to think they can keep poking along forever without any HD.

It's the franchise thing that kills competition. Does anyone know how to go about getting ones town to allow a different cable company to come in?

This is silly. It's 2007. The analog stations are supposed to go dark in less than 2 years. Many throughout the country have 2 or more options for getting the HD feeds of all the national networks but here in VT many of us are still without the digital feeds for all or at least some of the major networks. Normally competition would insure we'd have at least some source for them but because of the way the laws are written, many of us still fall through the cracks.

Sorry for the rant, it's just I can't believe I'm looking forward to yet another Daytona 500 in SD. And worse yet, they took away my NY distants, so I'm stuck with Fox 44 from Dish which is really crappy (so are the rest of the LiLs).

Hey Walt,
I can commiserate with you! In Warren, Waitsfield cable is only local cable provider. Have the DishNetwork (E*) too. Superbowl in SD was painful. I feel your NASCAR pain. :( Waitsfield cable currently "has no plans in the near future to offer any HD service," according to their managerial staff. Excuse me? Duh! Totally left behind. They are speculating maybe 2009 when analog is discontinued. They have great customer service otherwise, but had to ditch them when we bought our HDTV.

Yeah, the LiL's are total garbage for signal quality on E*. I tried the 'distant networks' which you can now get from Atlanta and San Fran., but they are just as bad, no improvement over BTV locals. Looks to me like a crappy analog OTA rebroadcast.

My attempts to get OTA channels from Mt. Mansfield are chronicled HERE (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9672503&&#post9672503). I currently am getting a good signal for WVNY-ABC and that's it. (Which is actually a bonus, since I "shouldn't" get any digital channels at my location). Wrong side of the hill for weak stations transmitting in UHF.

So, those of us in OTA challenged and HD-less cable provider areas of VT, I believe we DO have one current choice......Looks like DirectTV (D*) is now offering distant HD channels....IF...you don't receive a grade B or better OTA signal (using the FCC 'ILLR' methodology - see AntennaWeb.org). Try plugging in your address HERE (http://directvdnseligibility.decisionmark.com/app/addressform.aspx) and see what you get. Let me know!

Looks like I could get ABC, NBC, and FOX from NY or LA in HD, but I'd have to get a waiver from WCAX to get CBS, since I can get an analog version of their station OTA. I've read waivers are highly unlikely. Unfortunately, we just got the E* two months ago, so I can't see switching in the very near future until we spread out some of the up-front costs of our E* installation without a long-term contract.

Let's keep bugging E* to get our LiL's up in HD! I've written both emails/snail mail and call every other week. No timeline and their standard response is I can sign-up for distant networks (SD! ) from SF or ATL through allamericannetworks.com. The more customers they hear from on this issue, the better. Take care.

I called D* last week and they said they would be carrying Burlington/Plattsburg local channels in HD sometime starting in march 2007. We'll see if they live up to that promise.

That's good news. How reliable is your source? Was it just a regular CSR or somebody higher up? Have you got a name / number?

I hadn't expected VT HD LiLs from "D" for a long time since they were so far behind "E" on the analog LiLs.

I only spoke to 'regular' CSR, so don't know that info is reliable. I will call again and see if I can speak to someone higher up, get some contact info, and post again. Later.

The folks @ D* will tell you what ever you want to hear to get you to sign up.....then once you find out it is not at all true they will try and charge to to disconnect your service before it is even activated

The folks @ D* will tell you what ever you want to hear to get you to sign up.....then once you find out it is not at all true they will try and charge to to disconnect your service before it is even activated

You've got that right. I called "D" about a year ago to see if I could get the HD DNS as I think their website said I qualified for one or two channels. The CSR kept INSISTING that I could get the VT locals in HD with "D".

Of course I kept INSISTING that Burlington wasn't even broadcasting in digital yet but he just wasn't hearing me. He even put me on hold to talk to his boss. Comes back a while later and still insists I'd get them.

I finially told him to check again and if he could guarantee me LiLs in HD, then call me back with an install time. Never heard back.

I just spoke with Adam in the Comcast Technical Troubleshooting office in South Burlington. They actually weren't aware that cable card customers were not receiving 705 yet. He's getting an engineer involved to figure it out. If anyone has any technical questions or problems with Comcast, don't bother calling Customer Service. You can reach Adam and Drew at the Technical Troubleshooting hotline at 1-866-662-1049.

While I had him on the phone, I asked about FOX and ABC in HD. He basically said that they're still in contract negotiations. He hasn't heard any prospective dates, so it's still probably a ways out, but he's hoping it will be within the 1st quarter of 2007 since they're getting so many inquiries about it. Since WFFF and WVNY are both run by the same company, they'll probably work out the contract for both channels at the same time.

TiVoHD,

Thanks for putting in the leg-work. We cablecarders are all in your debt, or at least we will be when things get updated. Thanks for the tech hotline, too. I hope I never have to use it.


Well, I broke down and/or got bored enough to call Comcast today. I called their regular number and got pretty much nowhere. They sent some kind of reset signal to my CableCard, and it did nothing. My instructions were to leave the set on for 20 minutes, but I'm not optimistic. She also scheduled a service call for me for Friday -- apparently, she shared my level of optimism.

Then I remembered the super-secret troubleshooting phone number above, and called it and left a brief VM w/ my phone number and the info that I'm having a CableCard problem.

I'll try to post any updates here, in case anyone is suffering in silence as I have been. :)

WCAX is currently showing CBS content in SD only in order to show school closings for tomorrow. :mad:

Can't they wait until 11 for that or just mention it on the .2 weather channel?

WCAX is currently showing CBS content in SD only in order to show school closings for tomorrow. :mad:

Can't they wait until 11 for that or just mention it on the .2 weather channel?


R U Sure ?? Did U call ?

WCAX is currently showing CBS content in SD only in order to show school closings for tomorrow. :mad:

Can't they wait until 11 for that or just mention it on the .2 weather channel?

Since it is a matter of public safety, they have correctly chosen to show it on their main channel. Only a very small percentage of their viewers can receive the weather channel and most of them will prbably be viewing the main channel.

Since it is a matter of public safety, they have correctly chosen to show it on their main channel. Only a very small percentage of their viewers can receive the weather channel and most of them will prbably be viewing the main channel.

It wasn't even a matter of public safety. It wasn't warning viewers about an imminent storm or anything. It was just a list of schools that were closed for THE NEXT DAY!

If it was important the EAS would have been activated.

You've got that right. I called "D" about a year ago to see if I could get the HD DNS as I think their website said I qualified for one or two channels. The CSR kept INSISTING that I could get the VT locals in HD with "D".

Of course I kept INSISTING that Burlington wasn't even broadcasting in digital yet but he just wasn't hearing me. He even put me on hold to talk to his boss. Comes back a while later and still insists I'd get them.

I finially told him to check again and if he could guarantee me LiLs in HD, then call me back with an install time. Never heard back.

So is anyone out there on this forum getting HD distant networks from D*?

It wasn't even a matter of public safety. It wasn't warning viewers about an imminent storm or anything. It was just a list of schools that were closed for THE NEXT DAY!

If it was important the EAS would have been activated.

That counts as public safety because of the reason for the announcements. It's a local station providing important information for viewers in the local community.

Complaining about the station's inability to feed the messages over HD content is one thing. Saying that they should post it elsewhere where very few people would actually see it, simply because it screwed up one's viewing, is another. It's both irresponsible and stupid; a typical ME generation attitude. Get over it.

A local station can do whatever it wants outside of network hours, but between 8 and 11pm, their primary purpose should be to serve the network that has given it exclusive affiliation in the area.

As i said, there was no emergency. They could have waited until 11 to announce school closings that were in effect for the NEXT day.

A local station can do whatever it wants outside of network hours, but between 8 and 11pm, their primary purpose should be to serve the network that has given it exclusive affiliation in the area.

As i said, there was no emergency. They could have waited until 11 to announce school closings that were in effect for the NEXT day.

Ummmm, nope. The sooner that information gets out the better. People had to make adjustments to kids being home, not be able to goto work. Finding someone to watch other the kids cause daycares were closed. Granted it was not a true "emergency" but it was definitly important enough to alert people before they went to bed.

Here in DC, WDCA-DT airs MyNetworkTV HD programming on a seperate relay to that of SD programming, as they don't have an HD keyer. I've seen a contest on the station where viewers had to spot words to have the chance to win cash, and I determined that only SD viewers could see the words.

I agree with foxfan that there shouldn't have been cuts to SD. The info could wait until 11 PM, and few people in the Burlington area have HDTVs, anyway, so it wouldn't have hurt much, if at all, to have HD programming for those with HDTVs while showing analog/SD viewers area closings. In my scenario, anybody who wanted to see local closings during primetime programming could have tuned to the SD channel, which is widely available.

Well, I broke down and/or got bored enough to call Comcast today. I called their regular number and got pretty much nowhere. They sent some kind of reset signal to my CableCard, and it did nothing. My instructions were to leave the set on for 20 minutes, but I'm not optimistic. She also scheduled a service call for me for Friday -- apparently, she shared my level of optimism.

Then I remembered the super-secret troubleshooting phone number above, and called it and left a brief VM w/ my phone number and the info that I'm having a CableCard problem.

I'll try to post any updates here, in case anyone is suffering in silence as I have been. :)


Update:

When I called Comcast, we made my appointment for between 1 and 3pm. today When the automated reminder called me, it said my appointment was between 9 and 11 am today. I was prepared to either call them and straighten it out, or just ignore it and let the technician show up whenever he wants -- I work at home and was planning on being around all day anyhow. However...

As of last night, I now have the new channels.

When I turned on my TV last night, it was unresponsive to the remote. I couldn't change channels, none of the other inputs worked, etc. After a few minutes of this, I unplugged the TV, waited 30 seconds, then plugged it back in. That's when I had the new channels. This suggests a few possibilities:

1) Unplugging the TV and plugging it back in fixed it and forced it to receive the new channels. The unresponsiveness had nothing to do with the solution, and was just a coincidence.
2) The unresponsiveness happened because Comcast was reprogramming my CableCard right then and there. Unplugging the TV and plugging it back in either got it out of some bad loop it was in, or just happened to coincide with the end of the reprogramming.
3) The unresponsiveness had nothing to do with the solution, and neither did unplugging the TV and plugging it back in. It was all a coincidence, and the TV had gotten reprogrammed earlier in the day.

There are other possibilities, no doubt, such as the troubleshooters fixing things behind the scenes despite the fact that they never returned my call. I guess if Comcast ever decides to add Fox and ABC in HD, I'll have some more evidence one way or the other.

This morning I called and cancelled my appointment, which after talking to them I now believe really was for 1 to 3pm, although you never can tell.

I agree with foxfan that there shouldn't have been cuts to SD. The info could wait until 11 PM, and few people in the Burlington area have HDTVs, anyway, so it wouldn't have hurt much, if at all, to have HD programming for those with HDTVs while showing analog/SD viewers area closings.

Not only that, but the fact is that the vast majority of those who watch WCAX are not even in Vermont, they're in southern Quebec, an area which has a population of nearly four million compared to the few thousand that are actually in VT. That only made it even more irrelevant.

Not only that, but the fact is that the vast majority of those who watch WCAX are not even in Vermont, they're in southern Quebec, an area which has a population of nearly four million compared to the few thousand that are actually in VT. That only made it even more irrelevant.

The big difference is that WCAX is licenced to broadcast on airwaves that they borrow from the people of the United States. This is why broadcast stations have to follow certain rules (e.g., adhering to local decency standards, being part of the emergency broadcast network, doing station identifications at certain times, etc.). Quebec's rules don't apply.*

"A local station can do whatever it wants outside of network hours, but between 8 and 11pm, their primary purpose should be to serve the network that has given it exclusive affiliation in the area.

In fact, its primary obligation is to the owners of the airwaves its using. Serving its network is absolutely, 100% secondary to following the rules granted under its license.

That leaves a few outstanding questions:
* Are school cancellation notifications required by law? I would not be surprised either way, but I'm not going to take a guess without actually knowing the answer.
* Will WCAX ever be able to make these announcements without disturbing their HD broadcast? (I'm guessing that they will at least be able to handle it in 2009. :) )


* Now, if in fact there is no law forcing WCAX to list school closings, then I guess we're just arguing about what they should do as a business decision. I guarantee that if they're not forced to do it, they are doing it because they believe that more viewers will watch their programming with the notifications than without.

Not only that, but the fact is that the vast majority of those who watch WCAX are not even in Vermont, they're in southern Quebec, an area which has a population of nearly four million compared to the few thousand that are actually in VT. That only made it even more irrelevant.

Well there are 122,201 people in New Hampshire in the Burlington DMA. And I didn't see any school closings for us on any of the Burlington stations. They all do a terrible job of covering the Upper Valley. We only get about 5 minutes of news on WNNE at 11 but besides that its really a wash. WMUR is alright but they focus on the more populated southern part of the state. Also there are 169,879 people in the New York part of the DMA, and 527,617 in Vermont. I wouldn't call 819,697 people a "few thousand." And I wouldn't be complaining if CTV or Global cut back to SD to air Montreal school closings...

Well, I broke down and/or got bored enough to call Comcast today. I called their regular number and got pretty much nowhere. They sent some kind of reset signal to my CableCard, and it did nothing. My instructions were to leave the set on for 20 minutes, but I'm not optimistic. She also scheduled a service call for me for Friday -- apparently, she shared my level of optimism.

Then I remembered the super-secret troubleshooting phone number above, and called it and left a brief VM w/ my phone number and the info that I'm having a CableCard problem.

I'll try to post any updates here, in case anyone is suffering in silence as I have been. :)

Still no channel 705 for my CableCards either. I figure I'd just wait and eventually it will just show up. Fortunately I'm not in a major rush since I get WPTZ-HD OTA, but it is still unnerving that CableCard updates like this are taking forever or (more likely) are simply being lost in the shuffle.

have any other comcast subscribers noticed problems on the HD channels this weekend? i've had some serious signal issues on TNT HD and WCAX HD this weekend during basketball and golf, not sure if it's them or me

WPTZ and WVNY have now joined WCAX in removing NBC and ABC HD to show small town school closings this morning. :mad:

have any other comcast subscribers noticed problems on the HD channels this weekend? i've had some serious signal issues on TNT HD and WCAX HD this weekend during basketball and golf, not sure if it's them or me


I can't help you with CAX since I watch it OTA, but I have noticed pixelation issues with TNT, more so with fast moving images (sports or action scenes) ever since it was added. Not being an expert on this, I think it has to do with bandwith and what other channels are sharing the signal. Before TNT was added, we used to have INHD, which also had its share of issues with respect to action sequences.

I can't help you with CAX since I watch it OTA, but I have noticed pixelation issues with TNT, more so with fast moving images (sports or action scenes) ever since it was added. Not being an expert on this, I think it has to do with bandwith and what other channels are sharing the signal. Before TNT was added, we used to have INHD, which also had its share of issues with respect to action sequences.

interesting...i've also noticed pixelation in some instances, like games on NFL Network HD, which I think is attributed to the fact that sports/action are better viewed in 720p, while these channels are 1080i. but this weekend the problem was much worse than usual, almost unbearable to watch. haven't noticed problems since though, i guess we'll find out tonight when TNT shows nba games.

For the sixth week in a row, Boston Legal on WVNY's HD transmission was ruined because some sleeping engineer didn't monitor the feed. Interestingly, the dialogue channels are replaced with the background/music/sweetener channel. This usually happens upon return to the network after the 10:40 commercial break. I wonder just how many of us would survive six major screw-ups at our jobs before someone took action. Predictably, I get "Sorry, we'll check into it." replies from WVNY. I've written ABC but have not heard back. You would think that after almost five months to work out the kinks of HD transition that the locals might be in a better state. Indeed, some of them are not ready for prime time! If anyone else has had problems with WVNY's HD broadcasts, let me know and I'll compile a list to send to them.

Yup, I've been frustrated by the same problem with Boston Legal.

Outside of Boston Legal, I think WVNY has done a fine job. WPTZ drives me crazy when they don't show an HD program in HD. This happened with The Office last Thursday, and that was not the first time it happened either. And that white line across the top is during some commercials is annoying too.

The white line at the top of WPTZ is the vertical blanking interval, which carries closed-captioning data. The fact that it is visible on screen explains why they haven't figured out how to make closed-captioning work on their digital channel (it's being shows on the frame instead of between the frames).

Funny how the quality of the local stations seems to be based on the order in which they first went on the air: WCAX, WFFF (which is flawless thanks to the Fox splicer system), WVNY, and WPTZ.

The Boston Legal problem is really frustrating and happens almost every week. If we're watching live we switch back to analog (yuk) but if we've DVR'd it we're stuck and just have to listen carefully to the small amount of the missing center (dialog) channel which spills over into the front surrounds. I hope they don't mess up the Academy Awards this weekend. That show is true eye candy with outstanding picture and sound.

Outside of Boston Legal, I think WVNY has done a fine job. WPTZ drives me crazy when they don't show an HD program in HD. This happened with The Office last Thursday, and that was not the first time it happened either. And that white line across the top is during some commercials is annoying too.
WPTZ also continues to have what looks like "green rain". This artifact manifests itself in the darker areas of the picture. On the Today show this morning it was truly offensive because it really does play havoc with the clarity of the picture. I have a 100 inch screen and you can truly see this strange affectation clearly. I tried to get an email to their chief engineer but it was returned. He apparently has been replaced. It would be nice if the FCC made quality demands of the stations but, I suppose, they have all they can do to get all of the SD stations on the air digitally by '09. Certainly, WPTZ has the worst overall quality picture of all of the locals in my experience. You're right, that damnable VBI is really distracting.

Has anyone heard any rumblings about subchannels being added to WVNY or WFFF?

Has anyone heard any rumblings about subchannels being added to WVNY or WFFF?

I hope not; subchannels reduce the amount of bandwidth available for the digital HD signal.

I was over at Comcast this morning to pay my bill and asked when they would be adding the other 2 locals to the HD programming. The woman at the counter said it was just a matter of getting all the contracts signed. She thought it could be as soon as the end of March. I know that getting a straight answer from Comcrap is next to impossible, but it's been floating around this forum for a while that they could all be added by March. This could be good news for those of you who have comcast and can't get the channels OTA. I guess "wait and see" is the best approach.

I hope not; subchannels reduce the amount of bandwidth available for the digital HD signal.

WFFF has been broadcasting an SD sub-channel on 44.2 since the day they first went on the air with their HD in October. It has only been a test pattern but it has still taken bandwidth. The planned content is TBA. If they weren't operating from a temporary antenna on the WCAX tower, they would probably already be broadcasting real content on 44.2. When they get up and running you probably won't notice any difference in the PQ on 44.1.

I don't receive 22.x so I cannot comment on what they may have planned, but if they don't broadcast an SD sub-channel they will be the only digital station in the Plattsburgh-Burlington area not to do so. That seems highly unlikely.

Let's hope that we just don't get another couple of weather channels. Two is more than enough.

WVNY has the same color-bar test pattern as WFFF.

WFFF's temporary antenna situation has nothing to do with the status of its subchannel. The antenna is on Mt. Mansfield, while the content being broadcast is all in Colchester. Unlike the others, a subchannel on WFFF doesn't affect the quality of Fox HD, because the Fox Network controls the bitrate (the station can't touch it).

I was over at Comcast this morning to pay my bill and asked when they would be adding the other 2 locals to the HD programming. The woman at the counter said it was just a matter of getting all the contracts signed. She thought it could be as soon as the end of March. I know that getting a straight answer from Comcrap is next to impossible, but it's been floating around this forum for a while that they could all be added by March. This could be good news for those of you who have comcast and can't get the channels OTA. I guess "wait and see" is the best approach.

Well at least you got some sort of an answer. When I went over and asked them a few months ago all I got was a blank stare, some gibberish about needing a "hardline" to connect things up and a reminder that they had until 2009 to offer these channels. LOL. Progress is being made.

MrJ

WVNY has the same color-bar test pattern as WFFF.

WFFF's temporary antenna situation has nothing to do with the status of its subchannel.




That is contrary to what the someone at WFFF stated a couple of months ago, but we'll have to wait and see since getting any information out of them is like pulling teeth and likely to be contradicted a few minutes later.

As for the Fox network, it's a Mickey Mouse organization that doesn't even provide its affiliates with anything close to a full slate of programs. It produces some good programs but not enough to even fill prime time. Pre-empting decent programs for that American Idol crap doesn't endear it to anyone but the tone deaf. Still I suppose that it's better than ION (ex-I, ex-PaxTV), but that really isn;t saying much. :)

I am cleaning out today and getting rid of some gear. Free for the asking: Dish Network Model 6000 HD receiver. It works well. Obviously, you'll have to get an account with Dish. I also have "C" band gear if anyone is into tinkering. I am in Williston.

I'm guessing this is a WPTZ issue and not a Comcast one, but I just watched Las Vegas from Friday and noticed audio had a tendancy to drop during the switch to SD during commercial breaks. Has anybody else been noticing such issues with WPTZ?

EDIT: I was a bit involved in Heroes when I wrote this, so please forgive me. I originally wrote WVNY instead of WPTZ. References have been corrected.

You mean WPTZ?

was just watching some dvr when all of a sudden my comcast box started going nuts and doing a crazy countdown thing...slowly getting back to normal...hoping it's the new on demand, anyone else notice?

I have the new OnDemand from Comcast this morning, but cannot access the HDOnDemand. Anyone else?

I have the new OnDemand from Comcast this morning, but cannot access the HDOnDemand. Anyone else?

You're not alone - despite the fact that I receive all the premium channels, I can only access Stars OnDemand (no HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, Encore, etc.). I also receive a "Not authorized" error when trying to access the HD OnDemand station.

On a more positive note, the Stars OnDemand movies look great in HD!

You mean WPTZ?

Sorry, yes I mean WPTZ. I've corrected my orriginal post.

Does anyone know what the bitrate of the various HD on-demand services are? I am watching The Brothers Grimm on Starz HD on-demand, and in a lot of scenes I would expect to see pixelization, I am seeing none - it's almost as if the on-demand stream is less compressed than the regular channel feeds.

No updated OnDemand for me in Waterbury yet. I got a letter from them Friday (dated for that day) saying that it'd happen within a few days. They're about out of time.

I got the initial download yesterday. Didn't have HD On Demand running til earlier today. Took a quick pick at the offering but hadn't watched anything yet.

Got a voicemail from Comca$t today that tomorrow is the day in the Montpelier area. We shall see.

MrJ

WVNY switched to the SD version on George Lopez, I think it was in HD until the first commercial break.

Got the Comcast OnDemand update today. A couple of issue though. I couldn't get into HD OnDemand, so I called them up and they were able to fix the problem. The other issue is that when I have "Comcast On Demand" as an option in the VOD menus, it takes me to channel 199 instead of 900 like I expect it should.

Comcast has unfriendly service as compared to when I've spoken with Adelphia. The plus side is that since I spoke with them and they enabled HD OnDemand, I also have Encore OnDemand, which gives me even more HD content to choose from.

Here's your warning in advance. Some schools have already canceled for tomorrow, get ready for the HD to go away soon showing updates.

What Hd content provider do you guys recomend in Vermont? Comcast, Dish?

What Hd content provider do you guys recomend in Vermont? Comcast, Dish?I've got Dish's HD Bronze package, which gets me 20 or so satellite-based HD channels plus the 5 OTA locals with a separate antenna. Truth be told, 99% of the HD I watch is OTA. The major selling point for me was the seemless integration of the OTA locals into the EPG and PVR functions of the ViP622 satellite receiver.

What Hd content provider do you guys recomend in Vermont? Comcast, Dish?


I think a lot of it depends on where you live. Right now, only comcast is providing some locals in HD (CBS, PBS, and NBC). Supposedly the remaining locals will be added in March or April, but no one can get a straight answer from Comcast. I hadn't been too impressed with Comcast until this week. They just upgraded all of their on demand content to include a lot of HD programming and it appears to have a lot more bandwith than some of the current HD channels.

From what I've heard, the other cable providers in the state do not offer HD and are not planning on doing it until 2009. I've never had D* or E* so I can't talk to much about them. I can tell you that a friend of mine had Direct TV and was so fed up with their poor service, that he cancelled and went back to Dish and has been happy ever since. I also tried to have direct TV installed and ran in to major customer service issues with both the installer and direct tv. I'm sure others have had good experiences though.

you guys think that I will be able to get any HD from an OTA in Lake Placid. What is the future of that? I currently have D***tv and i got a waiver for the Distant HD, but would love to put up a OTA and get local --any thoughts

you guys think that I will be able to get any HD from an OTA in Lake Placid. What is the future of that? I currently have D***tv and i got a waiver for the Distant HD, but would love to put up a OTA and get local --any thoughtsAccording to antennaweb.org, Lake Placid is 60miles from Mt. Mansfield. That's a stretch, made worse by the fact that you've got the Adirondack mountains in the way. The only way to know for sure is to put up an antenna and see what happens. (For instance, this thread has posts from someone in New Hampshire who's 90mi away from Mt. Mansfield and gets all the OTA HD channels, while another poster from Underhill, VT, which is <10mi from Mt. Mansfield, can't pick up diddly squat).

Has anyone lately found out the bitrates on any of the locals?. I am especially interested to see if WNNE's is higher than WPTZ's because WNNE is not running that stupid weather channel.

not sure if its related to the comcast boxes being updated but recently i've noticed a line traveling up my TV...anyone having the same problem?

Any else having trouble receiving WVNY lately OTA? They have been getting progressiively weaker while the other locals maintain their usual signal strength on a 622Vip receiver.

Any else having trouble receiving WVNY lately OTA? They have been getting progressiively weaker while the other locals maintain their usual signal strength on a 622Vip receiver.
I lost WVNY last night but I asssumed it was the from their end. My 622 read 85 signal strength but no picture. I've had no drop on that station usually mid 80s.
My weakest signal comes from WCAX usually around 70. Others in the 80s to low 90s.

Any else having trouble receiving WVNY lately OTA? They have been getting progressiively weaker while the other locals maintain their usual signal strength on a 622Vip receiver.

I haven't noticed, it has always been stable for me.

Any else having trouble receiving WVNY lately OTA? They have been getting progressiively weaker while the other locals maintain their usual signal strength on a 622Vip receiver.
Since last night the signal strength is has usual (75-80) but the signal drop to 0 every 6 seconds and then come back to 75-85 without image and sound.

Stupid VHF! :mad:

Stupid VHF! :mad:

For those of you in Montreal it could be co-channel interference. New Hampshire Public Television's translator, which is 3-4 miles from my house has gone off the air and since it was channel 15, this has caused WPTZ to jump from 60% to 90% signal strength. Hopefully when CFCF goes digital the interference will be reduced.

Recently, I could not see HD on these channels anymore, it just broadcast normal analog quality screen at now.

Anybody knows the reason?? Thanks in advance

Recently, I could not see HD on these channels anymore, it just broadcast normal analog quality screen at now.

Anybody knows the reason?? Thanks in advance

How recently? When you posted, 5.1 was showing Oprah, which is not in HD, and 22.1 was showing The Peoples Court, which also is not in HD. 5.2 is NBC Weather Plus, which has never been, or never will be HD. I have never seen anything except color bars on 22.2. Check back when they start showing HD programs, 22.1 will have George Lopez in HD at 8 and 5.1 will have Las Vegas in HD at 9. Let us know how things turn out.

EDIT: I've watched HD content on 3.1, 5.1 and 22.1 tonight, all with an antenna

It looks like Comcast changed the way HD channels can be accessed.

I did just have the digital preffered teir with basic cable. I can no longer get all the HD channels, except the broadcast ones.(cbs, nbc and pbs.) Nesn is no longer broadcast either.

Looks like you will need the standard cable package to get the HD channels. This is what Comcast CSR's have said all along, but it worked with just the digital teir for some time now. As of tuesday they must have enforced some new rules/filters.

So now I'll need to fork over an extra 35 bucks for just 8 more HD channels.


Does anyone know if either of the satellite companies has NESN in HD? (Need sox in HD!)

It looks like Comcast changed the way HD channels can be accessed.

I did just have the digital preffered teir with basic cable. I can no longer get all the HD channels, except the broadcast ones.(cbs, nbc and pbs.) Nesn is no longer broadcast either.

Looks like you will need the standard cable package to get the HD channels. This is what Comcast CSR's have said all along, but it worked with just the digital teir for some time now. As of tuesday they must have enforced some new rules/filters.

So now I'll need to fork over an extra 35 bucks for just 8 more HD channels.


Does anyone know if either of the satellite companies has NESN in HD? (Need sox in HD!)
It's NOT on Dish Net.

Starting yesterday all OTA signal strengths dropped by around 10%. WCAX is down to low to mid 60s. Any thoughts?
Also WPTZ is not broadcasting in HD. Is that just me?

Just wanted to mention that watching movies on Starz and Encore HD on demand is the first time I've been able to watch any HD on Comcast where lightning, camera flashes and strobe lights don't cause pixelization - I was starting to think it was my set; I guess I'm relieved that it's the crappy bitrate of Comcast's HD stations, although that's also a little disappointing. Anyone else notice this?

For those of you in Montreal it could be co-channel interference. New Hampshire Public Television's translator, which is 3-4 miles from my house has gone off the air and since it was channel 15, this has caused WPTZ to jump from 60% to 90% signal strength. Hopefully when CFCF goes digital the interference will be reduced.

I originally suspected adjacent-channel interference from CFCF-12 as well, but as I have mentioned earlier, testing at a time when CFCF was off the air yielded only about a 4% increase in signal quality, still leaving the signal strength nowhere near the blazingly strong signals of the other 4 stations. Their ERP is simply too low.

I think impulse noise has somewhat of an effect as well. Maybe the reason your signal is so strong south-east of Mansfield is because virtually no one lives down there, so you don't have the level of electrical noise in the air that people near big cities have. Note that 3 and 5 analog have never been clear here (even when 2 and 6 are off) most likely for this very reason. Even analog 2 which is broadcast from Montreal is difficult to receive by many viewers locally. Face it, VHF is not made for cities.

anyone else in the killington/mendon comcast area? Still only getting 21.2/3/4

Good evening,

I was curious if anyone has a listing of what, exactly, is available on Comcast for unencrypted QAM stations. I've seen the OTA stations listed in this forum, but are there additional stations 'in the clear'? Specifically, perhaps NESN and Discovery.....

Thanks in advance!

Good evening,

I was curious if anyone has a listing of what, exactly, is available on Comcast for unencrypted QAM stations. I've seen the OTA stations listed in this forum, but are there additional stations 'in the clear'? Specifically, perhaps NESN and Discovery.....

Thanks in advance!

NESN and Discovery were available until last week. Now it looks like you need the standard package to decode them. There are a few others available but nothing good.

Law and Order: SVU not in HD, NOT acceptable, WPTZ is a joke

Law and Order: SVU not in HD, NOT acceptable, WPTZ is a joke
You are ABSOLUTELY right. WPTZ should be ashamed of the signal they transmit. I realize that the poor folks who work there are pawns of the conglomerate Hearst/Argile, but they should have the expectation that corporate would give them the training and equipment to at least do a passable job.
They still have not fixed the compression problem that gives their HD broadcasts flexs if "green rain" and the VBI at the top of the picture really says Amateur Night. Of all of the locals, WPTZ remains at the bottom of a list of best overall picture.
My vote for "Best Transition" would go to WCAX. Their overall consistent quality should set the standard for the others and their commitment to do local HD, although not real HD, should be applauded. Thankfully, we have the last family owned TV station in America in our market (WCAX), especially if the large corporate "who the hell cares" (WPTZ) mindset is to rule the others. Ah, for the days when the FCC would monitor transmissions and demand adherence to a broadcasting quality standard.

Using QAM tuner.
Just lost all the MC channels this morning. Only get 22.2/3/4 now.
I guess i am gong to have to give in, pay the extra dollars each month for the damn box. anyone else in the area seeing other stations? I would go with an antenna but being at the bottom of a valley I dont think it will work.

As far as Red Sox i n HD-You will only get them in HD on comcast. When Adelphia Started to broadcast in HD they supplied the HD equipment to the Red Sox for exclusive rights for the HD broadcast. Not sure if this is permanent or not, but that is the scoop right now.......

You are ABSOLUTELY right. WPTZ should be ashamed of the signal they transmit. I realize that the poor folks who work there are pawns of the conglomerate Hearst/Argile, but they should have the expectation that corporate would give them the training and equipment to at least do a passable job.


I don't see it as a problem with "big conglomerates". The problem is with the medium-sized groups (Hearst). If the FCC could finally remove the damn 39% national ownership cap, WPTZ could finally become NBC-owned-and-operated. NBC would care a lot more about its signal looking good (and have more funds to improve their stations) than the useless middleman that currently exists.

As far as Red Sox i n HD-You will only get them in HD on comcast. When Adelphia Started to broadcast in HD they supplied the HD equipment to the Red Sox for exclusive rights for the HD broadcast. Not sure if this is permanent or not, but that is the scoop right now.......

That's not my understanding. NESN broadcasts in HD and all the Red Sox games in are in HD. You can get red sox in HD from any provider that carries NESN in HD...which in VT is of course limited. DirecTV claims to carry NESN in HD...don't have 'em, not sure. Dish does NOT carry NESN in HD. Cable providers....not around here (warren)

What do we need to do to get WVNY to get their act together? It's bad enough that most of my recordings of Boston Legal have no dialogue, but now they're doing the same thing with Lost! It's pretty useless to watch a show with just background music. How is it possible that the station lets an entire hour go by without noticing that their channel is unwatchable?

Good evening,

I was curious if anyone has a listing of what, exactly, is available on Comcast for unencrypted QAM stations. I've seen the OTA stations listed in this forum, but are there additional stations 'in the clear'? Specifically, perhaps NESN and Discovery.....

Thanks in advance!

SCANNING: 729000000 (us-cable:113, us-irc:113)
LOCK: qam256 (ss=76 snq=80 seq=100)
PROGRAM: 2: 21.2 WETK_HD
PROGRAM: 3: 21.3 WCAX-2
PROGRAM: 4: 21.4 WCAX-HD

SCANNING: 723000000 (us-cable:112, us-irc:112)
LOCK: qam256 (ss=76 snq=70 seq=100)
PROGRAM: 1: 1.1 WPTZ-HD
PROGRAM: 2: 9.99 WPTZ-WX
PROGRAM: 3: 1.3 WNNE-DT

that's about it other than some info channels and the music stuff.

How are you receiving the signal (Over the air, cable, dbs)? Does it happen on all 5.1 programs?

Thanks

I'm receiving WVNYDT over the air. It does not happen on all 5.1 programs and it doesn't happen all the time. Sometimes, they realize half way through a program that the center channel isn't being broadcast, and flip it back on. But if I'm watching a recording from a few days ago, that doesn't really help me. I'm not even listening to the 5.1 audio, just the stereo speakers in my TV. You can hear the background music and sound effects clearly, but the dialog is silent. This problem seems to occur quite frequently with Boston Legal, but this is the first time I've seen it with Lost. It's frustrating to say the least.

SCANNING: 729000000 (us-cable:113, us-irc:113)
LOCK: qam256 (ss=76 snq=80 seq=100)
PROGRAM: 2: 21.2 WETK_HD
PROGRAM: 3: 21.3 WCAX-2
PROGRAM: 4: 21.4 WCAX-HD

SCANNING: 723000000 (us-cable:112, us-irc:112)
LOCK: qam256 (ss=76 snq=70 seq=100)
PROGRAM: 1: 1.1 WPTZ-HD
PROGRAM: 2: 9.99 WPTZ-WX
PROGRAM: 3: 1.3 WNNE-DT

that's about it other than some info channels and the music stuff.

VT_guy which comcast system are you on? I am on Killington/Mendon and I only get 21.2, 21.3 & 21.4. I lost the info channels and music stuff yesterday.

What do we need to do to get WVNY to get their act together? It's bad enough that most of my recordings of Boston Legal have no dialogue, but now they're doing the same thing with Lost! It's pretty useless to watch a show with just background music. How is it possible that the station lets an entire hour go by without noticing that their channel is unwatchable?

Yeah, I had to go back to the analog broadcast (I hate that!) until they fixed the problem about 20 minutes into Lost. SD commercials had full sound and HD commercials had no center channel either with the digital OTA broadcast. We need the 24/7 engineering phone numbers for all the local stations.

That's not my understanding. NESN broadcasts in HD and all the Red Sox games in are in HD. You can get red sox in HD from any provider that carries NESN in HD...which in VT is of course limited. DirecTV claims to carry NESN in HD...don't have 'em, not sure. Dish does NOT carry NESN in HD. Cable providers....not around here (warren)

I don't know about "D" but I know "E" doesn't carry the HD feed of NESN which is kind of surprising since they now sponsor a Nextel Cup car that is owned by the same people that own NESN & the RedSox.

I'd think Charlie would be a little embarressed to tell John Henry that New Englanders with Dish Network can't see the Rex Sox games on NESN in HD.

Video Tech, I receive off the air with a solid signal strength in the high 90's on three tuners. All have the same problem which we've been having for months. It seems to hit Boston Legal almost every week, other shows less frequently. I was worried about the Academy Awards, but we watched all 4.5 hours in glorious DD 5.1 without a local glitch . The problem is somehow triggered only in shows in DD5.1 and occurs when the program changes on the hour or when WVNY-DT goes local for commercials. Sometimes it makes it through the transistion back to HD/DD5.1 and other times we have no center dialog channel. It's frustratiing because there is some natural dialog leakage into the front left and right channels, but not enough to make it listenable. If there was a number we could call, even one that was not answered but rang where the broadcast techs could hear it and start looking for the problem, it would be very useful. Or, they could actually monitor the DD5.1 sound off the air (vs the old analog signal)which would pretty quickly alert them to the fact that the dialog had disappeared. Somehow this needs to get fixed to make Ch 22 watchable again.

Yeah, I had to go back to the analog broadcast (I hate that!) until they fixed the problem about 20 minutes into Lost. SD commercials had full sound and HD commercials had no center channel either with the digital OTA broadcast. We need the 24/7 engineering phone numbers for all the local stations.
I've made numerous complaints to WVNY with no real followup from them. Please contact Sara Carpenter (scarpenter@abc22.com) to express your dissatisification. They don't ever reply to my emails anymore. I also complained to ABC in New Your without a reply.
Hopefully the more folks who complain, the better the chance is that some sleepy engineer might be jolted into actually monitoring the network feed. Here's to 2009 when they turn off the damn SD feeds.

I've made numerous complaints to WVNY with no real followup from them. Please contact Sara Carpenter (scarpenter@abc22.com) to express your dissatisification. They don't ever reply to my emails anymore. I also complained to ABC in New Your without a reply.
Hopefully the more folks who complain, the better the chance is that some sleepy engineer might be jolted into actually monitoring the network feed. Here's to 2009 when they turn off the damn SD feeds.
Okay, I just sent an email. Others who have experienced the problem please do it also so that they will attach some importance to the problem. I've had a tendency just to flip to the analog channel until it is fixed, but making some noise and getting it fixed is a better idea.

I'll be sending an email out today.

VT_guy which comcast system are you on? I am on Killington/Mendon and I only get 21.2, 21.3 & 21.4. I lost the info channels and music stuff yesterday.

Burlington

I noticed last night that at 11:00, while WCAX 3-1 was showing CBS's coverage of the NCAA basketball game, WCAX 3-2 was showing the regular, local 11 o'clock news broadcast (which would normally have been pre-empted by the game).

Bravo to WCAX for making good use of the technology, even though they know the number of people capable of watching the 3-2 broadcast is a small minority of their audience (and that the number of people interested in the news over the game is probably an even smaller minority).

I'll be sending an email out today.
Thought that you folks who are having an audio problem with WVNY would like to see this email from them. Please take the time to email them with your reactions to the problem:
The more research the engineers have done, the more the facts indicate that there is a compatibility issue between the digital transmitter and some set-top boxes that viewers have at home. However, there are numerous variables the engineers have to consider. Since this problem does not occur for all viewers, you can imagine how difficult it has been to trace and therefore resolve the issue.
Please know our engineers are definitely working on the problem.
In hopes to better diagnose and subsequently correct the problem, could you please email me what type of equipment you are using? Please use the following questions as a guideline for responding:

* What town do you live in?

* What model, brand and year of TV do you have?

* To the best of your knowledge, does your TV have a built-in HD tuner and decoder?

If not,

* What kind of tuner do you have?
Thank you for your help!
Sara Carpenter
Director of Programming
WVNY-ABC22
298 Mountain View Drive
Colchester, VT 05446
p (802) 660-9333 ext. 162
f (802) 660-8673

Is WVNY talking about only the audio issues or their station's overall signal as well?

Foxfax, they are working on the audio issue only. Let's keep the VHF/UHF debate out of this issue. We all know you feel strongly about their chosen frequency, pattern and signal strength, but this is definitely a decoder issue of some type, not a signal strength or noise issue.

Do they really believe that not everyone experiences this audio issue when it occurs? That is frustrating because it means that they don't really even know what we're talking about. I did send an email, so I'll post back if I get a reply.

Do they really believe that not everyone experiences this audio issue when it occurs? That is frustrating because it means that they don't really even know what we're talking about. I did send an email, so I'll post back if I get a reply.

Honestly, I haven't noticed, but then again I don't watch Boston Legal. I'll check on Monday with the TV tuner and the D* tuner though.

VHF is not a bad choice it's just that they use a hampster spinning a wheel to generate a signal. If they would turn the power up to match the other stations, maybe I could get it and see I too have the audio loss but for now I'll have to be happy with the other 4 channels from Mt. Mansfield. Has anyone tried turning the power off then back on to see if it resets their tuner?

Resetting the tuner doesn't help. When the problem occurs, the center channel is not being broadcast.

Has anyone seen the terrible looking SD ad claiming WPTZ is now in HD and "All of your favorite shows are in HD" and the ad shows Deal or No Deal, Scrubs, and The Apprentice, none of which are in HD. On the subject of VHF, I wish CBS would broadcast on high VHF with a 10kw signal so I could be watching March Madness right now ;). I still don't get why I get WVNY-DT, WPTZ-DT, WETK-DT, good analogue on CFCF and CFTM (which are over 140 miles away), and absolutely nothing on WCAX or WFFF. And by the way, WVNY is my strongest signal, and I have a good shot at Mansfield, albeit through a few trees.

On the subject of VHF, I wish CBS would broadcast on high VHF with a 10kw signal so I could be watching March Madness right now ;).

Broadcast on what channel??? They're all taken!
7: Sherbrooke
8: Cornwall
9: Sherbrooke AND Rutland
10: Montreal
11: Sherbrooke
12: Montreal

WVNY was already stupid enough for taking 13 when it is so close to Trois-Rivieres that it has to stay low-power and directional, thank God no other stations were stupid enough to do the same.

As for your problems with WFFF and WCAX, WFFF will move to a higher elevation and power in the spring, and WCAX will move to a lower frequency in less than two years. You'll be OK then.

For those not picking up WVNY, they'll NEVER be able to pick it up until there is a change in power (which would never be approved) or a change of channel.

Broadcast on what channel??? They're all taken!
7: Sherbrooke
8: Cornwall
9: Sherbrooke AND Rutland
10: Montreal
11: Sherbrooke
12: Montreal

WVNY was already stupid enough for taking 13 when it is so close to Trois-Rivieres that it has to stay low-power and directional, thank God no other stations were stupid enough to do the same.

As for your problems with WFFF and WCAX, WFFF will move to a higher elevation and power in the spring, and WCAX will move to a lower frequency in less than two years. You'll be OK then.

For those not picking up WVNY, they'll NEVER be able to pick it up until there is a change in power (which would never be approved) or a change of channel.

I know, I know. There would be a lot of duplicates on the south side too. PBS in Rutland on channel 9 is absolutely stupid because it makes WMUR from Manchester unwatchable, and WMUR makes the 4th Vermont Public Television I would be able to receive not come in (I don't even get 1 NH public television station). I hope they work things out though with WVNY for those of you in Montreal, maybe the Trois-Rivieres station could switch frequencies when they go digital so WVNY could boost their power or if they could switch to 16, or even probably 31 when WNNE leaves it. Anyways, I'm off to watch some Desperate Housewives in HD tonight, :p, haha just kidding, you aren't missing that much by not having WVNY in HD. I'd certainly rather have CBS or Fox than ABC.


WFFF will move to a higher elevation and power in the springThe road should open up soon, does anyone have an idea when this will happen?

The road should open up soon, does anyone have an idea when this will happen?

Whoa! Not so fast! :D We just got another storm and it's still much colder up there than it is on the ground. Remember last year when it was June and we were all pestering the stations to see if they had started yet? ;)

As for CKTM Trois-Rivieres changing frequencies, as I have said, it will not happen. Its digital allocation is out-of-core (channel 58), so it will be staying on 13. However, ironically CFKM, which is on analog 16 (one of the excuses given by WVNY for not accepting channel 16 for DT) has channel 34 allocated for digital, so 16 would have actually been better for WVNY to maximize post-transition if CFKM would decide to keep 34.

I sent an email to WCAX last week expressing my gratitude that they chose to run their 11 o'clock news on-time on ATSC channel 3-2 while the NCAA games where running long on 3-1. Much to my surprise, I got a response from the President of WCAX:

Thanks for your note.

Having the secondary HDTV channel, 3.2, available has made life a lot
easier in terms of sports over-runs and special event network schedules.
You'll see the news on 3.2 a lot during the big sports times.

Peter Martin
President, WCAX-TV


He also sent a follow-up note:

You might also be interested in the fact that we time-shift news on the
3.2: the 6P news is repeated at 8P, the 11P news at midnight, and the
5-6A hour at 7A.

Good to see someone is making good use of their sub-channel.

I found another WPTZ nit to pick...

I was playing with the INFO and GUIDE buttons on my HDTV, and discovered that all of the locals show the correct time, except WPTZ-DT. Their time-of-day clock is an hour behind (apparently they haven't moved to DST).

Do they really believe that not everyone experiences this audio issue when it occurs? That is frustrating because it means that they don't really even know what we're talking about. I did send an email, so I'll post back if I get a reply.

There are many issues that affect certain devices and not others. Most have to do with the PSIP flags. All of the digital equipment in existence was manufactured at various times while the specs were changing. Because of this, many set-tops respond differently. I can rattle off certain models of Sony that will not receive guides. There are some models of Panasonic that have issues with locking into the channel table properly. Some models of Samsung will blank a channel if the broadcast flag is set. There are also about 30 settings in a Dolby audio stream which can affect the way you audio is (or isn’t) decoded. And the changes are still occurring as we just saw with the DST change. This required a rewrite of the PSIP software to send out a specific DST hook which up until now wasn't used as no one considered that the dates would change. Some decoders have a DST setting and others don't. (Does yours? It will have a setting for time zone but does it have DST? Some of the ones that did ignored the new flag and caused an issue for that brand).

Point is, YES, it can happen that the issue is isolated to certain brands (remember that now, chip components go across brands due to common manufacturing. There are only x number of chip set manufacturers for xx number of brands), just as it can be an 'everyone' issue.

Sidebar: If it is a specific model issue, most of the major brands are software upgradeable (look for some sort of comm port on the unit) and there are software fixes on many of the websites to address certain issues. While many people can't even phantom hooking up a laptop to their TV to do an upgrade, many of the local stores would send out their techs to service the issue. (There is one of the hooks to look for in purchasing a set.)

Bottom line, the station is in the process of determining if it is an 'everyone' issue or it is occurring on certain models. Due to the lack of digital/5.1 penetration in the area, there are not a lot of people providing feedback yet. And the fact that it is intermittent does not help.

It is a concern and it is being worked on.

Software updates are actually not a problem for me. Since my receiver is a TiVo, it connects to the TiVo service every day and automatically downloads updates when they're available. The TiVo does have a DST setting and it changed to DST at the correct time on the correct date.

I found another WPTZ nit to pick...

I was playing with the INFO and GUIDE buttons on my HDTV, and discovered that all of the locals show the correct time, except WPTZ-DT. Their time-of-day clock is an hour behind (apparently they haven't moved to DST).

WPTZ is also the only digital station in the Plattsburgh-Burlington area that I receive in Pointe-Claire that does not put any program information into its PSIP stream. The program guide in my Samsung DTB-H260F tuner uses the PSIP info broadcast by each station to create its listings. At times the guide shows what's on WETK for the next 2 or 3 days, but all it ever shows for WPTZ is "No information". At least the other stations try.

Awful colours, fuzzy picture, no program info, .... WPTZ should really consider switching call letters with WWBI ("World's Worst Broadcasting Inc." ) because when it comes to digital broadcasting it would be an accurate description of their product. What a dreadful effort.

I don't know about PSIP, but I know that about closed-captioning, the problem is with WPTZ sending the info inside the frame instead of outside of it (creating the blinking lines at the top of the picture).

I don't know about PSIP, but I know that about closed-captioning, the problem is with WPTZ sending the info inside the frame instead of outside of it (creating the blinking lines at the top of the picture).

Are you watching on cable or over the air. If its cable, it could be converter card that the cable company is using. The blanking lines (no, I did not mis-spell blinking) that are being displayed is an issue with a widely used card in cable head-ends. Actually the issue is that the cable people want to just plug the card in without making minor adjustments.

I get it OTA.

I get it OTA.

Then you are right. Its an adjustment issue on their upconverter.
Have you tried letting them know? I know it would be rare that none of their station personnel watch their own signal at home but if they are just watching internal monitors, professional monitors have a setting to which show those lines so they are used to seeing it and may not realize its over the air.

Then you are right. Its an adjustment issue on their upconverter.
Have you tried letting them know? I know it would be rare that none of their station personnel watch their own signal at home but if they are just watching internal monitors, professional monitors have a setting to which show those lines so they are used to seeing it and may not realize its over the air.
I've sent numerous emails since the first week of HD operation. They ignore them. Interestingly, WPTZ is the only local that has a more degraded SD signal when they are broadcasting it on the HD channel. Even the highly compressed Dish Network feed is better than the SD programming on WPTZ's HD channel.

I thought that folks with an interest in the news might find this informative:
'NBC Evening News' Goes 1080i on March 26
Another HD milestone will be marked on Monday, March 26, when NBC News becomes the first network evening newscast to begin regular HD broadcasts. Reports earlier this month said that "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams" would take the HD plunge sometime in March. This week, NBC Universal confirmed it.
The NBC Nightly News will be adding new studio cameras, updated HD graphics and 5.1 surround sound to its HD-ready studio and set in New York. It will also be tapping into an infrastructure recently redesigned for the "Today" show, where the Nightly News will broadcast from the state-of-the-art control room.

While much of the field reporting on Williams' show will remain SD 4:3 for now, some of the most prolific remotes--such as White House stand ups--will be shot in 16:9 1080i, since NBC's Washington Bureau is already equipped with some HD cameras. NBC News said it expects to begin using HD gear in the field later this year.

While the evening move by NBC News is expected to put pressure on CBS News and ABC News to quickly follow suit, neither of the other two networks had any announcements yet regarding their own shows. (ABC's "Good Morning, America" has already gone HD, using Disney-preferred 720p.)

No center channel on Lost tonight. Thanks, WVNY.

No center channel on Lost tonight. Thanks, WVNY.

I'm getting Lost in 5.1 here.

The center channel came back a few minutes in.

Yeah, I got it back after a while. We checked after the first commercials and it still wasn't working, but after the second set of commercials the center channel was back.

Hi, I just found these forums because I am fed up with missing my favorite ABC shows due to missing center channels. I get the feed from Videotron, and I agree that they don't really seem to understand the problem. I posted a video from the beginning of last night's Lost to show them exactly what we mean (search WVNY on YouTube), where within 20 seconds, the feed switched automatically from HD to SD, then back with the center channel disabled. I've also been sending many e-mails. I'm glad to see people outside Montreal have been having the same problem, because I was under the impression that it was only affecting us. The fact that it hasn't been fixed yet gave me the impression that it was a small percentage that were experiencing it, but obviously that's not the case.

I set my DVR to record shows, so I don't have the option of switching back to analog...but lately I've had to record both, especially on Boston Legal, for fear of missing the show. Lost I just record on CTV now, since they seem to get it right every time.

Anyway, just thought I'd share. Have a great day!

I've sent numerous emails since the first week of HD operation. They ignore them. Interestingly, WPTZ is the only local that has a more degraded SD signal when they are broadcasting it on the HD channel. Even the highly compressed Dish Network feed is better than the SD programming on WPTZ's HD channel.

I completely agree, this morning the commercials and programming were almost youtube quality and even the HD during the Tonight Show last night looked off, almost like a good SD widescreen instead of the great HD which the Tonight Show usually is.

How is it that a Monteal cable system gets WVNY and WFFF HD feeds before the Cable systems closer to home?

Hi, I just found these forums because I am fed up with missing my favorite ABC shows due to missing center channels. I get the feed from Videotron, and I agree that they don't really seem to understand the problem. I posted a video from the beginning of last night's Lost to show them exactly what we mean (search WVNY on YouTube), where within 20 seconds, the feed switched automatically from HD to SD, then back with the center channel disabled. I've also been sending many e-mails. I'm glad to see people outside Montreal have been having the same problem, because I was under the impression that it was only affecting us. The fact that it hasn't been fixed yet gave me the impression that it was a small percentage that were experiencing it, but obviously that's not the case.

I set my DVR to record shows, so I don't have the option of switching back to analog...but lately I've had to record both, especially on Boston Legal, for fear of missing the show. Lost I just record on CTV now, since they seem to get it right every time.

Anyway, just thought I'd share. Have a great day!

Hi, I just found these forums because I am fed up with missing my favorite ABC shows due to missing center channels. I get the feed from Videotron, and I agree that they don't really seem to understand the problem. I posted a video from the beginning of last night's Lost to show them exactly what we mean (search WVNY on YouTube), where within 20 seconds, the feed switched automatically from HD to SD, then back with the center channel disabled. I've also been sending many e-mails. I'm glad to see people outside Montreal have been having the same problem, because I was under the impression that it was only affecting us. The fact that it hasn't been fixed yet gave me the impression that it was a small percentage that were experiencing it, but obviously that's not the case.

I set my DVR to record shows, so I don't have the option of switching back to analog...but lately I've had to record both, especially on Boston Legal, for fear of missing the show. Lost I just record on CTV now, since they seem to get it right every time.

Anyway, just thought I'd share. Have a great day!

The problem is being worked on and is now narrowed down between 3 pieces of gear. It would be great to just replace all 3 however, manufacturers do not work that way. They will replace their gear when there are hard facts that their unit is failing.

As the weather warms again i'm losing WCAX with significant drops in strength on all channels.
Is this to be expected because of the melting snow? Are most of you losing signal strength?

The problem is being worked on and is now narrowed down between 3 pieces of gear. It would be great to just replace all 3 however, manufacturers do not work that way. They will replace their gear when there are hard facts that their unit is failing.

Well, they better fix their 'unit' fast. Like others here in Montreal, I've completely given up on this amateur hour operation and switched over to Canadian HD channels carrying the same programming. Channels that don't seem to have any problems with any of their 'units'.

WVNY -- you're dead to me.

I've been meaning to share this with the group for awhile...

As some of you may recall, I bought the Zenith Silver Sensor for OTA HDTV reception last fall, and was quite happy with it, although the WVNY-DT signal was a bit marginal (this is a UHF-only antenna, after all). So, I set about seeing if I could build my own antenna.

Some heavy Googling made me decide that a Log Periodic Dipole Array (LPDA) was the way to go. I found an online calculator here (http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/jolt/345/LogCalc.html) and entered the frequency band from channel 13 (WVNY-DT) to 53 (WCAX-DT). It spit out the number of elements and all the dimensions.

I then proceeded to assemble it using some scrap wood, old aluminum curtain rods that I cut to length using tin snips, and picture-hanging wire (a cheap and readily-available uninsulated conductor).

For the downlead, I simply chopped one end off a short piece of RG6 patch cable.

I also added a $30 inline VHF/UHF amplifier from RadioShack to drive the ~40ft. of RG6 cable to my first tuner (and another 40ft of RG6 to my second tuner).

The results of my 1hr of labor can be seen in the attached pictures.

The performance is excellent. I now get all the local HDTV stations with very high signal (granted, I do have LoS to the summit of Mt. Mansfield).

Ah, Thursday night wouldn't be complete without the annoying white line during Scrubs.

As the weather warms again i'm losing WCAX with significant drops in strength on all channels.
Is this to be expected because of the melting snow? Are most of you losing signal strength?
That is exactly my experience. My levels are off by almost 20% on some channels. Ugh.

Comcast has changed things again in the Killington Area.

WCAX-HD is now on 3.1
WCAX-WX is now on 3.2

WETK-HD is now on 21.3

No other digital stations look to be in the clear as of this morning.

i am interested to know if anyone in the vt area has upgraded from d* the new 5 lnb dish and hr20 hd with dvr receiver? i have the 3 lnb and hr10-250 hd with tivo receiver, and was wondering how the ota tuner in the newest d* model worked?

i am interested to know if anyone in the vt area has upgraded from d* the new 5 lnb dish and hr20 hd with dvr receiver? i have the 3 lnb and hr10-250 hd with tivo receiver, and was wondering how the ota tuner in the newest d* model worked?

I don't know about the 5lnb but i use the H20 without the dvr for a tuner. My Sammy TV pulls in a slightly better signal but the H20 dominates when it comes to multipath

Anyone else with a Dish vip622 have no audio on the HD channels after last night's software download?

Anyone else with a Dish vip622 have no audio on the HD channels after last night's software download?
I have not received the software download and I'm not sure I want it till they iron out some bugs. Side by side PIP I want but people are coming across some problems. Check out DBSTALK.COM for 4.01 discussion.

My VIP 622 is working just fine, no sound loss on any channels. I haven't looked into how hard it is but it would be nice to be able to skip over the non HD channels now that the HD ones are right next to them.

I have not received the software download and I'm not sure I want it till they iron out some bugs. Side by side PIP I want but people are coming across some problems. Check out DBSTALK.COM for 4.01 discussion.
Thanks for the tip on the discussion group. It is nice to know that others are concerned with the implications of the download on their 622 receiver. For the record, I was able to use the optical connection instead of the HDMI and got audio back--although at about 25% db less level than the SD channels. As usual, the Dish tech support is less than helpful.

WPTZ and WNNE are showing Nightly News in HD, it looks great. Now we've got to get Jeopardy! and Wheel in HD.

Well for NBC News all they have to do is pass through the live feed from New York. For Wheel and Jeopardy, they have to buy HD tape recorders or servers. I think WPTZ had MANY problems to fix before they get to that step... :p

Has anyone else had trouble getting WETK digital OTA lately? Several times in the past week or so, I've had "poor signal quality" with no picture or audio. Signal strength shows about 82%.

Last fall, WETK-DT was my strongest station (98% isgnal). However, since about January it seems to have tanked and now I'm registering in the low 80's (all the other digital channels are still in the high 90's). I guess they must have had to back off on the transmitter power for some reason.

I'm doing fine with WETK-DT, but I've been having all kinds of problems with WFFF-DT over the past few weeks. The signal strength seems fine (usually 70%-80%), but it constantly pixelates and loses the signal lock. Is anyone else having problems with FOX?

I believe FOX is on a temporary low-powered antenna that will be upgraded this summer when weather permits. I get it at 98%, but that is probably because of my relative position to it.

I believe FOX is on a temporary low-powered antenna that will be upgraded this summer when weather permits. I get it at 98%, but that is probably because of my relative position to it.
For FOX I get it at 90% and very stable, but when the wheather is bad it drop more than the other's.

Anyone notice there's now WCFE-HD WCFE-DT1 and WCFE-DT2 (Nothing on DT-2)

All my OTA stations have dropped after the first big warm-up and melt. WCAX below 60 with little chance of locking, the others have dropped to high 60s to low 80s, all about 20%.

All my OTA stations have dropped after the first big warm-up and melt. WCAX below 60 with little chance of locking, the others have dropped to high 60s to low 80s, all about 20%.
Any chance your antenna shifted?

Any chance your antenna shifted?
It did the first time but not enough to make a difference. The signal strength went up 50% after the St Patricks Day snowstorm. CAX back into low 60s instead of 70 but now high 50s and seldom locks. PTZ was in the 80's now mid 70s and VNY went from high70s to mid 60s.
I'am waiting for a software download to my Dish 622 and some people have said the upgrade increased sensitivity of the OTA tuner. If not I'll have to add some height to antenna.

Anyone notice there's now WCFE-HD WCFE-DT1 and WCFE-DT2 (Nothing on DT-2)

Yes. I noticed 57.3 (WCFE-D2) yesterday on both my Sony HD set (built-in tuner) and on my Samsung ATSC/QAM tuner. I sure hope they don't plan on broadcasting 2 SD channels simultaneously with the PBS HD channel. I have just emailed MLPBS, asking about 57.3. I'll post what they have to say when I have received a reply.

It did the first time but not enough to make a difference. The signal strength went up 50% after the St Patricks Day snowstorm. CAX back into low 60s instead of 70 but now high 50s and seldom locks. PTZ was in the 80's now mid 70s and VNY went from high70s to mid 60s.
I'am waiting for a software download to my Dish 622 and some people have said the upgrade increased sensitivity of the OTA tuner. If not I'll have to add some height to antenna.
I've had nothing but major trouble after the latest download to my 622. Until then, the receiver has had an excellent track record. I found no increase in sensitivity of the OTA locals. My numbers are way down also. I had no idea that weather would play such a tremendous difference in reception. I'd love to hear from folks who understand why the digital transmissions are more suspectable to change than were the analog ones.

Over the past few weeks, both WFFF-HD and WVNY-HD have gone from working perfectly for the past several months to barely working at all and becoming unwatchable where I live in Burlington's NNE. I haven't had any problems with the other OTA signals. It's frustrating.

Does anyone have any idea when Dish Network is going to have Burlington locals in HD? The analog local channels look horrendous on an HDTV.

Yes. I noticed 57.3 (WCFE-D2) yesterday on both my Sony HD set (built-in tuner) and on my Samsung ATSC/QAM tuner. I sure hope they don't plan on broadcasting 2 SD channels simultaneously with the PBS HD channel. I have just emailed MLPBS, asking about 57.3. I'll post what they have to say when I have received a reply.

OH NO! :(

WCFE used to have a better picture than WETK, and it was great because they didn't keep their damn local logo on it full time like the others (perfect to make D-VHS recordings of special events).

WCFE, please DON'T add another channel!

If they do, I think we should all call in and offer to pledge $50 on the condition that they remove it. Now that's public TV. :p

OH NO! :(

WCFE used to have a better picture than WETK, and it was great because they didn't keep their damn local logo on it full time like the others (perfect to make D-VHS recordings of special events).



They stopped the logo clutter after Videotron started carrying their relay of the PBS HD channel. Before that their logos were on the screen almost all the time.

I still haven't received a response from WCFE.

Does anyone have any idea when Dish Network is going to have Burlington locals in HD? The analog local channels look horrendous on an HDTV.
Some affiliate's over-estimate their own worth and figure they can make unreasonable demands for their retrans consent - like telling "D" & "E" they have to build the uplink facilities.

Other affiliates think they can do better by entering exclusive deals with certain cable companies.

Satellite think they can just skim off the big DMAs and ignore the rest. Cable companies think they can gain the favor of local officials to keep competition out of their market areas. Last on the list of considerations is the viewer.

Every person in the state of Vt that owns or plans to own a HD television needs to start complaining to congress now - even if you currently have one option for digital.

Any cable or satellite company providing television service today should be forced to carry the main digital feed of all local affiliates in their "basic" programming package. In return, all affiliates should be forced to make their digital signal available to them.

In less than 2 years the government is forcing the country into the "digital transition". The least they can do is force all providers to at least carry the digital feeds of the networks.

This will be a factor in the '08 elections, so congress would be smart to head this off at the pass and make it a non-issue now.

OH NO! :(

WCFE used to have a better picture than WETK, and it was great because they didn't keep their damn local logo on it full time like the others (perfect to make D-VHS recordings of special events).

WCFE, please DON'T add another channel!

If they do, I think we should all call in and offer to pledge $50 on the condition that they remove it. Now that's public TV. :p

Don't worry about it. I received the following response from WCFE's Engineering Dept.

We are in the process of making some significant improvements to our digital capabilities which eventually may result in another lower bandwidth SD channel added. This morning I removed the referenced 57.3 that was initiated by an outside engineer that was reconfiguring our encoders. It should not have been left in that state.

We haven't finalized any of the details yet but, I can assure you that the HD signal will not be degraded as a result of these changes. In fact, you should see noticeable improvements over the next few months as we place the new equipment on-line.

Not that this is a surprise or anything, but I was in the Burlington Comcrap office last Friday, so I asked about when they plan to add the other local HD stations. The answer was "hopefully soon, we're working on the contracts."

Heh... how long has it been? :P

Not that this is a surprise or anything, but I was in the Burlington Comcrap office last Friday, so I asked about when they plan to add the other local HD stations. The answer was "hopefully soon, we're working on the contracts."

Heh... how long has it been? :P

I wonder if it would help to bug the affiliates about this as well. I spend most of my time on the HD channels, so as long as they aren't in the lineup, I'm most likely not watching.

5.1 working fine here on Boston Legal. No issues whatsoever. Using D*H20 tuner.

5.1 working fine here on Boston Legal. No issues whatsoever. Using D*H20 tuner.
Same here, but Dancing with the Stars had a lot of audio drops with OTA and Panasonic built-in tuner

Is anyone able to receive the WPTZ weather station on 5-2 OTA? We get the same thing on 5-2 that's on 5-1. The text ID of 5-2 shows as WPTZ-WX. Since WPTZ has no guide information I can't tell if I should be getting weather or not on 5-2. I had our Hanspree Xv rescan for stations but we still get the same thing. It sounds like a lot of people have trouble with WPTZ HD service, but they advertise their weather station so heavily, I would think it would be there.
3-2 works great, we watch it a lot more then I expected.

Is anyone able to receive the WPTZ weather station on 5-2 OTA?
Weather Plus is working fine OTA for me.

Is anyone able to receive the WPTZ weather station on 5-2 OTA? We get the same thing on 5-2 that's on 5-1. The text ID of 5-2 shows as WPTZ-WX. Since WPTZ has no guide information I can't tell if I should be getting weather or not on 5-2. I had our Hanspree Xv rescan for stations but we still get the same thing. It sounds like a lot of people have trouble with WPTZ HD service, but they advertise their weather station so heavily, I would think it would be there.
3-2 works great, we watch it a lot more then I expected.
I had the same problem with my Vizio OTA but thru my Dish VIP622 thats not a problem-

Is anyone able to receive the WPTZ weather station on 5-2 OTA? We get the same thing on 5-2 that's on 5-1. The text ID of 5-2 shows as WPTZ-WX. Since WPTZ has no guide information I can't tell if I should be getting weather or not on 5-2. I had our Hanspree Xv rescan for stations but we still get the same thing. It sounds like a lot of people have trouble with WPTZ HD service, but they advertise their weather station so heavily, I would think it would be there.
3-2 works great, we watch it a lot more then I expected.
It is working fine for me--well, as good as WPTZ gets. Perhaps, it's time for their station manager to get the hell out of the zoot suit detective garb from his latest on-air editorial, and set about figuring out why they have the worst signal of all the locals.
Note too, that WCAX has started to use their 3.2 signal to carry their news broadcasts when the regular channel has sports programming which has gone beyond the regular news start time.

Can someone please post a link to the fcc rules for local digital channels carried by cable companies? Comcast is insisting you must pay for a box to get local HD channels. I know there are no must carry rules yet, but thought if they are carrying it on the system it must be in the clear as part of the most basic package for those who have their own tuners.

Can someone please post a link to the fcc rules for local digital channels carried by cable companies? Comcast is insisting you must pay for a box to get local HD channels. I know there are no must carry rules yet, but thought if they are carrying it on the system it must be in the clear as part of the most basic package for those who have their own tuners.

The FCC 'must-carry' rule only applies to what-ever the station designates as their primary channel (which currently is probably their analog signal). The cable company cannot put that signal on any tier that would require you to pay extra for (i.e: beyond their basic service cost). If the cable company has an HD tier the station will usually negotiate that they be included as no extra charge in exchange for carriage however, there are no hard and fast rules on that. If the cable company is paying the station for the HD carriage, then they can require you to pay them for the feed.

Some stations get around it by designating their HD as the primary channel. The only trick there is that then they usually have to buy the cable company a down converter or else the cables 'basic' feed of the channel will have sidebars (or even a postage stamp) and no one wants to deal with those complaints.

The other wrinkle is that not all cable companies can or will pass the full 19meg PSIP-included digital stream from the station. If your 'non-cable box' service is analog, you cannot get the digital HD without a cable box.

Basically, your stuck. At least until 2009. Even then, they may not be a full digital signal to your home.

If you want to wade through the actual rule language it is probably burried somewhere at fcc.gov.

Contrary to what some cable company employees will tell you, you don't need a box to get local HD. Your TV does need a built-in (QAM) tuner however, and of course Comcast has to be sending HD in the first place.

Up here in Colchester, we get local HD on 112.1, 112.2, 112.3, 113.1, 113.2, and 113.3.
(NBC, NBC Weather, Another NBC, PBS, CBS Weather, and CBS) This is in-the-clear, no box.

Still waiting for Comcast to start beaming Fox and ABC!

Contrary to what some cable company employees will tell you, you don't need a box to get local HD. Your TV does need a built-in (QAM) tuner however, and of course Comcast has to be sending HD in the first place.

Up here in Colchester, we get local HD on 112.1, 112.2, 112.3, 113.1, 113.2, and 113.3.
(NBC, NBC Weather, Another NBC, PBS, CBS Weather, and CBS) This is in-the-clear, no box.

Still waiting for Comcast to start beaming Fox and ABC!


You are lucky to have one of the newest systems which pass the full 19 meg stream.
I am jealous.

re: WVNY Audio Dropouts.

For the past few weeks I have been providing diagnostic information to a vendor enginer working on the missing center/dialog channel and overall DD5.1 audio dropout problem experienced by Ch22.1/WVNY-DT since they came on the air in October. At this point three major changes (replace defective Dolby Digital encoder, software update for more/bigger buffers, level adjust between equipment) have been made and as of last night I couldn't detect any signs of the problem.

If anyone detects a missing dialog channel or total dropouts, please post here so more diagnostic work can be done.

I have just been trying to pull the Comcast QAM HD channels in on my Samsung TX-P2670wh which has a QAM tuner in it but can't get any of them. Comcast states I should be able to get it, but was wondering what the "19 meg stream" comment meant from VideoTech? Comcast has no info on how to do it, but I have tried everything and can't get any results. I've tried STD, IRC, HRC settings all with QAM on. I'm stumped and want to make sure I'm getting all I can from the overlord Comcast...

vtjim: Are you using a new tv with QAM built in? My tv is about two years old I think. Is it out of date for this?

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