Amendments!

WTLV-DT to 53.3 kW
WJXX-DT to 29.5 kW

Hopefully this will help, assuming a grant by the FCC. :)

- Trip

Amendments!

WTLV-DT to 53.3 kW
WJXX-DT to 29.5 kW

Hopefully this will help, assuming a grant by the FCC. :)

- Trip

It will be interesting to see if they reach Interlachen, FL if granted and if analog is ever really turned off. Right now between WTSB, WLUF 10 is hopeless. Even WLUF will stay on the air which may very well cut a hole in the contour the maps don't show.

I see the listing in the TV Query, so I wonder if they were granted? I am going to be stuck with one of the diehards that thinks 4.9KW is plenty of power. Well their engineering knows better but their management now has a canned response how wonderful they are doing on such low power.

If this keeps up maybe Winegard will come out with a YLB-3713 antenna!

Yagi Long Boom, in the order of 300 to 400 inches of boom, with 30 to 40 directors. Long enough if you turn it right the neighbors can hang laundry on it!

Anyone noticed over the past few days that quite a few channels on the analog side and sd qam are no longer 4:3 or 16:9 ?

Is not all the time or every channel, but when watching Bill Maher(ch 2) and then Monk (ch 31) there were black bars above and belove the picture.

I kind of surfed through the channels and noticed 8-10 were that way.

OTA 12-1 and 12-2 are off the air this Sat AM...anyone head anything?

^ Whatever was going on ..... they are back up now.

I know for the last week or so, they had a crawl saying they were permanently modifying their analog signal---may have been related to that.

I don't know what they did, but my signal strength is down 15 points.

wtlv on their evening newscast mentioned that they are putting up the new digital antenna.This will be discussed more on tomorrows newscast.There maybe signal loss for some viewers until all work is done.

The HDTV antenna signal has been so good I almost called Dish and cancelled my locals, until the last few days. From 100% to 88% and dropped signals every so often. Geez, when will WTLV get it straightened out?:confused:

My Comcast 50% off deal ended. Bill was back at $80 or so with no premium channel and one dvr rental.

I personally think this cost was way out of line so I canceled my service yesterday and have purchased a Tivo HD dvr and I am using a set top antenna. Tivo seems to work much better than the CC dvr.

No nbc or abc signal but I am hoping the antenna upgrade and transmit power request help for those channels.

If not, most of the shows I watch on those networks can be viewed from the web.

I was really fed up paying Comcast prices and what I mostly watched was network TV.

Discovery HD and VOD is not worth that kind of expenditure for me. I do have a netflix account so VOD is taken care of.

Cable for me was a tool to get an acceptable TV picture. Digital OTA and especially HD has an acceptable TV picture for me. :) I can live with a few droputs every once in awhile.

My ROI for the purchase of the Tivo box will take only a few months.

If i decide I should put up an antenna, I will still be ahead of the game in less than a year.

mike

My Comcast 50% off deal ended. Bill was back at $80 or so with no premium channel and one dvr rental.

I personally think this cost was way out of line so I canceled my service yesterday and have purchased a Tivo HD dvr and I am using a set top antenna. Tivo seems to work much better than the CC dvr.

No nbc or abc signal but I am hoping the antenna upgrade and transmit power request help for those channels.

If not, most of the shows I watch on those networks can be viewed from the web.

I was really fed up paying Comcast prices and what I mostly watched was network TV.

Discovery HD and VOD is not worth that kind of expenditure for me. I do have a netflix account so VOD is taken care of.

Cable for me was a tool to get an acceptable TV picture. Digital OTA and especially HD has an acceptable TV picture for me. :) I can live with a few droputs every once in awhile.

My ROI for the purchase of the Tivo box will take only a few months.

If i decide I should put up an antenna, I will still be ahead of the game in less than a year.

mike

Our Comcast bill is up to $103. and we do not use VOD. Other Than Fox news and occasionally shows like the Closer on TNT we could do with OTA. service.
Does anyone know if you can still receive Fox News on the Qam channels if you have only Basic cable?

Yes. No changes in unencrypted QAM.

Looks like they have upgraded the antennas for nbc/abc.

I am now picking up 12.1 and 25.1 on my Tivo and computer tv tuners.

Signal strength is not as good as the other channels but I have picture and sound.

I am using the RCA non-amplified flat panel antenna on both computer and Tivo.

I am sure if I had a roof top antenna the signals would be max.

I am very happy. Tivo is now connected to my netflix account.

Comcast is ancient history. Bills will continue to go up as customers start dropping like flies.

Free HD OTA is hard to beat.

mike

WJXX 25-1 had been coming in great until yesterday. I using a simple Terk indoor with no troubles up till now. Anyone else experiencing this trouble?

I know this was a topic some time ago, but do folks still see issues with HD locals on DirecTV? I get pixelation, freezing, skipping especially in the evening. Fox is the worst, sometime unwatchable. I've started to DVR the OTA channels instead, but I can't get FOX OTA for some reason. Thanks

^ That sounds more like a dish alignment problem. 12, 17, 25, 30 and 47 all come in without a problem for me (HR20-100 and HR20-700 DVRs). The only stations that occasionally experience breakups are 4-1 and 7-1 since those two aren't coming off the satellite.

Signal strength increased on 12 yesterday afternoon, but dropped slightly on 25. Tenashus1, that can be a problem at the beach. If you are using a powered splitter, try reducing the gain somewhat.

^ That sounds more like a dish alignment problem. 12, 17, 25, 30 and 47 all come in without a problem for me (HR20-100 and HR20-700 DVRs). The only stations that occasionally experience breakups are 4-1 and 7-1 since those two aren't coming off the satellite.

Thanks... I call DirecTV and ask them to send someone to check it. Would checking the signal strength tell me if I'm having alignment issues? What satellite and transponder should I check? I'm getting 30-1 today for some reason... haven't been able to get anything there for a few weeks.

National HD channels are on 103, HD locals on 99. The signal strength should be in the 80 to 90 range for best reception and resistance to "rain fade".

I was so happy when HD locals finally came to Jacksonville because 30-1 was one of my "problem children". I could never get it reliably no matter what tweaking I did to the antenna. It would be there one day and gone the next.

I'm not speaking from knowledge here, only guessing: we know that 12 and 25 have been tweaking their antennas in preparation for the new all digital environment now scheduled (hopefully for the last time) for June 12th. Perhaps 30 is doing the same.

12 and 25 OTA signal strengths are much lower this morning. Haven't been this low in months. 30 is fine.

I noticed the last few days posts people were having trouble with these stations.

Might it be they are converting to their new antenna?

All the DX Tropo sites are down for maintance, but tonight for the first time ever I am locking both channels with a great signal for the distance.

I can lock WJCT but nothing else on UHF from there tonight. My VHF is up higher with more gain.

Anyone heard if they have switched to the new antennas? Or maybe it's just tropo.

Might it be they are converting to their new antenna?

Anyone heard if they have switched to the new antennas?

Ok, got off the phone with WJXX/WTLV and they were on low power last week, taking down the old antenna. Just this past weekend they mounted their new antenna.

They were on half power still on all stations 12.0, 12.1, 12.2, 25.1 Sunday and part of Monday. They went to full power Monday night before going home.

They are still at 11.1 KW on WJXX and 25 KW on WTLV. They have applied for more power per the post Trip made here a few weeks ago. As of today, they have not heard back from the FCC for their power increase. If they are granted additional power, they already have the overhead in their transmitters, but will have to wait until June 12th as with the analog of 12.0 also on the same coax and antenna, it would probably damage the feed line or antenna. Also the money they save turning off 12.0 would pay the bill for raising 10.1 and 12.1/12.2

Lets hope the FCC grants them a power increase. That would be icing on the cake to their new antenna.

===========

Edit: Apparently they have been granted power increase per the FCC site. See my post in Gainesville where I stopped to look at fcc.gov before hitting save button!

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=15960838#post15960838

Piggie: Thanks for the info. Even with the new antenna and full power, signal strength is lower(at least here at the beach) than it was last week.

Gatorman, I see from our sig you are a displaced Gainesville person. Guess I am also over here in Orange Springs.

Well the good news I guess for me is not good for the beaches.

With or without science look at this plot

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/polarplot?frame=Y&temp=91696&rotate=0.00&p0=0.793&p10=0.629&p20=0.453&p30=0.328&p40=0.307&p45=0.294&p50=0.271&p60=0.207&p70=0.228&p80=0.242&p90=0.244&p100=0.242&p110=0.228&p120=0.207&p130=0.271&p135=0.294&p140=0.307&p150=0.328&p160=0.453&p170=0.629&p180=0.793&p190=0.898&p200=0.971&p210=1.000&p220=0.984&p230=0.936&p240=0.856&p250=0.796&p260=0.846&p265=0.875&p270=0.886&p275=0.875&p280=0.846&p290=0.796&p300=0.856&p310=0.936&p320=0.984&p330=1.000&p340=0.971&p350=0.898&p360=0.793&

That is WTLV's antenna pattern. WJXX is almost identical since it's the same antenna.

Note the null they are casting due east, which I think is about exactly Jax Beach.

Here is the map, don't go by the red line on the map as much as where their tower is located and where you are located. It looks like you are dead due east of the tower.

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DS1296499.html

That fact they went highly directional only puts between 1 to 3 KW toward all the beaches.

If you want to find your exact equivalent power level.

You can guess from the map, where you are to the tower or go to TVFool.com and they will tell you exactly by your address. If you go to TVFool subtract 180 to get the direction from the station to you.

Then go to the plot, find your direction and read the closest number.

Multiply that number by itself (square it) then times 25KW and that will give you how much power you have going in your direction.

Just a guess, but some of you using Trek and Square Shooters should head to Lowes, and buy their cheap un-amplified rabbit ears with a UHF loop. They are about $7 here in Gainesville.

That is cheap enough not to set anyone back too bad. They are good backup, etc. But what I am thinking is they may work better on WJXX and WTLV in places where your other antenna no longer work.

If that works better, then you can get an inexpensive combiner and use one antenna for UHF and Rabbit Ears for VHF. Some may find the loop on the rabbit ears is enough for their UHF, some not. The ones from Lowes I saw you had to install the loop. We experimented and they seem to work a little better for VHF without the loop.

If the rabbit ears don't work any better, then you may need to figure out something bigger for VHF.

A lot of people here in Gainesville to get our CH9 plus the UHFs. Use two indoor antenna into a combiner. For example they may need to put their rabbit ears by a window but the UHF can sit on top of the set or near it.

A lot of people built their UHF here, a 4 bay whisker with no reflector because UHF's in Gainesville are from 2 directions. Then add rabbit ears by a window for Ch9.

This combiner works really well, and its more shipping than price. $9 shipped.

http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=UVSJ

---

another idea because it's often easier to mount in a window is build a VHF dipole. Thought it's not balanced proper, you can hook 15 inches of wire to either side of a balun which is about CH9 or about the middle of the band. That is often easier to hid or hang in a window.

You can take those FM antennas that are twin lead from Radio Shack for less than $10 and put one in a window. Some leave them as purchased, some shorten them to 30 inches tip to tip. If you shorten one cut it longer than 30 so you can strip the ends and short them together.

Or make one from twin lead. You will need a balun.
Here is good information on twin lead dipoles

http://www.wfu.edu/~matthews/misc/dipole.html

Just some ideas. Often the homemade solutions are better for indoor antennas and most are very simple to make.

Piggie: Thanks for the info. Even with the new antenna and full power, signal strength is lower(at least here at the beach) than it was last week.

Another thing I don't think I emphasized though mentioned. Some time after June 12, there is a good chance WTLV will about double it's power and WJXX will about triple it's power. That is sounds good but really is not a lot, but if a station is on the edge, it makes all the difference in the world.

Piggie:

At the end of December the FCC released pre and post transition maps for OTA broadacst signals. If I remember correctly, all of Duval county is okay with some expansion for most of the local stations.

I'm good because I use an outdoor antenna and indoor powered splitter with an adjustable gain.

I noted signal strength issues over the last week, but didn't lose signal. It is pretty close to the previous signal strength now.

The only real problem seems to be if strength drops then weather may have an impact.

Having tried them, I absolutely agree that indoor antennas are problematic.

Yep, I spent 7+ years down there going to school and practicing law.

Thanks again for the info.

Ward

Dish uplinked 30 and 47 in HD today, although they are not available yet. 12 and 25 HD were previously made available. The catch is they have been put on the 77 satellite as part of the Eastern Arc. Requires a wing dish on the 61.5 dish. None of the stations have been mirrored on 61.5, 110 or 119. Guess it is time to see how Dish will handle a request to have a 100.4 dish installed.

Dish changed 30 and 47 HD to available this morning. The other catch that I forgot to mention was that they are in the mpeg4 format which requires Vip series receivers and the new purple smart cards.

Guess it is time to see how Dish will handle a request to have a 100.4 dish installed.

Ask, and you shall receive (it worked for me).

Hey guys, I'm moving to Jacksonville soon from Orlando. We have a MyNetworkTV station in HD that shows WWE every friday night, but I can't seem to find any info for Jacksonville. Can anyone tell me about this?

For a while, I was getting the HD version of MNTV via QAM (I have a very basic package), but then they did "something" and only the SD version is now appearing. I don't know if the HD version is still available to people who have an actual Comcast box. Perhaps one of those kind souls will let you know.

For a while, I was getting the HD version of MNTV via QAM (I have a very basic package), but then they did "something" and only the SD version is now appearing. I don't know if the HD version is still available to people who have an actual Comcast box. Perhaps one of those kind souls will let you know.
Not planning on Comcast, gonna go with D* since I can get it cheaper. I would be receiving it over the air, because according to the D* site they do not carry it. Sorry about the misunderstanding and lack of info on my part.

Oh, in that case, no. MNTV is carried as an SD subchannel of Fox on 30-2 OTA.

Well that sucks...will they have plans to make a stand alone channel after the digital transition?

Not to my knowledge.

Ask, and you shall receive (it worked for me).

For free? Do you still need a second dish for 110 and 119?

For a while, I was getting the HD version of MNTV via QAM (I have a very basic package), but then they did "something" and only the SD version is now appearing. I don't know if the HD version is still available to people who have an actual Comcast box. Perhaps one of those kind souls will let you know.

Yes this sucks. I lost MNTV HD and all the Music Choice channels this week.:mad:

is verizon fios or at&t u-verse available in jacksonville yet?

For free? Do you still need a second dish for 110 and 119?

Yes, for free. Yes, I have an additional dish for 110 and 119 because i have three of the older receivers.

Yes, for free. Yes, I have an additional dish for 110 and 119 because i have three of the older receivers.

Thanks for the info. I'm surprised at the no cost. Hopefully I won't need to keep the 110/119 dish. I can simplify the wiring and get rid of the switch.

I think Verizon availability depends on where you live. Not available at the beach. U-verse is available. A neighbor of mine has an install scheduled. I thought about it, but when I closely read the mailer sent to me last week, it seemed that I would be paying as much or more for less channels than I currently receive from Dish. Then there are the limitations on the number of HD channels that are available at any given time on their DVR. While the DVR can record/display four channels at any one time, only two can be HD. If I understand correctly, the limitation is two HD streams per house. With Dish, including OTA, we can record/watch three HD channels per DVR. I also couldn't figure out if the U-verse receivers have an HD OTA tuner.

I think Verizon availability depends on where you live. Not available at the beach. U-verse is available. A neighbor of mine has an install scheduled. I thought about it, but when I closely read the mailer sent to me last week, it seemed that I would be paying as much or more for less channels than I currently receive from Dish. Then there are the limitations on the number of HD channels that are available at any given time on their DVR. While the DVR can record/display four channels at any one time, only two can be HD. If I understand correctly, the limitation is two HD streams per house. With Dish, including OTA, we can record/watch three HD channels per DVR. I also couldn't figure out if the U-verse receivers have an HD OTA tuner.

Thanks for this, I am planning on getting D*, but I would still need internet. Verizon is my first choice, D* second followed by U-Verse and then E*. It seems U-Verse has more channels than E* when it comes to HD(don't care about the SD channels anymore :( )
by the way, we are looking at zip code 32256 if you know anything about the options there

Sorry, I don't know. I'm in 66. I thought E* had more HD than U-verse with more being added tomorrow and on April 1, according to Ergan last night. It does seem that the numbers change daily and it all depends on how you count. Check out dbstalk.com and satelliteguys.us and you can find the lists of what the providers have and you can make an informed decision based on content and not just numbers. Personally, I don't think such channels as pay-for-view, VOD or RSNs(not available to me) should count.

Just thought I would see if anyone would be interested in 5 Irwin Marquee Theater chairs - I have 5 seats, could be configured as a row of three and a row of two.

If anyone is interested let me know - $100 gets them.

I'm getting channel 25-1 just fine, but I suddenly have nothing on 12-1 and 12-2. I'm here at Jax Beach with my Terk pro (indoor) facing due west toward Hogan. Is there trouble with NBCs transmission? Is it the fact that I'm at the beach? Is it just my imagination? A tad frustrating.

12-1,25-1,seem to have more problems then the other digital stations.Good luck,it seems tobe inconsistent with them.

But weakly at times. At least it's coming in.

I'm getting channel 25-1 just fine, but I suddenly have nothing on 12-1 and 12-2. I'm here at Jax Beach with my Terk pro (indoor) facing due west toward Hogan. Is there trouble with NBCs transmission? Is it the fact that I'm at the beach? Is it just my imagination? A tad frustrating.

Since 12-1 and 25-1 are both in the VHF range, they tend to be the ones with which most people have problems. Outdoor antennae or at least attic mounts seem to work better than indoor ones.

Since 12-1 and 25-1 are both in the VHF range, they tend to be the ones with which most people have problems. Outdoor antennae or at least attic mounts seem to work better than indoor ones.

As soon as you mentioned VHF, I went and pulled up the rabbit ears on the Terk HDTVi and the signal strength came up to 72% on my Panny. Worked like a dream. Thanks!

As soon as you mentioned VHF, I went and pulled up the rabbit ears on the Terk HDTVi and the signal strength came up to 72% on my Panny. Worked like a dream. Thanks!

You're welcome. That's what we're here for.

12-1,25-1,seem to have more problems then the other digital stations.Good luck,it seems tobe inconsistent with them.

That was definitely true in the past. First they didn't run enough power and had all the problems a lot of stations had in the transition.
Then about a year ago their antenna went bad. It went from bad to worse. Their range outside of downtown at best was comprised if not gone.

Then about 2 weeks ago, if you read back in my post, the antenna they ordered 6 months ago arrived and they had a tower crew mount it ASAP.

The new antenna does throw a null into the Atlantic Ocean, so signals at the beach are no doubt lower, but should be locked and watchable. Plus they are increasing 3 db power in June post transition. This should help a little, maybe more.

But all their past unstable situations were mainly that antenna going bad, and now it's gone and replaced with a brand new one that even reaches me in Orange Springs 95% of the time (I get co-channel from WTVT 13 analog in Tampa some nights).

So what you see now is what WTLV will be. All the unstable is over and they should get a little stronger after June 12th.

For the Jaguar fans out there, here is a clip explaining the poor 2008 season:

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/pre_game_coin_toss_makes

Has anyone else completely lost signal on 25 OTA this afternoon? 0 here at the beach.

Here in southern St. Johns County, 12(13) and especially 25(10) have both been even weaker than normal over the past two days or so, with frequent breakups every time the wind blows. This started even before last night's storms rolled through. UHF's unaffected...

Southern st johns county 12 -1,25-1,very weak for me also over the weekend.Guess it was the high winds.

25 is gone again this morning and signal strength is way down on 12. Maybe they are working on it.

Hi Everyone, my family and I are relocating to Jacksonville in June and was wondering what HD locals Directv carries? I refuse to go with Comcast and AT&T Uverse is not available yet in the area we are moving to. Thanks in advance.

Hi Everyone, my family and I are relocating to Jacksonville in June and was wondering what HD locals Directv carries? I refuse to go with Comcast and AT&T Uverse is not available yet in the area we are moving to. Thanks in advance.

That's an easy one: 17 (CW), 12 (NBC), 25 (ABC), 30 (Fox), 47 (CBS).

Also, OTA you can get 4-1 (WJXT), an independent that broadcasts a large portion of its programming in HD including local news, 7-1 (PBS) and 59-1 (TBN).

Anyone "in the know" have any clue as to when AT&T will have Uverse available in the Switzerland , Julington Creek area?

Thanks

25 is gone again this morning and signal strength is way down on 12. Maybe they are working on it.

10 and 13 have not been as strong down here in Orange Springs as they were when they first changed the antenna. But I have a HUGE laurel oak that just budded out leaves and my loss in signal seemed to be in correlation. Nice tree on my rental lot. Tempted to have it taken out, as it also shades the veggie garden. My renters might get upset, lol.

Hello all,

Ive just recently moved back to Jax from South Carolina. Im renting a house in riverside and Comcast is included in the rent. I hooked up my Vizio and did a channel scan for both digital and analog. Is there a reference guide of some sort that lists what the channels are? Like 101-3 108-2 etc..?

Also, ive noticed that some of these channels only have a signal at night and are gone during the day. What would cause this?

Thanks,
Mike

Glad to be back in Jacksonville.

Hello all,

Ive just recently moved back to Jax from South Carolina. Im renting a house in riverside and Comcast is included in the rent. I hooked up my Vizio and did a channel scan for both digital and analog. Is there a reference guide of some sort that lists what the channels are? Like 101-3 108-2 etc..?

Also, ive noticed that some of these channels only have a signal at night and are gone during the day. What would cause this?

Thanks,
Mike

Glad to be back in Jacksonville.

The first post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=2874813#post2874813) in this thread has some information on QAM channels. It may or may not be the most accurate, since Comcast has a tendency of moving things around periodically.

There is also this listing (http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/lineupui/US:32256).

Also, channels popping in and out are probably VOD channels or PPV channels that individuals are using. These will show up randomly.

WJCT says bye to analog signals

http://www.jacksonville.com/business/2009-04-06/story/station_says_bye_to_analog_signals

Is anyone tracking WJCT's move to RF 7/analog end today? I am interested in hearing how effective 18kW on 7 is vs. 1000kW on 38.

Thanks,

Is anyone tracking WJCT's move to RF 7/analog end today? I am interested in hearing how effective 18kW on 7 is vs. 1000kW on 38.

An hour ago it was looking good, roughly equal to 38 on the SNR meter (though 38 had been my weakest UHF) and better than either WTLV-RF13 or WJXX-RF10, but right now there are quite a few dropouts, enough to render WJCT unwatchable. This could be either wind gusts or impulse noise / "electrical" interference, which wasn't uncommon during afternoon hours on 7 when it was analog.

I'm in southern St. Johns County, using a CM-4228 (nominally UHF-only) mounted outdoors at about 25'. According to hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html a 4228 has much lower gain on VHF 7 than either 10 or 13, but despite this 7 was coming in noticeably stronger... until the dropouts started.

This could be either wind gusts or impulse noise / "electrical" interference, which wasn't uncommon during afternoon hours on 7 when it was analog.

Thank you for the info. How did analog 7 compare with analog 12 for impulse noise? Can you see any noise on 12 now?

Impulse noise is going to be more difficult to troubleshoot, along with multipath, etc., when the last analog signals go away. Low-Power analog stations can be useful at times for this, however, where they are available.

Thank you for the info. How did analog 7 compare with analog 12 for impulse noise? Can you see any noise on 12 now?
7 always had a bit more, albeit nowhere close to 4 or 2. 12 is usually clean (if weak), but sees occasional bursts of noise spanning several frames, even during clear weather. Of course, lightning anywhere in the area is likely to clobber both.

7 has improved quite a bit since I last checked, showing only occasional artifacts (along with 12 DT), while 25-DT has worsened... way down in the noise now, more random macroblocks than picture.

(Monitoring remotely via a pchd5500 card & Internet backhaul, and the tuner on that card is less sensitive than my DTT901's.)


Impulse noise is going to be more difficult to troubleshoot, along with multipath, etc., when the last analog signals go away. Low-Power analog stations can be useful at times for this, however, where they are available.
Yup. Aiming a rotor will become much harder too, when the last analogs are gone.

Just finished a re-scan to pickup up the "new" 7-1. Checked out the HD on Newshour and it looked pretty good. I'm seeing/hearing a slight out of synch with the audio (may just be the TV in the kitchen).

I'll have to check later on the "real" sets in the living room and bedroom.

Hmm, terrible noise tonight across the entire VHF-Hi band. Attached is a capture from 12's analog broadcast, but it's bad enough to trash ATSC reception from 7, 12(13), 25(10) as well, while leaving UHF unaffected.

Does this look like motor brush arcing? It gradually rolls up the screen, like hum bars would (60/59.94 Hz rate) and has been nearly constant for a half hour, but occasionally disappears for a few seconds. Probably something a neighbor's running... I turned off nearly everything in the house trying to isolate the offending appliance, with no luck.

Hmm, terrible noise tonight across the entire VHF-Hi band. Attached is a capture from 12's analog broadcast, but it's bad enough to trash ATSC reception from 7, 12(13), 25(10) as well, while leaving UHF unaffected.

Does this look like motor brush arcing? It gradually rolls up the screen, like hum bars would (60/59.94 Hz rate) and has been nearly constant for a half hour, but occasionally disappears for a few seconds. Probably something a neighbor's running... I turned off nearly everything in the house trying to isolate the offending appliance, with no luck.

I am in Orange Springs, just south of the Putnam line in Marion County by 2 miles. Near the corner of 315 and 318.

I have that same noise constantly on VHF, and it's not coming from my house. I did the same thing. Turned off every breaker except the TV.

Right now I have the beams pointed at Jax, seeing 12.0, 10.1 and 10.2 and nothing else. I told the TV to scan, it found 7 but displays nothing. The bedroom TV says it's quality 15 and I take 40 to lock. It bounce in enough I could tell it was Antique Road show, so it was 7.1 for sure. I can't be sure I was on RF 7.

What is the status? 7.0 is off? 38.1, etc is now off? Only 7.1 etc is on?

What doesn't make sense I am locking 10.1 and not 13.1, which is normally the other way around. I turned the beam at Tampa and it's not their skip bothering me.

Hmm, terrible noise tonight across the entire VHF-Hi band. Attached is a capture from 12's analog broadcast, but it's bad enough to trash ATSC reception from 7, 12(13), 25(10) as well, while leaving UHF unaffected.

Packetrat, how high up and which antennas are you using?

I have a 4221A at about 15 for Gainesville, but have a pair of YA-1713's to top one up 25 ft. Not that anything lately has worked worth a crude.

Packetrat, how high up and which antennas are you using?

I have a 4221A at about 15 for Gainesville, but have a pair of YA-1713's to top one up 25 ft. Not that anything lately has worked worth a crude.I have a CM-4228 (yeah, I know it was never meant for VHF), only about 20-25 feet in the air, with a CM-7777 preamp just below it on the mast.

That constant VHF-Hi impulse noise finally went away, at least for now, bringing back 7, 10, and 13. Oddly, tonight 10/25 is slightly stronger than 13/12 ...like you said, it's usually the other way around. Both are just above the lock-in threshold, with 7 about 10 points stronger on the pc5500's arbitrary scale.

Could you receive WJCT's analog signal at all before it went away? Since their DTV 38 transmitter was shut down at noon today, my understanding is that the baseband ATSC signal that had been feeding that now goes to the same RF 7 transmitter and antenna they'd been using before, but maybe not.

Anyone know if there was tower work scheduled? Interestingly, about an hour after the transition, WJCT's newly-moved digital signal went abruptly off the air for a few minutes, and registered a few points stronger once it came back. I wonder if they were fine-tuning something then... could have just been a change in the weather.

I have a CM-4228 (yeah, I know it was never meant for VHF), only about 20-25 feet in the air, with a CM-7777 preamp just below it on the mast.

That constant VHF-Hi impulse noise finally went away, at least for now, bringing back 7, 10, and 13. Oddly, tonight 10/25 is slightly stronger than 13/12 ...like you said, it's usually the other way around. Both are just above the lock-in threshold, with 7 about 10 points stronger on the pc5500's arbitrary scale.

Could you receive WJCT's analog signal at all before it went away? Since their DTV 38 transmitter was shut down at noon today, my understanding is that the baseband ATSC signal that had been feeding that now goes to the same RF 7 transmitter and antenna they'd been using before, but maybe not.

Anyone know if there was tower work scheduled? Interestingly, about an hour after the transition, WJCT's newly-moved digital signal went abruptly off the air for a few minutes, and registered a few points stronger once it came back. I wonder if they were fine-tuning something then... could have just been a change in the weather.

I uploaded my TVFool plot for you. It's acurate for my VHF beams, but you would need to see my one for 15 ft for my 4221A, which for now I will forgo to because we are talking VHF.

As you see I am 61 miles from their (Jax) tower farm if you haven't looked me up on a map yet.

I could see 7.0 analog anytime I turned toward Jax with color and about 80% signal, watchable.

Also if you followed the last month not until WJXX/WTLV changed their antenna I had nothing here.

(an aside we need to pull Nocableguy and Waldogatr from the Gainesville thread as they watch Jax with their towers all the time and both of them in particular Waldogatr whois 2 miles south of the center of that small town can see jxx/tlv all the time. So they would be very valuable out of DMA watchers to tune channel 7. Thought of it earlier and forgot. I need to PM them after I post this.)

I also have a CM7777 preamp. The two Winegard beams are combined into a Winegard CC 7870 2-Way Antenna Joiner Coupler (CC7870). Sounds impressive but I am still not sure it helped much over a single beam. I begged Winegard to build me another 100 inches of directors, which I think would work better than stacking.

It's still the same here, very very very odd. WJXX is locking (also noticed they added a 25.2) and nothing on my best receiver for 13.1 WTLV and nothing for WJCT on 7.1. I even tried my AVER USB stick where I capture TSReader data which is pretty good little receiver and nothing.

We have that front approaching, so that might be why the lack of signal, but it doens't explain at all why I can sit here and watch WJXX just fine!

I am baffled too, as I did a channel add on my living room TV which is better but I can now see WJCT (breaking up ) on the bedroom which is never as good.

It's like everything is backwards right now! On all my receivers it's like RF13.1 is just not there! I guess you are seeing it. They haven't been as strong as they were when the first changed the antenna for about a week. But I think it's a combination of impulse noise, weather and trees now have leaves.

WTLV is still receivable from here, so long as the impulse noise stays away, although weaker than usual. I wonder how much adding a proper VHF-Hi antenna might help.

My rotor doesn't get nearly the use yours probably does, rarely moving off the Jacksonville position. I'd added it hoping to receive WUFT-DT 36 out of Gainesville and WESH-DT 11 from Daytona, but unlike with analog 5 and 2, at my antenna height this is rarely possible.

WTLV is still receivable from here, so long as the impulse noise stays away, although weaker than usual. I wonder how much adding a proper VHF-Hi antenna might help.

My rotor doesn't get nearly the use yours probably does, rarely moving off the Jacksonville position. I'd added it hoping to receive WUFT-DT 36 out of Gainesville and WESH-DT 11 from Daytona, but unlike with analog 5 and 2, at my antenna height this is rarely possible.

I have an ArmStong brand rotor and it's wireless! :@)

I put the pole up as an experiment 2 years ago instead of replacing my antenna on my tower. Glad I did actually as things just keep changing. Winegard didn't have the 769xP series which should work nice up 50 ft. with less wind load and turning torque than 3 or 4 antennas up there.

If it were not so expensive to get someone to climb the tower I probably would have put something up there already. But as it is, I am glad I delayed, as I never suspected I stood any chance of Jax signals (watched them before antenna failed on the tower many years ago). But as it is there are at least a lot of nights things are available. I can even see WESH a lot now at 25 ft.

If I were you I would have to decide between adding a Winegard YA-1713 to your CM4228, or taking it down and replacing it with probably the 7696P. The 7698P is on sale right now for $120 shipped, but it's a 200 inch boom, a big boy.

You would notice a big difference with a VHF antenna using your CM7777 is split mode. Would it be enough? hard to say, but you are half the distance to the Jax tower farm (30 some miles) as I am. I would guess it's possible to over come some of the problems. I would be shocked if you didn't see an improvement.

==========

11 PM check for signals. 25.1 (RF 10.1) is still coming in, not strong but very watchable, tiny tiny drops. It's like 12.1 (13.1RF isn't even on the air). WJCT just pops in a little to know it's there but 95% not there.

I am not going to jump to many conclusions, as it's way way way way way, (did I say way?) to weird I am not getting even a peep out of RF13 (WTLV), very odd. I am calling them tomorrow, just to know if they were running full power last night or something happened. I hope their new antenna didn't burn in two already! arg!!

Edit:

Forgot to reply on WUFT and WESH.

The VHF might help WESH but you like me are now 30 some miles farther away since they moved their tower for digital. Plus I found anything under about 20 to 25 on db (NM) scale on TVFool, you aren't going to get consistent reception. Up around 40 things get solid day in day out.

Then you have a big ridge for WUFT and with it moving from low band VHF to UHF, it's lost it's range, despite those optimistic FCC maps.

Oddly, tonight 10/25 is slightly stronger than 13/12 ...like you said, it's usually the other way around. Both are just above the lock-in threshold, with 7 about 10 points stronger on the pc5500's arbitrary scale.


Update. Just got off the phone with WTLV engineering. 13 RF is still powering out the power.

And on my end, 10 RF is still stronger than 13 RF, which is backwards from what it had been since they changed the antenna.

Really odd. 10 RF never came in during the peak of the day, but it has been this week. 13RF is even weak at night.

But it's not the station, it's weather.

I am starting to like DTV less and less lately.

Peter/or anyone else - I finally got around to rescanning for 7. I noticed that my signal strength is great but I am not getting programming on 7-2, 7-3 etc.

7-1 is just fine.


Just finished a re-scan to pickup up the "new" 7-1. Checked out the HD on Newshour and it looked pretty good. I'm seeing/hearing a slight out of synch with the audio (may just be the TV in the kitchen).

I'll have to check later on the "real" sets in the living room and bedroom.

^ That's curious. I get them all.

I have an HR-20 with an indoor HDTV antenna connected to it. Until recently I was able to receive 4-1,7-1,17-1,30-1,30-2, and 47-1. I am now unable to receive 7-1. I have been reading about rescanning. I am not sure that the HR-20 is capable of doing this. I went to setup and reset the antenna and did an initial installation. Looks like it just put the local channels in the guide. There is no signal strength for 7-1. The other channels are 100%. Is channel 7 putting out a weaker signal that will require me to get another antenna?

You don't have 12-1 or 25-1 either. It sounds like you need to add an upper-VHF antenna to your setup. All three (7, 12, 25) are on upper VHF; the rest are on UHF.

- Trip

You would notice a big difference with a VHF antenna using your CM7777 is split mode. Would it be enough? hard to say, but you are half the distance to the Jax tower farm (30 some miles) as I am. I would guess it's possible to over come some of the problems. I would be shocked if you didn't see an improvement.
I think I'll hold off on VHF changes until after the June transition, when WTLV and WJXX are set to increase their power a bit. If that brings reception of those two up to equal WJCT (which would leave a slight margin for weather), and I'm willing to give up on WESH, the CM-4228 may be good enough.


11 PM check for signals. 25.1 (RF 10.1) is still coming in, not strong but very watchable, tiny tiny drops. It's like 12.1 (13.1RF isn't even on the air). WJCT just pops in a little to know it's there but 95% not there.

Any better luck since on those two?


The VHF might help WESH but you like me are now 30 some miles farther away since they moved their tower for digital. Plus I found anything under about 20 to 25 on db (NM) scale on TVFool, you aren't going to get consistent reception. Up around 40 things get solid day in day out.

Interesting... I didn't realize WESH had moved their tower! That explains a lot.

WUFT from here is probably a lost cause. When pointing directly towards Gainesville, I can occasionally receive a barely-watchable signal, but it never lasts for very long. One of the tvfool-type sites estimated I'd need a 120+ foot tower to see over that ridge... probably even more to clear the Fresnel zone.

I'm not having any issues with the WJCT subchannels either.

On the computer, rather than scanning again I just copied existing channels.conf entries from 38 down to 7, changing the frequencies but leaving PIDs the same, which worked fine:

7-1:177000000:8VSB:49:52:7
7-2:177000000:8VSB:65:68:8
7-3:177000000:8VSB:81:84:9
7-4:177000000:8VSB:97:100:10
7-5:177000000:8VSB:113:116:11

Perhaps there is/was something wrong with their PSIP data, but my DT-901's picked them all up ok as well after a quick rescan, with correct virtual channels & guide data.

I'm not having any issues with the WJCT subchannels either.

On the computer, rather than scanning again I just copied existing channels.conf entries from 38 down to 7, changing the frequencies but leaving PIDs the same, which worked fine:

7-1:177000000:8VSB:49:52:7
7-2:177000000:8VSB:65:68:8
7-3:177000000:8VSB:81:84:9
7-4:177000000:8VSB:97:100:10
7-5:177000000:8VSB:113:116:11

Perhaps there is/was something wrong with their PSIP data, but my DT-901's picked them all up ok as well after a quick rescan, with correct virtual channels & guide data.

Last night we had some good skip so I could up date TSReader data. Almost forgot to post it.

I added the sub channel on WJXX and WJCT on 7, but their data still references 38 but indeed I pulled it off RF 7.

I think I'll hold off on VHF changes until after the June transition, when WTLV and WJXX are set to increase their power a bit. If that brings reception of those two up to equal WJCT (which would leave a slight margin for weather), and I'm willing to give up on WESH, the CM-4228 may be good enough.



Any better luck since on those two?



Interesting... I didn't realize WESH had moved their tower! That explains a lot.

WUFT from here is probably a lost cause. When pointing directly towards Gainesville, I can occasionally receive a barely-watchable signal, but it never lasts for very long. One of the tvfool-type sites estimated I'd need a 120+ foot tower to see over that ridge... probably even more to clear the Fresnel zone.

It might be wise to hold off till WJXX/WTLV raise power. Your old style 4228 might just work fine.

I have concluded all I can do is wait till June 12th on working on VHF. Skip tonight from WFTV is wiping out WNBW. Impulse noise is through the roof. So 12.1 is not there at all, but odd enough 25.1 is there. 7.1 comes in with skip, just like it did on 38.

I keep wondering if the 7698P 12.5 db on channel 9 is real. That is at best what I am getting with stacked YA-1713s. Though it has about as much wind sail at those two together, maybe more.

I know if I go up on my tower it's going to be a 7698P with a rotor. Having stacked VHF and a UHF up that high, triples the chance of something going wrong on one of the antennas. If I were still 30 I would climb myself up that thing. But really 3 antennas would put too much metal above the rotor.

But on my pole I can play with the ones I have now. I was hoping being on a short pole would work and I would not need the tower, but I am not sure anymore.

If this frustration continues maybe I should just sell it all and go back to satellite. Even my local UHFs right now that were fine for the last 2 years are getting mulitpath I guess from new tree growth in the last year.

Even on the pole I need a second person to manage the clamps, and my lazy ass sons keep promising to help me (it would take an hour if we did it slow) 2 months. Now they think it's funny they aren't going to help me with the antenna.

I can't charge them rent because they fix or do anything my wife wants.

Why the heck didn't I stay single!

Ok, too much information. But I have at the top level of frustration.

Last night we had some good skip so I could up date TSReader data. Almost forgot to post it.

I added the sub channel on WJXX and WJCT on 7, but their data still references 38 but indeed I pulled it off RF 7.

Wow, thanks, I completely missed the addition of Universal Sports to 25-2. And at that bitrate, it will be a blur of pixels most of the time.

- Trip

Wow, thanks, I completely missed the addition of Universal Sports to 25-2. And at that bitrate, it will be a blur of pixels most of the time.

- Trip

Watched a bike race on it and it was laughable.

The week they changed the antenna, the leaves, weather, DTV gods, were in perfect alignment. Since that first week things have gotten slowly worse pulling Jax VHF.

Goes to show you that even 50 quality for a week, day and night, can turn into not moving your meter a month later.

Arg.... Even Gainesville UHFs are much worse than last spring. I actually have had to use the satellite dish a lot lately....

Wow, thanks, I completely missed the addition of Universal Sports to 25-2. And at that bitrate, it will be a blur of pixels most of the time.

- Trip

Looking here to see if there were updates, re-reading your post something hit me. You might have been too young at the time. But back in 1998, I bought a portable MP3 player, one of the first. I can't remember how much memory it had, but it boasted how many songs you could put on it at a 64 kbps bit rate. They failed to mention and I figured out quick how bloody horrible music sounded at that rate, lol. Found in reality I could encode at 128 and get 10 short songs on the player.

Where as with MP3 players, it was just a matter of time until memory got to be lower power, more dense, cheaper, etc etc. The only hope for ATSC is to move on to mpeg10 as soon as it's invented.

Even then, what is the limit of less loss but higher compression? There has to be a asymptotic wall were improvements only push us closer up to the limit. There is some work using linear algebra that has been around for decades, some just being released to the public from the days of tracking Soviet submarines. Most of that work was using algorithms to listen 10 to 20 db below the noise floor, considered impossible by conventional techniques. Actually it was probably better than that, but that was what was released. It would seem to me this same type of math, might (or we can hope) take us to new levels of signal to noise and compression.

Looking here to see if there were updates, re-reading your post something hit me. You might have been too young at the time. But back in 1998, I bought a portable MP3 player, one of the first. I can't remember how much memory it had, but it boasted how many songs you could put on it at a 64 kbps bit rate. They failed to mention and I figured out quick how bloody horrible music sounded at that rate, lol. Found in reality I could encode at 128 and get 10 short songs on the player.

I didn't even have a Windows computer until December 1998. :p

I've never encoded music as low as 128 kbps. I couldn't stand MP3s even at that bitrate. I had to have at least 192 kbps, and now I encode all my music in Q8 OGG Vorbis.

Where as with MP3 players, it was just a matter of time until memory got to be lower power, more dense, cheaper, etc etc. The only hope for ATSC is to move on to mpeg10 as soon as it's invented.

Even then, what is the limit of less loss but higher compression? There has to be a asymptotic wall were improvements only push us closer up to the limit. There is some work using linear algebra that has been around for decades, some just being released to the public from the days of tracking Soviet submarines. Most of that work was using algorithms to listen 10 to 20 db below the noise floor, considered impossible by conventional techniques. Actually it was probably better than that, but that was what was released. It would seem to me this same type of math, might (or we can hope) take us to new levels of signal to noise and compression.

It's very interesting and I can't wait to see where it goes from here. I have to hope there will be a very good compression scheme in the future that we can move to. I've thought about how to do it, too, and I think it's doable.

Basically, you move existing HD and SD subchannels to the new scheme. For those who don't feel a need to upgrade, leave a single SD sub, highly compressed, with the main programming on it. But before any of this can happen, the new receivers should be required to be in TVs for many years before the move, and boxes should be available without subsidies to convert existing boxes. Software updates should be available for existing receivers with enough processor to handle it.

It seems to make sense to me.

- Trip

I didn't even have a Windows computer until December 1998. :p

I've never encoded music as low as 128 kbps. I couldn't stand MP3s even at that bitrate. I had to have at least 192 kbps, and now I encode all my music in Q8 OGG Vorbis.

For a year or two, 128 kbps was considered "good enough", but by 2000, most considered 192 acceptable and 256 the best, and going higher was a waste and still really is.

But the point is you can see what happens. In 5 years and 10 for sure people will not tolerate this 1.26 to 2 mbps subs. Even if the only end result is they are just not watched.

I have all but finally concluded to have any semblance of HD and a sub worth watching one has to run 720P and only one sub. One might be able to put up a third 1.5 that is mostly still screens like a community calendar.

But to run a 4 to 5 mpbs sub, I really think one needs to run their main on 720p. Right now the vast majority of TVs are only 720p in the average home.

It's very interesting and I can't wait to see where it goes from here. I have to hope there will be a very good compression scheme in the future that we can move to. I've thought about how to do it, too, and I think it's doable.

Basically, you move existing HD and SD subchannels to the new scheme. For those who don't feel a need to upgrade, leave a single SD sub, highly compressed, with the main programming on it. But before any of this can happen, the new receivers should be required to be in TVs for many years before the move, and boxes should be available without subsidies to convert existing boxes. Software updates should be available for existing receivers with enough processor to handle it.

It seems to make sense to me.

- Trip

The kind of thing I was talking about would probably take a few cores or a few processors with a few cores each. I believe the technology almost exists today, but it's not affordable. There would be a lot of details to take technology from other projects and use it for HDTV. I don't know what the government has released, as the stuff I talked about the submarines was released in the early to mid 1980's. At that point it was in only vague terms, but enough to see how using a matrix, the noise could be eliminated leaving signal that wasn't even apparently there before doing the transforms. If and when you take linear algebra they will probably show you how it's done. I took it 20 years ago and can't remember anything but the broadest aspects of the process.

Anyway if you have a good LA instructor you will see why I think even if encoding could not be improved, that signal to noise could be, thus maybe improving VHF reception. There may also be ways to use it to reduce wind mulitpath, by statically determining which is the main signal and dropping the other reflections out of the equation. If they could do that , they could then easily kill stationary mulitpath by just dropping the weaker of the two signals from the matrix.

I think the kicker still is processing power. The stuff I was talking about for the cold war took Cray Computers running in parallel. But they were dealing with minute signals. Subs hiding under hot/cold water layers would now and then release a sound the barrier didn't hide, and picked up by a microphone thousands of miles away mixed with the sounds of whales, water currents, etc etc (also why I think they were doing a lot better than just 10db below the noise floor but that is the official statement). ATSC I don't think would be in that realm of analysis, so we don't have to convert the spare bedroom into a racks of computers to watch VHF, lol.

The future should be interesting, but right now the bigger question is can we afford it. But according to Ken H's sig line, we will anyway.

Whats up with 24 last night? It was in 4:3 format and only 2.0 audio. It didn't look HD at all. :mad:

I don't think the Fox or CBS local affiliates are able to put an overlay on their HD feed like NBC and ABC did. NBC and ABC carried the network HD feed and put weather overlays on them.

CBS and FOX just went SD. Their pictures were horrible.

Been that way for a while now. Same thing when there are Amber Alerts.

Hi - I'm a Comcast customer in St. Johns County. Just bought a new TV for the kitchen (old one died). This one has HD and a QAM tuner - and I'm using the Comcast feed without a STB. No problems getting CBS and NBC HD (also a few other HD stations) through Comcast - but I can't for the life of me get ABC. FWIW - we've had problems with ABC HD even with our Comcast DVR in the living room. Comcast blames the problems on ABC. Any hints/suggestions would be appreciated.

BTW - this is a cute little TV - a 19" Sony. Very portable (has a handle). So you could probably use it anywhere. Bought it at Costco for $250. Where the sales people tested the HD capabilities for me. Using a paper clip as an antenna (they don't have a cable feed there). You may get better reception on your porch/patio using a real antenna :). Robyn

P.S. Maybe the best thing about this TV is the sound - very good for such a small TV. The first set we brought home - a 23" Samsung - had sound that was worse than I get from my Thinkpad (and my Thinkpad is pretty awful). Robyn

Hi - I'm a Comcast customer in St. Johns County. Just bought a new TV for the kitchen (old one died). This one has HD and a QAM tuner - and I'm using the Comcast feed without a STB. No problems getting CBS and NBC HD (also a few other HD stations) through Comcast - but I can't for the life of me get ABC. FWIW - we've had problems with ABC HD even with our Comcast DVR in the living room. Comcast blames the problems on ABC. Any hints/suggestions would be appreciated.

BTW - this is a cute little TV - a 19" Sony. Very portable (has a handle). So you could probably use it anywhere. Bought it at Costco for $250. Where the sales people tested the HD capabilities for me. Using a paper clip as an antenna (they don't have a cable feed there). You may get better reception on your porch/patio using a real antenna :). Robyn

Robyn,

This listing will give you the HD QAM channels for Comcast:

http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/lineupui/US:32256

You many need to set your Sony to do a cable re-scan to make sure it has properly picked them up.

I'm familiar with the website. Sometimes ABC HD is there - sometimes it isn't. Maybe I'll just do a new scan when ABC HD is coming in strong on the living room TV (maybe tonight - when DWTS is on - if the HD is good). Thanks for your response. Robyn

I haven't been able to get ABC-HD in ages. I'm basically running the same setup as you and live in St. Augustine.

I haven't been able to get ABC-HD in ages. I'm basically running the same setup as you and live in St. Augustine.

Odd. Is there something about the configuration in St. Augustine that is different from the one in Jacksonville? I wouldn't think there'd be a difference, but perhaps there is.

I lock in on ABC-HD on 2 sets I have, an LG in the bedroom and a Sony in the living room, so I can't offer much more than I already have in terms of problem solving. Sorry.

Odd. Is there something about the configuration in St. Augustine that is different from the one in Jacksonville? I wouldn't think there'd be a difference, but perhaps there is.

I lock in on ABC-HD on 2 sets I have, an LG in the bedroom and a Sony in the living room, so I can't offer much more than I already have in terms of problem solving. Sorry.

yes, st augustine has some differences in line-up, but abc-hd(wjxx) is on 70.6 for most tuners and shows a good signal on my comcast wire. see attached screen dump of hdhr scan.
i noticed a comcast tech doing something to the wire outside my house a few weeks ago, said they were upgrading again, to get better reception. could be they haven't gotten the whole system done yet. this was a time warner system originally and the switch-over to comcast has be a long, painful process for us customers.
btw zip code 32256 is a scan for south jacksonville, zip code 32084 will get an up to date silicondust(hdhr) qam scan for st augustine here:
http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/channels_us

^ Good information.

The usual problem with ABC is while the actual signal is always on 70-6, they also add virtual mapping to something like 1-1. Different tuners react differently to that.

Not sure why they moved this to 12.2 when they have more spare bandwidth on 25.2 unless NBC lowered the boom to move it. It had been on 25.2 for a week or so.

Anyway, don't get too excited. Unless you really want to watch what they are showing is below SD standards (in my opinion) with only 2.1 mbps bandwidth. Here on my converter box TV it's blurry, on my 32" LCD it goes into blocks when people move and people move in sports.

Enjoy if you can.

I captured the TSReader data for the transition for Trip in VA and those that collect the data.

I haven't been able to get ABC-HD in ages. I'm basically running the same setup as you and live in St. Augustine.

The DWTS hi-def reception was not as bad as it has sometimes been - but annoying enough (kept breaking up) that I had to switch stations. I read somewhere this week that the station is only broadcasting at "half-strength" until digital becomes finalized in June. So perhaps things will perk up then. Robyn

The DWTS hi-def reception was not as bad as it has sometimes been - but annoying enough (kept breaking up) that I had to switch stations. I read somewhere this week that the station is only broadcasting at "half-strength" until digital becomes finalized in June. So perhaps things will perk up then. Robyn

If you are talking about WJXX OTA signal they are on their new antenna, which works much better.

But since WJXX digital on RF10, WTLV digital on 13 RF and WTLV analog on 12 RF share the same antenna and feed line, there is a limit to who much power they can run up the tower until after June 12, when WTLV RF 12 analog goes silent. Right now WTLV analog RF 12 is using about half the power handling capacity of the feed line, so they can't turn up the digital on either First Coast News channels.

Here is the power

WTLV on 13 RF and mapped to 12.1 is running 25 KW ERP.
Come June 13, they will turn up the power to 53.3 KW ERP (nice)

WJXX on 10 RF and mapped to 25.2 is running 11.1 KW ERP.
Come June 13, they will turn up the power to 29.5 KW ERP.

Both power increases are significant. People that see WTLV but get a little break up (but not much) should loose that. WJXX is a higher percentage increase and a few people that see it half the time might be able to watch it.

Don't expect day and night. That takes increasing power by a factor of 10, but still this is significant.

I am too am hoping it helps me in Orange Springs. I can see WTLV most of the time but it breaks up a little in the day. I have some tuning to do to my antenna stack and then hope them doubling the power will push me over the edge of being able to watch WTLV most of the time without break ups, but I am not holding my breath. I can watch WCJB for ABC better than WJXX .

The station I wish would turn up the power is WJCT. They only come in here a few nights a week.

Anybody know why WJXX has cut their bitrate almost in half? This started last year.

One hour shows now are less than 4gB, vs the full rate of 8gB. Not that it seems to cause video problems.

The stream labeled 0x1fff on the attachment appears to be where all the bits are going, but no idea who gets that stream.

0x1fff is the null packet. That's supposed to be any leftover bits that pack the feed so it's still 19.393 Mbps.

They might have gotten a new encoder and may not have the settings correct yet. And actually, if it's a statistical multiplexer, where the bitrates vary from second to second, then the overall bitrate might be lower.

- Trip

Anybody know why WJXX has cut their bitrate almost in half? This started last year.

One hour shows now are less than 4gB, vs the full rate of 8gB. Not that it seems to cause video problems.

The stream labeled 0x1fff on the attachment appears to be where all the bits are going, but no idea who gets that stream.

0x0031 is 10.1 showing 9.06m
0x1fff are null packets. Nothing there, no one gets them. Why they waste this I don't know. Call and ask Bishop to explain it!
The other stream at 2 something is the weather. It seems to stay at 2.

Look at wjxx-a.htm where they are running HD and Weather, and there are a ton of wasted packets.

If you save captures to html, you more information than just the screen on TSReader I have found.


They seem to be running (and WTLV) variable rate encoders. I notice the rate changes between HD and 4:3 broadcasts.

I think I have some TSReader saves here.

wjxx-a.htm is when they were running an HD with the Weather Channel on 10.2
wjxx-b.htm is when they didn't have a 10.2 and were running 4:3
wjxx-with-sports.htm is the one from the week they ran the sports US channel on 10.2 and 10.1 was in HD

It's zipped to be able to post here.

Thanks for the info on the null packets.

What made me ask was an article about the ABC O&Os starting a new digital stream, and thinking maybe this was a precursor to needing part of their 19Mbps for something.

So far, I haven't noticed any microblocking. I did look at the bitrate in Dec '08 during a football game and remember it was somewhat higher than during normal prime time.

Thanks for the info on the null packets.

What made me ask was an article about the ABC O&Os starting a new digital stream, and thinking maybe this was a precursor to needing part of their 19Mbps for something.

So far, I haven't noticed any microblocking. I did look at the bitrate in Dec '08 during a football game and remember it was somewhat higher than during normal prime time.

Well they are 720p, which can stand a lot of loss of bandwidth without macro blocking. To me it begs the question if a station is going to run a subchannel besides something like weather or a community calendar, they should run 720p.

From here I can compare WUFT to WJCT. WUFT is 1080i and WJCT is 720p. I only have a 32 inch LCD so both look equal to me. Actually WUFT marco blocks sometimes on fast scenes, fast fades. I actually like the picture better from WJCT, but it seldom comes in without WFLA wiping it out from Tampa. And if you go to Trip's site you can see my TSReader saves for WUFT, which runs 14.33 m and WJCT only uses 9.88 m . The subchannels on WJCT also look MUCH better as they have the room to make most of the at least 2m. WUFT's subchannels looks like blurry garbage. I wish I was a little closer to Jax to watch WJCT all the time.

Anyway, you are welcome. Trip explained them to me, the null packets.

I am guessing if they start running some service it would show up as yet another stream.

So how do you like the megablock mess WTLV calls 12.2 Universal Sports? I can't believe they bother.

If our local Fox and CBS stations insist on inserting news crawls into programs, I sincerely hope they will invest in the proper equipment to do so without dropping to SD. That in itself is bad enough, but last night it was taking them an average of 10 seconds to complete the process of dropping the HD feed then switching to SD to insert the crawl.

That meant losing part of the program after each interruption. I can see doing this in the event of a real emergency like a tornado bearing down on Jacksonville, but a fire up in Georgia?

If our local Fox and CBS stations insist on inserting news crawls into programs, I sincerely hope they will invest in the proper equipment to do so without dropping to SD. That in itself is bad enough, but last night it was taking them an average of 10 seconds to complete the process of dropping the HD feed then switching to SD to insert the crawl.

That meant losing part of the program after each interruption. I can see doing this in the event of a real emergency like a tornado bearing down on Jacksonville, but a fire up in Georgia?

The fire was in Blackshear, GA, just across the country line from Ware into Pierce county which both are part of the Nielsen counties for the Jax DMA, so it's there job for emergencies there as well as Jax.

I know that's not the point, I understand. Trouble is this is common in a lot of towns where the locals can't buy the equipment to scroll over network feeds in HD.

Understood.

I've just noticed that since Fox30 and CBS47 became "Action News", they've increased their interruptions of programming. Certainly informing people of imminent danger is essential, and irresponsible if not done.

But letting us know every 10 minutes or so that they are "sending our truck to be able to provide live coverage" is downright silly.

But letting us know every 10 minutes or so that they are "sending our truck to be able to provide live coverage" is downright silly.

They've got to keep the action going....

Understood.

I've just noticed that since Fox30 and CBS47 became "Action News", they've increased their interruptions of programming. Certainly informing people of imminent danger is essential, and irresponsible if not done.

But letting us know every 10 minutes or so that they are "sending our truck to be able to provide live coverage" is downright silly.

It's sweeps month. The World is coming to an end. Film at 11. :eek:

Well I recorded House and 24 on my HR21 today and there was no sound?!?!?!? What gives? HULU won't put house up for another week!

Well I recorded House and 24 on my HR21 today and there was no sound?!?!?!? What gives? HULU won't put house up for another week!

Just finished watching House on the HR20-100. No problems.

Yes, for free. Yes, I have an additional dish for 110 and 119 because i have three of the older receivers.

I finally got around to having Dish put up a new antenna for the EA. I kept my 110/119 dish and the DPP44 switch. However, the tech did not set up the system for 72.7. He told me he did that because that satellite has nothing on it. Either he is misinformed or, as I suspect, he didn't have an additional switch despite my telling Dish I needed one. My question is, when they set you up did you get 77, 72.7 and 61.5 and get to keep 110 and 119 or did you get the same setup as me?

Thanks, Ward

Does anyone have any idea when CBS and ABC will go DD 5.1

Good question. NBC also. I assume you mean the local affils, since the networks send 5.1

My guess would be sometime after Bret Favre retires.

I finally got around to having Dish put up a new antenna for the EA. I kept my 110/119 dish and the DPP44 switch. However, the tech did not set up the system for 72.7. He told me he did that because that satellite has nothing on it. Either he is misinformed or, as I suspect, he didn't have an additional switch despite my telling Dish I needed one. My question is, when they set you up did you get 77, 72.7 and 61.5 and get to keep 110 and 119 or did you get the same setup as me?

Thanks, Ward

I'm not set up for 72.7 either. I just assumed that none of my programming is located there. My original 110/119 Dish 500 is still there, because I still have 3 older receivers that aren't mpeg-4.

I'm not set up for 72.7 either. I just assumed that none of my programming is located there. My original 110/119 Dish 500 is still there, because I still have 3 older receivers that aren't mpeg-4.

I figured it out the other day. The 72 satellite wasn't connected because of the DPP44 switch. It will only input 4 satellites. If 72 is connected then you will lose either 110 or 119. A DPP64 switch was rumored several years ago, but never produced. The 72 satellite appears to have the same SD and HD channels as 110 and 119 combined. 61.5 mirrors 129 with HD programming and 77 has our HD and SD locals as well as Mpeg4 SD.

I connected 72, took out 110 and 119 and installed 129. The idea being that if I lose 129 or 61.5 because of rain fade, the other satellite should pick up the channels.

You should be able to connect 72 because it carries all the SD programming although I'm not sure if it is Mpeg 2 or 4. If you want to check, look in the Dish forum at satelliteguys and click on "The List". There you can find out what is on every satellite and in what format.

You are right about the switch having only 4 inputs. After your last message, I wondered why 72 wasn't hooked up and looked at the specs on the DPP44 and realized only 4 inputs. I'm sure all EA sats are MPEG-4, which is why they left the 110/119 dish hooked up. Now I wonder if they'll upgrade my old receivers for free? Kind of doubt it.

You are right about the switch having only 4 inputs. After your last message, I wondered why 72 wasn't hooked up and looked at the specs on the DPP44 and realized only 4 inputs. I'm sure all EA sats are MPEG-4, which is why they left the 110/119 dish hooked up. Now I wonder if they'll upgrade my old receivers for free? Kind of doubt it.

Dish is in the process of changing over from MPEG2 to MPEG4. At some point all the older receivers are not going to work. I think part of the plan was to put some new channels in only the MPEG4 format to force customers to buy/lease/upgrade to the Vip receivers. I also think that there is an upgrade available for a reduced fee. A lot probably depends on whether you lease or own. If you lease Dish should do the upgrade for free. If I remember correctly, and I own my equipment, when I needed to upgrade an 811 to a 211, they upgraded me for a significantly less amount than it would have cost for me to buy the receiver. I believe I still own the new receiver but I had to agree to a year-long service contract even though I was not under contract at the time. Given the fact that our HD locals are on 77 and in MPEG4 only, you might want to call them and see what they will do. Seems to me that if you subscribe to the locals package, they should provide you with the equipment to enable you to receive the HD broadcasts.

I do lease the equipment. Are all the MPEG-4 receivers HD? And is there an HD fee for each receiver?

So apparently Directv has begun to carry CW 17 in HD in your area. Does anyone know when they started carrying the channel?

So apparently Directv has begun to carry CW 17 in HD in your area. Does anyone know when they started carrying the channel?

That was probably a month or so ago that I noticed it.

That was probably a month or so ago that I noticed it.

thanks

I do lease the equipment. Are all the MPEG-4 receivers HD? And is there an HD fee for each receiver?

All the Vip receivers are MPEG 4. They receive both HD and SD channels. All HD are in MPEG4 and I believe all SD channels are in MPEG4 with some remaining in MPEG2. As those get turned off, customers will be forced to upgrade.

I'm not completely sure of the fees. Some may depend on the programming and the connections. I have the Everything Pak with locals+Gold HD+Platinum HD. Two HD DVRs and one HD receiver. There is a $7/month charge on both DVRs( the monthly additional receiver charges) and no other fees. There would be additional fees if the DVRs were not connected to phone lines.

I've never been able to figure out the fee structure. You'll have to call them. Good luck.

Yeah, the fees are really difficult to figure out sometimes. Even when you call, you get different answers. Thanks for the info, gatorman.

Yeah, the fees are really difficult to figure out sometimes. Even when you call, you get different answers. Thanks for the info, gatorman.

You're very welcome. Hope it helps. Would you do me a favor? Check the signal strength on transponder 21 on the 77 and 61.5 satellites. I seem to be a little low and I'm trying to decide whether to call and have someone come out a repeak. I don't feel like doing it myself. Thanks.

As of a few minutes ago, Transponder 21 on 61.5 was 45-47 and on 77 it was 50-54.

As of a few minutes ago, Transponder 21 on 61.5 was 45-47 and on 77 it was 50-54.

Thanks. That's about what I have. I think I'll try a little tweaking now that I've added 72.7. I'll let you know if there is any improvement.

Did HD Theater disappear off 101.3?

Nevermind. I found it moved to 101.4 on QAM - Comcast.

My son is about to lose his mind w/o the morning cartoon fix.

My son is about to lose his mind w/o the morning cartoon fix.

here in st aug comcast, it's on 73.5 on the myhd card.

Looks like cable is moving channels in the expanded basic tier.

So far, I notice CNN & MSNBC are gone. A&E HD is added.

ANy idea which QAM channel CSS sports is? Initial post doesn't have it listed...

Not sure what cable is up to, but it really messes up Media Center. Vista will work with TV pack added, as will Win7 RC. But you have to manually add the channels.

The partial list I have today is:

1-1 wcwjdt
1-2 wawsdt
70-6 wjxxdt
73-3 comedy
???? fnc
77-12 cnbc
110-21 cspan
110-22 cspan2
110-26 cnn
110-31 hln
111-2 msnbc
111-3 espn2
111-5 espn
115-1 wtevdt
115-2 wtlvdt

Anyone else lost 25.01 and 25.02 OTA? Gone yesterday afternoon and not back yet. I can't even find them by going through the transmit numbers.

25-1 is ok.

Interestingly, they came back about 10 minutes after my post, but signal strength is very low and reception iffy.

looks like comcast is in the midst of a lot of changes. even the stb i have had the wrong channels. i did a scan on the hdhr tuners and the whole list came back as "unknown".

I only have one of the channels I use (up a few posts) change. 77-3 is now Bravo

HDHR is now useless for quickly getting the IDs.

I only have one of the channels I use (up a few posts) change. 77-3 is now Bravo

HDHR is now useless for quickly getting the IDs.

i counted 24 changes today on comcast cable here in st aug. 3 sub channels on rf74 and rf77 were encrypted and those stations were moved to other sub channels whose stations were moved elsewhere.

silicondust is working (3 beta released this week) on getting the line-up server to be more responsive, but it's not there yet.

I just use a limited subset of cable channels, so am unaware of some changes. After I saw your post this morning, I ran through my channels and they all seemed ok. Although it's possible FNC (or Bravo) was in a commercial at the time, don't remember.

Wasn't 'til I tried to watch FNC at 6pm that I saw the problem. If you know where it went, post here. I can't search until tomorrow.

I just use a limited subset of cable channels, so am unaware of some changes. After I saw your post this morning, I ran through my channels and they all seemed ok. Although it's possible FNC (or Bravo) was in a commercial at the time, don't remember.

Wasn't 'til I tried to watch FNC at 6pm that I saw the problem. If you know where it went, post here. I can't search until tomorrow.

i have FNC on 77.4

73-1 bet
73-2 cartoon network
73-4 comedy central
73-5 disney
73-6 nickelodeon
73-7 sci fi
73-8 amc
73-9 discovery
73-10 TLC
73-11 vh1
73-12 ?
74-1 hgtv
74-2 sun
74-6 cmt
74-7 tv guide
74-8 history
74-9 ?
74-12 css
76-9 wgn
77-1 abc family
77-2 msnbc
77-3 ?
77-4 fox news
77-5 FX
77-9 tbs

I'm trying to find TNT to watch the playoffs. if anyone knows it please post.
thanks

77-10 TNT
73-12 USA

just needed to re-scan

Thanks jagfan. I was planning to try and find TNT for the NBA.

The only difference I have is Comedy Central is still on 73-3. 73-4 looks like it might be MTV.

Thanks jagfan. I was planning to try and find TNT for the NBA.

The only difference I have is Comedy Central is still on 73-3. 73-4 looks like it might be MTV.
i don't know what zip you or jagfan are in, but your line-up looks exactly like mine in zip 32084, so you may be able to use the silicondust link for 32084 here:
http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/lineup_web/US:32084#sidebyside

it is correct except for it showing msnbc on two channels. a new feature on their server is the ability to sort the columns, making it easier to check stations.

looks like comcast is unencrypting/encrypting subchannels of RF111, RF74 which means another round of changes 6/3/09 zip 32084. it's difficult to rename all the changes in the morning with all the paid advertising that's used to fill air time. i count 21 channel changes. i posted the changes to the silicondust line-up server for zip 32084, looks like it has updated. one quirk is that the newly encrypted channels show as "unknown".

Thanks for the update KAX. I live off of Racetrack Road in South Duval County (32258) and am receiving this St. Augustine lineup on Comcast while my friend is receiving the previous unchanged channel lineup out at the Beaches. Interesting.

Hi I'm new to the site. Does anyone know what happen to WE tv. It was on 111-2 up until today? I live in Duval county - 32256.

One more pair of changes from the current hdhomerun lists:

74-9 is now CSS (Comcast Sports)
111-25 appears to be E

Hi I'm new to the site. Does anyone know what happen to WE tv. It was on 111-2 up until today? I live in Duval county - 32256.
probably 79-12, try looking at the silicondust site for zip 32084.

Is anyone else's cable out near Intracoastal West?

It was out last week too, and I was told by Comcast cust support that they were performing 'upgrades'.

:confused:

looks like some more changes in the 32084 zipcode for comcast, 6/11/09. so far the changes are to RF101.

Anyone notice any OTA signal strength changes this morning? The transition was supposed to be done for all channels by 9 A.M., and 12 and 25 were to go to full power. Signal strength on those two channels has not improved.

Got DirecTV and just rescanned...looks as if 12-1 and 12-2 are still having issues...all channels are 100% except 12-1, 12-2, 25-1, and 25-2. 12-1 and 12-2 are coming in at about 0 - 55%, while 25-1 and 25-2 are in at a solid 80%...
I'm in Atlantic Beach with an outside OTA antenna...go figure!
Will they ever get it right?

^ I can't find the link at the moment, but I believe I recall reading that the transmission patters/coverage areas on several of the local stations would change once the analog shutdown occurred.

I don't know if their database is updated yet, but you might try going to http://www.antennaweb.org and plug in your address to see what the predicted signal strength is at your location.

I'm in Fruit Cove, and am not experiencing any OTA issues with the stations (using DirecTV HR20-100 and HR20-700 DVRs).

I've got a HR20-100...just talked to the station...they have no idea...said it was my antenna...told them that was unlikely as 25-1 and 25-2 was fine and that all the other stations were 100%...they then said they were not up to full power yet because they are still carring their analog signal for another week...told them I guess I wouldn't be watching them for another week...

I think ch 12 is doing the nitelight for two weeks. Not that NBC has much worth watching.

I think ch 12 is doing the nitelight for two weeks. Not that NBC has much worth watching.

It is. I just checked with a small TV I have.

Kind of weird now seeing only 1 station on it. :)

looks like some more changes in the 32084 zipcode for comcast, 6/11/09. so far the changes are to RF101.
looks like all of 101 has been encrypted which knocks out HDT and something called RLTV (not an even trade IMO) has been added to 66-1, 6/12/09.

It amazes me how much 12 wants to shoot itself in the foot with what's it's doing with this "nitelight" thing...if anyone hasn't yet learned about what's occuring this month with the transition, it shouldn't fall on its loyal viewers' shoulders...channel 12 main focus should be on its viewers, not on people who fail to listen to what's going on and fail to take action/it's not like this hasn't been in the news for several months...my rant...now we all suffer...

Peter: Some time ago I mentioned the site to find the coverage map in a previous post. If I recall correctly, while 12 and 25 are using a more directional antenna, we are okay unless you are farther north or west of the beach.

Shortly after my post yesterday morning I saw improved strength on 12 and it is 82+ today. I'm in Neptune Beach. 25 is still low, mid 60s. Interestingly, 7-01 and 7-04 returned yesterday even though they had been gone since 7 previously switched over.

I also find it interesting that there doesn't seem to be any real signal strength issues when tuning the channels trough the various tv tuners. The problems were in tuning through satellite receivers. That included 7-01 and 7-04. Must have been something withih the transmission signal because the problem is gone and I haven't had any satellite firmware upgrades.

If anyone is having reception issues, you might try a channel rescan and see if there is any improvement.

Ward

^ A rescan is always a good idea.

Just to throw more confusion into the pot, I had no issues with OTA tuners in the DirecTV DVRS. The only TV that gave me a problem was a small 19" Element HDTV we had in the kitchen. That one, for some reason wouldn't pull in the stations (which had been working previously) until I did a rescan. Odd.

There is a wide variety of sensitivity between various tuners in the different brands of TVs and DVRs on the market...that could also account for the variability in reception. Also, digital signals are susceptible to multipath in a different way than analog.

In analog, multipath would result in "ghost" images. With digital signals, multipath can effectively cancel out the signal. In some extreme cases, someone could be fairly close to a transmitter, yet be in an area prone to multipath, and unable to get a good signal lock.

A highly directional outdoor antenna (maybe even with a rotator) will sometimes make all the difference in the world.

ota from southern st. johns county.signal power since the transfer to all digital seems to be the same.

It was nice to see WJXX show 'This Week' in HD finally. They must have bought a machine to record and delay broadcast in HD. Thanks.

Will they and WTEV and WTLV ever send us DD5.1? We can hope.

looks like some more changes in the 32084 zipcode for comcast...
today, 6/17/09, i'm seeing channel names and new virtual channel numbers on re-scanning comcast.

today, 6/17/09, i'm seeing channel names and new virtual channel numbers on re-scanning comcast.
and this evening another re-scan of comcast shows another RLTV on digital channel 65. looks like some more changes coming to zip 32084...

How is the picture quality of the locals for dish,compared to ota.thanks for any info.

As long as you get the HD locals off the 77 satellite, you won't see any significant differences. I do find that the OTA channels are much less susceptible to rain/storm/weather fade than the Dish locals with the exception of 12 and 25. Dish does not carry all the subchannels. Those that they have are SD only.

On an interesting note regarding OTA digital broadcasting: I was at my father in-law's house Sunday in Flagler Beach. He still lives in the stone age, no cable or satellite. I set up his converter box and set top antenna. He can now get some Daytona and Orlando channels but nothing from Jax. The fascinating part is that I got him the CBS local from Charleston, WCSC where Sam Kouvaris started, and a weather subchannel from Fayetteville,N.C. Those are some strong signals.

On an interesting note regarding OTA digital broadcasting: I was at my father in-law's house Sunday in Flagler Beach. He still lives in the stone age, no cable or satellite. I set up his converter box and set top antenna. He can now get some Daytona and Orlando channels but nothing from Jax. The fascinating part is that I got him the CBS local from Charleston, WCSC where Sam Kouvaris started, and a weather subchannel from Fayetteville,N.C. Those are some strong signals.

Moved from Charleston back to Jax in February. WCSC has been the cutting edge leader in Charleston in regards to all aspects of HD. First to do the local news in HD, strongest signal etc.

It reminded me of WAPE in the 60s and early 70s when I lived in Charleston. For the most part, the radio stations up there sucked so we listened to the big ape( long before that idiot greaseman).

Has anybody using Comcast HSI gotten the new 12Mbps speeds? I got a postcard saying I have been upgraded, but I haven't.

Has anybody using Comcast HSI gotten the new 12Mbps speeds? I got a postcard saying I have been upgraded, but I haven't.

Make sure you power-cycle the modem.

When I did and went to http://www.testmy.net it was closer to 14Mbps.

Yes, modem was cycled.

Called them and they said my account says 6Mbps, so that's what my modem profile is set to. Sales people (at night, not local) are unaware of the Doscis 3.0 speed upgrades.

Curious. My account was a 6Mbps as well, but after the modem cycle the speed had doubled. Might have something to do with differences in nodes..maybe they haven't gotten as far as they were supposed to before the announcement went out?

Comcast has done another QAM remap this month.

Does anyone know where 115-1,2,3; 70-1,3,4,6 has been remapped to?

If anyone has a most current Comcast QAM, I would appreciate it.

Peter, you are correct. Not all nodes are upgraded yet.

Comcast has done another QAM remap this month.

Does anyone know where 115-1,2,3; 70-1,3,4,6 has been remapped to?

If anyone has a most current Comcast QAM, I would appreciate it.

70-6, 115-1&2 are still there. What might be happening to you is some tuners needs to tune to virtual channel numbers that Comcast sometimes includes in the data. Try 1-1, 1-2, etc.

70-6, 115-1&2 are still there. What might be happening to you is some tuners needs to tune to virtual channel numbers that Comcast sometimes includes in the data. Try 1-1, 1-2, etc.
right now in st augustine, comcast is running some of the local broadcast stations with duplicate virtual channel numbers. there are duplicates of 1-1, 1-2, 1-3 which might not help the situation either.

WJXT is now available in HD over DirecTV.

At 8 am EDT June 27, 2009, WTLV nightlight analog service has gone silent.

70-6, 115-1&2 are still there. What might be happening to you is some tuners needs to tune to virtual channel numbers that Comcast sometimes includes in the data. Try 1-1, 1-2, etc.

As indicated in my original posting, I lost 115-1,2,3 and some of the PBS 70's. This was on aWestinghouse. The Weather and ABC did go to the "1" virtual channels. However, CBS and NBC HD (115-1,2) did not and a "find Channel" search on the westinghouse cannot find 115 any more.

I also have 2 Vizio's that did not change ("what the heck?)!

As indicated in my original posting, I lost 115-1,2,3 and some of the PBS 70's. This was on aWestinghouse. The Weather and ABC did go to the "1" virtual channels. However, CBS and NBC HD (115-1,2) did not and a "find Channel" search on the westinghouse cannot find 115 any more.

I also have 2 Vizio's that did not change ("what the heck?)!
as i noted earlier, comcast has started to send duplicate virtual numbers here in st augustine. i suspect you are running into the same problem. i have a number of different tuners and some are affected by this change while others are not. i have posted a couple of screen dumps of a tvix that is not able to tune to the correct channel because of the multiple duplicate virtual channel numbers. as can be seen from the channel names, these are the channels you say you're having trouble with. luckily the tvix is still in beta testing so there is hope for it, i suspect your westinghouse might be having the same problem, not being able to determine what to do with the duplicate numbering from comcast. when there is only one copy of a virtual channel, this tuner is able to tune to it with out problem.

as i noted earlier, comcast has started to send duplicate virtual numbers here in st augustine. i suspect you are running into the same problem. i have a number of different tuners and some are affected by this change while others are not. i have posted a couple of screen dumps of a tvix that is not able to tune to the correct channel because of the multiple duplicate virtual channel numbers. as can be seen from the channel names, these are the channels you say you're having trouble with. luckily the tvix is still in beta testing so there is hope for it, i suspect your westinghouse might be having the same problem, not being able to determine what to do with the duplicate numbering from comcast. when there is only one copy of a virtual channel, this tuner is able to tune to it with out problem.

What is tvix?

What is tvix?
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=15799867&nojs=1#goto_threadtools

With the analog nightlight on RF12 now gone, how soon might WTLV and WJXX increase their transmission power on RF13 and RF10? Anyone know?

Or have they already done so? I haven't seen any improvement at all since Friday, WJXX being too weak to lock in more often than not, but with VHF-Hi being affected so much by weather, it's hard to tell for sure.

I checked yesterday afternoon and 12 was at 96 and 25 was about 78, both way up. This morning 12 is 88 and 25 is 66. 12 is still much higher than previously but 25 is several points down. I guess this is the brave new world of digital broadcasting. Should be a lot of fun when the big storm blows through sometime this summer.

I'm new to the area and just had my tv service installed. One thing I have noticed is none of my network channels broadcast in 5.1 and I just wanted to verify that they don't in Jacksonville. All of my premium channels are in 5.1 when available. It's already driving me crazy whenever there is a storm the networks turn off their hd signal. Coming from Dallas we never had that issue.

I'm new to the area and just had my tv service installed. One thing I have noticed is none of my network channels broadcast in 5.1 and I just wanted to verify that they don't in Jacksonville. All of my premium channels are in 5.1 when available. It's already driving me crazy whenever there is a storm the networks turn off their hd signal. Coming from Dallas we never had that issue.

Welcome to Jacksonville and the Forum.

PBS sometimes broadcasts in 5.1, as does Fox. All of the other affiliates do basic 2.0.

Unfortunately they also haven't figured out how to keep the HD signal and do an overlay for weather, etc. Also, none of them except WJXT has invested in HD recording equipment, so if a show is delayed, you'll get it in SD.

Hopefully, now that analog is gone, they will be able to invest in the proper infrastructure.

Only the CBS/Fox stations can't overlay in HD. ABC/NBC can.

ABC can delay a show in HD, but the only show I know of that is regularly delayed is This Week on Sun AM.

One thing you might notice is that our local stations almost never communicate anything about their technology, and our local paper has no knowledgeable reporter.

Thanks for the quick responses. Hopefully now that analog is gone the local stations will now invest in some equipment. All in all though we love the area, wife was born and raised here and I'm from South FL so it is great to be back near family.

Only the CBS/Fox stations can't overlay in HD. ABC/NBC can.

ABC can delay a show in HD, but the only show I know of that is regularly delayed is This Week on Sun AM.

One thing you might notice is that our local stations almost never communicate anything about their technology, and our local paper has no knowledgeable reporter.

You know, now that you mention it, I did see an overlay on ABC one night. It was slightly darker than the rest of the picture, in the 4:3 "safe" area...but the underlying picture was 16:9.

I suppose I don't watch ABC all that much since Lost is on hiatus and they canceled Pushing Daisies, The Unusuals, Eli Stone and Samantha Who?.

I'm certainly not going to hold my breath waiting for new equipment. Remember how long it took for the damaged antenna to get replaced?

Only the CBS/Fox stations can't overlay in HD. ABC/NBC can.

ABC can delay a show in HD, but the only show I know of that is regularly delayed is This Week on Sun AM.

One thing you might notice is that our local stations almost never communicate anything about their technology, and our local paper has no knowledgeable reporter.

"This Week" on ABC Sun AM comes straight from the network feed. It isn't recorded for delayed playback.

Thanks for the correction.

Yes, I see that they changed the air time of This Week. It used to be live at 9am in DC.

Guess I have to withdraw my praise of WJXX for getting new equipment.

as i noted earlier, comcast has started to send duplicate virtual numbers here in st augustine. i suspect you are running into the same problem. i have a number of different tuners and some are affected by this change while others are not. i have posted a couple of screen dumps of a tvix that is not able to tune to the correct channel because of the multiple duplicate virtual channel numbers. as can be seen from the channel names, these are the channels you say you're having trouble with. luckily the tvix is still in beta testing so there is hope for it, i suspect your westinghouse might be having the same problem, not being able to determine what to do with the duplicate numbering from comcast. when there is only one copy of a virtual channel, this tuner is able to tune to it with out problem.

Thanks for the explanation. I'm having this issue of not picking up a few channels, mainly PBS HD, with the tuner on my Panasonic. The small Sony that I have finds it no problem but the Panasonic has the duplicate channels (i.e. I get three 1-1 stations, three 1-4 stations etc.).

I checked yesterday afternoon and 12 was at 96 and 25 was about 78, both way up. This morning 12 is 88 and 25 is 66. 12 is still much higher than previously but 25 is several points down. I guess this is the brave new world of digital broadcasting. Should be a lot of fun when the big storm blows through sometime this summer.
Well, I just ordered a YA-1713 from solidsignal a few days ago... even if 12 and 25 improve later, there are days when WJCT-7 is down in macroblock land, and the CM-4228 has especially low gain on that particular frequency.

I wonder how much loss I'll incur by having the YA-1713 and CM-4228 within ~2 ft. or less of one another (and would cross-coupling between the antennas tend to affect VHF more, or UHF? On UHF I have plenty of margin to burn). I know the recommended separation is 4 ft. minimum, but there isn't enough space for that above the rotor, and I'd be nervous extending that mast section any further, given how top-heavy it already is.

Well, I just ordered a YA-1713 from solidsignal a few days ago... even if 12 and 25 improve later, there are days when WJCT-7 is down in macroblock land, and the CM-4228 has especially low gain on that particular frequency.

I wonder how much loss I'll incur by having the YA-1713 and CM-4228 within ~2 ft. or less of one another (and would cross-coupling between the antennas tend to affect VHF more, or UHF? On UHF I have plenty of margin to burn). I know the recommended separation is 4 ft. minimum, but there isn't enough space for that above the rotor, and I'd be nervous extending that mast section any further, given how top-heavy it already is.

I won't affect your UHF at all, at least in theory. It will reduce your VHF gain to a degree, but not sure how much.

Considering there are no viable VHF stations in your area except Jax, why not mount it under the rotor? Your only other 2 possible stations are WNBW which you won't get without 100 YA-1317 stacked at 500 ft, or WESH that is just plain too far away.

Or you can put it on a separate by close pole. The loss on VHF going into an amp would be small if you are running an amp with separate V/U input.

Also the CM4228 has enough VHF gain that simply combining it would downgrade the YA1713 by 3.5 db. But if you combine with a UVSJ then it will block the VHF from the 4228 and only downgrade the YA1713 by 0.5 db.

You might already have it up, so if you wander by here again, let us know how it works.

I use a pair of YA-1713's stacked 40 inches over each other with the top one at 30 ft. My Jax VHF goes out if there is much lightning or at night when Tampa eats me up off the back side. Still with WTLV's new power they are as reliable as me pointing west toward WNBW, which drops on the slightest slightest noise at 0.47 KW my way (flea power) even though they LOS and WTLV is 2 edge. I like WJCT better thant WUFT even though I get WUFT solid all the time. WJCT is just a better station with their programming, even if they only use 720p on the main channel.

If WNBW takes out there null it will raise my signal by 10 db which might give he enough to work with here. It's 37 miles and WTLV is 61 miles. There isn't any co-channel on RF9 yet, and hoping if WNBW raises power it might become more reliable than WTLV. Then I might need a rotor to watch WJCT when there isn't any skip to mess it up. I could then turn and point to WESH, though they don't have much different in the way of programming.

just received another bill from comcast, says the prices in st augustine are going up again effective august, '09.

Me again, rural Baker County. Quick recap - received all digital channels from Jax except 12 and 25, then when 7 dropped analog we lost their digital signal. All stations are about 40 miles distant at about 104 degrees. Using tuner in Samsung tv and (originally) generic cheapo antenna outdoors about 15-18 feet up.
Thought antenna was issue, bought Winegard antenna, no change. Someone on another thread suggested tuner in tv was issue, but checked with tuner in dvd/vcr, same missing channels. No change after 6-12. I then bought a Winegard amp and mounted it today, with result that reception grew worse. Only thing left I can think of is go higher on the antenna. Also, cable from antenna to set is RG59. I've seen different views online as to whether it would benefit to change to RG6.
I bought antenna and amp new online. Possible one or both is defective? I am really curious to know if anyone in Baker County is getting all Jax channels on a regular antenna, and what set up they are using.
Thanks.
Oh yeah, please don't say to rescan. Done it a hundred times by now, after every change.

12 and 25 changed to a more easterly direction. You may not be able to receive them. Somewhere on the FCC website are coverage maps that will show broadcast coverage both pre and post transition. I think most of the loss was north and west of Jax.

Anno:

I just cheked the coverage maps at fcc.gov/dtv/market/ and they indicate Baker county is within the coverage area for all the Jacksonville stations. Of interest is the power ratings which are much lower for 7,12 and 25. I don't know how current those ratings are. You might want to try antennaweb to see what type antenna is recommended for your location.

Me again, rural Baker County. Quick recap - received all digital channels from Jax except 12 and 25, then when 7 dropped analog we lost their digital signal. All stations are about 40 miles distant at about 104 degrees. Using tuner in Samsung tv and (originally) generic cheapo antenna outdoors about 15-18 feet up.
Thought antenna was issue, bought Winegard antenna, no change. Someone on another thread suggested tuner in tv was issue, but checked with tuner in dvd/vcr, same missing channels. No change after 6-12. I then bought a Winegard amp and mounted it today, with result that reception grew worse. Only thing left I can think of is go higher on the antenna. Also, cable from antenna to set is RG59. I've seen different views online as to whether it would benefit to change to RG6.
I bought antenna and amp new online. Possible one or both is defective? I am really curious to know if anyone in Baker County is getting all Jax channels on a regular antenna, and what set up they are using.
Thanks.
Oh yeah, please don't say to rescan. Done it a hundred times by now, after every change.

Forgive me if someone has already asked you this question, but the antenna you just bought does have VHF elements to it correct? As you may know both channel "12" (13-1) and "25" (10-1) are in the VHF range.

As is ch 7, which changed from 38-1 to 7-1 when they turned off analog.

As is ch 7, which changed from 38-1 to 7-1 when they turned off analog.

Whoops, good catch. I'd completely forgotten about that.

At the risk of sounding stupid, these shows aren't really in HD locally, are they? I know they are available, but WTLV doesn't appear to broadcast them that way, even though the D* guide says they are.... To my eye, they look like good SD. I guess WTLV doesn't have the equipment in-house to pass them on in HD.

At the risk of sounding stupid, these shows aren't really in HD locally, are they? I know they are available, but WTLV doesn't appear to broadcast them that way, even though the D* guide says they are.... To my eye, they look like good SD. I guess WTLV doesn't have the equipment in-house to pass them on in HD.

Until I see something differently, I believe WJXT is the only local station that is currently broadcasting syndicated shows and local news in HD. Everything else is SD (stretched or otherwise).

I thought so. Thanks for confirming!

I thought so. Thanks for confirming!

You're welcome.

Now, that said, and this being a competitive market, it wouldn't surprise me if the pressure on the other stations began to increase so that they would have to invest in new HD equipment.

Now, that said, and this being a competitive market, it wouldn't surprise me if the pressure on the other stations began to increase so that they would have to invest in new HD equipment.

We can only hope. 5.1 audio would be nice too.

Considering there are no viable VHF stations in your area except Jax, why not mount it under the rotor?
The YA-1713 was on backorder for a week or two (guessing there might have been a big spike in demand after 6/12?), and once it arrived I didn't have time to assemble & mount it until this past weekend. A defunct satellite dish was in the way and had to be taken down first...

I went with your suggestion, and put it below the rotor, which seems to be working well enough even at just ~15ft above the ground:
http://vt11.net/cm4228_ya1713.jpg

Yes, they're intentionally aimed in slightly different directions, about 10 degrees apart, so having the rotor in between was helpful... for whatever reason, pointing the CM4228 directly towards the towers results in almost complete loss of signal on WTEV47/RF19! I guess that's due to some multipath that needs to be nulled out (WCWJ-17 analog was a bit prone to ghosting), although it's hard to imagine where the reflection could be coming from.

Do your YA-1713's look like this? It's different from the picture on Solidsignal's site, with only a single boom, but three driven elements just behind the reflector, each of very different length... like a miniature log-periodic with all the yagi directors lined up behind it. Amazingly lightweight for its size.

Or you can put it on a separate by close pole. The loss on VHF going into an amp would be small if you are running an amp with separate V/U input.
The amp is a CM7777, switchable for separate inputs, so that worked out. There's a second pole up already for other antennas (point-to-point data links & other non-TV) but it's on the opposite side of the house.


You might already have it up, so if you wander by here again, let us know how it works.
I don't have equipment on hand to take proper measurements, but all 3 VHFs are at least 10 points up on my PCHD5500 tuner's strength meter, and more importantly they're remaining much more stable now (less variability with weather, at least over the 2 days that YA-1713 has been up) than when coming from the CM4228. The yagi's narrower beamwidth (at VHF) is probably helping with that. I remember the 4228 could be rotated +/- 15 degrees with hardly any effect on VHF reception, where +/- 5 on the 1713 makes a significant difference.

WJCT, WJXX, and WTLV are still weaker than any Jax UHF station, but I haven't noticed a single dropout so far (even with thunderstorms passing by to to the south), so that's encouraging.


I like WJCT better thant WUFT even though I get WUFT solid all the time. WJCT is just a better station with their programming, even if they only use 720p on the main channel.

That's certainly the VHF I was most interested in improving.

Turning the CM4228 west, I can sometimes get WUFT at night when conditions are just right (no more than 1/4th of the time), but rarely for long enough to watch a complete program.

Until I see something differently, I believe WJXT is the only local station that is currently broadcasting syndicated shows and local news in HD. Everything else is SD (stretched or otherwise).

WJXX just began airing the Ellen show in HD last week. (5-6pm)

WJXX just began airing the Ellen show in HD last week. (5-6pm)

So it is. I just checked it out today. Good catch.

That one slipped in quietly under the radar. Another sign of progress!

Does anybody know if the Jacksonville Comcast office has received any of the new DCX3400 dvrs? Also any word on when Comcast might convert Jacksonville to all digital as part of their analog reclamation project? I think the last new HD channels were added in December so hopefully we get some new ones soon.

Dan

D* guide lists Smackdown as HD on 30-2, when it is 4:3 SD. Does anyone get it in HD?

D* guide lists Smackdown as HD on 30-2, when it is 4:3 SD. Does anyone get it in HD?

WAWS only broadcasts HD on its main channel, Fox. 30-2 is SD.

WAWS only broadcasts HD on its main channel, Fox. 30-2 is SD.
:(

Does local ABC, NBC, and CBS all broadcast in DD 2.0 only?

:(

Does local ABC, NBC, and CBS all broadcast in DD 2.0 only?

For the moment, yes.

Fox and PBS are the only ones who can do 5.1.

Does anybody know if the Jacksonville Comcast office has received any of the new DCX3400 dvrs?

What are the advantages of the DCX3400?

What are the advantages of the DCX3400?

It has a 250gb hd which is the main reason I want one.


This thread will give you more info:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=968638

Just a heads up...

I believe Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy will begin airing in HD tonight on WTLV 12.1

And so they were. So apparently all I had to do was ask and it happened? :eek: Hmm, now for those two other wishes....

Good intel, edecker!

This is turning out to be a banner year for local HD.

I'm betting we'll see more stations doing local news before too much longer.

Sorry, haven't been checking the Jax thread like I should!

I went with your suggestion, and put it below the rotor, which seems to be working well enough even at just ~15ft above the ground:

I see you have enough spacing with your CM4228. Amazing results at 15 ft, then again you are a lot closer to the towers than I am (61 miles).

Yes, they're intentionally aimed in slightly different directions, about 10 degrees apart, so having the rotor in between was helpful... for whatever reason, pointing the CM4228 directly towards the towers results in almost complete loss of signal on WTEV47/RF19! I guess that's due to some multipath that needs to be nulled out (WCWJ-17 analog was a bit prone to ghosting), although it's hard to imagine where the reflection could be coming from.

I am not sure it would solve your problem because a CM4228 is a lot narrower beam width than a CM4221. But I gave up on my CM4221A pointed at Gainesville's UHFs. I had a lot of ghosting with analog and the slightest wind had them breaking up digital. I went through my pile of old antennas (never throw away an antenna) and found an old Radio Shack U-75R in the pile. I put it up into my CM7777 in place of the CM4221A. The CM4221A had all 4 UHF towers pegged. The RS U-75R, 2 of them dropped to low 80's, the other two still pegged (WCJB and WUFT) but no more drop outs. I changed it before WOGX turned off analog and the ghosts were 95% gone. Any way with the Radio Shack U-75R I no longer have drop outs on digital UHF from Gainesville. Newberry WGLF on 28, the weakest, holds a steady 83, so that is good enough (TV drops out below 40).

My point is I think the corner reflector style UHF's like were popular 10 years ago actually do a better job on most multipath. I wonder if a really long boom UHF corner reflector would work better for you. Probably not worth the investment if the CM4228 works turned a little.

Do your YA-1713's look like this? It's different from the picture on Solidsignal's site, with only a single boom, but three driven elements just behind the reflector, each of very different length... like a miniature log-periodic with all the yagi directors lined up behind it. Amazingly lightweight for its size.

Yeap, look the same except mine are twins, not that 20 elements pointed at Jax helps most of the time. I have more bad days than good watching Jax VHF. Lots of antenna, very little reception.


I don't have equipment on hand to take proper measurements, but all 3 VHFs are at least 10 points up on my PCHD5500 tuner's strength meter, and more importantly they're remaining much more stable now (less variability with weather, at least over the 2 days that YA-1713 has been up) than when coming from the CM4228. The yagi's narrower beamwidth (at VHF) is probably helping with that. I remember the 4228 could be rotated +/- 15 degrees with hardly any effect on VHF reception, where +/- 5 on the 1713 makes a significant difference.

Yes, it has a narrower beamwidth that Winegard or Ken Nist's modeling show. I notice the same thing. You point a YA-1713, right at a station or nada.

WJCT, WJXX, and WTLV are still weaker than any Jax UHF station, but I haven't noticed a single dropout so far (even with thunderstorms passing by to to the south), so that's encouraging.


That's certainly the VHF I was most interested in improving.

Turning the CM4228 west, I can sometimes get WUFT at night when conditions are just right (no more than 1/4th of the time), but rarely for long enough to watch a complete program.

Well I can't see Jax UHF at all here. Maybe if I got up 70 ft or more. Not worth it for what it costs to go that high.

I bet you wonder compared to analog days if rotors are of much good. Normally one is only close enough to one city on digital to see much. Rotor is fun for DXing.

I would say 10 point improvement was worth the trouble and money. Glad it worked out well.

Lots of changes coming on August 11,09 for Comcast users in St Augustine says an ad in the local paper. New HD channels and re-alignment of existing channels along with the previously announced price increases starting August 1,09 will make August an interesting month.

I hope they can figure out how fix the duplicate virtual channel numbering scheme they have now.

I just hope they don't reassign QAM channels into the area that the "extended" filter traps.

WJXX just began airing the Ellen show in HD last week. (5-6pm)

Makes wonder if they buy it that way, or can't record for later time slot in HD. WESH has had Ellen in HD for years, which for a long time was my only intermittent NBC OTA.

WGLF Ellen is still in SD. And just noticed Friday that WJXX had gone HD on her.

Wonder why. Are there two feeds or just a lack of a way to record it?

I just hope they don't reassign QAM channels into the area that the "extended" filter traps.
we should know in a couple of days what comcast is doing.
we got a call last week advising we would be losing channels 50-60, which makes no sense to me. there was also an offer of $29/month if we signed a contract.

the ad said some of the channels in that 50-60 range are moving down to the 30's range, so i'm going to wait to see what we get.

when i look on the local website, i see the same named packages with multiple different prices. so i may have do what i've done in the past and call the 800 number after 1 a.m. i've found that seems to be the only way to get anywhere with comcast.

we should know in a couple of days what comcast is doing. ...
well 8/11/09 has arrived. first thing i saw was some virtual channel numbers were changed. now most of the line-up has been encrypted for my package. even the analog line-up is not in the stb any more making the stb obsolete for me. my fusion tuners still get about 60 analog channels. wonder if they will turn off the analog channels. it will be interesting to see what others are seeing as in the clear with other packages.

they have not fixed the duplicate virtual channel numbering either.

btw, i didn't see any comcast people on any of the poles or around the neighborhood messing with connections so i guess all this is being done at the main office now.

I'm in the city of Jacksonville with Comcast; two TVs just are just plugged into the wall one with an digital tuner and the other an old CRT. Then we have a third with a HD box.

Looks like I'm getting a few new HD channels on the box:

430 Bravo
443 Nick
452 Spike :)
459 Lifetime
470 CNBC
471 QVC :confused:

Still trying to figure out what's different on the TV without a box, so far channels 61 and 62 seem to be gone.

8/11/2009
Looks like the all my QAM channels have been encrypted except for the local stations.



OH Boy, just rescanned and found a new HD channel in 1080i, ... QVC.

Just the programming choice I was looking for. LOL

8/11/2009
Looks like the all my QAM channels have been encrypted except for the local stations.

Looking that way for me too, can't find most of digital signals including Comedy Central. Local stations HD feeds still seem to be there.

KAXKID, you say your fusion tuner is still getting 60 analog channels. That would include like CNN at ch35? And can I assume you are subscribed to the expanded basic plan at $50-60 ish?

And are you set up in Media Center with both analog and digital tuners?

Looking that way for me too, can't find most of digital signals including Comedy Central. Local stations HD feeds still seem to be there.

WOW! This sucks. I found this thread today trying to figure out why all my QAM channels are missing. I just set up a QAM Windows 7 box with a new HD tuner 3 days ago and set everything up for QAM :mad:

I still get the local channels, plus all the QAM over 100+ which luckily includes HGTVHD and A&EHD.

Does anyone know if they are going to unlock them again, or are they going to stay encrypted for good?

THIS SUCKS :mad:

KAXKID, you say your fusion tuner is still getting 60 analog channels. That would include like CNN at ch35? And can I assume you are subscribed to the expanded basic plan at $50-60 ish?

And are you set up in Media Center with both analog and digital tuners?
yes, cnn, cnbc, fnc etc., all the analog are still on the wire, not in the stb. no, i was/am still on the cheaper package "family tier" $40 including tax. some of the analog stations have new numbers, spike is on 40, amc is 45, lifetime is 31, a&e is 55. but as i said earlier most of the digital versions of the analogs above 14 are now encrypted.

no i don't use media center. i have been using cw_epg to schedule/capture etc. i have two hdhr and a few fusion tuners plus a myhd and a tvix. the tvix, the fusions and the myhd have analog and digital capability while the 4 hdhr tuners are only digital.

i unplugged the stb tonite, when my wife tried to watch her favorite shows and found they aren't in the stb anymore. so i guess we're back to analog for most viewing. i'm glad i didn't trash the old crt with the analog tuner. i wonder if all the analogs will still be on the wire if i drop back to just limited basic for $17.

there is a promo for $29/month for a year with a contract but it's not clear if you need a stb for each tuner or if the wire will carry all those channels in the clear.

wonder how long the analogs will still be on the wire.

btw, the silicon dust on-line server doesn't want to remove all the now encrypted channels. i rescanned a number of times today without it showing any changes.

also, the only new hd channel in the clear is qvchd on 84-3. i also, still have the local hd channels and aetvhd, hgtvhd and pldhd in the clear.

Looks like all the analogs are still there, except 61 & 62. No public schedule on when we go all digital, but IIRC they said it will be done everywhere by end 2010. They started in the northwest. You will get a free DTA box to keep analog TVs workable per their agreement with the FTC.

I signed up for the digital starter 1 yr deal just to get the trap removed. Won't be using their STB. It will take two weeks.

I stuck an old win-tv 150 in and it works in MC. But I can't also setup the HDHR in QAM mode, just ATSC. Not really a problem since I have an antenna for the locals in HD. Also have an old Fusion 3 gold, but am not sure if it can tune analog. Will try it out for the occasional need for two cable recordings.

Looks like all the analogs are still there, except 61 & 62. No public schedule on when we go all digital, but IIRC they said it will be done everywhere by end 2010. They started in the northwest. You will get a free DTA box to keep analog TVs workable per their agreement with the FTC.

I signed up for the digital starter 1 yr deal just to get the trap removed. Won't be using their STB. It will take two weeks.

I stuck an old win-tv 150 in and it works in MC. But I can't also setup the HDHR in QAM mode, just ATSC. Not really a problem since I have an antenna for the locals in HD. Also have an old Fusion 3 gold, but am not sure if it can tune analog. Will try it out for the occasional need for two cable recordings.
61 is spike which is now 40, 62 is a&e which is now 55.

i called comcast today and was told i can't get the $29 promo because i'm an existing customer.

That might be the usual "depends who answers the phone" thing, or maybe limited basic analog only isn't considered an existing customer for digital packages.

That might be the usual "depends who answers the phone" thing, or maybe limited basic analog only isn't considered an existing customer for digital packages.
i think it's a case of "depends who answers the phone" because my wife has a friend in jax that also just got free hbo added to the $29 promo for an existing customer. what a way to run a company.

btw the "family tier" package is supposed to be "limited basic" plus a few digital kids channels and the stb is an extra $5 charge. i wonder if i return the stb if i will get $5 back.

just registered on here noticing other people having the same issue. I rescanned on my particular television several times over with multiple calls to comcast today, they claim they are still working on it and we should get most of our digital channels back, although I have not as of yet, and they also tell me the History channel along with others have become part of the "Digital Starter Package" which we are paying for and have been for the last year and a half but they have been moved to a number or encrypted to require a comcast stb. Which for a household with 10 or so tv's it's completely ridiculous to rent out 10 boxes every month forever. I was completely satisfied with comcast television until the 11th, and I'm afraid I no longer see any value at all in paying for it. I hope this is the issue with many others and comcast will lose a huge revenue stream and realize they have done something wrong. I mean come on encrypting the history channel? wtf? that's what you pay for, as I told the tech "So do you want me to watch the history channel shows on their website? I mean that puts more bandwidth stress on you right?"

On the other hand I do realize they needed to act, b/c people could pay for internet and not pay for tv and still use it. But this is unacceptable.

List of digital channels I lost that I actually watched.

Discovery
History
SyFy
Cartoon Network
Nickelodeon
Fox News
Tru TV
Comedy Central

In short ALL OF THEM

not to mention the loss of HD Theater about 4 months ago was devastating.

I'm sorry I just needed to vent.

Wow... Comcast has pretty thoroughly messed us up. I can't seem to locate any channel I actually watch on my QAM tuner. No CNN, no MSNBC, no Fox News. Bloomberg I found. Unreal.

I just got of the phone with them again, and they said they never supported the digital channels such as 105-3 palladia, or anything else in the digital range, they said I was not supposed to be getting any digital channel from comcast. Only analog with the digital starter package. They did say that today they've received the highest call volume for the past year.

I hope they realize that as of August 11th 2009 they've messed up big time, because the digital channels are the only reason many customers were paying for cable that owned QAM digital televisions.

The truth is we have been blessed for a long time. Most of the country wasn't getting all the "free" QAM channels we did.

The truth is we have been blessed for a long time. Most of the country wasn't getting all the "free" QAM channels we did.

That's why I'm not calling and pitching a fit. I know we've technically been skating by and getting "free" content. It's just disappointing, is all.

Oh well - more video podcasts, Hulu, and Netflix. I'm not paying for Comcast's set-top boxes again. No way.

That might be the usual "depends who answers the phone" thing, or maybe limited basic analog only isn't considered an existing customer for digital packages.
yes, it's a "depends who answers the phone" thing.

my wife called again about 2:30pm and got the $29 promo with free hbo for a year. the csr said it would normally take a few minutes to update but there was very heavy volume today and was taking longer but definitely by 4:00pm. she said comcast was a very busy place to work today.

well we called again at 6:00pm because it hadn't updated yet, waited on hold for about 45 minutes before hanging up, tried again at around 8:00 when the recording said they weren't able to take any calls. tried again at 9:30, the recording now lists about 5 sections of jax including the southside that is experiencing an "outage", i waited another 30 minutes on hold before giving up.

i think who ever decided it was a good idea to encrypt the city of jax and outlying areas will probably be looking for a place to hide tomorrow.

btw the 60 analog channels are still unencrypted and most digital tv's have an analog tuner along with the qam tuner.

i think who ever decided it was a good idea to encrypt the city of jax and outlying areas will probably be looking for a place to hide tomorrow.


Calling tomorrow to reduce cable service to Limited Basic, keep HSD and drop Digital Telephone in favor of Magic Jack. Can't really see the advantage of having 4 digital TVs and no digital service I can't get for free over-the-air.