Just picked it up from the Kaneohe office. Seems like they had a lot. Lucky for me I lost my recorded programs anyway (3 posts up).

Oooh, Inquiring minds want to know, hawaiian2002! How does it stack up?


Eric

What are the main differences with the 8300HD? Is the hard drive any larger?

What are the main differences with the 8300HD? Is the hard drive any larger?

Biggest difference is the PASSTHROUGH. It works too. No more changing formats just to watch HDTV. Also, I believe that the picture quality of HD stations is improved. Seems to be a little more colorful and a little more contrast. SD stations seem a little dark. I do not know about the size of the hard drive but you can probably look up some info on the Scientific Atlanta Website. There is no reason to stick with the old box unless you have stuff you really need on it.
If anyone has any other specific questions just let me know.

I have two 8300HD DVR's. It has a faster cpu so it changes channels faster. It also does seem brighter. The pass thru is still not how I wanted it but oh well. I wish it worked like the old HD box I had that would not stretch the HD stuff. With the 8300 it will pass thru the true content. This causes my projector to re sync every time I change between HD and SD content. The volume also varies between SD and HD content. I need to tinker with it some more. Also the Drive is the same at 160 gig.

Thanks, hawaiian2002. One more question: does the DVI port work on the 8300HD? I'm assuming no, but one can hope! :)

Ah, thanks for the drive info, yamafreek. Do you also agree that it's a definite improvement and worth the trade-in?

If you wont have sync problems I say yes. Try Ala Moana Sears. Mililani/head office has a lousy supply. The HD content looks real good on my X1 @ 1080...

Originally posted by hawaiian2002
Biggest difference is the PASSTHROUGH. It works too. No more changing formats just to watch HDTV.

That's cool. Now if Oceanic would only upgrade the damn 3250HD! :mad: Anyone know what the hell they're waiting for? I mean they already have a working firmware with passthrough enabled on the 'special' firewire boxes. I'm sick of this "Well, you don't have firewire so you can't have one." crap! :mad: So only customers with enough money to buy the latest and greatest count? Pitiful customer service, Oceanic!

Don't anybody take ^^^that^^^ personal. Just letting some frustration out. Tired of countless emails to Oceanic. They even had some 'HD rep' call me once. Said he'd check on that and call me back. That was more than 5 months ago. Still no call back.

As I said many moons ago, Oceanic (and ALL of Time Warner Cable systems) have an approximate target date of July for activating all of the digital video outputs on the cable boxes.

Eric

Hmmm, checking the specs on the 8300HD seems to indicate there is HDMI, but no DVI output on the 8300HD. I wonder if this means DVI will never be supported, even on the older 8000HD and 3250HD?

Originally posted by egcarter
As I said many moons ago, Oceanic (and ALL of Time Warner Cable systems) have an approximate target date of July for activating all of the digital video outputs on the cable boxes.

Eric

Thanks for that, and your previous replies Eric. I've kept that in mind. I think I'm running out of patience because of the fact that Oceanic already has a working upgrade for the 3250HD but refuses to release it to everyone. Not to mention the many other TW systems that have already updated their boxes.

Other TW systems apparently are not supposed to be doing that, based on an edict from TW Corporate.

Eric

There are a bunch of other issues that Oceanic has to deal with concerning the firmware in the boxes that other TW systems don't have to because of all of the interactive services that Oceanic has that others don't.

Like pizza and such...gobbles up resources and other conflicts. They can't just plop the new firmware on a box and ship it out. Requires much more testing and tweaking and sometimes failing that less sophisticated cable systems have no problems with.

Eric

Originally posted by egcarter
There are a bunch of other issues that Oceanic has to deal with concerning the firmware in the boxes that other TW systems don't have to because of all of the interactive services that Oceanic has that others don't.

Like pizza and such...gobbles up resources and other conflicts. They can't just plop the new firmware on a box and ship it out. Requires much more testing and tweaking and sometimes failing that less sophisticated cable systems have no problems with.

Eric

I understand that. But doesn't your (and anyone else's) firewire 3250HD work? They have newer firmware. I forgot the version exactly, but you posted it somewhere in this thread.

Yes, but you must have a firewire equipped display or VCR. Piracy concerns...y'know, Warner Bros.

that's different from the DVI being turned on, which is only the video.

I'll request an update of when they are planning to do it.


As for 8300HD's, I just received an email saying that they don't have very many of them...Scientific Atlanta is backordered...

Eric

That's the other thing that get's under my skin. The fact that I must have a firewire device in order to get one. I'm not even concerned about firewire. For that matter, DVI either. I just want passthrough over the component outs.

Anyway, thanks for checking on it. Any update is appreciated.

Does anyone in Honolulu have a DVR that gives you the approximate recording time remaining left on the DVR? I just came back from Hilo and my friend has a dvr there and I noticed this on his box. It wasn't a HD box though, just the regular DVR. I wonder maybe you can't get this remaining time left indicator on a HD box because of the differences in HD and SD programming? Or do we in Honolulu just have older versions of the software?

Hiloboy I work for Oceanic Cable and I can tell you that Hilo and Honolulu have all the same set top boxes (all the SD, SD DVR, HD and HD DVR) and we use the same OS for the same box at all headends.

hdcable,

Does that apply for Kona as well and, if so, does it mean I can exchange my 8000HD for an 8300HD?

hawaii2000,

There are no 8300HD's in Kona (or anywhere else besides Oahu) as yet. They are on backorder from Scientific Atlanta and Oceanic did not get that many in so far.

Eric

Does anyone else have a high pitched sound from their 8300HDDVR? Both of mine have the sound.

I just had it verified that we don't have DVI or HDMI activated on Oceanic due to the firmware issues with all of our interactive services. The newer firmware that activates these ports has conflicts with the services...they are working on it...

Eric

Has anyone tried MississippiMans' and CRMAs' LF/MM screen?

I know it's kinda off topic, but I will be showing HD content on this screen. And I am looking for local resources that would have large plastic or glass mirrors in Oahu. :-)

Thanks,

Dan

Hiloboy,

At one time I supported ESPN's network infrastructure. I watched them build an entirely new building for their digital broadcast center in Bristol. They chose top notch equipment and you are seeing the benefit of their hard work. ESPN has best picture I have ever seen. If I remember correctly they shoot the image at 720p at 60 fps.

I really miss having all locals in HD. Hope people come to their senses soon. Think football is good? You should see NASCAR in HD. I could feel the tire rubber bouncing off my face.

dan

I see that KITV's HD transmissions are kaput for a few days. Is this the situation with OTA as well as Oceanic? Oceanic told me that the station is waiting for a repair part from the Mainland. <sigh>


Eric

On Oahu, KITV-DT's signal is present but no picture/sound.

===Your local station which is owned by Emmis wont allow it on Cable Update=====

The Cox cable regional manager meet in Omaha with a Emmis Manager.

Emmis is still demanding to be paid for there over the air signal that is free.
Emmis is also still planning on dropping to 480P and starting there new USDTV cable tv over the air pay service.

http://www.usdtv.com/

In the meeting the Emmis manager said that ALL station managers will be meeting in March to talk about the HD on Cable issue.

Folks, your Emails to the stations are working keep emailing and calling your Emmis station.

I noticed KHON-DT (OTA) is without sound for the past few days also. I wonder if it's a related problem?

Hiloboy,

It's not related. KITV's SD-to-HD upconverter is busted. It's on the Mainland for repair. BUT, they are still feeding real HD programming to Oceanic; for some reason Oceanic is not showing it.

People are checking into it.

Eric

A little birdie informed me that KGMB/KHON will be getting their media server for time-shifting HD programming in March.

Eric

Awesome!! Thanks for the info! I assume this will only be for OTA broadcasts, since they still have that dispute with cable companies?

Hiloboy,

Your guess is as good as mine concerning Oceanic and Emmis Broadcasting's relationship... they are only hurting themselves, IMO.

Eric

Originally posted by egcarter
A little birdie informed me that KGMB/KHON will be getting their media server for time-shifting HD programming in March.

Eric

Finally!

I guess I may keep my OTA tuner afterall since I got it working pretty nicely with a silver sensor antenna. I noticed KGMB has put programming information into their (SD-only) OTA digital broadcast. You can now see what show is playing, somewhat like Oceanic's IPG.

Today an Oceanic tech upgraded me to an 8300HD. I was having some problems with some of the programming that probably weren't the fault of the 8000HD but he switched it out anyway. If you're having digital music problems with your HD STB the tech said it's probably a SW problem with the STB that they're trying to fix.

The 8300HD has pass-through but no working-HDMI according to the tech. I'm not sure I like the pass-through since it stretches the SD programming. Maybe I need to play around with the settings some more...I didn't notice any improvement in HD PQ although it seems some of the SD is worse...hmm...

EMOE3

EMOE3,

Good catch on KGMB-DT inserting program info into their broadcast stream. On my Dish 811 receiver they intergrate the DT stations with the local spot beam EPG and other than KHON have program listing for all the DT station.
It looks like KHON is screwing around with their encoders again. 22.1 is now the 720p signal(without sound) and 22.2 is the 480i signal(and very pixelated) with sound. Hopefully all this messing around is for the addition of the media server and freqency switch.

BTW: My little birdie told me NO HD WB/NBC programming from KFVE/KHNL when their DT stations go live. :(

KITV-DT Oceanic Cable chanel 936 is back on the air.

hdcable,

I called Oceanic today and informed them of the situation and that they should be showing any real HD programming from KITV. I asked if they will be showing the Oscars in HD as they should. They called back in about an hour and said YES!

And I turned to 936 just before 7PM and on cue, FORREST GUMP came on.
Huzzah!

Eric

FORREST GUMP is over and KITV-DT channel 936 is black again. Lets all hope that is is on tomorrow night for the Oscars in HD.

hdcable,

Yes, that is exactly what should happen. KITV's HD upconverter is broken and on the Mainland for repair/replacement. So only ABC HD feeds can be shown. If it's an SD source, they cannot upconvert it to HD for 936, so it will be blank. Oceanic had mistakenly just turned off 936 totally for a few days, until late this afternoon. All ABC network HD programming should come in OK now.

As for when that upconverter situation will be rectified...maybe not until week after next!

Eric

I just had it verified that we don't have DVI or HDMI activated on Oceanic due to the firmware issues with all of our interactive services. The newer firmware that activates these ports has conflicts with the services...they are working on it...

If you are referring to the 8300HD can you double check on this. I called Oceanic and the Technician (mainland) said that both DVI and HDMI are working and the SATA port is not active. It would be beneficial to get this straight being that the cable (DVI) is very expensive.

The Oscars are on now on KITV-DT Ch 936 on Oceanic Cable and I have to say that KITV has never looked better.

The Oscars are on now on KITV-DT Ch 936 on Oceanic Cable and I have to say that KITV has never looked better.

Spoke too soon huh? I have never seen anything on KITVHD that was any good. Not anything that mattered anyway - Monday Football, BCS Games, etc. You would think that they can get it right one of these days.

I have to agree with hdcable, both PQ and SQ were stunning up until 2/3 of the way through the show. Then the blackouts, the pixelation, and that wonderful two-second video behind audio lag. Ugh! I've never had to use the prev button so often to switch between their SD and HD channels.

hawaii2000...

yes, things were going swimmingly with the Oscars until that last hour when the bottom fell out. Gawd...blackouts...sync problems...a mess.

Eric

I would love to know if the blackouts, the pixelation, and that wonderful two-second video behind audio lag were the falt of KITV or ABC and I would like to know if the stunning PQ and SQ in the first part of the show had anything to do with KITV missing there broken HD upconverter? I have the 8000HD DVR and I still have an ABC Monday Night Football on it and I can tell you that the Oscars PQ is a lot better the the PQ on my MNF and I have both of them on the DVR. By the way ESPN (also 720p) looks great just like the first part of last nights Oscars. If anyone has any answers I'd love to read them.

Aloha
Ed

does any have the MyHD PCI HDTV Tuner/Decoder Card with qam?
if so can you let me know what channels are viewable?

I just got an email from KGMB saying they won't be carrying the games in HD OTA. That really sucks. I was planning on having friends over here to watch the games, but now we might just to some bar for the atmosphere.

Well KGMB-DT was SD for the Pitt/Pacific game as expected but switched to the HD feed for the 2 second series of games. :) UTEP/Utah is the featured game and should be in HD. If KGMB follows it's posted schedule the UCLA/Texas Tech game should also be HD.
BTW, KGMB's audio from the HD is the best I've ever heard from them, the SW is real hot! :)


UPDATE: UTEP/Utah is in HD! Looks great!

Update No.2: As expected KGMB stayed with the SD throughout the first game of the late package even though they had the last 5 minutes of the Gonzaga game that was available in HD. Switched to the HD feed at the start of the second set of games.
KGMB also played with it's audio feed all through the Ariz/Utah St. game but finally seem to settle on DD2.0 during commercials and DD5.1 during live action.

I got home just in time to watch the ending of the last game-- it looked great! I can't believe how clueless the people at the tv stations are; whoever Gelene Welch is, she shouldn't be in charge of answering emails.

What's up with KHNL? I finally got up into my attic and got my antenna sorted and hung on a preamp. So now I'm getting pretty good signals but I thought KHNL was supposed to go live OTA on 1/1? I notice on their station IDs they are showing some sort of KHNL-DT, but maybe that's neighbor island.

Also, does KITV have the capability to do Merrie Monarch in HD?

scott s.
.

Scott,

I don't think KHNL will be doing HD for quite a while. They have had a digital station running here in Hilo for a couple of years now...just SD.
No, KITV doesn't do Merry Monarch in HD. A couple of years ago they had HD cameras from Japan to beam the show back there in HD (not that I could get HD here then), but I doubt if they will do that this year.

Eric

Originally posted by scott967
What's up with KHNL? I finally got up into my attic and got my antenna sorted and hung on a preamp. So now I'm getting pretty good signals but I thought KHNL was supposed to go live OTA on 1/1? I notice on their station IDs they are showing some sort of KHNL-DT, but maybe that's neighbor island.

Also, does KITV have the capability to do Merrie Monarch in HD?

scott s.
.


You may be disappointed with the results of the antenna if you got it for HD stuff. Not much HD OTA programming except for KITV. So far only live sporting events on KGMB and Fox are shown in HD. We must be the only major city in the US to have only one network broadcasting in HD.

KGMB and KHON need that video server to be functional to timeshift the HD programming. The rest of the country is not in the Time Zone Pickle that Hawaii is (except for parts of Alaska).

The mainland network affiliates get their feeds from the network and pass them through in real-time. Hawaii needs to record it and show it at a later time (except for some sporting events).

Eric

The biggest problem I have is with KGMB which broadcasts the HD signal but with SD content, so I have pillars on my TV that can't be removed. My set (Pioneer) does a nice job of expanding 4:3 into 16:9 so I get full use of the screen.

I can get a better digitial signal from KHON 22.1 or 22.2 than I can on the NTSC Chan 2 signal. For strong signals (like KIKU) I can't really see any difference in picture quality between NTSC or SD ATSC.

scott s.
.

Originally posted by hawaiian2002
If you are referring to the 8300HD can you double check on this. I called Oceanic and the Technician (mainland) said that both DVI and HDMI are working and the SATA port is not active. It would be beneficial to get this straight being that the cable (DVI) is very expensive.
Since I'm close to buying an HDTV with an HDMI input, I'd really like to know whether the 8300HD DVR has a working HDMI output. Have any of you used it? Thanks for any info.

Originally posted by GregLee
Since I'm close to buying an HDTV with an HDMI input, I'd really like to know whether the 8300HD DVR has a working HDMI output. Have any of you used it? Thanks for any info.

Greg,

I have an 8300 but haven't been able to try the HDMI. However, I asked the technician who installed it and he said it wasn't enabled.

As soon as I can borrow my friend's HDMI cable I will give it a try anyway.

-EMOE

I just got an 8300 in Hilo, after I requested it a few months ago. The 8000 HD picture looked soft to me. This one is much better. Faster, smaller, runs quieter, and cooler too.

I was hoping we'd get Universal HD soon. I want to see Battlestar Galactica in HD!! :D

So HDMI isn't active yet in Hilo? Bummer, as I just ordered an HDMI cable.

Originally posted by EMOE3
I have an 8300 but haven't been able to try the HDMI. However, I asked the technician who installed it and he said it wasn't enabled.

Thanks a lot. I'll use component input and be happy that I have some (marginal) improvement to look forward to.

Originally posted by GregLee
Thanks a lot. I'll use component input and be happy that I have some (marginal) improvement to look forward to.

Marginal improvement? In terms of what? Versus SDTV? Or versus the 8000HD?

Spleen

No HDMI is supposed to be activated until this Summer.

Does the 8300 have pass through working? And how about "Save to Video"?

Eric

Originally posted by egcarter
No HDMI is supposed to be activated until this Summer.

Does the 8300 have pass through working? And how about "Save to Video"?

Eric

The Pass through works fine...I love it...beats the 8000's manual change I had to do everytime I switched stations. The Copy to VCR option is there, it wasn't on the 8000 I remember. I haven't actually tried it yet though. I plan on trying it tomorrow with my VCR and DVD Recorder.

Originally posted by spleen93
Marginal improvement? In terms of what? Versus SDTV? Or versus the 8000HD?
Spleen
Using the 8300HD DVR, marginal improvement of picture quality, changing from a component connection between the cable box and the TV to an HDMI connection. (User reviews of the PAN/PT-47X54, which is what I'm getting, have said that HDMI does bring a slight improvement over component.)

Interesting. Wouldn't have thought that doing HDMI on a CRT rear-projection TV would make much difference. Unless of course, the DA converter in the TV is better than the cable box (which, come to think of it, does make a lot of sense) :)

Spleen

Originally posted by egcarter
No HDMI is supposed to be activated until this Summer.

Does the 8300 have pass through working? And how about "Save to Video"?

Eric

Save to VCR works great! You set it and forget while the show is saved. You can check up on progress using PIP and watch a totally different show. Very nice. One of the few features that works better than my ReplayTV box.

EMOE

EMOE3,

Hallelujah! I'm picking up my 8300HD in Hilo on Monday.

Eric

How would one go about getting one of these 8300's? I'm renting 2 of the dvr's now (8000HD) and would like to exchange one for that save to vcr feature. I know these new boxes aren't free for them so I don't think they would like it if people just call them and ask if we can swap out for the "newer, better box", since they would have to find someone to rent my returned box. Any hints? Do you think i can just call the cust. service and say I want the new box because of this feature?

Hiloboy,

Just call up Oceanic and they will update your account for the new box. They'll either schedule an appointment or you can take the old ones in and swap 'em. You don't need any justification to do so.

I'm swapping my 8000HD for an 8300HD tomorrow.

Eric

The 8300 is well worth the switch. It's tons better than the 8000.

Thanks for the info, Eric. I just called Oceanic, and they are all out of HD DVR's on Oahu right now. She said they will get more mid-april, in case anyone else out there wants the new one. I assume all the boxes they get will be the new model.

Update: Got my HDMI cable today and just tried it with the 8300 to the HDMI port on my Panny. It is active.

Some quick impressions from about 20 mins checking it...

As mentioned on some other threads, it looked slightly more "washed out" compared to Component, however, I noticed my Panny will retain settings for each input and I had to calibrate that setting *never used it before so never adjusted it*.

After adjusting...It looks just as good if not slightly better than the analog component. The guide, and anything that is overlayed from the IPG, is noticeably sharper than Component for some reason. Also, The HDMI audio output is noticeably louder than the analog. KITV both D and analog is so blaring loud on HDMI, I had to turn my TV down to half what it normally is at.

I can't get Dolby Digital from the coaxial when HDMI is active as mentioned in other threads. didn't try the optical. One thing that is weird, is that when changing channels, on my TV, I'll get a slight "snow" effect for a bit sometimes before the pic appears...audio is present throughout though. Same with the guide or second press of settings on the remote, though it seems to be intermittent. After checkin for a bit, it seemed to be when it changes res from 480i to 720p or 1080i, though it also happens if you have to use the settings or guide so that's what threw me.

I only spent a few mins with it, so I'll play with it more later. Not sure if I want the snow changing, 2 sec delay over HDMI if that's what will happen everytime I switch stations or use the guide from SD to HD.

They also have no 8300HD's in Hilo...they lied. <sigh>

Poorly trained personnel, I guess.

Gai, Great to hear about the HDMI...I need that box! I have HDMI switching on my receiver in the upstairs theatre...only using it for the DVD player now.
KITV's digital channel is always incredibly loud relative to everything else. I think I'll call 'em and inquire.


Eric

Originally posted by egcarter
They also have no 8300HD's in Hilo...they lied. <sigh>

Poorly trained personnel, I guess.

Gai, Great to hear about the HDMI...I need that box! I have HDMI switching on my receiver in the upstairs theatre...only using it for the DVD player now.
KITV's digital channel is always incredibly loud relative to everything else. I think I'll call 'em and inquire.


Eric

When I picked up my 8300, it was only because I had requested it back in November (I had complained about having to manually switch res every time I changed the channels from HD to SD, and that the 8000's pic quality seemed soft (literally, at times it looked no better than a good DVD), not to mention the SARA software was so old...I know it locked up on me a few times, changing channels, and sometimes waiting for the unit to respond took 10 secs (I never did lose anything on the DVR though).

The lady said no one else had them yet in Hilo and I was the first. I lucked out I guess. :D She did say they were ordering that box now, and when I returned my 8000 the next day( I kept it one extra day to compare), said she'd mention all my comments about it to the people in charge of ordering the boxes (apparently, they had ordered quite a big stack of 8000's to use up before they could order more)...the consensus in the Hilo office that I got was that they sorta felt screwed with so many 8000's that were nowehere near as good as I said the 8300 was over it after trying it. I'm just really thankful she put in that request for me.

Eric, I'd suggest that you request one, so you get the first ones in or willing to release again. I'm not sure if they only ordered the one I got (doubtful), or are simply testing them out yet (Or maybe the employees are keeping the first ones for themselves lol...I would).

On the HDMI note...the snow screen/ channel change is really annoying...it would be fine for a DVD player/HD/Blu Ray deal, since the signal wouldn't always be changing, but it does take awhile for changing channels...not sure if that's the price to pay for the HDMI(normal), or if it's just not fully ready to go...or my Panny has is doing some HDCP thing that takes some time for it to show the pic. It never says it can't show anything, but it does take some time to surf channels if you do it that way (which my parents when they come over and friends do).

On the other side of that....some of the SD stations over HDMI are much better than component, particularly, TBS, Sci-Fi, and even old analog Fox looks better than the component. Which is confusing since I thought SD was supposed to look worse over HDMI than component. Decisions, decisions.

Gai,

Lynn was the one who helped you at Oceanic...she said you were so excited when the told you the 8300HD was in that you forgot to bring your old box! :->

I know exactly who to talk to on Oahu to arrange whatever sort of box I want...they just don't have em. Scientific Atlanta is overwhelmed with orders for the 8300HD and they are backordered.

<sigh>

Eric

Gai - I suspect that the HDCP handshaking is exactly what's causing the snow when you change channels. Another problem that we can thank the MPAA for. (sigh)

Spleen

Originally posted by Gai
I can't get Dolby Digital from the coaxial when HDMI is active as mentioned in other threads. didn't try the optical.
I have seen that mentioned. I was hoping it was fixed. The users manual from the SA web site says that if you select "Dolby Digital" on the general settings menu, DD is sent out to all three connectors: HDMI, digital audio out, and optical audio out. I suppose you tried this ...

OK, after playing a bit more this morning, I have discovered:

Dolby Digital is working through both the Coax and optical if DD is selected in the menu, but of course, the HDMI audio through my TV will cease. Not too bad a deal...I suppose if I really want to use my receiver, I can switch back and forth. Odd it wasn't working last night.

The snow/handshake thing seems to be an issue with HDMI...at times, it will take close to 5 secs for the screen to return...kinda unacceptable for a cable box. What bugs me is that it sometimes won't happen and be fine...I can almost never duplicate when it will happen. I've seen other forums that mention this, though I also saw that those with DVI and an HDMI/DVI connector don't have these problems...however, it could be the TV as well...who knows. I don't think I'll be keeping the HDMI connected because of this, and save it for a PS3/Blu Ray DVD player in the immediate future. It's too bad, because the digital sound is quite striking in 2 channel over the analog...I can keep my TV on half the normal volume on all stations compared to the analog/component connections.

Eric, that sucks. The box is terrific, even with the buggy HDMI. I hope you get one soon.

Originally posted by Gai
Dolby Digital is working through both the Coax and optical if DD is selected in the menu, but of course, the HDMI audio through my TV will cease. Not too bad a deal...I suppose if I really want to use my receiver, I can switch back and forth.
Thanks for the info. Since I'll want to get sound from my receiver always, maybe HDMI will work for me.

I called to reserve an 8300HD DVR and was told I could pick it up in Kaneohe after 9am on April 14. Haven't seen any HD yet.

I got a call from the Oceanic Hilo office yesterday. They DO have 8300HD's in the warehouse and I picked one up.

Much nicer (and smaller) unit than the 8000HD...save for one problem I'm having. The HDMI output going through my receiver into my projector has a hideously green cast to it.

I need to do some sleuthing here. Component output looks great.

Eric

Eric, are you having any of the HDMI problems with the colored snow or anything like I am? I am using a Panasonic PT50LC14. I called Oceanic last night to ask about it, and was told that the HDMI wasn't actually supposed to be working now and they were working on getting it functional, so I suppose it's still buggy for now?

Gai,

I see the snow when the I first turn to the cable box on my receiver (for maybe 1-2 seconds), then it's fine. Channel changes are quick and painless.

But everything is GREEN...VERY GREEN!

I will try running the HDMI from the cable box directly into my projector and see if that makes a difference.

Eric

Eric, I guess I shouldn't be grumbling much then, my pic quality through HDMI looks great. It's just unusable when changing the stations or using the guide or settings button. I disconnected it this morning for now.

Has anyone on Oahu been able to record to DVHS? I got a firewire box but apparently my vcr reads the copy flags wrong, and I can only record ESPNHD. I know Eric in Hilo successfully does it, so I wonder maybe the copy flags are set different here than in Hilo?

Hiloboy, I've sent you a PM.

Originally posted by egcarter
Gai,

I see the snow when the I first turn to the cable box on my receiver (for maybe 1-2 seconds), then it's fine. Channel changes are quick and painless.

But everything is GREEN...VERY GREEN!

I will try running the HDMI from the cable box directly into my projector and see if that makes a difference.

Eric

The only time I've encountered a green screen was when I connected my XBox to my plasma via the PC input because I ran out of component inputs. I needed a transcoder to get the color. I'm wondering if that would fix your problem.

Has anyone heard anything else on the availability of the 8300HD's ?
Are they really going to arrive the week after next as scheduled ?
I hope so.

TJR,

No, this is an HDMI connection. Just one small connector.

Eric

Any luck with the direct connection Eric?

The Oceanic counter at Ala Moana had about 40 of them left today when I went to pay my bill. I wasn't expecting them to have it, but just asked the lady if she knew when they were coming in. To my suprise, she said they just got a whole lot today by accident, "somebody overordered" she said. I suggest if anyone wants one to call Oceanic and reserve one. I'll check out how the HDMI on mine works in a week or so, as I still need to order a cable.

Hiloboy,
Mahalo for the heads up on the 8300's at the Ala Moana office. I had one reserved for the Hawaii Kai office but that was for next week and there is no guarantee that they would have got them in when they said they would since it was an estimate. After reading your post I made a dash back into town and snagged one before they all disappear again. Now I have to shuffle my boxes around and return my SD DVR tomorrow.

No DVR here yet. Oh man, I don't think I can hold out any longer for the 8300. I'm currently paying for the 3250HD and the CableCARD to my one and only HDTV. I only have the 3250HD because my Mits isn't allowing me to record anything over firewire to my DVCR through CableCARD. I'm still awaiting word of whether a firmware fix for this is coming soon. If so, I can dump the 3250HD. I keep the CableCARD because of the superior PQ with SD. What I didn't want is to have the CableCARD, 3250HD *and* the 8300 all connected to the same TV. Seems ridiculous to me. BUT, I just noticed in my bill that the CableCARD rental is now free (or rather they aren't charging me for it atm). Yes, there is this Duplicated Services fee of $8.00, and I'm guessing that there will be an additional $8.00 fee for the 8300 on top of the rental price. Has anyone had their Duplicated Services fee waived if it's shown that the STB's are being used on the same TV?

I'll probably run over in the morning and pick an 8300 up. For the short term I can rent the 3 boxes and when I get word on the firmware/IEEE 1394 fix for my HDTV, get rid of either the 3250HD or the CableCARD. Of course if the 8300 had active firewire ports, this discussion with myself would be moot.

Originally posted by delar
Yes, there is this Duplicated Services fee of $8.00, and I'm guessing that there will be an additional $8.00 fee for the 8300 on top of the rental price. Has anyone had their Duplicated Services fee waived if it's shown that the STB's are being used on the same TV?
I thought the "Duplicated Services fee" was just the rent for another cable box.

Thanks to Hiloboy from me, too. I picked up an 8300HD DVR at Ala Moana Tuesday, when I thought I was going to have to wait until the 14th.

Beautiful picture using pass-through mode -- not quite as nice using the Fixed or Upconvert1 settings (my TV doesn't do 720p). I understand this for 480i signals, but the Pass Through setting gives a better picture even for HDDSC, a 1080i signal I suppose, where the cable box using Fixed shouldn't have to do any conversion.

SD using the 8300's component outputs looks better than using the 8300's SVIDEO output. That was a surprise to me. Unfortunately, using the component outputs and going back and forth between SD and HD channels, I have to change the TV's brightness and color settings to get a satisfactory picture.

8300HD Issues

Back in Feb 2005, our 8300 DVR seemed to be "losing" our recordings. After setting up the recording and actually seeing the red rec light come on at the appropriate time, the next day the program was nowhere to be found on List. Had an OTWC service guy come out and when the box was rebooted, the recorded titles showed up, but the programs wouldn't play back. It's as if there are only titles and zero bytes recorded.

Last week, the same problem, but rebooting didn't revive the List and it seems to be going thru the same issues about recording scheduled events.

Anyone else having these issues with their 8300s?

I finally got a chance to hook up HDMI between my 5063 and 8300HD. Seems to be working ok.

I did have some problems where it didn't display when going into the IPG or settings menu. I had to mess around to get the picture back.

I also found that the "auto DVI/HDMI" picture mode would take a while to change resolution when changing between channels. Swithced it back to fixed at 720p.

Can't find that setting to ouput Dolby. Right now just getting 2-channel stereo...

*edit* I saw the other posts talking about the DD settings in the general settings menu. For the life of me I can't find it! I have HDMI, component, VCR out, and coaxial digital audio out hooked up. Do I need to use optical audio out or disconnect the component?

I'll be playing around with it for a while in the hopes that it works out. I really need the extra component output for my other goodies. :D

-emoe:confused:

Originally posted by EMOE3
I finally got a chance to hook up HDMI between my 5063 and 8300HD. Seems to be working ok.

I did have some problems where it didn't display when going into the IPG or settings menu. I had to mess around to get the picture back.

I also found that the "auto DVI/HDMI" picture mode would take a while to change resolution when changing between channels. Swithced it back to fixed at 720p.

Can't find that setting to ouput Dolby. Right now just getting 2-channel stereo...

*edit* I saw the other posts talking about the DD settings in the general settings menu. For the life of me I can't find it! I have HDMI, component, VCR out, and coaxial digital audio out hooked up. Do I need to use optical audio out or disconnect the component?

I'll be playing around with it for a while in the hopes that it works out. I really need the extra component output for my other goodies. :D

-emoe:confused:

When you say change resolution, is it like 5 secs with colored snow? It happens to me also sometimes, when you press the guide button. Though, according to Oceanic, the darn port isn't supposed to be active yet anyways since they're still fiddling with it apparently.

Mark, I never had any problems with the recordings...maybe it's a bad unit.

Originally posted by Gai
When you say change resolution, is it like 5 secs with colored snow? It happens to me also sometimes, when you press the guide button. Though, according to Oceanic, the darn port isn't supposed to be active yet anyways since they're still fiddling with it apparently.


Gai,

I didn't have colored snow so that might be a TV specific thing, but it would take about 5 secs. I resolved that by setting it to fixed at 720p (my TV's native resolution).

Also, I haven't had the "disappearing" IPG since I first had the problem. I don't know if it's related but I disabled channel blocking on all channels and it hasn't happened since.

-emoe

And if different people don't have the colored snow, that would be even more ammo that it's likely to be a handshaking issue since different TVs will do the handshaking slightly differently.

Spleen

I can get rid of it by fixing it at 720 or 1080 but, the whole pass thru thing is one of the reasons I wanted the 8300 in the 1st place.

Scratch that....even at fixed, it sometimes does it...and always if I use the DVR.

Originally posted by EMOE3
Can't find that setting to ouput Dolby. Right now just getting 2-channel stereo...

*edit* I saw the other posts talking about the DD settings in the general settings menu. For the life of me I can't find it! I have HDMI, component, VCR out, and coaxial digital audio out hooked up. Do I need to use optical audio out or disconnect the component?
The option "Audio Digital" that is supposed to be in the General Settings menu is just not there. I tried out the HDMI connection between SA8300HD dvr and PT-47x54 yesterday, thinking that this menu option might pop up when the cable box sensed an active HDMI connection. But no. For now, it seems, if the TV doesn't do DD 5.1, there is no way to get the cable box to send DD 5.1 out through the digital sound connections. In fact, if the source has DD 5.1, there is no digital sound at all -- only analog. (I tested only the digital coaxial output.)

Also, when I bring up the Guide, the sound from the analog left/right jacks cuts out for a brief time.

Other than these sound problems, I don't notice any important difference between HDMI and component outputs. Colors and brightness are a little different. On my analog display, picture is no better or worse for HD, SD digital, or SD analog channels. Changing from an HD channel to an SD channel or vice versa is the same using pass-through mode -- a half second of hash on screen, but no snow.

I disconnected my HDMI cable so I could get nice sound again.

Originally posted by GregLee
The option "Audio Digital" that is supposed to be in the General Settings menu is just not there. I tried out the HDMI connection between SA8300HD dvr and PT-47x54 yesterday, thinking that this menu option might pop up when the cable box sensed an active HDMI connection. But no. For now, it seems, if the TV doesn't do DD 5.1, there is no way to get the cable box to send DD 5.1 out through the digital sound connections. In fact, if the source has DD 5.1, there is no digital sound at all -- only analog. (I tested only the digital coaxial output.)

Also, when I bring up the Guide, the sound from the analog left/right jacks cuts out for a brief time.

Other than these sound problems, I don't notice any important difference between HDMI and component outputs. Colors and brightness are a little different. On my analog display, picture is no better or worse for HD, SD digital, or SD analog channels. Changing from an HD channel to an SD channel or vice versa is the same using pass-through mode -- a half second of hash on screen, but no snow.

I disconnected my HDMI cable so I could get nice sound again.

Hi Greg,

I came to the same conclusion that DD is just not there on our version of FW.

I'm going to live with it for now since my prime motivation is to free up a set of component connections for my other devices. I only have 2 sets of component inputs on my TV but 3 devices that need connecting (including the 8300HD).

I agree that there isn't much perceived improvement in PQ using HDMI.

-emoe

Mark--

Our 8000HD has recently been exhibiting the symptoms you describe with your 8300HD. This is discouraging since I had hoped that by upgrading to the 8300HD this behavior would go away. A couple of friends who also have 8000HDs have been having the same problem as well so it lessens the likelihood of a bad unit. I tried exchanging my 8000HD for an 8300HD on Monday but the cable office told me they couldn't issue us a new unit until they actually activate service at our new house. They didn't hesitate to take the 8000HD from me, however. I had hoped to get my hands on an 8300HD *before* the installer came out because the last THREE times I've placed an order, the installer for whatever reason did not show up with the box I requested ("No one said it was an HD!", "There's nothing about your request on this order", "Sorry, I didn't notice it said HD, nobody in Honokaa has an HDTV set", etc.). I'm one of the calmest people on the planet, but if the installer this Friday does not have an 8300HD with him (or her), I'll experience spontaneous human combustion, especially when I was told by one of the installers at the office that they "have lots of the 8300HD, just not the 8300".

Originally posted by EMOE3
Hi Greg,

I came to the same conclusion that DD is just not there on our version of FW.

Now it's there. It works.

Originally posted by GregLee
Now it's there. It works.

Great find, Greg! Thanks!

-emoe

Any one know if KHON and KGMB are going to get their HD video recorders soon? Only being able to watch live events in HD is kind of a drag.

Also any one on Oahu got an HD set box from Oceanic with firewire ports, if yes, ones that work?

Thanks in advance :)

DJDigital

I have the Scientific Atlanta 3250HD with active firewire ports and it works great with my Mits DVCR. I cannot vouch for JVC DVCRs. This STB has to be ordered special. The one requirement is that you must have a DVCR and/or HDTV that has firewire I/O's. If interested, PM me for the contact information at Oceanic.

The 3250HD with firewire works fine on JVC DVCRs, too.

Eric

Originally posted by Mark Ichiyama
8300HD Issues

Back in Feb 2005, our 8300 DVR seemed to be "losing" our recordings. After setting up the recording and actually seeing the red rec light come on at the appropriate time, the next day the program was nowhere to be found on List. Had an OTWC service guy come out and when the box was rebooted, the recorded titles showed up, but the programs wouldn't play back. It's as if there are only titles and zero bytes recorded.

Last week, the same problem, but rebooting didn't revive the List and it seems to be going thru the same issues about recording scheduled events.

Anyone else having these issues with their 8300s? Hey Mark,

This sounds like a different issue, but for the first time tonight, my 8000HD failed to record a program that it's supposed to record every week. I haven't changed any settings, so I have no idea how this happened -- looking at the scheduled recordings list, everything is still there, EXCEPT for '24'. Anyone else have a scheduled recording unexpectedly disappear from their list? :confused:

Happens fairly often to me. The trick is to erase some of the recorded programs on the DVR. Once I do that, the problem disappears until it fills up again. I think it fills up the HD and doesn't know what to do so it just erases the program or something. Poor programming.

Spleen

Hawaii HDTV Update:

KGMB and KHON have their video server in-house and installed. There are some audio issues however (lipsync, anyone?) and they want it perfect before going live with it, so they are waiting for some additional equipment that is expected in a couple of weeks. When things are right, then they will go full network HD.

No further word on the Oceanic-Emmis Broadcasting situation. That is the mainland attorneys' purview... <sigh>

Eric

Oh hooray! It's about time they got those timeshifters. Hopefully it's sooner than later that it'll be installed.

Thanks for the update.

I just want to strangle whoever's in charge of negotiating the contract with Time Warner at Emmis ... (grrrr)

Spleen

Originally posted by egcarter
Hawaii HDTV Update:

KGMB and KHON have their video server in-house and installed. There are some audio issues however (lipsync, anyone?) and they want it perfect before going live with it, so they are waiting for some additional equipment that is expected in a couple of weeks. When things are right, then they will go full network HD.

No further word on the Oceanic-Emmis Broadcasting situation. That is the mainland attorneys' purview... <sigh>

Eric

So there is hope....:)

Eric,

I just saw on the news that Emmis put KGMB and KHON up for sale; do you think that might affect them making the move to HD? Since their trying to sell it, I'm hoping they don't decide cut back and not invest anymore in the stations for these recorders. I can't wait to see CSI in HD.

I'm just afraid that this would just delay having HD for those stations. :(

RobertCEO...Hooray!! I want to boot Emmis so far outta here that they wind up back in Indy forever.

No, it won't delay any of the HD. The stuff is ordered and enroute. The video server is already installed. They have other upgrades coming, too. I know that they are upgrading the Hilo transmitter as well. (I dunno why, everyone over here has cable or satellite...)

Eric

The story I saw mentioned that Emmis was looking to sell the stations outright or have a buyer take them over partially so they will still be under Emmis management... I hope it's the former then. :)

So Eric, what do you estimate when we might see HD Fox and CBS from good 'ol Oceanic?

Gai,

There's no telling about Oceanic carrying HD Fox and CBS....BUT, one of the reasons that they have been holding back is that we haven't had the real HD schedule from those two nets as yet due to the technical issues at KHON/KGMB, which are shortly to be rectified.

Hope springs eternal...

Eric

The problem with "losing" recorded material and not recording scheduled events persists, even after deleting all material on the unit. I didn't think it would matter since the problem started well before the drive was even half way full. I'm suspecting that this box is going to take a trip to the Mililani Tech Park soon. It's the 2nd DVR box we've had that doesn't seem to work right.

I noticed that on the non-HD DVR box we have in the house, the software was changed to add features (record only the time slot, not all airings) that doesn't appear on the HD box. Was the software upload only for the standard definition DVR boxes?

I'm not sure what happened, but for a while my SA8300 did have the feature to record the show only when it plays at certain times, but that feature went away. It was useful because I had my box to record "Dog the Bounty Hunter" and "Howard Stern" only the first time they air a day. Now that the features gone my box records two extra HS shows (repeats) a day that I have to delete every day.

Also I read on other parts of this forum that for some reason people were having trouble with their SA dvr's recording "24". I think it had something to do with the way the show was listed in the guide. Is there any other shows that you auto-record skips?

Sorry to hear about the continued problems, Mark. Hope the exchange fixes the issue.

Spleen

Originally posted by RobertCEO
I'm not sure what happened, but for a while my SA8300 did have the feature to record the show only when it plays at certain times, but that feature went away. It was useful because I had my box to record "Dog the Bounty Hunter" and "Howard Stern" only the first time they air a day. Now that the features gone my box records two extra HS shows (repeats) a day that I have to delete every day.



My 8300HD still has that feature. :eek:

Oddly enough, the non-HD DVR box didn't want to record "America's Test Kitchen" on KHET despite several scheduling attempts. The last couple of weeks though, it seems to be working.

I have a question regarding OTA channels:
Is KFVE up and running OTA? It's the only channel that I cannot seem to get.

With the recent news of the KGMB and KHON going full HD within the next several weeks, I bought an antenna. I looked up the available DT stations on antennaweb.org and I was able to get all of the stations they listed except for 3.

Using a Silver Sensor Indoor antenna I was able to get KHON , KITV (sometimes), KGMB, KHNL, KIKU, KAAH, and KWHE. I live in the Aiea/Pearl City area.

The three channels listed that I could not get were: KFVE, KWBN and KHET.

According the antennaweb website: KHET is scheduled to start broadcast 7/05 and KWBN is listed as "awaiting FCC permit". What about KFVE? what is the status of this station?

From what I know KHNL, KFVE and KHET have a "temporary" combiner for transmitting thier digital stations on KFVE's tower on Palehua Ridge. In KHNL/KFVE's last FCC ruling from March, they stated that they were both ready to go. However, as far as I can tell, only KHNL's digital station is up. Why KFVE isn't up yet is a mystery. With that said, since KHNL/KFVE say this is only a "temporary" arraignment they are only transmitting in very low power, so it's possible that only the Mongoose around the transmitter even know that KFVE is up.

BTW: KHET is waiting for a tower crew to install a STL(Station-Transmitter Link) and they should be up, but only expect a digital repeater of the analog station, NO HD or multicasting.

A software upgrade for DVRs is coming very soon (a week?) from Oceanic. The major elements in it have been in the works for about 18 months! This should enable your DVR to access the interactive channels. I'm not sure, but there may be other enhancements/bugfixes incorporated as well. I hope it incorporates a new version of the SA firmware that gives us newer standard features and fixes.

Oceanic leads the way in interactivity and SA incorporates the work done by them and middleware developers into their own software releases for other systems should they offer some of those features.

I, for one, have HDMI issues with the SA 8300HD. I get a greenish color cast from the HDMI out on my SIM2 projector. BTW, HDMI will not be officially supported by Oceanic until around July 1st. No word yet on the SATA port.

Eric

Originally posted by TJR
Using a Silver Sensor Indoor antenna I was able to get KHON , KITV (sometimes), KGMB, KHNL, KIKU, KAAH, and KWHE. I live in the Aiea/Pearl City area.

The three channels listed that I could not get were: KFVE, KWBN and KHET.

You're lucky. I'm in Manoa and I can only get KHON, KGMB, KITV (rarely, signal fluctuates so much it comes unwatchable) and KBFD. I wish I could receive KHNL and everything else out towards the central side of the island, but I guess that's what happens when you have valley walls in the way. Wish there was a way they could repeat the signals other places or on other frequencies ... but we'll have to see.

On another note, I wonder if KHON and KGMB will go HD in time for the season finales for most of the shows in the coming weeks...?

egcarter,

SATA external drive does work with SA8300HD here in Honolulu. I tried with SATA II cable and it indeed expanded the storage capacity. I stopped to use it as whenever I turn off the drive power I had to reset the SA box. I didn't want to leave the external HD power on all the time as mine had a little noisy cooling fan.

big_beagle...

oooh...that's quite enticing news! Seagate sent me a 400GB SATA drive several weeks ago. That's a lot of extra recording time.

Eric

Originally posted by egcarter
A software upgrade for DVRs is coming very soon (a week?) from Oceanic. The major elements in it have been in the works for about 18 months! This should enable your DVR to access the interactive channels. I'm not sure, but there may be other enhancements/bugfixes incorporated as well. I hope it incorporates a new version of the SA firmware that gives us newer standard features and fixes.

Oceanic leads the way in interactivity and SA incorporates the work done by them and middleware developers into their own software releases for other systems should they offer some of those features.

I, for one, have HDMI issues with the SA 8300HD. I get a greenish color cast from the HDMI out on my SIM2 projector. BTW, HDMI will not be officially supported by Oceanic until around July 1st. No word yet on the SATA port.

Eric

Sounds good to me...

Thanks Charles for the status of the OTA KFVE.

Originally posted by DJDigital
On another note, I wonder if KHON and KGMB will go HD in time for the season finales for most of the shows in the coming weeks...?

That's what I was hoping for.

That would be really nice.

Regarding baseball coverage (or lack thereof) on INHD....

With so many home teams, Hawaii has a pretty good chance of making the playoffs this year.

/sarcasm

A question....I see that Oceanic has an HD On Demand channel (977). Does anyone know if this is just for movies or do they have sporting events like boxing on it. Showtime has a boxing PPV June 30 featuring our local boy Viloria going after his first title belt. It would be great to watch this in HD.

977 doesn't work in Hilo. I was told they wasn't sure when it would be ready to go.

977 seems to have only movies in HD... kinda overpriced if you ask me.

Two weeks after the timeshifting equipment has been installed, still no HD primetime shows on KHON and KGMB :(

Hurry up! Almost all the shows are end-ed/-ing already!

advice needed

What a huge thread to start reading this late...anyways my question:

i live in kailua and plan on living there 3-4 years.

should i bother to buy a hd tuner and antenna and see if i can catch anything and hopefully spen no more than $300. get dish network and pay the extra $$$ to get a 2nd dish to recieve HD programming. get oceanic and watch the 2 HD channels they provide.

or just wait...

thanks in advance

Originally posted by breakbeat46
advice needed

What a huge thread to start reading this late...anyways my question:

i live in kailua and plan on living there 3-4 years.

should i bother to buy a hd tuner and antenna and see if i can catch anything and hopefully spen no more than $300. get dish network and pay the extra $$$ to get a 2nd dish to recieve HD programming. get oceanic and watch the 2 HD channels they provide.

or just wait...

thanks in advance

Oceanic provides more than 2 HD channels...they show

KITV (ABC)
Discovery HD
HD Net
HD Net Movies
InHD
InHD2
ESPN HD
HD Sports
TNT HD
--
If you subscribe to HBO or Showtime, you get those 2 in HD too.

Gai,

I have clients who just put in DISH with HD in their new house here on the Big Island (they wanted cable but can't get it) and we get more HD channels than they do via Oceanic. I'm not sure if Hawaii can get the new HD channels that DISH acquired from VOOM. I don't think we can see the 61 degree satellite from here. I wouldn't be hopeful about getting ANYTHING OTA from Kailua. Not on the windward side of the island.

Eric

sorry i was being sarcastic about the 2 channels from oceanic. thanks for all the info. i think i'll look into dish network and see if it's worth the cost.

I have Dish Network's HD programming, channel-wise the difference versus Oceanic is that HBO and Showtime are the East feed(Oceanic uses the West feed) and no InHD on Dish.
PQ wise Dish tops Oceanic especially DiscoveryHD, HDNet and HDNet Movies. Dish's HD receivers have built-in OTA tuners so no extra box to receive the Digital stations is needed.
As for the Voom channels, the 61.5w sats are below the horizon from Hawaii and can not be received. Dish is moving to MPEG4 in '06 and rumor has it that all the HD channels will be moved to the 129w location which will easily received in Hawaii(smaller dishes)when the move is done.
OTA wise, Kailua is hit or miss for receiving anything like Eric said. I use to live in Lanikai and had pretty good luck in receiving stations from Maui. FWIK, the local stations new transmitters should be complete by the end of the year and the digital signals from KHON, KITV, KGMB, KHET and KHNL will slowly come online, so that may be an option.

Hope this helps.

Charles

Charles,

As for PQ between DISH and Oceanic...YMMV. my client's DISH HD reception on their new Fujitsu 50" plasma is excellent...but my Oceanic HD reception is just as good...maybe a bit better at times. It all depends on where you are and how good your pipes are.

I have a client in Keauhou here on the Big Island...we were installing a new SIM2 projector and a couple of HD LCD's. Two Oceanic techs spent almost 3 hours there and could only get what I will describe as an excreable HD picture if at all! Some channels were blank.

We had our guy rewire the house with new RG-6 and put in a superb 3 x 8 distribution amp where the service came in at the garage.

Best picture I've ever seen on Oceanic anywhere...superb on all channels!

You get lots of corrosion around here on connectors and wiring....replace as necessary!

Eric

My 8300 just lost the record at certain times feature today.

Sports fans probably know this, but after setting aside an morning last weekend to watch the Yankees @ Oakland on inHD . . . turns out that, except for San Diego Padres, all the west coast teams (Mariners, A's, Giants, and Dodgers) are blacked out on the west coast, even to in HD. The channel just goes dark for the duration of the game.

I think that's because the Mariners, As, Giants and Dodgers consider Hawaii a 'home team' market, and a broadcaster other than INHD (mainly Fox Sports) has the rights to show those games in the 'home team' markets. Why the Padres are the lone exception is beyond me. Thing is, I have yet to see any of the blacked-out INHD games on Fox Sports Net West 1 or 2, and something tells me I never will. Hawaii must be unique in having so many 'home teams', and with Fox Sports deciding not to show their Saturday national broadcasts in HD (480i upconvert), ultimately the situation is depressing for this baseball fan.

Originally posted by Mark Ichiyama
Sports fans probably know this, but after setting aside an morning last weekend to watch the Yankees @ Oakland on inHD . . . turns out that, except for San Diego Padres, all the west coast teams (Mariners, A's, Giants, and Dodgers) are blacked out on the west coast, even to in HD. The channel just goes dark for the duration of the game.


I learned about this the hard way-- two years ago I subscribed to MLB extra innings for around $170 so I could follow Ichiro only to find out later that all of Seattle's games were blacked out, even when they were on the road. I was going to see if I could cancel it but kept it to watch Hideki Matsui. And by the way, Oceanic shouldn't even mention that lame HDSPT channel they in their promotions for HDTV offerings, it such a waste of time. How many games did they have on it during the NBA season? I think there were only a handful of Laker games, and that's it. Surely less than 10 games. Sometimes it would show an exact simulcast of the game on INHD, but we don't need the extra channel for that. So far for the baseball season i've seen 2 games on the channel, and there wasn't any sound. Such a joke.

Hawaii is not unique in the "Home Market" problem that MLB serves up. Las Vegas, for example, is claimed by all 5 California teams plus the D'Backs yet depending on the carrier, will at best receive only 3 of the teams. Unlike the other pro sports, MLB does this for marketing purposes, it has nothing to do with sellouts. As for the Padres, they actually did claim Hawaii for about 10 years, starting in the year they played here until the end of '03. The Padres new TV deal with Cox Cable made it an exclusive to Cox markets, and with no Cox Cable in Hawaii were forced to end claiming us as a "Home Market".

When was that supposed update for the DVR's supposed to be, and what was supposed to be in it?

When was that supposed update for the DVR's supposed to be, and what was supposed to be in it?


My box got updated around 4am this morning. I was watching something and it just shut off and then there was this countdown thing from 999 , and then it rebooted. So far the only thing I can tell that's different is that there is that "HD" logo on the HD channels in the channel guide. The interactive channels still don't work-- actually it's worse now because when I try it my box freezes and I have to unplug it. At least before the update the box wouldn't freeze.

So far the only thing I can tell that's different is that there is that "HD" logo on the HD channels in the channel guide.

I just checked the Channel Guide on my 8300.
No "HD" logo on the HD Channel Guide
I have looked around, and haven't seen anything that might indicate an update :rolleyes:
Might be they have not done any updates here on Maui.

I just checked the Channel Guide on my 8300.
No "HD" logo on the HD Channel Guide
Here on Oahu, I see the "HD" in the info box of the program guide. Also, the resolution of the program guide when in HD mode is lower, the right side is clipped off, and the colors are a little different.

In the listing of recorded programs, the title of a program being recorded is now shown in red.

Hi guys,

Just discovered this site , lots of good info to read. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but my friend who works for KGMB on Kapiolani Blvd. says they won't have HD prime time programming until at least the end of the year. I assume this means the same for KHON. Has anyone else heard about this? Very dissapointing. :(

Hi guys,

Just discovered this site , lots of good info to read. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but my friend who works for KGMB on Kapiolani Blvd. says they won't have HD prime time programming until at least the end of the year. I assume this means the same for KHON. Has anyone else heard about this? Very dissapointing. :(

Is there a reason why they won't have it done before the end of the year? Last we heard they had the equipment and were going to get the syncing issue down. It really can't take another 6 months to do that. And if that's the case they really shouldn't be using their -DT designations. :P

Hi guys,

Just discovered this site , lots of good info to read. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but my friend who works for KGMB on Kapiolani Blvd. says they won't have HD prime time programming until at least the end of the year. I assume this means the same for KHON. Has anyone else heard about this? Very dissapointing. :(

I really hope that's not the case.

Hello, just registered to this forum... great info here. Just moved into my aparment downtown and looking for digital cable and internet service. Thinking to get the whole digital package with HDTV. Anyone know what oceanic cable charges for this service? (internet/digital cable/HD)

Thanks!

Hello, just registered to this forum... great info here. Just moved into my aparment downtown and looking for digital cable and internet service. Thinking to get the whole digital package with HDTV. Anyone know what oceanic cable charges for this service? (internet/digital cable/HD)

Thanks!

All the information you need can be found on two pages on Oceanic.

For Digital Cable services (including HD):
http://www.oceanic.com/page_server/Oceanic/Television/Digital+Services/52352DE3FD64B815E4B9975D33.html

For RoadRunner Internet:
http://www.oceanic.com/page_server/Oceanic/Road%20Runner/For%20Residents/A38194856616E22E6ACA1014B.html

And no, I don't work for Oceanic. :) I do have their digtal cable service with HD entertainment pack, RoadRunner cable internet and several movie chanel packages (the premium pack plus NGN 1 and 3). Even trying out the HD PVR which is ok, just a little unresponsive at times.

That last software download seems to have resolved my SA DVR's inconsistent recording issues and I'm happy to see that the record a program only in a single time slot is now on the menu like my non-HD DVR.

Thanks all for the info about the sports "blackout." That will seriously affect my decision whether to order the MLB Season Pass next year.

That last software download seems to have resolved my SA DVR's inconsistent recording issues and I'm happy to see that the record a program only in a single time slot is now on the menu like my non-HD DVR.

Thanks all for the info about the sports "blackout." That will seriously affect my decision whether to order the MLB Season Pass next year.

If you really like MLB baseball, try mlb.tv . It cost me $79 for the year, and for some reason, you can get the teams that are suppose to be blacked out here. Only problem is you have to watch the games on your computer-- one good thing about it is all the games are archived so you can watch them when you come home from work or even the following week. If you have broadband the quality is very good.

Yesterday I noticed that I was getting analog sound on HD channels from my 8300hd dvr instead of DD 5.1. Since I'm using the HDMI output for video, to get DD 5.1 from the digital outputs, I need to have the "General Options->Audio: Digital Out" option set to "Dolby Digital" Thinking this option might have somehow gotten reset, I checked it. It was still set to "Dolby Digital". But as soon as the menu pointer hit the "Audio: Digital Out" option, I suddently got back DD 5.1 output.

Weird glitch. Easy to fix.

BIG NEWS!!!

KGMB is now airing Primetime HDTV. Watch NCIS looks real good, only DD 2.0 though but I'll take it.
Hopefully this means that KHON is real close to also airing Primetime HDTV.

BIG NEWS!!!

KGMB is now airing Primetime HDTV. Watch NCIS looks real good, only DD 2.0 though but I'll take it.
Hopefully this means that KHON is real close to also airing Primetime HDTV.

awesome! thanks for the tip. Can't wait for CSI: Las Vegas . According to the other threads it's suppose to be one of the better HD quality shows. Oddly, todays Yankees/Cubs game on Fox was in widescreen but not HD. Looked like widescreen standard definition, which I guess is still better than 4:3 SD.

Hiloboy,

Yep, FOX is only doing SD Widescreen on it's "Game of the Week" package. Only the All-Star Game and the Playoffs will be HD. The funny thing about the games is the wild differences in PQ, the Cubs/Yanks game had bad EE on the wide shots. The Giants game last week was excellent, likely they used native HD cameras, but the Angels/Dodgers game a couple weeks back was unwatchable, the wide shots blurry and shallow.

As for KGMB last night, after watching both NCIS episodes, the intergration was excellent even during local breaks, no volume changes or 2 second delay in local cutin/outs. Great Work KGMB!!! Now work on KHON and get on Oceanic this thing might just take off. :)

That's great news!

All the information you need can be found on two pages on Oceanic.


And no, I don't work for Oceanic. :) I do have their digtal cable service with HD entertainment pack, RoadRunner cable internet and several movie chanel packages (the premium pack plus NGN 1 and 3). Even trying out the HD PVR which is ok, just a little unresponsive at times.

Hey thanks for the info! I was wondering if there was any specials that Oceanic Cable has for Digital+HD+Internet or is it always the same package deal... I think I was quoted somewhere around $9X.00 for digital+internet and I think an additional $6.X for HD. If you get digital cable, HD & DVR is that all in one box? or separate boxes? first time getting cable for me so I dont know.

Great, CSI in HD!

Thanks!

Hey thanks for the info! I was wondering if there was any specials that Oceanic Cable has for Digital+HD+Internet or is it always the same package deal... I think I was quoted somewhere around $9X.00 for digital+internet and I think an additional $6.X for HD. If you get digital cable, HD & DVR is that all in one box? or separate boxes? first time getting cable for me so I dont know.

Great, CSI in HD!

Thanks!

Your quoted prices sound about right. If there are any specials, your best bet is to just give Oceanic a call and see if there are any. It varies from time to time.

If you get digital cable, HD and DVR, you can get all of it in one box. Just ask them to get the HD DVR when you sign up (which will probably be a Scientific Atlanta SA8300HD or SA8000HD depending on avalability). The HD DVR box can receive digital cable and HD channels as well as record them.

And right now, KGMB in HD isn't available on Oceanic... not yet anyway.

Was anybody able to watch KGMB's monday night shows? Were there any problems? I came home during the middle of CSI: Miami and the sound was messed up. Seems like only ambient and background noises was coming through, no dialogue. Sounded like 5.1 audio with only the sounds you would hear from the rear speakers. I was home earler in the day and noticed a soap opera was in HD, and it was looking really nice.

Hiloboy,

Sorry, I wasn't available on Monday to monitor. But I have noticed that KGMB is only outputing DD2.0 and not 5.1. I will watch tonite to check if CSI:NY has the same problem.

One little housekeeping note DTV wise, it appears from a FCC filing that the "swap" between KGMB and KHON DT channels will happen on July 1st.
Currently KGMB is DT 8 (7.2kw) and KHON is DT 22 (4.6kw) after the swap KGMB will become DT 22 (15kw) and KHON DT 8 (7.2kw). It also appears from the FCC filing that after the DTV transition(analog shutdown) that KHON will remain on ch.8 and KGMB will stay ch.9 and will broadcast exclusively from KGMB's tower and the Century Center tower will be removed.

Hiloboy,

Sorry, I wasn't available on Monday to monitor. But I have noticed that KGMB is only outputing DD2.0 and not 5.1. I will watch tonite to check if CSI:NY has the same problem.

One little housekeeping note DTV wise, it appears from a FCC filing that the "swap" between KGMB and KHON DT channels will happen on July 1st.
Currently KGMB is DT 8 (7.2kw) and KHON is DT 22 (4.6kw) after the swap KGMB will become DT 22 (15kw) and KHON DT 8 (7.2kw). It also appears from the FCC filing that after the DTV transition(analog shutdown) that KHON will remain on ch.8 and KGMB will stay ch.9 and will broadcast exclusively from KGMB's tower and the Century Center tower will be removed.

Charles,

Does this mean that they are just swapping towers, and at the same time increasing the strength of the KHON (soon to be KGMB) tower? I like how things are now; I can get KGMB fine, but have periodic dropped signals with KHON which is fine since I hardly watch it anyway. I hope if they are swapping the increased strengh will make things better. BTW, if you live on the other side of the mountains in Kailua or on the North Shore, does that mean you can't get any digital signals? I was planning on moving sometime later this year and was just wondering.


Hiloboy,

I didn't get to watch CSI on Monday but earlier in the night I did watch parts of Everybody Loves Raymond and the sitcom before it and everything was fine. Picture and sound were perfect.

So confusing, but in the end it looks it will be better for us since both channels will have stronger signal and luckily the tower its being moved to is only like a few block away so I can still receive it. Just hoping that KHON will start showing more things in HD like KGMB is. Same goes for the other local channels too though I can't receive KFVE or KHNL in Manoa. Some signal repeaters would be nice for people out of range of the main antenna ;)

Charles,

Does this mean that they are just swapping towers, and at the same time increasing the strength of the KHON (soon to be KGMB) tower? I like how things are now; I can get KGMB fine, but have periodic dropped signals with KHON which is fine since I hardly watch it anyway. I hope if they are swapping the increased strengh will make things better. BTW, if you live on the other side of the mountains in Kailua or on the North Shore, does that mean you can't get any digital signals? I was planning on moving sometime later this year and was just wondering.
.


Robert,

Both KGMB-DT and KHON-DT transmit from KGMB's Tower on Kapiolani, but when they swap frequencies on July 1st, what is now KHON-DT power will be boosted to 15kw to mirror the coverage that KGMB-DT already offers, this is a good thing.

Charles,

Thanks for clarifying, sounds great! :D

Robert,

Both KGMB-DT and KHON-DT transmit from KGMB's Tower on Kapiolani, but when they swap frequencies on July 1st, what is now KHON-DT power will be boosted to 15kw to mirror the coverage that KGMB-DT already offers, this is a good thing.


So will KHON finally start broadcasting in HD during primetime after July 1?

Sorry Charles, I need a bit more clarification, please. :o

From my location in Waikiki I cannot receive a signal from KGMB, but I do receive a solid signal from KHON. Does this mean that come July 1, the transmission from KHON will replicate that of what I currently see from KGMB?

As always, thanks for your input.

delar,


What's basically happening is that KHON-DT will takeover DT ch.8 as is, so if you have problems with KGMB-DT now, it will become a problem with KHON-DT after July 1st. On the other hand KGMB-DT will takeover DT ch.22, but the output will increase from 4.6kw to 15kw so if you have problems with KHON-DT now, you may not have the problem with KGMB-DT after the switch. The increase in power is so that areas served with KGMB-DT on ch.8 should receive it when it moves to DT ch.22. But to be honest, we just have to wait for the switch to happen to see what really happens. :) One last thing about this, it's KGMB requesting the July 1st switch via an expedited FCC filing, but the FCC still needs to approve the request so the July 1st date is not set in stone.

As for KHON airing FOX HD in primetime, I honestly don't know when it's going to happen.

Your quoted prices sound about right. If there are any specials, your best bet is to just give Oceanic a call and see if there are any. It varies from time to time.

If you get digital cable, HD and DVR, you can get all of it in one box. Just ask them to get the HD DVR when you sign up (which will probably be a Scientific Atlanta SA8300HD or SA8000HD depending on avalability). The HD DVR box can receive digital cable and HD channels as well as record them.

And right now, KGMB in HD isn't available on Oceanic... not yet anyway.

DJDigital, between the two boxes you've listed above is one better than the other in any way? If so, and if allowed and available, i'd try to request the better one.

Thanks!

Robert,

Both KGMB-DT and KHON-DT transmit from KGMB's Tower on Kapiolani, but when they swap frequencies on July 1st, what is now KHON-DT power will be boosted to 15kw to mirror the coverage that KGMB-DT already offers, this is a good thing.

The closer you are to these locations means you have a higher chance of catching the HD stations? Just wondering because I am overlooking the tower from my balcony. I dont have cable at my place yet but plan on ordering digital cable, inernet amd HD this month. Would this switch affect me for the better or worse?

volxlov,

The 8300HD is much better than the 8000HD. I went through three of those 8000 clunkers...they crashed on a regular basis for no apparent reason (one did it at 7:19AM EVERY day).

The 8300HD is the replacement for the 8000HD and they have improved things quite a bit...it's also much smaller.

Eric

volxlov,

The 8300HD is much better than the 8000HD. I went through three of those 8000 clunkers...they crashed on a regular basis for no apparent reason (one did it at 7:19AM EVERY day).


The 8300HD is the replacement for the 8000HD and they have improved things quite a bit...it's also much smaller.

Eric

Whoa! good thing I asked. Are they still handing those 8000's out? Thanks for the info Eric!

The closer you are to these locations means you have a higher chance of catching the HD stations? Just wondering because I am overlooking the tower from my balcony. I dont have cable at my place yet but plan on ordering digital cable, inernet amd HD this month. Would this switch affect me for the better or worse?

KGMB and KHON's HD channels are not available on Oceanic, Re-transmission Dispute( $$$ ). To receive these channels you need either a HDTV with a built in Digital OTA Tuner, or an external OTA Digital Tuner. If you are overlooking the tower you may be too close and may suffer from signal overload, which may look like no signal. You then may have to attenuate the signal, not hard to do. But like I tell most people, give it a chance and see what happens.

Hope this helps.

Charles

KGMB and KHON's HD channels are not available on Oceanic, Re-transmission Dispute( $$$ ). To receive these channels you need either a HDTV with a built in Digital OTA Tuner, or an external OTA Digital Tuner. If you are overlooking the tower you may be too close and may suffer from signal overload, which may look like no signal. You then may have to attenuate the signal, not hard to do. But like I tell most people, give it a chance and see what happens.

Hope this helps.

Charles

I am using my projector for now so I am assuming it doesnt have a OTA digital Tuner. How much is an external OTA Digital Tuner? or maybe I should ask, What is an OTA Digital Tuner? Sorry this is all new to me.

So if I get Oceanics's HD services I still wont be able to get KGMB and KHON's HD channels unless I get this tuner?

Thanks much

I am using my projector for now so I am assuming it doesnt have a OTA digital Tuner. How much is an external OTA Digital Tuner? or maybe I should ask, What is an OTA Digital Tuner? Sorry this is all new to me.

So if I get Oceanics's HD services I still wont be able to get KGMB and KHON's HD channels unless I get this tuner?

Thanks much

On average, HDTV tuners run around $200 if I remember right. Circuit City used to carry a few models if you wanted to see one in person. In order for your projector to show OTA HDTV, if it doesn't have a built in tuner, you would need that OTA Digital Tuner.

If you get Oceanic's HD services, currently KGMB and KHON are not on the HD tier yet. The only local channel that is on the HD tier is KITV. As far as when KGMB, KHON or any other local channel will be on the HDTV tier, that remains to be seen. You could hook up the cable box to the projector, you'd just have those other channels in SD instead of HD.

On average, HDTV tuners run around $200 if I remember right. Circuit City used to carry a few models if you wanted to see one in person. In order for your projector to show OTA HDTV, if it doesn't have a built in tuner, you would need that OTA Digital Tuner.

If you get Oceanic's HD services, currently KGMB and KHON are not on the HD tier yet. The only local channel that is on the HD tier is KITV. As far as when KGMB, KHON or any other local channel will be on the HDTV tier, that remains to be seen. You could hook up the cable box to the projector, you'd just have those other channels in SD instead of HD.

Right on thanks! Btw, what other forums or threads within this forums do you Hawaii guys hang out at? I have some questions about Home Theater Audio (looking to purchase) and wasnt sure if this was the right place to post. I'm going to be posting my general questions in the Audio Area of this forum but any questions about local stores,service, etc i'd like to ask the guys who live in my area.

Well Gee.....no sooner that the FCC approves the switch and Presto Chango! KGMB-DT is now on DT 22 and KHON-DT is now DT 8. Guess waiting until Friday was too long to wait with the upcoming holiday. :D
Had to re-add the channels for both to show up, but was pretty painless.

Oh yay... hopefully the primetime HD content on KHON isn't too far behind now :)

After a channel scan, KGMB-HD now shows up with a solid signal, but as expected, Fox-HD is nowhere to be found. This is going to be a problem during the baseball postseason if Oceanic hasn't added Fox to it's HD linup by October. I'm assuming Oceanic is primarily waiting for KHON and KGMB to be time-shifting their primetime HD programming before adding them. I can only hope that things are squared away soon, hopefully before football season.

Well Gee.....no sooner that the FCC approves the switch and Presto Chango! KGMB-DT is now on DT 22 and KHON-DT is now DT 8. Guess waiting until Friday was too long to wait with the upcoming holiday. :D
Had to re-add the channels for both to show up, but was pretty painless.

No wonder, I'd try to watch King of Queens and the rest tonight but I wasn't getting any signal; I thought the HD part was down or something. I remember a while back (2 years ago?) that KGMB HD programming was on Oceanic and they even advertised it on that bulletin channel 911, but had to take it off because they weren't suppose to show prime time programs live here in Hawaii-- what's changed since then? Are the owners for KGMB different now than before?

Hi, new here...I'm in the Aiea area and decided to get a Samsung HDTV receiver and Terk HDTVi indoor antenna from Circuit City recently to fool around with it. So far it's been pretty impressive even without an HDTV ready television. I can catch most of the stations except KFVE, is it even broadcasting? I see it listed on TitanTV but I can't get any signal at all. Even when I had problems with KHON early on (it's been great since the switchover) I could at least get a minimal signal. Also, does anyone know when KHET will go digital?

By the way the guys at Circuit City don't know anything about OTA HDTV so don't bother asking them. Everything HDTV over there is centered around Oceanic Digital Cable or DVDs. One guy told me I could only catch two stations so why bother with an antenna. :rolleyes:

I hope Oceanic gets more HD soon. I need more!! :D

Wonder if tonite's all star game will be in HD on FOX. The national ads say it'll be in HD, but the local one conveniently leaves out that part :)

It should be in HD; they had all the playoff mlb games last year in HD so hopefully should be the same. They also air the weekly game in that widescreen format here like they do on the mainland. I just wish they can get the non-live prime time programming in HD like KGMB.

I haven't followed this thread for over a year, so I hope someone can help me. I live in Niu Valley and was wondering what my HD options are available out here.

It should be in HD; they had all the playoff mlb games last year in HD so hopefully should be the same. They also air the weekly game in that widescreen format here like they do on the mainland. I just wish they can get the non-live prime time programming in HD like KGMB.

The reason why I ask is because it'll be tape delayed. If they show it tape delayed in HD, I would think all primetime could be done in HD as well. I figure this would be a good chance for KHON to test their timeshifting equipment :) I can hope ... :P

The reason why I ask is because it'll be tape delayed. If they show it tape delayed in HD, I would think all primetime could be done in HD as well. I figure this would be a good chance for KHON to test their timeshifting equipment :) I can hope ... :P

I didn't realize they were going to tape delay it; I thought the stations here stopped doing that already! Since it is being tape delayed, most likely it won't be in HD since they haven't had any prime time programming in HD yet, only live events. :(

IIRC, ever since Fox picked up the rights to broadcast the LCS and WS, they have forbidden KHON from broadcasting any game tape delay. I had assumed that it was the same with the all star game. Does anyone remember if last years all star game was broadcast tape delay by KHON?

btw, what's going on with KGMB? they haven't been in HD the past few days. tonight isn't in HD either. :(

I'm guessing by the deafening silence that the all star game was in SD 4:3 or widescreen only. I'd know myself if I could squeeze a single frame of picture from KHON-HD's signal, but ever since they swapped signal with KGMB-HD, I haven't been able to see a thing.

I'm guessing by the deafening silence that the all star game was in SD 4:3 or widescreen only. I'd know myself if I could squeeze a single frame of picture from KHON-HD's signal, but ever since they swapped signal with KGMB-HD, I haven't been able to see a thing.

it was SD 4:3, not even widescreen. and even KGMB was in SD tonite too... what's the deal :(

Is KGMB not doing prime time HD at night anymore? I'm working the night shift now so haven't been able to watch it for the past week. I'm leaving for work soon and see that "The Young and the Restless" is not in HD, although it was a couple of weeks ago.

I just talked to my friend who works at KGMB and he said the HD should be back tonight (thur). They were having problems with the CBS signals. I know I wrote earlier about them not getting HD until the end of year, sorry about that. I had talked to him last (he's actually my friends brother) around Christmas and that was what he told me then, so please don't flame me. I just called him at home so this info is 100% accurate.

Ahh ... CSI (the original) and Without a Trace in HD tonite ... with proper sound too! :cool:

Ready to get HD when I saw this thread. Info overload! Got Dish already and figured on staying with them for HD. On Big Island getting anything over air isn't an option for most.

From this thread it appears Oceanic is favored. Is this on pic quality or number of channels? Had their SD some time ago. It was very poor. If you guys tell me its better, I'll go with it. Will save me a bit on RoadRunner by combining the services.

I see stuff about an HD DVR early in the thread but not lately. Is this available now?

Sorry to ask such newbee questions but can't get answers from the local Oceanic office other than regarding my bill.

HH--

As of about a month ago, Oceanic's Kona office had quite a few HD DVRs available (8300HD). Not sure what Hilo's availability is, though. IMHO, HD picture quality is good to excellent on most HD channels. Most of us cable HD folks now are just waiting for FOX, CBS, and NBC HD channels to appear on the lineup. So far only ABC has an HD channel. Desperate Housewives and Lost never looked better.

Thank you very much for the update. I'll check in the morning. If they have any left, I'll have to find a new use for the dish.

If you're using the DVR, Is the signal as good as the live feed or does it noticably compress the signal?

Hi, I just found this forum and am pretty ignorant about HD stuff although I have an HD ready TV and the Oceanic HD package. Now I want to get KGMB and KHON. Will an HD antenna pick up KITV and any other HD signals (besides KHON and KGMB) or do I still need to stay with Oceanic and get a HD receiver and antenna? Also if I need two sources, is there an A-B switch that can switch between two HD sources? Thanks for any help.

I just talked to my friend who works at KGMB and he said the HD should be back tonight (thur). They were having problems with the CBS signals. I know I wrote earlier about them not getting HD until the end of year, sorry about that. I had talked to him last (he's actually my friends brother) around Christmas and that was what he told me then, so please don't flame me. I just called him at home so this info is 100% accurate.


That's the same info that I received via a e-mail I received from KGMB Engineering. Glad everything's back to normal. :D

Irwin,

As long as your not in Mililani Mauka you should be able to pick up all the OTA Digital Stations. Your best bet is to stay with Oceanic and add in a OTA HD receiver. Wal-Mart sells a very good one, USDTV receiver for about $220. KITV's OTA digital signal is flakey, but the others are rock solid. As for hooking it up, I'll guess that you have 2 HD componenets(Oceanic and DVD), if so Wal-mart also sells a component video switcher for $20 that will allow to add 3 other HD components.

Hope this helps.

Charles

Irwin, you may not need a switcher. It depends on the available inputs on your TV both the quantity and type, and what kinds of outputs your source components have.

Does your DVD player and TV have a DVI or HDMI output? If so, this is even better than component connection. Also, are you using a receiver or surround processor or just a TV? If you have a receiver, it will have some switching.

HD is very high in frequency. If you can get by without a switcher, the picture will probably be better.

If all this sounds like Tongan to you, list the outputs on your components and inputs on your TV and people here should be able to advise.

Not important to your need but just fyi: DVD isn't HD.

Charles and Hilo Harry, thanks for your help. As I can remember (I'm at work now), on the TV, I have 2 antenna inputs which I connect my cable to, 1 DTV which I connect my HD box to, 3 component inputs which I have on DVD player hooked up to and 4 regular inputs for VCR and camcorder although I'm going to get a HD camcorder. Those are my connections into the TV. I have to use the DTV connection for the HD box. Tried to hook it up to a component input but it didn't work. So I'm thinking that I need to connect all my HD things through the DTV input.

Hilo's office normally has a better supply than Kona's, since the warehouse is in Hilo.

Eric

Hi, I just found this forum and am pretty ignorant about HD stuff although I have an HD ready TV and the Oceanic HD package. Now I want to get KGMB and KHON. Will an HD antenna pick up KITV and any other HD signals (besides KHON and KGMB) or do I still need to stay with Oceanic and get a HD receiver and antenna? Also if I need two sources, is there an A-B switch that can switch between two HD sources? Thanks for any help.

What model tv to you have? It would easier to help you if give the model number.

Robert, its a Mitsubishi WS55809.

Irwin, that model does not have an integrated HD tuner, so you would have to buy one. Just setting up an antenna won't do anything. Also, it only has one set of component hd inputs, and no firewire, dvi, or HDMI so if you do buy the tuner you would have to get some kind of switcher to watch both the OTA signals and the Oceanic DVR. I used the one they sell at Walmart (the switcher) and couldn't tell a difference, although I read someplace else on these forums that that particular switcher (Pelican Brand, around $25) wasn't the greatest because it couldn't pass the full frequency of the HD signal. That may be true but I couldn't tell a difference.

Robert, I forgot to mention that I do need a HD receiver. I was thinking of the LG LST3510A. If they don't have it at Circuit City, what other tuner would be the best? I'm glad that there is a switch. Thanks for all of your help.

Irwin,

Wal-mart also sells a Phillips component switcher that is only $20.

As for the OTA digital receiver best of current breed, the LG you mention, Samsung 451 and the USDTV receiver.
By September new 5th Gen OTA digital receivers will start to show up, but the biggest improvment in those receivers will be handling multipath, not a problem in Mililani.

Charles

Charles, I went to WalMart and checked out the swtich. Will a Philips indoor antenna be good enough? I was thinking of buying the top of line Philips indoor antenna.

I was checking out the hardware forum. I ws thinking about getting a used Voom box. Anyone w\know if there are any problems with it? Thanks

Hi all. I mostly just lurk in this forum since I don't have much to contribute, but I have a question that I hope someone can help me with.

I have a SA3250HD box from Oceanic and just recently tried the DVI output to my HDTV DVI input and got no results (black screen). Does anyone know if the DVI output is active?

Also, I've never had any luck using the iControl MoviesOnDemand, I always get an error. Does this service not work with the 3250HD box?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Irwin,

From you location in Mililani can you see the Honolulu Skyline? If so, a indoor antenna might just work. The Philips Indoor antenna is that the one with the square UHF antenna and adjustable amp? Can't Hurt. If it doesn't work, keep the receipt and all the packaging for a refund. :) In fact, it's what I recommend first. Just hook up the antenna to the TV and check recepetion for the following channels 2, 20, 32!
If you do pull the trigger, here some points of reference:
KHNL-DT and KIKU-DT transmit from right above Makakilo. Ch. 20 is your reference.
KWHE-DT and KBFD-DT transmit from Downtown(Bishop/Beretania). Channel 32 is the reference.
KHON-DT, KGMB-DT and KITV-DT all transmit by Ala Moana(Kaheka/Kapiolani). Channel 2 is the reference.
How well you get those stations will indicate your chances of receiving the Digital stations.
Also KHON-DT is on VHF ch.8 all the others are UHF.

Best of luck!

Charles

Charles, no I can't see the skyline and I did try the antenna. Channel 2 doesn't come in very well. Now I've got to decide whether I want to install an outdoor antenna or wait until (if they will) get 2 and 9 or get Dish HD later. How hard is it to install an outdoor antenna?

I've been gone for a while - busy with other things. Anybody miss me? :D

irwin - Voom willl not work in Hawaii (coverage limited to continental US)

Linda - AFAIK, the DVI outputs on the Oceanic SA boxes have never been confirmed to be active. I believe it's a Time-Warner issue though I could be remembering that wrong. All it requires is a firmware upgrade ... (sigh)

And if Aiea can pick up OTA HD signals with an indoor antenna, it makes me wonder if I could pick up signals too in Ewa. I'm getting tired of waiting for Oceanic to get the other network channels in HD.

Spleen

It looks like it's time to call the various parties and get an update on the State of HD in Hawaii (stations and Oceanic, 'natch). We were supposed to have had our digital interfaces turned on by now, but I know that they have been wrestling with firmware issues for a long time due to the Oceanic interactive services. They can't just plop new firmware versions onto our boxes here because then the interactive stuff won't work.

As for the evildoers at Emmis, who knows? I know that they are greedy as can be and just want our cable bills to go even higher with more subscriber charges for carrying their precious HD feeds. But then again, Emmis may be selling their TV stations, which would be a Good Thing.

As for a VOOM STB, I heard that it required an authenticated, valid smartcard for the OTA tuner to work. Since VOOM is defunct, I wouldn't bet on it (especially since the service never worked in Hawaii)

Eric

Thanks for the info on the DVI output, Spleen. I guess I should give Oceanic a call to see what they say, and/or upgrade to the 8300. Considering that my interactive services have never worked anyway, I say just do the firmware upgrade.

Thanks for the info on the DVI output, Spleen. I guess I should give Oceanic a call to see what they say, and/or upgrade to the 8300. Considering that my interactive services have never worked anyway, I say just do the firmware upgrade.

The 8300 is great!

The firmware upgrade doesn't work like that. You're on the Oceanic system, so you need an Oceanic-specific firmware revision.

Eric

Well, here an update for KHET-DT....it's some bad with possibly a good ending. Right now they are scheduled for the STL to the digital transmitter on Palehua Ridge in early August, but likely will not be on the air until near the end of the year. It appears they have a highrise in the way of the STL and will have to install a relay tower on that building to complete the connection. Once that is completed, they are waiting for a digital master control to be installed(Oct/Nov). Apparently KHET has been outsourcing it master control(KGMB?), without the digital master control they would have to outsource that as well and have multilinks to the transmitters($$$).
Now the good news, with a digital master control KHET will be able to pass PBS's digital services such as PBS Kids and HD content.

The firmware upgrade doesn't work like that. You're on the Oceanic system, so you need an Oceanic-specific firmware revision.

Yes, sorry I meant that I wished that Oceanic would just do the firmware upgrade regardless of interference with the interactive services, since those services don't work for me anyway.

The 8300 is great!

I'm sure it is, but another $10 addition to my already $100+ cable bill is not so great. :(

Im kinda excited becuase tomorrow i'll be trying out oceanic's HD service for the first time. I got the special digital+dvr and adding the HD programming to check it out. I have a question for you experts out there.

1. What box should they be giving me.
2. Can I expand the HDD (external or some hax)

thanks

breakbeat46,

They should be giving you an 8300HD. It's my understanding that if you have an external SATA drive, put it in an enclosure, etc...plug it into the SATA port, and the DVR should recognize it, format it and use it. I believe that it uses the external drive before the internal.

Eric

I'm getting set up with the HD DVR too. Install in a week.

Spoke with them today. Unless you specify that you want an 8300, they said that they still sometimes get and install 8000s. Many here say that the 8000 is quite inferior. I have no experience with either.

I couldn't find anyone at the Hilo or Honolulu numbers who knew anything about using an external drive. The closest I got was a tech who said I must mean the USB port and that it is not active.

One more interesting comment was that he confirmed that the DVI port should work but that they don't support it. Meaning that if you can't get it to work, don't call. Has anyone had trouble with this lately?

My experience has been that even the upper echelon technicians at Oceanic rely heavily on customer experimentation and feedback when it comes to the more obscure aspects of their equipments' capabilities (i.e. SATA, DVI, CableCARD, etc.). That's not to say that they don't care, just that many times they are incapable of testing these things for lack of equipment or time. It's just not a priority.

Hi everyone,

When I was home at Christmas, my parents bought an HDTV set and I set them up with Oceanic HD services with their DVR box. At the time, there were only a handful of HD channels available (they live in Kona). What channels are currently available in HD through Oceanic? I was a bit disappointed in the offerings my parents got in comparison to what I got here with Comcast on the East Coast. I currently get PBS-HD, CBS-HD, ABC-HD, NBC-HD, FOX-HD, TNT-HD, UPN-HD, Discovery HD, ESPN-HD, WB-HD, Cinemax-HD, HBO-HD, Starz-HD, Showtime-HD, INHD1, and INHD2. We are also apparently getting ESPN2-HD, Disney-HD, and a third HD channel soon. We won't be getting HDNet and HDNet Movies for some time as Comcast refuses to pay the subscriber fee.

Hopefully, Oceanic will be able to add more channels so that my parents can see just how great HD is. Does anyone know what the slow adoption is due to: Oceanic not being a large cable company, expensive equipment, not enough bandwidth, location of the state, timezones?

Thanks.

They installed the 8300HD. HD looks good except for the pixelation during some high motion and transitions. HDMI not DVI.

They installed the 8300HD. HD looks good except for the pixelation during some high motion and transitions. HDMI not DVI.

Thanks for the heads up. Does Oceanic supply the HDMI cable?

tennberg,

Oceanic Cable is no small company, it's fully owned by Time-Warner, it's technically Oceanic Time-Warner Cable. For many years Oceanic was only on Oahu, but over the last few years has bought up the cable companies on the neighbor islands. It has had to spend millions to upgrade those cable networks and requires them to overuse some bandwidth to provide it's services statewide. I was just on Kauai earlier this month and digital services like HDTV and VOD has just become available there. Once new technologies such as digital simulcast and digital relay are implemented here it will save Oceanic a ton of bandwidth. Oceanic also supports a ton of interactive and locally oriented programming in it's digital service here that you don't see in other Time-Warner systems.

As for the local stations, it is sadly a difficult situation here. While the ABC station here was one of the first stations nationally to air HDTV, the rest of the stations has been laggards to say the least. CBS and FOX locally are owned by Emmis Communications and are requesting cold hard cash in order to be available via Oceanic and Time-Warner has flat out said it will not pay cash to carry what it consider simulcast stations. Our WB and NBC stations are owned by Raycom, and they apparently have no desire to offer HD(it would much rather spend $2 mil a year on UH sports then move the best parts off OTA so it can make it's money on PPV and other digital cable channels). Our UPN station is a small independent company that just doesn't have the financial resources to do HD. The only bright spot is that PBS-HD should make it's debut by the end of the year.

Thanks for the heads up. Does Oceanic supply the HDMI cable?

I'm not sure I wanst present at the time of the installation. My TV is DVI, they hooked up the box via component (suppiled the cables) since I already had my HTPC hooked up via DVI.

The SD digital signal seems better that the analog SD signal I had at my old place. Well except for the compression issues...

Also since I do not like watching SD in pillarbox I find it irritating that I have to manually keep switching the aspect ratio in the 8300HD between stretch/normal.

Does anyone know if you can you adjust the recording quality of the 8300HD?

Thanks for the heads up. Does Oceanic supply the HDMI cable?

When I picked up the boxes at the counter at Ala Moana, they only supplied the component cables. I don't think they would give you HDMI cables because they are costly and I believe not officially supported with the box yet. I ended up buying HDMI cables on ebay for $12 -- the place got good reviews for their cables elsewhere here on the forum. I believe the name of the place was stsi cables.

Hopefully, Oceanic will be able to add more channels so that my parents can see just how great HD is. Does anyone know what the slow adoption is due to: Oceanic not being a large cable company, expensive equipment, not enough bandwidth, location of the state, timezones?

Thanks.
TWC (Oceanic) appears to be satisfied with their current HD offering, and I don't expect to see additional channels beyond the locals anytime soon.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5952595&&#post5952595

Could any provide some tips and tricks on installing an OTA antenna in the Ewa Beach Area? I'm having no luck in getting a signal. I tried an indoor antenna and a Yagi in the attic.
I think my biggest problem is that my house is new and I have a steel frame .... there is also a foil on the inside of my roof and I have a feeling it's blocking my signal all together. I am trying to avoid installing the antenna on the roof unless I absolutely have to.

thanks.

dan

Dan - you must be in Ocean Point. I'm in Ewa by Gentry.

That's depressing because I was just considering trying OTA HD myself. Oh well, so much for that idea (at least for internal antennas). Could still see about putting up a 30 foot pole and placing an external antenna on that. :D

Spleen

TWC (Oceanic) appears to be satisfied with their current HD offering, and I don't expect to see additional channels beyond the locals anytime soon.




Grrr...arrghhh.

Any comments on the HD services through satelite companies (Dish, DirectTV)? Also, I really need better local HD service. I can get KGMB OTA, but KHNL says I get the HD broadcast but it sure doesn't look HD

wannabeHD,

I have Dish Network's HD Package, Here's what's they offer:

HD Pack- TNT-HD, Discover HD, HD Net, HD Net Movies, ESPN-HD($10.99 per month)
FSN-HD-Currenly offering it only to MLBEI customers, so blackouts apply to Dodgers and Mariners games. :(
HBO-HD and SHO-HD included in respective premium movie package(East Coast Feed)

The Voom channels are not currently available in Hawaii, but expected to become avilable in Q1 '06.

As for KHNL-DT, it's NOT HD, it a repeater of the analog channel. Same will go for KFVE-DT whenever it goes on the air.

wannabeHD,
I have Dish Network's HD Package, Here's what's they offer:

.....HBO-HD and SHO-HD included in respective premium movie package(East Coast Feed)

I just fired Dish which I had for SD to go to Oceanic HD on the basis of cost. Didn't know that premium channels would be East Coast only on Dish HD. That makes them near useless here unless one buys an HD DVR.

Why are we so often treated like a step-child by mainland companies?

Thanks for the replies. I just got Oceanic's HD package and while the HD stuff looks incredible, I am disappointed in the sparse HD offerings. What local channels ARE brodcasting HD OTA? From my apartment in Makiki, the only HD signal that I can tune is KGMB. And which box from Oceanic has FireWire enabled?

And to jump on HH's rant, why does EVERY company feel like they have the right to screw all us customers because of the lack of competition?

Thanks for the replies. I just got Oceanic's HD package and while the HD stuff looks incredible, I am disappointed in the sparse HD offerings. What local channels ARE brodcasting HD OTA? From my apartment in Makiki, the only HD signal that I can tune is KGMB. And which box from Oceanic has FireWire enabled?

And to jump on HH's rant, why does EVERY company feel like they have the right to screw all us customers because of the lack of competition?

wannabeHD:

I wouldn't go so far as to say EVERY company does that because of lack of competition. Here in Boston, we currently have 2 cable companies that serve the area: Comcast and RCN. Verizon will also be entering the mix later this year or early next with their new FIOS service. So, there is definitely competition in our area. Both Comcast and RCN offer HD service, and Verizon will most likely be doing so as well. Because of this, there is definitely a push to get as much HD content to the customer as is possible. This is why Comcast currently offers PBS-HD, CBS-HD, ABC-HD, NBC-HD, FOX-HD, TNT-HD, UPN-HD, Discovery HD, ESPN-HD, WB-HD, Cinemax-HD, HBO-HD, Starz-HD, Showtime-HD, INHD1, and INHD2. ESPN2-HD, Disney-HD, and a third HD channel are on the way. This only leaves Universal-HD, TMC-HD, and HDNet/HDNet Movies as the only HD channels we don't get here (though we will probably never get HDNet/HDNet Movies since Comcast refuses to pay the subscriber fee).

I think Hawaii does get an unfair deal to to lack of customers for Oceanic/TWC because of the small population and because everything needs to be time-shifted for the local time zone. I think the only thing you can do is wait patiently or start a grassroots campaign against Oceanic demanding better service. Then again, since there's no competition, you can't say you're going to jump to another HD provider unless Oceanic betters their offerings.

Thanks for the replies. I just got Oceanic's HD package and while the HD stuff looks incredible, I am disappointed in the sparse HD offerings. What local channels ARE brodcasting HD OTA? From my apartment in Makiki, the only HD signal that I can tune is KGMB. And which box from Oceanic has FireWire enabled?

And to jump on HH's rant, why does EVERY company feel like they have the right to screw all us customers because of the lack of competition?

wannabe,

I live in Makiki too and can get KGMB and KHON HD OTA, both easily with a strong, steady signal. KITV's signal isn't stable enough to get a steady picture for me, so it is pretty much unwatchable for me, OTA at least. What kind of antenna are you using? KHON only has certain live sporting events in HD, I think the last i've seen from them in HD was the NFL games. Most of the times I've tried watching it KGMB is broadcasting their prime time in SD, rather than HD. I guess their still trying to figure out how to do it. Those three are the only channels I know of broadcasting HD OTA, and I'm unsatisfied with them all.

To get the firewire enabled box you have to call customer service and request one. There's a good chance the person won't know what you're talking about, so you have to ask them to forward your call to the person in charge of the "HD department". The box they gave me and I believe they still currently use is the Scientific Atlanta 3250.

wannabeHD, KHNL is not doing HD yet.

Eric

I thought that the last time we checked, you needed a Firewire DVHS recorder to qualify to get a Firewire equipped cable box? Or is that no longer the case?

Spleen

That may still hold true, though many HDTV sets being sold today have firewire ports, so perhaps that would do as well. Does anyone know the FCC ruling regarding this? All I remember reading was that the cable companies are required to make available to their customers at least one cable box that has an active firewire output (in our case, the 3250HD...too bad it isn't the 8300HD :D ). What I don't know is whether the cable company is allowed to set conditions on their customers (i.e. DVHS ownership, etc) for renting such a box.

I thought that the last time we checked, you needed a Firewire DVHS recorder to qualify to get a Firewire equipped cable box? Or is that no longer the case?

Spleen

When I talked to the guy in charge of the boxes on the phone, he just asked me if I have a tv with firewire or a DVHS player. It's not like they come and check. He had it ready for me in a couple of days and I went to pick it up at Ala Moana.

Oceanic installed my 8300HD today. Not surprised by how good the HD channels look but was shocked by how much better SD channels look through its component output than they did through the S Video output of the dish box. The tech said the box scales the image to 1080i. Don't know what chip set it uses but haven't seen any motion artifacts yet.

On the bad side, didn't realize how little ABC programming we watched until I started saving future programs. That REALLY is the only HD network they carry? My guess is we will watch alot of lizards and such on DiscoveryHD.

Haven't hooked up the HDMI yet. Need to drill some holes. Should be better yet.