I wont know for sure until I get my next bill to see what it did but one good thing is it looks like its a single fee for HD so its not like lame digital cable where its a fee per box. I went ahead and added it as well (and dropped all digital service from my account).... turns out im saving 20 bucks/month. :)

If I was looking any anybody these days it would be dish.... their buyin is a pretty sweet deal atm. Plus I could keep the cable modem service and keep the locals in media center (which would be another advantage). To me dish has just as much of a hd commitment as directv and they are cheaper.

Did someone at CBS forget to flip the switch on 3-1? The Tech game was in regular definition, although CBSE had the same game in HD, and the D* guide shows 3-1 as having NCAA BBall, Tech vs. BC in HD!

Hope the Aggies are in HD on 3-1 since CBSE is showing Georgetown!

Did someone at CBS forget to flip the switch on 3-1? The Tech game was in regular definition, although CBSE had the same game in HD, and the D* guide shows 3-1 as having NCAA BBall, Tech vs. BC in HD!

Hope the Aggies are in HD on 3-1 since CBSE is showing Georgetown!

You're in a constant region, and for some reason, that means you'll only see SD. The second post of this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=819927) gives an explanation.

However, I'm in Houston, and the local CBS affiliate received word this morning that they would be able to show the HD feed, so that's what I'm seeing. I feel for you guys in CS :(

Dont know why CBS did what they did but we are a constant area (IE kbtx decided to be a constant station). Means we are guaranteed to see the whole tamu game but the rest are SD (for some reason). Had we been a flex area we could have potentially switched games during the aggie game.

I see why kbtx did (and like it from that perspective) but we are getting royally screwed in the HD dept.

Funny that, I saw the TAMU game in HD (OTA on 3-1) and they did cut away from it for a couple minutes early in the 2nd half. Luckily they cut back soon afterwards (one benefit of Penn's run I guess) and stayed with it the rest of the way.

I was disappointed the Tech game was SD, as were the other games they cut to after it ended. The A&M game was the first one in HD, and it was HD the rest of the day.

Very glad it was on in HD, and you're right, they only briefly switched to another game for a couple minutes. I am not sure anyone even scored while they were away.

Hope Saturday is HD too.

Did KBTX go out for anyone OTA during the game? It really started to breakup during the second half that I switched over to Houston. It also wasn't in HD. I called them in the first half and they said CBS wasn't sending the HD signal. :(

At least we shouldn't have to worry about this now that we're in the Sweet Sixteen!!!! Bring on Memphis/Nevada. :)

yeah it never went out signal wise with sl but we never had hd (which pissed me off)

CBS is a joke! I guess you can make up stupid rules when you don't have any competition to worry about.


I wish it was still ESPN and CBS sharing the games.

I guess it didn't go out via SL due to the fiber. Since it wasn't in HD, I wasn't too bummed switching over to satellite. What's funny is that it started working again for the following game; in HD of course.

I guess it didn't go out via SL due to the fiber. Since it wasn't in HD, I wasn't too bummed switching over to satellite. What's funny is that it started working again for the following game; in HD of course.

thats what it did for SL too.... thats what really pissed me off. but like you said atleast we dont have to worry about that anymore.

CBS really needs to fix that for next year (the constant crap not being HD which was the reason we didnt see it)

It would be interesting to find out if this (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10034358&&#post10034358) actually was the case. :confused:

It would be interesting to find out if this actually was the case.


labman --

If you're referring to my post in the Houston local thread, I can confirm that I really was able to see both Aggie games this weekend in HD on KHOU 11-1 OTA. Saturday's game against Louisville was also in HD on WCBS (New York) via D*.

This is a side-topic...

Just received word that B/CS will be getting 3g service (Cingular/AT&T) in September '07.

Marc

already got 3g on sprint...

but yeah ive been laughing at my friend with cingular because he doesnt have high speed because he got a blackjack and didnt realize until after he got it home that it wasnt 3g. ;)

I love me some EVDO on Sprint. :D

Another side note...

Does anybody know what the smtp server is for suddenlink now? Cox has still been working.. but it's starting to fail.

Marc

So,

Anyone else get a phone call from SuddenStink telling you that you would lose your HD Channels if you didnt kick in an extra $8 bucks or so a month for them and did we want to sign up for that today or not? I hate being nickled and dimed to death.

F'n liers. My wife called me all freaked out about it and I told her they couldnt take away "locals" etc...

Yeah, I got the call.. the guy didn't sound too intelligent either.

Marc

we have any dish subscribers left?

supposedly fsnsw HD was launched
Channel 366 - FOXSW

just wondering if its actually a channel since i dont have a dish receiver/guide. speaking of which i hope dish/direct get their locals online and release cablecards so i can get some media center action going (or fios coming to town which would actually be better)

if so though dish is starting to look pretty attractive.... i would keep the cable modem with cox since i could then keep my qam tuner for media center and get dish (which should save some $ in the process).

Anyone else having problems with ABC HD right now? It's had no audio for most of LOST and no picture now. AH! It's never in sync either but what's new.

As a separate note, Verizon's had EVDO here since about September/October '06, Cingular is way behind the ball on 3G.

yeah that happens sometimes


quite frankly i'm sick of ABC's BS...

also the volume on my ABCHD channel is really loud compared to the other channels.

Are there any forum posters from the Waco area getting Dallas-Fort Worth OTA DTV? What is your setup if you are? .... Specifically, antenna type(s), amplifiers, splitters/combiners, length of cable runs, etc.

Same question for Bryan-CS posters, what is your set up to get Houston stations?

Hmmmmm.......looks like the lights are on around here.....but it seems nobody is home around here. Too bad....I had some interesting news to share about Verizon/FIOS in this area. It's prolly time to close this forum anyway. Sure nothing of interest in here.

Hmmmmm.......looks like the lights are on around here.....but it seems nobody is home around here. Too bad....I had some interesting news to share about Verizon/FIOS in this area. It's prolly time to close this forum anyway. Sure nothing of interest in here.

I live in the DFW area but have this forum on my subscription list. What's up with Verizon Fios in the Waco/Bryan area?

(fyi - I have Fios at my home in Plano and love it)

Hmmmmm.......looks like the lights are on around here.....but it seems nobody is home around here. Too bad....I had some interesting news to share about Verizon/FIOS in this area. It's prolly time to close this forum anyway. Sure nothing of interest in here.

Wow, I better post just to keep things from shutting down. Go ahead guy with 2 posts...lay your knowledge on us.

Yeah... I want some fios info.

Also fox44... whats the status on that new logo? we still have the hideous blue one on suddenlink.

If fios comes to town i will offer up my house to be the testbed.... I just want to ensure they are laying fios in my area so I can ditch cable. :)

Well if you are waiting for fiber to be laid...you will have a long wait.
FIOS will NOT be coming to B/CS.
In fact Verizon is seriously considering selling it infrastructure in the B/CS area.
I got this info from an employee in the FIOS upper level support area.

Now you have it.

Anybody want to make a bet who will buy it? AT&T? Comcast? or some independent?

that sucks.... hopefully at&t will buy it out so we can atleast get u-verse. actually i almost prefer u-verse these days because they seem more prone to do iptv and iptv is some pretty sweet stuff. i dont see comcast coming in.... we already have suddenlink on the cable side. if somebody does come here (other than at&t) it will be a smaller telecom company or a capital venture thing.

but the one real flaw with uverse imo is the slow internet speeds... dont know why they are so slow but they are for some reason.

still iptv is much more likely to be properly integrated into media center and we already know it runs on the 360.

So when is Direct going to announce the new HD channel line up. I'm ready to get off SL.

So when is Direct going to announce the new HD channel line up. I'm ready to get off SL.

who knows.... but the real barrier for me is 2 things.

1. all locals in HD
2. media center tuners (which are actually coming or they were 2 yrs ago)

but i am starting to look at dish /direct again.... cable is actually very good but its very expensive (my current package runs $160 which is insane for what I have). I was hoping I could hold off until fios came to town but since they might not come anymore im gonna have to look elsewhere.

I don't think we'll know an exact lineup until the sat goes up in June and is ready in a few months. Then it will depend on what channels are ready to launch in HD by that time.

I'm not sure what channels D* will put up in HD first, but I remember getting an e-mail from them saying that they will be the first to show The History Channel HD, and A&E HD will go online, both in Sept. Stands to reason other HD channels are lined up as well if the June launch goes as planned.

Sid, do you still have the AT9? I got the new slimline dish, and this thing is a heavy mofo.

Sid, do you still have the AT9? I got the new slimline dish, and this thing is a heavy mofo.
Yeah, I still have the AT9. I thought the slimline was supposed to be much lighter.

The audio sync problem on ABC HD 40 is this ever going to be fixed?

The audio sync problem on ABC HD 40 is this ever going to be fixed?

Out of curiousity, where do you get ABC 40 in HD? I thought they were just an LPTV station that was carred on cable in B/CS?

he is getting it via suddenlink.... and the issue is they cheaped out on the audio side and didnt get a nice DD 5.1 mixer so they have to convert the 5.1 mix to 2.0 stereo and for some reason it has serious sync problems.

Sucks to think that FIOS won't be coming, I hope your info is wrong... I wouldn't mind AT&T, but would hate something like Sprint (used to have Navasota) then some small private venture. I guess I don't care too much except for competition as I use VOIP with SL cable.

What is the easy consensus for sharing my HR10-250 D* HD signal to 2 other TV's in the house? I was thinking component splitter /amp with baluns converters to Cat5, I don't think HDMI will go the distance I need, nor do I want to try to run 5 RG6 coax runs to each.

Someone asked about getting Houston locals in BCS, I live in Pebble Creek and use a 8 bow-tie channel master antenna and a pre-amp and get 2-1, 13-1, 26-1 very reliably, but I hear I am lucky.

yeah its always going to be tough to get houston.... which is why alot of us would just rather deal with SL. i used to have a massive antenna and got some channels as well but never all of them. (esp with the chance of nbc or abc coming to town anytime soon)

btw foxeng.... any chance you could kick some ass and get the mynetwork TV guide listed right? namely the movies that run on there. quite a few good flicks have run in HD but the guide is never marked HD so I usually dont watch them and then happen on the channel during a commercial somewhere else and find that the movie was HD. its kinda annoying. also i assume they are stuck in stereo? I never see mynetworktv jump to 5.1

Yeah... I want some fios info.

Also fox44... whats the status on that new logo? we still have the hideous blue one on suddenlink.

If fios comes to town i will offer up my house to be the testbed.... I just want to ensure they are laying fios in my area so I can ditch cable. :)

FOX44 HD Logo:

I've tried to get them to create a new logo for the HD several times.

I finally rebuilt the SD logos for 44 and 28 myself and put them on.

I don't have the equipment to do the HD and it must be submitted to FOX for approval.

Not my department...................Sorry!

yeah its always going to be tough to get houston.... which is why alot of us would just rather deal with SL. i used to have a massive antenna and got some channels as well but never all of them. (esp with the chance of nbc or abc coming to town anytime soon)

btw foxeng.... any chance you could kick some ass and get the mynetwork TV guide listed right? namely the movies that run on there. quite a few good flicks have run in HD but the guide is never marked HD so I usually dont watch them and then happen on the channel during a commercial somewhere else and find that the movie was HD. its kinda annoying. also i assume they are stuck in stereo? I never see mynetworktv jump to 5.1

MyNetwork Movies:

All MyNetwork movies and telenovas are aired in HD.

The fight show is upconveted 480p.

At the present time MyNetwork is not fed in 5.1 and I doubt we would be able to purchase the needed encoders if it is.

We picked up MyNetwork because we had the HD delay eqipment for the WB network in place but we never purchased the 5.1 encoders for WB when they added it.

Again, not my decision to make.

Sucks to think that FIOS won't be coming, I hope your info is wrong... I wouldn't mind AT&T, but would hate something like Sprint (used to have Navasota) then some small private venture. I guess I don't care too much except for competition as I use VOIP with SL cable.

What is the easy consensus for sharing my HR10-250 D* HD signal to 2 other TV's in the house? I was thinking component splitter /amp with baluns converters to Cat5, I don't think HDMI will go the distance I need, nor do I want to try to run 5 RG6 coax runs to each.

Someone asked about getting Houston locals in BCS, I live in Pebble Creek and use a 8 bow-tie channel master antenna and a pre-amp and get 2-1, 13-1, 26-1 very reliably, but I hear I am lucky.

I'm about to do some distribution myself, but I think I'm going to run coax. I'm going to use mini RG6 (which has RGB in one coax) so it will only take two coax for what I need. I'm going to go with a CE Labs component distribution amp from PartsExpress (just don't know which one: 4 out or 9 out - the 9 can be daisy chained). CE Labs also makes a Cat5 system that you can get from Smarthome.com, but it takes one transmitter and then a receiver for each display; more than I wanted to spend. It does send IR for an IR system though, which you might like. I'm just going to try RF remotes.

And can you believe the ghetto phone company here in Montgomery (Consolidated Communications) does HD? Can't believe it.

those of you with suddenlink dvr's you got an update.... overall a pretty good update but the ui still pales in comparison to media center but we finally have the ability to hide channels in the guide and a "folder" like view for tv shows.... bunch of other little changes as well but those are the big 2.

My S*Link DVR is acting very sluggish. I have cut the power on it and it still isnt acting that well. Im guessing the update is slowing it down. Is this happening to anyone else? Aynone know what else I can do to resolve this problem?

To whom it may concern:

The KWKT HD Digital Transmitter is off the air as of 9:04 AM due to a power supply failure.

A replacement Power Supply is being shipped from the manufacturer today and should arrive tomorrow morning.

KWKT 44.1 and KYLE 28.2 will be off air until this power supply is replaced.

Ask them to ship a more powerful transmitter along with it! :)

To whom it may concern:

The KWKT HD Digital Transmitter is off the air as of 9:04 AM due to a power supply failure.

A replacement Power Supply is being shipped from the manufacturer today and should arrive tomorrow morning.

KWKT 44.1 and KYLE 28.2 will be off air until this power supply is replaced.

Speaking of fox.... did something weird happen last night during the season finale of house? right around the 50 min mark the signal was unstable for 5 mins but then came back. This was on suddenlink. But its a good thing it decided to fail now... and not last night. Pretty much nothing on the networks to watch these days.

And kruzer, mine is a fraction slower doing some things (recorded tv lise and bringing up the guide) but its not sluggish at all.

Speaking of fox.... did something weird happen last night during the season finale of house? right around the 50 min mark the signal was unstable for 5 mins but then came back. This was on suddenlink. But its a good thing it decided to fail now... and not last night. Pretty much nothing on the networks to watch these days.

And kruzer, mine is a fraction slower doing some things (recorded tv lise and bringing up the guide) but its not sluggish at all.

We lost our FOX HD feed momentarily during House. I saw it on my TV and I questioned FOX about it. They said it was an uplink switch due to a power amplifier failure.

As to the transmitter power. We are running our maximum alloted power of 200,000 watts on KWKT-DT (57) and have increased our allotted power to 5000 watts on KYLE-DT (29).

January of 2009 we will be moving KWKT-DT to channel 44 at 1 Megawatt and KYLE-DT will be moving to channel 28 at 50,000 watts on the antenna presently being used by the analog. (The transmitter output power will be increased from 500 watts to 1000 watts to provide 50,000 wats ERP)

We lost our FOX HD feed momentarily during House. I saw it on my TV and I questioned FOX about it. They said it was an uplink switch due to a power amplifier failure.

As to the transmitter power. We are running our maximum alloted power of 200,000 watts on KWKT-DT (57) and have increased our allotted power to 5000 watts on KYLE-DT (29).

January of 2009 we will be moving KWKT-DT to channel 44 at 1 Megawatt and KYLE-DT will be moving to channel 28 at 50,000 watts on the antenna presently being used by the analog. (The transmitter output power will be increased from 500 watts to 1000 watts to provide 50,000 wats ERP)

KWKT-DT 44.1 & KYLE-DT 28.2 are back on the air as of 11:30AM today.

We replaced the Focus Power supply. (Output tube Magnet supply)

I found out what was causing the receiver to act slow. It had to do with the video output. When my receiver got the update, it changed my picture output from 720p stretch into 1080i wide. This caused the channels to come up much slower. All the non-HD channels look better in 1080i wide, but it is too slow for my channel surfering. As far as the guide, I have noticed that it is a little slower, but I do like the new guide and DVR look.

FOX44CE,
I saw the same problem with the new show, "On The Lot" as you did with" House". Last week 's episode of "On The Lot" had static for the first 15 mins. I dont know if it was a S*Link issue or a FOX issue. This week's episodes seem to be okay. Do you know if the show is in HD. The FOX website says it is, but it does not feed in HD.

FOX44CE,
I saw the same problem with the new show, "On The Lot" as you did with" House". Last week 's episode of "On The Lot" had static for the first 15 mins. I dont know if it was a S*Link issue or a FOX issue. This week's episodes seem to be okay. Do you know if the show is in HD. The FOX website says it is, but it does not feed in HD.

FOX reality shows (like CBS) are not shot in HD because of the cost.

I don't know why the FOX website says it's HD because it isn't.

This is what it said on the website:
May 29 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (OTL-102/3B) (TV-PG) CC-HDTV 720p-Dolby Digital 5.1 PA: Viewer discretion is advised.
I might be reading it wrong, and it may not be HD. But it always said the same info for American Idol and it was HD.

FOX44CE I would rather watch the Astros today than the New York game.I don't care if the Astro's suck right now. :D

FOX44CE I would rather watch the Astros today than the New York game.I don't care if the Astro's suck right now. :D

I agree but we carry the game that FOX supplies.

We have no say in the matter. (We only have one feed and they control it)

This is what it said on the website:
May 29 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (OTL-102/3B) (TV-PG) CC-HDTV 720p-Dolby Digital 5.1 PA: Viewer discretion is advised.
I might be reading it wrong, and it may not be HD. But it always said the same info for American Idol and it was HD.

I know that's what it says but the show is delivered 720p 4:3 with Dolby Surround and we pass it through as is.

I can't make video on the sides that isn't there.

To whom it may concern:

I try to post on this forum to keep you guys informed as to the status of our stations but it seems that everytime I do I get negative comments about things we (or I) can't do anything about.

I'm beginning to wonder whether it's worth my time to monitor this forum at all!

FOX - don't get discouraged! We appreciate everything you share with us. We're not bashing you, we live in College Station and that brings frustrations when it comes to HD. I don't think you will hear the long-time members of the forum get on you for anything.

Don't stop!

yeah i agree.... its nice knowing when things break thats its not an issue with our equipment and i would be trying to get an answer from SL.

and dont think we are being overly critical.... since we have an actual avenue to get things fixed we are going to take advantage of it. (me and the blue fox logo for instance). I am not hating on you that its not fixed just wanting to know that its still on the table and something that you are trying to get done. I freaking hate nbc's logo but i cant do anything about that because i have nobody to ask about it. And we all hate on ABC's sound issues from time to time but i dont think anybody even mans the office there.

anybody else getting a message on hdnet saying its temporarily off air?

hdnet movies works just fine but for some reason hdnet doesnt work. and its said that for the past 2 days now. i would think if it was really broken i wouldnt get the message.

HDNet is working fine on DirecTV.


By the way, if any of you guys have a chance to catch "The Dinner Game" on HDNetMovies, it is definitely laugh out loud funny at times.

My wife dragged me (reluctantly) to see "Knocked Up" last night and I can say without a doubt that I have not laughed out loud that many times in a movie anytime in the past 10 years. Definitely a must see.

I must be in a recommending mood at the moment...

you must be... and knocked up looked pretty damn funny but since its a universal its a hd-dvd flick which means i will be renting it. its better than the crappy theaters esp on the new projector.

and i figured it was a suddenlink issue or my box issue but since im getting the screen that shows up when you dont get a channel its not just a black screen and i figured its something wrong with sl and not the hdnet feed or my box. but if others are getting it i will place a call.

I know that's what it says but the show is delivered 720p 4:3 with Dolby Surround and we pass it through as is.

I can't make video on the sides that isn't there.

I wasn't posting to criticize. I was just trying to get information, that's all. If shows are not in HD, that is fine. I wasn't sure if FOX does the "switch of the button" deal like other stations. I'm just a regular viewer of FOX and was curious. I apologize if my comments offended you in any way. You do 100x more for us than any other station out there. I personally, appreciate your input with this board. Remember, a lot of people come to this board when they have problems and do not know how to resolve them. No criticism intended.

-Eric

I wasn't posting to criticize. I was just trying to get information, that's all. If shows are not in HD, that is fine. I wasn't sure if FOX does the "switch of the button" deal like other stations. I'm just a regular viewer of FOX and was curious. I apologize if my comments offended you in any way. You do 100x more for us than any other station out there. I personally, appreciate your input with this board. Remember, a lot of people come to this board when they have problems and do not know how to resolve them. No criticism intended.

-Eric

Thanks for the positive comments.

As to the issue of HD/SD switching, I agree with you that the other network stations switching delays (or totally not switching) is irritating. Especially ABC.

When we installed our HD pass-through equipment we added full HD control to our on-air automation system and incorporated an automated HD program delay server for The WB (Now MyNetwork-Darn It!).

All HD switching is programmed into the automation system and accomplished with no operator intervention.

All local commercial breaks are rolled with TOD events (Both FOX and MyN) and our computers are synchronized to network by GPS.

(Except during sports of course when they are rolled manually by operators)

We make an extra effort to keep our operation clean and efficient and I hope it shows!

I dont know if anyone has paid attention to D*TV, but their new HD lineup coming this fall is amazing.

A&E
National Geographic
Bravo
NFL Network
Cartoon Nothing
SciFi Channel
CNN
Speed
Food Network
TBS
Big Ten Network
The History Channel
HGTV
The Weather Channel
MTV
USA Network
Disney Channel
Versus HD
Toon Disney
TLC
ABC Family
Animal Planet
ESPNNEWS HD
The Science Channel
Starz E/W/ feeds
Discovery Channel
Starz Edge
The Tennis Channel
Starz Comedy
Showtime West
Starz Kids & Family
The Movie Channel
CNBC
Chiller

This is on top of what they already offer.

Along with this list they are also launching local HD in 75+ markets. A family member of mine said he received a mailing from D*TV stating this market will be one of those 75+ markets. Hopefully he is right and not pulling my leg. Im sold now, bye-bye S*Link!!!

I have D* currently, but haven't migrated over to the MPEG-4 system yet. Still trying to figure out how I'll handle that install since I'm still "moved" in Houston. I probably won't do anything until the new channels are actually up.

That is an impressive list though. I'm sure some won't be live until 2008.

hey fox44... do we have a new logo? im seeing a new foxhd logo with the hd very small.

I have D* currently, but haven't migrated over to the MPEG-4 system yet. Still trying to figure out how I'll handle that install since I'm still "moved" in Houston. I probably won't do anything until the new channels are actually up.

That is an impressive list though. I'm sure some won't be live until 2008.

Well, if you don't want to move back I guess you could always buy it from a place like http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=HR20-AT9WB68&xzoom=Large#xview and do the install yourself.

but if b/cs locals are added there really is no reason to "stay" in houston... granted then you will be dealing with crappy abc like the rest of us.

if directv gets cablecards going (or whatever their media center tuners are) i will def consider them again. but getting 4 tuners in media center is pretty much a requirement for me these days. (same applies for dish) or fios if they ever make it here.

hey fox44... do we have a new logo? im seeing a new foxhd logo with the hd very small.

That is the new FOXHD logo that we put in the splicer Friday.

FOX has dropped the searchlights from their logo.

We will be broadcasting the splicer output on KYLE within the week so the logo needed to be generic.

(Hence no channel number)

So what kind of antennas are you guys running? Just got a 1080p set as a present and I tried various rabbit ear and dish style antennas but can't seem to get any channels from OTA just 480i. I live right off 2818 and Villa if that helps. I'm surprised how many digital channels are showing on titiantv too. CW/NBC weren't on there last week for some odd reason and they are on there now. Any info or help would be much appreciated.

Oh good job Fox44! Nice to see some one keeping us updated.

So what kind of antennas are you guys running? Just got a 1080p set as a present and I tried various rabbit ear and dish style antennas but can't seem to get any channels from OTA just 480i. I live right off 2818 and Villa if that helps. I'm surprised how many digital channels are showing on titiantv too. CW/NBC weren't on there last week for some odd reason and they are on there now. Any info or help would be much appreciated.

Have you tried www.antennaweb.org to see what type/size antenna you need for your location? Also, dumb question, have you done the digital channel scan on your set to see if it finds any, something that must be done before trying to receive any ATSC channels?

I have D* currently, but haven't migrated over to the MPEG-4 system yet. Still trying to figure out how I'll handle that install since I'm still "moved" in Houston. I probably won't do anything until the new channels are actually up.

That is an impressive list though. I'm sure some won't be live until 2008.

Dave, you can get the non-DVR box shipped to any address through the D* website. The DVR requires an install though. They're picking up my dead HD-TiVo (minus 2 big storage devices) this Friday, and giving/leasing me the new box for $99. I also got another H20 for free. I guess they'll also drop off another bigass dish. I plan on using it at the tailgate this year. Get this though, I changed addresses from Spring to Montgomery, and once again I didn't lose any DNS feeds. However, the person who changed my address wasn't a regular CSR. I ordered the HD-DVR to be installed at the wrong/old service address. The next day I called the number for order problems provided on the receipt, and they cancelled/resubmitted my order as well as changing my address. While she was trying to reconfigure my order, she asked if I could just go pick up the gear at the wrong address. This fell through when she contacted the install group and realized the gear was shipped to the installer and not the address.

which games are you going to be coming up here for spank? that bigass dish is gonna look funny out at a tailgate. Plus if you would be coming up for one of the games one of the websites i help out with has a tailgate for every major sport but none of us have a dish acct. would be nice if you had any extras. i think we are going to have a hdtv there this year.

So what kind of antennas are you guys running? Just got a 1080p set as a present and I tried various rabbit ear and dish style antennas but can't seem to get any channels from OTA just 480i. I live right off 2818 and Villa if that helps. I'm surprised how many digital channels are showing on titiantv too. CW/NBC weren't on there last week for some odd reason and they are on there now. Any info or help would be much appreciated.

If you point an antenna up 2818 toward Sandy Point you should be able to pick up KYLE-DT (Actual channel=29).

Our tower is just past Sandy Point on 2818. 28.2 is FOX HD.

Have you tried to see what type/size antenna you need for your location? Also, dumb question, have you done the digital channel scan on your set to see if it finds any, something that must be done before trying to receive any ATSC channels?

If you mean letting it scan and adding the channels to the onboard memory then yes. Haven't had any chances to try it at night b/c of work but a friend of mine told me if the station is HD that it would convert to that format at all times. I figured during the day when most programs aren't HD that it'd switch to 480i and at night it'd switch to the HD but I'm probably wrong. I have another friend who has rabbit ears and they work just fine for him :confused:

yeah it doesnt matter when you scan.... and you should expect to get cbs, pbs and fox here with an antenna. you probably wont be getting abc or nbc locally w/o suddenlink.

If you mean letting it scan and adding the channels to the onboard memory then yes. Haven't had any chances to try it at night b/c of work but a friend of mine told me if the station is HD that it would convert to that format at all times. I figured during the day when most programs aren't HD that it'd switch to 480i and at night it'd switch to the HD but I'm probably wrong. I have another friend who has rabbit ears and they work just fine for him :confused:


I haven't seen a station yet that switches between 480i and 720p or 1080i, they usually just send out the 720p/1080i signal 24x7. But you are correct, most non-time programming is still SD/4:3. You are getting the ATSC station if the channel number is something like 7.1 or 34.1, if it's just the number without the .1 then it is the NTSC/SD channel and not the ATSC channel.

My dad agreed to pay some of the cable bill if he got to watch his games on the tv so I gave in and got SuddenLink. The only thing I can say is that the new DLP tv's from Mitsu are annoying to work with everything too since they want to be the central hub of everything. Still getting surround sound problems but that's because the tv is fighting with my audio reciever. Other than that everything looks great. PBS and Discovery are amazing to watch. I would have gone with Direct but I hear they are about to change dishes and I don't want to be caught in the middle and having to pay new upgrade fees.

To Rad - Yeah I was getting those but the Mitsu tv tries to act as it's own decoder so I had to do basically everything twice as much. Got PBS only this way. KBTX wasn't that great but as you've read already it doesn't matter at this point.

To Jag - Pretty much! I'm just going to wait it out and see which provider can give me the most channels for less around December and decide what to do from there. Right now I'm enjoying the quality. Can't wait to see the last Spurs game in HD.

yeah i have sl for now too.... its really a shame they cost so much though because they are forcing me to look elsewhere as soon as somebody else has hd locals here.

Yeah I hear ya. I'll probably go Direct once they actually get more channels than SL. When I inquired about their HD service it was pretty much what SL was offering and around 70 bucks for their HD package but for what I'm paying now I can get the NFL pack, college pack, nascar pack, and what not. One of the biggest draws for Sat/Cable is watching PPV at home now instead of some noisy bar.

I haven't seen a station yet that switches between 480i and 720p or 1080i, they usually just send out the 720p/1080i signal 24x7. But you are correct, most non-time programming is still SD/4:3. You are getting the ATSC station if the channel number is something like 7.1 or 34.1, if it's just the number without the .1 then it is the NTSC/SD channel and not the ATSC channel.

To further clarify your post.....

FCC "must-carry" rules only require cable companies to pass through local channels if their format is consistent. (480i, 720p or 1080i)

Also it would cause a serious video interupption if the station switched formats between network programming and local commercial breaks.

Since we have to buy equipment to up-convert commercials, we up-convert it all.

As a result of this, all of the stations that I know of convert their Master Control output analog-to-digital 480i and then upconvert to match their network format.

Quality of up-conversion equipment varies from station to station. (We use Evertz)

In the case of FOX, the splicer will only accept a 720p 59.94 fps local input from master control so that's what we feed it.

By the way, we installed a new HD encoder last week and are now carrying MyNetwork full 15 MBits bandwidth. Anybody notice the difference?

I have D* currently, but haven't migrated over to the MPEG-4 system yet. Still trying to figure out how I'll handle that install since I'm still "moved" in Houston. I probably won't do anything until the new channels are actually up.

That is an impressive list though. I'm sure some won't be live until 2008.

"Move" to your actual service address until the install is done. Then "move" back the next day. CSRs don't care and no one takes note of how often you move.

Yeah, that's probably what I'll do.

Are there any forum posters from the Waco area getting Dallas-Fort Worth OTA DTV? What is your setup if you are? .... Specifically, antenna type(s), amplifiers, splitters/combiners, length of cable runs, etc.

Same question for Bryan-CS posters, what is your set up to get Houston stations?

It's not consistent but in the evenings/overnights I can generally get KERA OTA. That's using Radio Shack unamped rabbit ears.

If you're with DirecTV or Dish, and you want Dallas locals, the best way to go is to "move" to a Dallas DMA address. You'll get every Dallas station. Then you use your OTA antenna to get the Waco locals. Best of both worlds. Valley Mills works fine for a Dallas DMA address.

Got a question for you guys. Do you need a phone line when you subscribe to D*TV or D*SH? Just curious, since I never been a subscriber to either service.

Got a question for you guys. Do you need a phone line when you subscribe to D*TV or D*SH? Just curious, since I never been a subscriber to either service.

Both services say that you need one, especially if you have multiple receivers on the account. With that said, no you really don't, as long as you don't order pay per views or such via the remote. IIRC, Dish receivers also use the phone line for some of their interactive applications, such as checking your account. Dish also charges an extra fee if you have one of their receivers that can support two TV's, such as the 622, unless it's connected to a phone line.

There have been reports of the Dish 'audit police' calling folks with multiple receivers and asking them to read some information from the receiver to help verify that all the receivers are in the same location. I haven't heard of DirecTV doing this so far.

DirecTV10 launches (http://www.ilslaunch.com/zmedia/newsarchives/newsreleases/rec71/)

DirecTV10 launches (http://www.ilslaunch.com/zmedia/newsarchives/newsreleases/rec71/)

<crickets chirping> ;)

still good for directv to finally start to catchup to everybody else in the hd dept and pass a few of them in the process. more competition is always better.

:D

Sitting on hold for my upgrade to the MPEG-4 equipment. I "moved" back to CS to get the install. I'll just move back to Houston after the install. Didn't have to haggle one bit and am getting the install for free. My guess is $20 for shipping. Going to try to get a few service credits as well.

Edit... Install is this Friday. Only could get Showtime for a few months. I'm happy with the deal though.

Dave, I am about ready to pull the trigger on that deal as well. I had called about two weeks ago on another technical matter, and while waiting for a reboot talked about maybe getting the new HD-DVR. I was getting really excited when the CSR was telling me I could get it for just 19.95 for shipping AND they would ship it to me, but then she dug deeper in the system and said there was no self-install option on it, which meant pro-install only. :( Looks like there will be some moving going on in the next few days. :D
Just curious, when did you call to order? Just wondering how long it takes from time of order to install.

I called Monday morning around 7:30am to change my service address. They then transferred me to upgrades after that. They initially were just going to send me another Tivo, but I said I wanted the upgrade not a repair. After that she said it would be $199, not the $19.95 for shipping. I said no, that won't work and that plenty of people have gotten the full upgrade for that price. A minute on hold and she was able to give it to me. I don't know if it helped that I was out of contract and haven't gotten anything in awhile. The install is this Friday. I'll call back on Friday after the install to change my service address again.

Dave -

Let us know how that goes. Did you have to re-up for 2 years to pull that off?

Michael

Will do. Yes, I did have to re-up for 2 yrs. That doesn't bother me as I will never switch to SL unless they pay me.

How do you go about changing your service address? Do you just call them up and give them some address in Houston as the new service address? I cannot stand having SD locals...thanks

Yep, that's pretty much it. I use an empty lot that my inlaws own. D* doesn't really care. I'll probably keep the Houston channels even when D* adds our locals. I could care less what's happening in Waco and I get KBTX / KAMU via the antenna.

Recommendations on antennas to pick up the BCS locals? I'm up in Bryan and they are in every direction from me.

The installer is here now. This should be a very easy install as he only has to put up the dish. I already grabbed the box (HR20-100 in silver :() and hooked it up. He currently "lives" in San Antonio for his locals, hehe.

So, how did the install go? Are you already back in H-town? :D

Recommendations on antennas to pick up the BCS locals? I'm up in Bryan and they are in every direction from me.
Are you wanting to use an antenna indoors or outdoors? For indoors the Silver Sensor (made by Zenith?) is highly regarded. It is UHF only, but often will pick up high VHF channels like our PBS station. If you live in a house that has the foil insulation in the attic, indoor reception may be problematic. Outdoors would obviously be better, and one of the common VHF/UHF combos from Lowes/Home Depot/Radio Shack should work pretty well. As you may have guessed aiming may be a little tricky, but it is often possible to find a "happy medium" where all three locals will have adequate signal. Good luck, and let us know if you find something that works.

So, how did the install go? Are you already back in H-town? :D

The install went just fine since all he had to do was put up the Slimline dish. I was out of town for the weekend, so I went back to Houston on Sunday. I'm anxious to do some A-B comparisons of OTA and MPEG-4. Oh, and I still have the two O&O DNS NY stations as well, ABC and Fox. I guess those will eventually get shut off.

That is the new FOXHD logo that we put in the splicer Friday.

FOX has dropped the searchlights from their logo.

We will be broadcasting the splicer output on KYLE within the week so the logo needed to be generic.

(Hence no channel number)

Suddenlink Cable channel 705 is now KYLE-HD. Please check it out and comment.

Suddenlink Cable channel 705 is now KYLE-HD. Please check it out and comment.
It looks good. Watched "Don't Forget The Lyrics" in HD and it looked good. No pixelization<sp?> problems, or any other problems. Thanks!

It looks good. Watched "Don't Forget The Lyrics" in HD and it looked good. No pixelization<sp?> problems, or any other problems. Thanks!

Thanks for the reply....Anyone else?

Didnt even notice it changed (and thats probably a good thing)

btw neomoon.... never got those game from you from last fall. do you still have them? (been reorganizing the vault and would like to add a few hd sourced ones)

Didnt even notice it changed (and thats probably a good thing)

btw neomoon.... never got those game from you from last fall. do you still have them? (been reorganizing the vault and would like to add a few hd sourced ones)

Thanks Jag.....You must be one of those guys who goes to the bathroom during local breaks.

Don't tell anyone....Those spots pay my salary.......................:)

Suddenlink Cable channel 705 is now KYLE-HD. Please check it out and comment.

Got a problem with FOX-HD on Suddenlink Ch. 705. The audio is missing. Anyone else having this same problem? Fox44CE, are you aware of any problems?

yeah the mynetwork movie doesnt have audio.... lights up as 2.0 but nothing there.

yeah the mynetwork movie doesnt have audio.... lights up as 2.0 but nothing there.

The symtoms you describe inicate an audio switch problem before the HD encoder at the Bryan transmitter site rather than a Suddenlink problem.

My assistent is in Bryan today installing a Suddenlink HD box and HD slingbox in the office on Broadmore. (More bandwidth available there than the DSL at the xmttr)

We have set up a computer here to receive it and convert it to 480i widescreen.

It has been added to our logging system which records Video and audio from all four stations (KWKT-TV, KWKT-DT, KYLE-TV and KYLE-DT).

Once this is completed I will be able to view any time period for the last six months to verify and troubleshoot any problems that arise.

He will be going by the tranmitter site to check out the switching before returning to Waco.

Thanks for the input guys. We continue to try our best to provide you the best quality HD in the market.........................:)

The symtoms you describe inicate an audio switch problem before the HD encoder at the Bryan transmitter site rather than a Suddenlink problem.

My assistent is in Bryan today installing a Suddenlink HD box and HD slingbox in the office on Broadmore. (More bandwidth available there than the DSL at the xmttr)

We have set up a computer here to receive it and convert it to 480i widescreen.

It has been added to our logging system which records Video and audio from all four stations (KWKT-TV, KWKT-DT, KYLE-TV and KYLE-DT).

Once this is completed I will be able to view any time period for the last six months to verify and troubleshoot any problems that arise.

He will be going by the tranmitter site to check out the switching before returning to Waco.

Thanks for the input guys. We continue to try our best to provide you the best quality HD in the market.........................:)

My assistant found the HD Decoder at the transmitter site was not embedding audio. Resetting the decoder fixed the problem.

We have a 16 channel audio monitoring system (With a very loud alarm) here at the studio and will be connecting the KYLE-HD StremBox computer to it so that Master Control is aware if this happens again.

I will also set up a method to reset both decoders from Waco via the KYLE remote control system.

Again, thanks for the input. It is an invaluable assist to us..................:)

Thank you very much for checking out the problem. Sounds like you guys are really on top of things for current and future problems. Really wish all the networks were as good as you guys. You are the best. Thank you!!!

Well, I did the upgrade to the new DirecTV HD-DVR yesterday. I was surprised they scheduled it for a Sunday, but it was the earliest they would do it for, or about 1-1/2 weeks after I called. The installer said they recently went to Sunday installs since they are so backed up. Calling to order it was somewhat of an ordeal itself, they tried to give me the runaround since the first CSR I talked to a few weeks ago didn't note on my account what the offer was. Although the installer never asked directly, and I never volunteered, I think he suspected that I wasn't actually "moving" back to B/CS. It was mentioned at some point that I would like to keep the Houston locals if possible, and so far nothing has changed with my channel line-up. :)
We do miss not having two tuners with their own buffers to switch between. :( I do feel like the OTA tuner is much more sensitive than the Tivo version. A couple of channels that would either rarely come in or would have persistent break-ups now seem to come in pretty consistently. Anyway, at least now I'm ready to PVR the new HD channels in Sept. :cool:

We're still getting used to the D* DVR as well, but I'm actually happy with it. They recently added the auto-correct on FF, which makes FF'ing so much easier. Dual-buffers would be nice, but I can live with it.

Right now my eyes can't see a huge difference between OTA and MPEG-4. At least I don't have to hope for the right weather to get NBC out of Houston now. :)

There is a work around for the dual buffers, put both shows in record and then you can use your 'list' to jump between the two.

I haven't used it yet but the idea seems solid.

Also, I like how it puts multiple episodes of the same show into a folder to keep from cluttering up the list.

If you go to the dbstalk forums they have a whole section for the new HR20 plus tips and suggestions for re-creating similar features for Tivo converts.

My only complaint against my HR20 is the lack of a RGB/DB15 output so I'm going to have to buy some kind of converter box to get it to work with my old RCA HDTV set.

I'm also going to hook up my two units to my home LAN because it will allow you play music and some other stuff that they're slowly adding to the unit.

My assistant found the HD Decoder at the transmitter site was not embedding audio. Resetting the decoder fixed the problem.

We have a 16 channel audio monitoring system (With a very loud alarm) here at the studio and will be connecting the KYLE-HD StremBox computer to it so that Master Control is aware if this happens again.

I will also set up a method to reset both decoders from Waco via the KYLE remote control system.

Again, thanks for the input. It is an invaluable assist to us..................:)

While reviewing my MediaView recorder this morning I found a lip synch issue on the KYLE SD feed and also no audio on the HD feed last night. (SYTYCD & DFTL)

The lip synch issue was due to a power failure that chaged the programming of my SD up-converter (which I changed this AM) and we are going down today with an AES audio analyzer to track down the loss of audio problem on the HD feed.

Rest assured I will not rest untill this never happens again!

While reviewing my MediaView recorder this morning I found a lip synch issue on the KYLE SD feed and also no audio on the HD feed last night. (SYTYCD & DFTL)

The lip synch issue was due to a power failure that chaged the programming of my SD up-converter (which I changed this AM) and we are going down today with an AES audio analyzer to track down the loss of audio problem on the HD feed.

Rest assured I will not rest untill this never happens again!

We found an issue with the HD decoder that produced audio lockout when it switched from FOX Dolby 5/1 audio to My Network Dolby 2/0 that was leaving it in the wrong mode.

We changed the setup for automatic audio embedding and we'll see how that works.

I also set up the remote computer there to allow me to Telnet into the decoder and change settings as needed.

I had to order an 8 channel audio level convertor before I can connect the SlingBox computer to the Studio Audio Alarm so it will be a while before we can monitor it full time.

(The operators can't listen to the four stations on speakers because of the delays between them)

Bear with me, I'm working on it as fast as I can................................:)

Howdy everyone - new Texan here transplanted from Michigan.

To anyone with D* HD...what's with the digital (HD) locals showing up in the program guide? Anyone know if they're planning on adding them soon?

Don't expect D* HD locals anytime soon for the Waco / B/CS market. Maybe next year, who knows.

If you want HD locals via D* you'll need to change your service address to something in the larger markets of Texas, ie. Houston, D/FW or San Antonio.

We found an issue with the HD decoder that produced audio lockout when it switched from FOX Dolby 5/1 audio to My Network Dolby 2/0 that was leaving it in the wrong mode.

We changed the setup for automatic audio embedding and we'll see how that works.

I also set up the remote computer there to allow me to Telnet into the decoder and change settings as needed.

I had to order an 8 channel audio level convertor before I can connect the SlingBox computer to the Studio Audio Alarm so it will be a while before we can monitor it full time.

(The operators can't listen to the four stations on speakers because of the delays between them)

Bear with me, I'm working on it as fast as I can................................:)

i figured something was going on because it was weird to see fox programming in 2.0.

Howdy everyone - new Texan here transplanted from Michigan.

To anyone with D* HD...what's with the digital (HD) locals showing up in the program guide? Anyone know if they're planning on adding them soon?
If you put a local Zip Code in when you set your receiver up, it uses that info to put our local OTA HD channels in the guide, even though some of our "locals" may be 80-90 miles away. What channel numbers are you seeing? If they are 9-1, 25-1, etc. then your box is showing what it thinks you should be getting on an antenna. We probably won't be getting true HD locals by sat for some months now. What receiver are you using?

If you put a local Zip Code in when you set your receiver up, it uses that info to put our local OTA HD channels in the guide, even though some of our "locals" may be 80-90 miles away. What channel numbers are you seeing? If they are 9-1, 25-1, etc. then your box is showing what it thinks you should be getting on an antenna. We probably won't be getting true HD locals by sat for some months now. What receiver are you using?

That makes sense. I forgot about the integrated program guide - using the H20. And yes, the tech who set it up put in the local zip. Thanks for the info...

i figured something was going on because it was weird to see fox programming in 2.0.

Any comments on the quality of the Cowboys pre-season game last night?

NOTE: We stared the game hard switched to KWKT just to make sure it was HD.

Once the game started we switched the breaks to KYLE and back to FOX HD during segments.

My assistent stayed down there to monitor itfor correct timing.

We had to start My Network early becuase FOX dumped out 10 minutes early.

looked good here... and now know why the kwkt tag thing came up every so often.

one thing thats a bit odd. but when there are local commercials now the top few lines have some sort of garbage (like scan lines). Its not a huge deal but one of those little things would be nice to see fixed.

looked good here... and now know why the kwkt tag thing came up every so often.

one thing thats a bit odd. but when there are local commercials now the top few lines have some sort of garbage (like scan lines). Its not a huge deal but one of those little things would be nice to see fixed.

You were seeing the end of the commercial break running on KWKT when it was longer than the break on KYLE. We changed switching control from the KYLE Master Control Switcher over to the KWKT Switcher and that doesn't happen now.

The Evertz up-convertor that we use on KWKT-HD had adjustable vertical blanking and I have the first and last five lines blanked out so they don't appear in your HD pisture frame.

They aren't usually visible on a standard definition set because of overscan but will show up on an HD set becuase it displays the full 480 lines.

The new up-convertor that we use in Bryan doesn't allow for that adjustment.

I should be able to block out those lines with the processing amplifier that I use in Waco at the output of the KYLE On-Air Swirtcher or in the frame synchronizer.

I'll look into it and let you know. Thanks for the feedback :)

I'm curious to know if anyone has any idea about what Drewery plans to do with KSCM-LP. They purchased it a while ago and I haven't heard if they were going to use that for HD or Telemundo.. or what. Just curious.

Hello all!

I was rather pleased to come upon a forum with so many locals and so much information on local HD programming. I am new to the HD market having just purchased a new TV. I have gone back an read from about page 169 forward and there is ton of good info here. I have a multitude of questions but I figured I would ask the most important and follow along with you all to discover the rest.

I currently have Dish and I am upgrading to HD programming. I have seen some talk of HD locals out of Houston; any truth to that? I also have seen a number of people here "move" to the big city of their choice for locals; has anyone done this on Dish?

I also want to pickup OTA HD, nothing crazy, just the easy ones to get like Fox and whatnot. Can I get away with an indoor amplified Best Buy crapo antenna? BTW I am at 2818 and Villa.

Thanks for the help and I look forward to contributing in the future.

Where you are a cheapo would work fine for fox and pbs... you will probably have trouble getting cbs from where you are on a cheap antenna. CBS HD tower is located in carlos and you are on the opposite side of the city.

HD locals dont exist yet on either directv or dish for waco/bcs. Moving to houston is a possibility but they have are much more strict these days about allowing you to move. Your best bet if you have family or good friends in houston who dont plan on getting dish anytime soon is to let them install equipment at their address and just take it all down and bring it to b/cs.

Where you are a cheapo would work fine for fox and pbs... you will probably have trouble getting cbs from where you are on a cheap antenna. CBS HD tower is located in carlos and you are on the opposite side of the city.

HD locals dont exist yet on either directv or dish for waco/bcs. Moving to houston is a possibility but they have are much more strict these days about allowing you to move. Your best bet if you have family or good friends in houston who dont plan on getting dish anytime soon is to let them install equipment at their address and just take it all down and bring it to b/cs.

I do have fam in Houston but it would be pain in the rear to have an installer set up everything in the house just to haul it all back up to CS. Any way to work the, "I'm moving, and I am going to move the equipment myself angle?"

I am guess I will look into a bit beefier antenna to get CBS OTA. Doesn't seem worth paying alot more though, maybe $50. Any good $100 antennas out there? Or, just check out Home Depot, Radio Shack, etc.?

Just get an outdoor antenna... the cheap version of those will be good enough. I was thinking you were talking cheap indoor antennas.

I dont know if you can with dish or not.... havent had either one recently since i moved back to cable a year or so ago.

Well guys, my wife and I just moved back to BCS! Houston just wasn't for us. Anyway, we'll be living in an apartment for a while and I had a quick question for you cable guys. The apartment complex has free basic cable. My TV has QAM capabilities. Will I be able to get the locals in HD? Thanks in advance!

the locals.... nothing beyond those but you should be able to get locals. the only issue would be if they use suddenlink vs some wierd cable provider (a few apts dont use suddenlink)

You should get the locals no problem. I get the HD locals and music channels on our bedroom TV that has a QAM tuner.

Anyone having problems with FOX-HD tonight? The picture keepings jumping every 15 seconds. Trying to figure out if it is my set-top box, Suddenlink, or FOX-HD.

Well I picked up a cheap indoor amplified antenna from Best Buy, a TERK. The funny thing is I get CBS on 3.1 and CW on 3.2 clear as a bell. I get KAMU on 12.1, 2 and 3. But I can't do anything to get FOX on 28.1. I get FOX analog on 28 fairly clear but no amount of automatic station searching or me manually entering 28.1 can get to the digital. I tried adjusting the gain and rotating the vanes both with and without the amplifier on. Any ideas on this one?

EDIT: Just saw the latest message, maybe something is wrong with the broadcast and that is why I am not getting it.

I was getting the same thing last night.... must be some sort of signal issue to bryan.

foxeng.... im sure you are sick of this by now but just letting you know.

tonight fox is still breaking up every 10 secs or so and the audio is locked into 2.0 mode again so we arent getting any sound. (local commercials have sound but it doesnt switch back to 5.1 for hd content). Also during local commercials the breakups stop.

Anyone having problems with FOX-HD tonight? The picture keepings jumping every 15 seconds. Trying to figure out if it is my set-top box, Suddenlink, or FOX-HD.


I'm still having no picture with FOX HD on Suddenlink.

Oh yeah is that ABC station out of Waco ever going to stop treating the B/CS area like a red headed stepchild?

The worst HD channel locally.

We have an HD SlingBox installed in our Bryan office on Broadmore connected to a Suddenlink HD cable box and it is recieving Suddenlink KYLE-HD fine.

I reviewed our recording from 12:00PM to 1 :00PM and it never broke up. It sounds like you need to call Suddenlink.

We did have some problems Thursday and Friday with our OTA reception of HD at the KYLE transmitter site but that was corrected before Saturday night.

Blue Star (Dallas Cowboys Preseason) is not fed in HD except in Dallas.

We are delaying FOX until after the Blue Star games and it will not be HD.

We are airing My Network following FOX prime in HD and SD followed by Mad TV and Spike TV in SD only.

[QUOTE=kwc5811;11297903]Well I picked up a cheap indoor amplified antenna from Best Buy, a TERK. The funny thing is I get CBS on 3.1 and CW on 3.2 clear as a bell. I get KAMU on 12.1, 2 and 3. But I can't do anything to get FOX on 28.1. I get FOX analog on 28 fairly clear but no amount of automatic station searching or me manually entering 28.1 can get to the digital. I tried adjusting the gain and rotating the vanes both with and without the amplifier on. Any ideas on this one?

KYLE-DT is on OTA 29.

You may need to manually tume your TV to 29 to get it to map 28.1.

This is because KWKT-TV [28] is 2 MegaWatss vs KYLE-DT[29] 5 KW.

Most 8VSB tuners can't differentiate the two on scan.

Hello gentlemen. Long time since I've posed a question to the group...

I've got a question... I've got the new dish and new receivers coming in about a week or so. My service address is currently here in CS (grandfathered O&O NBC and ABC).

Are there any current issues with "moving" to Houston that I should be aware of before I call to move? Seems like I remember Jag saying something about them being more strict somehow lately?...

Thanks guys.

Michael

No problems at all. I "moved" back to CS to get my install and then "moved" back to Houston two days after the install. I still have O&O ABC and Fox out of NY as well.

I still have no picture on FOX HD.I'm getting it through the QAM tuner in my tv.


Do you guys think if I call Suddenlink to complain would they try to correct it since I'm not paying to get the four local HD channels?

Hey guys...I need some help.

At work here in BCS I am trying to do some testing with a Clear QAM TV tuner card and integration in some software that we write. For some reason, I am unable to tune any of the clear QAM channels. I even have my daughters 15" LCD with a QAM tuner installed. At my house it tunes just fine (I do have full digital cable service, etc.)

Here at the office, all we have is basic cable. We called up suddenlink and here is the list of stuff they told me that I needed to add to our account in order to receive the 4 or 5 QAM channels.

Variety Tier of Channels - 10.50$
Digital Access - 35$
HD Signal - 8$
HD Converter - 15$
Expanded Tier - 26$


Does that sound right? I know right off the bat that I don't need a converter, but the other stuff seems excessive. I know at one point there was some digital gateway. Do they still have that?

Thanks!!!

ttt

I lost FoxHD and ABC-HD. They used to be on 42.1 and something high for ABC, but I'm not getting anything at all anymore. Also, I've never gotten the CW on 3.2. Does it matter that I'm using my QAM tuner to get these channels through my cable without a box instead of OTA? I still get NBC, CBS, and PBS just fine.

Hey guys...I need some help.

At work here in BCS I am trying to do some testing with a Clear QAM TV tuner card and integration in some software that we write. For some reason, I am unable to tune any of the clear QAM channels. I even have my daughters 15" LCD with a QAM tuner installed. At my house it tunes just fine (I do have full digital cable service, etc.)

Here at the office, all we have is basic cable. We called up suddenlink and here is the list of stuff they told me that I needed to add to our account in order to receive the 4 or 5 QAM channels.

Variety Tier of Channels - 10.50$
Digital Access - 35$
HD Signal - 8$
HD Converter - 15$
Expanded Tier - 26$


Does that sound right? I know right off the bat that I don't need a converter, but the other stuff seems excessive. I know at one point there was some digital gateway. Do they still have that?

Thanks!!!
no you dont need any of the hd stuff to tune the clear qam channels.... but since you mentioned work their business network might be different than the home. you might need the digital access though.

I lost FoxHD and ABC-HD. They used to be on 42.1 and something high for ABC, but I'm not getting anything at all anymore. Also, I've never gotten the CW on 3.2. Does it matter that I'm using my QAM tuner to get these channels through my cable without a box instead of OTA? I still get NBC, CBS, and PBS just fine.
Ill check media center when I get home but I havent had the channels change on me....

Jag....Thanks. I know that I need at least something, as I can't get any QAM with the packages that are selected. I'll try having the Digital Access added.

Those of you in Houston (D*) - Do the Houston HD local channels come in mpeg2 or mpeg4?

If mpeg 2 - what channels do they officially register as?

OK, I found them. Still no CW...but Fox is now 82.2 and ABC I found on 91.1 or so...and I found out I get the National Geographic HD channel on 117.1 for free now I guess. Had to do a full scan and reedit all my channels this morning. :( Also I'm getting Starz Kids and Family on 111.10 for free for some odd reason.

well for some reason my channels are all still fine..... im going to rescan anyhow to see if i can start tuning ngchd (would be a nice added channel to media center). would be really nice if they screwed up and gave us espnhd.

EDIT: I did find MCGHD and have it running in media center.... wonder how long this will last?

speaking of suddenlink has anybody noticed a speed upgrade in the hsi? for some reason im now getting 8.0 mbit down and 512k up. It has now been like this 2 days in a row (i wrote off the first day as a screwup or something of that sort) but now that Ive seen similar speeds 2 days in a row im thinking there might be something to this.

hey foxeng... kyleHD is stuck in 2.0 mode again and has some annoying popping in the audio when playing a fox show (the commercials are fine)

Those of you in Houston (D*) - Do the Houston HD local channels come in mpeg2 or mpeg4?

If mpeg 2 - what channels do they officially register as?

The Houston HD locals, and all HD locals except for NY and LA as far as I know, are on mpeg4 spotbeams from the fairly new Spaceway sats. You need one of the newer receivers to get them. In the guide they show as the analog channel number along with the call letters of the station, such as "11 KHOU". The regular SD channels are in mpeg2. Hope that helps.

It does. Thanks.

well for some reason my channels are all still fine..... im going to rescan anyhow to see if i can start tuning ngchd (would be a nice added channel to media center). would be really nice if they screwed up and gave us espnhd.

EDIT: I did find MCGHD and have it running in media center.... wonder how long this will last?

speaking of suddenlink has anybody noticed a speed upgrade in the hsi? for some reason im now getting 8.0 mbit down and 512k up. It has now been like this 2 days in a row (i wrote off the first day as a screwup or something of that sort) but now that Ive seen similar speeds 2 days in a row im thinking there might be something to this.

Thanks Jag;

I'll get my assistant on it today............:)

I know it's off topic. Jag, I confirm your speed on S*Link HSI. Got D: 8131kbps and U: 539kbps

yeah its wierd... comes and goes for me. must be in a testing mode or something but about 50% of the time i get 8mbit and the rest its locked at 4mbit.

OK, I found them. Still no CW...but Fox is now 82.2 and ABC I found on 9211 or so...and I found out I get the National Geographic HD channel on 117.1 for free now I guess. Had to do a full scan and reedit all my channels this morning. :( Also I'm getting Starz Kids and Family on 111.10 for free for some odd reason.



Well consider yourself lucky I am still not getting Fox or ABC HD.


Does anybody know if Suddenlink is doing station maintenance for B/CS?

Suddenlink update!

So after about an hour on the phone with the idiots in the Business Sales department, being transferred between sales guys and tech guys I got it to work. They were so adamant about me having to have a cable box in order to receive any high-definition via cable.

Anyways...the problem ended up being on our end. We have the cable split off about a dozen ways and was going through some crappy Ratshack splitters that didn't go all the way up to 1GHz. After that, the channels came through free and clear.

I still need to put another amp in the line as my office is at the complete opposite corner of the buildings where the feed comes in. My little TV picks it up, but I am having problems with my pci-e tuner locking in the signal.


Jag...with your HDHR, do you get a good list of what the actual frequencies are that SL is mapping the channels. I am looking for some table that lists the OTA number versus the channel number and the actual frequency. Does such a beast exist?

Thanks!!!

Well I found National Geographic HD still no Fox or ABC HD.:mad:

chances are you have a bad splitter in your house or the line coming in is bad. i had a old splitter in my house as well and couldn't get nbc reliably until i replaced it. i would check that first.

as for the lineup i dont know if its posted anywhere but i doubt it. i could give you the hdhomerun version (media center) but each tv reads it a little different so it wont be of much help unless you have a media center running hdhomerun.

National Geo is on 117. For the moment it is unencrypt. Apparently there was someone here in town that was bitching about not getting that channel over their cable card. He was complaining that the cable card was causing the problem, so they temporarily made it a clear channel while they do some testing.

You should be able to find ABCHD on 91.22

FoxHD is supposed to be on 82.XX Don't know what XX is yet. I've got one of the head techs coming out here so we can figure it out. Apparently FoxHD is the hardest to get for some reason.

Here is the list that I have so far;

81.9 PBS
81.10 CBS
82.11 ?
82.12 NBC
91.22 ABC
102.43 Music
……. Music
102.89 Music

I found ABC HD still no Fox HD.


Jagouar I changed the splitter on the outside of the house a couple of days ago.All the splitters in the house have been changed by me in the past with gold plated splitters.



Like Bill was saying something funny is going on with Suddenlink's signal. Bill keep us updated after the tech comes and checks out the cable.TIA

National Geo is on 117. For the moment it is unencrypt. Apparently there was someone here in town that was bitching about not getting that channel over their cable card. He was complaining that the cable card was causing the problem, so they temporarily made it a clear channel while they do some testing.

You should be able to find ABCHD on 91.22

FoxHD is supposed to be on 82.XX Don't know what XX is yet. I've got one of the head techs coming out here so we can figure it out. Apparently FoxHD is the hardest to get for some reason.

Here is the list that I have so far;

81.9 PBS
81.10 CBS
82.11 ?
82.12 NBC
91.22 ABC
102.43 Music
……. Music
102.89 Music
Suddenlink is playing around with FOX HD and has switched it back to KWKT-HD without notifying us. I talked to the Chief Engineer today and he said that "someone" had determined that they could not recieve channel 29 reliably. (From less than 2 miles away?)

Apparently during this change it was removed from the clear channels and put in the digital tear. (sic?)

Since this is a violation of FCC rules and they don't have retransmission consent for KWKT-HD this is a matter for management and the lawyers to resolve. (Above my pay grade)

NOTE: FCC rules require that all broadcast channels be carried on cable "in the clear".

I have turned the issue over to my management here in Waco and at the corporate level.

wierd.... i have fox hd "in the clear" still.

and i can second what sl was saying for a while it was very unreliable (even though its probably their fault). it was constantly pixelating.

Wow that is a total suprise!:eek: What sucks about this is NFL football starts this Sunday.

Thanks for the update FOX44CE .

Ugh, FOX HD disappeared on me recently. At least ABC still works, but I want my HD football!

FOXCCE: FOX-HD is still in the "free hd channel tier" on the cable guide, when I changed to FOX-HD with my S*Link box the other day, it said I needed to subscribe to this channel. Then about 10 seconds later, it showed up ok as KWKT-HD. To me, it seemed like my Cable Box had to authorize the channel. I do pay for the digital and HD tiers, so that might be why it showed up. But the same message came up with my HD channels a few months ago when I first signed up for the HD-tier. Has anyone seen this lately, and have had problems?

Another quick question. Does KYLE and KWKT have the same programming when it comes to football games and coverage maps? I noticed the map for this week shows the Houston market not being able to get the Phili & G.B. game @ 1pm, while everyone else in the state (almost nation) will.

I'm glad that I can pick up the Waco stations with my OTA antenna as they are so far ahead of the Austin stations.

Ie. They broadcast MyNetworkTV in HD and some stations can overlay weather alerts without going back to the SD signal. So very often, I find myself watching Waco channels from Round Rock (just an antenna in the attic). I can pick up all but the PBS station and those that I do get come in reliably about 90% of the time.

It was quite a game today, and I'm glad we came away with a win. I was watching ESPN tonight and the highlights were in HD. Was anyone here able to see the game in HD?

thanks again to the Waco CBS station. Because them, those of us in Austin that want to watch the Texans (and have an antenna) can view them in HD.

The local CBS station in Austin has some love affair with Vince Young and doesn't show the Texans when the titans are playing at the same time.

So far, so good, on my reception of the Waco CBS station.

I guess an advantage to having no cable and only OTA is that I get 3 Noon NFL games to choose from, where those with cable only get 2 :D

FOXCCE: FOX-HD is still in the "free hd channel tier" on the cable guide, when I changed to FOX-HD with my S*Link box the other day, it said I needed to subscribe to this channel. Then about 10 seconds later, it showed up ok as KWKT-HD. To me, it seemed like my Cable Box had to authorize the channel. I do pay for the digital and HD tiers, so that might be why it showed up. But the same message came up with my HD channels a few months ago when I first signed up for the HD-tier. Has anyone seen this lately, and have had problems?

Another quick question. Does KYLE and KWKT have the same programming when it comes to football games and coverage maps? I noticed the map for this week shows the Houston market not being able to get the Phili & G.B. game @ 1pm, while everyone else in the state (almost nation) will.

KWKT and KYLE carry the same FOX and MyNetwork programming.

Local commercials are different and sold in Bryan seprately for KYLE.

Some syndicated programming will differ at times on the two stations.

I just wish ABC would fix their GD sync problems. So annoying.

Having audio sync problems with Fox SD on Suddenlink.Still no Fox HD.

I just wish ABC would fix their GD sync problems. So annoying.
yep abc is still pretty bad.... wish they would fix their stuff because they have been very good as of late about switching to HD when there is HD but the sound sync issues are pretty bad.

Having audio sync problems with Fox SD on Suddenlink.Still no Fox HD.

We had a power failure last night and out Microwave went out at the xmttr site.

The KYLE feed switched over to the backup from KWKT-DT (hidden secondary) but I didn't notice that the lip synch was off until Mike Holick notified me this afternoon.

It's fixed now and my assistant is on the way down there to replace the microwave receiver.

Our HD Sling Box in the Bryan office still has KWKT-HD on 705 but that is from a cable box.

Thanks for the info......................

hey i live down university and just have my TV plugged into the wall using suddenlink and i get ABC, CBS, Nat'l Geog, Starz Family, PBS all in HD right now

I hear theres FOX and NBC? I'm not getting those... Do I need to do something different? I scan for AIR+CABLE and these are the HD channels I get.

I have cheap bunny ears that I plugged into the Air-In coax thing on the back of the TV but it didn't do anything I don't think.

Can someone walk me through on how to get the most HD channels in this area? I'm new to this as you can tell

Thanks

I have the basic expanded cable package from Suddenlink in CS. 6 mos. ago i received the NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX and PBS HD channels all perfectly (well except for the Fox pixelation that was often present). Now like most others it seems i cannot get Fox HD or NBC HD. Obviously its not wiring or splitter problems as it was working perfectly just a couple months ago. So what's the deal? Are they not broadcasting these channels like they state they are on the channel guide?

I've been noticing some strange, albeit subtle, sound and video noise on Fox OTA 28.1 (or 29.1, whatever it actually is) while watching HD broadcasts.

It's not very noticeable, and the picture quality is mostly great, but if I listen closely there are some crackle noises that are very annoying once you notice them, also, on darker backgrounds, I can notice some very slight "snow flurries" popping up everywhere. These aren't like the pixelations I normally see when I get a poor signal so I think it must be something else.

I'm not getting any problems with 3.1 or 12.1. Also, I've recently moved, but I don't think thats the problem because the signal strength I'm getting is 3 times stronger than it used to be. I was just wondering if anyone else was getting this, or what you guys think it could be.

you get fox HD? ^^^

how do you get it? I put it on AIR, I plugged my cheap antenna in, I scan AIR only and only get 12-1, 12-2, 12-3

no 28-1 FOX.... :(

Do you get NBC too???

I live out here at holleman and harvey mitchell and get fox loud and clear. I used to live by HEB on holleman and got an okay signal. The antenna I have is the Terk Indoor Amplified HDTV Antenna (model: hdtva) from best buy. Also, just a tip, putting it outside basically makes my signal strenght 3 times stronger. I don't leave it out there since it's made for indoors, but it's nice to have the added signal strenght for the nfl games on sunday :D.

Oh, and I don't get NBC digital. I believe that would require one of those 8 foot attic monstrosities to get all the way to Waco or H-town.

how do you plug the antenna in your TV if the antenna is outside? How do you know the signal % you are getting?

I may get this antenna if I can get FOX. I found it cheap online. Also, what other HD channels do you get LuckyOmega?

I get CBS, ABC, PBS, Natl Geographic, Starz Family, and some other channels I'll never watch I think theyre 12-1, 12-2, 12-3...


Do you get anything other FOX as a difference? Wonder if it's worth the $$$ to just get FOX haha

Sidenote: is your ABC being weird with the sound being out of sync with the video?

yeah, the thing is I don't get cable or satellite or anything. I only watch a couple primetime shows and then NFL. So I don't get any other channels beside what I get OTA. I get CBS(3.1), CW(3.2), PBS(12.1-12.3), Fox(28.1) digital and then NBC and ABC are just analog.
As far as putting the antenna outside, the previous occupants of my apartment had Directv, and whoever installed it for them used these short, flat cables that allow you to run the cables through the window while still keeping it shut. I don't know where you can find them-probably radioshack-but they work pretty well.

weird i get CBS, ABC, Starz Family, National Geographic and like 3 other dumb channels in HD

So we need to switch, give me FOX and I'll give you ABC


so your TV must be near a window then..... unless you have a wire running like on the ground from your TV, out the window, and into the antenna?

Can we get a replay of prison break?

There was no sound for the first 45 mins. Then it changed to SD and the sound worked. At least we got to watch the end.

weird i get ... Starz Family, National Geographic and like 3 other dumb channels in HD


You get these over the air or through cable? Starz and NG aren't broadcast over the air that I'm aware of.

whoa i bought that TERK antenna and got every local channel when i scanned for cable. My cable is plugged in from the wall into the TV... basic suddenlink cable


FOX, ABC, CBS, NBC...... along with the other ones I already got (national geographic, starz family, all of bryan local) in HD

I unplugged the antenna and the channels are still there!!!!


what is this? im returning the antenna tomorrow and keepin the channels it picked up for me hahaha


Edit: I decided to scan again without the antenna plugged in and I got all the channels again!!! scanning through cable, here are the HD channels I got

81-700 (no idea what this is.. looks local)

81-710 (CBS HD broadcasted in 1080i)

82-705 (FOX HD broadcasted in 720p) no problems

82-730 (NBC HD broadcsted in 1080i)

91-720 (ABC HD broadcasted in 720p but the sound is offsync.. weird)

111-4 (Starz kids & Family broadcasted in 480i dont think its HD but it looks digital)

117-768 (National Geographicin HD broadcasted in 720p)


I live at the end of university before it hits highway 6... next to Circuit City.

Duno where alll these channels came from!!! I'm so happy woo

Can we get a replay of prison break?

There was no sound for the first 45 mins. Then it changed to SD and the sound worked. At least we got to watch the end.
yep fox has been having tons of problems the past few weeks.... last night for instance for the emmys it was in 2.0 sound and half way through it switched to SD. And earlier tonight when K-Ville was on earlier it was SD.

whoa i bought that TERK antenna and got every local channel when i scanned for cable. My cable is plugged in from the wall into the TV... basic suddenlink cable


FOX, ABC, CBS, NBC...... along with the other ones I already got (national geographic, starz family, all of bryan local) in HD

I unplugged the antenna and the channels are still there!!!!


what is this? im returning the antenna tomorrow and keepin the channels it picked up for me hahaha


Edit: I decided to scan again without the antenna plugged in and I got all the channels again!!! scanning through cable, here are the HD channels I got

81-700 (no idea what this is.. looks local)

81-710 (CBS HD broadcasted in 1080i)

82-705 (FOX HD broadcasted in 720p) no problems

82-730 (NBC HD broadcsted in 1080i)

91-720 (ABC HD broadcasted in 720p but the sound is offsync.. weird)

111-4 (Starz kids & Family broadcasted in 480i dont think its HD but it looks digital)

117-768 (National Geographicin HD broadcasted in 720p)


I live at the end of university before it hits highway 6... next to Circuit City.

Duno where alll these channels came from!!! I'm so happy woo


Your tv has a QAM tuner built into it.You dont need a antenna for it if you have cable.


I'm only having problems getting Fox HD on one of the tv's both have QAM tuners in them.I also here a popping crackle noise through the audio on Fox HD.

so if i have cable then theres no need for an antenna? lol did not know that

getting my $70 back and i just know best buy is gonna be gay about it

My cable is plugged in from the wall into the TV... basic suddenlink cable
Duno where alll these channels came from!!! I'm so happy woo

It sounds like your TV has a QAM tuner (basically a digital cable tuner) and you are tuning in the unencrypted (unscrambled as it where) channels that your cable company sends out. It is common for them to have the locals in digital unencrypted, but not so common to have the others.

Where I live (TWC) I can get ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, 2 PBS stations along with a sports news channel and ESPN Classic in the clear. You have been paying for these stations all along (most are part of the most basic cable package), but it appears now you have a TV that can tune them (I.e. HDTV with a QAM tuner).

Who knows when analog goes away, maybe the basic cable package (I.e. first 80 or channels) will all be broadcast unencrypted so we can get away from boxes with our new HDTVs.

whoa u get sports packages? sweet

the day i get a sports channel is the day ill be fully happy

im 99% happy that i got FOX and NBC after a week of thinking i didnt have them.

how often do you scan your channels to see if you pick up any new ones? also, if you are to scan, isn't there a chance that the same channels may no longer show up

i scan every month or so... basically we arent supposed to get anything past the local channels via qam but cable companies vary about how often they fix these problems. for the longest time we were getting starzHD for free and now we get national geographic for free. How long it lasts I dunno.

yah i think im gonna scan every month

im happy with all the local channels and i get starzhd family and national geographic hd


im afraid that if i ever scan again, ill lose these channels lol. i named all my channels too and whenever you scan, the names go away so i dont wana have to do that over again

hope best buy lets me return this antenna

You will want to do a periodic scan. The tech at Suddenlink said that they move channels around all the time. Also, he said that Natgeo will soon go off of free and clear.

bleh got back from class and i dont have nbc or fox anymore.... it went back to how it was a week ago so now im scanning again

i wonder if it was the antenna? i had it unplugged and was getting NBC and Fox last night but i just returned it and now i dont get them, weeeiiird haha

Edit: just scanned and still didnt get FOX or NBC :( i guess it was the antenna......

I have the Samsung LN-T3253H if that means anything. I just find it odd that I had them last night when the antenna wasnt even hooked up but now i dont have it. Weird huh? Funny thing is, I had them this morning too.......

You will want to do a periodic scan. The tech at Suddenlink said that they move channels around all the time. Also, he said that Natgeo will soon go off of free and clear.

Bill did the tech find Fox HD for you?

anyone who gets FOX or NBC in HD..... where do you live?

I live near Circuit City on University.

I had FOX and NBC and all the other locals in HD for a day then i dunno what happened to them. Where should I point my antenna lol maybe thats the problem

It's annoying since I had them for a day and now theyre gone

theyre back!!!!!!!

stop toying with me!!!!!!!!!


edit: NOW THEYRE GONE????

what is going on here, one moment CBS is 3-1 and ABC is 91-720......... next moment I get FOX, NBC, ABC, CBS.... and CBS is like 81-xx

this is odd

Can we get a replay of prison break?

There was no sound for the first 45 mins. Then it changed to SD and the sound worked. At least we got to watch the end.

I was out of town on vacation when this happened.

My assistant tells me that the HD decoder locked up during a signal fade.

He has installed an audio alarm on the HD Slingbox in Waco.
We have instructed the operators to test the HD switch before prime time.
At least the operator can bypass HD switching if this happens again.

We are looking into ways to reset the decoder remotely and we have received the new antennas that we ordered for both our transmitter site and the Suddenlink cable head end.

Once these are installed, we hope these problems will clear up.

yep fox has been having tons of problems the past few weeks.... last night for instance for the emmys it was in 2.0 sound and half way through it switched to SD. And earlier tonight when K-Ville was on earlier it was SD.

OTA or Cable?

Up until late last week Suddenlink 705 was KWKT-HD.

The Emmies were switched to SD because of a signal fade of HD reception at the KYLE transmitter site. (pixilizing)

That problem was only on KYLEHD.

(I think Suddenlink switched 705 back to KYLE sometime Friday night)

Anyone with Suddenlink basic cable and a HDTV with qam tuner, what channels do you get in HD?

Or does anyone know what channels you're supposed to get in HD with the basic cable and a qam tuner?

I get ABC, CBS, PBS, Starz family, National Geographic..... I REALLY want to get NBC and FOX

I can only get FOX in air and point my antenna the right direction, it's annoying

OTA or Cable?

Up until late last week Suddenlink 705 was KWKT-HD.

The Emmies were switched to SD because of a signal fade of HD reception at the KYLE transmitter site. (pixilizing)

That problem was only on KYLEHD.

(I think Suddenlink switched 705 back to KYLE sometime Friday night)
I am cable.... and it sounds like a issue that will hopefully be fixed. as long as it is pretty soon with the new season of tv shows (we cant be having abc unreliableness) ;)

Anyone with Suddenlink basic cable and a HDTV with qam tuner, what channels do you get in HD?

Or does anyone know what channels you're supposed to get in HD with the basic cable and a qam tuner?

I get ABC, CBS, PBS, Starz family, National Geographic..... I REALLY want to get NBC and FOX

I can only get FOX in air and point my antenna the right direction, it's annoying


you should get abc,cbs,nbc,fox,pbs and right now we are getting national geographic but thats likely to go away. for some reason alot of people are having trouble getting those 2 stations via qam (read a few pages back). i have no problems though so its not an issue that affects everybody.

jagouar, you get ABC, FOX, NBC, CBS, PBS all in high definition and you just have the basic cable package with suddenlink????

where do you live? I am down university near cheddars and circuit city

I want NBC and FOX :(

you get these with the basic suddenlink cable package or are you getting them over the air with no cable?

i have the digital cable package (with hd pack) through suddenlink but I use media center as my primary dvr with a qam tuner and am able to get pbs,abc,nbc,cbs,fox and natl geographic.

i would get the same channels w/o the package though because the qam channels are "in the clear" which means no package is required to get those channels.

no fair, where do u live?

what channels are fox and nbc in hd?

and what is this media center ur talkin about.... windows xp: media edition? im lost haha

Prison Break sound was screwed up again. Fox...any idea as to what is happening?

as was kville last night.... it has to do with the 5.1 and 2.0 audio.

the commercials had audio (when it was supposed to be 2.0 but there was no audio when the show was one and the receiver was still picking up 2.0 audio feed and not 5.1) so there was no audio last night for fox.

D* launched the first wave of new HD channels this morning!! :D:D:D
Here is a list of what's on now-
265: A & E HD
282: Animal Planet HD
220: Big Ten HD
202: CNN HD
278: Discovery HD
206 / 73: ESPN HD
209 / 72: ESPN2 HD
70/501/509: HBO HD East
269: History Channel HD
76: HD Theater (was Discovery HD Theater)
79: HDNet
78: HDNet Movies
280: Learning Channel HD (TLC HD)
244: Movie Channel HD
212: NFL Network HD
284: Science Channel HD
538: SHO Too HD
71/537/543: Showtime HD
540: Showtime HD West
267: Smithsonian HD
519: Starz Comedy HD
520: Starz HD East
521: Starz HD West
522: Starz Edge HD
518: Starz Kids and Family
247: TBS HD
245 / 75: TNT HD
74: Universal HD
604: Versus HD / Golf Channel HD
362: Weather Channel HD

You got up early too, eh, Sid?

I checked out a few of them this morning. CNN-HD and The Weather Channel-HD looked good although I don't really watch CNN. Smithsonian should be interesting for a little while, but they don't have much programming yet.

I'm kind of bummed that the Baylor game won't be in HD as I was hoping to record it while at the game. It looks like only the Pac 10 games are getting the HD treatment so far.

I record a lot of Discovery programs (Mythbusters, Dirty Jobs, etc) so this is a nice addition. One thing to remember is that you have to redo your season passes (er, whatever they're called) for the new channel.

What is D*?

blah i wanna get alll these HD channels but I'm only paying $66 for cable and internet from suddenlink (basic)

and if I upgrade and get the HD itll be about $100 right?

D* = DirecTV

It sounds like your TV has a QAM tuner (basically a digital cable tuner) and you are tuning in the unencrypted (unscrambled as it where) channels that your cable company sends out. It is common for them to have the locals in digital unencrypted, but not so common to have the others.

Where I live (TWC) I can get ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, 2 PBS stations along with a sports news channel and ESPN Classic in the clear. You have been paying for these stations all along (most are part of the most basic cable package), but it appears now you have a TV that can tune them (I.e. HDTV with a QAM tuner).

Who knows when analog goes away, maybe the basic cable package (I.e. first 80 or channels) will all be broadcast unencrypted so we can get away from boxes with our new HDTVs.

To clarify once again. Cable companies are required by FCC rule to carry at least the primary HD video of ALL broadcast stations "in the clear". For some reason Suddenlink keeps switching FOX (KYLE-HD) back and forth.

KYLE-HD Update:

We purchased a new OTO Scala parabolic Channel 57 antenna and a new HD receiver-decoder for the KYLE transmitter site.

We went down today and peaked the antenna up with a spectrum analyzer and replaced K-Tech receiver/Sencore decoder with a "broadcast quality" receiver/decoder. (The K-Tech and Sencore are cable quality devices)

This should correct the lingering audio issues that have occured during HD broadcast segments. I was also able to double the bandwidth on the KYLE SD/HD encoder up-convertor which improved the picture significantly during the up-converted portions of programming and commercials.

Barring any unfoseeable problems we will begin airing Two & 1/2 Men in HD at 6:30 and 11:PM (different episodes) in HD bracketing out FOX and MyNetwork programming starting Monday. (Sooner if possible)

Fox44CE -

First off, thanks for all of the help and information you provide to us HD fans here in the forums.

Secondly...do you have a feel for the area stations' preparedness situations for providing HD feeds to Directv? I'm not saying that's the reason they're not available...just testing the waters to try and find out some information. I've sent Directv an email, as well as other station contacts, but those are just generic email addys that may or may not get checked regularly. I was hoping you may be able to shed a little light on the subject.

Thanks again!

Fox44CE -

First off, thanks for all of the help and information you provide to us HD fans here in the forums.

Secondly...do you have a feel for the area stations' preparedness situations for providing HD feeds to Directv? I'm not saying that's the reason they're not available...just testing the waters to try and find out some information. I've sent Directv an email, as well as other station contacts, but those are just generic email addys that may or may not get checked regularly. I was hoping you may be able to shed a little light on the subject.

Thanks again!

We have already made arrangement to feed the KWKT-HD and KYLE-HD to the uplink site for both services at the KWTX studios. We also agreed to pay for the installation and maintauin the feed if they agree to carry KYLE-HD in the Bryan market.

NOTE: To date both D* and Dish have adamently refused to carry KYLE analogue even though FCC rules require them to carry all full power stations and they already carry KBTX.

FOX -

So does this mean there is a timetable for local HD on D*??? Or is this simply a preemptive move on your part?

Does someone have a link showing what channels I would get with the Suddenlink Digital cable?

I just have basic and am wondering if it's worth it to get the digital that way I can get HD for $7.95......

if I get digital, will i pick up more HD channels for free? Or will it be the same

Also, how much is that digital cable package with internet? I think like $85?

Fox44CE - thanks much for the quick reply! The info is greatly appreciated.

I also got a reply from KCEN reporting that they have recently signed a retrans agreement with D* and have been told that 'early 2008' is when D* will provide us with HD locals.

Looks like D11 is our bird :)

FOX -

So does this mean there is a timetable for local HD on D*??? Or is this simply a preemptive move on your part?

The timetable set by the FCC and congress for satellite delivery of full power digital television stations in the top 100 television markets has passed. [July 2007]

We are approaching both satellite services in the hopes that they will find it to their benifit to deliver KYLE HD programming to the Bryan/College Station Market by delivering to them a 100% reliable fiber feed.

[Like we did with Suddenlink purchasing an antenna that they didn't need]

Fox44CE - thanks much for the quick reply! The info is greatly appreciated.

I also got a reply from KCEN reporting that they have recently signed a retrans agreement with D* and have been told that 'early 2008' is when D* will provide us with HD locals.

Looks like D11 is our bird :)

The only issue we have is that if they refuse to deliver KYLE-HD to Bryan the issue will result in extended discussion before they are allowed to put on KWKT-HD at all.

We pulled re-transmission consent for KWKT-HD from Suddenlink because that was the only option they left us to protect our Bryan/College station KYLE ratings and advertising rates. [We had several big clients cancel advertising]

Here is a good axample:

In the last ratings book for American Idol KYLE wase down 50% from last year. KWKT was up 14%.
Thats because viewers on Suddenlink watching in HD logged KWKT in their diaries.

That is why we invested the money to upgrade KYLE to HD and then Suddenlink refused to carry it.

Long time no talk guys...

Well, suddenlink has officially pissed me off enough to make me want to look at my other options (long story.. trust me).

I'm particularly looking at dTV now that they have a decent HD lineup. Can anybody give me a rundown of what I might possibly be screwing myself on by going from cable to sat?

Thanks!
Marc

Unless you are willing to "move" to Houston, you will be screwing yourself out of the HD Networks.

Unless you are willing to "move" to Houston, you will be screwing yourself out of the HD Networks.

That's not necessarily true. I have all four HD DNS feeds from New York. My service address is College Station.

Yeah, but you pulled that off somehow right? You didn't get permission from our local stations did you?

I've got ABC and NBC grandfathered in, but that was because I had them prior to our locals coming online (non-hd).

Yeah, but you pulled that off somehow right? You didn't get permission from our local stations did you?

True, and I'm just making the point that it is possible to get the networks in HD.

Any of you D* guys with the Sports Pack understand how the HD versions of the rsn's can be received? Last year many of the Fox sports HD games were on 93 or 94, but very few have been there this year. The A&M OSU game next week on fox sports is supposed to be in HD. Anyone know if we will be able to get it?

The RSN's aren't up yet on D*, so our only hope is having the game on one of the 90s. The Braves-Astros game is on 95(?) right now. I tried TBS-HD, but it's blacked out.

My guess is that when the RSN's go live on D10 you'll be able to see the HD equivalent.

Everyone here have the suddenlink internet?

They claim to have 8 mbps speed...... I got the 4.0 mbps about 5 months ago and I think I'm supposed to get the 8mbps for free right? Is there any way they could have bumped me down? Because I definitely do not get 8mbps

Hell, I don't even have 4mbps. I go to www.speedtest.net and I run it and get maybe 2.5mbps

Is everyone here getting 8?

This was one of the primary reasons I'm leaving suddenlink. I was actually paying for the premium (used to be 9mbps down and 1mbps up) since I work from home as a web developer. Since the change, I've been getting around 4 or 5 mbps (sometimes less than 3mps) and no where near 1mbps up.

I called to "downgrade" my plan to the preferred, which they are saying is 8mbps down and 1mbps up. I still don't get either one of these.

When I called up to complain, they completely blamed it on me.. saying I had spyware on my system that was slowing it down.

We're just gonna have to deal with it I guess. I'm probably gonna have to just deal with it.. because I certainly don't want to go to Verizon for DSL.

Marc

I almost always get my full 8mbits... how many splitters do you have in the house because low signal strength could be an issue (as well as too many people on your node). but like i said i almost always get 8mbit (and usually get more).

As far as the upload though i have never seen it go above 512k. (exactly what i had before). Still upload isnt very important to me.

so you go to www.speedtest.net and you get over 8mbps?

I am on a wireless router in my house going to me, and 2 roommates. So, it is being split 3 ways although I use the internet much more often than them..... Sometimes I'm the only one connected and I don't even come close to 4mbps let alone 8......

upload i dont care about. i want to get at least 4mbps. Am I supposed to be getting 8mbps?

They claim to only have 8mbps now.... the 4mbps isn't even an option and everyone who had it from the beginning got upgraded to 8mbps for free.........

So they say

The only time I ever get 8mbps is on early Sunday mornings, which leads me to believe that our node is just being overloaded. The weekday evenings are the absolutely worst, sometimes getting as low as 1.5mbps.

I haven't changed anything in my house.. brand new wiring, gigabit router, etc. I'm pretty certain that it's our node being overloaded.. but the people on the phone have NO IDEA what I'm talking about.

Marc

i almost always get right around if not over 8mbits.... every once in a while i get slower than that.

from 5-8 pm it sometimes drops to 6 mbit or so but never lower than that.

What do you mean by node being overloaded? What is a nobe haha sorry

The city is divded up into "nodes" where a specific amount of bandwidth is allotted to each node. The more people that get online in your area, the slower it gets. I can't imagine how much screaming is required to suggest that our node is being overloaded.

Marc

Here is mine.. it's like I'm actually capped at 4mbps down 512kbps up


From Austin:
http://www.speedtest.net/result/189068240.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

From Dallas:
http://www.speedtest.net/result/189071244.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

I want to get HDTV but I'm doing just the basic cable + internet package for like $67

If I upgrade to suddenlink digital + internet then its $83 then another $20 for HDTV.... so yeah not worth it in my opinion

Is there a cheaper option to keep this internet? I don't want to get slow internet.... and I want digital cable for HDTV capabilities

DirecTV is like $49.99 then suddenlinks internet by itself is $50..... so yeah

I just called suddenlink, they said I was signed up for the 4meg down 512 up.. someone screwed up my account. She said she set it to 8meg and 1meg up.. haven't been able to test yet.

Marc

by comparison here are my results...

http://www.speedtest.net/result/189110115.png (http://www.speedtest.net)
http://www.speedtest.net/result/189110629.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

yeah i called about 2 weeks ago and they sai they upgraded me to 8 but nothing ever happened... i dont see how they could just upgrade me over the phone haha wouldnt i need a new modem or somethin?

suddenlink is so lazy

by comparison here are my results...

http://www.speedtest.net/result/189110115.png (http://www.speedtest.net)
http://www.speedtest.net/result/189110629.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

Where do you live roughly? I live behind Circuit City on University...

I live in N. Bryan. Here is my result.

http://www.speedtest.net/result/189168646.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

Where do you live roughly? I live behind Circuit City on University...

off southwood near bee creek park....

no fair im jealous.... blah ill call suddenlink again and see what lie they come up with this time

Prison Break sound was screwed up again. Fox...any idea as to what is happening?

I checked my HD Sling Box KYLE-DT recording from last night on Prison Break & K-Ville and the audio problem appeared to be completely claered up.

I have no way to evaluate 5.1 so maybe you guys could comment?

Thanks for all the help with pinning down and coreecting these problems guys.....:)

yeah its been in non 5.1 audio for a while now... i didnt have any audio problems last night but it was 2.0 everytime i checked.

Well it was because my modem was connected through a splitter.....

I plugged it in directly to the wall and this is what I got at 3:30 pm on a Tuesday

http://www.speedtest.net/result/189387737.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

Is there an easy way to find a channel lineup for Suddenlink? I've searched their site, but gotten nowhere. Also searched Google, to no avail.

Also, does Suddenlink run specials, or will they cut the rates some if you ask the right questions? I know that works well with the satellite providers, but don't have experience with Suddenlink.