Re antenna orientation:
Using the CM 4-bay antenna, with usable side-lobes, I must monitor the signal on all channels as I move the antenna in very slight amounts until a compromise is reached. This usually is based on the best performance for the channel(s) with the greatest problem. In practice, I adjust some 3 to 5 degrees seasonally and it seems to be slightly to the left in the winter, to the right in the spring.
However, I should note that with WLOS and WUNF both on the same tower, I receive the maximum signal strength from the two at two different orientations; about 5 degrees apart. Both signals are reliable and stable. Pisgah is slightly over a ridge from me, thus I am using the "knife-edge" effect and probably multi-path is playing a role in all of this.
In that I have two antennas on an A/B switch, I occasionally just rely on switching between the two. (One is the outside mounted CM, the other is a "long-range" all-band RS in the attic on a rotor. I am on the southside of the Town Mountain road approximately 4.5 miles from Downtown Asheville.)
Good luck

Does anyone know if the Clemson-Carolina Game is being broadcasted in HD? if so what channel? WHNS, intially had it listed as their game of the week but now it show Duke-UNC. Who cares about DUKE-FOOTBAL? Yeah they beat Clemson, but so what?

Call me crazy but this morning my little daughter got up way too early 6:15, she sat in bed with my wife and i for abit then want to watch bear which starts at 6:30. When i fired up the TV the picture was real clear, i checked all the channels 4/7/12/13 and they were very clear. I jumped in the shower and when i got out the picture was back to the poorPQ i have been experiencing lately. This TV is frustrating the crap out of me. I have read all the TWeak threads but i'm too gunshy to try because i can FUBAR any electronic devices in mins , it is a family trait. I have a guy coming out to give my an estimate for running some coax for my OTA and possible D*

Jon

I seriously doubt that you will see the Clemson vs. Carolina game in HD. While it is the most underrated rivalry in college football, from a national standpoint, it doesn't draw much attention. The only two primary sources that I know of for college football in HD are: 1) CBS does the SEC games that come at 3:30 in HD and 2) ESPNHD on Thursday and Saturday nights. I'm ticked that it comes on at noon this year. What happened to the national spotlight of last year (and the game will be closer this year)? I remember talking to a guy in Radio Shack a couple of weeks ago and he was "showing" me this 24" RCA TV (4:3) that was "high-defintion." He was playing a college football game that was on WHNS, and was being done by Jefferson-Pilot Sports off of E*. He was getting really mad because I was politely telling him that that was not HD. The TV didn't even have component inputs, just S-Video! When I left I laughed uncontrollably. Does RS not even train their associates to know any better?

Originally posted by dashaund
He was getting really mad because I was politely telling him that that was not HD. The TV didn't even have component inputs, just S-Video! When I left I laughed uncontrollably. Does RS not even train their associates to know any better?

Unfortunately this is the case not only in RS but also in other big chain stores as well. Doing some basic research on the net and scanning these forums will put you way ahead of most store associates.

Apparently WYFF does not monitor the network feed or pay attention in the control room, as the NASCAR Busch race was in widescreen format like all the Nextel races are this season. It was 4:3 when I turned it on, so i called up the newsroom and asked them to pass it on to the control room that the race was in 16:9, a few seconds later......16:9. If we keep calling the stations to remind them , maybe they will actually monitor what is being fed to them.

This seems to be the same way with both WHNS and WYFF. WLOS and WSPA seem to have their splicers network controlled, but the others don't. This week was fine, but I noticed last week that some of the NFL games weren't turned on immediately...the Carolina game wasn't in HD until the second half. Also, I think WYFF's lip-sync is slipping slightly again. Anyone else notice this? ESPNHD gets really bad sometimes. Why does this issue continously pop up over and over again?

We need to send messages to WHNS to the effect that they need to adjust the volume level on the local feed to match that of the network feed.when network is spliced in the volume is fine, but when they go out of splicer mode it drops wayyyyyyy down.

Originally posted by enoree
We need to send messages to WHNS to the effect that they need to adjust the volume level on the local feed to match that of the network feed.when network is spliced in the volume is fine, but when they go out of splicer mode it drops wayyyyyyy down.

Yeah, you have to double the volume even to hear it. It is nice when the local commercials come on and you can't even hear them though. Also, is anyone getting WYFF-DT tonight? I am getting no signal strength. And one other thing, WSPA-DT has been screwing up Monday nights for about six weeks. They keep forgetting to flip the switch. I end up watching WBTV-DT every Monday.

The only CBS I watch is WBTV, because of the lack of concern at WSPA over getting the sound sync right.

Is anyone else getting a bizarre pulsating flicker on Charter's new Discovery-HD channel?

yep, but seemingly on only certain shows. Either they are still tweaking it, or I just notice it more on shows with more static images.

hey can anybody here who has dealt with the Charter tech people tell me whether or not the Firewire out ports on the Motorola standard HD boxes (not the DVR) are enabled?

I'm considering getting a D-VHS recorder but I don't know whether they're enabled yet or not and you have to use firewire out to input into the D-VHS recorder

I wonder what the problem is at WBSC-DT, the past 2 nights the WB HD programs have had good audio, but a vertical bar test pattern instead of the video portion.

I live in Liberty. I have DishNetwork with the HD package. I need an OTA antenna. I can actually pull in WYFF with a pair of regular rabbit ears! I'm confused on OTA antennas. Antenna web shows only 3 digital channels, but you guys seem to be talking about others, including ABC.
What do I need to do to get this using my Dish811 receiver? I'm 24miles from WYFF, 20miles to PBS, 28miles to WHNS. At 18, 61, 7 degrees respectively. Is it possible to pull in channels from Hendersonville, Asheville? Do I just buy the biggest antenna?
I live in a one story house with not many trees around.
I know these answers have probably already been addressed, but I've been reading. The more I read the more confused I get. I want to do this as right as I can the first time.

Thanks,
Phil Martin

All but Greenville's Channel 9 are UHF so you should try a CM 4 or 8 bay to solve your problem. However, WLOS (ABC) is still at low power, although on 6000' Mt. Pisgah. It also is a very directional transmission, sending its power mostly to the east and dropping off to the south. Therefore, first I would check out the full power UNC HD on 33 (same tower) to verify you do not have a major obstruction between you and WLOS. At approximately 20 miles, the smaller, 4-bay, should capture all local for you. As for not showing all stations, the hyphenate market, with the major networks in different states and cities, has most "outsiders" confused. At my location, WSPA is not listed as serving this area and it is my strongest, most reliable station.

Good luck

Also try running an S-video cable from your hd box and watch regular sd programming via the s-video input. A lot of times this input will look better than your hd input for sd channels.

On Charter, I'm getting Discovery HD on 774 instead of 775 now.

I decided to check my signal strengths since I hadn't checked them since installing my pre-amp.

WLOS - 88
WYFF - 92
WHNS - 92
WASV - 92
WBSC -80

& the Surprise

WSPA - 78 ?

WSPA has always been my strongest signal so I'm wondering if something happened, and they are broadcasting at a lower signal strength. I might also add that my antenna is pointed due north which means it is almost directly aimed at WSPA and WSPA is the closest tower to me so it almost certainly sounds to me like the issue is on their end. Anyone else do a recent signal strength test?

On a related note I'm considering getting an second HD Tivo for my office which is an adjacent room to the family room where I have my current HD Tivo. Right now I have the OTA cable coming down into the family room HD Tivo. Since my office cables run into the same wall just on the opposite side I figure it should be easy to cut a hole in the office wall and just split the OTA cable and run them into both HD Tivo's. Since they're on the same wall I figure I'd need 6 foot of cable at the most coming from the splitter.

My question is that if I split the cable could I be hurting my HD OTA reception on both sets? I would think that as long as my signal strengths are above 80 I should be ok (hoping that the current WSPA strength is a short-term anomaly).

Anyone have any experience splitting an OTA run?

You can try to split the signal, but remember it cuts the signal by slightly more than 50%. If you are using a pre-amp, you will need a special splitter that passes the voltage to the mast pre-amp...or split between the power supply and the splitter...not between the power supply and the pre-amp. As for WSPA's signal, I have mostly 100% but fairly frequent multi-path is causing headaches. You are describing a classic problem when boosting a strong signal with a pre-amp.

walterc

My suggestion is getting a distribution amp. I have one, and it works wonders for splitting signals, whether is be OTA or cable...whatever. I have a 50ft cable run running from the amp to second HD receiver, and I experience basically zero signal loss compared to my primary receiver w/o the amp. Mine is a CM amp that I picked up at Lowe's for about $35(?). It has four output jacks. If you decide to go with one, make sure that the distribution amp comes after your preamp. I don't know of any issues that might arise with using a preamp and a distribution amp. As far as your signal reading of WSPA, its probably a seasonal thing. I had to adjust my antenna in order to receive all of my signals at the same time correctly. The seasonal change does something to the propogation, therefore we all have to move our antennas a tick or two. When springtime comes, WSPA will probably be your strongest again.

Thanks for the suggestions. I still think there might be something going on with WSPA since none of the rest of my signals have been affected, and WSPA was the exact same strength as WHNS and WYFF. I'll monitor it over the next few weeks and see what hapens.

Has HDNet started to get fairly blocky, particularly during fast motion, for anyone else subscribing to Charter? This seems to be a fairly recent problem, it's not noticeable 100% of the time, and I haven't spotted it on other channels, but it does look like HDNet (if nothing else) is having its bitrate sucked away.

Any word on when WLOS is going to boost their signal? They're the only one of the Big Four that I don't get.

It's killing me to have to watch "Lost" in SD.

I wrote an e-mail to WSPA a couple of days ago about their continuing audio problems. Here's what I got back this afternoon:

Hi,

We made some adjustments to our up-converted signal today and asked that you see if there is any improvement in the problem. It seems as we add new equipment, that the main signal has to pass through, we inherently add delay in the video and the audio gets ahead. The punch of one button can re-route the signal and pass though more or less devices, causing continual change. It has been a handful no less. We continue to search for the ideal solution and hope we are successful soon.

Thanks for you help in this matter,

Edgar Woodfin
Assistant Chief Engineer
WSPA-TV/DT WASV-TV/DT
250 International Drive
Spartanburg, SC 29303
864-587-4463
ewoodfin@wspa.com

has anybody else "lost" HDNet? When I try to watch HDNet or HDNet Movies the box just "locks" and does nothing until you flip up to ESPN, then it comes in fine

It's not coming in for me either. You might want to call and let Charter know. I'd call, but I've kinda lost my voice....

Same here, no HDNet or HDMovies.

Man, Adam, you complain about blockiness and they just go and yank the whole thing. Way to go!

I know, I know... :D It must have come back on pretty shortly after you posted that. Something I had set to record at 3 AM-ish came in fine. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like they took those channels down to fix the problem. Is anyone else seeing that, or is it just me? If I hadn't recently lost my digital camera, I'd take some shots and post some examples...

Last night the video on WBSC was fine, but the audio was garbled bad. Hope they can figure out a way to get both working right.

Hey guys, I need some advice. I've complained earlier about some of my problems with WLOS HD reception, namely an unwatchable flickering picture for shows like "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives". My signal strength for WLOS-DT is definitely not as good as my other locals. It has been suggested to me that a good pre-amp would help solve my problems. Thus I have ordered the CM 7777, which is on the way. HOWEVER, Monday Night Football usually comes in with no problems. Last nite's Packers game gave me no flickering. The OTA signal strength did not seem to be measurably higher. My Samsung 360 usually varies some on the meter when I check it. So what is the possible explanation for excellent HD reception on Monday night compared to inferior quality on Sunday night, among others? Is WLOS jacking up the power on Monday nights? I will be upset if the pre-amp does not fix this problem. Any feedback or suggestions are appreciated.

I seriously doubt they are pumping up the wattage...SERIOUSLY! Myself, I would call it dumb luck. I would say that it is because its later at night and propagation had shifted slightly, but Desperate Housewives comes on at the same time. The preamp should help, especially if its coming in but not smoothly. I had sort of the same problems with my Samsung receiver before I took it back and got my Hughes. The Samsung's sensitivity isn't all that great to start with...the Hughes's chipset is solid though. I've heard rumors that a wattage increase will be coming soon, so we'll have to wait and see.

Has anyone had a lack of audio on WLOS-DT during the ABC feed in HD ? Also WBSC is displaying a vertical bar test pattern with the audio feed ok during WB programming. I called WLOS to ask about this the past 2 days but Jim Carrier has never returned my voice mails.

I didn't get audio on "Lost" last night (too bad, since it was an episode revolving around the most attractive member of the cast). It seemed to pop back on for the Christmas special afterwards, but I didn't stick around to see that or anything else.

Originally posted by enoree
Has anyone had a lack of audio on WLOS-DT during the ABC feed in HD ? Also WBSC is displaying a vertical bar test pattern with the audio feed ok during WB programming. I called WLOS to ask about this the past 2 days but Jim Carrier has never returned my voice mails.

There was no audio on Rodney or NYPD Blue on Tuesday, either. Imagine a TV station with no audio for two complete evenings...remember when they used to care about the quality of their signals???

I wonder if the Broadcast Industry is ever going to take DTV seriously--I am getting really tired of watching the first portion of so many CBS shows in SD, while the operator sleeps at the switch!

At least you're GETTING WLOS. I don't even get a signal at all.

Hopefully, one day they'll actually boost their signal. Their current 2-hamsters-and-a-wheel system ain't cutting it.

Hello to all,

Question 1- Just purchased a Samsung 56" HDTV DLP with the HD2+ chip set this week. Also just recently had Charter come out an do the HD install package along with modem internet service. Not a happy camper at this moment--the HD looks fine but in the lower channels im getting a little line of distortion across the upper most portion of the screen. The Tweeter installers thought I had a very weak signal. I have the Charter box connected via DVI currently. The Charter contractor i know split the signal to run to other rooms--but he said the db rating of the signal was still fine (that was before the 56"HDTV) arrived and i could see the problem. Any suggestions other than calling them back out? Or maybe just cancel charter altogether as others have suggested and go back to Directv???

Question 2- I'd like advice on an attic install for the local HDTV signals--what to buy? What stations can i expect to receive without pixelizations? A Channel Master 4228? Is there a recommended installer in our area that can do this? use a rotor in attic? Lots of questions folks...

Suggestion: How about a local HDTV get together for those of us in the area that are on this forum to share ideas etc? BTW--i m also an audio enthuisast to mate with the HDTV issues--Im into SACD, DVDA, related AV equip etc...I live in the Neely Farms subdivison just outside of Simpsonville. Thanks.

Mike Sellers
864-979-3739

Hello to all,

Question 1- Just purchased a Samsung 56" HDTV DLP with the HD2+ chip set this week. Also just recently had Charter come out an do the HD install package along with modem internet service. Not a happy camper at this moment--the HD looks fine but in the lower channels im getting a little line of distortion across the upper most portion of the screen. The Tweeter installers thought I had a very weak signal. I have the Charter box connected via DVI currently. The Charter contractor i know split the signal to run to other rooms--but he said the db rating of the signal was still fine (that was before the 56"HDTV) arrived and i could see the problem. Any suggestions other than calling them back out? Or maybe just cancel charter altogether as others have suggested and go back to Directv???

Question 2- I'd like advice on an attic install for the local HDTV signals--what to buy? What stations can i expect to receive without pixelizations? A Channel Master 4228? Is there a recommended installer in our area that can do this? use a rotor in attic? Lots of questions folks...

Suggestion: How about a local HDTV get together for those of us in the area that are on this forum to share ideas etc? BTW--i m also an audio enthuisast to mate with the HDTV issues--Im into SACD, DVDA, related AV equip etc...I live in the Neely Farms subdivison just outside of Simpsonville. Thanks.

Mike Sellers
864-979-3739

Well Jerry and everyone else that has tried to help me recieve my signals...I appreciate all the help. I finally got a Channel Master 4228 antenna installed, leaving all the other components the same. If you don't remember, I had the Terk TV38 UHF/VHF/FM antenna and a Winegard AP-8275 preamp.

I have had no luck with the new Channel Master. In fact, I now have lost WUNC, get weaker signals on ALL channels, and ONLY get WLOS. I thought that this antenna would solve all of my problems, but apparently it has made them worse. I am at wits end about now. I think that HDTV is fantastic, but this is rediculous that I can't even get my local channels with a "quality" antenna on the roof of my house.

I am about ready to return my antenna, sell my HDTV, and go back to the archaic days of 480i.

:=(

gjlowe,

Sounds to me like the 4228 needs to be positioned correctly. I'm guessing it's pointed directly north??? What is the signal strength on WLOS? Try turning it slightly to the west and see what you get. The trick is to hit the "sweet spot" between WLOS and some of the western stations. I wasn't seeing WLOS till I turned it to the north, and then I turned it back. Once you set it and get them all, you won't have to touch it till the spring, when you'll have to turn it a little to the west again. That's why lots of us have rotors :). I got really frustrated at first with my stuff, but once you get it right, you realize that it was worth it.

thebeatles67,

Sounds to me like a Charter issue. Bad splitter, maybe? There some sort of filter or some adjacent interference on those channels. Internet and other cable channels okay? They came out here and put a filter on our pole one time that killed our internet...idiots. I guess that's why I like to do stuff myself. For locals, the general consensus here is the 4228. IF you can put it on the roof, that IS the best place, and the higher the better. If not, the attic works too. Rotors are good. If you can get one used, that'll work (e.g., IWANA, Greenville News classifies, etc...). Unfortunately, being an early adopter, this stuff can be touchy with the low power issues. I've heard lots of good things out of Simpsonville. I had to put my DB4 (antennasdirect.com) up about 20ft on a rotor to get WLOS. I'm out in the country (6mi North of Greer), so there's nobody screaming at me about it. Don't worry; give them all a year and they'll all be at full power (we hope). If you've got some an indoor UHF loop or another set-top antenna, try it for now and see what locals you can get. I don't know of any groups...we use this one mostly, lol. Anyone else know? Welcome to the group!

gjlowe-
I think Dashaund is giving you good advice. Also, print out the antennaweb street level map. Use a compass to set your antenna, and then start making relatively small changes from the "ideal". I have a 4228 with no amplication of any kind inside my attic, and I get all stations with no dropouts. Maybe the amp you are using is not so good, possibly even unnecessary. Try bypassing it. By the way, I ended up with my antenna pointed about 10 degrees north of where the ideal should be. If you are on the roof, a helper and a pair of walkie talkies is almost essential. Almost trivial changes can make a big difference, including changes in tilt of the antenna. From where you are I would think you could turn your antenna east and pick up many Charlotte stations, certainly CBS which is very strong.
May the force be with you!

dashaund--

Thanks for the reply. I have rotated the antenna 360 degrees and have had no luck. I am in Candler, NC, which is just West of Asheville (on the border). My antenna is only picking up WLOS when it is actually facing somewhat Southeast. Mt. Pisgah is more Southwest of me, so I am not sure if that indicates a multipath issue, or what. I am not so familiar with that whole problem. In any case, I tried using a Motorola HDTV receiver instead of my DISH 811, and have had no improvement.

Thanks!

gjlowe,

Whoops! I'm sorry about that...I didn't realize you were in Asheville. Yeah, you might want to point it in a different direction depending on where you are. Try antennaweb.org like the previous poster said. OR, if you know your lat and long (which is easy to find), try 2150.com/broadcast/default.asp. Kind of like antennaweb.org on steroids, because it gives you EXACT coordinates. Charlotte is another option for you. It's very possible that the kind of shingles and other roofing materials could be blocking a lot of radio energy from coming in. If you are allowed and willing, I would try the 4228 on your roof and see what you get. While these unidirectional, they still are somewhat directional, meaning that they "favor" a certain direction. You might have a bad preamp. Bypass that and see what you get. Check your cables (I'm sure you have, but still) for any splices or cuts or anything. You are using RG6 and not RG58, correct? For lengthy runs, RG58 simply dies, ESPECIALLY for digital stuff. It's cheap, but you get what you pay for :). The solution may be very elementary and make you feel dumb when you figure it out. But hey, that's why we're not professionals, right?

Dashaund--

I do have the 4228 mounted on the roof. It is on a 9 foot mast above my chimney. As for what I said about WLOS, I have found that I do get it very well, as well as WUNC when pointed at Mt. Pisgah now. I don't know why it wasn't working before. As for the SC stations, still nothing. I am using RG6 with quality connectors (I had those replaced). Taking the preamp out of the path makes no signal at all, so it IS working to some degree. Someone on here had mentioned that the Winegard AP-8275 preamp is VHF/UHF/FM. Would that be adversely affecting the signal when combined with the 4228?

You can ask Jerry about that, he's the preamp expert on here. The extent of my knowledge is make sure that you have it set (or plugged in) to UHF. If the antenna is plugged in (or set) to VHF, you will filter out all of the UHF signals, and make your antenna useless, since the digital signals are in the UHF spectrum. Do you have any objects blocking the path toward the direction of the SC stations, such as trees, buildings, houses, etc... If so, then you won't receive anything. Anyone else have any common problems that gjlowe here has? Any other ideas?

I do have some trees, but as I mentioned previously, everything except WSPA and WBSC were coming in (although WHNS was touchy) about 4 weeks ago. Then they replaced my DISH 811 because it kept resetting itself, and since then, both the new 811, and this motorola I bought today cannot get anything besides WLOS and WUNC. (Obiously I also replaced my Terk TV38 with the CM 4228 yesterday as well).

As for what you were talking about with filtering the signal...I see no place to set that at all.

does anybody have an e-mail for any of the HDTV Tech Support people at Charter for this area?

I need to inquire as to whether or not their FIREWIRE Output ports on the standard motorola HD boxes are "active" or not. I want to get a D-VHS recorder so I can record & playback HD programs but I need to know that first.

Can't say for sure, but I seem to remember reading in the HDTV Recorders forum that people have had difficulty with Charter in general using the JVC 40Ks. I'm not sure if it affects other models, if it's limited to certain Charter service areas, or what, but it might be worth looking into...

gjlowe-
How many feet of RG-6 are you driving? There is a certain loss, and the longer the run, the greater the loss. I don't know about your Winegard amp, but on the CM 7777 preamp there are internal settings for VHF/UHF and also how FM is treated. You might check the web for further info on that.

For the last few days WLOS-DT has been unwatchable, the signal freezes and jitters really bad. The PBS station is at the same site and is stable as can be, as are all the other area stations, so it can't be "the weather", it must be some problem with their transmitter.

Thanks mgtr. I am not running a prohibitive length of RG6. Probably no more than 75 feet. There IS an FM trap adjuster on the preamp, but nothing about VHF or UHF. Again, all of my channels were coming in fine two months ago, so I am really out of ideas.

As for a rotator, is there a recommended model for easiest installation? I have a the mast currently installed on a chimney mount, so I would need to get a small length of mast so I could insert the rotator, right?

Got home last night to find that Fox is now broadcasting a 24hr weather radar loop on 21-2. My TV automatically picks up the new channel, but I understand that some need to be remapped to pick up new channels - so if you aren't receiving 21-2, then you might want to remap if interested.

Now if they would start broadcasting a 24hr loop of Jillian Simmons on 21-3, then I would be in heaven.

EDIT - On a different note - was last nights HD service terrible or what! The "switch man" at channel 4 AND channel 7 were asleep at the desk last night and 21 still has audio level issues. The only station that seemed to have it right was 13 broadcasting MNF.

Originally posted by gjlowe
As for a rotator, is there a recommended model for easiest installation? I have a the mast currently installed on a chimney mount, so I would need to get a small length of mast so I could insert the rotator, right?

That is correct. However, you might find it easiest to cut a short section of you current mast off and use it. You will only loose a couple of inches total height (the overlap between the two sections). It certainly could beat buying a 10' mast to only use 2' of it. I did this and have been pleased with my results. To be honest, I'm not sure I could extend my mast up much further without some additional supports, so this solution was best for me.

I think you will also find that most rotors are nearly identical when it comes to installation method. Basically they have two clamps that tighten down on the mast. Then the short section of mast slips into the rotor and is tightened down with two more clamps. It couldn't be simpler. Then you have to run the control wire, but that is just three wires (bundled into one cable). There are three screw connections inside the rotor, simply attach the three wires and you are good to go.

The only "hard part" is that the three wires really should come into a grounding block when they enter the house. You have to buy this seperate from the rotor. Personally I think it should be included, but it never is.

Originally posted by enoree
For the last few days WLOS-DT has been unwatchable, the signal freezes and jitters really bad. The PBS station is at the same site and is stable as can be, as are all the other area stations, so it can't be "the weather", it must be some problem with their transmitter.

I have noticed the same thing. My SS on Wlos dropped from the 90's to the 70's. Anyone else having problems?

EDIT - On a different note - was last nights HD service terrible or what! The "switch man" at channel 4 AND channel 7 were asleep at the desk last night and 21 still has audio level issues. The only station that seemed to have it right was 13 broadcasting MNF. [/B][/QUOTE]

In defense of WYFF-DT, they told me it was a network problem. As for WSPA the "Everybody Loves Raymond" was an old re-run from 1997 that wasn't in HD on WBTV-DT either. They still switched to HD late on Two and 1/2 men, and when I took a few peeks at CSI-Miami it was 4x3 as well. The WHNS-DT problems dont bother me too much, because I never watch any of their local programming and when they pass the national feed I dont have to listen to the screaming idiots when they run their local car commercials.

Originally posted by sic0048
The only "hard part" is that the three wires really should come into a grounding block when they enter the house. You have to buy this seperate from the rotor. Personally I think it should be included, but it never is.

I already have a ground for the satellite and the antenna. Can I use the same one for the rotator?

Also, thanks mgtr about the walkie talkie thing. I did a similar thing, using a cell phone! Unfortunately, my changes are probably not as precise as a rotator would be.

I find it interesting that the preamp could be the problem. I noted in some earlier threads from many months back that the preamp that I am using is supposed to be on par with the Channel Master 7777. I have tried removing it from the path, but then there is no signal at all.

Originally posted by enoree
For the last few days WLOS-DT has been unwatchable, the signal freezes and jitters really bad. The PBS station is at the same site and is stable as can be, as are all the other area stations, so it can't be "the weather", it must be some problem with their transmitter.

The only thing I've seen on WLOS lately is MNF, and it came in fine. What a game too! Glad I had it HDTivo'd.

WYFF will begin their full power upgrade on Jan. 11, 2005. It should take about three weeks. A little bit of a downer in that WLOS will not increase power until the end of May. They will also change their antenna pattern which will help those of us in the upstate. WBSC is scheduled to up the juice in late March.

While the WLOS power-up news is a bit of a downer (ugh, May), at least it's news. I think the antenna pattern change will help a lot, too. Please keep us updated if it changes.

Thanks!

$59 shipped
outpost.com
search 4228

Charter Error of the Day: Is anyone else not getting HBO-HD and ESPN-HD tonight? They've both been unavailable at least since 6 PM or so, although now that I've posted about it, they'll immediately return and no one will have any idea what I'm talking about.

ESPNHD was fine tonight. HBOHD is fine now, didn't happen to check it earlier. However, NBCHD is at present out on Charter. (OTA works fine)

Maybe they are adding so many HD channels that the system was knocked for a loop. Or VOD for the Moxi Box. :)

Oddly enough, they're still not coming in for me, although all the other HD channels are fine. :shrugs: Guess I need to call this evening or something...

Quick question for our Charter friends: is anyone here using the Motorola "Moxi" box that is now in beta-testing? If so, are its two audio outputs good for simultaneous use? It has a regular red/white analog out and also digital out. Of course its manual says nothing about hooking up to a home a/v receiver, only to televisions. I am trying to advise one of my friends who has this box. Thanks in advance for any feedback.

I'm using the Moxi. I can check when I get home if it can output digital and analog audio simultaneously. I know it won't output composite video (and I believe s-video too) if component video cables are plugged in.

I know it has coax out -- I'd have to check if it has optical. Can't remember off the top of my head.

I'm pretty sure the Moxi has both. My friend needs to use the optical out from the Moxi. Question: why would a manufacturer design a component this way? Don't they know that most users will send audio to both their television AND their A/V receiver? or am I just crazy?

Originally posted by calvinb
Don't they know that most users will send audio to both their television AND their A/V receiver? or am I just crazy? I can't answer that last question :D, but I personally have the Moxi connected directly to my receiver with none of its audio routed to the television. When I set up a relative's home theater, he insisted that I keep both plugged in so he could flip between them as he wanted, so I know there are people out there who prefer it. Whether or not that's what most people do, I have no idea.

I like to have the option of using sound through both the TV and receiver. That way I can just flip on the TV and watch normal stuff through the TV speakers, or flip on the receiver when stuff is in 5.1.

Re Moxi, I have the audio connected to both the TV and stereo, no problem.--- I record Leno in HD every night, usually perfect, 2 nights ago it broke up continually the whole program was unwatchable. Next night, it wasnt in HD. Last night perfect again.

How do you guys with the Moxi have the audio output configured? According to the manual you're supposed to specify digital or analog. What setting outputs both? FTR, I have read through many pages of the Moxi Q&A thread (46 pages and counting) and have not found the answers to these questions. Thanks for all the feedback guys.

Re Moxi audio, the on screen set up gives a choice of Dolby Digital, Left-Right stereo or RF/TV. I have RCA connectors to my TV and the optical cable to my receiver. I have Dolby Digital checked and I can use the TV volume or the receiver volume or both at once. Hope this clears this up.

Thank you Ford, that does indeed help. Okay, back to HD discussion. I've mentioned earlier that I am having real issues "locking on" to WLOS-DT. Monday Night Football comes in great but all other nights, the HD is unwatchable - flickering, etc. Monitoring the signal strength on my Samsung 360, it changes: from 45% to 63% to 10% to 0. It is always changing and it does this on my other local channels also but the PQ on WYFF, WHNS, WSPA, and the others are always good. Any thoughts on this? It is driving me crazy trying to figure out how to fix WLOS. My Hd set-up is as follows. Samsung 360 STB with DVI cable going to Toshiba 30 HF 83 (this is a CRT). I have the CM 4221 antenna in the attic with the CM 7777 Pre-amp. The 4221 is on a rotor so I can move it. I do have about 100' of RG6 between the antenna/preamp and the power source/HD tuner. Please help, I am banging my head not being able to watch "Lost" or "Desperate Housewives". Thanks in advance.

It's NOT your receiver, the folks at WLOS have done something to screw up their DT, because the UNC PBS station transmits from the same location and it comes in as strong as ever with no problems. I just think that the folks at WLOS don't really care.

I have a Samsung 360 and Dish 811 as well as the Moxi. The signal meter on the 360 is well known to be absolutely useless (multipath?). the 811 is fine. On the 811 I get a reading in the 80s on WLOS and WUNC on an indoor UHF loop. I have a Radio Shack $80 all channel outdoor antenna, to try and pick up WYFF and ch 9. Right now WYFF is ok, ch 9 about half the time. I never got WYFF at all until recently. Anyway, when I rotate the antenna the least bit I get nothing on WLOS or WUNC. At some settings I get one and not the other altho both are at the same location. So antenna orientation is unbelievably critical even with a strong signal. I am afraid the casual TV watcher is not going to fool with ota digital TV.

You have to remember that the vast majority of DT stations are still broadcasting at a low power. Therefore, antenna orientation is more critical today than it will be in the future when all stations are at full power.

Take the channel 13 vs channel 33 issue. I believe that channel 33 is broadcasting at full power while channel 13 is still at a reduced power. Therefore it is harder to pick up the 13 signal and it is more prone to multipath or signal loss. When channel 13 increases their power, you'll find it much easier to lock in a stable signal. At that time, if you get 33, then you should get 13 with the same results since they are broadcasting from the same location (this obviously depends on the final broadcast power level however - they might not be the same even then).

The most critical element at this moment IS signal strength. I've heard rumors that WLOS will increase as early as January, so its still in the air. However, antenna make a big difference to. I tried a Radio Shack outdoor antenna and believe me, they don't work well at all. You can get a $30 antenna that will outperform their midrange. A 4228 will walk all over their top of the line one. Also, their antenna is more directional than the 4228, so, yes, alignment there is critical. When all of the stations go full, antenna alignment will be less critical. Right now, we're still early adopters. When all of these "kinks" get worked out, I see the mainstream market flocking this way...and all of us here will be considered pioneers...

Well, I must be in a good location (Sugar Creek subdivision), because I get ALL of the local channels, including WLOS, all the 29's and all the 33's, so no problem there. What continues to baffle me is MNF comes in perfectly on Monday nite in HD, no flickering, and the other six nights my HD picture is unwatchable - Sunday nites with "DH", Wed with "Lost" and all the other ones. Why can't I duplicate Monday's performance on the other nights? OR, what is WLOS doing differently on Monday nights?

" I've heard rumors that WLOS will increase as early as January, so its still in the air. "

According to their head engineer the power increase is not scheduled until late May, '05.

Originally posted by calvinb
Well, I must be in a good location (Sugar Creek subdivision), because I get ALL of the local channels, including WLOS, all the 29's and all the 33's, so no problem there. What continues to baffle me is MNF comes in perfectly on Monday nite in HD, no flickering, and the other six nights my HD picture is unwatchable - Sunday nites with "DH", Wed with "Lost" and all the other ones. Why can't I duplicate Monday's performance on the other nights? OR, what is WLOS doing differently on Monday nights?

I dont live far from you, and until about 10 days ago I received WLOS in the low 90's. Now it is in the 70's and jumps all over the place causing freezes and drop outs. I beleive something has happened on their end, but after going back and forth with them via e-mail yesterday they do not feel anything has changed with their signal. He even bumped the power a touch yesterday to see if that helped but it didn't.

I think if everyone who was receiving a stable signal and now is not e-mailed them maybe they would look a little deeper to make sure there is no problem on their end. After having WLOS HD now I am spoiled and want it back.

I'm out in Simpsonville, and while I don't watch WLOS regularly, Lost came in pretty much perfectly for me. I had a couple of tiny audio dropouts, but nothing else of note.

I live in Sugar Creek, and watch Lost last night with no issues. I think it honestly is that you are no longer getting a stable signal. I don't know your scale - but 29-33 doesn't sound strong to me (certainly not on a 100 point scale). I recently moved my antenna from my chimney to the end of my roof - a distance of 30-40' It made a big difference in the signal strength I receive. So even small location changes can make a big difference.

I would think that because WLOS-DT is on 56 and UNC is on 25 is a major issue. Weather and terrain will cause some interesting things to happen to channels that are on the opposite ends of the spectrum located on the same tower.

Hello ,
I'm new here but I live near Boiling Springs ( outside Spartanburg ) and didn't see anyone from this particular location. I was wondering if Charter has or will have channel 787 ( WSPA-DT ) available to watch on their system. Several TV listings on the net list the channel as there , but I can't tune to it with their equipment( Moto DCT-6200 ). Is it there but requires a QAM tuner to get it ,maybe ? Also , for what it's worth , my DCT-6200 DOES output signal over it's 1394 firewire port. I can plug it into my PC via firewire and view or record with the procedure I found described on this site ( VLC or CapDVHS ). I didn't have to do anything to the moto box or anything like that to do it ,just plugged in the PC via firewire and loaded the drivers on the PC. I emailed Charter to "ask" about getting more HD channels , 1 day later they promptly killed my internet access and ramrodded me out of an extra 15 bucks a month to keep the same services I have had with them for a couple 2-3 years. I recently go the new HD service along with the Moto DCT-6200 box and just wanted to know if they could maybe increase their HD lineup in lieof some of their redundant slew of PPV channels. I got a canned response and then the described shakedown procedure applied to my bruised and bleedin A** for my trouble . Anyway , Great forums here . thanks

Just to add a little to the antenna info here, I have a CM 4228 in my attic in Inman, SC, and am well pleased. No preamp, 50 feet RG6, excellent reception of everything. In Florida however, I cannot easily attic mount an antenna. Plus, I am 50 miles from the towers (all in the same area, however). My wife and the octogenarians in HOA would drop dead at an eave mounted 4228 (I have a tile roof, which eliminates a roof mount). So, I opted for the Winegard Square Shooter (unamplified) with the CM 7777 preamp driving 70 feet of RG6. I get all stations (about 15) at 90-100 on an RCA DTC210 with no dropouts, no problems. I am able to move the antenna 10 degrees or so in either direction without losing signal strength, so aiming is not critical.
I provide this info, because the Square Shooter has gotten very mixed reviews, but it has the very great advantage of being unobtrusive. It looks sort of like a satellite dish, but, obviously, it is square (16", as I recall). I believe the CM preamp is the key to this setup working.
Of course, in Florida there are not a whole lot of mountains (ha, ha, ha), and I have a pretty unobstructed view for several hundred feet. However, it is only a one story house, so certainly not line of sight.
This is a possible solution for those who need an outside antenna, but want to minimize the obtrusiveness.

Foxeng makes a good point about the opposite ends of the spectrum. That does throw a wrench at the who situation. For me, WLOS is one of the most stable signals I get. When 7 and 4 are acting up due to weather, 13 is solid most of the time. Now, if we have a "frog strangling" rain and the wind is blowing like a tornado, then I get signal drops...but who doesn't? So, from my viewpoint I don't see anything wrong. I can't answer why MNF comes in more stably than DH and Lost, and I don't think anyone can. For those with problems of late, if you have an outdoor antenna, check its alignment. We have had some bad weather of late, and it may have been knocked off by the wind.

Rockbert,
Welcome to the boards. You're in the right place...Greenville is really for the whole "hyphened" market of Greenville-Asheville-Spartanburg-Anderson. I, for one, have a reputation for hating Charter and will stand behind it. Yes, I have their internet service, but its that or dialup, so I have no other choice. As far as TV service, they can forget it...I have DirecTV, and won't be looking to change anytime soon. Sure, it has its problems, but they all do. I know you're asking a totally different question, and I can't answer because I don't have their service, but I would encourage you to take a look at D* IF you are getting sick of Charter's B.S. The HD DVR is pricey and doesn't have firewire and all of that stuff, but from what I hear it is a solid unit. I don't have $1000 to blow at the moment, unfortunately. Anyway, take care, and again welcome to the boards.

Eric
dashaund@charter.net

I haven't posted in awhile, but I have some general comments regarding some of the more recent posts.

I am another one that couldn't wait to get off Charter. I had it for 7 years, and now have DirecTV. I use their HD Tivo and love it. As for the Internet I have Bellsouth DSL, and it is much better than Charter's Internet service. I experienced the Charter shakedown a few times myself so I know what that is like. If you're in a position to do so I recommend telling them where they can put their rate increase and move to satellite.

I have the Winegard SquareShooter 1000 with a CM 7775 Pre-Amp, and I've been getting WLOS right around 88 steady. I don't watch a lot of WLOS, but I watch MNF on Monday, Lost on Wednesday, and 8 Simple Rules on Friday, and all come in great. I do agree that the SquareShooter seems to be less suceptible to the quirks of digital signals. It's made to stick outside your window in an urban area with buildings all around and still pick up a signal. My WSPA had dropped down to 80 a few weeks back but is back to 86. During that time though I didn't experience any dropouts or problems with the WSPA signal.

I will add that I had my OTA setup professionally installed so I couldn't answer any specific questions regarding that, but I would recommend having it done rather than doing it yourself if you can swing the cash.

Dashaund-
Ah, a fellow traveller. I had Charter for years. Gave up because of poor signal and incredible arrogance on their part. Have had D* fora number of years and wouldn't consider changing. While D* has it own warts, they are not at all arrogant, and actually try to resolve problems (and give you money if they cannot). I do not know the opposite of arrogant, but that is D* I have had them for at least 5 years and they have always been helpful.

I am thinking that WLOS signal loss is a software issue, last week they had no audio on ABC network shows and after they fixed that the signal loss started. My kids live next door and have a sanyo 30" HDTV with integrated tuner and a smaller antenna with lower elevation and the signal locks in great, I have an RCA DTC-100 and get freeze ups and severe drop out. Just maybe whatever they did to fix the audio only messed up certain brands of tuners ability to lock on their signal.

At this point in time, the equipment setup used for digital transmissions can be compared to buggy beta software. This meaning it still has kinks and bugs in the system that have yet to be worked out. I agree, when they go full power, they'll take this stuff more seriously. Of course, there's till WSPA who continues to not care... As far as BellSouth DSL, I can't get it in my area, so I'm stuck with Charter. Please feel sorry for me.

Originally posted by enoree
I am thinking that WLOS signal loss is a software issue, last week they had no audio on ABC network shows and after they fixed that the signal loss started. My kids live next door and have a sanyo 30" HDTV with integrated tuner and a smaller antenna with lower elevation and the signal locks in great, I have an RCA DTC-100 and get freeze ups and severe drop out. Just maybe whatever they did to fix the audio only messed up certain brands of tuners ability to lock on their signal.

I am having the same problems with my RCA DTC-100. I have never been able to get stable reception of WLOS with my Hughes E86, but now it is bettr than the RCA DTC-100. I will e-mail them with our suspicions and see if it does any good. I just ordered the larget UHF antenna I could find ( 91XG from Antennas Direct), to help with WLOS and also see if I could get more Charlotte stations. Right now i can only get WBTV.

I have a deep fringe yagi with a pre-amp and a CM wireless remote rotor, so I can move my antenna in 1 degree increments, no position at all locks on WLOS (tried all 360 degrees).

Quick question, If I may...
What channels are available to Charter HD subscribers in Asheville?
I want UPN, Discovery HD, and ABC and won't bother upgrading anything until I can get those channels. Does anybody else get these up here?
I have a new Sony 50we655 and can tune NBC and CBS digital stations off of the cable feed, are there any other HD signals coming in over Charter's cable line that can be tuned into? Or is everything here OTA?

Originally posted by enoree
I am thinking that WLOS signal loss is a software issue, last week they had no audio on ABC network shows and after they fixed that the signal loss started. My kids live next door and have a sanyo 30" HDTV with integrated tuner and a smaller antenna with lower elevation and the signal locks in great, I have an RCA DTC-100 and get freeze ups and severe drop out. Just maybe whatever they did to fix the audio only messed up certain brands of tuners ability to lock on their signal.

From WLOS when asked about software. "Not since we started HD. We haven't changed anything in the config either!".

I'm on Charter in Asheville and I currently get..
HD-Net
HD-Net Movies
ESPN HD
Bravesvision (simulcasts of TBS Braves games in season, nothing now)
Discovery HD Theater (NOT a simulcats of Discovery as I assumed)
HBO
Showtime
WYFF-DT

and thats all she wrote.....

Well.....I solved my problem with ABC-HD, I bought some new sections of mast and mounting brackets and put my long range UHF-VHF antenna back up and hooked it to my "B" antenna inputs and pointed it to 125 degrees and now I watch my ABC on WOLO-DT in Columbia. As WOLO is on VHF-8 I get it as strong as I USED to get WLOS-DT, WOLO is 74 miles from my house and WLOS is 71. Just a word to the advertisers on WLOS ....."here's one customer that your money isn't working for you"

FYI coverage maps for Channel DT 13 and DT 33.

WLOS at present power.(14.9 KW)
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DT283968.html

WLOS at full power 1000 KW (july 1 2005 deadline)
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DT418566.html

WUNF at present and full power 185KW.
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DT628839.html

I can't get either here. Hope to get LOS in July. In WUNF coverage area and do get a good signal but no lock. WLOS get a signal once in a blue moon not good enough to lock.

WSPA outside of coverage area but do get an occasion lock.

I'm using an antennas direct XG91 no amp 50 feet RG6. Reliable and constant strong signals from all stations as noted below.

Tri city stations lowest reading in the 80's about 65 miles from transmitters. 2 stations at low power full power station low 90's.

Knoxvilles digitals about 40 miles, on the other side of a hill I'm located on about 1/2 way from top, lowest reading the 60's highest low 80's.

Norton Va and Grundy Va about 70+ miles signal in the mid 80's.

WUNF ,WSPA and WLOS as stated above.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by jimc705
[B]FYI coverage maps for Channel DT 13 and DT 33.

WLOS at present power.(14.9 KW)
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DT283968.html

The above URL links to WDSI in Chattanooga.

OOPs! sorry about that too many things at once. WLOS at 14.9kw try this one.
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DS617446.html

Originally posted by calvinb
Well, I must be in a good location (Sugar Creek subdivision), because I get ALL of the local channels, including WLOS, all the 29's and all the 33's, so no problem there. What continues to baffle me is MNF comes in perfectly on Monday nite in HD, no flickering, and the other six nights my HD picture is unwatchable - Sunday nites with "DH", Wed with "Lost" and all the other ones. Why can't I duplicate Monday's performance on the other nights? OR, what is WLOS doing differently on Monday nights?

I got this same issue last night with Lost. I just got my HD last weekend and MNF came in great and we were looking forward to watching the first episode of Lost last night, but the HD was unwatchable. It was stuttering and the audio was way behind the video. I have a good signal so hopefully it is something on WLOS's end?

I think the people at WLOS are full of it saying the weather is the problem. I have received them since day 1 on DT and have NEVER had this kind of reception problem, it all started about 2 weeks ago when the had no audio during ABC primetime, they supposedly fixed it and ever since that day the signal has dropped 30 or so points.I think that they just flat out don't have a clue what they did or how to fix it, Maybe they need a service call from someone who does know what they are doing. NO other DT station in this market has this problem and it's nothing to do with the high or low end of the UHF band it's just from incompetence.

My parents are getting themselves a 32" HD TV with integrated tuner for Christmas. They live up on Lake Keowee in Keowee Key (where Hwy 187 and Hwy 130 split shortly after Duke Power).

Does anyone live in that area that can tell me what type of OTA reception they might receive? I'll show my Dad the UHF antennas that are available now and get them a rotor, but I was just curious if people had first hand experience. Thanks.

My parents are getting themselves a 32" HD TV with integrated tuner for Christmas. They live up on Lake Keowee in Keowee Key (where Hwy 187 and Hwy 130 split shortly after Duke Power).

I live in Cherokee Gardens, close to 123 and Old Clemson Hwy. I get CBS, NBC, PBS and Fox without any major problems. I can't get WLOS very well (I have a signal, but its not watchable). I have a RS yagi style antenna and a preamp. I'm down in the valley, so depending on your elelvation, you shouldn't have too many problems.

I live in Central...maybe 10 miles east of the location you mentioned?? I get all the channels using a CM 4228 and 7777 preamp. I can get NBC and CBS using just indoor antenna. I think I can get others from inside but don't remember for sure. I do know I can't get ABC from inside.

Hello all,

I am polling the members of this thread who are attempting to receive WLOS-DT OTA in this area.

A. I am currently able to receive a reliable signal from WLOS-DT.

B. I have been able to receive a reliable signal from WLOS-DT in the past, but
not within the past few weeks.

C. I have never been able to receive a reliable signal from WLOS-DT.

Please give your location as well. I will pass the results to WLOS.

Thanks

My answer is "B", and I am located approximately 4 miles ENE of downtown Greenville.

Apps1,

C. I live in Clemson.

I just recently set up my HDTV, so I cant comment on reception in the past. I wish WLOS-DT would get their act together so I could pick up ABC. I receive all of the other networks without any problem. I am hoping D* will offer a national feed soon that I can receive. By the way, I am using a Winegard Square Shooter SS-2000 which has a built in amplifier. Is there anyway to boost the reception of the SS-2000?

Thanks...

A. (Although I haven't checked since the last new episode of Lost, so ten days or so ago.)

I live in Simpsonville.

Re WLOS-DT
My answer is A, but needs comment.
I can always receive WLOS, with one or the other of two antennas. It is my weakest, but yet most reliable signal for non-pixelization.

I receive WLOS and WUNF from two different directions, about 5 to 10 degrees apart although both are on the same tower.

I expect more multipath from WLOS when power is increased, although it is not a problem on WUNF, also a reliable signal.

My location is 3300' on the south slope of the mountains above and north of Haw Creek, just off Town Mountain Road, Asheville. I use a CM 4221 with a CM 7777 UHF/VHF amp to increase reliability of Channel 9 from Greenville. I have a home-made 5 element Yagi cut for Channel 9 coupled with the CM UHF. I am also using the CM 7777 to amplify UHF DT signals, but find no improvement in reliability although the signal is increased 6 to 10 points. Experimentally, I believe there is less pixelization for WYFF-DT without the amp...but I am line-of-site across 28 miles of valley to the transmitter...and can see its strobe.

(Don't think I don't pass on comments to WLOS on a regular basis!)

A. Once I got a decent antenna setup going, I haven't had ANY problems since. Like Jerry, it is my most reliable signal. However, I have very good signal strength. Finding that fine line between WSPA and WYFF where I can receive both at the same time has always been my problem.

For the folks that have answered "A". What set top or integrated tuner are you using? I think there may be an issue with certain set top boxes. I have a Hughes E86 and an RCA DTC100. A friend of mine, who lives close by,has a TV with an integrated tuner and is able to pick up WLOS with an indoor antenna. I cant get a solid signal with an Antennas Direct XG91 mounted 40 feet off the ground with a CM777 pre-amp and rotor.

I'm using the integrated tuner in my 36XS955, with a Channel Master 3010 StealthTenna (kept indoors) and a CM 3042 preamp.

Hughes HTL-HD STB (w/ D*) and a Antennasdirect.com DB4. No preamp. Antenna at approx. 20ft.

I'm using an RCA DTC-100 integrated into my set and get nada on WLOS-DT for the last 2 weeks or so, but WOLO-DT (Columbia) comes in great. If you want to see something really funny, look at Titan Tv and the listing for WYFF news at 5, 5:30 and 6. It lists them as being HD 1080i. LOL

C.

I live in Taylors, and no WLOS for me.

I would like to thank everyone for their replies. Keep them coming. I went out and bought a Samsung SIR-TS360 today. Does anyone else have this receiver? I will hook it up tomorrow and post the results.


Thanks

I would answer A to getting WLOS. I did a strength test about a week ago, and it was 75, but it's back up to 88 now. I don't watch WLOS a lot especially since LOST has gone into re-runs, but each time I tune it in it seems to be fine.

I've got a Winegard SquareShooter 1000 with a CM 7775 Pre-amp coming into an HR 10-250. I wonder if multi-patch isn't the issue. It would appear that the bigger Channel Master type antennas are very good for pulling in signals from a distance and from different angles, but might be more suceptible to multi-path whereas a more directional antenna like the SquareShooter may be less suceptible to multi-path. I highly doubt I'm doing so well because of the tuner due to the fact that the HR 10-250 generally gets mixed reviews for its internal OTA tuner.

Geez, I was having a rough time with the Fox affiliate tonight. I'd have a stable signal in the low-to-mid 90s, then without warning, it'd plummet to 40%-ish strength. There were so many dropouts that I wound up watching Arrested Development in SD through Charter. I tried fiddling with the positioning of the antenna to compensate, but it was hard to tell since I was reliably getting an extremely strong signal most of the time. Did anyone else have this problem tonight, or was I just lucky?

I had the same problem during "Arrested Development" tonight. I almost switched over to SD. I missed a second here or there, but I stuck with HD.

Thank God I didn't miss that "brownie" line.

I can't say for sure about Arrested Development, but I saw the Malcolm that followed and there were no problems with that one.

WLOS

I'm a B haven't been able to get it for three weeks and now can't even pick it up when I rescan my channels. Zenith 520, I'm in Greer 3 miles west of the airport.

Originally posted by Apps1
I would like to thank everyone for their replies. Keep them coming. I went out and bought a Samsung SIR-TS360 today. Does anyone else have this receiver? I will hook it up tomorrow and post the results.


Thanks

My signal strength is only at about 50%, but so far this new reciever is rock solid for WLOS-DT. I guess whatever issues WLOS-DT is having they may well be set top box related.

Maybe it is set-top related.

I'm a "B", and I have a RCA DTC-100.

WLOS and the reception problem HAS to be a problem with their encoder. Why would only certain boxes have reception problems in such a wide viewing area and distances from the transmitter?I am positive that someone there messed up when they tried to fix the network audio problem a couple of weeks ago, and that they are unwilling to admit that someone screwed up there.

Originally posted by enoree
WLOS and the reception problem HAS to be a problem with their encoder. Why would only certain boxes have reception problems in such a wide viewing area and distances from the transmitter?I am positive that someone there messed up when they tried to fix the network audio problem a couple of weeks ago, and that they are unwilling to admit that someone screwed up there.

They feel the problems with the older set top boxes has something to do with the fact that PBS is broadcasting from the same tower at full power on UHF 25. They said other engineers around the country have had similar issues.

I am purchasing a new HD TV and would like some advice w/ Charter HD service.

Which brand of STB would I most likely recieve without asking for a particular one?

If I have options to choose from, is there one in particular I should ask for?

Do any come with active Firewire ports (I assume I would have to ask for that)?

If my tv has a HDCI connector, which box should I ask for? Which cables are "standard" in their installation $$$ ?

Is there anything else I should know?

Thanks!

When I subscribed in September, Charter set me up with a Motorola DCT-5100. I'm not sure if there were active Firewire ports on it.

I'm currently using Charter's HD-capable DVR, which definitely does not have active Firewire ports, and DVI is currently disabled (although this will change fairly shortly, apparently). There's a lengthy thread about the Moxi in the HDTV Recorders forums, but if you want a way to painlessly timeshift Charter's HD offerings (although their support of locals in HD is pitiful, limited to just WYFF, even though CBS, ABC, The WB, Fox, and PBS are also broadcasting in HD in this market), the DVR is a pretty nice addition. It does cost extra. I want to say it's an extra $7 or so a month for the box (on top of the $3 you're paying to rent the standard digital box) and then another $10 a month for the service.

WLOS Update:

This is the first night in about 10 days that I've watched WLOS for an extended amount of time, and MNF came in with no problems or drop-outs for the entire game. I did a signal strength check at the end of the game and got 78.

As I've said before I think the WLOS problems could have more to do with multi-path than tuners, but I could also be wrong.

to tbenjam ,

I have Charter's HD box Motorola DCT-6200. This box comes with their Component Video (RGB) + Audio "Installation kit". The Firewire port IS active on this box and DOES work when I connected it to my PC and viewed/recorded onto my PC. I used a 6 pin to 6 Pin 10 meter 1394 cable from Unibrain to make the connection. I also have a New Toshiba 65H84 65" HDTV with HDMI connector , but I have not connected the DVI port on the Motorola box to the TV with DVI to HDMI adapter yet , so I don't know for certain if the DVI port on the Motorola box is active or not. I use the Component Video connections so far and the HD channels that Charter offer DO look good through this connection. Before I upgraded to HD service with Charter ,I had their big package (all channels) and internet service. The box that I had before they switched out to my current DCT-6200 Motorola ,was a DCT -5100 Motorola. This was the upgrade path which Charter did on their own , I didn't ask for a certain model of set-top box. I think they didn't have the Moxi box available yet in Spartanburg when I upgraded a couple months ago ,so I got the 6200.

Hope this was useful.

I have a DCT 6200 and I am using the DVI output. And as to the WLOS issues, I too have had some problems receiving it with my Mot HDT-100 over the last week or so. Last night MNF did come in fine though. Strangely, in my area of north Asheville, my reception of WLOS is more reliable than WUNF.

This units OTA performance far exceeds my Hughes E86, and RCA-DTC 100. For anyone looking dor a DirecTv box I would recommend taking a look at this unit. It cost $300.00.

Apps, my answer is "C". I live in the Sugar Creek subdivision. I've had the Samsung TS360 for about 8 months. Ever since I got my CM4221 antenna I have been able to get MNF iin HD (good picture) but NOTHING ELSE the other six nights. Sunday night was no exception. "Desperate Housewives" was unwatchable on 13-1 and as we all know the D* SD picture ain't too good on Channel 13 (satellite). So I'm still having my same problems with WLOS-DT - only good on one night. Maybe its because I have an older TS 360?? I added a CM 7777 pre-amp a few weeks ago and no help. I would really like to know what the issue is with WLOS-DT. All this money spent on HD equipment and I can't get HD reception on this channel except on Mondays.

"Maybe its because I have an older TS 360?? "

What is the date/version of your TS360 software?

I think that maybe a complaint to the FCC is in order IF WUNF-DT is interfering with WLOS-DT as they claim, Its funny that the SC ETV station doesn't interfere with WYFF as they are both on Caesar's Head. Until they prove me wrong I am convinced the problem started when they "fixed" the lack of audio on ABC network programs a couple weeks back, maybe they need to CAREFULLY study what they did to find an answer.

Originally posted by enoree
I think that maybe a complaint to the FCC is in order IF WUNF-DT is interfering with WLOS-DT as they claim, Its funny that the SC ETV station doesn't interfere with WYFF as they are both on Caesar's Head. Until they prove me wrong I am convinced the problem started when they "fixed" the lack of audio on ABC network programs a couple weeks back, maybe they need to CAREFULLY study what they did to find an answer.

Sc ETV is VHF channel 9 and WYFF is UHF channel 59. The way I understood is that the problem is created because the broacasts of WUNF and WLOS are on different ends of the UHF spectrum (UHF 25 and UHF 56). That is the way I understood it, but I could be totally incorrect.

Originally posted by calvinb
Apps, my answer is "C". I live in the Sugar Creek subdivision. I've had the Samsung TS360 for about 8 months. Ever since I got my CM4221 antenna I have been able to get MNF iin HD (good picture) but NOTHING ELSE the other six nights. Sunday night was no exception. "Desperate Housewives" was unwatchable on 13-1 and as we all know the D* SD picture ain't too good on Channel 13 (satellite). So I'm still having my same problems with WLOS-DT - only good on one night. Maybe its because I have an older TS 360?? I added a CM 7777 pre-amp a few weeks ago and no help. I would really like to know what the issue is with WLOS-DT. All this money spent on HD equipment and I can't get HD reception on this channel except on Mondays.

I am having the same problems as you described with the WLOS-HD tonight. Last night the MNF game was perfect. Tonight all HD shows are unwatchable. There are also problems with ESPN-HD. From my reading on the TS360 thread it appears this box has a problem with 720p at 24 fps, which is what you get from WLOS and ESPN when they are not broadcasting live HD. I guess this box will be headed back to Best Buy. I think I will try the LG3200A next.

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by calvinb
Apps, my answer is "C". I live in the Sugar Creek subdivision. I've had the Samsung TS360 for about 8 months. Ever since I got my CM4221 antenna I have been able to get MNF iin HD (good picture) but NOTHING ELSE the other six nights. Sunday night was no exception. "Desperate Housewives" was unwatchable on 13-1 and as we all know the D* SD picture ain't too good on Channel 13 (satellite). So I'm still having my same problems with WLOS-DT - only good on one night. Maybe its because I have an older TS 360?? I added a CM 7777 pre-amp a few weeks ago and no help. I would really like to know what the issue is with WLOS-DT. All this money spent on HD equipment and I can't get HD reception on this channel except on Mondays.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Originally posted by Apps1
I am having the same problems as you described with the WLOS-HD tonight. Last night the MNF game was perfect. Tonight all HD shows are unwatchable. There are also problems with ESPN-HD. From my reading on the TS360 thread it appears this box has a problem with 720p at 24 fps, which is what you get from WLOS and ESPN when they are not broadcasting live HD. I guess this box will be headed back to Best Buy. I think I will try the LG3200A next.


CalvanB - I'll say it again. It's not WLOS. I live in Sugar Creek as well and have no problem getting WLOS. However, I will add some of my own personal experiences to give you an idea why I know it's not WLOS. First off, antenna location is extremely critical. I recently moved my antenna from the chimney to the garage side of the roof. I did this to ground the antenna properly with the main electrical ground. However, in moving the antenna a short 30ft, it changed my ability to get good reception. There are no trees or other objects in my immediate area that would effect the signal, and yet my reception is much worse in the new location. I even considering putting the antenna back on the chimney and tieing in the grounding rods. It made that big of a difference. So experiment with your antenna location if at all possible.

Secondly, Monday night was an extremely good night for digital reception. I picked up all the stations with a stronger than normal signal, and I even was able to pick up channel 62-1. That is something I haven't been able to be since moving the antenna. In fact, I normally don't even pick up a signal on 62. I used to get it with a good signal when the antenna was mounted on the chimney, so again - antenna location is critical. I went from getting 80s to getting less than 10 on my signal strength meter. However, for whatever reason, I picked up a good, strong and steady signal for 62 on Monday night and was very surprised. I was hoping that it would continue, but I checked last night and received no signal, even though I have a rotor and did a full sweep to see if I could pick it up on another orientation.

Well, only 4 days til X-mas, and all I want from Santa is more networks on Charter HD.

Sic, I would be interested in just how you are getting a good signal on WLOS in our area. I am using the CM 4221, which is a small version of the 4228, in my attic. It is on a rotor and I am also using the CM 7777 pre-amp. My RG6 run is about 100'. I could add a few sections of mast to my antenna if I though it would help. One bad thing about my Samsung TS360 STB is that its OTA signal strength meter has a very bad reputation for being unreliable. This past Monday while watching MNF I checked it and it would fluctuate continually from 45% to 63% to 0 to 10%. It never "locks" on anything. Maybe I can find a deal on one of the old sony STB's. Anybody have one of those?

Still frustrated...

Rockbert, you mention below:
"The Firewire port IS active on this box and DOES work when I connected it to my PC and viewed/recorded onto my PC."

What OS/software are you using for viewing and recording on your PC? The best I get when I plug up to my WinXP box is that the DCT6200 is some kind of TV receiver but then it goes looking for drivers and I can't get anything useful out of the box onto the PC. Feel like sharing some info?
thanks!
cbert

Original post >>>>>

I have Charter's HD box Motorola DCT-6200. This box comes with their Component Video (RGB) + Audio "Installation kit". The Firewire port IS active on this box and DOES work when I connected it to my PC and viewed/recorded onto my PC. I used a 6 pin to 6 Pin 10 meter 1394 cable from Unibrain to make the connection. I also have a New Toshiba 65H84 65" HDTV with HDMI connector , but I have not connected the DVI port on the Motorola box to the TV with DVI to HDMI adapter yet , so I don't know for certain if the DVI port on the Motorola box is active or not. I use the Component Video connections so far and the HD channels that Charter offer DO look good through this connection. Before I upgraded to HD service with Charter ,I had their big package (all channels) and internet service. The box that I had before they switched out to my current DCT-6200 Motorola ,was a DCT -5100 Motorola. This was the upgrade path which Charter did on their own , I didn't ask for a certain model of set-top box. I think they didn't have the Moxi box available yet in Spartanburg when I upgraded a couple months ago ,so I got the 6200.

Hope this was useful. [/B][/QUOTE]

Originally posted by Apps1
I am having the same problems as you described with the WLOS-HD tonight. Last night the MNF game was perfect. Tonight all HD shows are unwatchable. There are also problems with ESPN-HD. From my reading on the TS360 thread it appears this box has a problem with 720p at 24 fps, which is what you get from WLOS and ESPN when they are not broadcasting live HD. I guess this box will be headed back to Best Buy. I think I will try the LG3200A next.

I am having this problem also and have the TS360. MNF is great, but all the other nights HD is unwatchable. I am also having trouble with ESPN-HD with freezing and the audio and video being way out of sync. I hope its not a box issue, because I really don't wan to have to take it back.

On another note, is anyone else really tired of WSPA not switching to the HD feed until midway through a program? I don't know if its a manual switch or supposed to be automatic, but it always seems that a show is broadcast is SD until after the 2nd set of commercials, then flips to HD. Do they not monitor their own feed, or do they just not care? Who can I write at the station to express my concerns?

I agree that antenna location is the most critical element in the entire installation. About 90% of the time, in any installation, higher is better. I added five feet of mast to my antenna and it made a HUGE, and I mean HUUUUUGE difference on my setup. People underestimate antennas in general. If people could realize how much of a difference and small outdoor antenna would make over their set-top antennas, many of them would make the effort to get one...to most an antenna is just an antenna, no matter what it is. This could be the reason cable went over so well...

Tigerarch
What are your signal strengths on all of your other D* channels, especially HD? You don't need to give me a specific number reading, just how is the PQ? Steady and smooth, or jerky? It COULD be a box issue, but you might want to make sure your satellite is aimed correctly. The HD stuff is on a different sat than the SD content. You dish may need to be adjusted if all of your HD stuff is jerky.

Apps1
Go with the LG! I'm not a big fan of Samsung products in general. Sure, they have extra features and a lower price, but you get what you pay for. The bottom line is most of their stuff just doesn't cut the mustard when it comes to quality for me. My Hughes HTL-HD kicks the Samsung's butt for OTA stuff, and that LG has the same chipset.

cbert71,

Search the forum, there's a lot of info. Start here:

avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=403695

So is the standard issued box now a Motorola DCT-6200? I'll find out for sure in the morning, I'm going in to trade in my old box.

Originally posted by dashaund
Tigerarch
What are your signal strengths on all of your other D* channels, especially HD? You don't need to give me a specific number reading, just how is the PQ? Steady and smooth, or jerky? It COULD be a box issue, but you might want to make sure your satellite is aimed correctly. The HD stuff is on a different sat than the SD content. You dish may need to be adjusted if all of your HD stuff is jerky.


All my other HD channels are great and ESPN-HD is usually perfect. I live in a big building and I think we have 3 of the 1m dishes on the roof. We also have an attena farm for HD OTA reception. I only noticed a problem with ESPN-HD the other night when I was flipping channels and "3" was on. The video was jerkey and sound way out of sync. Its the same symptoms WLOS has on every show but MNF. If its an issue with the TS360, I'll have to return it to CC within our 30 days.

i current have Charter's HD package. The box part of the deal, as i understand it, is $9.99 ($3 more than the $6.95 usual charge for the digital cable box) and then I'm paying $3.99 for the HD channels.

I have signed up for installation on the new HD DVR and understand that it's only $6 more ($15.95 or $16.95 vs the regular $9.99 HD box price?).

For those that have the PVR, that is the only additional charge, right? I thought someone posted that there was a $9.99 for the PVR service too? That's not what Charter told me and I wanted to be sure. I don't want to pay an additional $16 just for the PVR over my current HD charges.

I posted those figures, as it was what I was told by charter. However, my bill does not show an additional fee over the box rental fee.

Thanks AppState. I think I'll give it a try. Used to have TiVo, but was tired of the $12.95/mo. I know in general Charter sucks, but $6-7 additional isn't so bad for PVR service - especially with the ability to record HD.

anybody know if Charter is planning to add ESPN2-HD in January? I figure since we have ESPN-HD and the PR from ESPN is they aren't charging extra for the HD version of the deuce they would.. but no official word yet.

Originally posted by tigerarch
I am having this problem also and have the TS360. MNF is great, but all the other nights HD is unwatchable. I am also having trouble with ESPN-HD with freezing and the audio and video being way out of sync. I hope its not a box issue, because I really don't wan to have to take it back.

On another note, is anyone else really tired of WSPA not switching to the HD feed until midway through a program? I don't know if its a manual switch or supposed to be automatic, but it always seems that a show is broadcast is SD until after the 2nd set of commercials, then flips to HD. Do they not monitor their own feed, or do they just not care? Who can I write at the station to express my concerns?

Read this thread about the Samsung problems. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=485536&perpage=20&pagenumber=1

It seems they are making sure Samsung/DirecTV are aware of the problems. I may wait until just before my 30 days are up before returning to see if the 720p issues are resolved.

For WSPA send an e-mail to RPeeler@wspa.com.

I live in the South Asheville Area. Has anyone heard any dates on CBS, ABC, Fox, UPN feeds for charter? I have had the HDTV since May and I am getting tired of no HDTV football, basketball, etc outside of ESPN.

I hate to spend $200+ for a reciever and antenna if charter is getting the other networks in the near future? Also what kind of HD receiption will I get in asheville with an indoor antenna? Is it even worth it?

Originally posted by tbenjam
So is the standard issued box now a Motorola DCT-6200? I'll find out for sure in the morning, I'm going in to trade in my old box.

According to the Customer Sefvice reps, the 5100 were for beta tessting only and all new Charter HD boxes are 6200s. The firewire ports are active.

Now to order a DVI cable online from a cheaper source than the usual sources here in town. Does anybody recommend a good source for cables?

Kilbourne:
I am not in a Charter area, so cannot help you with specifics. However, Cable is rushing to get ahead of Satellite now that both majors have announced pans for rapid HD expansion of "locals" in the new year.
As to over the air, I strongly suggest you start with a visit to this website for OTA evaluation: http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.asp

Otherwise, you should scan through earlier pages of this forum for various experiences in receiving local. Some of us receive local HD with reliable signals, based of course on location and obstacles between our receiving antenna and the station transmitters.

Re WSPA -- YES, the late switching to HD and the early return to SD some three to five minutes from the end is beginning to reflect a very poor attitude toward us HD fans.

By the way, Ron Peeler is on active duty in Iraq and that may account for some of the slow response to HD viewer concerns.

Email addressed to Peeler is eventually answered.

Originally posted by Apps1
Hello all,

I am polling the members of this thread who are attempting to receive WLOS-DT OTA in this area.

A. I am currently able to receive a reliable signal from WLOS-DT.

B. I have been able to receive a reliable signal from WLOS-DT in the past, but
not within the past few weeks.

C. I have never been able to receive a reliable signal from WLOS-DT.

Please give your location as well. I will pass the results to WLOS.

Thanks

My answer is "B", and I am located approximately 4 miles ENE of downtown Greenville.

Sorry, I missed this the first time around.

My answer is A. I'm using a Radio Shack VHF/UHF combo antenna (about 7yrs old) mounted on the roof with a rotor and CM7777 preamp. Tuner is integrated in my Zenith c32v37 TV. Located in Sugar Creek Subdivison.

is there somewhere local that I can get a CM7777 preamp? Tried Lowes, Home Depot...no luck.

Originally posted by Cha2ga
is there somewhere local that I can get a CM7777 preamp? Tried Lowes, Home Depot...no luck.

I have never seen these in stock anywhere locally.
I got mine at Warren.

http://www.warrenelectronics.com/

or do a lookup for Stark Electronics.

Cha2ga:

You will find the CM amps are less expensive on the internet. The CM amps available locally don't have as good specs as the 7777.

Warren' is good. I picked up my rotor, which has remote control rather than the old manual dial rotor control, for less money at Warren's than I could get a manual rotor locally. I would certainly use them again.

Wow i havent read the boards but i'm i reading this correct charter now has the 6200 boxes, i hope so because i will be trading in my 5100. What i'm really interested in is D*, i have read on the programming board that Fox HD is live on D* now. Is this true for D* here in Greenville. I have been putting off getting D* for them to pick up more locals which i mostly what we watch at night here in the eccleston's house. I pretty much leave my antenna on 7.1 since channel 4 is on charter in HD so that covers 90% of the viewing at night for us. If D* picks up NBC,CBS,Fox, and ABC there is no need for charter for me. I dont mind OT HD but nothing compares to the feed HD i get from charter namely ESPN HD and Channel 4. I would love to kick Charter to the curb.

Jon

Originally posted by Apps1
Hello all,

I am polling the members of this thread who are attempting to receive WLOS-DT OTA in this area.

A. I am currently able to receive a reliable signal from WLOS-DT.

B. I have been able to receive a reliable signal from WLOS-DT in the past, but
not within the past few weeks.

C. I have never been able to receive a reliable signal from WLOS-DT.

Please give your location as well. I will pass the results to WLOS.

Thanks

My answer is "B", and I am located approximately 4 miles ENE of downtown Greenville.

My answer would have to be "C." However, I just recently purchased my HDTV equipment, so I do not have a history of WLOS reception to compare my present experience to. The signal appears to fluctuate frequently causing dropouts. I am located in Mauldin, off East Butler Rd near I385.

Originally posted by sic0048
Sorry, I missed this the first time around.

My answer is A. I'm using a Radio Shack VHF/UHF combo antenna (about 7yrs old) mounted on the roof with a rotor and CM7777 preamp. Tuner is integrated in my Zenith c32v37 TV. Located in Sugar Creek Subdivison.

I'm not too far from you, and my answer is A as well. I'm wondering if location isn't a factor in this? I live in a new subdivision in Taylors.

jecclestion,

Kicking Charter to the curb isn't that bad of an idea. D* has a better HD lineup at a cheaper price, better customer service, and from what I hear, better PQ. No, you don't get HD locals yet...hopefully in a couple of years. BUT, OTA locals will always have better PQ than from D*, E*, or cable since it doesn't have to be compressed again. You say that WYFF looks better on Charter than OTA...how can that be? Do you have your Charter box on DVI and your locals on component or something? You should always receive much better quality on OTA. The only way you can get it better would be to get it directly from the source over C or Ku band satellite, and the equipment is fairly expensive (but the programming is either cheap or free, in some cases). Let me know about the Charter PQ.

actually I wouldn't jump so fast... everybody tells me D* compresses the heck out of their HD channels now... worse than stations that multicast.. HDNet Movies is virtually unwatchable on D* from what I've been told, and with them likely preparing to add ESPN2 and TNT that will only get worse.

For the record I hated Charter's guts and tried both D* and E* but I ended up back with Charter and I have no complaints. Sure I wish they'd add the rest of the locals, but I believe that'll come in time. There aren't that many HD stations I care to see right now that they don't have anyway. My PQ is much better even on the analog channels that I was getting with either D* or E*. My guess is when D* gets HDTV locals they'll compress them to death like they do the analog locals too, so you might be worse off..

Plus you're not likely to see ABC-HD on D* or E* even if they do add HD locals because they relay all their locals (including the standard ones) from over the air signals. I know both used to relay from stations in Spartanburg and ABC-HD is patchy at best right now. Basically D* and E* set up shop, pull the signals in on a standard TV antenna and uplink them via satellite or fiber to their main broadcast center). That's why some local channels look so bad compared to others

Originally posted by jeccleston
What i'm really interested in is D*, i have read on the programming board that Fox HD is live on D* now. Is this true for D* here in Greenville. I have been putting off getting D* for them to pick up more locals which i mostly what we watch at night here in the eccleston's house. I pretty much leave my antenna on 7.1 since channel 4 is on charter in HD so that covers 90% of the viewing at night for us.
Jon

Just to clarify this...FOX-HD, CBS-HD, etc are UP on D* but it is just the national feed (usually the NY & LA stations). Unless you live in a market where FOX or CBS owns the local station (NONE in our market are owned & operated by their respective networks) you have to have a "Waiver" to get these feeds and they're not going to give them in most cases.

Like others have said OTA HD is as good as it gets, you're not going to get higher quality from cable or satellite. You might get similar quality from Charter right now, satellite will likely be below that due to compression.

cpalmer2k-
Sir, you exaggerate the extent of the D* compression. I have found nothing there "unwatchable", and would pay nearly any price to avoid the arrogance of Charter.

all i'm going by is the posts, go to the Programming forum and read them yourself... some of them link to actual measurments that found D* only gives some channels 10mbps, almost DVD quality.. not HD

Here are two threads to start off...
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=484250
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=486773

So, while you haven't direct experience with D*, you are quick to condemn it. I have read many of the posts to which you refer, and, while I agree with some, disbelieve others. There are those who would complain if they were given $2 million that now they have to pay more taxes.
Based only on my own experience, I believe that, on average, D* has a far better picture than the cable companies I have dealt with (in Florida). And they are 100 times more pleasant to deal with, and will actually try to help you solve a problem. But that is just my personal experience.

I had a few more questions for those who have the DVR unit from Charter. I read on the Moxi forum that there were concerns that there wouldn't be VOD on these units. Is that true? Do you still have VOD?

Also, I understand you can't get both component video and S-video at the same time unless the box is set to be 480i output only? Currently I use S-video for all non-HD channels because they look like crap on the component video wires. Is this still possible with the Moxi box?

Overall do you like the Moxi DVR?

Originally posted by awp
I had a few more questions for those who have the DVR unit from Charter. I read on the Moxi forum that there were concerns that there wouldn't be VOD on these units. Is that true? Do you still have VOD? Some markets do, some markets don't. I checked a couple of days ago, and I still don't seem to be able to use VOD.

Currently I use S-video for all non-HD channels because they look like crap on the component video wires. Is this still possible with the Moxi box?You can't simultaneously have video outputting through component and S-video. It's one or the other, and I don't get the impression that this is going to change with the Moxi anytime soon.

Overall do you like the Moxi DVR? Very much. Analog SD material looks kind of lousy, but it's still watchable. Digital SD material is considerably better, and HD is great. Digital SD/HD material is written directly to the hard drive, and there's no recompression, so a recorded TV show/movie is indistinguishable from watching it live.

DVI is a few months from being enabled, and the issue with native passthrough is still pending. You can set the Moxi to one resolution only -- 480i, 720p, or 1080i (maybe 480p too; can't recall offhand) -- and at the higher resolutions, the Moxi upsamples and stretches SD material. This will change in a few months...tentatively in March, I believe.

It has a small-ish hard drive and can't timeshift a lot of HD -- between 8 and 10 hours -- but since Charter doesn't offer that much HD in our area, I guess it's tolerable. :) Unfortunately, you can't record OTA channels, so as far as local channels go, you're limited to just WYFF for the foreseeable future.

It also doesn't have some of the bells and whistles TiVo offers, like recording shows based on your preferences, but that doesn't really matter to me.

I'm very happy with the Moxi and would recommend it to anyone interested in timeshifting HD material.

Originally posted by mgtr
So, while you haven't direct experience with D*, you are quick to condemn it. I have read many of the posts to which you refer, and, while I agree with some, disbelieve others. There are those who would complain if they were given $2 million that now they have to pay more taxes.
Based only on my own experience, I believe that, on average, D* has a far better picture than the cable companies I have dealt with (in Florida). And they are 100 times more pleasant to deal with, and will actually try to help you solve a problem. But that is just my personal experience.

As I have stated already I have used both D* AND E*, D* most recently a couple of months ago.

Like you I was just relaying my personal experiences... I have plenty of recordings made both ways and by far my cable ones are better. I find it nearly impossible to believe myself, I guess I just didn't realize how bad satellite compression had gotten.

Has anyone else had any problems with WLOS video not being smooth? It basically stutters every second or 2 for me. I don't ususally watch much ABC but with the BCS football games upcoming I'd hate to still have this problem.

Thanks

Originally posted by nlowhor
Has anyone else had any problems with WLOS video not being smooth? It basically stutters every second or 2 for me. I don't ususally watch much ABC but with the BCS football games upcoming I'd hate to still have this problem.

Thanks

What receiver do you have? There is a known problem with 720p and the Samsung 360.

I've got the Samsung 360 and heard it had problems. However, I don't see this only ESPN-HD which I believe is also in 720p. It studders in a different way during commercials. I don't see what I see on WLOS on any other channel.

Originally posted by nlowhor
I've got the Samsung 360 and heard it had problems. However, I don't see this only ESPN-HD which I believe is also in 720p. It studders in a different way during commercials. I don't see what I see on WLOS on any other channel.

The only time I have problems with WLOS is when they are broadcasting in HD. Then the Sammy does the stuttering like on ESPN. I think you may have a reception issue, but it is hard to know because the OTA signal meter on the Sammy is worthless. I am taking mine back when my RCA DTC210 arrives.

I've only noticed it when they broadcast in HD but then again I usually don't bother turning it over there otherwise. Would a reception issue be seen all the time, both SD and HD? If only seen during HD broadcasts, what else might it be?

Originally posted by nlowhor
I've only noticed it when they broadcast in HD but then again I usually don't bother turning it over there otherwise. Would a reception issue be seen all the time, both SD and HD? If only seen during HD broadcasts, what else might it be?

If you only see the problem during HD broadcasts you are seeing what everyone else with this box is seeing. Check to see if you have the problem when they are broadcasting SD.

Originally posted by cpalmer2k
As I have stated already I have used both D* AND E*, D* most recently a couple of months ago.

Like you I was just relaying my personal experiences... I have plenty of recordings made both ways and by far my cable ones are better. I find it nearly impossible to believe myself, I guess I just didn't realize how bad satellite compression had gotten.

I've read a lot of the posts complaining about D* as well. Something you need to understand is that these boards represent a more demanding consumer, and when they complain about D* they are comparing it against what it was before the satellites were overloaded and D* looked a little better than it does now. But D* even with the extra compression still looks better than Cable. I'm speaking from my own experience, and even my dad's who is certainly not an enthusiast of any sort. The fact that he would notice any difference speaks volumes. And has been stated the customer service is far better from D*.

The only downside of D* is that to get set up right with HD it does take some cash outlay. I have the HD Tivo unit and it is $1000. But in terms of capability over the Cable Moxi unit I never miss that $1000. If you're going to get set up and going with HDTV viewing then you might as well go all the way and get the best setup possible.

Exactly right. The one customer who is likely to choose the best picture is the HDTV retailer - Best Buy, Circuit City, Sears, etc. And the ones I have asked generally use D*. A lot of your picture quality has to do with the equipment you use. By the way, cpalmer2k, how have you enjoyed your experience with cable customer service?

FYI.........

WYFF will be making a required change to our HDTV transmission today, 12/30/04. To comply with new ATSC recommendations, we must change PID numbers before 1/1/05. Once this change is made, you may lose reception of WYFF-DT. If you do, initiating a channel scan should restore reception of WYFF-DT.

Also, WYFF-DT is scheduled for a full power upgrade in Q1 of 2005. We will be going to a full 1,000 Kw.

Doug

Doug, please announce the power increase when it happens.

Sorry Dashaund i should say it is jsut easier for me to watch NBC on charter vs OTA because i do not have a rotor yet so i have to change anntena if i want to watch NBC ota. But also to me the OTA stuff seems to have more "studdering" and sound problems then Charter NBC feed. I think once i pay off X-Mas i will get a rotor and amp for my OTA setup. I'm only using 25 ft of cable from anntena to box and i'm roughly 30ish miles from the source antenna so i'm not sure an amp will help much but you never know. I guess i use charter now out of easinees since i had them before i got HD. To me Charter is the Devil and always will be. When we first moved here it was like pulling teeth to get them to run and install the wires from the main box to our new home. Actually the Internet guy who came out to setup the charter cable internet ran the wires since the actaul charter guy never showed up. But what can you do.

Okay, thanks for clearing that up. If I were in your situation, I would agree that it is easier. Believe me, a rotor adds a whole new dimension to your antenna setup. I've heard a lot of great things about preamps as well, but can't attest to them since I don't have one. If you plan on buying a rotor, look at the usual sources to find a used one and save some money. A lot of hams are selling their older ones, which are usually a great condition, and are almost overkill for the wind load of a typical TV antenna. Charter is the devil. Unfortunately, they have a monopoly in this area. Outside of D*/E*, who are they going to compete with? Many out there would rather feed them money just out of the convenience of not having to "fool" with putting up a dish and an antenna. I myself enjoy quality products and/or a good price rather than easily accessible and expensive junk. For those commenting about the "stuttering" problem, I have never witnessed it myself. Anyone who is having this problem and NOT using a Samsung receiver, please respond. If its just Samsung users, then I rest my case...

If you plan on a preamp, try the Channel Master 7777. From personal experience, it is great. The reviews show that it can drive up to 275 feet of RG6, so that shows how good it is. Good luck. OTA is great.

I'm not getting anything on WLOS. I have E* with a 811 receiver. A Hitachi 57" rear projection HDTV. A CM4228 with rotator at @30ft agl. Using 70 ft quadshield rg6. I don't have the cm7777 preamp. I'll probably get it if it would help but is there anything I'm missing? I can scan for the channel and it shows up in my guide but I never get more than 49-55% strength. BTW, I live in Liberty (1/2 way between Easley and Clemson).
TIA,
Phil

My ABC problems are over, ABC-HD E&W is now up on D*, and since I've had a waiver for ABC for several years i now get ABC-HD E&W with no drop outs or problems at all. Thank you D*:)

I think FOX-HD is down... as soon as the Cotton Bowl went off both the HD and SD digital feeds went out

Originally posted by cpalmer2k
I think FOX-HD is down... as soon as the Cotton Bowl went off both the HD and SD digital feeds went out

It is back up at 5:45pm.

Is there anyone here from Greenville Co. that has gotten a waiver to receive any of the broadcast national feeds from Dtv?

I got one from CBS. My topography makes it hard to receive WSPA, so I wrote several emails to the general manager. I politely asked for the waiver and was denied. I resubmitted my request and a few days later I got a letter saying my waiver was granted. I faxed it in to DirecTV, and had CBS-HD on the next day. The funny thing is they turned FOX-HD on as well. No luck yet on ABC-HD which I can't get at all.

Wright

I got mine from WLOS about 6 years ago. I am 72 miles from their transmitter and 75 miles from WOLO(ABC) in Columbia ,so I guess that I am just at the very fringe of each market, I love the option of watching KABC in LA when they have the live freeway chases and other S Cal type of things live. So far I think KABC does a better job on their DT than does WABC.

I got mine from WLOS a long time ago. I know, one of my most stable stations, lol. The Travelers Rest area is very spotty in reception...I can barely receive their analog signal, but the digital seems very stable. Anyways, the D* ABC E/W is very compressed, so naturally I watch the WLOS version. However, the W feed is pretty cool so you can watch stuff later.

I think that after the NFL regular season ends so might the compression on D*, with the need for the SundayTicket band-width gone.

I had to call WSPA again today!! Every weekend they have audio and/or video problems with the CBS NFL games. I've called and complained and I have e-mailed the general manager. I seems they don't care if the HD feed is working properly or not. Maybe if we all complain we can get some action!!

After playing, I have figured out this much:
Antenna pointed due North I can get these digital channels:
wyff, pbs(sc), wlos, fox, pbs(nc), wggs, & whatever 45-1 is.

Antenna pointed 30degrees clockwise I get:
wyff, pbs(sc), wspa, 45-1.

The max strength I have received for wlos is 64 but it isn't breaking up. I only have about 5 degrees to play with to get it like that.

I'm assuming a Titan cm7777 will help? You opinions appreciated.

In case anyone was wondering, NBC's HD playback server crashed and that is the reason for no NBC HD this weekend.

Doug

Cha2ga-
CM7777 is an excellent preamp, and should help your reception. How many feet of RG6 do you have between your antenna and STB?

douglasd5 - re WYFF HD.
Yes, I was going to send you a message this morning and fortunately found your adivsory. Thanks for taking the initive and keeping us informed.
Are you saying the network has no backup server?

I switched over to WCNC-DT for American Dreams, they at least showed it in the widescreen format which WYFF-DT didnt when it came on.

Are you saying the network has no backup server?

I haven't confirmed this, but I don't see how it could be otherwise given what happend.

Doug

I switched over to WCNC-DT for American Dreams, they at least showed it in the widescreen format which WYFF-DT didnt when it came on.

The only way to do this with a 4x3 image is to zoom and crop or stretch. Either way is a distortion of the original. It's a matter of preference as to what you do with 4x3 in a 16x9 environment. We have chosen not to distort.

Doug

douglasd5

I commend you on not distorting the image. MOST of us wasn't happy with WHNS's earlier preference to blow up 4:3 content and stretch it to 16:9. That simply looked unprofessional in my opinion. I would much rather have the gray bars, and I think most agree. Wow, no backup server? I bet after this weekend's incident, one will be installed soon.

NBC inserted a presented in widescreen at the start of the show.It was not stretched.It looked very good compared to what WYFF was showing.We just have to get used to "asleep at the wheel" tv in this market.

Okay, this is the last time I trust my Master Control Operator. :mad:

NBC did have a problem (and the alerted us) with the HD server on Saturday night at 8pm and a good portion of that show was sent in SD. I'm told by NBC that the server was repaired on Saturday night and HD resumed. Unfortunately, our receiver had somehow changed channels so the MCO didn't see HD return. NBC didn't notify us of the repair and and the operator assumed HD was still out. So there was NBC HD for the remainder of Saturday and Sunday. My operator made an invalid assumption.

My apologies.
Doug

Doug: It is not often that we get an honest report regarding problems. This way we know you care.

MGTR,
I'm running about 70 foot of quad-shield rg6 between my antenna and receiver. My hardware is as follows:
Hitachi 57UWX20B rear projection
E* 811 receiver with DVI connection
CM4228 antenna @ 28-30foot agl (above ground level) with rotor

I can get in the high 80% signal with all channels except WLOS I can only get 64%. I can't get them all at the same time, hence the rotor.

Do you think the titan7777 will help, especially my WLOS?
TIA,
Phil

Originally posted by dashaund
douglasd5

I commend you on not distorting the image. MOST of us wasn't happy with WHNS's earlier preference to blow up 4:3 content and stretch it to 16:9. That simply looked unprofessional in my opinion. I would much rather have the gray bars, and I think most agree. Wow, no backup server? I bet after this weekend's incident, one will be installed soon.
FWIW, My Hitachi set can stretch a 4:3 inserted into a 16:9 field, even in HD! I know my RCA can't, and I have no idea about other brands.
If the stations transmit 4:3 unstretched, I can choose to stretch it myself if I want, but I have a choice. Yay WYFF!!

I'm with Jerry; thanks for the honest reports. It does show you care, and that you guys are at least making an effort in this new field of HD, and we certainly commend that. Many stations are still giving us the shaft because the technology isn't "mainstream." You guys will be ahead of the game when it becomes mainstream.

Originally posted by Cha2ga
MGTR,
I'm running about 70 foot of quad-shield rg6 between my antenna and receiver. My hardware is as follows:
Hitachi 57UWX20B rear projection
E* 811 receiver with DVI connection
CM4228 antenna @ 28-30foot agl (above ground level) with rotor

I can get in the high 80% signal with all channels except WLOS I can only get 64%. I can't get them all at the same time, hence the rotor.

Do you think the titan7777 will help, especially my WLOS?
TIA,
Phil

I will just throw in my 2 cents and tell you that from my experience Channel Master 7777 is more important than a rotor. I have had mine for over 4 years. With the pre-amp I hardly ever need to rotate to receive all channels and without it I have to rotate frequently and I get a much lower signal strength. Is the Titan 7777 the same as Channel Master?

Apps1,
thx for the input. I'll be ordering mine today.

Is the Titan 7777 the same as Channel Master?
Yes. It's actually called a Channel Master Titan 7777

Has anyone heard anything more about Charter's "negotiations" for HD locals? Heard that even Birmingham, Ala., got ABC-HD now with Charter.

Is it really just the local affiliates that are being a pain about providing the feed (or wanting more money)? Or is Charter in this area just not getting with the program? Would be nice to see some sort of timeline as to when we're going to get more than just WYFF.

Also, I've heard other Charter locations just added Starz and Cinemax HD. That seems like it should be a nationwide issue -- not a local one. Why don't we have them here?

Originally posted by awp
Has anyone heard anything more about Charter's "negotiations" for HD locals? Heard that even Birmingham, Ala., got ABC-HD now with Charter.I wouldn't expect WBSC (the local WB affiliate) or WLOS (ABC) to be on Charter any time soon, as they're run by Sinclair, a company that's been hostile to the idea about carriage of their digital channels on cable. It's definitely a money issue on that front.

I don't think Charter offers PBS-HD feeds in any market, and I'm not sure why they haven't picked up Fox or CBS locally yet.

I don't get the impression that the company that owns/operates/whatever WSPA, Media General, is opposed to the idea of having their content carried on cable, but a quick skim through a few cities where they have stations didn't turn up any available through digital cable. A couple of those stations' websites expressly blamed the cable operators. Since WSPA's not exactly new to the HD game, I can only guess that Charter wasn't receptive to whatever terms they insisted on. There are posts earlier in this thread that seemed to indicate that Charter was hopeful to carry WSPA in Fall 2004, but that obviously didn't pan out. FWIW, WSPA's digital channel is still accessible through Charter with a QAM tuner (currently their only unencrypted digital video channel).

A quick Google search turned up at least one Meredith Corp.-owned station (WSMV in Nashville) whose HD channel is carried by the local cable operator, so I'm not sure what the holdup is for Fox in Greenville. It could just be that it's new enough that negotiations are in the early stages. I think it would be a big mistake for Charter not to carry Fox in HD by the time the Super Bowl rolls around.

Also, I've heard other Charter locations just added Starz and Cinemax HD. That seems like it should be a nationwide issue -- not a local one. Why don't we have them here? I wouldn't mind having Cinemax-HD -- I'd happily trade in Showtime-HD to get it, if it's a bandwidth concern. :D Even though everything that premieres on Cinemax winds up on HBO-HD a month later, it's always welcome to have some more HD movie options. Starz-HD I could give or take, considering the number of upconverts. Even though I'm not at all a sports fan, I do have friends over every once in a while to watch games, and it'd be nice to have ESPN2-HD close to launch. No word from Charter (or really much of anyone, anywhere) on that, though.

[Edited to clarify a couple of points I'd botched.]

Ok guys here is my latest problem/issue, i watch NBC on Chattier HB but i watch CBS over the air. I cant remember how far i'm from the antenna but 15-30 miles was the distance to all the antenna in the area if my memory serves me right. My issue is dropouts. I would say 75% of my wives tv comes from the NBC channel from charter which is nice because there is no dropouts to say of from that feed but my OTA CBS drops out all the time. When i watch F-ball on Sundays i will go an hour without any dropouts then it will dropout every min for like 10 mins straight. It is total random and this happen for all shows on CBS. We dont watch enough ABC or Fox to matter. What could be causing these dropouts? I'm running only 25Ft of cable from antenna to STB. Now i'm using a Motorula 5100 from charter so i cant tell signal strengths. I guess i'm wondering if an preamp would stop this from happening. I just need to get a Rotor/preamp and a digital compass and get this crap taken care of. I keep telling my wife i want to wait out getting all that because as soon as i do someone like D* or Charter will get the locals HD feeds. What do you guys think is causing my dropouts? any imput from u guys would be helpful, also anyone in the simpsonville area around 14 and Main st using preamps?

Jon

Let me start by saying that I'm new to this board and hope that I'm not asking some already answered questions. I did go back to what is currently page 50 of this thread and read all the posts from there to here to try and avoid repeating the same questions over again.

Anyway, I have a Samsung HD OTA receiver (not sure the model number, I'm at work now) connected to a Samsung DLP 5085W TV using the DVI cable. Audio is going through a Yamaha receiver using a digital connection (optical I think, but again, I'm at work). I have a the Trek indoor HDTV antenna (listed as RED or medium directional w/o preamp). I have Charter for regular broadcast, but not HD, connected to a Tivo. I'm in Greer SC, just behind Lowes on Wade Hampton in a 2 story house with the antenna in the attic connected to the TV with 50' of RG6.

Here are my problems: From time to time, mostly on WSPA-HD OTA, the audio and video get out of sync. It's not much, only about 1/10 of a second, but just enough to notice. It seems to be worse on "live" broadcasts, like football games. It does happen on recorded stuff like CSI too, but not every time. I've read some things about older Samsung DLP's and other HD sets having sync issues, but since I don't have this issue with DVD's via the component connection nor the Tivo via the S-video connection (audio still through the Yamaha) I don't believe this to be the same problem, but I could be wrong. Does anyone have any ideas?

My other problem is with WLOS OTA. I use to have no problems, but then about 3 days ago, I'll be watching it and about once every 30 seconds, either the sound will cut out or the video will have a pixilated section on it for 1/2 a second then go normal again. The signal strength there is less than my other channels for sure as I get 5-6 bars (about 50-60% I'm guessing) according to the Tuner where CBS, ABC, Fox all max out. Would a preamp help? Do I just need a larger antenna? Is this an WLOS issue?

Thanks for any help.

Craig,

WSPA has had lip-synch issues for about a year now some days are better than others. Its not your equipment. If it was you'd be having problems with everything that broadcasts in 1080i.

Someone else will have to answer your WLOS question because I haven't been able to pick up a signal since they fixed their audio problem a couple weeks ago. But it sounds as if your having a multi-path or stability issue with them.

Mike

jeccleston

A good possibility is multi-path. What type antenna are you using? I am guessing, but believe you should have no obstructions between you and the WSPA transmitter. Your distance from WSPA does not warrant a pre-amp, which could only increase the multi-path problems if that indeed is the problem. (How is your analog picture from WSPA?)

crgnjul:

WLOS-DT is probably the lowest power in the area and has not announced when it will increase power. The usual answer is "soon." You can expect seasonal changes in reception, but they usually settle down after two or three weeks. As for your WSPA problem...I would start by getting rid of the Terk and using one of the proven antenna brands for this area...my choice being the CM 4 bay UHF, and the attic installation should serve you well.

Throughout this forum you will find many antenna discussions, and perhaps one that originates from a viewer near your location.

"WLOS-DT is probably the lowest power in the area and has not announced when it will increase power. The usual answer is "soon."

They are scheduled to increase power in May.

i have a CM4228 and sorry for the stupid question but what is multi-pathing?

Originally posted by jeccleston
i have a CM4228 and sorry for the stupid question but what is multi-pathing?

My laymen's understanding is that it is any type of signal interference. I used to get drop outs when airplanes flew over my house. Multi-path is caused by signals bouncing on buildings or anything else between your antenna and the broadcast tower.

Originally posted by jeccleston
i have a CM4228 and sorry for the stupid question but what is multi-pathing?

Multipath is the same as ghosting. It is when a signal is transmitted and part of the signal is reflected off of a building or water tank or 18 wheeler, etc and the reflected signal arrives slightly delayed from the unreflected signal, the secondary signal you see in the ghost signal.

In DTV, if the reflected signal is far enough delayed or too many, the receiver doesn't know if it is a one or a zero so it doesn't know how to decode it.

The 5th generation receivers that are expected in the spring will handle multipath in a much improved fashion and the days of drop outs on minor signal changes or changing multipath may be over.

Good answers above regarding multi-path/ghosting. Bottomline, the bounced signals often do a lot of damage to reception, cancelling out the main signal, etc. As for true ghosting, it is not seen in digital displays. But pixelization becomes a problem (because of the ones and zeros confusion. Sound dropout is another problem. Orientation of the antenna often solves much of that problem, by reducing the oftending signal or increasing the primary signal. And, as mentioned over and over again on this site, often even a slight change in elevarion or location of the antenna can result in no reception and usuable reception.
Your original message confused me...are you using the Terk or the attic installed CM?
Good luck.

Originally posted by awp
Has anyone heard anything more about Charter's "negotiations" for HD locals? Heard that even Birmingham, Ala., got ABC-HD now with Charter.


Long time lurker - first time poster here :)

I sent an email to Charter yesterday asking about the status of getting WSPA-DT added to the lineup. Every other time I had asked the answer was always "soon".

Charter's Response:

Thank you for contacting Charter Communications, a Wired World Company. We appreciate the opportunity to serve you.

We have submitted a request for this channel to be added to the regular channel line up in your local area.

Our customers are always considered in decisions such as these but unfortunately we are also bound by other factors including FCC regulation, bandwidth constraints, network contracts, and financial constraints. We understand the popularity of some specific channels and we would love to be able to provide every channel that our customers request, however we have limited bandwidth space. With the introduction of digital technology, we are able to expand the number of channels that can be provided in 1 bandwidth frequency. This does provide for the availability of more channels, however there are reasons that keep some networks from getting access to our digital service. The primary factor is our contractual obligation. When we add a channel/network to our lineup we must come to an acceptable contract agreement with that channel/network. ESPN for example requires that their network be carried on an expanded basic level and within a specific range of channels. For this reason many of the digital channels cannot be replaced with others from our expanded service to make room for additional channel numbers.

We care about the opinions of all of our customers and will keep yours in mind as we continually explore new lineup possibilities. We hope in the future we will be able to bring popular stations to your area. In the meantime please understand the hurdles we face when situations like this occur and be assured we are working with you, the customer, in mind.

Just dump the cable pig and get a DBS service with a built in OTA tuner and get all the HD you want. Charter is dead last for HD among ALL providers.

I emailed WSPA, WHNS and WOLS. WSPA and WHNS both said they are currently working with Charter to get in the lineup but couldn't provide a specific date. The WHNS response came from their chief engineer so that made it seem as though they may even be testing it already. WOLS hasn't even bothered to e-mail back.

Originally posted by enoree
Just dump the cable pig and get a DBS service with a built in OTA tuner and get all the HD you want. Charter is dead last for HD among ALL providers. I have an OTA tuner and can pick up all the local channels -- I'd just like to be able to timeshift with Charter's HD-capable DVR since I don't want to pay $600-$1000 for a separate one.

Originally posted by Adam Tyner
I have an OTA tuner and can pick up all the local channels -- I'd just like to be able to timeshift with Charter's HD-capable DVR since I don't want to pay $600-$1000 for a separate one.

I second that! I've even thought about building a Microsoft Media Center PC just so I can do this. I've got 3 Tivo's in the house and it is a very tough choice as to if I watch something in HD or on the Tivo so I can skip commercials, pause the show, whatever I want.

Originally posted by Adam Tyner
I have an OTA tuner and can pick up all the local channels -- I'd just like to be able to timeshift with Charter's HD-capable DVR since I don't want to pay $600-$1000 for a separate one.

Yep. My dillema exactly. Add to that the fact that I can't get DSL and a satellite TV + Charter Internet solution would cost me much more than what I'm paying Charter now.

That pretty much forces me into Charter.

i have my CM4228 setup in my attic because Mrs Eccleston will not have that ugly thing on the roof of the house. I guess i'm going to have to pick up a rotor and a digital compass. That way i know i'm facing the correct direction, i honestly not real good with a normal compass LOL. Since Fox has the superbowl i have to have things setup ready to go within a month. Anyone know where i can get a digital compass in town?

JE: with a rotor, your signal strength reading will give you all the info needed to properly set your antenna. (You may find one oriention that brings in all stations, as mine does). You do not need the "digital" compass. My backup antenna is a very large all-band RS antenna on a 360 degree rotor in the attic, and while reliable it is so directional that I receive only one or two stations at a time and do not like to re-orientate the antenna for each channel change. The fixed orientation CM usually solves that problem.

JE: This address will give you a pattern for the CM 4228: http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/cm4228.html Note the side lobes, which very well may do an adequate job picking up your strongest stations, letting you use the main forward lobe for the weakest signal (WLOS?) Anyway, with a rotor you will be able to find the best possible orientation for the antenna, and except for unusual circumstances leave it pointed in that one direction.

CM Titan 7777 just arrived. I will install it this Saturday. What are your recommendations on how to set it up?
Lead lenght?
Position on mast? Parallel to long axis of CM4228?
Height on mast?
Switch positions?
UHF only?
UHF/VHF?
FM trap on/off?

all suggestions appreciated.

TIA,
Phil

ps. I'm expecting this to put me in good shape with WLOS. I get strong signals on everything but only low 60's(percentage) on WLOS. Am using E* receiver, @70' rg6, @28' height on my cm4228 with rotor.

Originally posted by Wayne Godfrey
Yep. My dillema exactly. Add to that the fact that I can't get DSL and a satellite TV + Charter Internet solution would cost me much more than what I'm paying Charter now.

That pretty much forces me into Charter.

me too.

Originally posted by jerry birdwell
JE: This address will give you a pattern for the CM 4228: http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/cm4228.html Note the side lobes, which very well may do an adequate job picking up your strongest stations, letting you use the main forward lobe for the weakest signal (WLOS?) Anyway, with a rotor you will be able to find the best possible orientation for the antenna, and except for unusual circumstances leave it pointed in that one direction.


This is where my problem is the reciever Charter gave me is the Motorola 5100 and it doesnt have a signal strength indicator, or atleast i cant find one if there is.

Most of your questions are answered in the instructions. Only if you are using a VHF antenna will you setup the amp for UHF/VHF combination. Otherwise, if only UHF, the length of coax from the antenna's balun to the amp is not critical, and you can mount the amp at the most convienent location on the mast...I would just stay under 6'. Position on the mast is not critical; I mounted mine behind the reflector screen. As for FM trap, unless you are trying to reach a distant, weak signal for FM, I would be sure the filter/trap is set ON to make certain you are not overloading your system with a nearby FM stations (one of more). And if not using a VHF, certainly there is no reason to try to amplyfy FM signals.
By the way, the 4228 does a fair job of receiving the VHF hi-band, including strong response for Channel 9, on which the So Carolina ETV HD channel operates out of Greenville. I enjoy a number of their HD shows.
If you want to try for Channel 9, there are other considerations and all the above may not apply...since most likely the UHF amp in the 7777 will filter out the VHF signals. I have suggestions if you want to try for 9.

Good luck.

I have a 4228 attic mounted, and I went to fair lengths to aim it "exactly". Then I started fiddling around, using the signal strength meter, and found that a) aiming wasn't quite so critical and b) that I got better results when it was pointed slightly off-axis (slightly too north). Conclusion: fancy compass unnecessary. However a pair of cheap walkie talkies are very useful. Good luck.

mgtr
Take a look at the pattern of the 4228 mentioned a couple of notes up, and you will see why direction is "not critical" but allows you to take advantage of its design to pickup multiple stations.

Jerry,
Thx for the response. I am getting a strong signal on channel 9 without the cm7777. I don't want to loose that. The only thing I want is to get a better WLOS signal and possibly be able to set my rotor so I can get all channels at once. Right now I either get everything except for WLOS, or everything except WSPA. I have a remote control rotor, so if getting them all at once isn't possible then that's okay. The one and only most important thing is being able to get ALL hd channels.

I'm wondering if any of you guys are having audio problems (sync) with WLOS-DT, video is very solid but audio is always off. I see that most of you are having the sync problem with WSPA-DT (same as me), but I have yet to see any threads talking about this problem with WLOS-DT. Can multi-path cause the audio problem without affecting the video.

Thanks for any info you can share...

The only channel I have sync issues is with WSPA.

Re WSPA, the station continues to start network programs in SD, and often does not switch to HD until second or third segment of the program. Sync has been a problem since I started watching the DT two plus years ago. I plan to call the GM tomorrow.

Cha2ga --
I will send you suggestions regarding your setup and VHF-9 tomorrow. But as for WLOS, I suggest you find the best orientation for the station, then determine what others you can receive with that setting.

I have had no synch problems with WLOS-DT since they first started broadcasting...

jeccleston -
Re Channel 9 and the UHF CM antenna, I suggest you split* the UHF and VHF signal immediately after the antenna and feed the two signals to the two inputs to the CM 7777 amplifier. Although the Channel 9 signal is weak from the UHF only antenna (users have reported a fair strength for Channel 9) the amplifier will help) Be sure to set the 7777 for both UHF and VHF amplification, but not FM.) The UHF/VHF signals will be combined and fed to your system with the one cable. Your receiver should have only one RF input and should give you a reliable signal for Channel 9.
If this setup degrades Channel 9, my second approach is to use an inexpensive rabbit ear antenna in the attic for SCETV, and I will send additional details upon request.
*- otherwise the amp will filter out the Channel 9 signal.

Jerry, is it really necessary to split the signal and use both inputs on the CM7777. Couldn't you just use the VHF/UHF combined input and therefore channel 9 would not be filtered out?

If I recall correctly, the CM7777 actually has three inputs: a combined input, and then seperate VHF and UHF inputs.

I am using a RS combined antenna and just have one line running from the antenna to the VHF/UHF input and get channel 9 fine. So I would think that even using a UHF antenna, as long as you use the combined input, you should be fine.

As I recall, the UHF only use filters the VHF. However, I do not have the specs to review and you may be right. So, it is easy enough to try the unit as you propose. If it does not work out that way, then I would suggest a simple VHF dipole (rabbit ears) placed nearby on the floor of the attic and connected to the VHF input for the 7777. This should capture the only VHF-DT available in the area.

All...

Tonight's reception was the pitts...the worst I have experienced in the past three years. Found frequent breakup on all but one station. Anyone else have problems?

Watched WABC-DT on D* with no problems at all, WLOS prob had their flashlight batteries die on them.

Seems the only reliable signals last night were satellite delivered.

Originally posted by jerry birdwell
Seems the only reliable signals last night were satellite delivered.

FYI- I didn't have any problems with OTA last night.

This AM signals are back to normal!

From what I have seen as far as DT in the last 2+ years for reception issues in this market is in my own humble opinion due to the fact that most towers are in the moutains, unlike Charlotte or Columbia where they are located in flatter areas. I never have problems with the WB40 DT signal since their tower is located down near Fork Shoals in the Foutain inn area. Maybe its just that the mountains have such wild swings of conditions and are NOT the best place to broadcast DT from.