I just got off the phone with WTIC, and man am I frustrated. They said they will approve NO waivers in the state because everyone can receive at least an analog signal. I told him I was interested in HD and he flat out admitted I stand little to no chance of getting there signal so I should go complain to Directv and TeleMedia. This is rediculous. He was really quite rude as well much made me even madder. Oh well so much for an HD superbowl.

Originally posted by rmcgirr83
... why is it that I can get Fox perfect yet can't get FSB?

Anyone have any suggestions other than trying a diff antenna?

Is it possible for you to lock onto digital channel 46-1? This Spanish-language station, formerly WHCT-TV18 and now WUVN-DT, broadcasts from a tower that neighbors WFSB's tower on Avon Mountain. If this channel comes in for you, maybe the problem isn't just the distance between your location in East Lyme and these two TV towers in Avon.

Another thought, based on a post awhile back from the owner of the WTIC-TV tower, which may explain why you can receive TIC but not FSB:
WTIC-DT's temporary antenna location at 800' is higher than WFSB-DT's permanent antenna location.

Regarding WFSB-DT's power level, a poster mentioned that Channel 3 discovered a problem with their new analog antenna that was installed with the digital antenna at the top of the tower. The problem could not be detected until the transmitter was up and running. Personnel from the antenna's manufacturer had to come out to the site to determine the next course of action. I haven't read any post since then stating that the problem had been resolved.

I stopped using my Dish Network model 6000 in December 2003, and switched over to the 811. There are local digital channels that my receiver has trouble locking onto (NBC WVIT-DT and PBS WGBY-DT). Echostar is inviting customers to let the company know about specific over-the-air digital reception problems. I read an on-line press release stating that they will work with the station's engineer to determine if the station has undetected errors in its PSIP stream, especially in light of the February 1st FCC-mandated changes pertaining to the stream.

Originally posted by WHNB
Echostar is inviting customers to let the company know about specific over-the-air digital reception problems. I read an on-line press release stating that they will work with the station's engineer to determine if the station has undetected errors in its PSIP stream, especially in light of the February 1st FCC-mandated changes pertaining to the stream.

Is there a link? A thread somewhere?

Originally posted by rmcgirr83
Is there a link? A thread somewhere?

An e-mail to Dish Network Technical Support describing the reception problem, the station's call letters and city, and the station's e-mail address is probably the best way to alert Dish of a possible PSIP issue.

Here is the link to what I read a few days ago:

www.dbstalk.com/announcement.php?f=11

Chip & Rich:

I took down the CM4228 last summer when I started having difficulty picking up both WCTX and WTIC (no rotator - please forgive me Chip :D ); replaced it with the SqS1000 (lower gain, but wider beamwidth) and all was fine. With the CM4228, I never was able to get more than an unwatchable highly pixellated picture from WTXX - that didn't change even with a channel 12 yagi, so must have something to do with my location/antenna height (BTW, can't get WTXX with the SqS either). Never tried the CM4228 alone for WTNH, because I was also using the channel 10 yagi that Chip recommended.

Like Rich, I'm getting nada from WFSB. As soon as someone confirmed that WFSB was at full power, I had planned to try putting the CM4228 up again to see if that made a difference, but as Rich has found out, no one seems to be able or willing to confirm that WFSB is at full power.

Ross

AFIK, WFSB has been at full power for several months.

Originally posted by docbone
AFIK, WFSB has been at full power for several months.

If this is the case, and I'm assuming that by full power it's 1,000 kilowatts, and if WTIC is not at full power then why can I get WTIC without a problem but can't get diddly from FSB? Is it their antenna plot? Is their antenna not high enough? What gives?

FWIW, WFSB has been their usual very helpful selves in answering questions. I left several voice mails with not a one returned. That's just very rude/nonconsumer friendly in my book.

FWIW, I did a full re-scan last night on both the 6000 and 811 and still got zip.

Strange that a viewer in Old Saybrook can pick up FSB but Ross and I can't.

Me thinks that FSB is not telling all. Ross if you want, bring over your CM and we'll hook it up and see what we'll see.

PS Hope you had a good trip!! :)

Originally posted by rmcgirr83
Ross if you want, bring over your CM and we'll hook it up and see what we'll see.

yeah - I'm sure if it works I'll get the antenna back, right? :D I'll give you a call.

P.S. We had a great trip; thanks.

Originally posted by RTracey
yeah - I'm sure if it works I'll get the antenna back, right? :D I'll give you a call.

P.S. We had a great trip; thanks.

RE: If it works.

Nope, not a chance. :D

I live about 10 miles (air distance) northeast of Springfield ... and on an LG LST-4200A ATSC tuner I can get 31-33-35 no problems with just an indoor UHF loop antenna. Using the box's signal strength meter all three stations display about the same receive level. (I have not looked at this on a spectrum analyzer or anything truly technical.)

Rough numbers that puts me about 35 miles from WFSB-DT and 40 miles from WTIC-DT and WVIT-DT.

I guess as the saying goes - YMMV ...

I have no issues receiving WFSB. However, I have a roof mounted double 6 foot YAGI antenna with a CM 7777 preamp. Works great. WFSB is more fickle and needs to be pointed in the right direction but does come in just fine.

Originally posted by rmcgirr83
If this is the case, and I'm assuming that by full power it's 1,000 kilowatts, and if WTIC is not at full power then why can I get WTIC without a problem but can't get diddly from FSB? Is it their antenna plot? Is their antenna not high enough? What gives?

FWIW, WFSB has been their usual very helpful selves in answering questions. I left several voice mails with not a one returned. That's just very rude/nonconsumer friendly in my book.



WTIC's tower is much closer to you than WFSB's.

TV stations are not staffed to help viewers receive their signals. WFSB is not being rude, your expectations are unrealistic. A technician cannot be expected diagnose your problem without visit to your home. There's plenty of antenna advise available on the Internet. If you want personal assistance, there are a number of companies that you can hire to work on your antenna system for you.

Originally posted by Tower Guy
WTIC's tower is much closer to you than WFSB's.

Is much closer?

1.5 miles according to http://www.2150.com/broadcast/default.asp.

I suppose that's much closer. :rolleyes:

Plus I wasn't asking for anything other than antenna height and power from them. The return "whatever" would probably take all of what 30 secs?

I suppose that's unreasonable. Instead of covering for WFSB maybe you should consider giving some help in lieu of a lecture. I mean you do work on these right? ;)

http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/eng_tv.pl?Application_id=616134

East Lyme is shadowed from WFSB by Racoon Hill, near East Hampton.

According to the FCC web site WFSB has more power but a slightly lower antenna than WTIC. WTIC 386 and WFSB 375 meters. WTIC has much less power directed South. So it would seem that WFSB would be easier to get than WTIC in East Lyme. They are in slightly directions so the terrain the signal passes over could be different. Anothe possibily is adajacent channel interference from channel 34 in Waterford. Can you East Lyme guys get WVIT-DT on channel 35? I have the ajacent channel problem here in Mystic. I can sometimes get WVIT but never WFSB when channel 34 is on the air. Both are OK when 43 is off air. John

Thanks Tower Guy, that's much more helpful and possibly explains the problem. It's curious though that the link you gave shows a "cutoff date" of 10/25/02...is it up to date? :confused:

RE: WVIT

Get steady locks on WTXX, WTIC and WVIT with very rare dropouts...just not WFSB. That's why it's so perplexing. 2150 also shows WFSB as having an ERP of 20 Kw. Can anyone explain the difference between the above link and this one:

http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/eng_tv.pl?Facility_id=53115

Just trying to get it all straight in my head. :)

CTDISH,

Channel 34 in Waterford? Do you mean WHPX (Pax)? I suppose from Mystic that may give you interference but I have the tower basically in my backyard, in the opposite direction so I don't think that would be it.

Yes I mean the PAX station. Your directional antenna will help but I think you are even closer than me. The definitive test is to check the other channels' reception after WHPX DT goes off the air. Which is after midnight I think. John

Thanks John.

I'll try and stay awake that late tonight and see what happens. If that's the case, I believe I can just get a choke for that frequency? PAX has nothing I can't live without. Maybe it is overdriving the antennae being so close in proximity.

FWIW, Ross came over with his CM and I went up on the somewhat snowy roof (I know, I know not a good idea). Anyway, couldn't get a thing (some of the regulars WVIT, etc but not FSB) with it...then again didn't really give it our all. I wasn't too happy about being on the roof in February with snow.

Maybe try again in the spring when the conditions are better. ;)

I don't mean to b*tch but it's very frustrating and totally illogical that I shouldn't be able to get WFSB. The degree difference is 9 from the ones on rattlesnake and I get from WTNH/WCTX to WTIC/WTXX/WVIT to WEDN to WHPX with my current setup.

I guess I'm greedy...but it would be nice to have all. :D

John & Tower Guy - thanks for the info. John, I can get WVIT, but not WFSB. Like Rich, I'll try to check WFSB again tonight after PAX goes off the air.

Hey Rich - I'll call you at 12:01 am!

Originally posted by rmcgirr83
Can anyone explain the difference between the above link and this one:

http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/eng_tv.pl?Facility_id=53115

.

WFSB ran at low power before they installed the new antenna and transmitter. The 20 KW permit is called an STA = Special Temporary Authorization. CP = Construction Permit

WPRI DT (CBS) in Providence is on channel 13. It's further than WFSB, but the terrian is a bit better and VHF works better over the hills. If the terrian is favorable near your house it might be worth a try,

I stayed up til 12:30 and aimed the big antenna at Hartford. WFSB conmming in at signal strength 39 and WVIT comming in at 52. WTIC was erraric 15 to 40 and did not seem to have any video or audio on the receiver with the signal strength indicator. On another receiver the picture was OK. John

Checked at about the same time and still got nothing...a blip every know and then but not enough to lock. :(

I had better luck than Rich - did a re-scan at 12:05 am, and lo and behold, there was WFSB! Wasn't really watchable, with the picture breaking up every 5 sec or so, but it was a clear picture otherwise; "signal strength" on my HD-200 was about 30-40%.

John - assuming I can improve the signal by readjusting my SqS or putting the CM4228 back up, is there any way I can block out the interference from PAX? I would think any filter wouldn't be selective enough to block an immediately adjacent channel without severely degrading the signal from WFSB.

In order to get WFSB in East Lyme I would start with a large directional antena up as high as possible with a rorator. I perfer yagi over large screen refelector anennas. Use either no preamp or a very low gain one ie 10 dB and the lowest loss cable you can get. Do not use any splitters or amplifiers. It would not hurt to get a channel 26 deletion filter. It is very difficult to make a single channel deletion filter for UHF channels that can pass adjacent channels, but I have seen one or two and will post some info if I can find it. Even then it may not help if the channel 34 transmitter has surious energy on adjacent channels. John

Originally posted by RTracey
Is there any way I can block out the interference from PAX? I would think any filter wouldn't be selective enough to block an immediately adjacent channel without severely degrading the signal from WFSB.

You can buy filter but they are expensive. If you want to experient, go to: http://www.wa4dsy.net/cgi-bin/idbpf
Enter the following data;

Number of poles 3
Ripple in db .2
Center frequency 587 (this is the center frequency for channel 33)
Bandwidth in Mhz 6
I/O Impedance 75 ohms
Ground space in inches 1.0
Diameter in inches .375
End plate to rod .70 inches
Points to graph 30
Step size 1 mhz

Click "submit query"

In an attempt to see the Super Bowl in HD I built one of these for WTIC, channel 31, but with my CM 4228 aimed at Hartford I hear WNNE in Vermont instead. I used 18 mhz for the bandwidth of my filter. WVIT analog on channel 30 is watchable. I needed to put the filter before my preamp to prevent overload. When adjacent channel overload is a problem it's better to use a lower gain preamp. The CM 7777 is not the best choice. I use a Winegard AP 4700.

For better adjacent channel rejection a five pole filter would certainly do the job.

My filter was constructed using circuit board material and 3/8" copper tubing. The box can also be built using flashing copper or sheet brass.

The Fox affiliate in Albany has not built their HD transmitter yet.

Many thanks for the suggestions guys. I'm not sure I'm up to trying to build one of these things, but if I do, the info will be helpful. It's been quite a while since I fiddled with my set up, but I'm pretty sure that without the CM7777 I lost most of the channels I currently get (I'm using RG-6 and don't have any splitters or distribution amps). I agree that getting a rotor sounds like a good idea, but with my proximity to the PAX transmitter, I wonder if it's really going to help that much.

John - look forward to seeing any info on adjacent channel filters you find. Why do you prefer yagi over large screen reflectors; are they more directional? - Ross

Hi guys.. a quick question- I'm hoping some folks are still around to answer this..

what chanel is WTIC-FOX broadcasting HDTV on? I can pick up channel 61, which has the SD programming, but the channel I thought carried HDTV (61.1) won't work. Am I tuning into the correct channel?

Thanks!

-Josh-

Try WTIC-DT on channel 31.1. You may be able to restore it on 61.1 by deleting the starion from your tuner and having it rescan for you.

Yup, that did it, thanks.. I deleted it from memory, re-scanned and it came in at 60-70% signal strength. This is the first time I've been able to pull in WTIC. It happened just in time right as my guests were arriving.

Thanks for your help,

-Josh-

Anyone have problems getting WTIC-DT tonight during the superbowl? I could not get a watchable signal for most of the game. I was getting WFSB-DT and WVIT-DT at 70% to 85% which is normal for my setup. But I usually always get WTIC-DT between 60% to 75%.

Just wondering if it was just me.

Thanks in advance

Did anyone else have the following problem happen during the SB??When there was an ad about news, I would get the SD version and then the HD version would kick 30 to 60 seconds later.

No signal strength issues here. 90-92%

I dont think WTIC knows how to do tickers with an HD signal. They switch to SD, crop and run the message. Then flip back. Boy it showed the diff between SD and HD. Even my wife was like YUK.

Ditto about the SD/HD flip during the news ads. WTIC was fine for me during the game, but the signal did go to crap as soon as the postgame show started - even completely lost the signal at times.

Originally posted by jacksymon
Anyone have problems getting WTIC-DT tonight during the superbowl? I could not get a watchable signal for most of the game. I was getting WFSB-DT and WVIT-DT at 70% to 85% which is normal for my setup. But I usually always get WTIC-DT between 60% to 75%.

Just wondering if it was just me.

Thanks in advance
Hey Jack,

Yes, I had similar problems.

Before the game I checked my signal quality and it seemed normal (85%) except that one of the HD-TiVo tuners kept losing the signal completely. And I don't understand how that was happening as the two tuners are fed a single signal that is split within the TiVo box. I cold booted the box and all was normal.

During the game the dropouts were happening 2 or 3 times more frequently than normal. I'd say every 10 minutes or so for 1 or 2 seconds. The broadcast was very watchable though.

I should mention that I live only 6.6 miles from the towers and can 'see' the lights on the towers from my front steps. There's no reason I can think of for the signal to be anything < 80%.

I'd be interested to know if Fox was playing with the antennas/transmitters.

Frank

Something was weird last night on WTIC, I got pauses/drop-outs about once every ten minutes or so. Thier signal was pegged at 100% for me, so I'm not sure if they were having transmitter problems or there was something else going on. Was very watchable though.

Originally posted by brewer4
No signal strength issues here. 90-92%

I dont think WTIC knows how to do tickers with an HD signal. They switch to SD, crop and run the message. Then flip back. Boy it showed the diff between SD and HD. Even my wife was like YUK.

I don't think it's a question of not knowing how. It's that the process requires equipment that they don't have. (To the best of my knowledge, none of the local stations do.)
You may recall that we experienced something similar during the baseball post-season. In the first few games that Fox did, WTIC would squeeze back the picture either to display the daily lottery numbers or to promo the 10 o'clock news and it would take as much as a half hour before they remembered to switch back to HD. After just a couple of games (and no doubt a lot of loud complaining from viewers) they began switching back to HD within a minute or two of each interruption.

Originally posted by docbone
I don't think it's a question of not knowing how. It's that the process requires equipment that they don't have. (To the best of my knowledge, none of the local stations do.)(the following represents my own personal opinion)

The basic process that broadcasters are using to migrate to ATSC (digital television) is to build a new transmission plant and use an up-converter to change the NTSC signals (and standard def 4:3 format broadcasts) to the newer technology. Adding in HD or ED formats (typically 16:9 aspect ratio) ... that requires switching typically between a network HD feed and the SD plant at the station. So yes - in many cases - the comment that it "requires equipment that they don't have" is fairly accurate: very little of a station's infrastructure today is typically HD equipped.

If money wasn't any object - a better approach may have been to have stations completely build out new plants that were 100% capable of today's HD transmission capabilities ... using that as the primary program source and downconvert to NTSC for those viewers that are watching the legacy analog technology. Alas - broadcasters have spent millions per station in just getting basic transmission facilities together ... its a pipe dream that someone could afford to completely revamp an entire station's internal infrastructure.

Over time you'll see things slowly integrated. For example - this is occurring at the network level already. Take some of the NBC network programming. Crossing Jordan is a 16:9 format show - looks great on the DT transmissions. When you watch it on an NTSC broadcasts you typically notice slight black bars on the top and bottom of the screen (albeit not truly letterboxed) ... and some of the left and right are also missing (as compared to the HD broadcast). This is an example of a good job at using the latest technology and gracefully / nicely downconverting for what the bulk of people are still viewing.

The nice thing about the new ATSC standard is that it is flexible and adaptable. Over time things are changing - both by networks and broadcasters as well as on the regulatory front (FCC). For example - broadcasters at the start of the year had to change PID's (something technical within the data transmission) by FCC mandate. By February 1 broadcasters are also supposed to be transmitting an EPG (electronic program guide aka PSIP) - also an FCC requirement. And beyond regulatory requirements we've seen HD and Dolby 5.1 encoders added, a wider range of programming, multiple channels, etc.

Don't underestimate the effort it takes to make all this happen! Broadcasting has always been an analog thing - and there's a lot to learn in putting together completely new, unfamiliar systems. There's also no test bed or lab to play in - you're seeing the evolution of ATSC evolve in front of you ... and sometimes there's glitches or problems! Sometimes the problems are even out of the local broadcaster's control (bad network feeds, issues with hardware or software that needs to be resolved by vendors, etc.)

Things like switching between HD / SD / HD feeds can be a combination of automation (computer) issues as well as manual process ... and sometimes it takes time to get these things worked out as well.

The nice thing is that the AVS forums are a great way to provide feedback to broadcasters: local, network and even cable operators. For as many posts and pages there are in this forum (and all the others) you can believe there's a lot more reading our posts! Viewer observations and constructive criticism I'm sure is valued by all!

Now back to your regularly scheduled program ... :D

Well I just watched my Tivo'd recording of Joey last night (most recent episode). The show was unwatchable as the DD5.1 broadcast was screwed up, there was no center channel. Wondering if WVIT was having a longer term equipment problem or they just programmed the decoder wrong for that one show. As I watch very little 'live' these days, I have nothing else to look at right now. Hoping this doesn't become a pattern for the locals as it destroys the show if you drop the center channel. Know WTNH had a similar problem on and off a few years back.

Originally posted by Such
Well I just watched my Tivo'd recording of Joey last night (most recent episode). The show was unwatchable as the DD5.1 broadcast was screwed up, there was no center channel. Wondering if WVIT was having a longer term equipment problem or they just programmed the decoder wrong for that one show. As I watch very little 'live' these days, I have nothing else to look at right now. Hoping this doesn't become a pattern for the locals as it destroys the show if you drop the center channel. Know WTNH had a similar problem on and off a few years back.

That was a network problem last Thursday, which also effected Will & Grace. There were reports from all around the country of the same issue, including WNBC-DT over DirecTV.

whoa RPMcCormick....... I guess I should've used better semantics in my response. Cant do it with existing equipment....

It wasnt intended to be a knock. However, the switch from HD/SD when rolling a ticker just doesnt look very professional. Its also 2005. Stations were supposed to start converting in 1999. Fox parent didnt help by not going HD initially but you can only make excuses for so long.

Originally posted by brewer4
whoa RPMcCormick....... I guess I should've used better semantics in my response. Cant do it with existing equipment....

It wasnt intended to be a knock. However, the switch from HD/SD when rolling a ticker just doesnt look very professional. Its also 2005. Stations were supposed to start converting in 1999. Fox parent didnt help by not going HD initially but you can only make excuses for so long. Hi ... no problem - didn't take it as a knock. Just wanted to give one view of the complexity of all this stuff.

As for the time line: you're right. The big markets were to have the ATSC up and running a long time ago. But as you noted - many (most?) of the networks at that time really didn't have any HD programming. Heck - up here in Springfield WGBY-DT ran seemingly forever their HD side at night with travel videos and other things - like an endless demo reel! (Was great to check out sets and technology at local electronics stores.)

Whatever the format - if you read the letter of the law it says that analog broadcast television will cease on December 31, 2006. But there's some fine print in there that also requires that 85 percent of the homes in an area have to be able to receive the digital transmissions before an analog signal would be shut off. It will be interesting to see how things pan out ... both on the continued upgrades on the broadcast side as well as how viewers get the capability to receive the ATSC transmissions (their own STB, via cable provided boxes, etc.)

I'm having trouble receiving WFSB-DT for a couple of days now - anyone else having a problem recently?

Also, on another subject, I'm glad to see WTNH-DT has Doppler Radar back on 8-2. Good move. :D

WTIC kind of irks me how they handle HD. First, they should NEVER switch to non HD during a game. Lottery numbers can wait, we know that the news isn't on right now. It was ONLY the WORLD SERIES and SUPERBOWL. I am pretty sure people could tell that the news wasn't on.

My second gripe is the format that they display non HD content in. I would like to decide to zoom or not zoom, rather than have them soom it at the studio. Put up sidebars like everone else please. Maybe something nice like ESPN does. If it isn't to loud you can even put your call leters in there. The zoom makes the pictrue look like garbage and if you happen to watch "who wants to be a millionare" you can't even see the bottom two choices.

So my plea to WTIC, and I know you are listening, is Don't zoom the picture, and don't switch from HD to non HD especially in the middle of a game. Save it for the commercials.

Thank You.

Well, my opinion varies slightly on the zoom vs non-zoom for SD material.

The technology allows for sub-channels so why not use them? ONLY during SD broadcasts, they should push stretched material on one sub-channel and side-bar material on their HD sub-channel, then viewers can choose without having to switch settings on their STB/TV's.

Again, I don't agree with multi-casting when HD material is being broadcast as I want the full bandwidth for the HD sub-channel.

As for those cable viewers, sorry, this solution doesn't help you, but you can get the side-bar version on the HD channel, and the SD channel will be set by your TV/STB.

Originally posted by Such
Well, my opinion varies slightly on the zoom vs non-zoom for SD material.

The technology allows for sub-channels so why not use them? ONLY during SD broadcasts, they should push stretched material on one sub-channel and side-bar material on their HD sub-channel, then viewers can choose without having to switch settings on their STB/TV's.

Again, I don't agree with multi-casting when HD material is being broadcast as I want the full bandwidth for the HD sub-channel.

As for those cable viewers, sorry, this solution doesn't help you, but you can get the side-bar version on the HD channel, and the SD channel will be set by your TV/STB. My vote: never change the image - leave the pixels as they were intended. Stretching the video not only distorts the picture but degrades the quality as well. Circles become ovals and everyone looks like they've gained a lot of weight. Leave the decision/option to the viewer ... most of today's sets have lots of different user preference settings to adjust an image.

For stations that are transmitting more than one sub channel - it would be a major effort to dynamically reconfigure the mux and encoders to provide different configurations:

a) xx.1 HD encoder with lower bit rate and SD material stretched ... xx.2 SD encoder with SD program

b) xx.2 HD encoder with high bit rate and HD material ... xx.2 SD encoder with SD program (or no xx.2 sub channel at all)

WGBY-DT is kinda doing this successfully albeit its really one switch between the daytime format with the multiple SD channels and the nighttime format with the PBS HD feed. (Some boxes I've played with get a bit screwed up with this - not adjusting to the changes in the 57.1 sub channel or displaying sub channels that don't exist.)

The more bandwidth for the HD content the better ... unfortunately in many cases economics require the second or multiple channels. Maybe someday the standard will be updated to adopt more efficient encoding algorithms - which would allow better use of the 19.39 mbps (6 MHz 8VSB) bandwidth.

Any recent word on ABC coming to Cox? I can't understand what the holdup is :(

If there ever is a need to ask any questions pertaining to DTV and WFSB please feel free to email the WFSB Engineering Department at

wfsbengineering@wfsb.com

It will be quicker then a phone call!

We will be happy to help you in any way.

Thanks

:)

All right...I'll give it a shot. :)

For the record care to tell us what the actual transmission ERP is, polar plot of the antenna and height? Can I believe what I read on the FCC website?

Thanks!!

Well, it looks like the only CT people who will be able to see UConn in HD tonight on ESPN2-HD are you Adelphia cable folks. No ESPN2-HD for Comcast, DirecTV or Dish. I don't blame the providers. That's some gall for ESPN to only have a few games per week in HD on their main channel, and then launch another HD channel and expect providers to carry it. What a joke.

There was a deadline last week for TV stations to elect which channel number they will keep when analog broadcasts cease. The choice is between their analog channel number (Channel 3, 8, 61) and their digital channel number (Channel 33, 10, 31).

Most stations in the Hartford/New Haven/Springfield area want to be known in the future by their new digital channel number.

The three stations that would like to keep the analog channel number that they've had for years are:
WTXX - Channel 20 (Waterbury)
WHPX - Channel 26 (New London)
WGGB - Channel 40 (Springfield)

One channel is waiting for Round 2 of the election process to decide:
WGBY - Channel 57/58 (Springfield)

On the chart at www.necrat.com/dtv.html, the channel number that a station prefers is in bold type and is underlined.

These channel selections have the look of a higher level coordinator. All of my interfering stations move or don't move as necessary to remove the interference. Even the adjacent channels between Hartford and Waterford seemed to be cured. How was a station like WJAR talked into giving up channel 10 for a UHF channel, which allowed WTNH to stay on 10? John

>> Most stations in the Hartford/New Haven/Springfield area
>> want to be known in the future by their new digital channel number.

They'll probably still be known by the channel number you known them as today. WTNH as NewsChannel8 ... even though it will be transmitting on the frequencies of channel 10. Maybe a different way of saying it would be that most stations are electing to transmit their DTV signals in the future on the same RF channel assignment that they're currently transmitting their DTV transmissions.

The ATSC / FCC spec requires that existing NTSC stations encode the digital transmissions with their current analog channel number. So even though WWLP has elected to stay on DTV 11 it will still be known as channel 22.

Stations like WGBY, who have both their analog and digital channels out of the core channels - have to wait for the next round ... as they will probably end up choosing a channel that's made available by all the first round elections. (All stations from 52 and up have to vacate - and I believe the FCC is not assigning any DTV allocations to the low-band VHF channels either.)

For those of you in southwestern CT - you'll be happy to note that WPIX has opted to move their DTV signals back to channel 11 when this is all done ... so that will eliminate any interference between WPIX-DT and WFSB-DT (which are currently on the same channel assignment).

I'm not sure there was really any higher level coordinator here - these elections are really up to each licensee. Surely interference issues are taken into consideration ... as well as transmission facilities and investment in existing infrastructure. And one of the options we didn't see was a station who has a channel in the core electing for a second round pick! (Maybe other than CPTV which seems to still be waiting on the FCC's action on the channel 9 petition for rulemaking to add or modify a digital allotment for Norwich CT and WEDN-DT.)

For those of you who are interested, in addition to Mike's (NECRAT) info in WHNB's post you can find info on the FCC's web site at: http://www.fcc.gov/mb/video/tv.html

Has anyone had issues with WTIC HD channel having audio drops? Making things mostly unwatchable. I have had this issue since day 1 of receiving Fox-HD through Comcast and Comcast keeps insisting that is WTIC's fault and that WTIC has had issues (computer server crash = lost a few HD days).

They also said that all the cable companies distributing WTIC HD (Cox, adelphia, comcast, etc..) are going to be hassling WTIC to fix the audio issues on the HD channel since the Superbowl had the dropouts.

Well I've been attempting to watch Fox-HD for over 6-8 months now and it always has these audio issues and it's extremely frustrating. I'm looking to see if anyone else getting WTIC HD OTA or through another cable company are having similar issues. If I can get feedback here that it's not WTIC (which has been great with the video part BTW) then I can insist on a new STB or upgrade or do something on the cable provider end.

PS Fox-HD is the only channel that has this issue at all on my SA3250HD box. Fox SD is fine (well it's SD PQ.... :( )

I have had so much trouble with OTA on my new HR10-250 HD TiVo.

8-1 which was a 90+ signal on my Hughes E-86 and Samsung T-160 won't lock in. It jumps around between 0 and the 20s.

22-1 formerly in the 70s now jumps around between 0 and the 20s.

30-1 which was in the high 70s low 80s is fluctuating wildly between 0 and 40.

59-1 which was in the 40s on both boxes is now fluctuating between 0 and the teens.

WTIC-DT and WFSB-DT are the only stations I CAN get.

Can it be possible that the HD TiVo tuners are more sensitive to multipath AND at the same time not as capable of bringing in more distant stations?

Originally posted by Beaker1024
I'm looking to see if anyone else getting WTIC HD OTA or through another cable company are having similar issues. If I can get feedback here that it's not WTIC (which has been great with the video part BTW) then I can insist on a new STB or upgrade or do something on the cable provider end.

PS Fox-HD is the only channel that has this issue at all on my SA3250HD box. Fox SD is fine (well it's SD PQ.... :( )
I'm getting WTICHD from Charter in Newtown, CT but only for a few weeks (since the SB). So far, haven't had any audio dropouts; in fact the quality has been consistently good - I won't get into the FOX zoom debate here. I think it must be something at the cable headend or your settop box.

Originally posted by Beaker1024
Has anyone had issues with WTIC HD channel having audio drops? Making things mostly unwatchable. I have had this issue since day 1 of receiving Fox-HD through Comcast and Comcast keeps insisting that is WTIC's fault and that WTIC has had issues (computer server crash = lost a few HD days).

They also said that all the cable companies distributing WTIC HD (Cox, adelphia, comcast, etc..) are going to be hassling WTIC to fix the audio issues on the HD channel since the Superbowl had the dropouts.

Well I've been attempting to watch Fox-HD for over 6-8 months now and it always has these audio issues and it's extremely frustrating. I'm looking to see if anyone else getting WTIC HD OTA or through another cable company are having similar issues. If I can get feedback here that it's not WTIC (which has been great with the video part BTW) then I can insist on a new STB or upgrade or do something on the cable provider end.

PS Fox-HD is the only channel that has this issue at all on my SA3250HD box. Fox SD is fine (well it's SD PQ.... :( )

No audio drops with WTIC-DT via OTA. So its gotta be related to Comcast or the set top box or the feed being provided to Comcast. Your point of contact is Comcast. I would ask them to swap out your cable box.

Originally posted by AreBee
I have had so much trouble with OTA on my new HR10-250 HD TiVo.

8-1 which was a 90+ signal on my Hughes E-86 and Samsung T-160 won't lock in. It jumps around between 0 and the 20s.

22-1 formerly in the 70s now jumps around between 0 and the 20s.

30-1 which was in the high 70s low 80s is fluctuating wildly between 0 and 40.

59-1 which was in the 40s on both boxes is now fluctuating between 0 and the teens.

WTIC-DT and WFSB-DT are the only stations I CAN get.

Can it be possible that the HD TiVo tuners are more sensitive to multipath AND at the same time not as capable of bringing in more distant stations?

I did the switch last year but I have a large roof mounted double Yagi UHF and separately pointed VHF antenna. I have no issues getting stations in Marlborough. The signal strength is definately stronger on the non-HDTV Tivo (Toshiba DST-3000). You might need to upgrade your antenna setup or use an antennuator since you might be to close to WVIT's towers.

What kind of antenna are you using and where is it pointed? That might be the issue.

Originally posted by Beaker1024
Has anyone had issues with WTIC HD channel having audio drops? Making things mostly unwatchable. I have had this issue since day 1 of receiving Fox-HD through Comcast and Comcast keeps insisting that is WTIC's fault and that WTIC has had issues (computer server crash = lost a few HD days).

They also said that all the cable companies distributing WTIC HD (Cox, adelphia, comcast, etc..) are going to be hassling WTIC to fix the audio issues on the HD channel since the Superbowl had the dropouts.

Well I've been attempting to watch Fox-HD for over 6-8 months now and it always has these audio issues and it's extremely frustrating. I'm looking to see if anyone else getting WTIC HD OTA or through another cable company are having similar issues. If I can get feedback here that it's not WTIC (which has been great with the video part BTW) then I can insist on a new STB or upgrade or do something on the cable provider end.

PS Fox-HD is the only channel that has this issue at all on my SA3250HD box. Fox SD is fine (well it's SD PQ.... :( )

I also have WTIC HD from Charter and have experienced no audio problems. I did not notice a single audio dropout during the Super Bowl.

I've noticed numerous problems with WVIT HD. Often times, the signal switches to SD halfway the broadcast. Some programs that are supposed to be in HD are not. Also, I've seen audio problems on WVIT HD. Both problems seem to be related to the broadcast, not the cable box. When I switch to the built-in tuner on my television, I see the same problems.

Has anyone experienced similar problems with WVIT HD?

Originally posted by RPMcCormick
They'll probably still be known by the channel number you know them as today. WTNH as NewsChannel8 ... even though it will be transmitting on the frequencies of channel 10. Maybe a different way of saying it would be that most stations are electing to transmit their DTV signals in the future on the same RF channel assignment that they're currently transmitting their DTV transmissions. ... So even though WWLP has elected to stay on DTV 11 it will still be known as channel 22.

Thanks, RP, for clearing up my misinterpretation of that NECRAT chart. I was envisioning some major station ad campaigns around 2008 where an announcer intones, "Since 1957 you've known us as Channel 3, but soon we will be Channel 33..."

I recently heard a co-worker refer to Channel 3 as WTIC, call letters that the station hasn't had since 1973/74. So it's a safe bet that a station would be fighting an uphill battle with the viewing public if it were to try to change its channel number in the digital future. :)

Originally posted by WHNB
Thanks, RP, for clearing up my misinterpretation of that NECRAT chart. I was envisioning some major station ad campaigns around 2008 where an announcer intones, "Since 1957 you've known us as Channel 3, but soon we will be Channel 33..."

I recently heard a co-worker refer to Channel 3 as WTIC, call letters that the station hasn't had since 1973/74. So it's a safe bet that a station would be fighting an uphill battle with the viewing public if it were to try to change its channel number in the digital future. :) Hi ...

Back when the FCC made owners that had the AM/FM/TV combos break them up ... there were a lot of callsign changes, as typically one or more of the stations under new ownership would get a new call. WTIC is an example in the Hartford market - and I believe WHYN in Springfield (a call previously seen on channel 40). Channel 61 (Hartford, not Springfield!) originally had the call WETG - but I don't think that ever made it to air. I suppose Ella T Grasso ... ?!

Or over in Providence you've got LIN Television's WNAC-TV which is FOX on channel 64. That station originally started out as WSTG in 1980 and changed to WNAC-TV in September 1986. But in Boston today's WHDH-TV previously held the call WNAC-TV (which was changed to WNEV-TV in 1982 and then WHDH-TV in 1990).

And although most stations in the northeast have been on the same channel seemingly forever - some moved in their early days: WWLP started on 61 moving to 22. WGGB started on 55 moving to 40. WTNH was on 6 moving up to 8. I think I better stop there before we all get too dizzy ... :eek:

All the new DTV stuff follows the ATSC Digital Television Standards at the ATSC site: http://www.atsc.org

ATSC PSIP standard A/65b defines in Annex B the method for the assignment of major channel number values for terrestrial DTV broadcasts in the US. The whole thing is about two pages long ... here's a summary:

1. Broadcasters with existing NTSC licenses: use current NTSC RF channel number
2. New broadcaster without NTSC license: use ATSC (digital) RF channel number
3. "If during or at the end of the transition period, the RF channel assigned to a broadcaster for digital ATSC broadcast is changed for any reason, the major channel number used by that broadcaster shall NOT change."
4. If after transition a previously used NTSC channel is assigned to a newly licensed DTV broadcaster in that market, the newly licensed DTV broadcaster shall use as his major channel number the number of the current actual DTV RF channel being used by the previous NTSC licensee of the assigned channel. (Heads spinning yet?)
5. If a broadcaster controls two or more different RF channels in overlapping service areas, he may use a common major channel number for all services on all channels. He may choose the major channel number as determined above for any one of the RF channels. The values in the minor channel number fields must be partitioned to insure that there is no duplication of the two-part channel number in the DTV service area ...
6. & 7. deal with retransmitting other channels
8. The provisions listed above assign major channel number values 2 through 69 uniquely to broadcasters ... and guarantee that the two part channel number combinations ... will be different ... with overlapping DTV service areas.
9. deals with major channel numbers from 70 to 99 - beyond the scope of the PSIP standard
10. deals with translators retransmitting

Most if not all our stations fall into category #1 and #3: they are currently using their NTSC channel numbers as the identifiers in their digital streams ... and no matter what frequency they end up on, they'll still be known by that identifier. In the end - a station's channel number as its known by won't have anything to do with the RF channel frequency assignments. (Which is pretty much the case with cable systems ... and television in much of the rest of the world, where you tune in a station and assign it a number on your set).

FYI,

I recorded the Superbowl on WTIC-DT using my AccessDTV tuner card and played back the recording on a stereo (not 5.1) audio output.

My capture (raw TS stream) had very few audio/video dropouts even though I recorded the broadcast using an indoor UHF antenna and am located almost 40 miles N / NE away from the transmitter.

Other than the drop down to SD resolution during the brief local news crawl, the only problem that I noticed was a buzzing noise in the background during some of the local commercials. The national commercials were fine.

FCC Resolves Dual and Multicast Carriage Issues

The FCC resolved two significant issues related to digital cable carriage. The Order:

1) affirms the Commission's tentative conclusion to not impose a "dual carriage" requirement on cable operators (which would have required them to simultaneously carry broadcasters' analog and digital signals), and

2) affirms the Commission's prior determination that cable operators are not required to carry more than a single digital programming stream from any particular broadcaster.

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-256701A1.pdf

---

In summary: cable operators are not required to carry a broadcaster's ATSC channel in addition to their NTSC channel - thus local HD's being on a cable system are at the pleasure of the cable operator. And cable operators are not required to carry multiple sub-channels of a broadcaster's DTV signal.

Originally posted by hello33-3
If there ever is a need to ask any questions pertaining to DTV and WFSB please feel free to email the WFSB Engineering Department at

wfsbengineering@wfsb.com

It will be quicker then a phone call!

We will be happy to help you in any way.

Thanks

:)

Well, hello33-3, sent the following e-mail:

Hi,

I have a question about WFSB’s coverage of the upcoming NCAA tournament. I just saw a press release from CBS stating the following:

*****
NEW YORK, February 14, 2005 – Harris Corporation (NYSE: HRS) and CBS Sports announced today an agreement in which Harris will sponsor High Definition Television (HDTV) coverage of the 2005 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship for a second consecutive year, and the number of games broadcast in High Definition (HD) will increase dramatically from 12 to 39.

HD coverage will include 24 High Definition games from four of the eight first round sites March 17-20. The four sites will be split with two being Thursday/Saturday sites, while the other two will be Friday/Sunday locations. In 2004, HD games originated from only one first round site.
*****

My question is basically, will you always have an HD game on your HD channel 33, even if it is not the same game as shown on Channel 3? I know that you are assigned games based on regions, and that the game that is determined to be the best for our area is shown. But if that game happens to be a game that is not produced in HD, will you show a different game that is in HD on channel 33, WFSB-DT?

From my understanding of researching this on the internet last year, different affiliates do different things:

1) A small number of affiliates use their digital sub-channels to show all of the games.
2) A good number of affiliates always show an HD game on the HD channel, even if it’s a different game than the local game on the analog channel
3) Some other number of affiliates always show the same game on their HD channel as is shown on their analog channel, regardless of what is available in HD.
4) Some others might do some other combination


What are your plans in this regard for the NCAA tournament? I look forward to this event on CBS each year even more than the Superbowl. Now that you are broadcasting WFSB-DT at high power, many more people can get your digital signals over the air. I hope you take advantage of the capabilities of it!

Thanks for your time.

Originally posted by AreBee
I have had so much trouble with OTA on my new HR10-250 HD TiVo.

8-1 which was a 90+ signal on my Hughes E-86 and Samsung T-160 won't lock in. It jumps around between 0 and the 20s.

22-1 formerly in the 70s now jumps around between 0 and the 20s.

30-1 which was in the high 70s low 80s is fluctuating wildly between 0 and 40.

59-1 which was in the 40s on both boxes is now fluctuating between 0 and the teens.

WTIC-DT and WFSB-DT are the only stations I CAN get.

Can it be possible that the HD TiVo tuners are more sensitive to multipath AND at the same time not as capable of bringing in more distant stations?

Check your antenna as I have HD Tivo and all those stations come in perfectly. I am using rooftop antenna. Signal jumps this big are caused by low signal. Multipath will not cause signal to flactuate this much.

I am new to HD-TV having recently purchased a Sony 55WF655 and am receiving HD through Comcast's (Holyoke, MA) STB (Motorola DCT5100). On certain broadcasts on WFSB-D, I am getting squares (pixelation) during scenes with motion. I occasionally get it on other channels but it seems to happen most frequently on WFSB, e.g. Survivor last night. Just wondering if anyone could help me determine if this is one of the built in limitations of RPLCDs, WFSB's signal, Comcast's transfer of the signal, a bad STB, all of the above or other? Does anyone else have a similar experience? Thanks for sharing your knowledge on these forums, your posts are educational.

I had the same problem WFSB-D through Comcast (Longmeadow) - I haven't yet been able to determine the cause. It would seem that since we both had the same problem that it would be a WFSB or Comcast issue. I have an amp boosting the signal before it hits my Moto DCT 6412. It's not the TV, as I recorded it, and it plays back with identical pixelization.

It was bothersome watching Survivor.


Is it pixelation or pixelization

I will check into what the CBS Network will allow WFSB to broadcast on our DT channel during the NCAA Tournament.

As for signal problems. We have been at 1/2 power for most of this week becasue one side of our new transmitter is having power (current) faults. The parts from the tube vendor should be in today (Friday) and we can keep on working on it.

I know it is frustrating but we are working as fast as we can to get it back to full power

I am also trying to start a mailing list to mail out information as in pertains to WFSB-DT. Please send me an email so I can keep a contact list.

wfsbengineering@wfsb.com

Thanks

Originally posted by CKNA
Check your antenna as I have HD Tivo and all those stations come in perfectly. I am using rooftop antenna. Signal jumps this big are caused by low signal. Multipath will not cause signal to flactuate this much.

Thanks for clearing this up for me CKNA. This has been the strangest thing I've encountered with OTA.

Basic connection is 45' of coax into an Eagle 3dB two-way splitter. Two pieces of RG-6 coax from splitter to TV input and to HD-TiVo antenna in.

My old Hughes and Sammy boxes were connected to the antenna with RG-59 that came with the house. It worked so I didn't bother to replace it. I put in RG-6 a week ago in the hope that WCTX would come in and encountered worse reception, as you can see in my previous post. I switched back to RG-59 and I was able to secure a solid signal on everything but WTNH-DT and WCTX-DT.

When I was messing around trying to get WTNH-DT back, I unhooked the incoming antenna cable from the splitter and noticed that the signal strength for WTNH did NOT change (0-19). So basically a 4' piece of coax coming out of the HD TiVo was doing just as well as if hooked up to an antenna with a 7' boom!

I hooked the antenna up again but had to spend an hour positioning the wires in such a way that I can now get WTNH-DT at around 58-62 which works. WTCX is still a no go.

So do I risk bying an amp or pre-amp? Or should I just leave well enough alone?

After reading from 33-3 on here I sent the following email:

-----Original Message-----
From: Rich McGirr
Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 9:26 AM
To: wfsbengineering
Subject: Antenna Issue
Good Morning,
I read this morning in the AVS Forum concerning 1/2 power being run to repair the antenna. Was the antenna always damaged? Could that be the reason I don't get a blip from WFSB OTA?
It's extrememly frustrating but I appreciate your time. FWIW, I live in East Lyme (rmcgirr83 on AVSforum.com). I have no problem getting WVIT, WTIC and WTXX.

Rich McGirr

PS Please add me to any email list you may setup. Thanks.

Rich
The antenna was not damaged. The actual transmitter has a problem with one of it’s tubes. I do not know why you cannot receive us in East Lyme. The best I can do is try to setup an experiment with one of our engineers to see what the problem is in your location. Are you in a valley? Do you have obstructions that would “block” our signal.
One good test is the following. Can you see Analog Ch3? Can you see Analog Ch24 (CPTV)? They both broadcast from the same tower (within 100ft) as WFSB-DT.
Do you have any amplifiers or other traps in that would limit the UHF band? Sometimes too much signal will cause a fault.
I will let you know when we get close.
Thanks
WFSB Engineering


So apparently it's not unreasonable to ask.

With help from them, I am going to do some things this weekend to see if it helps. I'll keep everyone updated as to the progress.

This is the most upbeat I have been about WFSB ever. Might even change my whole perspective. ;)

Originally posted by mikemorel
Is it pixelation or pixelization

According to dictionary.com, it is pixelation, but both are used on this forum. Thanks for the help, Mike.

hello33-3, do you know if WFSB will be broadcasting The Masters in HD? I haven't been able to see any golf in HD and I'm dying to see Augusta National in HD.

Rick,
The question of how well ch 24 comes in is interesting. I get quite a bit of snow on it but after ch 34 is off air I can receive ch 33. John

Originally posted by madpoet
Any recent word on ABC coming to Cox? I can't understand what the holdup is :(

I dont' get it. Any call or email to Cox on current status or projection of date is a waste of time .

Originally posted by caeguy
I dont' get it. Any call or email to Cox on current status or projection of date is a waste of time .

See


Thank you for your inquiry regarding additional HDTV channels. Cox is
committed to providing the best customer service possible.

Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience. Cox has completed
digital broadcast negotiations in both RI and CT with every broadcaster
group except one ? LIN Broadcasting. LIN controls WTNH (ABC-New Haven)
as well as both WPRI (CBS-Providence) and WNAC (Fox-Providence).

Cox is actively negotiating with LIN to gain carriage of the digital
broadcast and high definition signals for these channels.

As a valued customer we do ask that you periodically visit our website,
where any update will be listed.

We hope that we have been able to provide you with the information you
requested. If you need additional information regarding other Cox
products or services, please visit our web site at www.cox.com
<http://www.cox.com>.

Thank you.

I would drop E* in a second if I could get Cox.

Eastern CT cable is far behind the times.:mad:

Update: I tried some things this weekend (direct feed from the antennae with and without the preamp)....still, nada, from WFSB OTA. :confused:

Same response Cox has given for a year about getting ABC. Thankfully the signal is strong as heck here and I can get it OTA, but it's a pain. Get UPN, WB, and ABC on the antenna and Fox, PBS, NBC, and CBS on Cox QAM.

If the signal is strong for WTNH, do you think I can pull it in with one of those indoor antennas from Southington?

Originally posted by caeguy
If the signal is strong for WTNH, do you think I can pull it in with one of those indoor antennas from Southington?

WTNH-DT should be easy for you to get in Southington
with any kind of antenna. Their signal is very good.

Just for the fun of it, I connected up and old Radio Shack FM antenna to the back of my Antenna B. Unbelievable, I'm getting WTNH-DT on 10.1. This is awesome. I'm going through a complete scan to see if I pick up any other channels.

Thanks.

Yup, got most of the available HD stations off the air with this crummy antenna. This is great!

Originally posted by rmcgirr83
Update: I tried some things this weekend (direct feed from the antennae with and without the preamp)....still, nada, from WFSB OTA. :confused:

Hey Rich - trying checking WFSB after midnight once PAX is off the air. Can't believe that would work for me and John, but not you. Obviously that's not going to solve the problem, but at least will let you know what you're up against.

Ross

Good Antenna Installer

Every so often someone asks about good OTA antenna installers. Last weekend, I spent time with a friend who had someone installing a roof antenna. That person was knowledgeable concerning cabling, reception, overloading signal, antenna choices, combinining and splitting, rotors, etc, etc. A second generation installer, he was fast and thorough. I thought that adding this info now would help future searchers so his name is John Prause, West Cornwall, 860-672-6348. He was recommended by Signal Electronics and will travel, this time to Hamden.

(No, I dont get a commission, just the satisfaction of perhaps saving some broken bones or helping someone see the NCAA's where UCONN will appear in the final 8 )

Thanks for the tip. I'm getting my house re-roofed in the spring and will need someone to put my stuff back up.

Originally posted by RPMcCormick
Hi ...

5. If a broadcaster controls two or more different RF channels in overlapping service areas, he may use a common major channel number for all services on all channels. He may choose the major channel number as determined above for any one of the RF channels. The values in the minor channel number fields must be partitioned to insure that there is no duplication of the two-part channel number in the DTV service area ...


Thanks for digging up that tidbit. It means that WCDC, Adams, MA which is currently PSIP'ed as 19-1 and 19-2 could be using 10-3 and 10-4, extensions of WTEN's primary channels.

Here's a quick question regarding OTA. I had a DirecTV installer come and install a OTA antenna that did not work very well. I ended up getting the Zenith Silver Sensor which works much better, but I constantly have to move it to get flawless reception.

Can I simply take down the OTA and install another antenna? Is there any other equipment that I might need? Any recommendations on what type of antenna to use?

Yes you can install any antenna. Here are some basic rules of thumbs and tidbits.

1. Outdoor is best
2. The higher the better. Larger usually helps too depending on how far away you are from towers.
3. Go to antennaweb.org to see where you are in relation to towers.
4. Use a rotator if you need. You may not if you just want the hartford locals. Most are in the same spot (depending where you are). The exception is WTNH. They are toward New Haven and VHF. The rest are UHF with exception of WTXX-DT which is the WB. A locked location might drop one or the other.
5. I like a separate UHF and VHF antenna because I point to New Haven for WTNH and UHF for the Hartford stations. I then combine the signal. Radio Shack has the UHF/VHF combiner or use a Channel Master Pre-Amp which not only allows signal to run over long lengths, but has a UHF/VHF combiner.
6. Stay away from Terk stuff or the other fancy type antennas. Believe it or not, the best ones are the traditional looking antennas your grandfather used. Channel Master and Winegard make the best equipment.
7. Make sure you ground it.
8. Some good sites. solidsignal.com, starkelectronic.com. Stark is just in MA and ship really really fast.
9. You can combine the signal into your satellite multiplex if yours allows. If it does not, you can upgrade that too. This way, one cable runs into your house per TV so you can get locals and sat with one wire.

Others should chime in with local options too.

Good luck.

tokerblue - brewer4 gives good advice. If you want to follow brewer4's recommendation of using separate UHF and VHF antennas, you could use a ChannelMaster 4228 for UHF and a channel 10 yagi for WTNH (or even channel 12 yagi, and it's smaller). The ChannelMaster preamp he refers to is probably a CM 7777, but be careful - depending how close you are to the transmitters, a pre-amp can actually make things worse.

brewer4 - I (and perhaps tokerblue) would be interested to know how you combined your D* and antenna signals. I've heard of others having little success with this, and when I tried it using using a ChannelMaster multiplexer my ability to receive UHF stations was almost non-existent - ended up running a separate cable for the antennas, which worked fine. This was over a year ago, but I believe it had something to do with interference between either the frequency of the signal from the receiver to the D* dish or the frequency of the D* signals and the frequencies of the UHF signals.

>> Most are in the same spot (depending where you are).
>> The exception is WTNH. They are toward New Haven and VHF.
>> The rest are UHF with exception of WTXX-DT which is the WB.

Remember that WCTX (59 analog / 39 digital - UHF station) is on the same tower as WTNH (8 analog / 10 digital - high band VHF). WCTX has shows (such as Enterprise) in HD.

If WCTX is on the same tower as WTNH, why is it so difficult for me to pick WCTX up? I get about a 78% signal strength on WTNH. 3% on WCTX. They must be running a less power?

Originally posted by caeguy
If WCTX is on the same tower as WTNH, why is it so difficult for me to pick WCTX up? I get about a 78% signal strength on WTNH. 3% on WCTX. They must be running a less power? Depends on a number of factors - and not necessarily power. Here's the links to the FCC info:

WTNH (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=74109) 20.5 kW ERP
WTNH Service Contour Map (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DT989921.html)

WCTX (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=33081) 140 kW ERP
WCTX Service Contour Map (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DS618342.html)

Remember that you can't compare power for a VHF station against that of a UHF station. Takes a lot more energy for higher frequencies to cover the same distance.

Not sure where you are - but take a look at the maps in the links above. Do you have a UHF antenna and oriented toward the WTNH/WCTX tower? Have you also tried a rescan or channel delete/add? (Stations were making adjustments in their digital transmissions at the end of January / beginning of February as mandated by the FCC.)

If you're in northern CT you may have difficulties ... here in Mass I can't receive it even with an antenna due to adjacent channel interference.

Not sure if anyone noticed, but last night WFSB put up their DD5.1 gear. CSI was broadcast in DD5.1 last night!! A long time coming, but glad its finally here!!

Now if only I could get their signal with any regularity... ;)

To answer a few questions.

1. I get WCTX on my double YAGI UHF configuration despite having them pointed towards Hartford. Enterprise is gone in a few months unfortunately. They canceled the program. The signal strength is also through the roof since January.

2. I use a Terk (not antenna) 5x8 Multiswitch (BMS-58/5 IN - 8 Out). Its powered so you do have to run a coax to a power source. My UHF and VHF antennas are at opposite ends of the house. The both have Channel Master 7777 pre-amps. I then combine the signal right before they go into Multiswitch (simple UHF/VHF combiner). A simple Diplexer (any brand) in the house, and voila, OTA and Sat on same wire. Works great and everywhere in the house.

One caveat though. The multiswitch combined signal does have an issue if the source signal is really really low. I have a direct OTA shot to one room and it gets a few more very distant signals than the combined signal through the multiswitch. For Hartford CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, WB, UPN its not problem using the multiswitch one.

Hope this helps.

caseguy and RPMcCormick,
I seem to live near the outer edge of most stations service areas. Whether I am just inside or just outside seems to make little difference in how well I receive the station. These FCC contour maps do not seem to take into account intervening terrain and show no information about interfering stations. WTNH is an example of where interference would make it unreceivable in Rhode Island and some of Eastern CT. John

thanks brewer4

Please don't yell. 130 pages of messages, I cannot read thru them all.
I just got a 6412 and cannot get it hooked to record on my Mac. I have followed all of the direction here in the AVS forum...the Mac forum. Have read everything I can find, but doesn't record. My question....has anyone in the Hartford area gotten the 6412 to record...is the Firewire active and no 5 C.
???????
Help
Thanks
Phil

Originally posted by pwat
Please don't yell. 130 pages of messages, I cannot read thru them all.
I just got a 6412 and cannot get it hooked to record on my Mac. I have followed all of the direction here in the AVS forum...the Mac forum. Have read everything I can find, but doesn't record. My question....has anyone in the Hartford area gotten the 6412 to record...is the Firewire active and no 5 C.
???????
Help
Thanks
Phil

WTF is a 6412?

Originally posted by Such
Not sure if anyone noticed, but last night WFSB put up their DD5.1 gear. CSI was broadcast in DD5.1 last night!! A long time coming, but glad its finally here!!

I did notice when I watched CSI on my DirecTV HD Tivo. Recorded beautifully...will have to check
if Numb3rs was sent out in 5.1 as well.

6412 is the dual tuner HD DVR box that Cox is giving out around here. Yes, firewire is active. Yes, 5c is also active. All the locals are flagged copy always, everything else is flagged copy once and requires a 5c-compliant device (read DVHS deck) to record. I've captured the locals to a Windows machine, and the other channels to my DVHS tapes. As a note, recording to the hard drive of the 6412 does not count against your copy flag. You can dump from the hard drive to a DVHS tape.

Originally posted by madpoet
6412 is the dual tuner HD DVR box that Cox is giving out around here. Yes, firewire is active. Yes, 5c is also active. All the locals are flagged copy always, everything else is flagged copy once and requires a 5c-compliant device (read DVHS deck) to record. I've captured the locals to a Windows machine, and the other channels to my DVHS tapes. As a note, recording to the hard drive of the 6412 does not count against your copy flag. You can dump from the hard drive to a DVHS tape.
So my inability to record is a problem on my end, not the 6412(Comcast in Farmington)???
That is what I figured. There must something wrong on my end, but after spending more than 10 hours on the project, I cannot figure it out. Neither can anyone in the Mac AVS forum. They are getting it to work. Just wanted to make sure the Hartford area was working. I am sure if your Cox 6412 works, my Comcast 6412 should as well.
Thanks

Thanks RPMcCormick,

I guess I need to buy a real antenna. I'm just using an indoor FM antenna and I get ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX here in Southington. I would like to pick up UPN and WB. Since I've had great luck with such a small FM antenna, I'm thinking about getting a real indoor TV antenna for UHF and VHF. I don't think I need a HDTV one like a Terk or do I?

General consensus is stay away from Terk, overpriced and some not very good. YOu may find you do little better with an indoor tv antenna than you are doing now. But it is worth a try. There are numerous indoor tv antennas on the market. There is no such thing as an "hd" antenna. While much packaging will state "hdtv antenna" that is marketing hype or defensive marketing, depending upon how charitable you feel. The two most popular seem to be the Radio Shack 1880 and the Silver Sensor (available, amongst other places, Sears). As you want uhf and vhf, try a Radioshack 1880 for starters. You can always bring it back if it does not work. The Silver Sensor is not a good antenna for vhf, in my experience.

Well, I finally installed an real OTA antenna. I put a CM 4228 with a CM 7777 amp in the attic of a two story wood frame High Ranch and I can get WVIT at 3 or 4 of signal strength but get a great picture. In fact it is better than WTNH. I use a small VHF antenna to get WTNH because I'm looking tho get CH 6 when it comes up. I assume that it is not up because I can't get it to show.

Problem is I can't get anything on WFSB.. I look at the FCC antenna listings and it appears to me that WFSB is not running anywhere near the strength of WVIT. Am I correct in this?

I hoped that I could get these stations until OTA until my cable company, TeleMedia, installs my CC. They are dragging their feet.. They say they can't get any to work or at least that was at the first of the year. .

Originally posted by arich
General consensus is stay away from Terk, overpriced and some not very good. YOu may find you do little better with an indoor tv antenna than you are doing now. But it is worth a try. There are numerous indoor tv antennas on the market. There is no such thing as an "hd" antenna. While much packaging will state "hdtv antenna" that is marketing hype or defensive marketing, depending upon how charitable you feel. The two most popular seem to be the Radio Shack 1880 and the Silver Sensor (available, amongst other places, Sears). As you want uhf and vhf, try a Radioshack 1880 for starters. You can always bring it back if it does not work. The Silver Sensor is not a good antenna for vhf, in my experience.

Thanks arich,

I took you advice and went out and purchased the RadioShack model. No go. In fact, I get worse reception with it. When I put on the amplifier, I get nothing. I get my best reception with my FM antenna with no amplification. Amplification on both antennas reduces signal strength considerable to almost zero. Not sure why that is. Anyways, I will be returning it and will probably stick with the FM antenna. I sure would like to get WTXX.

I cannot remember if WTXX is a vhf or a uhf station. If uhf give the Silver Sensor a try. Or, if you want a beefier indoor antenna, you could try the Antennas Direct DB2, which is a small two bay ordinarily erected outside but it is plenty small enough to go on top of an entertainment center. Not pretty, but probably pull better than a Silver Sensor. If WTXX is vhf you probably are already doing as good as you are gonna, as that fm antenna acts like a vhf. In fact, somewhere on here there is a post on how to turn an fm "T" wire antenna into a vhf antenna, tack it to a board and hook up a coax connector kit. Is that what you did?

Originally posted by arich
I cannot remember if WTXX is a vhf or a uhf station.WTXX-DT is on channel 12 - high band VHF.

A follow-up to my prior post about the NCAA tournament on WFSB. After following up with a second email to them, I got a short response saying that they have not made their plans yet since CBS does not know what they are doing yet. That was on Feb 22nd.

Apparantly there are at least 13 affiliates that are planning to show an HD game on their main digital channel, and multicast up to three other simultaneous games on subchannels.

*******

http://www.multichannel.com/article...s&referral=SUPP
Multichannel News: The Cable Industry Book-of-Record

March Gladness for CBS Affils, Ops
By Steve Donohue 2/28/2005 12:02:00 AM

Credit college basketball with an assist for helping to soothe relations between local broadcasters and cable systems.

About 15 CBS affiliates plan to broadcast up to four games simultaneously during next month�s NCAA Men's Basketball Championship, and most of them have agreements with local cable operators to distribute tournament games to digital-cable customers.

Digital-must-carry rights remain a contentious issue between broadcasters and cable operators after the Federal Communications Commission ruled earlier this month that cable systems are only required to carry local TV stations' primary signals.

But with "March Madness" approaching, some CBS affiliates in small and midsized markets where college basketball is popular are teaming up with local cable operators to distribute and market the games.

While some stations are demanding that MSOs pay cash to carry their signals, general managers at several CBS affiliates said they aren't asking local cable systems to shell out any money for the hoops contests.

By splitting their digital spectrum into one HDTV service and up to three additional digital-multicast channels, the CBS affiliates will be able to broadcast up to four games live during the NCAA Tournament, which tips off March 15.

Because few consumers own digital-broadcast receivers and the antennas needed to watch the games, offering the contests to local digital-cable customers gives the CBS affiliates an outlet for their programming.

Not all CBS affiliates are willing to supply the games to local operators free-of-charge. KOIN-TV in Portland, Ore., plans to multicast the March Madness games, but GM David Lipoff said the station won't give them to the local Comcast Corp. system unless the operator agrees to pay for the matchups.

In addition to Portland, CBS affiliates also plan to multicast the basketball games in Columbus, Ohio; Detroit; Greensboro and Raleigh, N.C.; Huntsville, Ala.; Las Vegas; Lexington and Louisville, Ky.; Milwaukee; Roanoke and Norfolk; Va.; and Providence, R.I..
...
*********
How much does that affect the PQ of the main HD game? If they simulcast just one additional game on one subchannel is that better? I think it's a small chance that WFSB would multicast all the games, but having a choice between at least 2 games would be nice, and seems like it should be easily doable. How about this: 1) the main game on the analog channel, 2) the best available HD game on 33-1. and 3) one additional game multicast on one subchannel. I think that would be ideal for me.

Does WFSB simulcast at all right now?

Originally posted by jake14mw
A quick follow-up to my prior post about the NCAA tournament on WFSB. After following up with a second email to them, I got a short response saying that they have not made their plans yet since CBS does not know what they are doing yet. That was on Feb 22nd.

Apparantly there are at least 13 affiliates that are planning to show an HD game on their main digital channel, and multicast up to three other simultaneous games on subchannels.

How much does that affect the PQ of the main HD game? If they simulcast just one additional game on one subchannel is that better? I think it's a small chance that WFSB would multicast all the games, but having a choice between at least 2 games would be nice, and seems like it should be easily doable. How about this: 1) the main game on the analog channel, 2) the best available HD game on 33-1. and 3) one additional game multicast on one subchannel. I think that would be ideal for me.

Does WFSB simulcast at all right now?

Sure, they broadcast the Springfield affiliate on 3-2.

I think "in general" Connecticut is a tough place with all the trees and hills to affectively use indoor antennas. You can get some channels, but not all. And once you receive one, you want them all. So to all that read this, stick to the basic rules I mentioned earlier. Get a rotating outdoor antenna and install it as high and big as your wife will allow! ;-)

I have a Silver Sensor and use it to pull in Digital Channels 3, 30, and 61 from 30+ miles away in Western MA.

For UHF frequencies, it works wonders provided that

1) It is mounted high up in your house.
2) It is adjusted precisely. It is very sensitive to changes in direction. Turning the antenna even 10 Degrees can make a hugh difference.
3) If you need an extension cable, use high quality RG-6 instead of RG-59. FYI, my Silver Sensor gets BETTER reception with a 6 foot RG-6 extension cable than without one. I have no idea why.

If you don't like it, bring it back to the store. Most stores will accept a return of an undamaged indoor antenna.

For high band VHF like WTNH-DT and the WB channel ??? an amplified (Terk - ick)indoor antenna mounted very high did the trick for me although I still get dropouts from WTNH. Can't wait until WGGB goes high power and high def.

I have comcast cable in Windsor hooked up to the LG 3100A QAM tuner and get a bunch of channels. One of these is a PBS channel that has HD content. I have not looked at it a lot, but it seems to show the same documentaries a bunch of times. It does NOT appear to be the standard CPTV 24 station. What is it, and how do I find out what is on it? I hope to get some of those great "Soundstage" programs I always read about.

Is it true that WTIC broadcasts the NEWS at 10 in true HD? Can anyone comment on the quality?

Originally posted by LawnMowerGuy1
Is it true that WTIC broadcasts the NEWS at 10 in true HD? Can anyone comment on the quality?

No, it's not HD. I think there are only two or three stations in the country that do local news in HD.

Has anyone who is not living in Hartford or in a shack on top of Avon mountain actually been able to get channel WFSB? It's like there is some HD reception black hole around my house when it comes to that channel, and from what I've been reading, I'm not the only one with this kind of problem. What's with this whole 'check for WFSB after midnight' thing? My tv won't even aknowledge that it is there when it does a scan for digital channels. I can barely get WVIT, but ive never even seen a hint of WFSB digital, even though I can get pretty descent analog reception of channel 3. I live in the Waterbury area, and I am able to get WTNH with no problems at all. I have tried a Terk TV5 indoor antenna and a radio shack 120 inch UHF/VHF antenna mounted outside with no luck whatsoever. I know wfsb just recently upped their transmitting power, but it doesnt seem to be enough. Is there any chance they would increase their power at any time in the future, or does anyone see a solution to this problem? What makes this worse is that the only local channel my cable provider (Cablevision in Litchfield County) is offering in HD is WVIT. Does anyone know when or if this situation will change? I'm not really sure why the other Cablevision markets in Connecticut get either more local channels or all of them. I'm concerned with getting CBS because in my opinion they have by far the best HD programming schedule of all the networks. If anyone has any information I'd appreciate it.

Thanks
Mike

I live in Watertown. I'm using an antenna I made out of copper pipe at the highest place in my house. I get WTNH, WVIT, and WFSB at almost 100%. WTIC comes in at about 75%.

I pickup WTXX and WCTX at about 50%. I have a feeling I'm going to have a problem with those in the spring/summer.

WTXX is unwatchable because the audio is popping. The picture is fine and the signal is acceptable but something is wrong with the audio. Does anyone else have this problem or know how to fix it?

It's a shame Cablevision of Litchfield doesn't carry the locals. I've been bugging them, they say they are negotiating. I think because the market is so small, that they don't care.

I live in Watertown also. I live in an area where there is a hill to my northeast and I am within a very large group of trees. How exactly is the pipe antenna constructed? I bet cablevision not caring about our market because it is so small is precisely the reason they havent negotiated more channels.

Well you see, I'm on top of the hill near Litchfield. My antenna is nothing special; its in the shape of a T with a coax running down the middle. Length-wise its about 5-6 feet. Probably could do better with bunnyears placed correctly, but I'll use this until I start to have problems.

you're lucky to live in that particular location

Good news. According to what they said in last night's broadcast, in addition to the home games, NESN plans to do about 40 road games in HD this season.

Originally posted by MikeK614
Has anyone who is not living in Hartford or in a shack on top of Avon mountain actually been able to get channel WFSB?32 miles NNE of WFSB's transmitter (northeast of Springfield) I can receive it solid without any drop-outs, etc. on two different boxes with nothing but a loop antenna indoors.

WFSBDT signal level bounces between 40 and 60 on my HR10-250 with plenty of dropouts. Not worth watching. Location Woodstock, CT.

Originally posted by MikeK614
Has anyone who is not living in Hartford or in a shack on top of Avon mountain actually been able to get channel WFSB? It's like there is some HD reception black hole around my house when it comes to that channel, and from what I've been reading, I'm not the only one with this kind of problem. What's with this whole 'check for WFSB after midnight' thing? My tv won't even aknowledge that it is there when it does a scan for digital channels. I can barely get WVIT, but ive never even seen a hint of WFSB digital, even though I can get pretty descent analog reception of channel 3. I live in the Waterbury area, and I am able to get WTNH with no problems at all. I have tried a Terk TV5 indoor antenna and a radio shack 120 inch UHF/VHF antenna mounted outside with no luck whatsoever. I know wfsb just recently upped their transmitting power, but it doesnt seem to be enough. Is there any chance they would increase their power at any time in the future, or does anyone see a solution to this problem? What makes this worse is that the only local channel my cable provider (Cablevision in Litchfield County) is offering in HD is WVIT. Does anyone know when or if this situation will change? I'm not really sure why the other Cablevision markets in Connecticut get either more local channels or all of them. I'm concerned with getting CBS because in my opinion they have by far the best HD programming schedule of all the networks. If anyone has any information I'd appreciate it.

Thanks
Mike

I don't know of anyone in SE CT who is receiving WFSB-DT (I'm in East Lyme). The "check WFSB after midnight thing" refers to those us in SE CT who live near PAX's antenna - it broadcasts on channel 34, and prevents reception of WFSB-DT (ch 33) because of adjacent channel interference. When PAX goes off the air at midnight, I can pick up a borderline signal from WFSB-DT (which for a digital signal is unwatchable). Keep in mind a snowy analog signal does not translate to a viewable digital signal, which is pretty much "all or none". I don't know whether PAX is a problem for you in Waterbury. WFSB Engineering made an offer a little while ago on this thread to respond to questions about their transmitter and issues with receiving their signal. They apparently responded to one e-mail, but as far as I can tell, they're still blowing smoke up our collective unmentionables, because they have not responded to an e-mail I sent them weeks ago, providing additional info about our reception equipment/locations in East Lyme and trying to find out whether they are really at full power. - Ross

Ross..just a tid bit. I think WFSB is running full power now...as if you go to the FCC site, since they are now a licensed DT station.



http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?state=CT&call=&arn=&city=&chan=&cha2=69&serv=DT&type=3&facid=&list=2&dist=&dlat2=&mlat2=&slat2=&dlon2=&mlon2=&slon2=&size=9

Originally posted by PATS-SOX fan
Ross..just a tid bit. I think WFSB is running full power now...as if you go to the FCC site, since they are now a licensed DT station.


Yes, WFSB did upgrade their antenna and transmitter. Yes, it is licensed at full power. Several weeks ago they reported a tube problem which had them running at half power, but it was into the main antenna. Prior to that there was an antenna problem with the new antenna.

Half power is not a huge deal unless you're trying to get WFSB from an extremely difficult location. The old temporary set-up was 3 % power with a low antenna.

Tower Guy...do you know if they have resolved these setbacks and running back at full yet?

Originally posted by Tower Guy
Yes, WFSB did upgrade their antenna and transmitter. Yes, it is licensed at full power. Several weeks ago they reported a tube problem which had them running at half power, but it was into the main antenna. Prior to that there was an antenna problem with the new antenna.

Half power is not a huge deal unless you're trying to get WFSB from an extremely difficult location. The old temporary set-up was 3 % power with a low antenna.

Thanks for the info Tower Guy and PATS-SOX. I know they're "licensed" at full power, but I have yet to have heard from WFSB that they are actually transmitting at full power. I saw the post earlier about the tube problem, but that's par for the course with WFSB - every day it's either another excuse or another problem.....

Originally posted by LawnMowerGuy1
WTXX is unwatchable because the audio is popping. The picture is fine and the signal is acceptable but something is wrong with the audio. Does anyone else have this problem or know how to fix it?

I also receive WTXX-DT over-the-air.

Channel-surfing yesterday (Thursday) evening, I did stop on digital Channel 20 long enough to hear that rather faint, continuous crackling static noise that was happening during a syndicated show. There was no problem with the picture and the soundtrack was not dropping out. I just checked the station at 8:10 tonight (Friday), and there is no crackling or static, but the station is currently "in network", running a WB feed.

I haven't noticed this before on WTXX-DT, so it might be an isolated incident occurring during a non-network show. Usually the audio drops out intermittently and/or the picture breaks up into pixels.

Back in May of last year I noticed a similar constant static noise on digital Channel 3 during a Saturday morning broadcast of Eyewitness News. A WFSB engineer posted in response that they were having some problems with fiber optics equipment. Perhaps Channel 20 had the same issue.

I don't know if viewers who get FSB-DT via cable are hearing the audio problem that is on that channel tonight (Friday) over-the-air. The audio is on for two seconds, then off for two seconds or longer. The picture is great with a strong signal of 88% and no pixelation. This was occurring not only during non-network time just before 8PM, but also during the CBS network show being broadcast in high definition after 8.

Update, 10:45PM, Friday: Channel 3's audio problem appears to be resolved, but Channel 20, now out of its network feed and running a syndicated sitcom, again has the crackling static noise that was also apparent yesterday evening.

Originally posted by PATS-SOX fan
Tower Guy...do you know if they have resolved these setbacks and running back at full yet?

I don't know for sure, but it's likely that they are at full power. A tube replacement can take anywhere from a day to a week depending on if a spare tube is available. The tubes are too expensive (~$40,000) to keep on hand, and they can go bad if not used regularly. In any event, half power on the new main antenna is still a very strong transmitter.

I'm not able to receive WFSB-DT today here in Western CT. Lately, the reception has been excellent and I've not touched anything in my setup? Anyone a fair distance away having the same experience?

No picture on WFSBDT last night here in Woodstock, CT.
No Picture this morning. Signal meter on HR10-250 for this
channel is very, very low.

Originally posted by hello33-3
I will check into what the CBS Network will allow WFSB to broadcast on our DT channel during the NCAA Tournament.

As for signal problems. We have been at 1/2 power for most of this week becasue one side of our new transmitter is having power (current) faults. The parts from the tube vendor should be in today (Friday) and we can keep on working on it.

I know it is frustrating but we are working as fast as we can to get it back to full power

I am also trying to start a mailing list to mail out information as in pertains to WFSB-DT. Please send me an email so I can keep a contact list.

wfsbengineering@wfsb.com

Thanks

On Feb. 18 WFSB reported 1/2 power. I do believe it has changed. Although I have not received their digital signal, I always have received their analog signal in S. NH. but have not since mid Feb.

I'm less than 20 miles away and I have not once even heard a peep out of WFSB DT since I have had my tv in the last 3 weeks. I have no issues getting WVIT which is only 3 miles farther away and a 10 degree difference from WFSB. regardless of what their FCC license rates them at, and regardless of the fact that they said their replacement tube should have been in a month ago etc, I highly doubt wfsb dt is running at 1GW when wvit is easily received by so many people including me, and it is also a uhf signal that is only running at 250kW. There are some really big problems with channel 3's digital broadcast right now, whatever they are. I hope that a couple years from now people 15 miles away from the transmitter who don’t have a direct line of sight to the tower from their living room will actually be able to get a reliable signal, and then we'll all look back and laugh at how ridiculous this situation was, but that is not happening right now.

Originally posted by MikeK614
I'm less than 20 miles away and I have not once even heard a peep out of WFSB DT since I have had my tv in the last 3 weeks. I have no issues getting WVIT which is only 3 miles farther away and a 10 degree difference from WFSB. regardless of what their FCC license rates them at, and regardless of the fact that they said their replacement tube should have been in a month ago etc, I highly doubt wfsb dt is running at 1GW when wvit is easily received by so many people including me, and it is also a uhf signal that is only running at 250kW. There are some really big problems with channel 3's digital broadcast right now, whatever they are. I hope that a couple years from now people 15 miles away from the transmitter who don’t have a direct line of sight to the tower from their living room will actually be able to get a reliable signal, and then we'll all look back and laugh at how ridiculous this situation was, but that is not happening right now.

What kind of antenna do you have?.

terk tv5 getting wtnh, wctx, wvit 30 and 35, and I tried a 120" radio shack uhf/vhf antenna mounted outdoors

Hello All,

I’ve enjoyed browsing this forum for a couple of years now and I think I am ready to take the plunge. I was wondering if anyone from this end of the state could offer up any advice or discouragement on installing an antenna. I’ve seen a couple of members, Mystic and East Lyme, post some info, but I don’t know if my location or equipment might make a difference. Any assistance my neighbors could offer would be much appreciated.

Originally posted by beau87
Hello All,

I’ve enjoyed browsing this forum for a couple of years now and I think I am ready to take the plunge. I was wondering if anyone from this end of the state could offer up any advice or discouragement on installing an antenna. I’ve seen a couple of members, Mystic and East Lyme, post some info, but I don’t know if my location or equipment might make a difference. Any assistance my neighbors could offer would be much appreciated.

Might as well start with the best antenna you can get, run rg-6 quad shield and see what you can see. That would be good for starters, although it takes me, as well as my neighbor Ross (good morning) a pre-amp (CM Titan 7777) to pick up WVIT, etc.

You need to remember that WTNH (ABC channel 8) is VHF while the others are UHF.

You can use this (http://www.juggling.org/bin/do/map-find?lat=%2B41.347316&lon=-072.152604&zoom=5&wid=.650&ht=.379&action=out&map.x=105&map.y=32) position for a start at East Lyme to find your directional to WTNH et al. Once you have your longitude and latitude input the numbers into this (http://www.2150.com/broadcast/default.asp) to find all the stations available to you.

Hope it helps.

FWIW, my wife refers to our setup as the "Sanford and Son" rig so you can imagine what it looks like. :D

I don't know if it is convienient for you guys or not, but you may want to try removing any amps you have in line to see if you can pick up WFSB. When they were at low power, I had about 20db of gain installed and it worked fine, but when they went to full power, my reciever wouldn't even recognize WFSB at all. removing my amps also cleared up a lot of my multipath issues. Now with a medium sized channel master antenna, I can't remember which model, and no amps, I get WFSB, WTNH, WTXX, WWLP, WVIT, Whatever that spanish station is, and WTIC, with no rotator and every channel comes in strong enough so that I hardly ever see a dropout or audio hiccup.

I live in Manchester. If anyone wants to trade, house for house I would gladly take a nice single family house in a quiet neighborhood in exchange for a large two family with a large walk up attic (read easy to play with the antenna) and awesome OTA reception.

scmitter,

I tried that but I did it when PAX (about 1.5 miles from me) was still on the air. I lost all the channels. :(

Hi,

I'm in Milford, CT and just got Directv HD installed with an outdoor antenna. I wasn't expecting much with their free antenna but I was able to get almost every network with the exception of NBC. I even got FOX and CBS in NY but I'm unable to pull in NBC from New Britian. Any suggestions on how to get that one last network? I'm not sure what type of antenna it is, but it's flat and sort of looks like a propeller. I read good reviews about the Zenith ZHDTV1Z indoor antenna and thought that may help get that last channel.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks!

rmcgirr83,


I intend to get one of the best deep fringe antennas available, VHF and UHF; I also intend to install a CM-7777 pre amp with rotor. I currently live on a “high” spot in my town and was wondering what channels I could possibly expect to be able to receive? I would think I would be able to get WVIT, WTNH and WEDN, I am very unsure of what to expect after that. What are the channels with signal strength that people in SE Connecticut are receiving right now?

wassct's post just merged in (2 posts back)

Originally posted by beau87
rmcgirr83,


I intend to get one of the best deep fringe antennas available, VHF and UHF; I also intend to install a CM-7777 pre amp with rotor. I currently live on a “high” spot in my town and was wondering what channels I could possibly expect to be able to receive? I would think I would be able to get WVIT, WTNH and WEDN, I am very unsure of what to expect after that. What are the channels with signal strength that people in SE Connecticut are receiving right now?

I would think that you could get WTNH, WVIT, WTXX, WCTX, WEDN, WHPX and WTIC (at least I do). The problem with receiving WFSB seems to be WHPX over riding the signal. All my signals register from a low of ~70 to a high of 95 on a 6000u from E*.

Originally posted by wassct
Hi,

I'm in Milford, CT and just got Directv HD installed with an outdoor antenna. I wasn't expecting much with their free antenna but I was able to get almost every network with the exception of NBC. I even got FOX and CBS in NY but I'm unable to pull in NBC from New Britian. Any suggestions on how to get that one last network? I'm not sure what type of antenna it is, but it's flat and sort of looks like a propeller. I read good reviews about the Zenith ZHDTV1Z indoor antenna and thought that may help get that last channel.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks!

Since channel 30 out of the Hartford area is network-owned and operated, you should be getting the DirecTV feed of WNBC-DT from New York. Check out DirecTV channel 82.

I do get the feed from NY but I'm just trying to plan ahead as I will lose it in a couple of months due to the new law per the Directv postcard. I was just wondering if I got a decent Uhf indoor antenna pointed in the right direction to use in conjunction with my outdoor antenna if that may do the trick.

Originally posted by wassct
I do get the feed from NY but I'm just trying to plan ahead as I will lose it in a couple of months due to the new law per the Directv postcard. I was just wondering if I got a decent Uhf indoor antenna pointed in the right direction to use in conjunction with my outdoor antenna if that may do the trick.

I don't believe that the new law affects veiwers with automatic O&O HD waivers.

Originally posted by wassct
I do get the feed from NY but I'm just trying to plan ahead as I will lose it in a couple of months due to the new law per the Directv postcard. I was just wondering if I got a decent Uhf indoor antenna pointed in the right direction to use in conjunction with my outdoor antenna if that may do the trick.

This has nothing to do with new law. WVIT is O&O by NBC. The agreement is with the NBC network that D* can provide WNBC feed to any market with NBC O & O station. You will not lose WNBC.

For those who have been asking, I checked with some of the guys at WFSB and they have indeed been operating the HD transmitter at half power for the past several days. Apparently they sorted out the tube problem that caused them to reduce power earlier, went back to full power for a while, but then some other piece of equipment started acting up and they had to cut back to 50% again.

Originally posted by docbone
For those who have been asking, I checked with some of the guys at WFSB and they have indeed been operating the HD transmitter at half power for the past several days. Apparently they sorted out the tube problem that caused them to reduce power earlier, went back to full power for a while, but then some other piece of equipment started acting up and they had to cut back to 50% again.

Did they have any estimate as to when they would be back to full power?

Originally posted by CKNA
This has nothing to do with new law. WVIT is O&O by NBC. The agreement is with the NBC network that D* can provide WNBC feed to any market with NBC O & O station. You will not lose WNBC.

I don't this this is correct based on what I got in the mail. The postcard I received specifically says "If you choose to keep receiving your local channels from Directv, do not return this card. We will disconnect your non-local networks in approx. 60 days and you may not be able to add them back at any future time."

It's basically saying you can't have both. I don't know if the HD feed is included though.

I just called Directv and I will loose the distant network feed but I will still be able to retain the HD Feed.

I hope the CSR was right with that info but that's good news if it's true since I can't get NBC with my antenna.

Thanks!

Originally posted by rmcgirr83
I would think that you could get WTNH, WVIT, WTXX, WCTX, WEDN, WHPX and WTIC (at least I do). The problem with receiving WFSB seems to be WHPX over riding the signal. All my signals register from a low of ~70 to a high of 95 on a 6000u from E*.

beau87 - I get the same stations as Rich (good afternoon to you) with similar "signal strengths "on a Sony HD200 - except for WTXX; never had any luck with that station, even with a ch 12 yagi. It may be because Rich is about 50 feet higher in elevation than me.

schmitter - I've tried taking out the CM7777 and again had the same experience as Rich; basically lost everything except PAX.

rmcgirr83 and RTracey,

This might have been covered a couple hundred posts ago, but did either of you guys try a “trap” to remove the offending channel (WHPX)? I don’t think that the loss of PAX to me would mean very much and in theory it should cleanup WFSB. I’m very interested in receiving at least the big five, WFSB (CBS), WVIT (NBC), WTNH (ABC), WTIC (FOX) and WEDN (PBS). Any and all help is appreciated.

I haven't tried a trap as the PAX station is on digital 34 and WFSB is on digital 33 and was told that it would be nothing short of a minor miracle to block one but not the other.

BTW, I would lose PAX in a sec if it means picking up WFSB.

ditto

Originally posted by hello33-3
I will check into what the CBS Network will allow WFSB to broadcast on our DT channel during the NCAA Tournament.

As for signal problems. We have been at 1/2 power for most of this week becasue one side of our new transmitter is having power (current) faults. The parts from the tube vendor should be in today (Friday) and we can keep on working on it.

I know it is frustrating but we are working as fast as we can to get it back to full power

I am also trying to start a mailing list to mail out information as in pertains to WFSB-DT. Please send me an email so I can keep a contact list.

wfsbengineering@wfsb.com

Thanks

Any word on either the March Madness plans or the half powere issue? Thanks.

First post . . .

Does anyone know what the capacity of the Hartford area network is? I've read on other forums that certain networks are rated at 550mhz, 750mhz, 850mhz etc.

Also, I've been told by Comcast reps that once our network is upgraded we'll have expanded HD channel capacity and will likely see Discovery HD, INHD2 and other HD channels that our area is lacking compared to other Comcast areas. Anybody know when these upgrades will be completed?

Right now we don't get Celtics games in HD since we don't get INHD2 and probably won't get Red Sox home games in HD since we don't get INHD2. INHD2 disappeared to make room for CBS HD quite a while ago.

Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Scott

Originally posted by Addicted2HD4Now
First post . . .

Does anyone know what the capacity of the Hartford area network is? I've read on other forums that certain networks are rated at 550mhz, 750mhz, 850mhz etc.

Also, I've been told by Comcast reps that once our network is upgraded we'll have expanded HD channel capacity and will likely see Discovery HD, INHD2 and other HD channels that our area is lacking compared to other Comcast areas. Anybody know when these upgrades will be completed?

Right now we don't get Celtics games in HD since we don't get INHD2 and probably won't get Red Sox home games in HD since we don't get INHD2. INHD2 disappeared to make room for CBS HD quite a while ago.

Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Scott

Scott,

Also my first post ;)

I live in Windsor and am currently getting OTA local HD channels. I am considering upgrading from "Expanded Basic" to the min level of Digital service to get HD from Comcast. I was concerned to see your note about INHD2 not being available since it shows it on channel 382 on the channel lineup (per Comcast website). It shows CBS HD on channel 303. My neighbor gets Red Sox home games in HD on INHD (not sure if it's INHD2 or not). I don't see Discovery HD in the lineup.

Do you think you would get a different channel selection than I would get in Windsor? I believe we're both in the "Hartford area".

I would also be interested in anyone else with info on this subject.

cheneyp,

The channel lineup on comcast.com is outdated. It has INHD2 listed for my zip code and we don't get it. It also lacks a listing for Fox 61 HD which we do get.

To me, INHD2 looks like the better of the two channels, programming-wise. 382 happens to be the slot they broadcast NESN-HD and FSN HD content on, and interrupt the normal INHD2 programming. I'm hoping we get it back before April, but I'm not holding my breath.

In general, I'd rather have Discovery HD over PBS, and INHD2 over INHD.

If you get a chance, ask your friend if he get's the Sox games on 381 or 382.

I live in Windsor and get the lowest tier comcast digital package (came in a deal with the internet and phone). I do not get INHD unless I am sadly mistaken. But I am not using comcast's hd box, so that may be the problem. With a QAM tuner I get abc, cbs, nbc, fox, and a wierd pbs hd channel, along with a bunch of music channels and some other sd channels.
If you have all the analog channels in your current package you can probably hook up a QAM tuner and get all of the above now, without signing up for anything more than you have.

Scott,

I spoke with my friend and he says he gets the Red Sox HD on 381. He wasn't sure what he gets on 382 - he'll check tonight. He's not a Celtics guy so he didn't know about that HD feed. He does get CBS HD on channel 303.

arich,

I have analog (expanded) basic and a new RCA DLP set with a QAM tuner built-in. I have been able to get CBS HD on 110-2 and Fox HD on 82-1 but no other HD channels. I do get things like the Game Show Network, MTV Jams and about half of the music channels as well. I do have an OTA antenna in my attic which gets most of the others but would like to get the PBS feed since I sometimes get PBS-HD on Channel 57's feed and have liked what I had seen. Maybe I don't have as good a feed from the street so I can't pick up as many as you can.....or it's a limitation of my QAM tuner.

paul

I have an ATSC/QAM/NTSC tuner built into my Sony Grand Wega LCD Proj TV. If I hook the cable up to my "ANT" input on the back of my TV and go to the "Add Digital" in my Setup menu, I should be able to get the network channels mentioned above, without my digital box, right? I tried messing around with this while I was waiting for an HDTV box to be installed when I first go my TV, but didn't have any luck. I think I'll try again to see if I get better PQ by bypassing the STB.

Depends. WIth just the very basic $10/month package from Cox and a QAM tuner, I can tune all the locals provided (CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS). Everything else is encrypted.

Yup and with a QAM tuner you also get other nice perks as well. :) :D

Is anyone getting WTIC-DT to re-map to 61?

Originally posted by LawnMowerGuy1
Is anyone getting WTIC-DT to re-map to 61?

Yup.

Originally posted by LawnMowerGuy1
Is anyone getting WTIC-DT to re-map to 61?

It always mapped to 61.1 on my receiver (Sony HD-200)

I have an RCA DTC210 box to receive Directv HD. I'm also using one of Cablevisions boxes to receive some HD I can't pick up over the air. If I connect the cable to the cable-in on the RCA box, will I get the HD channels cable is providing without their box?

I saw a few of the previous posts, is that what you are saying?

I hooked up the cable directly to my TV and the PQ is 100% better on SD and Analog over the Comcast box. I think I found Fox HD, CSB HD, NBC HD and PBS HD. I don't think I found ABC HD, but there are so many subchannels to flip through that I don't remember exactly. I need to go through and write them down.

Scott, you mentioned other "nice perks" with a QAM tuner. I didn't notice anything out of the norm, could you elaborate?

Thanks,
Scott

If you are a Cox customer you will not have ABC. They don't carry them in HD still :(. Not sure what Scott meant for perks, but sometimes you can actually catch someone ordering PPV and watch their movie ;).

I'm a Comcast subscriber, that's why I have one of their boxes :D

Details, details ;)

Hey Guys, Just stumbled upon this thread. I live in Bristol CT and have digital Comcast with the HDTV box and HDTV channels. Everything works great, love the HDTV. Now my question is, is anyone using the Elgato EyeTV 500 mac firewire hdtv box for watching and recording hdtv channels? I have both a powermac G5 and a pc so I am searching for a internal or external tuner that supports HDTV. The Elgato box supports qam and I understand the new qam-256 with a firmware upgrade. I just wonder if it works with the CT comcast digital signal? I would rather use this signal than the OTA port.
Has anyone hooked 'any' third party boxes to the comcast feed and actually had HDTV content? I wonder if the standard HDTV channels on the comcast feed are encrypted or only hbo, etc.

I'm just getting all my ducks in a row for the impending copyright flag.
Thanks.

Doug

Doug,

I'd assume the Elgato would work fine since it supports QAM -- you'd get the networks, but none of the encrypted stuff. If you're just looking to record, I know I've read many posts of people just hooking the motorola box to their Mac via firewire and recording from there. I haven't bothered dragging my G4 downstairs yet to try it out myself, but I'm guessing iMovieHD would work nicely with this.

BTW - Do you get Discovery HD in Bristol?

-Scott

I just rescanned both my OTA antenna channels and the cable channels with my QAM tuner in the RCA DLP.

When I first scanned the channels on OTA (beginning of Feb), I got digital channels on their assigned frequencies; i.e. Channel 8 (WTNHDT1) was 10-3 and Channel 30 (NBC30) on 35-3. Now I get them on subchannels of their usual channel number - WTNHDT is now on 8-1, etc. Anyone know why this would have changed?

Also, when I rescanned the Comcast analog line in, I now get OTA HDTV feeds from CBS, ABC, NBC, PBS, FOX (originally only found FOX and CBS) No PAX or UPN but as Scott said there are a whole lotta subchannels to scan. Scott, I got ABCHD on 78-2 (no DiscoveryHD, though :( )

paul

Originally posted by cheneyp
When I first scanned the channels on OTA (beginning of Feb), I got digital channels on their assigned frequencies; i.e. Channel 8 (WTNHDT1) was 10-3 and Channel 30 (NBC30) on 35-3. Now I get them on subchannels of their usual channel number - WTNHDT is now on 8-1, etc. Anyone know why this would have changed?A couple of things happened at the beginning of the year per FCC mandate. Broadcasters had to reprogram their equipment to not use certain numbered PID's (that many broadcasters were using). Additionally, PSIP information (stuff like electronic program guide, etc.) also had to be added to the stream.

In support of all that many stations had to make some minor programming changes to the digital information in the stream that identifies channels, where the packets that make up the channel are, etc.

On the viewer side - all that was necessary was a simple channel scan or a delete and add of the channel. That would cause your ATSC tuner to get all the new information ... this is probably what you've encountered.

HTH

In case anyone is interested, here are the channel numbers for HD channels in the Hartford Area (Comcast).

ABC - 78.2
PBS - 79.1
NBC - 79.2
Fox - 82.1
CBS - 110.2

Anyone have audio problems with WFSBDT last night? I was watching Numb3rs last night and the background sounds were the only thing coming through - no main sound track (voices). Went on for about 10-15 minutes on both Comcast feed and OTA HD feed. Regular analog channel sound was fine.

Originally posted by Addicted2HD4Now
Right now we don't get Celtics games in HD since we don't get INHD2 and probably won't get Red Sox home games in HD since we don't get INHD2. INHD2 disappeared to make room for CBS HD quite a while ago.

Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Scott

Scott,
I'm in the Hartford area as well...

Sox home games will be in HD. Last year, they just put the NESN-HD feed on INHD (381). This year, there was already a spring training game on NESN-HD (381). Info on Comcast's site is way out of date.

Originally posted by cheneyp
Anyone have audio problems with WFSBDT last night? I was watching Numb3rs last night and the background sounds were the only thing coming through - no main sound track (voices). Went on for about 10-15 minutes on both Comcast feed and OTA HD feed. Regular analog channel sound was fine.

I had a similar issue with CSI earlier in the week. I think it was a national problem. Check out this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=518857).

usurpers,

Thanks for verifying that the games will be on in HD. Does the guide have the info, or do you just need to tune in to see that it's on.

Now I just wish they'd do the same with FSN HD broadcasts of Celtics games now that they're watchable again. Don't know why they can't send that feed over 381 as well.

It really sucks that opening night won't be in HD around here now that ESPN moved the HD broadcast of that game to ESPN2HD and I'm sure we won't be getting that anytime soon.

-Scott

I just started to pick up WEDW-DT on channel 49. Did they just go digital?

Nope. From online report. I grabbed this one to show when they went live.

"WEDW-DT is now on the air (sort of)

If you could pick up WTNH-DT out of Connecticut, you should be able to get WEDW-DT a.k.a Connecticut Public Television or CPTV.

I actually got a signal at about 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. today on Channel 52, which goes to 49-1, right behind analog CPTV, channel 49.

I spoke to Joe Zareski, engineer at CPTV. He told me that CPTV were only testing for about an hour, starting today, September 16, 2002.

Believe it or not, testing will continue through May 2003. Occasional HDTV feeds from PBS national and no actual scheduling.

Today, CPTV or WEDW-DT tested out their multicasting capabilities with 49-1 to 49-5.
Joe Zareski told me 49-2 to 49-5 had programming with 49-1 blank.

I was unable to get 49-2 to 49-5 but received a signal for 49-1.

Joe Zareski
CPTV
WEDW-DT
1-800-683-7436
www.cpbi.org
www.cptv.org"

In case anyone cares, UConn is in a site that has HD production (half of them do), so all of UConn's games in the tournament will be in HD including the first one on Friday at 2:45.

The last reply I received from WFSB was that they still did not know how they are handling how they will do games on WFSB-DT.

Hey Docbone,

Any word on the WFSB-DT half power issue?

Over the last several weeks, WFSB has been between half and full power becasue of transmitter issues. The transmitter vendor has given us several different solutions to fix the issue. Each has fixed the issue and amplified another issue. The vendor will be on site today (Monday) to finally figure out why the transmitter cannot run on both cabinets.

WFSB will soon have plans for March Madness (today).

Just a survery: More games and tweak down the HD or keep things the way they are and show all HD games(DD5.1) on 3.1?

I will repost when I have more info

Again, please send comments or concerns directly to WFSB.

wfsbengineering@wfsb.com

Thanks:)

DD 5.1 on WFSB-DT: this is news! All I have seen from WFSB-DT is DD 2.0 in recent months. I vote for full-bandwidth HDTV for March Madness! I want to see the sweat!

My vote is for full-bandwidth HD as well.

I agree. Full bandwidth. I get NCAA package on D* so I dont want to dilute the local HD feed.

FULL, is my vote - quality not quantity - and interest really focuses only on one, UConn.

BTW-thanks for the tech update. Knowing the situation reduces the frustration (and bad language) when attempting to view transmissions that one day are good and another problematic.

Looks like I'll have to clear some space on the DVR or take Friday afternoon off. Might be worth it if it's definitely going to be in HD.

Thanks for the update, hello33-3. I don't really understand the survey. You can only show one game at a time on wfsb, right? As long as the UConn game looks the best that it can, I really don't care about the rest. I'll watch them either way, but the more that are in HD the better.

CBS March Madness vote: one HD channel with best possible bandwidth versus lots of subchannels

Full bandwidth, is my vote. Since I don't get OTA (which I assume you need to get the subchannels), I'd rather see the best quality possible.

Another vote for March Madness All-HD!

Hello33-3,

I first want to say that I really appreciate you asking for opinions about what we want to see.

My opinion is based on whether or not having one additional game on a subchannel really affects the HD PQ that much. If it's only a very minor affect, I'd love to be able to see 1 extra game on a subchannel.

I would mainly just try to follow 2 rules:

Rule #1: Always have an HD game on 3.1
Rule #2: In most cases, have a different game on 3.1 than is on Ch 3 to provide your viewers with a choice of games to watch.

Given those rules, all of your work is done. I have made the schedule for you below. :p Games in bold are the games CBS is producing in HD. I have indicated with the channel numbers which games to cover. In my notations 3.1 means HD, and 3.2 means a subchannel. If broadcasting a subchannel really does cut down the HD quality noticably, then I agree with the others, and give us full bandwidth.


Thursday March 17, 2005

12:15 PM Wis.-Milwaukee #12 vs. Alabama 3.1
12:20 PM Eastern Kentucky #15 vs. Kentucky 3.2
12:40 PM Pittsburgh #9 vs. Pacific 3
12:45 PM Niagara #14 vs. Oklahoma

2:50 PM Iowa #10 vs. Cincinnati
2:55 PM Penn #13 vs. Boston Coll. 3, 3.1
3:10 PM Montana #16 vs. Washington
3:15 PM UTEP #11 vs. Utah 3.2

7:10 PM Chattanooga #15 vs. Wake Forest
7:10 PM Nevada #9 vs. Texas 3
7:20 PM Utah St. #14 vs. Arizona 3.2
7:25 PM Winthrop #14 vs. Gonzaga 3.1

9:40 PM Fairleigh-Dickinson #16 Illinois
9:40 PM Creighton #10 vs. West Virginia 3
9:50 PM UAB #11 LSU 3.2
9:55 PM UCLA #11 vs. Texas Tech 3.1

Friday March 18, 2005

12:15 PM N.C. State #10 vs. Charlotte 3.1
12:25 PM Ohio #13 vs. Florida 3.2
12:30 PM Iowa St. #9 vs. Minnesota 3
12:30 PM SE Louisiana #15 vs. Oklahoma St.

2:45 PM UCF #15 vs. Connecticut 3, 3.1
2:55 PM New Mexico #12 vs. Villanova
3:00 PM St. Mary's (Ca.) #10 vs. Southern Ill.
3:00 PM Ala A&M/Oakland #16 vs. North Carolina

7:10 PM La.-Lafayette #13 vs. Louisville
7:10 PM Vermont #13 vs. Syracuse 3, 3.1
7:20 PM Northern Iowa #11 vs. Wisconsin
7:25 PM Delaware St. #16 vs. Duke 3.2

9:40 PM Old Dominion #12 vs. Michigan St.
9:40 PM George Wash. #12 vs. Georgia Tech 3.1
9:50 PM Bucknell #14 vs. Kansas 3.2
9:55 PM Mississippi St. #9 vs. Stanford 3


Again, thanks for asking for opinions, and please post back and let us know what you guys come up with!

Full bandwidth.

Hello33-3,

If you did broadcast a game on a subchannel, would it be in place of the existing weather information on 3-2, or in addition to it?

For those that don’t want the additional game, is it because you don’t get WFSB-DT over the air, OR because you do get it OTA, and don’t like the effects of a subchannel on WFSB’s HD picture. I was watching WFSB-DT last night OTA, and it looked good to me with the weather on the subchannel.

Originally posted by jake14mw
Hello33-3,

If you did broadcast a game on a subchannel, would it be in place of the existing weather information on 3-2, or in addition to it?

For those that don’t want the additional game, is it because you don’t get WFSB-DT over the air, OR because you do get it OTA, and don’t like the effects of a subchannel on WFSB’s HD picture. I was watching WFSB-DT last night OTA, and it looked good to me with the weather on the subchannel.

Weather on what subchannel? Are you thinking of WTNH-DT?

Originally posted by raoul5788
Weather on what subchannel? Are you thinking of WTNH-DT?

You know what, you're right. I was actually thinking of WVIT-DT. Sorry about that. I just switched back to OTA after a stint with Comcast cable, so I'm not familiar with the whole subchannel thing.

Originally posted by raoul5788
Weather on what subchannel? Are you thinking of WTNH-DT? Or WVIT-DT which has the NBC weather offering on their second subchannel.

Is there a 3-2 subchannel?

Originally posted by cheneyp
Is there a 3-2 subchannel? Yes ... looking at it with my HiPix DTV-200 computer tuner card I see:

3.1 WFSB-HD 1920x1080i 16:9
3.2 WFSB-DT 704x480i 4:3

The 3.2 subchannel on WFSB-DT has the programming for WSHM-LP which is the CBS affiliate for the Springfield MA market (channel 67 on Mt. Tom).

My vote is to dump the WSHM-LP broadcast on 3.2 while the tourney is being shown.

Instead, do
3.1 = Best game in HD or Uconn game
3.2 = A second SD game

Last year WFSB had 3 subchannels, 1 HD and 2 SD channels and the HD quality suffered from artifacts during high motion activity like a crisp pass or a slam dunk.

So assuming that the 3 subchannels were too many (unless the problem was related to the quality of the incoming HD feed) and the local arrangement was set up properly, then WFSB should provide only 1 extra SD subchannel at most.

On WFSB 3.1 we are showing the Cleveland regional on Thursday and Worcester regional on Friday. These are the Eastern HD sites for the 2 days. These games are:

Alabama vs. Wisc-Milwaukee
BC vs. Penn
Wake Forest vs. Chattanooga
West Virginia vs. Creighton

Charlotte vs. NC State
UConn vs. UCF
Syracuse vs. Vermont
Michigan State vs. ODU

Thanks Hello33-3,

Great choices!

Do you have the analog Channel 3 lineup yet, and was any decision made on whether or not to show any additional games on subchannels?

As we get closer to spring, any good word on WTIC raising their antenna and power soon????

scottte

Yes I will check also on sub channel games to see what else maybe offered.

Tim

I'm in Glastonbury with Cox cable service running thru a Motorola 6412 with component cables and simple L/R audio cables to a new Toshiba dlp (46hm94).

I have a problem with my HD channels where the audio is a second or two behind the video so the words are not in sync with the people talking. But I haven't been able to find any pattern to it... on some channels it'll be fine and others will be out of sync, or sometimes multiple channels will be out of sync, or sometimes none. But its only on the HD channels (regardless of whether its an actual HD show or not).

I think the root of the problem is with the source (tv stations) but I'm not sure... has anyone else had this problem?

Thanks.

Well, I guess we will find out whether or not they are multicasting by 12:45, when the last game of the first group starts....but actually, I guess just because they don't do a subchannel today doesn't mean they won't tomorrow either...

The Channel 3 website has the schedule for channel 3 for Thursday's games only. They are:

Game 1: Pacific vs. Pittsburgh, 12:40 p.m., tip
Game 2: Pennsylvania vs. Boston College, 2:45 p.m., tip

Game 3: Wake Forest vs. Chattanooga, 7:10 p.m., tip
Game 4: West Virginia vs. Creighton, 9:30 p.m., tip


So we will only get a choice of games for the one early today. It's funny if you look at that site it is difficult to even tell that WFSB-DT exists.

You know...we have all knocked WFSB quite a bit but I really commend WFSB for doing an absolutely fantastic job at the beginning of this year's NCAA tournament. The digital channel showing only the HD telecast that our region would be interested in and the analog channel flipping around to the best game like they always do. (Also, great job in providing the HD feed in both First Round sites. i.e. UTEP vs. Utah)

Thank you WFSB for listening to the suggestions of your HD viewers and providing us with only HD games on your digital channel separate from the normal CBS telecast.

Hello33-3 - Will you also be providing the HD feed for all four rounds of The Masters on the digital channel as well? Keep up the great work!

I agree. Nice job. Its also quite refreshing to see a provider listen and provide content based on feedback. I've been watching all day!

Friday games schedule are now on the WFSB website:

Thursday March 17:

Game 1: Pacific vs. Pittsburgh, 12:40 p.m., tip
Game 2: Pennsylvania vs. Boston College, 2:45 p.m., tip

Game 3: Wake Forest vs. Chattanooga, 7:10 p.m., tip
Game 4: West Virginia vs. Creighton, 9:30 p.m., tip

Friday March 18:

Game 1: Minnesota vs. Iowa State, 12:30 p.m.
Game 2: Connecticut vs. Central Florida, 2:45 p.m. tip

Game 3: Syracuse vs. Vermont, 7:10 p.m.
Game 4: Michigan State vs. Old Dominion, 9:30 p.m.

HD Games Tune into Channel 31 or check with your cable system for Channel 3 in High Definition from the Cleveland and Worcester sites.

THURSDAY:

12:25 PM Alabama vs. Wisc. -Milwaukee Cleveland I

2:45 PM Boston College vs. Penn Cleveland II



7:10 PM Wake Forest vs. Chattanooga Cleveland III

9:30 PM West Virginia vs. Creighton Cleveland IV

FRIDAY:

12:15 PM Charlotte vs. NC State Worcester II

2:35 PM Connecticut vs. Central Florida Worcester II



7:10 PM Syracuse vs. Vermont Worcester III

9:30 PM Michigan State vs. Old Dominion Wocester IV

Is it just me or is the Wake/Chattanoga game not being broadcasted in DD 5.1? I am getting sound out of my front middle speaker and two rear speakers but nothing out of my front left and right speakers...

Sorry to say, it's you. I'm getting DD 5.1 via Comcast.

Although I'm getting a full signal on the signal meter, I can't lock onto the signal so no picture or sound. This sucks!

Its definately me. I am an idiot.

Thanks for the comments

Enjoy all the games today

Don't forget to take the poll on the homepage of wfsb.com about viewing the games in HD.

:)

I'm in Glastonbury with Cox cable service running thru a Motorola 6412 with component cables and simple L/R audio cables to a new Toshiba dlp (46hm94).

I have a problem with my HD channels where the audio is a second or two behind the video so the words are not in sync with the people talking. But I haven't been able to find any pattern to it... on some channels it'll be fine and others will be out of sync, or sometimes multiple channels will be out of sync, or sometimes none. But its only on the HD channels (regardless of whether its an actual HD show or not).

I think the root of the problem is with the source (tv stations) but I'm not sure... has anyone else had this problem?

Thanks.

I've noticed the same problem with my Motorola 6412 on other post I've noticed the source is mentioned as the problem but I have my doubts. I'm getting my new Tosh 46hm94 this weekend how do you like it?

Just took the poll. Not impressed with the results, only 19%. I wonder how many of those that answered aren't going to be watching at all anyway.

Up to 20% after my vote!

I thought 20% was pretty good... I would think the % of households with an HDTV ready set in the Hartford area would be less than 20%... it would be interesting to know but obviously the more the better as it will drive up demand for digital & HD programming from the cable companies (I hope).

Smeck -
I love the set!! Hopefully you will be as happy with yours. Do you have Cox cable? If yes, then let me know if you experience the audio lag on your HD channels. I've thought about requesting a new stb but from what I've read in other forums am thinking it will not help. thanks.

According to the WFSB website, games for today

Sunday March 20, 2005

3, 3.1 12:10 pm North Carolina State #10 vs. Connecticut #2 HD

2:15 pm Villanova #5 vs. Florida #4 HD
2:20 pm Southern Ill. #7 vs. Oklahoma St. #2
2:30 pm Iowa St. #9 vs. North Carolina #1
3, 3.1 2:40 pm Vermont #13 vs. Michigan State #5 HD

3.1 4:45 pm Georgia Tech #5 vs. Louisville #4 HD
4:50 pm Bucknell #14 vs. Wisconsin #6
3 5:00 pm Mississippi St. #9 vs. Duke #1


In my opinion, it's a mistake to not give us the Villanova-Florida game on either channel. It's the best matchup, and it is a Big East team. Perfect example of a place where they should use the opportunity to give us choice!

Also, did anyone else think that Friday's UConn game had the worst HD PQ of the early games? Seemed more pixellated. Also, I was getting surround sound, but it sounded very muted.

If you're a BBall fan and you missed the West Virginia - Wake Forest game last night, I feel sorry for you. What a game! Just great basketball, OT, a Big East win, wow!

NCAA BBall: Sweet 16 - All games produced in HD!

Thursday March 24, 2005

7:10 pm Louisville #4 Washington #1
7:27 pm Wis.-Milwaukee #12 Illinois #1
9:40 pm West Virginia #7 Texas Tech #6
9:57 pm Arizona #3 Oklahoma St. #2

Friday March 25, 2005

7:10 pm Michigan St. #5 Duke #1
7:27 pm N.C. State #10 Wisconsin #6
9:40 pm Utah #6 Kentucky #2
9:57 pm Villanova #5 North Carolina #1


Since there are no teams left that really have any local interest, and all are available in HD, I think WFSB should put the game CBS suggests for the region on Channel 3, and put the other game on WFSB-DT in HD.

Agreed the HD quality hasn't been very good on these games, but I'm not gonna complain because its still 100x better than watching the analog broadcast.

That Wake/WVU game was awesome... probably the best I've seen this year. I'd like to get the Villanova vs. UNC game in HD on Friday... I think its the best game that day and Nova is gonna give them a real good run.

I have comcast and I have the same audio problems. I believe the problem is distribution not the box. Some channels you never see lip sync problems like ESPN or HBO hi def, if it was the box all channels would have lip sync issues I would think.

Here is what Thursday should look like

WFSB is taking the Alburquerque games in HD.

Washington vs. Louisville
Texas Tech vs. Virginia.

On Analog, WFSB will show

Illinois vs. WI-Milwaukee
Texas Tech vs. Virginia

Don't know about Friday yet.

I noticed some comments about the Worcester production quality. We definately noticed it also. There was definately a big difference in the quality of production between Worcester and other regions we had through the weekend. The only thing we can think of beside technical issues was the lighting was very harsh in Worcester vs. the other regions.

Thanks for everyone who took the poll on WFSB.com

again, if there is any issues

wfsbengineering@wfsb.com

Thanks

Hello33-3,

Thanks for the information. I have an a question about a technical problem that I have been seeing during games. What happens is that the picture becomes blurry and then gradually comes back in focus. The time from becoming blurry to being back in focus is around 3 seconds.

I notices this, and then also noticed that somebody posted the same thing in the NCAA tourney thread in the programming forum. Many others confirm seeing the problem. Here is the link: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=5367316#post5367316

Somebody (CKNA) from CT who seems to know what he is talking about said this:

"I have seen but it is not a camera. It is an MPEG2 encoder at some stations. I believe it affects Harris Flexicoders. Some people may not see it as their station may use different encoder. ABC had the same problem couple years ago. To fix all they have to do is change one setting from auto to manual. I do not however, remember what this setting is called.

Maybe dr1394 can post what it is."

dr1394 replied:

"It's an adaptive pre-filter (on the Harris Flexicoder) that's set a little too
aggressively and switches out a little too slowly.

I believe Rory Boyce knows the correct settings.

Ron"

Of course I have no idea whether this diagnosis is correct, but can you comment on this problem at all? Do you folks use Harris Flexicoders?

Tonight's Red Sox game looked like an digital upconverted broadcasted game. Looked stretched, and not quite as crisp as other HD broadcasts. Can anyone tell me if that's what a regular season game is going to look like or only because it's spring training?

Thanks.

I noticed that too. Last year, only the Sox home games were broadcast in HD and looked amazing, nothing like last night. This year, they are broadcasting 40 or so away games in HD too, so I wonder if all the away games will look like they did last night.

Anybody having trouble with their D* reception during the snow storm tonight?? I rarely have trouble but tonight cant really pull in any D* stations, only luck with with the HD OTA.

scottte

Hello.

This message is to anyone living in Connecituct who has Comcast Cable with HDTV. I have called comcast repetedly trying to get them to include Discovery HD Theater in their HDTV lineup, which as of now is tiny.

If anyone else lives in this area, or anywhere that comcast serves would please call

1-800-comcast

and request the channel, it would be greatly appreciated.


It's very easy. Just give them your information and tell them you are very interested in the channel.

Telling them you are considering switching to satellite to get the channel will help get their attention too.


Thanks a million, and please reply with any channels you would like to see and I will be happy to call them in for you.


Lets united for better HDTV

-Steve

Hello.

This message is to anyone living in Connecituct who has Comcast Cable with HDTV. I have called comcast repetedly trying to get them to include Discovery HD Theater in their HDTV lineup, which as of now is tiny.

If anyone else lives in this area, or anywhere that comcast serves would please call

1-800-comcast

and request the channel, it would be greatly appreciated.


It's very easy. Just give them your information and tell them you are very interested in the channel.

Telling them you are considering switching to satellite to get the channel will help get their attention too.


Thanks a million, and please reply with any channels you would like to see and I will be happy to call them in for you.


Lets united for better HDTV

-Steve

__________________

Threads merged.

Steve,

I keep calling, e-mailing and doing everything I can think of to get them to show Discovery HD Theater in CT. I'm not hopeful we'll see any additions until they've finished whatever network upgrades they're supposedly working on. Since we lost INHD2 to get WFSB-HD and WTIC-HD, I'd say we're probably maxed out on bandwidth and is why we're not getting DHD yet. DHD and Comcast have a national contract and Comcast has the right to carry DHD in any market where they have the bandwidth to show it.

Once a satellite provider carries FSN New England HD and NESN/NESN-HD I'll be jumping ship even if they don't have an HD DVR. Should be an interesting year for HD though considering DBS should be adding as much HD content as they can. Should put some pressure on Comcast.

It's annoying when nearby MA markets get WB-HD, UPN-HD, FSN New England HD (celtics games) and INHD2, all of which we're lacking in CT. I'm sure we're paying the same rate as they are as well.

Originally posted by Addicted2HD4Now
It's annoying when nearby MA markets get WB-HD, UPN-HD, FSN New England HD (celtics games) and INHD2, all of which we're lacking in CT. I'm sure we're paying the same rate as they are as well. Not sure of what markets you're thinking of - but I am just outside of Springfield and we've got very little: ESPN-HD NESN-HD Discovery-HD WTIC-DT ... very disappointing.

The western Mass Comcast systems in the Springfield area have a lot better coverage: WGBY-DT, WWLP-DT, WFSB-DT, WTIC-DT, ESPN-HD, Discovery-HD, INHD, INHD2/NESN-HD (shared).

In western Mass the WB feed on cable comes directly from WB and not a local affiliate; there's no local WB HD.

What system(s) are you aware of that have the WB or UPN in HD on them? (This kind of info may be of interest to those who participate on local cable committees or commissions.)

Originally posted by scottte
Anybody having trouble with their D* reception during the snow storm tonight?? I rarely have trouble but tonight cant really pull in any D* stations, only luck with with the HD OTA.

scottte

I had some trouble last night too. Usually in big snowstorms the problem for me is snow sticking to the dish. When I go and brush it off it's fine.

RPM,

From what I read over on the Boston, MA - Comcast thread they just got WB a week ago or so and are expecting UPN HD in time for the Red Sox season.

I knew Western MA had a good lineup just like Boston so I figured it was all of MA. Weird that the market in the middle has next to nothing. When I visited E. Longmeadow in early January, they had quite a few channels as well.

Originally posted by Addicted2HD4Now
From what I read over on the Boston, MA - Comcast thread they just got WB a week ago or so and are expecting UPN HD in time for the Red Sox season.

I knew Western MA had a good lineup just like Boston so I figured it was all of MA. Weird that the market in the middle has next to nothing. When I visited E. Longmeadow in early January, they had quite a few channels as well. I recently posted a map in the western Mass thread that shows where the cable operators are in the four western counties.

The Springfield/Holyoke TV DMA is Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties (up and down the CT river valley). Berkshire county in MA belongs to the Albany TV DMA. All the rest of the counties in Massachusetts belong to the Boston TV DMA.

In the Springfield MA DMA there's now only a hand full of cable operators, the two largest of which are Comcast and Charter. Comcast has a significantly better HD offering as compared to Charter.

Since the Springfield TV DMA is a different market from Boston most cable operators have a different line-up - and that's the case with the Comcast offering here. The funny exception is that some systems (like northeast of Springfield) do have some of the Boston (analog) locals on their systems - this is probably a combination that in some places you could actually receive those signals off-air ... and historically they've been on the systems for decades.

I had a Cox tech over my house the other day to make an adjustment to my DVR box, and he said that they are ready to roll out a bunch of new HD channels, including ABC-HD, but he said it was all up to the stations themselves to get the agreements signed with Cox. Basically I guess he was saying the technology was there for them to add quite a few more channels, but he wasn't sure when that would be happening.

So they've been saying for some time :(

Ok, I was a little bored at work today, so I did some digging around. Here's Comcast's contract for the CT/Plainville area. It states having an upgrading the system to 750 mhz by no later than 3 years from the contract date which is December 12, 2001. Can anyone state whether or not this has been done, and how that affects system capacity to carry more HD or Digital channels?


3.1 System Technology. Utilizing technology and system design as selected by the Franchisee, consistent with 47 U.S.C. § 544(e) the Franchisee shall:

(a) Continue to operate the system initially as no less than a 550 MHz hybrid fiber-coaxial ("HFC") network capable of providing a minimum of ninety (90) video programming services to subscribers, and thereafter upgrade the system to no less than 750 MHz, such upgrade to be completed by no later than three (3) years from the effective date of this Franchise.

(b) Continue to operate a technologically suitable system, taking into account appropriate economic circumstances, which offers a full range of services, facilities and equipment; consider the introduction of additional technological changes, taking into account the ongoing financial burden with respect thereto, as such may become reasonably and economically feasible and for which there is customer demand; strive to attain the best possible technical performance for the system consistent with sound engineering practices and with due regard to the principles of economic feasibility and viability; design and operate the system so as to meet all applicable technical performance standards as required by law; provide quality community antenna television service and operate the system in a reasonably prudent and efficient manner; and retain sufficient employees to provide safe, adequate and prompt service for all of the system's facilities; and

WFSB-DT is asleep at the switch...

Thanks for the HD broadcast of the Louisville/Washington game, or not. Did someone fall asleep next to the switch or is the game not being produced in HD???

I can't find a phone number to call and wake them up either.

It kind of looked like in the beginning they were having trouble with the HD feed. All games for here on out are in HD on CBS.

The Phone number is 860/728-3333. The engineering department is saying that they received wrong information from CBS and are trying to locate someone to change to the right transponder.

I'm hoping that they find someone soon.

Originally posted by BillN96
It kind of looked like in the beginning they were having trouble with the HD feed.
Yeah, I saw the "Loss of signal" error message at 7pm. But by now they should have it fixed or at least run a crawl letting us know what's going on.

Originally posted by BillN96
It kind of looked like in the beginning they were having trouble with the HD feed. All games for here on out are in HD on CBS.

The Phone number is 860/728-3333. I just tried calling but nobody is picking up the phone in the Engineering department.

I just called the newsroom and told them about it. They said they would let them know.

The engineering department is saying that they received wrong information from CBS and are trying to locate someone to change to the right transponder.

Why in earth are they showing us a #1 v #12 when we could be wathcing a great #1 v #4??? They are even showing the same game on 3-2!

Hopefully they'll switch back if they get the HD feed going. Good start to this game though, maybe it won't be a snooze fest.

Originally posted by hello33-3
Here is what Thursday should look like

WFSB is taking the Alburquerque games in HD.

Washington vs. Louisville
Texas Tech vs. Virginia.

On Analog, WFSB will show

Illinois vs. WI-Milwaukee
Texas Tech vs. Virginia

again, if there is any issues
wfsbengineering@wfsb.com
Thanks
They were supposed to carry Wash-Lou on 3-1 and Ill-WI on 3-2. Even if they can't figure out the HD feed, at least go back to Wash-Lou on 3-1.