Well the guy just called, hes on his way to my house. :)

The REAL leader in HD is about to cometh

Hey Jag, I am mainly interested in finding out how that Terk antenna is working for you!! :D
Sid

Originally posted by labmansid
Hey Jag, I am mainly interested in finding out how that Terk antenna is working for you!! :D
Sid

Well didnt have a chance to play with it for more than 2 mins but it looked good to me (but like I said I was already 1 hr late getting back) (installer was overall very good, didnt try to screw me over or anything, but i made his job pretty easy. already had cabling run)..... I actually got a winegard with mine and it pulls in the usual suspects fine and even got some signal from the fox in htown (suprised me) and this was at 12 noon so by night time i may be getting a stable picture.... also registered some others i didnt know existed.

How long are you locked in on price? You avoided the $10 increase, right?

Originally posted by elspankdog
How long are you locked in on price? You avoided the $10 increase, right?

Yes Im locked in till end of the year.....

Thanks Sid!!

Looks like someone added another drive to their HD Tivo. :D

That is EXCELLENT. That is a lot of HD. Just out of curiousity, where did you go to do that and how much $$$ was it... :D You can, of course, decline to answer or PM me the information.

You better hope your tivo never breaks ;).... dont you void the warranty once you open the box?

Originally posted by elspankdog
Thanks Sid!!
You're welcome. (yawn)
Sid

Originally posted by jagouar
You better hope your tivo never breaks ;).... dont you void the warranty once you open the box?
I don't think they can tell if it has ever been opened. The old SD Tivos had a sticker on the back that went across the top and back cover and supposedly would break if opened, but it was easy to take off and put back when done. The HD-Tivo has nothing like that. If something (God forbid!!) did happen, I think it would be pretty easy to put things back the way they were and have it fixed. Besides, it's only money anyhow!! ;)
Sid

Originally posted by labmansid
I don't think they can tell if it has ever been opened. The old SD Tivos had a sticker on the back that went across the top and back cover and supposedly would break if opened, but it was easy to take off and put back when done. The HD-Tivo has nothing like that. If something (God forbid!!) did happen, I think it would be pretty easy to put things back the way they were and have it fixed. Besides, it's only money anyhow!! ;)
Sid

No its not JUST money its a freaking grand... thats alot of money. I know I wouldnt be screwing with it until the warranty had passed.

Originally posted by mwesson
That is EXCELLENT. That is a lot of HD. Just out of curiosity, where did you go to do that and how much $$$ was it... :D You can, of course, decline to answer or PM me the information.

I tell you everytang!

It costs about me about $190 total. It can be done cheaper if you find a better deal on the hard drive.

~$25 for bracket, power y adapter, and cd - www.9thtee.com
~165 for 250 GB hard drive - www.compgeeks.com

All the work can be done at B/CS TiVo Community - aka Sid's house. As for the warranty, you can just slap the backup image onto the original or another drive, and it should look how it did before the upgrade. Heck, some people just pull the original drive, put it on a shelf, and start fresh with two new drives. They can resort back to the original if needed. FYI, my old SD DirecTiVo just died, and we concluded last night that it is not the hard drives. I'll be taking it back to CC (3 yr service plan) in its original state. We'll see how it goes.

Well so much for testing the voided warranty stuff on my SD TiVo at CC. They won't even look at it. They're just giving me a credit toward a new one. Looks like the only two models they carry are a Hughes and a Samsung. Dave, you have the Hughes, right? According to the CC website, it only has one RCA video and audio output and no RF out. Is this correct? If so, I might have to go with the Samsung. It has two video/audio outputs and the RF. The extra outputs make distribution throughout the house a lot easier.

And mwesson, I'm sorry to hear about your loss yesterday. Hopefully, Quincy will bounce back and catch on somewhere else. Your Cowboys will be OK. ;)

My SD Tivo is a Hughes (HDVR2). I'll take a look for you when I get home.

How did they know you voided the warranty?

Well, I guess they don't know since they didn't even look at the unit. But I kind of wanted to see what the guys at the service center would have said if they did look at it. My SD unit lost its little "warranty voided if removed" sticker somewhere along the way.

Originally posted by elspankdog
My SD unit lost its little "warranty voided if removed sticker" somewhere along the way.
I think I know where "somewhere" is!! :D

It's actually very depressing that the Cowboys got rid of Q. Carter for two reasons:

1) He never would have taken them anywhere far - way too inconsistent.

2) I loved hearing that guy be interviewed. I always liked thinking of him as a spokesman for the team. Horrible, just horrible...

Spoken like a true Cowboy hater. Unfortunately, it's all true.

So, just who do you root for?? (And it better not be the 40whiners or the Deadskins, by the way :D !!)
Sid

Well, being a born and bred Houston boy, I have to pull/root for the Texans. (But the fact is, I still have a very soft spot in my heart for the Titans. I can't explain it either. I just wish Bud Adams would sell the team.)

Originally posted by mwesson
Well, being a born and bred Houston boy, I have to pull/root for the Texans. (But the fact is, I still have a very soft spot in my heart for the Titans. I can't explain it either. I just wish Bud Adams would sell the team.)
Amen to that, Bud Adams is the main reason I don't wish the Titans to do well, otherwise I still like the players and all. He pissed off a lot of fans in H-town. I hope the Texans can get it together as well.

...Houston Oilers, Houston Oilers, Houston Oilers #1!...

LUV 'YA BLUE!

I think the Texans will be substantially improved this year and fully expect them to start pulling out some of those close games they were in last year. They have had some major upgrades on the OL and DL.

I'm wondering though, how long Houston will give them to start doing well... I figure they've got at least another 2 years - as long as they show continual improvement.

Hey Dave, I did a little bit of research, and I found out that the Hughes and Samsung SD TiVos that CC sells are exactly the same (just different faceplates). So don't bother looking tonight. The Hughes happens to be on sale for $20 less, so I'm actually going to make money off of this return (enough to cover the new TiVo's upgrade parts for sure).

Well, are you gonna tell us how great Voom is or what?

Originally posted by elspankdog
Well, are you gonna tell us how great Voom is or what?
Well, OK, but I haven't actually seen it yet. I guess I can come up with something. :p

It blows the sh1t outta everything else right now, what more do you want ;)

Maybe a girl that does the same? :D

So what do you think about the stb?

Point taken...

On the stb, there are some minor quirks that need to be fixed such as when you click to watch a channel and then hit the guide button it starts from the beginning and not the channel your on....

But I like the guide system better than dish and the directtv stb i had, its very quick and usually tunes channels in under a second.... (i could bake a cake in the time it took dish 6000 to tune a chan). Overall I like it and the small quirks are there but none are annoying enough for me to not want it.

Anyone having any luck picking up the game on ABC?

Hopefully I'll get it a bit later after the sun sets. The Super Bowl is the only HD football I've seen so far. Curious to see how the PQ is on ABC.

Coming in pretty good here (only rare pixelation). Of course, I didn't start watching until the second half. The picture looks great to me. Especially when compared to the satellite local.

I didn't watch much of the first half either, only watched off and on after that but there were fairly frequent breakups for me. Unfortunately none of the breakups occured when Madden was on.;)
Sid

I started watching again after CSI and still had a fair amount of breakups. This is one of my trouble stations, so I'm hoping D* can get an agreement with ABC soon.

After seeing the Cox sign today - NBC HD Just in Time for the Olympics - I decided to give them a call. The csr said this would be a permanent addition and not a special event channel. She said it will be KCEN, but could not give a start date. I sent an email out to KCEN to confirm this.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=432654
CBS to broadcast three NFL games a week in HD!!:)
Sid

By the way, no word yet if D* will carry all three on ST, but my guess is they probably will. Gotta go buy me a bunch of cable, mwesson!! :D
Sid

On another note, according to This Post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4175432#post4175432), we should be set to get the Olympics in HD on whichever DBS service (even HD-nonleaders ;) ) we use. There is a link to E* website showing which markets will be eligible.
Sid

It'd be nice to have the Olympics on D* just so I can compare it to OTA.

Ok, I'm starting to get the itch. I was looking at the Boys schedule today and how I'm going to get the games in HD (no ST for me). It's kind of hard to tell right now. You have to look at the Giants schedule to figure out if the game will be on D* FoxHD East, and CBS hasn't announced which three games will be in HD each week. Here's what I figure with the limited info I have:

Week 1 - @ Minnesota - KRIV (Giants play at the same time vs NFC team)

Week 2 - Cleveland - KBTX

Week 3 - @ Washington - KTRK (MNF)

Week 4 - BYE

Week 5 - Giants - D* FoxHD-East

Week 6 - Pittsburgh - KBTX

Week 7 - @ Green Bay - D* FoxHD-E/W (Giants play earlier)

Week 8 - Detroit - KRIV (Giants play at the same time vs NFC team)

Week 9 - @ Cincinnati D* FoxHD-East? (Giants play later)

Week 10 - Philadelphia - KTRK (MNF)

Week 11 - @ Baltimore - D* FoxHD-East? (Giants play later)

Week 12 - Chicago - D* FoxHD-E/W (Thanksgiving)

Week 13 - @ Seattle - KTRK (MNF)

Week 14 - New Orleans - KRIV (Giants play at the same time)

Week 15 - @ Philadelphia - KRIV (Jets on Fox at the same time)

Week 16 - Washington - D* FoxHD-East (Giants play earlier)

Week 17 - @ Giants - ESPN

Super Bowl - FoxHD-E/W

I'm glad the start time for MNF is still set for 8:00 PM. We have a better chance of being able to get it from KTRK the later it is.
Sid

Originally posted by labmansid
I'm glad the start time for MNF is still set for 8:00 PM. We have a better chance of being able to get it from KTRK the later it is.
Sid

But if it goes too late, Vinny might start to get tired. Those senior citizens need their rest.

Everybody set to do their OTA vs HD Leader vs Voom comparisons of the Olympics in HD tomorrow? I'm just hoping the D* HD feed comes on without any problems. I won't be around to call them, and I'm also debating which OTA to record - KCEN or KPRC. Anybody know how the Houston NBC has been coming in the last couple of days?

Originally posted by elspankdog
Anybody know how the Houston NBC has been coming in the last couple of days?
Still coming in from the South for me!! :D :D
Sid

I never could get KCEN, but KPRC has been my most stable channel with the attic antenna.

I get KCEN pretty well.... KPRC is ok. But Ill be watching VOOM if I actually get it. with the last email I have no clue whats going on with it now but I do have the NBC-HD channel in my guide and I have the "upgrade" msg so I should get it.

At least it is in your guide - that's what I need D* to do so I can set the TiVo for the opening ceremony. As for reception, KCEN comes in at pretty much the same strength for me at all times of the day (70-80%) while KPRC does awesome in the evening (90+%). Can only TiVo one of them though if I get the D* feed.

Isnt DirecTV and even bigger question right now than VOOM... They have only "announced" that the O&O stations will get the feed.... did they ever add the others that DISH says qualify for the HD feed? I noticed Dallas is O&O but Htown isnt (atleast according to D*)

Well, if that is the case (no HD in Htown), I hope my NBC waiver pays off.

Again, I don't think we will need waivers for the feed on D*. It should only be a matter of when the channel will show up on the D* guide.

Originally posted by labmansid
Again, I don't think we will need waivers for the feed on D*. It should only be a matter of when the channel will show up on the D* guide.

Thats true but according to DirecTV's "list" Houston isnt a O&O station.. and the way it sounds right now is ONLY O&O people will be able to get it. I guess we wont know for sure till tomorrow night.

Dish has a much bigger list of those that "qualify", wether voom and directv are going to use that or dish was talking sh1t and only the O&O will get it.

Just noticed that 2-2 is now the HD channel for KPRC and it lists Olympics in HDTV. 2-1 is just SD.

Originally posted by dave99ag
Just noticed that 2-2 is now the HD channel for KPRC and it lists Olympics in HDTV. 2-1 is just SD.
Yeah, I saw this post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4145387#post4145387) the other day and was wondering what he meant, I guess they made the change pretty recently. Unfortunately the HD-Tivo doesn't show guide data except for the 2-1 now. :( Something else to get fixed soon, hopefully before the Olympics and the next eye candy on Leno!!
Sid

The HD-TiVo now has guide info for KAMU 12-1. Woo-hoo!

Yeah, and there are two 12-1 channels; one with and one without guide data. Noticed the other night. 15-1 is gone, but 15-2 is still there with the HD feed and wrong guide.

Go to channels on the HD-TiVo, clear scanned channels, and then rescan. The one without guide data will disappear. Of course, the SD channel (12-2) still has no guide data, and 15-2 shows up with guide data for the SD channel with the HD video. Oh well, at least we have guide data for the HD channel.

But if I clear my scanned channels I might lose 28-1!! ;)

Anyone watching the game on ESPN-HD?

I did for the first quarter, but not much after that. It looked good, but you can only watch so much of pre-season football with teams you don't care about.

First time I have really noticed this but there was some major Macro-blocking on the replay of that fumble runback.

Originally posted by dave99ag
I did for the first quarter, but not much after that. It looked good, but you can only watch so much of pre-season football with teams you don't care about.
I know what you mean. I just started watching a few minutes ago, and was about to turn channels when these questionable calls happened and then the Macro-blocking. Besides, there is a certain satisfaction in watching overpaid whiners having to play in the rain!!

Originally posted by labmansid
But if I clear my scanned channels I might lose 28-1!! ;)

Where are those screen shots? ;) You know it is in the guide permanently. All those emails to www.zap2it.com finally paid off. In fact, this week when I emailed Alejandro (I think that is his name), I stopped explaining the KAMU situation. I just asked if he could add guide data to 12-1 and just leave all the 15-? stuff alone.

Kordell looks even uglier in HD.

Originally posted by labmansid
First time I have really noticed this but there was some major Macro-blocking on the replay of that fumble runback.

Macro-blocking? That was some cinder-blocking! Maguire's Santa laugh must have disrupted the camera. I can't stand that guy.

Originally posted by elspankdog
Macro-blocking? That was some cinder-blocking! Maguire's Santa laugh must have disrupted the camera. I can't stand that guy.

well thats good to know... i thought voom may have been losing the sat link when it happened... voom receiver got a software update and i havent bothered to reset it yet (gonna do that when i go to bed) so its been a little buggy tonight.

Is KPRC doing 5.1 right now for the Salt Lake review? My receiver is only showing PLII.

well what a hell of a night for my antenna amp do die.... i really hope voom airs the feed here now.....

That sucks. At least you'll be able to watch it for the next 24 hours.

It looks amazing!

Probably not... voom has the HD feed on the air (only one so far it seems) but i still have the upgrade now thing on my screen... it has been long rumored that only O&O will be able to see it.

So is anyone getting D* channel 84, or is that yet to be seen? I'm at work so you guys gotta clue me in.

Looks to me that KPRC and KCEN both are only in PLII, no 5.1. :( Didn't check KCEN for the Salt Lake portion, but KPRC wasn't 5.1 on that either. Not seeing channel 84 on D* yet.

Originally posted by elspankdog
So is anyone getting D* channel 84, or is that yet to be seen? I'm at work so you guys gotta clue me in.
What makes you think we have a clue?? ;)

Reports on the Opening Ceremony thread are that D* won't have it going until after midnight.

See, that is what I am talking about. I didn't have time to read all the other threads.

Originally posted by elspankdog
See, that is what I am talking about. I didn't have time to read all the other threads.
That's why it's called WORK!! :p
I just barely caught up on the official thread just now. I wonder if D* will have DD5.1 sound. I'm jealous of all the others getting that!:(
400 man, 400!! Woo Hoo!! :D
Sid

Well KCEN is coming in barely (constant macro blocking) but my big antenna is dead

VOOM is the only sat provider with the HD feed atm but its only O&O which really pisses me off. Hopefully come 1 AM they will light up 321 and i can stop my bitching.

We REALLY need to get KMAY online.

Originally posted by jagouar
...We REALLY need to get KMAY online.

2006 :(

If we are lucky!!

Made it home, and all I have to say is what is up with that KCEN logo bug? They need to tone that thing down!

You better change channels before you get burn-in!!

Oh, good. You get to see the Sony commercial for the first time!:D You have some catching up to do.

What gives? I can't get the KPRC HD feed on my HD-TiVo. Here's what I get:

HD-TiVo
2-1 SD feed
2-1 SD feed
2-3 weather

Zenith SAT520
2-1 SD feed
2-2 HD feed
2-3 weather

Sid, are you getting the KPRC feed on your TiVo? I tried rescanning and resetting the local area networks.

Yeah, KPRC-HD on 2-2 is what I am Tivo-ing. Hope you get it fixed! :(

Although the guide says KPRC-SD on 2-2, it is in HD.

D* 84 on now, and in DD5.1!!:D

There we go. The HD Leader! ;)

Originally posted by labmansid
D* 84 on now, and in DD5.1!!:D


Good thing you have that htown wavier because most people on D* are reporting its not avaliable to them.... I get nothing on voom. Im going to bed, but i may just skip this olympics altogether if this is the crap nbc is gonna pull. Its HD or nothing for me.

Not sure if it is the waiver or the Bryan market. Sid and I both have waivers. Dave and mwesson will have to determine how we're getting it.

Well dish says anybody in the Waco, Bryan market can get their signal.

If you didnt have that wavier id bet you wouldnt be seeing the chan right now.... go look at the other threads, many people arent getting it.

Some people with waivers aren't getting it either. I don't think it is an exact science. What are we gonna talk about when all this early adopter crap ends.

I just seriously want to know why people are making things so complicated.... screw the locals that dont do HD. There shouldnt be an issue with all with HD at all... NBC should have just said all the DBS stations can run the NBC-HD feed from the getgo.... instantly all problems solved.

I should run for prez and clean all this breaucratic crap up.

You would think NBC would see the big picture here with it being universally watched and NBC is worried about not pissing off crappy local stations.

I'm sure we will find something to talk about. Like how rough it was "back in the day"! I have to say, they put on a great spectacle in Athens, some awesome effects.

Originally posted by jagouar
I should run for prez and clean all this breaucratic crap up.
Yeah, we can start the HD-cratic party! Or would it be the 720publicans?

I guess Im just going to have to newsgroup the opening ceremonies... maybe then i can skip all those lame sony commercials. Or break into one of your houses and "borrow" the HD tivo for a few hours ;)

Originally posted by elspankdog
Not sure if it is the waiver or the Bryan market. Sid and I both have waivers. Dave and mwesson will have to determine how we're getting it.

Oh wait, we're the in Houston market. Maybe that is the key. The Bryan market might be a no go.

Originally posted by jagouar
I guess Im just going to have to newsgroup the opening ceremonies... maybe then i can skip all those lame sony commercials. Or break into one of your houses and "borrow" the HD tivo for a few hours ;)

I still have that A&M tailgating thing saved for you.

Originally posted by elspankdog
I still have that A&M tailgating thing saved for you.

Awesome, I had long forgotten about that.... I guess your #1 on my "hit" list now.

Need a map to his house??;)

I watched the opening ceremonies last night on KPRC (2-2) in PLII.

This morning I'm watching the guy run around the track on D* 84 in 5.1. I don't have any waiver, so it looks like Houston is a go for D* Olympics.

The picture quality is about the same on D* and OTA. I haven't had a chance to test the surrounds as I don't want to wake the wife. :)

I was switching last night between 2-2 and D* and I didn't see much difference in PQ either. I have noticed KPRC on 2-1 has some artifacting on it now, so they must be giving major bandwidth to the Olympic feed.

I switched back and forth between KCEN, KPRC, and D* last night, and to me, KCEN looked the best if you can get over their annoying logo bug. D* had by far the best sound, but there were several audio dropouts during the team announcements last night.

Well... I got KCEN for now so atleast Ill get to see the beginning/the only good part that Ive heard.

Anyways looks not good for the big antenna.... I have a feeling all the storms we had last week and even though it was properly ground something went bad. I do have a med winegard antenna that gets kcen and kamu all the time but kcen is only like past 10 pm... what is the current antenna setup for people here? Im not going to even try for htown this time... I have no intention to have to put an antenna up and not be able to do maintenence on it until it breaks so all I want is something to get KCEN reliably....

Watching swimming on D* this morning. The splashing is actually doing pretty well. I was guessing there'd be a fair amount of pixilization. KPRC is coming in too, but not 5.1. I sure wish I had an HD Tivo for this. I may have to take out Tom before the end of the Olympics. ;)

jagouar, that's a shame you're antenna went bad. I'm still using the attic antenna (big-ass CM from Lowe's) with Spartan pre-amp. I never could get KCEN for some reason, but Houston is in good shape. I'm too scared to mess with it since I've got Houston pretty good now.

Hey fellas,

I got invited here by Dave... appreciate the invite buddy.

My current setup in Bryan, TX:

Cox Communications HD package:
PBS-HD
CBS-HD
NBC-HD
Discovery-HD
INHD1
INHD2
HBO-HD
Showtime-HD

Equipment:
Cox Communications provided Motorola HD Converter/Receiver
Sony Grand Wega III 42"
Panasonic SD-H900 Home Theater System
Bravo D2 DVD Player (upconverting to 1080i atm)
Replay TV (for the analog channels)

My experiences thus far:

PBS-HD:
The quailty of the source material from this station seems to be fairly poor. Most of the programming (at least how I receive it) is full of pixellation and drop-outs. I generally do not find myself watching PBS-HD due to lack of content (it loops) and quality.

CBS-HD:
Amazing quality with little to no pixellation occuring. I watch CSI in HD every Thursday, but that is about it. My wife likes to watch the soaps every now and then.

NBC-HD:
Just picked this up in time for the olympics. Quality is about in line with the PBS-HD station. I see quite a bit of pixellation when any kind of movement is present. I also receive 2-3 second drop-outs in the middle of performances. The audio during the opening ceremony was superb, however the loud "pops" came around every 5 minutes or so. Jay Leno was very impressive in HD, but still suffered from the pixellation every now and then.

Discovery-HD:
Amazing picture quality (runs me an addt. $5 a month for this channel). I especially like the underwater shows. Lot's of oooohhhs and ahhhhs going on with this one. However, the amount of programming is severly limiting and I hope they'll be able to begin producing more shows soon, or I might cancel.

INHD1 / INHD2:
The picture quality is superb. I have yet to watch any presentation on INHD1 / INHD2 that has shown any signs of pixellation or drop-outs. MLB looks absolutely breath-taking and makes the whole thing worth it. I wish they would show more popular programming, but I guess you have to sacrifice something for quality this good.

HBO-HD:
I've been extremely impressed with both the picture quality and programming available on HBO-HD. My wife and I find ourselves looking ahead and planning a get together to watch certain movies in HD. This brings back the whole "sitting" around and watching a movie like it was an event.

Showtime-HD:
I haven't been that impressed with showtime-HD, and will probably end up cancelling (runs me $12 a month). The content is pretty decent, but only 50% of the programming is actually in HD. The other half is upconverted which looks decent, but the same as my DVD player.

---------------------------
One thing that I have brought up with Cox Communications though is the fact that the regular digital channels are absolutely dreadful. The digital cable converter I had prior to picking up the HD box was a far supurior image. It almost seems as if there are bandwidth limitations in place to be able to maintain the brilliant HD picture. I haven't been a happy camper about this, and what makes it even more frustrating is the fact that Cox Communications appears to know nothing about it and make me feel like I'm an idiot. Believe it or not, when I brought this issue up with them, they told me it was a limitation of my TV. (Real cute).

I've put this forum on my topic watch and will keep in touch with Cox Communications progress in the HD world. I'm hopeful that more content and channels will be coming soon (even if not until the end of the year).

Ishman, happy to hear from someone else with CoxHD. I have a kv34hs510 and a kv30xbr910 with two HD boxes (running DVI) from Cox. Up to this point, I have little to no complaints with the service.

I'm away from College Station for another week and I was wondering if the KCEN-DT feed for the olympics was the same as the KCEN analog station. Here in Corpus Christi, KRIS-DT (NBC) just came online about two days ago and they seem to be showing older olympic material than what's on their analog feed. Hopefully this is just a local problem. I am little dissapointed to hear about the pixellation problems as I was looking forward to getting back and seeing Jay Leno and Las Vegas in HD.

Additionally, I was wondering if you knew anything about a HD-DVR box with COX. I was using my dad's that he has through time warner and now I gotta get one. To answer your question about more HD channels, I know that cox corporate has StarzHD and CinemaxHD in their larger market areas, but only God knows when we'll see it. I also heard that Cox is working to pick up TNT-HD. Let me know if you know anything else.......

Munky,

I hope I didn't come across as being displeased with Cox's service. In fact, I'm very pleased to have an HD package for such a low cost. Plus, I'm in an apartment so sat was basically out of the question.

The NBC-HD feed isn't all that bad actually. From what I've been reading in other forums, the pixellation with the olympics seems to be present at the source and not with Cox Communications. Jay Leno is not that bad and will probably get better. This past week was "Testing" phase for NBC-HD through Cox, so it could have merely been something on Cox's end. I noticed that one day we had no sound, another we had no picture but sound, and another it was out all together. I'll have to catch Jay Leno again on Monday to see if it has improved.

As for the HD-PVR from Cox Communications; I've got mixed responses from them. Some do not know what I'm talking about while others say they don't have it. For the most part, I believe that it just isn't in town yet. Cox Communications in Bryan seem to be a bit behind the corporate expectations, so it's just a matter of time.

TNT-HD would be a definate plus to have. My wife is interested in ABC-HD since she's a huge Alias fan, but I told her to not be expecting much from a 720p source which may neve come into town. (That went over her head I assure you).

The KCEN-DT feed is not in sync with the analog station, in fact it's on about a 24 hour delay with select programming. I haven't been overly impressed with the HD presentation of the olympics, and after you watch it for a few hours I'm sure you would agree. There is only one commercial (Sony) and they play it at least every 5-10 minutes and cut right in the middle of a performance. It's quite annoying....

Best of luck to you, let me know if you hear anything also!

- Marc

Originally posted by Munky788
I'm away from College Station for another week and I was wondering if the KCEN-DT feed for the olympics was the same as the KCEN analog station.

KCEN-DT is showing the same HD loop as D* ch 84 and KPRC 2-2 out of Houston. I believe the HD loop is on a 24 hr delay. They also added their own annoying logo bug in addition to the NBC bug, and that damn Sony commercial is driving me crazy.

Welcome to the group Marc. We seem to be a bunch of Cox haters, but I thought your synopsis was great. It's a shame that KAMU-DT is also having problems via cable. The last two Soundstages I tried to watch were horrible (macroblocking). I think Cox has released their DVR in some markets (maybe San Diego), but we seem to be on the bottom of the Cox totem pole so I wouldn't expect it here any time soon.

Well, Im about to make some of you cry (well not really) but I redid my antenna from voom and actually am getting KYLE DT right now.... :)

I doubt this lasts but its interesting nonetheless when my big one didnt get anything and the little winegard is tuning it.

Originally posted by elspankdog

Welcome to the group Marc. We seem to be a bunch of Cox haters, but I thought your synopsis was great. It's a shame that KAMU-DT is also having problems via cable. The last two Soundstages I tried to watch were horrible (macroblocking). I think Cox has released their DVR in some markets (maybe San Diego), but we seem to be on the bottom of the Cox totem pole so I wouldn't expect it here any time soon. [/B]

Thanks for the welcome, glad to be here. I've generally been a Cox hater on most occasions, but when they are your only source for HD service, you kind of have to learn how to live with em.

I'm not sure why KAMU-DT is having so many problems, it seems to be how they encode the programming since the massive and I do mean massive pixellation occurs at the same spots everytime.

I can wait for the DVR, it'll take them forever I'm sure. Prior to HD, Cox's digital receivers didn't even have s-video, component, or digital audio out. They heard my complaint more than once.... They'll always be behind here. The lady I ordered the HD service through had no idea what she was doing, they don't seem to train their employees on anything there... sad.

-- Marc

Quick, someone get me a tissue!!;) I've been trying occasionally to pick it up lately, but haven't had any luck. Good to see there has been another sighting of KYLE-DT, I may keep my camera handy now in case Bigfoot jumps out of the woods around me!! :D
Sid

Originally posted by Ishman
The lady I ordered the HD service through had no idea what she was doing, they don't seem to train their employees on anything there... sad


I know what you mean, when I ordered my service over the phone they had to call me back an hour later after they figured out how to put it in the computer. I set up a friend with the same service in College Station just a week ago and once again, they took his number and called back an hour later after they figured it out.

I'm dissapointed to hear that their delaying the NBCHD feeds on D*, Cox, and from Houston. I too am pretty disappointed with olympic presentation. To jump on the bandwagon, I will go postal if I have to watch that darn sony commercial one more time. Today they even played it back to back to back during the same commercial break. :mad:

I noticed something a few minutes ago. Well, actually possibly a couple of nights ago, but couldn't tell for sure because there was no "appropriate" programming on at the time. I had turned the antenna checking on KYLE-DT and thought I would check on KXXV-DT while I was at it. First thing I noticed was the channel line-up had changed. 25-1 was still the feed from Waco, but 25-2 was now Telemundo (whoopee) which had been 25-3 instead of our local channel 40 simulcast, which seems to have been dropped completely. 25-3 is now the weather loop which was on 25-4. 25-4 no longer has anything at all, I suspect if I were to rescan it would disappear completely since I get the looking for signal message on it. OK, back to 25-1, which I noticed the other night had black bars on the side instead of being stretched as I was used to seeing on that channel. WTF, I thought to myself, could this mean a big, good change? So I waited until tonight to watch "The Days", the next program to come on ABC which I was pretty sure was in HD from the network. Lo and behold it apperared (and I emphasize appeared) to be in HD!! It was widescreen and not stretched, as I confirmed by switching to 13 on satellite from D* (yuck, bad picture, bad!), in which the same scenes were definitely cropped and stretched. I will try to call KXXV tomorrow and confirm what may have occured, but I am pretty optimistic at this point that they have made an upgrade! :cool: I sure hope I am right, 'cause my stomach doesn't tolerate crow very well! Oh, and it wasn't broadcast in DD sound, but first things first, I guess. Fingers crossed.
Sid

Maybe they yanked the KRHD feed because they plan to start transmitting it from the local tower. [/wishful thinking]

Originally posted by elspankdog
Maybe they yanked the KRHD feed because they plan to start transmitting it from the local tower. [/wishful thinking]
WAKE UP, DOG!!:)

Originally posted by labmansid
WAKE UP, DOG!!:)

or better yet get us hooked up with our own HD transmitter ;)

Damn, I leave for 3-4 days and I've got 4 pages of comments to read... plus some Cox plants ( :D ) have joined the fray (kidding, welcome to the thread guys)

D*'s ch 84 does look good, but it absolutely KILLS me to be watching a 24 hour tape delay of a tape delay.

Good to hear you got ch 84. I was wondering if anybody in "College Station" was indeed getting the D* feed. Apparently jagouar has had no luck with Voom.

Originally posted by mwesson
D*'s ch 84 does look good, but it absolutely KILLS me to be watching a 24 hour tape delay of a tape delay. ...with one commercial.

Welcome back, yeah, seems like lots of stuff has been happening lately. Glad to see our non-mover is getting the D* channel 84!! ;) I just called KXXV in Waco, and she confirmed that yes they are passing through HD from ABC now!! :cool: She said they have been since about two weeks ago. Now if they could at least bump their power so it comes in more reliably, I would be happy.
Sid

We brought chips... AND SALSA!

Whatcha doooooin?

In high def?

Can we watch with you?

Honestly, it's not like that commercial is some great representation of HD either. I actually think it looks quite bad. You'd think if they were going to run the same commercial 50 times an hour, they would at least make it impressive by giving us some hot chicks or something.

Speaking of hot chicks - I don't know how many of you have been watching any of the beach volleyball - but have you noticed the hoochies they bring out to fire up the crowd during breaks? You can catch them sometimes when coming back from a commercial breaks - YOWZA!

It takes awhile for the mental image of the Sony commercial to be whiped from my eyes. It's almost like staring at a light bulb for a minute and then looking away.

Haven't had a chance to catch the volleyball yet, when was it on?

I watched some of the 300m swim yesterday and the pixellation made me want to turn it off. Do any of you experience this? I notice it the most on the closeups.

Originally posted by mwesson
Speaking of hot chicks - I don't know how many of you have been watching any of the beach volleyball - but have you noticed the hoochies they bring out to fire up the crowd during breaks? You can catch them sometimes when coming back from a commercial breaks - YOWZA!
Gosh, I want to know where you HAVE been for the last few days!! Something seems to have you fired up!! :D
On that subject, has anyone seen the Air Show in Austria sponsored by Red Bull showing on HDNet? I think it has Infocus in the title. Anyway they have a bunch of pseudo-artsie dance stuff going on in the middle of it, and some of the female dancers are half naked. Just surprised me that HDNet would be showing something like that. Not that I am complaining, mind you!! ;)

The air show was already over when I switched over to HDnet. I'll have to catch another airing of it.

My wife and I went there a few years ago. Beautiful town!

Originally posted by elspankdog
Good to hear you got ch 84. I was wondering if anybody in "College Station" was indeed getting the D* feed. Apparently jagouar has had no luck with Voom.

yeah voom got a separate deal from NBC than direcTV and dish did.... they were allowed to run the same feed at the same time as it airs (they didnt have to wait till 1 AM to start, which was good) but they only let O&O stations a(and they are pretty strict about it).... so its actually a better agreement but teh con is people like me are screwed. It was probably part of the deal to show it "live" that they could only get O&O stations.

Well, I got an email response from KXXV engineering regarding the status of KRHD/ABC/HD. As far as they know, there are no immediate plans for adding KXXV/KRHD to the Cox HD lineup or to convert KRHD to HD. This is the same bad news I expected, but their last response was bad also, and the next thing you know, KXXV is in HD.

I just noticed that the Olympics on KPRC 2-2 is now coming in with DD 5.1! Sounds much better. :)
Sid

There's also a bug next to the NBC bug.

KCEN is DD 5.1 as well. At least the KPRC logo bug is a little more discrete.

Check out the KCEN bug:

Dang that's big!

Originally posted by elspankdog
Check out the KCEN bug: ''

You know its just a matter of time before we see the KBTX bug which will make KCEN look microscopic.

Originally posted by dave99ag
Dang that's big!

Yeah it's huge! I guess they are trying to show off their "DT" talents.... bah

Originally posted by elspankdog
Check out the KCEN bug:
It looks like he has got hold of some girl and is going to... Oh, you mean the one ON the TV and not UNDER it!! :D :D
Sid

I was going to say... That plasma screen would sure look more impressive without that girly figurine thing below it... :D

Originally posted by mwesson
I was going to say... That plasma screen would sure look more impressive without that girly figurine thing below it... :D

Do you honestly feel that he has a choice in the matter?

Of course not, but that's exactly why we rag on him... Our assumption is that his lovely wife wants that there... of course, that is an assumption :D

Man, am I taking a beating. If you look carefully, you'll see a less girly picture of my lovely wife and Dat Nguyen to the right of the questioned object.

Just got the 6 months of HD for free from D*. What a great deal. Given that I was already committed for a year with the free Tivo - it was a no brainer. It does worry me though that this means they won't be adding more HD soon. Who knows though...

Yeah... you know theyre trying to appease the people for not adding more HD esp with all the promises of the new sat that seems it wont be used much for HD, after NBC, bravo I dont think they can add anymore (until their next bird that Im sure they will promise tons more HD and not deliver just like this new bird). One of the reasons I went with voom was d*'s future capacity.

I could be wrong though (they could just be trying to be nice to their subs), but this is a buisness were talking about ;) Although if they were getting ready to add more HD it wouldnt make sense that they would want to give it away for free when people would sub like crazy when new HD was added.

Originally posted by elspankdog
Man, am I taking a beating. If you look carefully, you'll see a less girly picture of my lovely wife and Dat Nguyen to the right of the questioned object.
Was that picture taken by you or a Private Investigator??:D
Sid

:D :D :D :D :D Man sakes alive! We aren't going to get any more pictures posted here anytime soon... HA!

Originally posted by labmansid
Was that picture taken by you or a Private Investigator??:D
Sid

Don't make me take you off of my buddy list.

OK, OK, I'll let up. :p

Speaking of new HD on D*. Here's what I recall reading in all the posts:

NBC-HD E/W - Sept 1
FOX-HD E/W - Sept 12
Bravo HD+ - Sept 21

INHD would be nice, and I remember Ken H mentioning it a few times. But who knows. Heck, D* probably doesn't have the bandwidth far all that and ST.

I'll get two of those channels: FOX and Bravo.

Hopefully they'll add more over time.

D* should be adding fox and bravo pretty soon but I dont even see any hints about after that which leads me to think there wont be any (hence the free 6 month deal) because D* has been known to "promote" their future offerings months before they have them (fox for instance since it doenst go live till the fall and they have announced it already)... even with the new satelite they just put up (which was supposed to increase the HD offerings alot).

I know vooms next big push is going to be to get all the fox sports HD channelsas they come online. ESP with the WMV9 and new sats voom is moving too, if they can get there w/o going bankrupt they really have a good chance to get some real sub numbers.

Bravo right now is a waste but it should become quite the channel soon if they do some of what was mentioned in the bravo thread on the HDTV Programming forum.

Im suprised d* doesnt have TNT yet... it is a much better channel than bravo. They have really made the HD push lately with their movies mostly showing in HD plus the fewshows they do like "the grid" which is awesome in HD.

Well, at this point I am mainly concerned with getting the major networks on satellite, I am tired of having to rely on the weather for help on reception. We hardly watch either Bravo or TNT, so adding those doesn't do much for me, unless, as you say, they get better programming in the future. STARZ would be nice, but a lot of people that have it say not a lot of HD on it. The INHD's would be good also. Of course FSN-HD would be good for sports. My $.02.

Originally posted by labmansid
Well, at this point I am mainly concerned with getting the major networks on satellite, I am tired of having to rely on the weather for help on reception...

I thought you were holding out for Lifetime-HD. Then you would make the move to Voom. :D

Originally posted by elspankdog
I thought you were holding out for Lifetime-HD. Then you would make the move to Voom. :D

Good gawd, your not gonan let this go are you? :)

If not Lifetime-HD, there's always Oxygen-HD. ;)

Originally posted by elspankdog
I thought you were holding out for Lifetime-HD.
That's what you get for thinking when you aren't used to it!! :p

I am trying to get some advice from someone local who knows what they are doing and heard this is the place to find it...

I live in the Shenandoah subdivision, one block South of Barron Rd. I have a large (100" or so) combo antenna in my attic and can get KBTX and KAMU with my Dish 811 no problem. Last winter, on a few cold, clear nights, I was barely able to pull in KCEN from Waco. It would drop the audio and freeze up, but it was there. Here are my questions, and any other advice would be greatly appreciated.

1) Would an amp help?

2) My boss is very familiar with antenna as he is into HD and gets Houston channels from his Grimes County home and used to be into shortwave. He suggested I use a setup similar to his -- a Winegard 8-bay bowtie (PR 8800) for UHF and a 5 or 10 element Yagi (Jarrod 5Y9S or 10Y9S) tuned to ch 9 pointed at Waco for KCEN.

Do either of these sound like they would help? I realize getting on the roof would be best, but I'm not interested in doing that at this time.

Thanks,
neuendri

Hey neuendri, I also live off of Barron Rd. I used to have an attic mount like you, and while I had no luck with the Houston stations, I was able to pull in KCEN at around 60-75% signal strength in the evenings. I used a Channel Master 3020 and Spartan preamp from Lowe's. Since then, I've upgraded to an external antenna and had much better luck at both Houston and KCEN. dave99ag also uses a CM 3020 in his attic and has been able to pull in Houston stations in the evening, but he has had no luck with KCEN. Attic mounts are tricky, and from my experiences and what I've heard from mwesson and dave99ag, it's seems like a lot of luck is involved from this far out.

If possible I would recommend an external antenna. I understand if you don't want a huge tower, but if you could get right above the roof-line with no obstructions, it would be far better than an attic mount. I think labmansid tried a CM UHF #bay bowtie (CM 4228?) like you mentioned and had poor results with Houston stations. He, jagouar, and I all use Televes DAT75 UHF yagis for Houston. I also have a Winegard YA1713 highband VHF for KCEN and KAMU. I also believe we all use CM7777 VHF/UHF preamps.

Brian

neuendri,
Like Brian said, I have a CM 3020 and Spartan preamp from Lowe's mounted in my attic. I never had much luck aiming for Waco, so I decided to shoot for Houston. I live off of Graham, so I'm just a bit north of you.

NBC and CBS come in well at night and so-so in the daytime. ABC and FOX aren't as reliable. I'm waiting for D* to add them as they're both owned and operated stations in Houston. KBTX comes in fine, so I have a backup for CBS. I also pickup KAMU even though the antenna is pointed in the opposite direction.

I'm afraid to try to pickup Waco again since I got Houston on my first antenna position. I think it's a crapshoot when aiming these things in an antenna. I'd like to mount outside for better reception, but my wife isn't too keen on that idea.

Glad to see another area HD user. Most of us have D*, some Cox and one Voom. It'd be good to have an E* user posting.

dave99ag,

Are you in a two-story house? I'm on about the highest lot in Shenandoah, but only a single-story. I'm not sure I can get approval from the HOA or my wife to go with an outside antenna.

Brian,

Thanks for the info... I think I need to consider going to seperate UHF and VHF antennas to improve my reception. I just hate to lay out a bunch of cash and not get anything in return for it.

Thanks again and hopefully you will see a posting of my success in the near future,
neuendri

neuendri,
I'm in a one-story house. I'd definitely try a pre-amp with your antenna. I doubt I could get anything without mine.

Hey, neuendri, an HOA can't keep you from putting up an antenna, although I understand wives can be tougher.;) The only thing about the 8-bay bowtie is I don't think anyone locally carries them (you could check with Mid-State Electronics locally), so if it didn't work you may not be able to return it. I did try one from a place in Temple that let me return it, but that was a bit of a hassle, and I wasn't real impressed with it's performance for our predicament, although it is possible the Houston stations are operating at higher power now than when I tried it. One thing in it's favor, however, is it does have a lower profile visibly compared to a big yagi, especially if you can put it against a chimney or wall. If you are at a fairly high elevation as you say, you might have a shot at Houston's UHF digitals that way.
KCEN on the other hand, you are looking at a fairly large VHF or combo antenna. I use the same Winegard YA1713 highband VHF as Brian for KCEN, but reception is still somewhat unreliable, although I probably need to play with aiming some more (it's not on a rotor).
Welcome and good luck!!

Im still a bit pissed my big one died the other day... One thing to make sure is that you dont put it too high that you cant easily do maintenence on if (because it will be necessary eventually)....

FYI, the KCEN bug is gone tonight. However, the other bug is still on the mantle.

I noticed last night that sometimes it was there, sometimes not. I know this has really been "bugging" you! :D

Originally posted by mwesson
Speaking of hot chicks - I don't know how many of you have been watching any of the beach volleyball - but have you noticed the hoochies they bring out to fire up the crowd during breaks? You can catch them sometimes when coming back from a commercial breaks - YOWZA!

I caught a glimpse of these "hoochies" the other night and I was amazed. Shocked to see stuff like that in the XFL, I mean Olympics. Did you catch the music they would play also? They played "Born in the USA" routinely during the match, and the opposing players would have to wait for it to stop before they served. What's next, "Another One Bites the Dust" during gymnastics? :confused:

Originally posted by elspankdog
I caught a glimpse of these "hoochies" the other night and I was amazed. Shocked to see stuff like that in the XFL, I mean Olympics.
WHERE ARE THE SCREEN SHOTS!!?? :D

Originally posted by elspankdog
FYI, the KCEN bug is gone tonight. However, the other bug is still on the mantle.
Well, I see tonight the bug is back!! Time to get out the RAID!:)

Originally posted by labmansid
Well, I see tonight the bug is back!! Time to get out the RAID!:)
Time for a road trip!

I got an email response from Cox after inquiring whether or not they will continue to offer NBC-HD after the Olympics:

Dear Mr. elspankdog:

Thank you for your inquiry. Cox Communications is committed to providing the best customer service possible.

At this time the HDNBC station is only available during the olympics. We are in negotiations now to retain that channel after this coverage. Please check back with us at a later date to get an update on this matter.

So now I've been told it is a permanent addition (via the phone) and still pending (via email). Where's that Magic 8-ball?

Originally posted by elspankdog
I got an email response from Cox after inquiring whether or not they will continue to offer NBC-HD after the Olympics:

Dear Mr. elspankdog:

Thank you for your inquiry. Cox Communications is committed to providing the best customer service possible.

At this time the HDNBC station is only available during the olympics. We are in negotiations now to retain that channel after this coverage. Please check back with us at a later date to get an update on this matter.

So now I've been told it is a permanent addition (via the phone) and still pending (via email). Where's that Magic 8-ball?

This is a typical response from Cox. You can't hardly rely on anything they say regardless of the source. I typed out a 3 page e-mail complaining about the quality of the digital channels (see my rant from earlier) and all I got back was:

"Thank you for contacting Cox Communications. Unfortunately, this type of question can not be handled via e-mail. Please contact us by phone."

That's after I spend at least 2 hours typing the e-mail and crossing all my T's. I've totally given up on them; I'll just have to take it as its dished. I will say that I will be fairly upset if they can NBC after the olympics, especially since they are using it as a marketing ploy (have you seen their billboard lately?)

Cox sucks!

Dave, why don't you tell us how you really feel? :D

I just noticed in the guide that later tonight on Showtime will be "Lord of the G-Strings"! :eek: I wonder if it will be in HD?? :p

Cox does suck.... I'm down here in Corpus Christi for another week at my parents house with Time Warner. They don't charge more for the HD digital box as oppose to the regular box. The channels that are included are TNTHD, PBS, NBC. For an extra $4 you get INHD 1/2, HDNet/movies, DiscoveryHD. I wish cox was this motivated. The funny thing is that my sister in San Antonio has to pay about $25 more a month for the same services, also with Time Warner.

It's all about the market. Cox has everyone by the strings, they can charge whatever they want.

Originally posted by Ishman
It's all about the market. Cox has everyone by the strings, they can charge whatever they want.

I cut those strings a year ago when I went to DSL and D*. I would have even earlier, but I couldn't get DSL until I moved last year.

They do have B/CS by the balls though and can pretty much do or don't for that matter whatever they want.

It's good to be wireless!!:cool:
Sid

How are the speeds on wireless?

Can't get DSL in your area, or is wireless that much better?

Actually on wireless internet I can't tell any real difference in normal surfing from cable/dsl. It is only if you have a large file to download that there is any real difference, and even then it's still pretty quick to me. And no, DSL is not available where I live, so wireless was the only real option.
Sid

I know some clients that have wireless and have been happy with it so far.

I guess if we ever move out into the boonies, that'll be my provider. Glad to hear it's not that bad.

Which providers do they use? I have service with TC-Online, are there others?

Originally posted by labmansid
Which providers do they use? I have service with TC-Online, are there others?

I think that's who they're using. I'm not quite sure.

I stopped by Lowes at lunch and they didn't have the CM 7777 preamp y'all speak of, but they did have a CM 3041DSB. According to Stark Electronics (www_starkelectronic_com/allamps.htm), it is apparently a Spartan series, not a Titan series like the 7777. It has a 300 ohm input and a 75 ohm output and costs about 60 bucks. Is this the one I want... Also, can I plug in the powered part at my furnace in the attic or will that create more noise on the line?

Thanks,
Richard

That's the pre-amp I have. I was going to plug the amp in my attic, but decided to do it by the TV. I'm not sure if it matters where the pre-amp goes though.

The part that supplies the power (i.e. that plugs into your wall outlet) can be in-line pretty much anywhere. Most just put it close to their TV for convenience. The amp itself (i.e. the part with just coax connectors) usually should go in as close to the antenna as possible to minimize amplifying noise further down the coax. The idea is the closer to the signal source, or antenna, the more the signal gets amplified relative to noise, thereby increasing the signal/noise ratio, which is all-important in electronics.
Hope that helps.
Sid

Thanks, guys... I'll pick it up after work. After all, I can always return it if it doesn't help me!

Thanks again,
Richard

I picked up the preamp yesterday and tried it... It did increase my signal strength on KBTX and KAMU, but didn't help me pull in KCEN... I turned my antenna around to Houston and could pull in a couple analog stations, but couldn't lock in on a digital signal. I'm going to return it because it only had a single 300 ohm input. If I go outside w/ my antenna, I'm going to dedicated UHF and VHF antennas and need a pre-amp w/ seperate inputs so I can use it as a combiner.

Thanks again,
Richard

Hello everyone. I currently have CM3018 antenna and CM Spartan 3041 preamp(both from Lowe’s). I leave on Barron road. The antenna is roof mounted on a tripod and its pointing toward Houston. On a good day I receive all digital channels from Houston at 35-40% with occasional disruptions. NBC and CBS are stronger than ABC and FOX. CBS from College Station I never have problems, however PBS is not reliable at all. I think it is because I have the antenna pointed at Houston.

Do you guys think if I replace my antenna with XG91 from Antannasdirect it will help improve reception? As I understand it this antenna has the highest UHF gain of any on market today.

Once I install this new XG91 I will put my old antenna in the attic and point to Bryan for KAMU and KBTX. Any ideas on how I can put these two antennas together?

Thanks everyone in advance for you help.

Originally posted by neuendri
..If I go outside w/ my antenna, I'm going to dedicated UHF and VHF antennas and need a pre-amp w/ seperate inputs so I can use it as a combiner.

If that is the case, the Channel Master 7777 is the way to go. I think I got mine from www.warrenelectronics.com, but www.starkelectronic.com is another great place for antenna goodies.

Welcome to the forum!! Man, our numbers are starting to grow, now. :) From what I have read, the XG91 should improve your UHF reception. If you are keeping your old antenna for KAMU (KBTX should come in on the XG91 on UHF, especially if pointed toward Houston) you could use a pre-amp that has separate inputs for UHF and VHF, with your CM3018 going into the VHF input for KAMU, and the XG91 going to the UHF input. I'm not sure off-hand if the Spartan 3041 has separate inputs (I don't think it does ), but it would simplify things if it did. If not, I would consider getting the CM that does from Stark or Warren Electronics, or there are UHF/VHF combiners that might work. Let us know how it goes.
Sid

Did you happen to catch this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=428917) about the XG91? sregener wrote a nice review.

Just for you Dave - On the Cox front, I've been emailing them about the possible addition of Skinemax-HD to their lineup. Apparently, it is available on Cox in some markets. So far, I've got nothing but their usual stellar answers - huh? Has anybody else heard anything about it?

If I could buy a Panny HD set and get that free $100 worth of Cox HD, I think I might give them a try. :rolleyes:

I don't subscribe to the movie channels, so Cox still sucks in my book. :D

I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting geeked about next Thursday. Pics of kegerator to follow (yeah right, like I could handle the abuse). I wonder how jag's Hollywood USA in Bee Creek creation is going.

Thanks for the link and I feel that it is a great antenna. However, I was wondering if anyone around here is using this. I was also considering CM4248, cheaper and less weight. Thanks.

Originally posted by hmpcs
I was also considering CM4248, cheaper and less weight. Thanks.
Hmmm... I might know where you could find one locally. :D
Sid

Originally posted by hmpcs
...I was also considering CM4248, cheaper and less weight. Thanks. #&^%#*&$

Somebody might have one just laying around in their Texas basement.

Hmmm... According to the instructions in This post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4218276#post4218276) those that have "moved" to Houston will be blacked-out on ST games also broadcast locally in Houston, while those who still live in B/CS will get every ST game regardless. I might have an extra receiver if someone wouldn't mind another "mirror" (mwesson, hint, hint!!). :D
Sid

Another option would be to open up another D* account at your "B/CS" residence under your spouse's name with your extra HD receiver. Of course, you would probably need another phone number, and you would need to somehow get ST a la carte to avoid paying for another Total Choice package. I like your suggestion better. ;)

Originally posted by elspankdog
Somebody might have one just laying around in their Texas basement.


I wonder who would that be?

It's a dual custody thing. Regardless, it's not being used and could use a full time home. It's good with children and potty-trained.

I'm about fed up with watching the olympics on HD. It is by far the worst programming job I've ever seen. They continually cut right in the middle of a performance to list what is coming up later WHICH TAKES UP THE WHOLE SCREEN.

Not to mention the Sony commercial that I've already mentioned. I hope NBC doesn't get the winter olympics....

I quit watching a while ago. Simply can't take watching an 8-hour tape delay that is delayed 24 hours, no matter how good it looks.

College Football in HD TONIGHT! (And, of course, on Thursday...)

Originally posted by mwesson
College Football in HD TONIGHT! (And, of course, on Thursday...)
Why, what happens on Thursday?? :D
Sid

Hopefully, something good.

Well Im back after my week vacation in vegas.... looks like i missed some things but vegas is better than a few HD games ;)

Welp "Tomorrow Never Dies" on CBS-HD tonight sucks. Talk about a bad transfer, it looks absolutely horrid!

It's no the best of the Bond's, but I was hopefull... oh well

Anybody else watching?

Marc

I'm watching it and doesn't seem like a good transfer. Not terrible, but I've seen better.

Also, is The Casino on KRIV (26-1) in HD? It looks damn good for some of the shots. I know that Fox is turning on the splicer tomorrow, so I'm wondering if they're doing some tests. It had the blue bars for a bit, but went back to widescreen.

I watched Arrested Development earlier from my HD-TiVo (can you believe there were no break-ups whatsoever on KRIV), and it definitely looked like the usual 480p/720p upconvert.

Welcome back jag. How did you do? Any new equipment on the horizon due to the rewards of the trip?

Originally posted by elspankdog
I watched Arrested Development earlier from my HD-TiVo (can you believe there were no break-ups whatsoever on KRIV), and it definitely looked like the usual 480p/720p upconvert.

Welcome back jag. How did you do? Any new equipment on the horizon due to the rewards of the trip?


Yeah the transfer was def messed up because it looked alot better last time it aired on CBS (wierd that they didnt use the same transfer as last time)

As for my trip overall I lost money (made about 50 bucks gambling, not your general highroller being in college still) but after food and drinks and such I ended up costing me some..... I was just pissed I had to leave ;) Good thing Ill be going back in jan for CES 05 :)

So far KCENDT is still on Cox HD. Let's see how long this lasts.......

To those that may be interested..... I called cox and they said our area should be next to get dvr in their "plan" to unroll dvr in 95% of their markets by the end of this year. They said that their initial dvr box for this area will be an HD-dvr too. It will cost an extra 4.95 a month in addition to what Cox HD subscribers are currently paying for an STB.

Originally posted by jagouar
Well Im back after my week vacation in vegas.... looks like i missed some things but vegas is better than a few HD games ;)
Yeah, welcome back, jag. We noticed you were MIA, might have been some conspiracy theories floating around!! ;)
Sid

Originally posted by dave99ag
Also, is The Casino on KRIV (26-1) in HD? It looks damn good for some of the shots. I know that Fox is turning on the splicer tomorrow, so I'm wondering if they're doing some tests. It had the blue bars for a bit, but went back to widescreen.
I tuned to it briefly last night, but it was during one of the times they had the blue side-bars apparently, so I didn't watch for long. Speaking of KRIV, I have noticed times when it comes in pretty strong lately also. I think it was last weekend (maybe Saturday?) I checked just for grins like at 3:00-4:00 and it was coming in with signal strength in the 90's.:cool: I had my hopes up for football next month, but checked the next afternoon and nada, zilch. :( I want my HD NFL, dammit!!
Sid

Originally posted by Munky788
So far KCENDT is still on Cox HD. Let's see how long this lasts.......

Hey Munk, are they still showing the Olympics, or is it regular programming?

The Olympics were still on this morning at ~7am on D*. I think it goes off at noon.

Maybe once it goes off, Bravo-HD will go on.

There has been a sighting:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=4274499&fullpage=1

spank, they were showing regular programming this morning (regis and kelly) and they are still showing regular programming right now. so far the hope of seeing las vegas in HD on friday is looking good. i spoke with a csr last week and she said if it will cut out, then it will do so at 12am on 8/30.

Hope it stays on for you!!

A little off topic, but this (http://covers.usatoday.com/data/ncf/injuries.aspx) scared the crap out of me. :(

you had to bring that here didnt you?

He's ready to go, don't worry. :)

Originally posted by jagouar
you had to bring that here didnt you?

Can't help it, I'm freakin' out. I want a good HD experience.

Originally posted by elspankdog
A little off topic, but this (http://covers.usatoday.com/data/ncf/injuries.aspx) scared the crap out of me. :(
Don't MAKE me report this post to a moderator!! :p
Sid

Looks like Bravo-HD is up and running on D*. Looks good, but no 5.1. :(

I also checked out KRIV and the bug is definitely outside 4x3. It's kind of high off the bottom. Hopefully they'll move it down some more.

Originally posted by dave99ag
Looks like Bravo-HD is up and running on D*. Looks good, but no 5.1. :(

I also checked out KRIV and the bug is definitely outside 4x3. It's kind of high off the bottom. Hopefully they'll move it down some more.
KRIV is breaking up a lot for me now, but I see what you mean about the bug. It is way out of place. Have you been watching any of MNF? The video looks quite a bit darker than usual. See what you think about it (better, worse?).
Sid

Originally posted by labmansid
...The video looks quite a bit darker than usual. See what you think about it (better, worse?).
Sid

I think it is darker too. I don't remember last year's CBS broadcast at Texas Stadium being this dark.

that kinda sucks if bravo isnt in 5.1 (not that theres anything of use on bravo right now... should be sweet once nbc redoes its content.... cant wait for stargate:atlantis and SG1 in HD), its 5.1 on VOOM.

Its not always in 5.1 though, just the stuff thats actually in 5.1 (concerts and all live events for instance)

I notice that Jay Leno is not HD tonight, and showing on 2-1, while 2-2 is looping weather info and 2-3 is back to showing full-screen radar. Man, that Olympics thing sure confused things!! No HD Leno on KCEN, either, and that bug is even more obvious (go get'em, dog)!! Apparently Leno is not HD tonight anywhere according to another thread. :( At least the guide info is correct on KPRC now.
Sid

Man, this is getting wierder!! Just switched back to 2-1 and now Leno is in HD.

Originally posted by labmansid
Have you been watching any of MNF? The video looks quite a bit darker than usual. See what you think about it (better, worse?).
Sid

I watched some of the MNF game. This is only the second MNF game I've seen, but it did appear darker.

So is NBC still up for you Cox guys (that sounds bad - not that there is anything wrong with that)? If so, you'll get to see Father of the Pride in glorious HD followed by Heather Graham in crappy SD on Scrubs tonight. :(

Also, has anybody seen a decline in signal strength from KBTX lately? I pretty much keep my antenna aimed at Houston, and KBTX used to come in around 95%. But lately, it has dipped to around 70-80%. I have to aim it more toward Carlos to get the 95%.

NBC is still coming in on cox (channel 730 KCENHD). It seems like its a permanent addition, at least I hope so. Hopefully Leno will be in HD tonight, its been awhile since I've seen it in HD. Speaking of Father of the Pride, it got HORRIBLE reviews. Check out google news for more info. Their saying too nasty/adult like for kids and too dumb for adults.....another successful flop for NBC.

Yeah, Cox is still broadcasting KCEN over here too. I'll give FOTB a try, you just never know. Hey, if anything it's only 30 minutes and probably looks really good.

Hey, what the hell is this?

Anybody else watching FOTP? Jesus. 4:3, looks like crap, and the bug is almost in the smack dab middle of the screen.

It was in HD on KPRC 2-1. Looked great.

Originally posted by Ishman
Hey, what the hell is this?

Anybody else watching FOTP? Jesus. 4:3, looks like crap, and the bug is almost in the smack dab middle of the screen.

Looks like they didn't flip the "HD switch" at KCEN until a third of the way through. This has been a problem with them in the past. Heck, I had to call a couple of times to remind them during the Triple Crown. I had the HD-TiVo set to record KPRC also, but I think I had a recording conflict and only got the KCEN recording.

Oh well. It wasn't all that great anyway, I switched it off after the first 5 minutes. I should have held out for a little longer to see the HD. Comes on again on Thursday I believe.

Well guess Ill start the countdown.... 9 hrs left.

The weather looks good for your party, Jag. Take some pics of your outdoor setup if you can.

Work is very hard to get done today.

Got a new keg last night (darn students increased the prices), got my jersey out this morning, listened to "The Noble Men of Kyle" on the way to work, and I'm sporting a Maroon Out undershirt today. Now if this work stuff would stop distracting me, I could focus on the game. :)

well see how "bright" it is at 6:30 (thats the one big thing that worries me still)..... if its too bright I might not move it at all (depending on how the game is going).... not too long now though.

EDIT: Im even more stoked now... its being reported on satteliteguys that VOOM is adding SCIFI (SD) on sept 7, that was the one channel missing I wanted. We could lose by 77 now and Id still be happy (just not as happy) ;)

My pregame nausea has set in. The only antidote is a frosty one.

Originally posted by elspankdog
My pregame nausea has set in. The only antidote is a frosty one.
I thought this was you!! :D :D
Sid

Hmmm... 27-0, the best thing so far about this game is Jill Arrington on the sidelines!! :mad:
Sid

Allriiiiggghhtt!!! Finally some offense!! 27-7. :)

Looks like FOX in Houston is broadcasting in DD tonight, "Big Momma's House" is on now. Good widescreen PQ, though not HD.

Uuuuugly! So much for weathering the early storm. I feel like I am in Florida. :mad:

I would much rather watch them win in SD than watch them get drummed in HD! :(
Sid

Originally posted by labmansid
I would much rather watch them win in SD than watch them get drummed in HD! :(
Sid

The HD was the only good thing about last night.... Im kinda glad my party wasnt very big now.

So, did you do the Drive-In thing? If so, did you get attacked by bugs? :)

Originally posted by labmansid
So, did you do the Drive-In thing? If so, did you get attacked by bugs? :)

I ended up doing it inside, because it was starting to get a little dark (rain possibilty) and the bugs were out. I gotta say though last night was the best Ive ever seen ESPN look.