Free Over-The-Air Digital Channels Available


ABC - WJXX 25 (rf 10)
25 Network Programming - SD 480i
25-1 Network Programming - HD 720p / DD2.0
25-2 ABC News Now - SD 480i

CBS - WTEV 47 (rf 19)
47 Network Programming - SD 480i
47-1 Network Programming - HD 1080i / DD2.0

FOX - WAWS 30 (rf 32)
30 Network Programming - SD 480i
30-1 Network Programming - HD 720p / DD5.1
30-2 MNTV Programming - coming Jan. 2007

NBC - WTLV 12 (rf 13)
12 Network Programming - SD 480i
12-1 Network Programming - HD 1080i / DD2.0
12-2 First Coast News Weather SD

PBS - WJCT 7 (rf 38)
7 Local Programming - SD 480i
7-1 Network Programming - HD 1080i / DD5.1
7-2 ???????????????? - SD 480i
7-3 ???????????????? - SD 480i
7-4 ???????????????? - SD 480i

CB - WCWJ 17 (rf 34)
17 Network Programming - SD 480i
17-1 Network Programming - HD 1080i / DD2.0
17-2 Network Programming - SD 480i

Independent - WJXT 4 (rf 42)
4 Regular Programming - SD 480i
4-1 Regular Programming - SD 1080i / DD2.0
4-2 ???????????????? - SD 480i

TBN - WJEB 59 - (rf 44)
44-3 Regular Programming - SD 480i / DD2.0[/b]

COMCAST HD CHANNELS


HighDefinitionTV- Digital Basic & Standard
403 ESPN HD
404 ESPN2 HD
405 Versus/Golf HD
407 TNT HD
408 MOJO HD
409 A&E HD
410 Universal HD
411 Palldia HD
413 National Geographic HD
414 Food HD
415 HGTV HD
420 USA HD
421 TBS HD
422 The History Channel HD
423 CNN HD
424 Discovery HD
425 TLC HD
426 Animal Planet HD
427 Sci-Fi HD
428 Fox News HD
429 AMC HD
431 WJXX (ABC) HD
432 WTLV (NBC) HD
433 WTEV (CBS) HD
434 WAWS (FOX) HD
435 WCWJ (CW) HD
437 WJXT HD
440 WJCT KIDS/WJCT HD
442 SunSports HD New!
443 FSN HD
444 ABC Family HD
445 Disney Channel HD
446 Science Channel HD
450 Speed HD
451 FX HD
487 HD ON DEMAND New!
488 Free Movies! HD ON DEMAND New!
491 Music HD ON DEMAND New!




HighDefinitionPremium
416 HBO HD
417 CINEMAX HD
418 SHOWTIME HD
419 STARZ HD
490 Premium HD ON DEMAND


QAM Channel Numbers

HD QAM:

1.1 WCWJ (CW17) & WJXT(Ind 4) HD
1.2 WAWS (Fox) HD
1.4 CW HD
70.1 WJXT (PBS) HD
70.6 WJXX (ABC) HD
71-2 DSC HD
75.1 TNT HD
102.1 ESPN HD
103.1 INHD HD
103.2. HD PPV
103.3 HGTV HD
104.3 Weather (?)
105.3 Palladia
106.3 MHD (?)
114.1 PBS HD
115.1 CBS HD
115.2 NBC HD



SD QAM:

1.5 VTv
73.1 Discovery
73.2 TLC
73.3 Nickelodeon
73.4 Cartoon Network
73.5 AMC
73.6 USA
73.7 Comedy
73.8 SciFi
73.9 VH-1
73.10 BET
73.11 MTV
74.1 HGTV
74.2 Disney
74.4 ESPN Classic
74.6 CMT
74.8 History
74.9 E!
77.1 Weather
77.2 TBS
77.3 Fox News
77.4 FX
77.5 TNT
77.6 ABC Family
77.7 TV Guide
77.8 Sun Sports
77.9 Weatherscan
77.11 EWTN
77.12 CNBC
78.22 WUFT
78.23 WGN
94.10 History
94.11 Bravo
104.3 Weather Plus
110.1 CNN
110.2 HLN
110.3 Animal Planet
110.4 C-Span 2
110.7 GAC
110.8 WE
110.9 Hallmark
111.1 CourtTV
111.2 C-Span
111.3 ESPN2
111.6 Food
111.7 Lifetime
111.8 A&E
111.9 Spike
111.10 TV Land
111.11 Bravo
111.12 QVC

USEFUL LINKS


Antenna (http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx)
HDTV Schedule (http://www.titantv.com/TTV/Grid/Grid.aspx)
Comcast Channel Lineup (http://www.comcast.com/Customers/clu/ChannelLineup.ashx)

The ESPN Sunday Night Football game in HD on Comcast via QAM last night was great. No pixellation. Great sound and colors. Just a beautiful picture. ESPN-HD really knows how to show off HD. Good job.

Wow, the live action from ABC's MNF was fantastic last night. Incredible picture with no pixellation even with fast motion. Great job ABC! The best are getting better.

I had pixelation issues in the early goings of last night's game. It happened a couple of times, once being so bad it was unwatchable. There was another instance of half the screen going green, then black, then a bunch of blocks. Lasted about 10-15 seconds.

I didn't stay up much past 10:30 so I don't know if it continued throughout the game or not.

I use Comcast BTW.

Originally posted by Jax_Gator
I had pixelation issues in the early goings of last night's game. It happened a couple of times, once being so bad it was unwatchable. There was another instance of half the screen going green, then black, then a bunch of blocks. Lasted about 10-15 seconds.

I didn't stay up much past 10:30 so I don't know if it continued throughout the game or not.

I use Comcast BTW.

I saw the same OTA. It must be the feed from the network.

Jerry, 24 on FOX had sound drop-outs last night. Did anyone else experience the same?

I don't know if it's just me, but I regularly experience sound drop outs on FOX, and only on Fox. For my dropouts, they last about a half second, they occur at all hours, and they repeat on a 3 to 8 minute frequency. has anyone else noticed this?

This might just be a need for a realignment of my antenna.

--Bill

Bill, I haven't had any noticeable audio drop offs. Anyone Else??

More bad pixellation in CBS's College game this week. It's a shame they can't get it right, but ABC and ESPN can.

Bill,

I've been out of town for a couple of weeks, but when I returned and started catching up on programs via Tivo, I too noticed some FOX programs with the dropout you mentioned. For me, they weren't total sound blocks, but rather brief, significant volume reductions that occurred with a regular pattern. I was actually concerned that it might have been my Tivo, but your message gives me reason to not worry about it. With regards to FOX last night, I didn't watch any TV last night so I can't comment.

Okay after the last 2 weeks watching CBS games, the CBS HD NFL game on Directv is much better than the SEC game. Not sure if this is a local thing or what. I doubt it since all the rest of the CBS lineup is rock solid. I like the colors better on CBS better than the ESPN/ABC cameras. There is some pixelation on the SEC game, but like I said before, I think it is only on the fast motion close-ups. It is not bad on the NFL game. Different trucks, maybe?? Who knows?

Paul

The CBS NFL game is on now in HD!!

Looks just like the Directv version pretty much

Paul

ESPN-HD Sunday Night Football looks incredible. Zero pixellation. Great job ESPN! This is how football in HD should look.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=324168

Oh, well, it looks like ABC (at the Game site) are having issues, but they have been working on it.

Thank God-- I thought it was just my worn-out STB.

I've seen the issues mentioned in that thread too.

--Bill

Well, I see ABC has dropped the ball on HD tonight, anyone want to call??

Jonathan-

I got an extra DTS DVD for you from the HT Cruise!

PBS is now listed correctly on the program guide for D*. Finally dont have to list the analog station anymore to see whats on the station. Good job to PBS for getting that working finally. Anyone know the date when PBS will be in HD??

Yeah I noticed that the guide info is right on the 7-1 station, but the other subchannels don't have the guide info, and it looks like 7-1 was all over the place last night as far a signal strength was concerned anyone else notice that?

Anyone else noticing the severe sound delay on CBS OTA? Its almost unwatchable..
Jerry can you try rebooting your hardware to fix the problem?

Thanks,
Chris

Jerry, are you having problems? We didn't get HD on CBS last night, and the sound had static noise very few seconds.

Isn't ABC's primetime suppose to be in HD tonight, my asked and I was not sure

I am still having problems with 7-1 "stuttering". Oddly 7-2 and 7-3 are fine.

30-1 keeps waivering from 0 to 100. Has anything unusual happened to the signal recently? This used to peg at 100 on my Hughes E86.

Hey I am from Tampa FL, and one of the only station we don't receive via Cable is NBC which happens to be owned by Media Gerneral.

Medial General also ownes WJWB-WB, in Jacksonville, Fla.

Is this channel available via Cable in the Jacksonville area?


Thanks for helping me out.

Peter, 7-1 and the other subchannels are still jittery. I am having no problems with 30-1 - how much heat is your E86 generating, could this be the problem??

Ben, I can't speak to WB on Comcast here in Jax, but we definately get their OTA digital and HD signal. Someone else here might be able to answer that for you.

My e86 is sitting on top of my Mitsubishi HDTV, but it does run very hot. It gets quite a lot of air circulation, but is quite hot to the touch. Is that normal?

Peter--

When I was having heat issues with my e86, my OTA signal strength was pegged at 100, but the picture on all ota digital stations was jittery-some stations were worse than others.

--Bill

Ben,

To answer your question, Comcast is the only cable provider here in Jax. They do not carry the hd feed of our local WB station nor the widescreen feed of the local Fox station. They do carry the hd feeds from CBS, ABC, NBC, and PBS.

Bill,

How did you solve the heat problem?

Fan on top, do a search on the E86 or Heat issue. Basically you can purchase a computer fan and put it on top of the unit or under the unit. Radio shack sells them.

Thanks!

Peter-- Jeff summed it up perfectly. I however actually pulled a 12v fan out of an old computer power supply, and attached it to a 6v cell phone charger wall-wart. This effectively cut the amount of air moved but also cut the fan noise down signifcantly. You don't really do not have to move a lot of air to keep the e86 at a good temp.

--Bill

Thanks for all the suggestions.

So I take it this is just a basic design flaw in the product? Is there a more reliable model that will do D* and OTA? Sony? Toshiba? Zenith?

This is really annoying, and seems to be getting worse. The e86 is only 1 1/2 years old.

Peter, unfortunately the Hughes E86 (and its clones - Mitsibishi HD4/5 and Toshiba ??? and there is another model) do have this "heat" issue, but when well ventilated they compete very well considering they are a 2nd generation HD/D* receiver and they are now producing the 4th generation ones.

If you really want to get another unit, you might want to try a get the HD special from D* for $399 on a Samsung 160. I think all of these receivers have one issue or another it is just a matter of which ones are you willing to put up with -- do a lot of reading in the HDTV hardware forum for info.

I also think that you might be about to get D* to give more $$ if you get to the "customer retention" dept. and tell them you are feed up with your receiver because of this "known" issue and are think about going with Cable because of the costs. I'll bet you will get a good deal then, let us know how it goes.

Good Luck

Good suggestion. Thanks.

Originally posted by pspun
Jerry, are you having problems? We didn't get HD on CBS last night, and the sound had static noise very few seconds.

CBS did not provide us with a HD feed last night. This happens when there are football overruns and our feed is out of sync with others due to the Jag games. Our SD feed was running on time, but the HD feed was delayed.


Jerry

Originally posted by WTEV-JD
CBS did not provide us with a HD feed last night. This happens when there are football overruns and our feed is out of sync with others due to the Jag games. Our SD feed was running on time, but the HD feed was delayed.


Jerry

Thanks, Jerry, welcome back.

note : "last night" was 11/16.

Is anyone using a Sony projection TV with a built-in tuner? If so, please send me a PM and let me know. I have a question for you.

Thanks,

Jerry

HDNET's "Across America" will profile the 2003 GA/FL game this WED!
Just wanted to let everyoe know that HDNET was "on location" during the GA/FL game last month here at ALTELL stadium and I had the pleasure of meeting the host Ron Kruck and his crew on saturday. They are a great group of guys who love HD as much as we do. After mentioning my love for HD and HDNET (and how I though Mark Cuban was a genius) they felt obligated to do an interview with me while I created a soon to be world famous Bloody Mary (I mean it it the largest outdoor cocktail party afterall) for the guys. I'm sure I didn't make the final cut (I had already had several of those bloody marys after a really rough night) but I still plan on watching as it isn't often that you get to see your place in HD!
Have a great week and a safe holiday everyone!
Jamie

After almost a year of owning an HD tv, receiver and CM antenna, I have finally installed the antenna. HD looks great. However, the one channel I'm having problems attaining is WJWB. When I do get a lock on it, I'll lose other channels. The way I have it set now, it's the only one I can't get. I'm in Eagle Harbor in OP. Any suggestions?

Advance, I live on the northside of Doctor's Lake and am also experiencing problems locking a signal onto WB, I have been talking with George Birnbaum

George Birnbaum
Operations Manager, WJWB-TV/DT
904-646-5013
gbirnbaum@wjwb.com

I have been getting periodic signals that lock on and some times they don't so I have been logging my signal strength several times a day and reporting it to him so he can check things on his side. He has indicated that all seems fine, but he is willing to help us if we help him. Funny thing is, I really don't watch much WB, just occassionally I'll surf and park it their for 15-20 minutes, but ever since a month or so ago, I have not been able to lock the signal down on a steady basis.

Is their location a bit different from the others? If I point it more towards 48+ I can get it. However, to get the majority I have to adjust back to the left a bit.

Thanks for the info, I'll email George.

I don't think it is that far off, but I guess we should check antennaweb.org

Yeah, the WB is the only station I can't receive - I live in Fleming Island Plantation...

Jeff, is there any hope the Florida St. vs. Florida game this Sat will be in HD? I don't see where CBS is picking up any other game (SEC or not) in HD on Saturday....

Adam, it looks like the game will not be in HD, but they might, it doesn't matter to me, I'll be there to watch in person.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone
Jamie

Hey Jamie,

CONGRATULATIONS!! You made the cut on the FL/GA HDNet show. I just got finished watching it. That looked like a pretty stiff bloody mary!! I was laughing my butt off when that guy took the first sip. Too bad Candace Krueger (who my roommate went to high school in Austin with) wasn't there instead. I think she may have been at the Navy game instead.

Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving!!
I'll be watching the real rivalries tomorrow and next week.
Texas/Texas A&M & Army/Navy.

Paul
Hook em Horns/ Go Navy-Beat Army

Thanks Paul
I missed the first time around but caught this time. If you saw the guy talking about the port a pottie, that was our RV and my best friend Greg. I need to find out when it will be on again so I can get a copy made for the folks.
It would have been nice if Candace would have been there, but I have feeling I would have had a real hard time concentrating...
Jamie

Yeah, you wouldn't want to mess up that perfect blend for the cocktail!!

Maybe I can get my buddy to get a hold of her to come next year. I had another friend that was at one of the Navy games she was at and all the mids couldn't stay away. Everytime she would show up on the jumbotron, they would all go nuts. I can just imagine (being that I was in those guys shoes six years ago).

Paul

There's another episode of Across America tomorrow (Friday) at 4:30.
Not sure if it's the same episode but probably so.

Paul

Just checked the HDNet website. It is the same episode. Check out Jax in HD!!

Paul

She is pretty damn hot, that's for sure. My Div O went to the academy, he has told me some strange stories that is for sure. I am looking forward to the Army/Navy game, but I think I have duty and our Direct TV isn't working on the sub at the moment.

I have duty that day as well, but I should be able to go home. Who's your DivO? What boat are you on?

Paul

Antennaweb.org shows that most OTA DTV stations in Gainesville come from Jacksonville. Does anyone know if this is true?

Jacksonville has its locals (digital Stations) and Gainesville has a few that will be coming online in the future but Gainesville doesn't have all of the majors. Actually I think that Gainesville only has ABC, Fox is in Ocala and CBS is in Jacksonville - I am not sure about the others.

But to answer your question, the best option (and possibly only option for now) to get digital TV or HD is to try an receive Jacksonville's -- Good luck from that distance.

I did not notice any NBC ?

You would be right, if I remember correctly NBC in Gainesville was from Jacksonville on Cox cable (this was many years ago and might be different now)

If you want NBC-DT then once again Jacksonville is the place to get it.

I am not a advid ABC primetime TV watcher but I do like to surf here or there, I have been noticing lately that the staff at Chan. 25 have been slacking - is it just me or does anyone else notice this???

FSU/FL is in HD according to Ken H. in this thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=330182

Go Noles!

Yep, FSU/FL in HD - should be a great game!!!!

Goooooooo (see avatar) :)

Jeff,the last few nights channel 25 has not passed through network HD signal.I dont know if they forget or its equipment problems.

Yeah, I sent them an email ::

Good Evening Gentlemen,

I thought I would write on the behalf of the many digital television viewers in Jacksonville and inform you of the less than stellar QA/QC(quaility assurance/control) that your ABC staff have been demonstrating for some time now. It seems that your staff is unaware when the national HD feed is being sent to them and thus they are unable to "flip" the switch from the regular (SD - standard definition) signal to the HD signal being sent to all affiliates that are capable of receiving said signal. Or your procedures to check the type of signal being broadcast from ABC(national) is not the best of process available?

There are many examples of this lack of HD pass through: Thanksgiving day during the midday programming hours the primetime shows were broadcast in HD( at least all affiliate with HD-capable stations) -- Friday evening primetime (11/28/03) was not broadcast either. Those are just the most recent examples but others are/can be noted.

I'll be the first to admit that my family are not avid viewers of ABC's primetime, but with the ability to watch and enjoy other channels HD offerings we are less likely to stop at ABC-DT while "surfing" for viewing material and thus unlikely to possible become one of those "avid" viewers that your sponsors like to reach.

We also understand HD/Digital Television is a newer technology and bugs need to be worked out, but if I recall correctly your fine station(actually NBC - Olympics, but you are co-owned) was one of the first to offer HD and digital TV but still have many more errors and omissions to your signal than I have seen with you many other competitors in Jacksonville.


Sincerely

Jeff G

Well Done.

Wow! I saw the UF v FSU game in 3D HD yesterday, as I went to the game. Wow, I guess if you're an FSU fan. Great game Gators and Go Noles!

It definately was a great game (ussually is) it is a shame the officiating was terrible - they really blew 3 or 4 calls that should have been fumbles or not have been fumbles - oh well - Great game though

Agreed. Just watched the replay and there is no doubt the outcome could have been different with the questionable calls and no calls.

Did anyone else see the ESPN HD game yesterday night?

I believe it was the first time out Jaguars have been on HDTV and it looked absolutely stunning including the DD5.1 audio. Those instant replay scenes in HDTV sure do show the detail in those questionable fumbles. With HDTV it was so clear when Bucs receiver lost control of the ball. Jack Del Rio made some good guesses on the sideline challenges. Paid off!

I recorded most of it (2:15 as I got home late to start the recording and missed most of the first quarter :( ) to DVHS tape as I think it was a great demo of NFL Football of our team winning on Nationwide HDTV including some of the great HDTV instant slo mo recalls.

Anyone else see or record the game in HDTV?

Was a great game, but DD5.1?? I thought ESPN broadcasts Circle Surround 5.1?? what provider were you watching it on?

Below is the reply I got back from ABC/NBC: - let me know what you guys think before I respond (to see my original email see my previous post)

Jeff,

Thank you for your comments about WJXX-DT, our ABC digital
outlet in Jacksonville. WTLV-TV (analog NBC), WJXX-TV (analog ABC),
WTLV-DT (digital NBC) and WJXX-DT (digital ABC) are all switched under
automation control from our studios in Jacksonville. We employ a team of
operators and engineers to monitor and oversee our technical operations.
It their job to ensure that our transmissions comply with the FCC
regulations and our internal technical standards. That function includes
switching away from a source that does not meet those standards.

As you so correctly noted, HDTV is a new technology and as such,
the reliability and stability of network transmissions is not as good as
we see in the analog world. ABC is the only network to use the 720
progressive HD standard and more development work has been put into the
more popular 1080 interlaced standard. As we have worked to resolve the
HD issues, we have noticed that the ABC HD transmission is more prone to
failure than the NBC HD feed. Also, remote or live telecasts such as
parades and football present more challenges than in-studio, taped
events. That is not to say that taped event do not have problems from
time to time, but it seems that live events are more susceptible to
failures.

In the event of an HD feed error, our operators will switch to a
SD feed of the program rather that have the HD feed fail on the air.
That is why some programs are not passed through. It is not that they
"forget to flip the switch" or are not paying attention, they are
attempting to provide our viewers with the best picture and sound
available at the time.

We are working with all the parties to resolve the issues with
HD including ABC, NBC, the transmission equipment manufacturers,
encoding equipment manufactures and transmitter equipment manufacturers.
We have already resolved a number of issues and are hopeful that new
software releases to be installed this week will resolve most of the

remaining instability issues in our HD circuit.

Let me assure you that we are committed to providing our viewers
with the best HDTV experience possible and we are working daily toward
that goal.

Again, thank you for you comments.

Sincerely,


Bishop Ellison
Director of Technology / Operations
First Coast News

Jeff- Thanks for posting that!

WRT- ESPN HD, it was on DirecTV and the two authorized audio encodings for HDTV are DD5.1 and DD2.0(DPL). Not only is nothing else legal I don't think any equipment is made to broadcast other forms of encoding although there is a movement now for Dtheater DVHS to have DTS track in addition to DD5.1 but this is not broadcast so it doesn't matter. Last I knew, Jacksonville locals and Comcast were not doing any DD5.1. Therefore under the Dolby system, the default audio is DD2.0(DPL).

Don, I know the ATSC specs call for DD but ESPN broadcasts Circle Surround 5.1 not DD 5.1 -- I really don't understand what CC 5.1 is other than what I have read, but my DD/DTS receiver plays DD2.0 on ESPN and all of our Locals.

From what I understand ABC sometime uses CC 5.1.

Here is a link on this controversial topic

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=328668&highlight=Circle+Surround

Don, what Audio receiver do you own, some do encode CC5.1 as well as DD and DTS??

Jeff- DD5.1 is the final audio encoding used in the ATSC transmission for ESPN HD. The CS Matrix is what ESPN chooses to use to spread their stereo sources to the six channels for air rather than DPL. Without some form of matrixing all you would get on the DD5.1 is front left and front right discrete, 2 channel No receivers decode using a matrix to all six channels when the meta data tells it to be discrete. DUH! Therefore, they do the mix out to spread the stereo source sound to all six channels prior to encoding to DD5.1. discrete.

Thanks Jeff ,for keeping us informed on WJXX and WTLV and their problems passing through the HD feed.It sounds like they know there is a problem and are trying to fix it.Hopefully this new software will solve the problems.

No MNF - oh well, I guess we shouldn't be surprised

Definitely a big disappointment

Don,

Watching the ESPN-HD feed on D* last night, I thought the color was really "washed out." That is, there seemed to be a lack of color in the picture as opposed to CBS-HD football games. Not sure if it is a 720p issue or what, but it just hasn't looked as stunning as HD should. The thing is that the score and graphics were vivid while the live action video was just ehh-so,so.

As for tonight's lack of HD football, . . . glad Las Vegas was in HD. That makes up for SD football.

And the best HD football I've seen was on the HD game of the week on NFL channel (although a lot is actually film). But there was no compression artifacts, color was beautiful and the content was pretty good.

Just my 2 cents

Paul

Paul- I believe that has a lot to do with the camera operator / CCU operator. Often it is no one's fault but the architects of the stadium!

eg. when a cameraman has to shoot a half sunlighted field with half in the shade, the picture will suffer greatly. I have seen this often on NFL games. Cameras cannot properly expose for both at the same time. Night games are better, overcast games are better and clear sky with high sun are better than the half field of shadow. That's the only thing I can think of to cause a washed out look. 1080i on a capable monitor will have greater texture but not by much. Generally speaking all HD video is restricted to less than 1400 pixels in the horizontal regardless of it being 1080i or 720P. All this does is affect the textures and detail, not the gamma or exposure range.


Jeff- I checked the meta data on my tape of Sunday's game and I stand corrected in the DD5.1 broadcast claim. It was indeed DD2.0 with stadium like matrix, probably that Circle surround matrix but it was DD2.0 not DD5.1 Your other question: I use a Denon 5700.

Does anybody have any experience using an indoor antenna 15 miles or more from the Jacksonville TV Towers? I'm wondering if indoor will work for me, or not to even consider it and plan on getting a rooftop antenna. Antennaweb suggests 'yellow' for my location.

I'm in Fruit Cove, about 20-25 or so miles from the antenna farm. Before I put an antenna in the attic I was able to lock in on all of the stations with an indoor antenna. I mostly stopped using the indoor antenna because I constantly had to keep adjusting the lengths and positions of the elements. Putting an antenna in the attic has elimintated that problem.

Actually, the $39 attic antenna worked much better than the $79 powered indoor one (both from Radio Shack).

I probably live about as far out as you (Palm Valley). What $39 antenna are you using in your attic?

I too thought the HD Sunday Night game looked really good. Nice to see the Jaguars perform well in prime time. Interesting... it didn't occur to me that this was the first HD appearance for the Jaguars until Don mentioned it.

Heck, it was nearly their first appearance on local TV PERIOD this season!

Radio Shack catalog #15-2151. Listed as $34.99 on their website. Just for the record, I have it mounted on a mast to stabilize it.

However, I need to warn you that as many of us have found in "rediscovering" antennas after years of cable or satellite, getting them aimed just right is more of an art than a science. Sometimes even moving it an inch or so one way or the other can clear up a multipath problem (or create one!).

Sticking one in an attic and getting good reception can be influenced by a host of factors such as what type of insulation you have, etc. I stuck it up there for kicks just to see what would happen before lumbering around on the roof. Darned if it didn't work just fine, so that's where it sits.

WB has been working as of late for me, just happened to turn it on one night after never being able to get a signal.

Amazing I can watch a show with "only" 20% signal strength out here in Clay County (Brannan Field Road)

all the others working at 75% or better (Fox, CBS, ABC, NBC, PBS, WJXT).
according to antennaweb.org, compass orientation is 63-66 degrees. and WB is the exact same as CBS (which gets 95% signal) other than it says it needs a green level antenna.

Considering I have a Channel Master 3016 with preamps, I shouldn't have any issues. (maybe a 24 mile straight shot to the towers)


BTW, the Jaguars looked good in HD. My inlaws were impressed.

I saw Threat Matrix (ABC-10-1) and it was in glorius HDTV with no problems. Guess Bishop has some top of the mind awareness to make HDTV work at WJXX since his letter. :)

That's great Don, I missed it last night as I went to the UF/UCF game, Great Arena, terrible game -- boooorrrriiiiiiinggggg!!

By the way - for anyone in the Jax area. If anyone is interested, one of my business partners has purchased the old Burger King over on Roosevelt by Ortega and will be demolishing the building soon. There are three Soda fountain dispensers in there and I am taking one. They are the Bag in the Box kind and are in pretty good condition, just need a little clean up.

I am not exactly sure what it will take to get them working, but I have started my research and my brother is able to get me the Bag-In-the-Box syrup and I don't think C02 is too expensive, but I don't know what else is involved.

Anyway, if anyone is interested let me know I need to get them out before Christmas.

Has anyone else noticed lip synch problems on 47-1's SD broadcasts? The HD feed seems fine.

Lots of lip sync issues, Peter.

Also, Jerry, if you're reading, I saw some tone and color bars pop in between many of the commercials on every break. Just a flash for a few frames but you need to see why that is. Also at times you have a loud snap sound and a heavy glitch to the picture when switching between the HD and SD feeds. I have noticed this for about a month now and I don't recall it before.

Jerry, I am hearing the Lip Sync as well

Thank God. I thought my hearing was going!

NO HD on CBS SEC Game, has anyone called yet??

Originally posted by Gator99
NO HD on CBS SEC Game, has anyone called yet??

Someone must have called. It has been in HD for the past 30 minutes or so.

Boy, I really hated Att cable before I got D*. Now that I have it along with HDTV with three normal receivers, I hear Comcast is offering local HDTV channels. I am currently having a D* problem with Sat. #1 crapping out. I've called and it will cost $70 to have a tech come out. I also have several problems receiving local HD channels from my 8-foot behemoth antenna in my attic. Here's my question...Why shouldn't I switch to comcast digital with the HD channels? I don't care if only my HD room has all of the channels. I simply won't have to pay extra every month for the receivers in those other rooms. Who is using comcast with the local HD channels? How is it? How much? Thanks

Advance--

I agree with you that I also really hated AT&T before I had a chance to get my directv setup completed when I moved into my house, about a year ago. The Picture Quality was hideous. I don't know-- maybe they improved. (LOL)

What are the problems with your SAT1? if it's as simple as a bad LNB, then I've got an extra one of those for a non-phase3 dish in the attic as a spare. Have you isolated where the problem is on that?

Also-- What are your problems with the OTA reception? If I remember right-- you're down towards Fleming Island--is that right????

In reality, helping others to get through these issues is what this forum is all about.

--Bill

has anyone else noticed a lot of breakup on fox tonight-- I'm getting a real bad signal, with picture freezes, blocks and loss of audio signal. I first noticed around 5, but I just checked back in on the 8:00 movie, and it's the same way.

This is the only channel that's showing any problems here. I've been watching the OTA digital channels all evening tonight.

--Bill

Thanks. It is (was) Sat 1. It fixed itself when I came home. The Ota reception will probably be an ongoing problem. I simply can't get all the stations. If I adjust one way I'll lose one, if I adjust the other the same thing. But, if the quality of the pix is the same with Comcast - why deal with an antenna? Why not go with a product that gives you an easy (especially for wife) seamless fix? My annual contract is up Dec 17, I would appreciate input from anyone that has used Comcast HD. Thanks, ATM

Originally posted by bmccrea
Advance--

I agree with you that I also really hated AT&T before I had a chance to get my directv setup completed when I moved into my house, about a year ago. The Picture Quality was hideous. I don't know-- maybe they improved. (LOL)

What are the problems with your SAT1? if it's as simple as a bad LNB, then I've got an extra one of those for a non-phase3 dish in the attic as a spare. Have you isolated where the problem is on that?

Also-- What are your problems with the OTA reception? If I remember right-- you're down towards Fleming Island--is that right????

In reality, helping others to get through these issues is what this forum is all about.

--Bill

By the way regarding my previous post, I should add that my signal strength meter is pegged at 100 for the station. I have unplugged/ replugged my E86-- all to no avail. The cooling fan has been running continuously, and the receiver is cool to the touch.

--bill

Bill, I have been having issues with Fox lately - signal pegged at 100, but Fox is periodically breaking up/pixelating.

Advance, if my latest info is correct the only channel you will not get (at least digital) is Fox. Check out the PDF file I have attached.


Which brings me to that PDF, it probably needs to be updated. Anyone have anything to add??

Advance--

A couple questions before you decide to scrap the antenna for OTA digital channel reception.

1. where are you generally located?

2. what channel(s) do you lose if you adjust one angle VS. the channel(s) you lose if you adjust the other way?

3. What type of antenna are you using? (is it a UHF only? since you mentioned it's an 8 foot bohemoth-- I'm assuming it's a uhf/vhf combo. What's the make/model if possible)

4. (no offense implied for this one, but I've gotta ask) if it's a uhf/vhf combo, is the narrowest end of the antenna pointed at the antenna farm? (a couple years ago when I was living in South Carolina, I mounted my uhf/vhf antenna pointing exactly 180 deg of my stations and I was bitching about no signal-- when someone told me I was umm...well...quite embarrased(or something else). That's when I started learing a whole lot more about antennas and signal reception)

5. you mentioned that your antenna is in the attic. How high is it above the ceiling rafters?

6. How is it mounted in the attic?

7. if it's not already, is it possible to get it at least 4 or 5 ft. above the rafters?

8. what type of roofing material do you have--asphalt shingles or something else?

--Bill

(edit: added q 6&7)

I've been having problems with Fox for the last few weeks. The signal goes from 100 down to 0. Something has changed either with the station or our environment down in Fruit Cove. It used to hold steady at 100.

Thanks. I'm in Eagle Harbor in Orange Park. WB is the culprit. I'll lose that channel by adjusting for a number of others. Channelmaster Model 3020, VHF/UHF/FM and it's 152". I have the narrow end pointing towards Jax. I mounted a Satellite U and dropped it from the highest peak. It's about 6 feet from the ceiling rafters. We have an asphalt shingle roof.

The bottom line is I don't mind switching to Comcast HD if its comparable quality to D*. I also would want similar quality as D* on the other channels. Honestly, I'm tired of having to unplug then plug my Samsung 160 by moving the tv, reaching behind... it's a pain and I shouldn't have to do that. Also, the weather knocked out a handful of times this summer/fall. So there really isn't any love loss if I don't keep D*, I just want to happy with Comcast if I do go with them. Thanks, ATM

ATM, WB has been a problem for me and others as well on this side of Town (I live on the north side of Doctor's Lake, not too far north of you). I have been taking signal readings for WB (George B) for a month or so now and he is trying to work on the issue for us.

I am also having issues with Fox lately as well, just like Peter (Fruit Cove is basically due east from Doctor's lake) - I am not sure what is going on here, but I am going to have to tweak my antenna to see if I can get a "cleaner" signal.

ATM, as far as WB and Fox for that matter, as of the last time I was informed you will not get HD or EDTV from Comcast (currently). I could be wrong but someone with Comcast will have to speak to that.

ATM, why are you unplugging your Samsung and moving the TV, just curious.

It will have a black screen or lock up and the only way to get it to work is to unplug it. The on/off switch won't do anything. After plugging it back in it will reload everything.

That is not a D* issue, but an issue with your Receiver, have you read the Samsung 160 topics. I haven't in quite a while, but if I were you I would replace that unit, did you buy it locally?

Problems with Fox in St.Augustine also.Many motion artifacts during their football game Sunday.I finally went to analog signal.

Originally posted by Gator99
That is not a D* issue, but an issue with your Receiver, have you read the Samsung 160 topics. I haven't in quite a while, but if I were you I would replace that unit, did you buy it locally?

Have you seen that thread! It's a mile long. As long as the quality is great for HD, I'd rather go with Comcast where in the past I never had a problem with the box. The previous company's (att) customer service was awful, but the box never gave me a problem.

No ABC passthrough of HD signal last night.I have not seen any ABC-HD for 2-3 Tuesday nights.

Originally posted by Quinton
No ABC passthrough of HD signal last night.I have not seen any ABC-HD for 2-3 Tuesday nights.

Yes, no HD on ABC, and FOX was breaking up even when my receiver was registering good reception for it. Jerry, what is going on with FOX? My guess is that you must have been receiving bad signals from the network.

When I got home from work today, I watched about 10 minutes of King of the Hill on FOX--and I saw no breakups at all. I just returned from Bowling, and took another peek at the channel, and the widescreen network feed is looking good. Jerry--- was something wrong at the station???

Hi Everyone,
First off I am sorry Don we did not get the HD online in November. We have had issues with the HD video server and editing station to trim shows after they have been recorded. We are also working out myriad issues with the interface to our automation system, the encoder we have is a relatively new product and the interfaces are still rough. I believe we finally have all the issues with the four streams nailed down. The noise reduction equipment has been upgraded in firm and software so those are back online, these were originally causing the lip sync issue. Is anyone having issues now with the four streams? We have finally added an FM engineer (we have been looking for 7 month’s) to the engineering group, this has been a tremendous help in getting caught up to allow us to refocus on the HD delivery.
Well go-ahead, let me have it:D

Duane Smith
Engineering Manager
WJCT TV\FM
100 Festival Park Avenue
Jacksonville, Florida 32202-1397

Did everyone see that this weeks Jags game is in HD on CBS? And since its not a home game it won't be blacked out!

Well go-ahead, let me have it



Smitty-

What's with the stretching of your 4 sub channels so the image is distorted. People look short and fat. 4:3 is 4:3 and no getting around that on 480i What you guys are doing looks stupid.

Looking forward to the day you will be giving Jacksonville, HDTV from PBS.


Jerry- The glitch and beep are gone from the commercials now but the lip sync is getting worse. 19-2 is out about a half second, wether it be live from your studio, local commercials or network programming.
Is it my equipment? Don't have a problem with any other station. What's interesting is that the sound seems to be lagging the video

Don,

The 4 streams aren't stretched on my setup (Hughes e86, Mitusubishi 55809). They are coming through as 4:3. Not sure why there would be a difference between us.

Peter/Don/Smitty -- WJCT all 4 channels are stretched on my set (E-86 clone), lip sync is gone, but subchannel 4 is unwatchable - the quality of tape that you are broadcasting is terrible.

CBS - definately a bad lip sync issue - sometimes - more than ever before though

I'm getting bad lip sync on CBS also - which didn't seem to be there before this morning. Have only had my receiver (HTL-HD) set up for satelite since yesterday, but have been watching OTA since mid week. Using Jensen indoor (rabbit ear) antenna and am getting good reception (seemingly, since the HTL-HD doesn't have a signal meter) on all the local digital channels. Will be putting antenna in the attic soon.

Hopefully the audio sync won't affect my Jaguar watching. ;.)

Welcome Ogregore, it seems that the lip sync problem has been isolated to the local feed and not national feed.

As I was typing this it looks like we lost the HD signal 1:07PM - that stinks -- oh well I guess they rebooted, it back in HD -- well maybe not

Gator,

When did the game go back to hd? The picture went out and a white field that you would see on Video Essentials came up and then the game came back on but it is in 4:3.

The game is back in hd now.

It's back HD again at 1:13.

OG

I would imagine that CBS had to reboot and that took a few minutes - Jerry can probably speak to that. Picture looks great though.

Is it just me (and my set up) or is all the audio (crowd noise, stadium PA) MUCH louder than the actual announcers of the Jag game?

OG

OG,

On the hd broadcasts, the sound will be a bit more pronounced throughout all of your speakers because the shows or games are broadcast in Dolby 2.0 or Dolby 5.1.

I adjusted the levle of my center channel higher and turned down everything else.

Well, I don't know if it was the colder weather or what but my fox signal was gone for almost 2 weeks. I didn't check the readings but my Samsung couldn't get a picture period while the Mits integrated tuner would break up a lot. But today, during the Cowboys/Redskins game, it is much better (well as soon as I write this, I get two break-ups, go figure).

I had to go to work today and I missed the Jags game (oh well)

But at least we caught Saddam, that's seems a little more important to me!!

Paul

On the sound thing, sometimes I do the opposite: turn down the announcers and turn up the surround so I can pretend I am watching the game live!! Announcers can be real annoying at times.:D

No Jax stations that I am aware of are broadcasting in Dolby 5.1. Most are just Dolby 2.0. They don't want to spend the money on the equipment.

Originally posted by bmccrea
When I got home from work today, I watched about 10 minutes of King of the Hill on FOX--and I saw no breakups at all. I just returned from Bowling, and took another peek at the channel, and the widescreen network feed is looking good. Jerry--- was something wrong at the station???

I guess the transmitter found out I was on vacation. <G> From what I heard one of the signal converters (DS3 to SMPTE310M) went haywire and it took the guys some time to sort it out.

Jerry

Jerry, can you say "Murphy's Law" -- I hope your vacation was well spent.

I just popped on FOX (during Home Improvement) and I'm seeing a thin (call it about 1/4" tall) multi-colored line going horizontally across the screen. The line moves slowly from the bottom of the image to the top. Anyone else see it?

I see the same thing. I am still having Fox occilate from 0 to 100.

Have you guys (at least the people in Orange Park or South) noticed that WB is coming in better - the last two nights I have had the strongest signal since a few months ago??

I have not had any problems with Fox though except for the scrolling line last night

Smitty1, as Don had indicated and I re-read through your previous posts (yes all 9) I thought you were in favor of not stretching your 4:3 SD signal?

I am guessing you got "out voted" somewhere? if so I am sure(maybe) if you took a poll of the Jax users here that we would prefer non stretched material.

Also, when do you think you will be broadcasting HD? -- I am really looking forward to having PBS HD.

Jerry, what is up with the scrolling line on Fox?????? -- very annoying

Saturday, Dec 20th:

Comcast: Anyone else notice the difference between CBS's Vikings vs Chiefs and ESPN's Jets vs Patriots ? ESPN's is sharper/more crisp than CBS's signal today. CBS had a couple field level cameras that were horrible and they keep cutting to them ? Tonights ESPN game is very nice !!

Jerry, are you still sending PSIP. I looked last night and did not see any info coming from Fox or Cbs?

John Morgis

Kidd,

I like you noticed that the CBS hd cameras had some issues when I could see small pixels appear as the fast action plays stopped. It didn't happen all the time but it was still bothersome. I didn't see the ESPN game as I do not have ESPN HD.

john, what service are you using? D* E* or comcast??

Using my HD100 (soon to be replaced with the HD300) and DTV.

John

John the reason why I asked, is that if you have DirecTV your guide info is coming from them not your receiver -- of coure I might be wrong since you have a older reciever.

So, you might just need to either soft reboot or do a hard reboot of your receiver.

Gator, I recall that Jerry sends PSIP data. He showed it to us on the tour. Mine was always lagging a couple of hours. But lately im not getting anything. Tune to 47.1 and press display. What to you get?

John

Yeah, I know he sends the data, but for me and many others, our data actually comes from DirecTV, which receives the data from the parent company of http://www.zap2it.com/. which gets their programming data from each station individually through the programming office.

Don't get me wrong I do recall some receivers are capable of decoding the PSIP signal that the OTA stations are sending, but mine has never (Hughes E-86 clone) and gets its guide data from D*.

On the local news front we noticed Dan Hicken had a wedding ring on the other night.It looked like he almost held it up to the camera to show it off.Does anyone know who he married? I heard he was dating reporter Candice Coleman at onetime.Thanks for any info.

Quniton,

Has Donna Hicken gotten married again? Who is Candice Coleman?

Donna Hicken married Tim Deacon sp?(weather man/surfer boy) a while back.

Regarding PSIP data, I haven't been getting any either on my Integrated tuner. (my samsung rcvr does the D* trick though)

Paul

Just checking in...

OH MY GOD... girls.... the gossip is running wild today. for my part, AFAIK, Jeff's comment regarding Donna is correct. I personally don't know about Dan's relationship, nor do I care. (Unlike when the stories were flying, I'm staying above that now.)

Regarding PSIP, I've got a Hughes E86, and I'm like Jeff-- I only get the guide information that the stations pass through zap2it (tribune media) --to D* , so I don't get the local ota pisip info.

--Bill

Here's whats going on in my neighborhood.

Fox: The scrolling line comes and goes but we are trying to nail it down. If anyone sees it again, let me know what program it was on, and if it was just programs or programs and commercials.

CBS: Still trying to solve the audio delay problems which is also intermittent.


PSIP: The data in the psip for the electronic program guide only has "DTV Program" right now. With the holidays here, its hard to get someone on the phone to help. The guide updates through the internet from Tribune Media Services and it appears to be connecting but not getting the data. Its a subscription service, so did someone forget to pay the bill?...dunno, but we're tracking that down as well.

Did I miss anything? Let me know.

Jerry

AFH,Candice Coleman was a reporter for channel 4 then went to Orlando.It was mentioned somewhere that Dan was dating her.On another note I wonder how close we are to getting PBS HD?

Anybody having audio problems tonight on WJXX 25-1? I get a clear picture but audio is all static.

ray, I noticed it too, they need to reset their audio. It has happened before. Someone should call to tell engineering

Thanks gator, I dont really care, just wanted to make sure it wasnt my receiver.

http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2003/12/22/daily11.html?f=et64

Congratulations Jerry, you should ask for more $$ in your budget for next year - Dolby Digital 5.1 would be great.


LATEST NEWS -- Bussiness Journal - Jax
2:41 PM EST Friday
Jacksonville's CBS 47 wins overall viewership in ratings sweep
WTEV, Jacksonville's CBS 47, won overall viewership in the November 2003 Nielsen ratings sweep, the station announced recently.


Ninety-three percent of households in the 14-county designated market area watched WTEV during the 7 - 1 a.m. Sunday through Monday sweeps period, in addition to being No. 1 in overall viewing in the adults 18-49, adults 25-54, working women and total viewers demographics.

WAWS, Jacksonville's FOX 30, had the No. 1 primetime rotation ratings in the adult 18-49 demographic. The primetime rotation is 4 - 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Clear Channel Communications Inc. owns both stations as part of a media family that includes 11 radio stations in the Jacksonville area.

Anyone know why all the cable digital channels were out all day on Christmas day? I have the integrated tuner and was watching the yule log on INHD2 about 7:15am. That's when it went blue and stayed blue. I switched channels and all the digital side cable channels were gone. Just wondered if anyone else saw it. The regular cable channels were fine.

DR Jax- Blame it on rain fade! :) Ever see a Comcast commercial rip DBS as totally unreliable due to rain fade?

So don't feel bad that you only lost cable for a day. I understand that the Comcast wizards in Richmond VA programmed all their local Origination channels on Dec 1 to play every half hour show for 30 seconds so the channels went off the air for 29:30 twice every hour. It took them until the 19th of December to figure out that the software that runs the server requires all entries in seconds or 1800 seconds for a half hour show. Duh!
I don't want to say what amount of lost invoicing for not airing all those programs cost them. Another case of cable rain fade in mega proportions!

I also understand that Jacksonville nearly had the same loss but being just a bit ahead of the game, Our Comcast engineers figured out how many seconds there are in a half hour. :D

Just a bit of insider humor!

PS: I didn't have any rain fade on Christmas day on DirecTV!


So while were at it- a bit of positive news for Comcast Broadband users and business accounts- Consider this unofficial insider stuff-
Comcast is in the process of upgrading the cable modem service so that your download speed may peak to as high as 2.25 Mb/s but upload will still be maxed out at 128 Kb/s
Broadband Business accounts are being upgraded to a speed of 3Mb/s download and upload of 512 Kbs sometime in the next 4 months.

In the past the business accounts are regulated data rates while residential accounts are considered unregulated and can vary. Plus a business account has a special connection account rep and same day service calls. Residential, well you know the drill, they guarantee a service call within 2 weeks. ugh!


As for WTLV inbreeding gossip- 'nuf already said! They're all really nice people but they do need to get out more and meet other people!

Dan Hicken is married to the special education teacher at Hendericks Elementary School. Her name is Reagan. My children go to school there. They make a nice couple.

My Comcast digital cable channels are still out. I'm talking about the HD channels like NBC, ABC, CBS, INHD1, INHD2 and ESPN-HD. My regular cable channels are fine. Anyone else not able to get HD from Comcast?

I'm using my integrated tuner and trying to get 102.01, 102.02, 103.01, 103.02, 104.01 and 104.02. No luck yet. It was working great until Christmas morning.

At approximately 9:30PM last night I switched to ESPN-HD and the Redskins-Eagles game was on. My grandkids wanted to watch more DVD's SOOOOOOOOOO. It was in HD as I recall.

I reset my tv and it works now.

Isn't the Green Bay/ Broncos game suppose to be HD??

Nevermind I called. It's on

In regards to the comcast speed increase, I got mine around 12/02/03 and I love it. Upload could be better, but I average about 3.5/4Mb down and 300Kb up. Of course, the main challenge now is finding internet sites that are consistently that fast.

I'm still very happy with Comcast and luckily I haven't had an outage of any notable length (hour or more) in a loooong time. I just wish they'd hurry up and give us Cinemax and Starz HD.

I hope everyone has a fun and safe New Years!




-Travis

Happy New Year to all!!!

ABC audio!!!!
Anyone notice that ABC has been having sound problems this week? I hope that it is fixed B4 Sun OK/LSU Sugar Bowl.

Yes, and the video is even worse

I was watching ABC on Comcast with both analog (005) and digital (177) having audio problems.

Happy new year everyone!

Are there plans for another HD-get-together sometime?

Skip

Yes, I would second that. Getting together is a great idea!!

John Morgis

I had a nice chat with Bill Schnieder,chief engineer at 25-1ABC and 13-1 NBC today.I told him that many ABC shows are not getting passed through as HD.I mentioned Tuesday and Wenesday there was no HD pass through.I was concerned that the NFL wildcard games Saturday might not get passed through in HD.He said that ABC has provided them faulty equipment before ,but now they have new software and are working with it.He is going to look into the problems they are still having that I told him about.Hopefully,we will have consistent HD pass through all the time soon.I told him with Comcast and Time-Warner carrying the digital channels more and more people will complain when they expect a show in HD and dont get it.All in all a very nice conversation with him.Time will tell if any positive comes of it.

ABC is having audio problems in the NFL pregame on the digital side. You guys hearing the same thing? Mine is coming via Comcast Cable. Hope it's worked out for the game and it's in HD.

Well right now I am getting a "fluttering" sound and no HD picture on the Wild card pregame for Balt/Tenn on 25-1. Hopefully it will correct before game time.

Or is it just me?

Audio back to normal - let's hope the HD portion happens also.

Sound on 25-1 is just like a jackhammer,it is not your equipment.I hope they can get it fixed.

So far, it's not in HD yet. Isn't it supposed to be? Come on ABC, get with the program!

It sounds like every time they try to throw the switch the audio drops back out. Seems like they can get one or the other.

What is 25-1's problem. They are not passing the hd signal. Does anyone know the number to engineering. This sort of stuff with 25-1 is getting ridiculous. They blame it on ABC giving them faulty equipment, but I doubt it is ABC's fault today.

No HD signal so far from 25-1.

I'm having same problem with today's ABC wildcard game. Called Comcast and they're seeing the same problem and is reporting problem to engineering ?

25-1, let's just mute the sound and turn HD on. I think most of us would rather see the game in HD without sound. we can always listen thru a analog source. If you can't mute the sound, it is okay too, we can mute it ourself. Just get the HD feed to us, please.

Funny pspun, I agree with you.

Man this sucks -- I'll bet you they will not have either game in HD tonight and probably will not have the Sugar bowl in HD -- I think everyone should give them a call and write Ken Tonning(Ktonning@firstcoastnews.com) and Bishop Ellisonv (biellison@wtlv.gannett.com) emails -- let them know we are here and displeased.

Newsroom phone number -- (904) 633-8808 News Dept -- (904) 633-8808 News Tips

When I found out the Saturday Playoff games on ABC were in HD I almost invited some friends over to show off how great football looks in HD.

I had a gut feeling our local ABC would likely not be up for the task of a reliable signal - guess I was right.

Or perhaps it is a national ABC feed problem - but in any event I, for one, would love to see the day when a HD program is something DEPENDABLE and not a "maybe it will work, maybe it won't" proposition.

The inconsistency does nothing to encourage any new adoptors to HD.

I know it is new technology but heck one would think by now the kinks would be ironed out.

My rant 'o the day


HD Hobbit

Maybe I need to use the power of The One Ring to get HD

Hey guys we are now on the January/December thread


http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=345271

When I found out the Saturday Playoff games on ABC were in HD I almost invited some friends over to show off how great football looks in HD.

I had a gut feeling our local ABC would likely not be up for the task of a reliable signal - guess I was right.

Or perhaps it is a national ABC feed problem - but in any event I, for one, would love to see the day when a HD program is something DEPENDABLE and not a "maybe it will work, maybe it won't" proposition.

The inconsistency does nothing to encourage any new adoptors to HD.

I know it is new technology but heck one would think by now the kinks would be ironed out.

My rant 'o the day


HD Hobbit

Maybe I need to use the power of The One Ring to get HD

Well there doesn't seem to be a lot of chatter about no HD in the other city threads - so one would have to assume that this problem is limited to those of us lucky enough to be on the First Coast.

Ah - the sun the sand the no HD football.

It is a bitter disappointment not to receive the game in HDTV. I sent them an email,just so they know that there are people out here looking for HDTV

Well I sent another email to Ken and Bishop -- for a reference here is what I have sent them in the past and their response.

by the way I am trying to get the email address for the "upper" management at Gannett - the parent company of First Coast news (ABC/NBC) -- here is a webpage with their names, but no emails ---

http://www.gannett.com/map/management/gboc.html



I am guessing the bugs are still being worked out, but I am also guessing that since we are not receiving the Baltimore vs Tennessee Game in Hd we here in the First Coast will not be receiving the second game and probably not the Sugar Bowl in HD like the rest of the country. Very Disappointing.

I realize that 720p is not a common format but it is also not a uncommon format (ESPN utilizes the 720p format as well as a few others)

New technology or not, bugs in a system should never take this long to work out.

Jeff


-----Original Message-----
From: Ellison, Bishop [mailto:biellison@wtlv.gannett.com]
Sent: Monday, December 01, 2003 1:40 PM
To: Jeffrey ; Ktonning@firstcoastnews.com
Subject: RE: ABC 25 - Digital Station 10 - Jacksonville,FL


Jeff,

Thank you for your comments about WJXX-DT, our ABC digital outlet in Jacksonville. WTLV-TV (analog NBC), WJXX-TV (analog ABC), WTLV-DT (digital NBC) and WJXX-DT (digital ABC) are all switched under automation control from our studios in Jacksonville. We employ a team of operators and engineers to monitor and oversee our technical operations. It their job to ensure that our transmissions comply with the FCC regulations and our internal technical standards. That function includes switching away from a source that does not meet those standards.

As you so correctly noted, HDTV is a new technology and as such, the reliability and stability of network transmissions is not as good as we see in the analog world. ABC is the only network to use the 720 progressive HD standard and more development work has been put into the more popular 1080 interlaced standard. As we have worked to resolve the HD issues, we have noticed that the ABC HD transmission is more prone to failure than the NBC HD feed. Also, remote or live telecasts such as parades and football present more challenges than in-studio, taped events. That is not to say that taped event do not have problems from time to time, but it seems that live events are more susceptible to failures.

In the event of an HD feed error, our operators will switch to a SD feed of the program rather that have the HD feed fail on the air. That is why some programs are not passed through. It is not that they "forget to flip the switch" or are not paying attention, they are attempting to provide our viewers with the best picture and sound available at the time.

We are working with all the parties to resolve the issues with HD including ABC, NBC, the transmission equipment manufacturers, encoding equipment manufactures and transmitter equipment manufacturers. We have already resolved a number of issues and are hopeful that new software releases to be installed this week will resolve most of the remaining instability issues in our HD circuit.

Let me assure you that we are committed to providing our viewers with the best HDTV experience possible and we are working daily toward
that goal.

Again, thank you for you comments.

Sincerely,


Bishop Ellison
Director of Technology / Operations
First Coast News








-----Original Message-----
From: Jeffrey
Sent: Friday, November 28, 2003 9:18 PM
To: bellison@firstcoastnews.com; Ktonning@firstcoastnews.com
Subject: ABC 25 - Digital Station 10 - Jacksonville,FL


Good Evening Gentlemen,

I thought I would write on the behalf of the many digital television viewers in Jacksonville and inform you of the less than stellar QA/QC(quaility assurance/control) that your ABC staff have been demonstrating for some time now. It seems that your staff is unaware when the national HD feed is being sent to them and thus they are unable to "flip" the switch from the regular (SD - standard definition) signal to the HD signal being sent to all affiliates that are capable of receiving said signal. Or your procedures to check the type of signal being broadcast from ABC(national) is not the best of process available?

There are many examples of this lack of HD pass through: Thanksgiving day during the midday programming hours the primetime shows were broadcast in HD( at least all affiliate with HD-capable stations) -- Friday evening primetime (11/28/03) was not broadcast either. Those are just the most recent examples but others are/can be noted.

I'll be the first to admit that my family are not avid viewers of ABC's primetime, but with the ability to watch and enjoy other channels HD offerings we are less likely to stop at ABC-DT while "surfing" for viewing material and thus unlikely to possible become one of those "avid" viewers that your sponsors like to reach.

We also understand HD/Digital Television is a newer technology and bugs need to be worked out, but if I recall correctly your fine station(actually NBC - Olympics, but you are co-owned) was one of the first to offer HD and digital TV but still have many more errors and omissions to your signal than I have seen with you many other competitors in Jacksonville.


Sincerely

Jeff

Well it looks like Roger Ogden(roger.ogden@9news.com) is Ken's boss:

maybe I should make him aware of these issues with our "First Coast stations"

http://www.9news.com/9listens/ro.htm

I did my duty and fired off the emails. This is really sad that they can't get their act together. Also from the other board I pretty sure that it is a local problem.

I also agree on the sound-picture differences. Just send the picture. I agree with others. We are probably out of luck on the other game and the Sugar Bowl. At least CBS won't let us down tomorrow.

I sent Ken Tonning an email about this same problem about a month ago. It had to be about a page long and I got not response from him. You call them and it seems as though they don't give a flying flip about the problem. It makes me wish that ABC didn't have playoff games in hd because our local affiliate is reliable. I probably wouldn't be wrong in assuming that we can expect to see this same problem with the Sugar Bowl tomorrow.

Jeff, I'm going to follow your lead and fire off an email to Tonning's boss. Maybe he will be able to persuade WJXX to fix their problems.

i just checked ABC's web site and yes the games are being broadcast in HD, our wonderful affiliate just is not broadcasting it! I wonder what the issue is? Dont blame faulty equipment, i've got folks in Baltimore and FLL who have HD and their recption w/ABC has been flawless, so dont let them feed you the ABC equipment nonsense, it might be lack of training or something else but it aint equipment IMHO.

and oh yea.....

Main phone number (switch board)
The phone number to the First Coast News switchboard is (904) 354-1212.

man, this suxxors

they just took a stab at passing the signal, the pic came through great, but sound was damn brutal, so they dropped it back to SD.

I imagine there are quite a few new owners of HDTV's in Jacksonville since Christmas. Some are probably wondering if it was worth the price right now.

I have a houseful, laughing at me right now...

Hey, I just sent a email to Ken Amaro telling to do a consumer report on the lousy service in HD his station does. I also directed him to our thread. I wonder if they will do a story on their broadcast? Ha.

Looks like it is now working. Yahoo...

Looks like it might be fixed now. Don't know how long it will hold.

Sweet !! Finally, let's hope it lasts.

Ironic 'ain't' it - almost 5 quarters of football to go "CLICK" and it's working.

Oh well I guess I shouldn't look a gift HD in the mouth.

I'm not getting any sound. Anybody else?

Got It!

yeah then it died

Suggestion:

Everyone who is disgusted with our problems we have been suffering through with HD on local channels from network feeds should also send a letter of complaint to the FCC. Not just one but every time it happens. Make it a formal hard copy. Just print out your e-mail and send it to the FCC. Let the station CE and manager know you did this.

In addition- I would like everyone to request this of the FCC:

Please allow viewers the option of receiving National network feeds from DBS providers so we may bypass our local stations who just can't seem to rebroadcast the network feeds reliably. Currently there is a waiver process that prevents us from receiving the national feeds for HDTV but that waiver approval should be reversed. The station should be required for US the viewers, to get our permission to allow them to have our viewership. Finally, in order to make this work, all networks should be required to supply their HDTV feeds to the DBS providers without restriction.

_______________

Now I know that this sounds ridiculous to many but it would resolve our desire to see the network's HDTV programming without the local stations screwing it up. Additionally, it isn't like this hasn't been done before. For those who aren't aware, CBS is available in HDTV via DishNetwork to any waivered viewer anywhere in the country and to any viewer without waiver who lives in a CBS O&O market.

Flood the FCC with requests like the one above and one of two things will eventually happen-1. The local stations will get their act together and deliver flawless HDTV(most likely) 2. or the FCC will seriously consider deregulating the restriction hold the local stations have on our viewership and the restriction the DBS and networks have in forming a relationship like the one with CBS with all the networks but without waiver process.

I know it doesn't seem this way but the FCC (government)works for the people, not the local stations and big networks.

I finally went outside and turned our antenna south and was lucky enough to get 9-1 from Orlando.It was a wonderful HD picture.The weather conditions were just right.I would not like to have to rely on that every time.It looks like my chat with Don Schnider was of no help.Sorry about that.

According to my Timex, It took 40 minutes for ABC to get HD "on". I called the station about 8:15pm last night but only got voice mail. Sad... wonder if, or how long, to get it "on" for tonight's Sugar Bowl. ABC are you listening???

I mean Bill Schnider.

Ross it was more than 40 minutes, they missed the first game completly, so tack on another 3+/- hours to it.

Sugar Bowl is looking pretty good in HD right now.

Anybody else having audio dropouts on the Sugar bowl? Maybe it is my dishwasher causing it?

my Audio is fine over Comcast. I just wish the locals would get 5.1. I am surprized that WJXX-DT got it working tonight after the trouble last night.

We just lost the feed on HD in the LSU game. Anyone else having problems?

Its gone for me as well.

I wonder if WJXX-DT will ever get it right. This is really sad they can't do it right. Thank goodness they are not doing the Super Bowl.

It was just switched back on at the start of the 4th quarter.


James

Anyone know if and why these stations are still broadcasting on temp FCC licenses, called STAs?
FL
JACKSONVILLE
WJEB

FL
JACKSONVILLE
WJWB

FL
JACKSONVILLE
WTLV

Anybody see a drop in signal strength on abc and nbc?
I am reduced to a 18 on NBC which is not even close to watchable, normally I have in the high 50s/low 60s.
thanks jamie

I switched from Directv (160) to Comcast today. The pix on INHD is terrific. I don't think HBO HD is quite as good, but the main reason was to stop having to deal with the antenna. Putting the 160 and antenna on ebay. I'll get $25 off each month for the next 18 mos for "trading in" satellite for comcast.

Update. Pixs look very watchable on non-hd digital channels. The analog channels looks as expected, terrible. Overall, the switch from Directv to Comcast is a positive. Their are pros and cons, but the ease of transition for the local channels to be in hd is the kicker.

Originally posted by Advance The Man
Update. Pixs look very watchable on non-hd digital channels. The analog channels looks as expected, terrible. Overall, the switch from Directv to Comcast is a positive. Their are pros and cons, but the ease of transition for the local channels to be in hd is the kicker.

how terrible is terrible on non-hd? is it than non-hd on direc-tv?

Here's my take...I've adjusted the colors on my DLP & feel that Directv and Comcast HD's are comparable. The Comcast digital (non-hd) channels are better than Directv's, but the digital Directv channels are better than the analog Comcast channels. There are a lot of analog channels on Comcast (represented 2 - 76) that I unfortunately enjoy. Important channels within these that aren't also offered within the HD or Digital channels (120 - 883) are WJXT - local channel 4; WB; WAWS - FOX; Disney; FX; news channels; espn 2 and I could go on and on.

But, it all came down to wanting local channels in HD without the hassle of an antenna.

Anyone have some idea as to when we might get PBS-HD?Thanks for any info.

i thought 7.1 was the hd channel, but just not broadcasting in 1080i/720p

7-1 is one of four digital channels; I seem to remember they either don't have the HD equipment yet or it was going to take a while to get it working.

Is there any problem getting Jacksonville HD in St. Augustine?

I live in ST.Augustine and can get all the Jacksonville digital stations with a large antenna on a 30ft mast with booster.

I live off of CR 210 (a little north of St. Augustine) and pick up all digital stations with a medium size antenna in my attic. Go to antennaweb.org and type in the information on your location and it will give you the recommended type of antenna and where to aim it.

Great.
Are cable companies coming out with HD also in the area?

Time Warner has it in ST.Augustine.

Originally posted by Advance The Man
Here's my take...I've adjusted the colors on my DLP & feel that Directv and Comcast HD's are comparable. The Comcast digital (non-hd) channels are better than Directv's, but the digital Directv channels are better than the analog Comcast channels. There are a lot of analog channels on Comcast (represented 2 - 76) that I unfortunately enjoy. Important channels within these that aren't also offered within the HD or Digital channels (120 - 883) are WJXT - local channel 4; WB; WAWS - FOX; Disney; FX; news channels; espn 2 and I could go on and on.

But, it all came down to wanting local channels in HD without the hassle of an antenna.

Hey, I am moving to JAX and will probably have to go from Direct tv to Comcast, since I will be renting. How did you get the discount- turning in the Direct tv to cable?
Is HDTV and digital available in all of JAX with Comcast?
Is there anyway to get FOx sports world soccer broadcasts? English Premier League pay per view?
Sorry for all the questions! Help!
Rob
Vail55:confused:

Rob,

Hd and digital are available from Comcast all over Jax. I have Directv and antenna, but from what I understand it is available all over. As far as the soccer stuff goes, I am not sure about what Comcast offers. You may want to check their website. May a soccer fan with Comcast can answer that for you.

Does Comcast also do DSL?

Comcast does two way broadband cable. Very impressive speed. Only problem is the rate hike to $59/month unless you have at least basic cable TV service. With TV service it is $43/month.

Why do we get HD signal (like today's AFC Championship game) but no DD sound ? I can 5.1 from HBO but have yet to get any 5.1 sound from any HD network games/sports. Recall others mentioning 5.1 sound on games but I have yet to experience such with Comcast ?

None of our Networks (Locally) have committed the funds for DD5.1 and have not announced any plans for the future.

Sorry but that is the answer - ECONOMICS

raytracer, I saw that you posted in the AFC championship thread and indicated that you had received 5.1 from CBS before. I am not sure what you were watching but I and others here (ask Jerry) that we here in Jax do not have any affiliates with 5.1 DD -- really sucks, but it is what it is.

Thanks for whomever posted antennaweb.org. I am considering making the jump to HDTV locally here in Jacksonville. As a DirecTV user (primarily for NFL Sunday Ticket), I'll have to go the antenna route to pick up the local stations.

Other than the numerous complaints I see on here for ABC, how are the other local NBC, CBS, FOX, and WB stations in regards to HDTV broadcasts?

The website antennaweb.org stated I was 8 miles away from each of the stations. Is that pretty good?

Can anyone recommend a business in good, reputable business in town that would install and calibrate, etc, a required antenna once I have an HDTV and the necessary hardware?

Thanks for all your help.

Phod,
I live in Arlington, 8 miles from the stations as well. I have been using Radioshack indoor antennas and picking up strong signals for all stations except WB.
Have you considered Directv's $399 HDTV offer which includes professional installation ?

Don't know why anyone would pay to watch soccer:), but yes Comcast has it. Regarding discount, I saw it on a billboard and called 800-comcast. They took one receiver and the dish after installation of the cable. The installer asked if he should take the Samsung TS160, I said, "uh no!". Sold it on ebay for $450. The $400 discount is for the next 16 mos w/$25 off per month.

Originally posted by vail55
Hey, I am moving to JAX and will probably have to go from Direct tv to Comcast, since I will be renting. How did you get the discount- turning in the Direct tv to cable?
Is HDTV and digital available in all of JAX with Comcast?
Is there anyway to get FOx sports world soccer broadcasts? English Premier League pay per view?
Sorry for all the questions! Help!
Rob
Vail55:confused:

Do HBO-HD and Showtime-HD get 5.1 on the Comcast feed? I know my directv feed does now. I am considering switching to comcast if they are still offering the $400 discount. How is the quality of the other stations on comcast, in particular the ONDEMAND channels?

Wow, indoor antenna.. that would make life much easier :)

I haven't checked into DirecTV's HDTV offer. Do you have a specific link?

Problem is I'm still probably 6 months away from making this upgrade. I just like to periodically check in on the state of HDTV in Jacksonville.

I really appreciate your reply.

Phod

Phod, I live off of gate pkwy and JTB, also very close to the antennas like yourself. I have the megawave indoor antenna on top of my toshiba HDTV and have no problems receiving any of the stations.

I am switching to comcast next week though, I got the $400 rebate offer. Now with ONDEMAND and the HD channels, I think comcast is a better deal. Plus they are raising the monthly internet charge to $60 if you do not have tv with them.


Advance - Did comcast remove the dish from your roof or wherever it was installed, or did you have to do that?


Also, is anyone in the market for D* HD receiver, I will be selling my Zenith HD-SAT520, its about one year old in great condition.


Chris

I hope DirecTV will get smart and allow back ala-carte pricing, and we can get the HD package without the total choice package that they force you to have.

Phod,

Directv has a $99 deal for a HDTV tuner if you meet certain criteria. You can read about it here: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=151749

Here's an portion of that thread that states the criteria:
1) DirecTV customer for 2 yrs.
2) Account in good standing since inception (no more than 1 late pay)
3) Must spend at least $40/month in DirecTV services
4) 1yr commitment for service
5) 1yr commitment for HD service (some say they have gotten around this saying they only want it for free services or OTA HD? Don't know, I already subscribe to HD programming)
6) You pay the total cost up front (around $450 give or take with shipping/taxes) then they refund all but $99 and the shipping/taxes (unless like some you can get them to refund that)!!!!!!!! IN THE FORM OF CREDIT OF SERVICE TO YOUR ACCOUNT. So if you pay $50/month to DirecTV it will take 6 months to get your $300 credit!!!!!

They said this would include new dish if necessary, multiswitch, relocation of a receiver if needed/wanted, and cables run if necessary. Just like the $399 deal.

Update - I understand some have also received an OTA antenna as well

Good luck!

Thanks cschaul for the info. I live basically at the end of 9A off Greenland road, so I'm not too far from you.

And thanks for the info about the $99 deal. All of these things are getting me tempted when I really wasn't going to go forward until later this year...decisions!

One question for you Jax HDTV watchers, is there a list somewhere of which shows on CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, and WB are broadcast in HDTV format? I know they all aren't but I'm curious to which are.

Thanks!

Phod

Phod,

Here is your list of available programming.

List of shows broadcast in hd (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?threadid=164671)

Originally posted by Phod

One question for you Jax HDTV watchers, is there a list somewhere of which shows on CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, and WB are broadcast in HDTV format? I know they all aren't but I'm curious to which are.

Thanks!

Phod

Go to www.cbs.com/hdtv for the CBS HD schedule. Fox does not do HD, but I'm not aware of one location that lists what shows are in wide screen format on Fox.


Jerry

I always check out...

http://www.hdtvgalaxy.com/broad.html

It shows all the majors and some others.

I called Comcast today to inquire about just getting hd locals from them and I was told that I would have to subscribe to the basic 7.00 package and then pay 13.95 a month for the stb on top of the 7.00. Are the numbers that I was given by the csr what some of you are paying to have the hd stb. I thought and read that the stb was just 5.00 a month. I guess I will stick with my antenna.