Has WYDO moved there tower location? I've been getting lower signal's here in Greenville lately...

Nope. It's still sitting there blinking all night long. Maybe they're working on the TX.

I saw on WFXI (I think Friday) where they have a good legal ID now. The voice guy comes in and says "Trust Fox Eastern Carolina" and at the bottom of the graphic they have

WFXI -------------------- WFXI / DT
Morehead City, New Bern, Jacksonville

(before they didn't have WFXI DT)

The CW now has a legal ID like,

WNCT-TV / WNCT-DT Greenville

Directv has ELECTION MIX up now on
channels 102 and 352 in Standard Definition and High Definition.

8 feeds on one screen

ABC CBS FOX NBC

CNN FOXNEWS MSNBC BBC AMERICA

Has a Electoral count on the top and a live blog on the bottom of the screen.

You can move the yellow box over each screen to hear that feeds audio and then select to tune directly to that channel.

Well, whether you're happy or not, at least the elections are over. Now maybe we can get back to regular HD programming...

I think this market needs to start doing like the triad and get those screens up for those DTV ready, and those who are not. It's getting really close now, and those converters need to be ordered. It may take some time for the coupons to come in, and if they wait till the last minute, people are going to be upset. I see lots of antennas out there on 24, and 258 that I bet are still being used.

Does anyone know why the Bobcats NBA games are blocked on Dishnetwork?
Channels HD ALT 444, ALT 444, NBA HD 561, NBA 561, HD ALT 9515 and HD ALT 9561 are supposed to be showing the game, but all of them have the blackout message. The FSN South is showing the Hawks games.

anybody in greenville have experience calibrating speakers and subwoofers? If somebody knows how and wants to help me let me know. I'll pay you $20 lol. I have an Onkyo sr606 and my speakers are:

definitive technology procenter 2000
definitive technology promonitor 1000s
mirage nanosats
SVS 20-39pc+

thanks!

Does anyone know why the Bobcats NBA games are blocked on Dishnetwork?
Channels HD ALT 444, ALT 444, NBA HD 561, NBA 561, HD ALT 9515 and HD ALT 9561 are supposed to be showing the game, but all of them have the blackout message. The FSN South is showing the Hawks games.

Dish Network is having a contract dispute with NBA LP. This seems to be the trend with Dish Network, always in a dispute with a provider.

www.multichannel.com/blog/350000435/post/670035867.html

If you're watching WITN, you are not getting HD service right now while on WECT the show is in HD. I've noticed this happens quite often.

Some serious problems getting WITN in HD last night during Football. It wasn't until late 1st quarter that it suddenly came on.

anybody in the greenville area have experience w/ an onkyo 606 receiver and calibrating speakers/subwoofer? I could use some help, so pm me if you think you can. thanks!

can somebody post the QAM channels via suddenlink in greenville nc. physical and representation channel. i looked at post number 4001. it seems updated.
thank you.

I have a Channel Master 4228 (thanks to WRAL) mounted on a pole 20' feet up. When I point it towards Raleigh, I can pick up 11.1, 17.1, 22.1, 28.1, & 50.1. In the past, I could pick up 5.1. Now, however, it doesn't come in.

Do you guys have any ideas as to why this channel won't come in?

thanks,

Operating from an auxiliary antenna at reduced height until February, since they had to replace their antenna at the top of the tower before the Winter ice storms. If you receive the rest okay now, WRAL will come in at that time.

- Trip

I do not receive WRAL DT either since the implementation of the aux. antenna. They have that antenna aimed to the northwest in a very directional manner. It doesn't radiate any farther east than Goldsboro basically.

Since we are talking about coverage, on WCTI this morning, they talked about the NOAA weather radios and showed the coverage areas of each transmitter. (New Bern, Warsaw, Wilmington, and Tarboro) I found that Jacksonville is really close to the fringe, and I guess that's why mine doesn't always pick up the signal when bad weather is coming in. Very interesting though, and a good message to get out to the public, especially after what happened last weekend.

At times during the day I get breakups on WRAL, but overall it's still pretty viewable. I did lose it on the Magnavox converters one night, but the Digital Stream converters still kept the signal just fine.

Thanks for the replies. I will be patient and wait for them to go back to full-strength.

I will be conducting a hard test of our digital transmitters for WCTI and WFXI tonight from 2 to 4 am. We will be up on chan 8-1 and 12-1. 48 and 24 as well as our analog will be off air during that time. I will post here when we are actualy up.

I doubt if many will be up at that time but if you are you will need to rescan to pick up the signals. If you pick us up please post here and let me know.

Ken

Ken I saw where you can now go to 42kW on WFXI after the switch. That looks to be a great improvement over what analog 8 used to reach.

Aww, and I'm not home to try and DX for it. =(

- Trip

Ken I saw where you can now go to 42kW on WFXI after the switch. That looks to be a great improvement over what analog 8 used to reach.

That is correct but that will not happen in FEB the transmitter that I currently have will not make the required power. I will let you know more when I do

Ken

WE did have sucessful tests last night on both 8 and 12 so we are good to go for Feb

Ken

Since we are talking about coverage, on WCTI this morning, they talked about the NOAA weather radios and showed the coverage areas of each transmitter. (New Bern, Warsaw, Wilmington, and Tarboro) I found that Jacksonville is really close to the fringe, and I guess that's why mine doesn't always pick up the signal when bad weather is coming in. Very interesting though, and a good message to get out to the public, especially after what happened last weekend.

It was embarrasing how poorly the local stations carried the tragedies that were occuring in their viewing area. In my opinion they should have all been live on the air telling people where these tornados were going. I had to tune to the Raleigh stations to get any real time info. Sad.

It was embarrasing how poorly the local stations carried the tragedies that were occuring in their viewing area. In my opinion they should have all been live on the air telling people where these tornados were going. I had to tune to the Raleigh stations to get any real time info. Sad.

I wasn't awake, but had my wx radio on and it never went off, so I didn't see (or not see) the coverage. Sounds like things went about like normal though... They usually don't come on since that woman complained about missing her show of CSI or something.:rolleyes:

WE did have sucessful tests last night on both 8 and 12 so we are good to go for Feb

Ken

I woke up at 3 AM and turned on to 12 and got the banner at the bottom saying "This is a Test". Signal showed up at 96% with a UHF. I tried 8, but couldn't get it. Signal was only up to 12% so I know I need a VHF add on.

Ken12,

Any word on when you guys are going make nice with Charlie and let us people have HD locals? (I know they are trying to extort you somehow), but how do us subs get more HDs? It would be nice to be able to watch one HD local while recording another.

Thanks,
Mike

I forgot to mention Ken was on TV last night. He's famous now. :) The first engineer I can put a face to in this market. I've seen three on TV from Wilmington, and saw two from Raleigh. Maybe we'll see all of them before it's over...

Ken was that the WCTI tower they showed?

Ken12,

Any word on when you guys are going make nice with Charlie and let us people have HD locals? (I know they are trying to extort you somehow), but how do us subs get more HDs? It would be nice to be able to watch one HD local while recording another.

Thanks,
Mike
I understand that it is close but nothing definate. If I hear anything I can post I will.

Ken

I forgot to mention Ken was on TV last night. He's famous now. :) The first engineer I can put a face to in this market. I've seen three on TV from Wilmington, and saw two from Raleigh. Maybe we'll see all of them before it's over...

Ken was that the WCTI tower they showed?

They talked me into it I hate doing that kind of stuff. I didn't even get to see it.

It was the WCTI tower

It was embarrasing how poorly the local stations carried the tragedies that were occuring in their viewing area. In my opinion they should have all been live on the air telling people where these tornados were going. I had to tune to the Raleigh stations to get any real time info. Sad.
I am not sure when channel 9 started showing it, but they were on at about 3:30 i think it was that morning, i was flipping back and forth between WRAL and WNCT, but i couldn't tell you much more than that.

Ken...We got your test Thursday morning in Washington, on 12.1..ss was a 24-28 on my maxnavox box, with a homemade 4-bay bowtie at HAAT @5ft...Signal was 50% as strong at WITN-DT and about 75% as strong as WNCT-DT and WUNK-DT...At HAAT @30ft with a small Rshack combo ant, and Samsung HDTV, ss was a solid "7"...Good to go.

Ken...We got your test Thursday morning in Washington, on 12.1..ss was a 24-28 on my maxnavox box, with a homemade 4-bay bowtie at HAAT @5ft...Signal was 50% as strong at WITN-DT and about 75% as strong as WNCT-DT and WUNK-DT...At HAAT @30ft with a small Rshack combo ant, and Samsung HDTV, ss was a solid "7"...Good to go.

Great thanks for the info. With the signal I'm putting out when we go back to 12 there should be very little problems picking it up. It should be a big improvemt over 48.

I'll probably do another test in December and again in January I'll post when I know the dates. Wish I could do a test during the day so that more people could check it but that would require us to go off the air for a couple of hours which is nnot going to happen.


Ken

Great thanks for the info. With the signal I'm putting out when we go back to 12 there should be very little problems picking it up. It should be a big improvemt over 48.

So are you saying the coverage area will increase?

I'm just barely out of range right now so maybe that will help. Looks like it will be too late for the first Duke/UNC game, but in time for the ACC tourney.

So are you saying the coverage area will increase?

I'm just barely out of range right now so maybe that will help. Looks like it will be too late for the first Duke/UNC game, but in time for the ACC tourney.

Where are you located?

Pinetown, NC:
5-6 miles East(North of Hwy. 264) of Washington, NC...

Pinetown, NC:
5-6 miles East(North of Hwy. 264) of Washington, NC...

I think you should pick us up fine

Pinetown, NC:
5-6 miles East(North of Hwy. 264) of Washington, NC...

Stalker much? Or are you talking about yourself?

I'm almost exactly between Washington & Belhaven right along 264.

Is this the new coverage map?
http://www.fcc.gov/ftp/Bureaus/MB/Databases/fm_tv_service_areas/maps/DT1250678.gif

If so, I appear to be good.

Stalker much? Or are you talking about yourself?

I'm almost exactly between Washington & Belhaven right along 264.

Is this the new coverage map?
http://www.fcc.gov/ftp/Bureaus/MB/Databases/fm_tv_service_areas/maps/DT1250678.gif

If so, I appear to be good.
I don't know what your point is. Is IT a [personal] ATTACK? I SIMPLY made an accurate geographical statement. I am correct:
Pinetown is definitely North East of Washington and North of Hwy. 264. The state map shows that, period. Is that CLEAR enough?
Thank you

I don't know what your point is. Is IT a [personal] ATTACK? I SIMPLY made an accurate geographical statement. I am correct:
Pinetown is definitely North East of Washington and North of Hwy. 264. The state map shows that, period. Is that CLEAR enough?
Thank you

Chill, guy, it was a joke. Maybe I should have put a smilie. I forgot I had my location in my profile. You are correct, though.

Thanks, Ken. I can pick up your analog signal fine here, but not the current digital one. Hopefully I can after the switch.

Anyone else noticed that Dish Network is feeding a squeezed full 16:9 version of WCTI-HD as the SD feed? It's the only channel they're doing it to and it's REALLY annoying, especially when non-HD programming is on (they feed the 4:3 section squeezed with black bars on either side). Everyone else they are just feeding 16:9 with the edges chopped off to make 4:3.

Anyone else noticed that Dish Network is feeding a squeezed full 16:9 version of WCTI-HD as the SD feed? It's the only channel they're doing it to and it's REALLY annoying, especially when non-HD programming is on (they feed the 4:3 section squeezed with black bars on either side). Everyone else they are just feeding 16:9 with the edges chopped off to make 4:3.

I'll call Dish and try to get them straight sometimes with them that is easier said then done. I would sugest you call them and complain also it is just a setting on there receiver that they have wrong and the can access it remotly it should be set to crop

Ken

woodard,

That map you posted is what 12 WCTI will be like once the switch takes place. WNCT, WCTI and WFXI will be VHF digitals. This means if you do not have a VHF antenna at this time, you may need to add one depending on where you are. I know that I need to get one if I want to watch channel 8. I was hoping WYDO would quickly move over to channel 47, but it looks like it may be summer before that happens...?

woodard,

That map you posted is what 12 WCTI will be like once the switch takes place. WNCT, WCTI and WFXI will be VHF digitals. This means if you do not have a VHF antenna at this time, you may need to add one depending on where you are. I know that I need to get one if I want to watch channel 8. I was hoping WYDO would quickly move over to channel 47, but it looks like it may be summer before that happens...?

That's what I was hoping. I guess my antenna gets both VHF/UHF since I get WITN and WNCT in both digital and analog, and WYDO in digital. It's a small Terk antenna that clips on my DirecTV dish. WCTI is the only digital channel I don't pick up.

Anyone else noticed that Dish Network is feeding a squeezed full 16:9 version of WCTI-HD as the SD feed? It's the only channel they're doing it to and it's REALLY annoying, especially when non-HD programming is on (they feed the 4:3 section squeezed with black bars on either side). Everyone else they are just feeding 16:9 with the edges chopped off to make 4:3.


Would you post when dish fixes the problem. I called them today and they said they would fix it

Ken

Would you post when dish fixes the problem. I called them today and they said they would fix it

KenIt's fixed as of this morning. Thanks Ken!

It's fixed as of this morning. Thanks Ken!

thanks for the update unfortunatly I am unable to receive dish here so had no way to no when it was fixed

Ken

I have question that maybe someone can answer..I have both suddenlink and DTV with HD programming..I was comparing my picture quality on ESPNU and suddenlink was noticably better and clearer...I hace both connected through my AV yahama receiver via component cables to one input on TV...any suggestions..I'm waiting to drop suddenlink when local HD comes on line in Greenville..by the may it was ESPNU SD I don't pick up ESPNHD or its not availalbe to us

THks

Maybe Ken or eastern can answer this?

Is there any chance that you can carry the news in a 16X9 format even though it isn't really in HD? They are doing this on WWAY, and it is better to me that it fills the whole screen instead of having black bars or having to stretch the picture. They use filler graphics to cover the whole screen on some stories just like WRAL when they don't have an HD camera shot.

^ WVEC in Norfolk does that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i8g05njdMs&feature=related

"Now available in Digital Widescreen"

Maybe Ken or eastern can answer this?

Is there any chance that you can carry the news in a 16X9 format even though it isn't really in HD? They are doing this on WWAY, and it is better to me that it fills the whole screen instead of having black bars or having to stretch the picture. They use filler graphics to cover the whole screen on some stories just like WRAL when they don't have an HD camera shot.

It is possible but not with our current equipment. It is cominig but can't say for sure when yet

^ WVEC in Norfolk does that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i8g05njdMs&feature=related

"Now available in Digital Widescreen"

Wow, the guy that posted that clip gets around. He has all the stations up...

I had taken some video for upload, but decided against it in case of infringing on a copyright or something.

It is possible but not with our current equipment. It is cominig but can't say for sure when yet

I'm not 100%, but agree with Ken's assessment.

Just got word from Mike Riddle at WITN that WITN-DT/HD should now be up on Dish Network.

According to this, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WNCT-TV - WNCT is the ratings winner in this area, and it looked like they are on a temporary set the last couple of times I watched the news, and I can't imagine they have that as the new set with no desk. I couldn't even see Van Gaskin one time during the weather cast. Wonder what they have in store? I almost wish they would dump VIPIR and get the TITAN radar since WITN duplicated it. The TITAN is better anyway...

One night this week I saw Annette say they were "making repairs" to the set. Not sure what that means.

I though WITN was usually the ratings leader? Myself, I find 12 doing news in the true sense of the word more and more these days (less fluff, more real stories).

There is no clear "ratings leader" in this market. It really depends on where the diaries go and who fills them out.

In the mornings, WITN is usually a clear #1, followed by WCTI. At noon, WNCT wins. At 5, it's Dr. Phil, followed by WITN and then WCTI. 6pm can be a horserace between WNCT & WITN. Then at 11, it's usually WNCT...but in July WITN won.

July numbers:

6:00 am Rating/Share

WITN - 5.5/26
WCTI - 3.7/18
WNCT - 2.9/14

Noon

WNCT - 8.9/31
WCTI - 3.4/12
WITN - 3.0/10

5:00

WNCT - 5.5/17 (Dr. Phil)
WITN - 3.6/11
WCTI - 3.5/11

6:00

WNCT - 8.5/20
WITN - 8.2/19
WCTI - 6.2/15

11:00

WITN - 4.6/16
WNCT - 4.5/16
WCTI - 3.2/11

November numbers should be soon.

Thanks, that is interesting, especially Dr. Phil! Maybe 12 will do better after the transition when their signal gets to the north more. I like their news more and more much like Scott said.

OK, here's a dumb question for you Suddenlink subscribers.....

My wife is looking to get her parents a small (19-22") LCD tv this year, but doesn't want them to have to pay a bunch of extra charges to watch HD on it. They currently have Suddenlink. Do you need to subscribe to a HD package, or get a box from Suddenlink to watch the local channels in HD? Will the TV's tuner pick them up right out of the box?

I searched this thread and looked on Suddenlink's site, but came up with nothing. Maybe I was using the wrong keywords?

OK, here's a dumb question for you Suddenlink subscribers.....

My wife is looking to get her parents a small (19-22") LCD tv this year, but doesn't want them to have to pay a bunch of extra charges to watch HD on it. They currently have Suddenlink. Do you need to subscribe to a HD package, or get a box from Suddenlink to watch the local channels in HD? Will the TV's tuner pick them up right out of the box?

I searched this thread and looked on Suddenlink's site, but came up with nothing. Maybe I was using the wrong keywords?

She will get the local stations in HD with the basic cable package just run the channel scan and it will pick them up should be 701-715 anything else over that she will have to have the digital package with a box

She will get the local stations in HD with the basic cable package just run the channel scan and it will pick them up should be 701-715 anything else over that she will have to have the digital package with a box

Make sure that the new tv has a QAM TUNER. If it does it will pick up the locals in HD.
Here in Washington youll get ...

WITN HD
WITN WX CHANNEL
WNCT HD
WCTI HD
WCTI ENC TV
WYDO HD
WUNK UNC HD
WUNK UNC KIDS
WUNK UNC NC

You can get a HD box and get the basic hd, HD is free but just pay a few buck for the reciever fee.
In Washington you get ESPN HD, ESPN 2 HD, TNT, TBS, FX, USA, BRAVO, DISCOVERY HD, ANIMAL PLANET and a couple of others.

Thank you both! They are in Washington, and I'm pretty sure all they have is the basic package.

They don't have The CW up there? Down here you must have the idiot box to get CW too. Crooks... lol

It appears that the current HD signals (most) are on UHF and changing to VHF but does anyone have the dates of the changes.

How about wattage?

Is there a general coverage map (after the change) that shows all of the stations and their coverage area?

After looking at TV Fool….it appears that most stations are in the “green” now but will be moving to “yellow” after the transition.

Thanks all (yes I have tried to search/read through but seems I can only find maps of existing broadcast not after the change from UHF~VHF)

WFXI will move from 24 to 8, and WCTI from 48 to 12. WYDO will eventually move from 21 to 47 and boost power. WEPX will sign on channel 51 digitally at some point.

My site has decent info on the subject, expand out the stations and then expand the technical data for power levels:

http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?mktid=129

- Trip

WFXI will move from 24 to 8, and WCTI from 48 to 12. WYDO will eventually move from 21 to 47 and boost power. WEPX will sign on channel 51 digitally at some point.

My site has decent info on the subject, expand out the stations and then expand the technical data for power levels:

http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?mktid=129

- Trip

Thanks... A lot of good info but the kW...is that now or after? Wonder why WNCT's so low.....we need more power :eek:

VHF stations don't need as much power to cover the same area. WNCT-DT is pretty close to the FCC's power limit for VHF stations, though I don't think it's actually at that limit.

You can tell the before and after because it lists the channel number. On WCTI-DT, for instance, you see channel 48 at 161 kW, then channel 12 at 32 kW or whatever it is exactly.

- Trip

VHF stations don't need as much power to cover the same area. WNCT-DT is pretty close to the FCC's power limit for VHF stations, though I don't think it's actually at that limit.

You can tell the before and after because it lists the channel number. On WCTI-DT, for instance, you see channel 48 at 161 kW, then channel 12 at 32 kW or whatever it is exactly.

- Trip

Doh:eek: Guess I should pay more attention when looking at power (UHF vs VHF):D

Thanks again!

Actually, WNCT-DT's signal extends out quite nicely at 35kW. At my aunts waaaaaayyyy over in Sampson county they get 9 digital very well, and WITN/WCTI not so well. People down in Pender county too have reported getting 9 digital easily. I expect they will see 12 digital coming in strong when Ken flips the wires. They see the analogs good though, except for 9. Morehead is sort of a low spot. Maybe 9 will digitize it's repeater over there...

My site has decent info on the subject, - Trip

Trip, you need to modify the data for WITN 7-2. It is NOT NBC Weather Plus. It is a local WITN production.

Yes Its WITN 24/7 Weather Channel.

Just checked out the Rabbit Ears site, never looked at it before, great site!

Wow, thanks. I know it's never been WeatherPlus (has it?), don't know how that one slipped by me. Must have been one of those "up at 3AM working on my site" errors I seem to make from time to time. :D

- Trip

OK, here's a dumb question for you Suddenlink subscribers.....

My wife is looking to get her parents a small (19-22") LCD tv this year, but doesn't want them to have to pay a bunch of extra charges to watch HD on it. They currently have Suddenlink. Do you need to subscribe to a HD package, or get a box from Suddenlink to watch the local channels in HD? Will the TV's tuner pick them up right out of the box?

I searched this thread and looked on Suddenlink's site, but came up with nothing. Maybe I was using the wrong keywords?

I'm with Suddenlink. It looks like others have already answered your question, but for reference, you can check here (http://suddenlinkfyi.com/2008/01/29/hd-fundamentals/), as well.

Heres the HD line up for Washington's Suddenlink area

BROADCAST-FREE ***WORKS WITH A TV WITH A QAM TUNER ***
702 WYDO FOX HD
707 WITN NBC HD
709 WNCT CBS HD
712 WCTI ABC HD
715 WUNK UNC/PBS HD

DIGITAL BROADCAST-FREE ***WORKS WITH A TV WITH A QAM TUNER ***
154 UNC TV SD
156 UNC NC SD
157 UNC KD SD
167 WITN WEATHER CHANNEL SD
168 WCTI ENC TV SD






HD BASIC - FREE REQUIRES A HD RECEIVER
717 BRAVO HD
718 USA HD
719 SCIFI HD
720 FX HD
721 TNT HD
722 TBS HD
723 FOX SPORTS CAROLINAS HD
724 ESPN HD
725 ESPN 2 HD
726 CNBC HD
728 TLC HD
729 ANIMAL PLANET HD
730 DISCOVERY CHANNEL HD

HD PLUS - FEE REQUIRED REQUIRES A HD RECEIVER
731 HD THEATER
732 HD NET
733 HD NET MOVIES
734 HGTV HD
735 FOOD HD
736 NAT GEO HD
737 A&E HD
738 HISTORY HD

PREM. HD - FEE REQUIRES A HD RECEIVER
780 HBO HD
785 STARZ HD
790 SHOWTIME HD

I'm with Suddenlink. It looks like others have already answered your question, but for reference, you can check here (http://suddenlinkfyi.com/2008/01/29/hd-fundamentals/), as well.

Of course, I looked everywhere but there. BTW, we got them a 19" Toshiba TD/DVD combo for $269. Hopefully seeing the quality of channels in HD will get them to upgrade their larger TV to HD as well. They keep talking about it but haven't pulled the trigger yet.

Does anyone know where WITNS Christina Vitale went?

Also Tom Skinner has left WITN as well.

WNCT is on a somewhat refreshed set now, and finally got the graphics that the rest of the MG stations have had for awhile. I wonder if HD is coming soon?

Ther have been a LOT of MIA reporters, anchors and meterologists from many stations around the area. Marisella Burgos, Heather Ford, are a couple that come to mind, and Chris Thompson was let go. I hate it when you just start liking the way they look and deliver the news that they move on... or are let go. I think that is why some stations don't do so well. The ones that need to be fired seem to keep hanging on, yet they are not clear communicators, or talk about the same counties and towns over and over during the weathercast and leave others out.

WNCT's new graphics are an improvement. I hope News9er will give us the new ratings when they come in.

I didn't know Chris Thompson had been let go... now I see that it happened way back in July. I wonder the reason why he was let go?

Christina Vitale didn't last long at WITN. I had gotten used to her being on Henry Hinton's show on 94.3 in Greenville... she was the regular news anchor on there in the morning. Now they have Christine Kennedy, who really sounds great on the radio. She's fit into that show quite well.

Heres the HD line up for Washington's Suddenlink area

BROADCAST-FREE ***WORKS WITH A TV WITH A QAM TUNER ***
702 WYDO FOX HD
707 WITN NBC HD
709 WNCT CBS HD
712 WCTI ABC HD
715 WUNK UNC/PBS HD

DIGITAL BROADCAST-FREE ***WORKS WITH A TV WITH A QAM TUNER ***
154 UNC TV SD
156 UNC NC SD
157 UNC KD SD
167 WITN WEATHER CHANNEL SD
168 WCTI ENC TV SD

HD BASIC - FREE REQUIRES A HD RECEIVER
717 BRAVO HD
718 USA HD
719 SCIFI HD
720 FX HD
721 TNT HD
722 TBS HD
723 FOX SPORTS CAROLINAS HD
724 ESPN HD
725 ESPN 2 HD
726 CNBC HD
728 TLC HD
729 ANIMAL PLANET HD
730 DISCOVERY CHANNEL HD

HD PLUS - FEE REQUIRED REQUIRES A HD RECEIVER
731 HD THEATER
732 HD NET
733 HD NET MOVIES
734 HGTV HD
735 FOOD HD
736 NAT GEO HD
737 A&E HD
738 HISTORY HD

PREM. HD - FEE REQUIRES A HD RECEIVER
780 HBO HD
785 STARZ HD
790 SHOWTIME HD


Mark me down as jealous, as those of us in Rocky Mount haven't gotten a new HD channel in what seems forever. Our "Basic" tier only includes 4 more HD's (TBS, TNT, ESPN, ESPN2) after the broadcast stations. The "Plus" tier nabs another 7 channels for $8. I prefer to not go with satellite, so I feel completely left out of all the HD fun.

Asking Suddenlink reps for updates in our area is just like asking a brick wall a question. Anyone have any idea when we might see any HD and/or VOD upgrades in Rocky Mount?

With AT&T finally landing in Raleigh/Cary, and Wilson getting their city service (Greenlight) going, any rumors of expanded coverage into RM, if not for the ability to switch, then to get Suddenlink's rear in gear on updates?

There is a nationwide DTV test going on today. It is marked as 6PM for this area.

There is a nationwide DTV test going on today. It is marked as 6PM for this area.

WITN announced their's for 6:27 PM today.

WITN announced their's for 6:27 PM today.Anyone know when UNC-TV is doing their test???

I think we will all be doing it @ 6:27 I'm not sure on PBS

Ken

I think we will all be doing it @ 6:27 I'm not sure on PBS

KenI heard some Charlotte stations are doing it at 6:25...

I think all stations are going to do it at 6:27. I won't be able to check, because I have got to finish shopping. I was wondering if WEPX would do the test since they have no digital... WPXU does and I was going to check it out.

I think all stations are going to do it at 6:27. I won't be able to check, because I have got to finish shopping. I was wondering if WEPX would do the test since they have no digital... WPXU does and I was going to check it out.The UNC-TV stations are not participating in today's test...

We are doing ours at 6:27. Analog only and running promos on the DTV side for the duration. The FCC first asked for 5 minutes and I think they relented to 2 minutes starting at 6:27.

Directv failed the digital test. I know they are currently upgrading the local site.

Directv failed the digital test. I know they are currently upgrading the local site.DirecTV failed on 2 (MNT, ABC) of 4 locals. NBC and FOX passed. CBS, CW didn't participate. I think we are getting the national ION feed for our local ION affiliate because our local ION station participated in the test but saw no announcement on air via DirecTV...

Very very few ION local stations are carried. ION has a deal with the satellite companies saying that as long as they carry the national feed, they don't have to carry 100 local stations with identical programming.

- Trip

I think the nearest ION is WFPX out of Fayetteville / Robeson county to this area.

I think the nearest ION is WFPX out of Fayetteville / Robeson county to this area.

WPXU? WEPX?

- Trip

D* and E* switched the Triad over to off air digital just Monday!

Very very few ION local stations are carried. ION has a deal with the satellite companies saying that as long as they carry the national feed, they don't have to carry 100 local stations with identical programming.

- TripThanks Trip...

WPXU? WEPX?

- Trip
Those air MyNetwork TV programming in prime time. They air paid programming during the day. I don't know if that comes from ION or not. The digital sub channels are IONs

How did the test go last night? Were there many calls after it ran with confusion on what was going on?

Actually, WNCT-DT's signal extends out quite nicely at 35kW. At my aunts waaaaaayyyy over in Sampson county they get 9 digital very well, and WITN/WCTI not so well. People down in Pender county too have reported getting 9 digital easily. I expect they will see 12 digital coming in strong when Ken flips the wires. They see the analogs good though, except for 9.

Morehead is sort of a low spot. Maybe 9 will digitize it's repeater over there...

Arrrrgggg :mad:
That's the problem....everyone wants to forget about us poor people in Morehead! I'm in a pretty good spot with an attic antenna and still have problems depending on the weather....except for FOX.....

What's this about "9 will digitize it's repeater over there"??? Maybe something to look forward to????

Thanks for the reply!!

9 has a translator in Morehead on channel 5... W05BI. That's what they're referring to them digitizing.

I only caught WNCT's test last night. I have both the analog and digital WNCT's saved programmed on my TV, and after I heard about the test, I changed to the analog channel. I got the message that I wasn't ready for the transition. I know that's bull cause I already get the digital channel.

Would I have had to rescan for channels while the test was going on to pick it up? It seems that the test may be misleading to some folks around here.

You said you turned to the analog channel?

If so thats why you saw the message that you were not ready. The analog channel aired the message. The digital channel aired a normal broadcast.

Ken12, either you're a genius, or whichever person works with you that thought up your plan is.

I just saw the filing for WYDO-DT and that is, I must say, an amazing way to save money and improve coverage all at the same time.

For those who don't know, WYDO-DT requested to move to channel 47. When I saw this, I thought it had to do with the extra filtering that channel 14 requires due to protection of land mobile operations immediately below 14.

Their application, however, reveals the true purpose. They want to take the current WCTI-DT 48 antenna, rotate it 135 degrees (so it favors the northwest instead of the south), and operate it on channel 47 with the soon-to-be-former WCTI-DT transmitter. It's such an ingenious plan, recycles all the equipment and improves coverage.

Big thumbs up! =)

- Trip

It's such an ingenious plan, recycles all the equipment and improves coverage.

Some of us had already thought of that and assumed everyone else saw it too!! :D

Are they moving the antenna to the Ayden site or will WYDO begin broadcasting from Trenton?

Heres the HD line up for Washington's Suddenlink area

BROADCAST-FREE ***WORKS WITH A TV WITH A QAM TUNER ***
702 WYDO FOX HD
707 WITN NBC HD
709 WNCT CBS HD
712 WCTI ABC HD
715 WUNK UNC/PBS HD

DIGITAL BROADCAST-FREE ***WORKS WITH A TV WITH A QAM TUNER ***
154 UNC TV SD
156 UNC NC SD
157 UNC KD SD
167 WITN WEATHER CHANNEL SD
168 WCTI ENC TV SD

Are these the actual channel numbers that should show up on the TV? Cause my inlaws finally got their HDTV hooked up and some of the channels tuned in funny. One was 78.8 and I think 158.5. They picked up all those, but they were kind of scattered around. WYDO came in horrible, all pixelated, with half of what looked like a UNC channel in the top left corner. After I changed the aspect ratio to 4:3 for the SD channels, i went back to WYDO and it was fine???

Some of us had already thought of that and assumed everyone else saw it too!! :D


It went right over my head...:D lol - I will go check it out.

Are they moving the antenna to the Ayden site or will WYDO begin broadcasting from Trenton?

I'm looking at the map right now, and yes they will broadcast from Trenton. The signal will be aimed toward the Northwest at 200kW. The fringe will consist of Burgaw, Clinton, Smithfield, Rocky Mount, Windsor, Plymouth, Western Hyde county, Morehead CIty, and Surf City. All areas closer than that to Trenton will get a stronger signal.

Excellent Idea. Let's hope it gets approved.

I just looked at it myself. Really kind of negates the need for WFXI since all the major cities are within the protected contour. I guess channel 8 will only serve Morehead and not much else.

edit: Actually even Morehead is in the protected contour. Wonder if they'll still simulcast?

I also wonder what they will do with the current WYDO site? They also have the WFXI equipment left over. Lots of possibilities...

I believe they will still simulcast... The areas to the direct rear of the WYDO signal won't get all that great of a signal.

With the possible demise of The CW network due to low ratings, (nationwide) the possibilities of another new network next year are anyone's guess. I find it amazing that UPN and the WB had better ratings when they were seperate, and we couldn't get them without cable around here.

Some of us had already thought of that and assumed everyone else saw it too!! :D

Well their original filings didn't suggest it! I'd have thought they would have asked to do that in the first place to avoid that little back-and-forth with WRAL-DT. =)

- Trip

I also wonder what they will do with the current WYDO site? They also have the WFXI equipment left over. Lots of possibilities...

I believe they will still simulcast... The areas to the direct rear of the WYDO signal won't get all that great of a signal.

With the possible demise of The CW network due to low ratings, (nationwide) the possibilities of another new network next year are anyone's guess. I find it amazing that UPN and the WB had better ratings when they were seperate, and we couldn't get them without cable around here.

The WFXI-DT 24 equipment is going to a co-owned station, KTXS-DT 20 in Sweetwater, TX. I saw that in an FCC filing.

What would be interesting is if they attempted to get a translator license for the channel 21 equipment. It's at the right power level to be considered one. Then if some people have issues with the channel 47 signal, there'll be another place to try.

- Trip

Well their original filings didn't suggest it! I'd have thought they would have asked to do that in the first place to avoid that little back-and-forth with WRAL-DT. =)

- Trip

What about WWAY on channel 46? The new pattern for 47 will extend into their signal quite a ways. Liberty could object like WRAL did...

There is 82 miles between WCTI-DT and WWAY-DT, so WWAY would be unable to make the same argument that WRAL tried to make. Plus the interference analysis shows no interference between the two signals.

- Trip

Ken if you get a go on the current proposal, will you be able to get it up and running shortly after Feb, 17th?

I'll be honest with you. They can move that antenna anyplace they want. WYDO still has an awful production and is hardly worth watching most of the time. The only reason most of the people around here put up with it is because they think it's supposed to be like that. The commercials are still repeating the last few seconds. The watermark is still messed up on HD. The switching between the Fox feed and local spots is all hacked up. That self promo they're currently running claiming to have improved is a pack of lies.

The watermark is still messed up on HD.

I agree with that, and I can't imagine why...

The commercials are still repeating the last few seconds.

This is happening on 12, and ENC at times as well, though it isn't near as bad as it was the first time you brought it up.

The switching between the Fox feed and local spots is all hacked up.IT isn't perfect on other channels either, particularly 9.1

That self promo they're currently running claiming to have improved is a pack of lies. I have noticed no more microwave fade, and 1000% better picture.

I'll be honest with you. They can move that antenna anyplace they want. WYDO still has an awful production and is hardly worth watching most of the time. The only reason most of the people around here put up with it is because they think it's supposed to be like that. The commercials are still repeating the last few seconds. The watermark is still messed up on HD. The switching between the Fox feed and local spots is all hacked up. That self promo they're currently running claiming to have improved is a pack of lies.

Visiting family in Kinston for the holidays and noticed the issues re:WYDO last night, as well (watermark and commercials repeating the last few seconds). It goes with the history of receiving WYDO (at least from when I last lived here during the early to mid-90's).

Time Warner recently announced another price increase. This one is the biggest increase I can remember. Basic going from $8 to $11. I also saw where WITN may pull their signal off the system if they cannot reach an agreement.

In addition, I saw where someone in my neighborhood put up one of those Winegard HD model antennas combination high VHF, and UHF. They have it pointed at Wilmington like I keep mine. I hope to see more of this. Last time I took a look at analog locals on cable, I couldn't believe how snowy they were, particularly channel 35 and channel 8.

Hello,

I’m trying to setup the converter box for my parents here in Oriental, NC (zip 28571). We bought a Zenith DTT901 and are using an approx 15 year old Archer pre-amplified RV antenna located in the attic that receives both vhf and uhf (model # not on antenna). On Friday afternoon (12/26) we set it up and received 7-1, 7-2, 8-1, 9-1, 9-2, 19-1, 19-2, 19-3 with very good signal, and 12-1 and 12-3 with low to medium signal. After approximately 6 pm, we no longer received any signal for 12-1 and 12-3. We adjusted the antenna and did additional channel scans to no avail.

The wcti12.com/hdtv.htm website advises the following:

What Digital Channels are currently being broadcast?
There are two channels that WCTI is broadcasting:
48-1 --> WCTI-TV12 & ABC SDTV & HDTV
48-3 --> ENC-TV SDTV only

I do not recall, when we received 12-1 and 12-3, what RF-channel number the converter box picked up. I also tried manual tuning the RF-channel number to 12 and got no signal, however, when manually tuning the RF-channel number to 48, the converter box receives signal on the signal meter (on the bar graph) but indicates “no signal”. The antenna is now back in the original position when we initially set it up and received 12-1 and 12-3 with low/medium signal and rest of the channels good. We are wondering if WCTI only broadcasts digital M-F during business hours or if they are currently experiencing an outage or if we are doing something wrong? I can not find any outage or digital service information for WCTI. Channel 12 should be coming from the same direction as 19….

Thank you,
Hans

No WCTI is digital 24 hrs a day.

WCTIs signal is a little weaker than the rest, this should be improved in a few months.

Id recommend moving the antennal outside from the attic.

and are using an approx 15 year old Archer pre-amplified RV antenna located in the attic

There's your problem. Insufficient antenna. You need a good UHF style antenna to get WCTI DT at this time. On February 17th and after, you will likely need a VHF, but there will still be other channels on UHF. I would say, get something like this model would be perfect.
http://www.summitsource.com/channel-master-cm2020-vhf-uhf-fm-hd-digital-antenna-advantagetenna-terrestrial-hd-cm2020-long-range-hdtv-24-element-outdoor-tv-offair-signal-local-aerial-blue-zone-part-2020-with-coax-cable-p-7811.html

The FCC has put together maps showing coverage gains (and losses) when the analog signals are turned off... Some interesting reading... http://www.fcc.gov/dtv/markets/maps_report1/Greenville-New_Bern-Washington_NC.pdf. Mileage may vary...

Well, it's good to see that Suddenlink is still behind the times with their cable boxes. My father-in-law picked up his box yesterday and the stupid thing doesn't even have an HDMI output on it. WTF? I will say it's a lot better than the piece of crap box from the 80's I had with Cox in 2004 to get HBO, but, come on Suddenlink. The documentation was spectacular as well. One page on how to set the thing up. :rolleyes:

I am now permanently sold on DirecTV forever. FOR-E-VER


edit: The box does have a DVI output, so would that provide a better signal to the TV than the component video would? I see you can get DVI to HDMI cables at Monoprice.

Well, it's good to see that Suddenlink is still behind the times with their cable boxes. My father-in-law picked up his box yesterday and the stupid thing doesn't even have an HDMI output on it. WTF? I will say it's a lot better than the piece of crap box from the 80's I had with Cox in 2004 to get HBO, but, come on Suddenlink. The documentation was spectacular as well. One page on how to set the thing up. :rolleyes:

I am now permanently sold on DirecTV forever. FOR-E-VER


edit: The box does have a DVI output, so would that provide a better signal to the TV than the component video would? I see you can get DVI to HDMI cables at Monoprice.


It would. Though HDMI is much-hyped for its ability to carry digital video and sound, the picture quality is no better or worse than DVI. HDMI's ability to convey sound has been implemented horribly in a number of television and home theater receiver models, often showing up as lipsynch issues.

I am now permanently sold on DirecTV forever. FOR-E-VER

edit: The box does have a DVI output, so would that provide a better signal to the TV than the component video would? I see you can get DVI to HDMI cables at Monoprice.

If you can figure out how to get non-HD Directv to look good on a DLP let me know. Ours looks horrible. It looks great on our CRT digital TVs.

FOX East Carolina both 8 and 14 are a mess. First I had Judge Joe coming on, then Judge Judy show coming on, then nothing on 8 while on 14 I had Joe, then nothing on both, then a promo, then nothing, then another promo... then Joe on 8.1, while blank on 14, then finally 14 comes on way behind 8.1. WOW!:eek:

Now in the middle of Joe, the commercials just pop on.

Well, it's good to see that Suddenlink is still behind the times with their cable boxes. My father-in-law picked up his box yesterday and the stupid thing doesn't even have an HDMI output on it. WTF? I will say it's a lot better than the piece of crap box from the 80's I had with Cox in 2004 to get HBO, but, come on Suddenlink. The documentation was spectacular as well. One page on how to set the thing up. :rolleyes:

I am now permanently sold on DirecTV forever. FOR-E-VER


edit: The box does have a DVI output, so would that provide a better signal to the TV than the component video would? I see you can get DVI to HDMI cables at Monoprice.
I have never used [Monoprice] cables. By the same token would someone explain the love affair with the Monoprice cables?:rolleyes:
My HDMI cables are Monster Ultra and Belkin. The rest of my Home Theater cables are mostly Acoustic Research Master Series.

FOX East Carolina both 8 and 14 are a mess. First I had Judge Joe coming on, then Judge Judy show coming on, then nothing on 8 while on 14 I had Joe, then nothing on both, then a promo, then nothing, then another promo... then Joe on 8.1, while blank on 14, then finally 14 comes on way behind 8.1. WOW!:eek:

Now in the middle of Joe, the commercials just pop on.

I'm guessing that you can't get WRAZ? Poor man!

Crew climbs to 'death zone' to work on WRAL tower
'Death zone' work on WRAL tower takes guts

Posted: Dec. 29, 2008
Updated: Today at 1:00 p.m.

Clayton, N.C. — Shane Best considers himself part of a "special breed of people.” Perched high in the air, his job as a tower rigger regularly puts him 2,000 feet off the ground.

Best is part of the crew of Tower King II, a company that works on big towers. They spent Christmas week at the WRAL transmitter tower near Clayton installing a new digital antenna.

“There (are) very few people who can do what we do,” Best said. “A lot of people say they've got the gumption and the guts and the backbone, but when they get up there, they're white-knuckled and they can't move."

WRAL’s tower has six antennas at the top, making the work a little tricky. Clouds and howling winds stopped work for a few days, but crews eventually lowered the old antenna and hoisted the new one.

“This job's a little more difficult than a normal antenna change,” Best said.

He and the crew said they get a thrill from working at extreme heights.

“Once you pass 50 feet, it's the death zone. I'm an adrenaline junkie,” Best said. “We don't really care if it's 2,000 or 10,000 feet. It's the same to us."

Some WRAL viewers might have noticed some problems receiving the station’s digital channels while crews worked on the equipment. The signal will be stronger than ever on Feb. 17 when the nation converts to digital television.

The crew's work on WRAL’s tower will allow the station to use new technologies in the future, including mobile television.

* Reporter: Brian Shrader
* Web Editor: Kelly Hinchcliffe

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/4206508/

Video
http://www.wral.com/news/local/video/4217123/

It would. Though HDMI is much-hyped for its ability to carry digital video and sound, the picture quality is no better or worse than DVI. HDMI's ability to convey sound has been implemented horribly in a number of television and home theater receiver models, often showing up as lipsynch issues.
Vague, loud and unfounded rhetoric; where is the data to support your statement(s)? The last time I checked that is how credibility is established.
Thank you

Picking up UNC TV 2-1 off the back of antenna, WCBD 2-1, and a TBN on 51-3 with no PSIP

There is a lot of interference tonight. WECT has microwave fade.

I'll guess that 51-3 is W51CW...

- Trip

I have never used [Monoprice] cables. By the same token would someone explain the love affair with the Monoprice cables?:rolleyes:
My HDMI cables are Monster Ultra and Belkin. The rest of my Home Theater cables are mostly Acoustic Research Master Series.

They work and they are $5.00 instead of $100 or more. The couple of tests I've seen show that they transmit the current 1080P signals as well as the Monster versions over short runs, ie less than 10' or so. Now for a 30' cable running through a wall to a projector, or some permanent install, I might be inclined to buy a higher end cable. But for a 3' or 6' HDMI to hook my HD-DVD player to my LCD TV, I'm gonna buy Monoprice.

Here's one of the tests:

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/hdmi-cable-battlemodo/the-truth-about-monster-cable-part-2-268788.php

Viacom to pull the plug on it's channels on Warner cable tonight at midnight!

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/12/30/viacom-stations-to-go-dark-on-time-warner-cable/

They work and they are $5.00 instead of $100 or more. The couple of tests I've seen show that they transmit the current 1080P signals as well as the Monster versions over short runs, ie less than 10' or so. Now for a 30' cable running through a wall to a projector, or some permanent install, I might be inclined to buy a higher end cable. But for a 3' or 6' HDMI to hook my HD-DVD player to my LCD TV, I'm gonna buy Monoprice.

Here's one of the tests:

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/hdmi-cable-battlemodo/the-truth-about-monster-cable-part-2-268788.php
I'll check your link. Thanks man!

To all my friends in this DMA: The CEO of Bonten Media has informed me that they have an agreement with Dish to broadcast their stations in HD, but Dish has not done so. Please express your displeasure to ceo@dishnetwork.com. Thanks and Happy New Year! Of course, I am referring to channel 12 & channel 8.

Bad news to give on WFXI regarding Microwave fade. Last night I turned on to 8.1 around 10 PM and there was terrible microwave fade. I checked WYDO and it was perfect though. This microwave fade went on and on... picture would freeze, the picture would shrink fromt the bottom to the top, and would just go black for long periods. Analog 8 was the same way. I hope this won't make for more uproar when American Idol gets started. I guess it depends on how you are picking up the signal though, whether from Dish, cable or OTA>

Hey guys...new to the site. I live in Greenville. I have Directv and just added the AM21 off air converter with a Phillips antenna. I can only receive WITN 7-1, 7-2 all the time, WNCT 9-1, 9-2, and 9-3 "most" of the time and have only received WCTI 12 once on a good night. The other channels are not available. The antenna is in my window sill facing north.

Even right now I can only get a scrambled signal from WNCT for the NFL games.

Anyone have any advice for me on receiving a better signal? I thought the off air antenna was sufficient....$30 dollar model.

Forgive me for hijacking the thread. I really don't know where else to put this and if it has been mentioned(and I'm sure I've missed it) please point me to it and take pity on me. I just tried hooking up my wife's grandmothers two older tvs to the cheap Magnavox converter boxes found at Wal-Mart. Where she was receiving 5(some),7,9,12,14,19,25, and 38 before now we can only get 7-1,7-2,9-1,9-2(CW) and that's it through the box. I have no clue how old or what type of outdoor antenna she has but I do know it has two pieces broken off. I know nothing of antennas or reception so I'm hoping all you folks can give me some advice. I'm assuming a new pole antenna will do the job? Thanks for any and all help and I really am sorry because I'm sure this has been asked before but I just can't find it and I'm pissed because she doesn't need cable or satellite. Thanks folks!

Hey guys...new to the site. I live in Greenville. I have Directv and just added the AM21 off air converter with a Phillips antenna. I can only receive WITN 7-1, 7-2 all the time, WNCT 9-1, 9-2, and 9-3 "most" of the time and have only received WCTI 12 once on a good night. The other channels are not available. The antenna is in my window sill facing north.

Even right now I can only get a scrambled signal from WNCT for the NFL games.

Anyone have any advice for me on receiving a better signal? I thought the off air antenna was sufficient....$30 dollar model.

Umm.... Yeah... All of the Greenville stations are to your south. Turn the antenna around and put it in a south facing window.

As far as your $30 antenna goes... It should be good to get the Greenville stations consistantly. The Raleigh stations usually require a better antenna.

Hey guys...new to the site. I live in Greenville. I have Directv and just added the AM21 off air converter with a Phillips antenna. I can only receive WITN 7-1, 7-2 all the time, WNCT 9-1, 9-2, and 9-3 "most" of the time and have only received WCTI 12 once on a good night. The other channels are not available. The antenna is in my window sill facing north.

Even right now I can only get a scrambled signal from WNCT for the NFL games.

Anyone have any advice for me on receiving a better signal? I thought the off air antenna was sufficient....$30 dollar model.

I believe the phillips antenna you are talking about is UHF only. Is it the one that sits on the TV top or table top and looks like an arrow? If so, this will probably not work well for channel 9. They broadcast on VHF channel 10 while WITN airs on UHF 32 and WCTI on UHF 48 due south. If you are aiming north, that is the wrong way. lol All channels are south, except for your PBS which is to the west.

Forgive me for hijacking the thread. I really don't know where else to put this and if it has been mentioned(and I'm sure I've missed it) please point me to it and take pity on me. I just tried hooking up my wife's grandmothers two older tvs to the cheap Magnavox converter boxes found at Wal-Mart. Where she was receiving 5(some),7,9,12,14,19,25, and 38 before now we can only get 7-1,7-2,9-1,9-2(CW) and that's it through the box. I have no clue how old or what type of outdoor antenna she has but I do know it has two pieces broken off. I know nothing of antennas or reception so I'm hoping all you folks can give me some advice. I'm assuming a new pole antenna will do the job? Thanks for any and all help and I really am sorry because I'm sure this has been asked before but I just can't find it and I'm pissed because she doesn't need cable or satellite. Thanks folks!

The magnavox convertors are not the best. I tried them out personally, and they just weren't very sensitive. THe ZENITH or DIG. Streams are much better.
On the antenna, it may just need a new coax cable and balun from the antenna to the house. Can you tell if it has a reflector, and skinny end like an arrow, or is it just multiple long elements? If it doesn't have a front end like an arrow, you will need to add a UHF only antenna to it.

The antenna has a fair amount of elements broken off. It has 2 main pieces: the long straight bar that ends with the longer elements coming off in an arrow and a smaller V-shaped assembly towards the middle with some smaller tines coming off it, about six of them.

If you could post a picture, that would help a lot too, but it sounds like to me it's time to just get a new one. The broken places may cause pixelation.

Can you look at analog to see if there is any distortion, or sparkling going on?

What's a quick place to upload photos to?

I believe the phillips antenna you are talking about is UHF only. Is it the one that sits on the TV top or table top and looks like an arrow? If so, this will probably not work well for channel 9. They broadcast on VHF channel 10 while WITN airs on UHF 32 and WCTI on UHF 48 due south. If you are aiming north, that is the wrong way. lol All channels are south, except for your PBS which is to the west.

Hey, Thanks for responding.

It's this one.... "http://www.consumer.philips.com/consumer/en/us/consumer/cc/_onlineStoreStatus_false/_productid_SDV2740_27_US_CONSUMER/_retailStoreStatus_true/_stores_true/TV-antenna+SDV2740-27"

(Not able to post the URL until I have 3 posts)

I think it's UHF and VHF....It sits in the window sill located on the north side of the house ....near the AM21 and Directv receiver.

I've used picoodle and image shack before.

Ok these are two I just took. Hope it helps and thanks for all the help.

128520

128521

Ok these are two I just took. Hope it helps and thanks for all the help.

128520

128521

That helps a BUNCH!

I can see already what your problem likely is. You are using Twin-lead cable. Go ahead and get that out of there, because it is too close to the pole, and is picking up reflections that are probably killing your signal strength. replace it with RG-6 Coax cable and balun. You can get these at Lowes. Also, I would take a hack saw, and saw off the antenna right in back of the two middle elements, eliminating the broken back end of the antenna completely, you do not need these for high VHF, they are for channels 2-6, and there will be no more of those in a months time.

If you need me to, I can draw on the picture where I'm talking about.

Umm.... Yeah... All of the Greenville stations are to your south. Turn the antenna around and put it in a south facing window.

As far as your $30 antenna goes... It should be good to get the Greenville stations consistantly. The Raleigh stations usually require a better antenna.


Thanks.....putting it in a south facing window will take some work....though I did turn it around and now have WNCT again. I can at least get WNCT and WITN consistently. WCTI 12 has only come in once at night a couple of days ago. I have never had any other signal come in.... including the FOX signal (8 or 14). I'm in southern Greenveille/northern Winterville area.....Firetower Road area.

All I'm really after now is the FOX and ABC stations......

Hey, Thanks for responding.

It's this one.... "http://www.consumer.philips.com/consumer/en/us/consumer/cc/_onlineStoreStatus_false/_productid_SDV2740_27_US_CONSUMER/_retailStoreStatus_true/_stores_true/TV-antenna+SDV2740-27"

(Not able to post the URL until I have 3 posts)

I think it's UHF and VHF....It sits in the window sill located on the north side of the house ....near the AM21 and Directv receiver.

I've never seen that model before, but I would get it on the south end of the house, and try it there. I doubt you will have much luck with ABC and FOX, because they are weaker over Greenville. ABC will be a lot better on Feb,17.

WRAL is not at normal power right now, due to antenna work for the transition. You should see WRDC 28, WLFL 22 and WTVD 11 with an outdoor antenna, not sure if an indoor will grab them though... Easternncnewswat has said before he uses indoor model Phillips and gets Raleigh channels though.

Ok, I have no clue what a balun is hah. Also, I have a secondary problem, there is a tv in another room that does not use that antenna but has been using rabbit ears. Is there a decent set of smaller rabbit ears that I could use for that tv?

I've never seen that model before, but I would get it on the south end of the house, and try it there. I doubt you will have much luck with ABC and FOX, because they are weaker over Greenville. ABC will be a lot better on Feb,17.

WRAL is not at normal power right now, due to antenna work for the transition. You should see WRDC 28, WLFL 22 and WTVD 11 with an outdoor antenna, not sure if an indoor will grab them though... Easternncnewswat has said before he uses indoor model Phillips and gets Raleigh channels though.

When I check the signal strengths through the Directv menu....I have channel 2, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14, 19, 25, and 35. Signals for channels 7, 9, 14, and 25. Zero signal for the others. Hopefully I'll be able to receive WCTI 12 better after Feb. 17th???

Ok, I have no clue what a balun is hah. Also, I have a secondary problem, there is a tv in another room that does not use that antenna but has been using rabbit ears. Is there a decent set of smaller rabbit ears that I could use for that tv?

It's also called a matching transformer. It goes on the antenna where the twin lead is connected now. You can find them at lowes. Get the outdoor model with rubber boot. A piece of cake to install. It will allow you to screw your coax cable to it, and then you run the other end of the coax to the converter box.
You can try rabbit ears on the other TV, but I would recommend you get a two way splitter, and just run another coax to that TV from the outdoor antenna. First though, run a cable to the first TV and make sure you get a decent signal, peaking the antenna for the desired channels by rotating it, and raising it up and down, then if that works out, split the signal and run it to the other room, either from the outside into the crawl space, through the exterior wall, or through the attic. I would aim the antenna towards Trenton/New Bern first.

When I check the signal strengths through the Directv menu....I have channel 2, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14, 19, 25, and 35. Signals for channels 7, 9, 14, and 25. Zero signal for the others. Hopefully I'll be able to receive WCTI 12 better after Feb. 17th???

Yes. WCTI DT NOW

http://www.fcc.gov/ftp/Bureaus/MB/Databases/fm_tv_service_areas/maps/DT580260.jpg

WCTI DT FEB, 17

http://www.fcc.gov/ftp/Bureaus/MB/Databases/fm_tv_service_areas/maps/DT1250678.jpg

So you think her antenna would be ok if I just changed the cable?

Where about are you located? I believe the antenna is fine. It has a UHF section, and that is what you need for the most part. It really depends on your location to determine for sure whether or not you need a more powerful antenna, or a pre-amp along with the new cable, but generally, new cable will make a huge difference.

Which tower is the antenna pointing at now? If you want to try something, also you can try twisting the twin-lead on there now four times every five feet. This can be a pain though, and may not make any difference, because the twin lead is so old.

Thanks.....putting it in a south facing window will take some work....though I did turn it around and now have WNCT again. I can at least get WNCT and WITN consistently. WCTI 12 has only come in once at night a couple of days ago. I have never had any other signal come in.... including the FOX signal (8 or 14). I'm in southern Greenveille/northern Winterville area.....Firetower Road area.

All I'm really after now is the FOX and ABC stations......


You should easily get Fox WYDO 14. You're only about 6 miles from the tower. 12 will take a little more work since they're significantly further away. I have better luck getting 11 out of Raleigh.

She's a few miles outside of Robersonville towards Williamston.

She's a few miles outside of Robersonville towards Williamston.

OK, it's going to take some work to get 12.1 and 12.3 for right now. As you can tell from the first map I posted, she is on the extreme fringe. I believe you will need a pre-amp to get their UHF signal, but if you can wait until next month on the 17th, I'm thinking you won't need one for the VHF pattern.

If you want 12.1 right now, you need to get the antenna up as high as possible, and aim it dead on to the tower in Trenton. If you can get a weak signal, with break-ups, it will take a UHF/VHF pre-amp to overcome this. They can be ordered on internet sites like summitsource, other than that, I'm not sure what store near you might carry them. I wouldn't recommend the radio shack, it has too much noise and can make more problems than it fixes... The channel masters are the best.

You should easily get Fox WYDO 14. You're only about 6 miles from the tower. 12 will take a little more work since they're significantly further away. I have better luck getting 11 out of Raleigh.

Yeah...I am getting Fox 14 now...the signal is not as strong as WNCT or WITN, but it looks good....no luck with WCTI 12.

Yeah...I am getting Fox 14 now...the signal is not as strong as WNCT or WITN, but it looks good....no luck with WCTI 12.

Can you return that Philips antenna? If you are restricted to a small indoor antenna I recommend looking at these....

http://www.hdtvantennalabs.com/terk.php

One of the Wilmington NC engineers said this http://www.hdtvantennalabs.com/antennas/Terk-HDTVa.html was one of the best indoor models he had tested... There is also a Phillips model that is very close to it in looks. I haven't played with indoor ones because I am so far from the towers, I figured it wasn't worth it.

Can you return that Philips antenna? If you are restricted to a small indoor antenna I recommend looking at these....

http://www.hdtvantennalabs.com/terk.php

No offense, but the Terk's are consistently reviewed as having very poor reception. The silver sensor is generally considered to be the best indoor antenna. I bought several Terk antennas in the past before reading third-party reviews.

I now have an antenna that cost me $14 that is consistently better than a Terk that could have cost me $50 or more.

Any word on how many Raycom basketball games will be in HD this season? At least 12 will be more powerful for some of the second half of the regular games. Last year they aired some on FOX, but they were not in HD. The first two games are Saturday the 10th at noon. Wednesday the 14th two games air at 9 PM

All North Carolina TV stations will perform an "analog black-out" test at 6:25pm on Jan 15th for 5 minutes. Some stations will do a second test at 7:30pm the same day. That test will vary in length from 2 to 5 minutes. per NCAB

Bad news to give on WFXI regarding Microwave fade. Last night I turned on to 8.1 around 10 PM and there was terrible microwave fade. I checked WYDO and it was perfect though. This microwave fade went on and on... picture would freeze, the picture would shrink fromt the bottom to the top, and would just go black for long periods. Analog 8 was the same way. I hope this won't make for more uproar when American Idol gets started. I guess it depends on how you are picking up the signal though, whether from Dish, cable or OTA>

I noticed this too during NFL playoffs last weekend and the Fiesta Bowl last night. Makes it a chore to enjoy an otherwise exciting game. Is this an atmospheric thing or is it something that can be repaired? Tried watching analog OTA and Dish Network and both were affected. Did not try to pick up WYDO but I just may do that this weekend if the fade is still killing WFXI's signal during the Cards @ Panthers game.

Well, it's good to see that Suddenlink is still behind the times with their cable boxes. My father-in-law picked up his box yesterday and the stupid thing doesn't even have an HDMI output on it. WTF? I will say it's a lot better than the piece of crap box from the 80's I had with Cox in 2004 to get HBO, but, come on Suddenlink. The documentation was spectacular as well. One page on how to set the thing up. :rolleyes:

I am now permanently sold on DirecTV forever. FOR-E-VER


edit: The box does have a DVI output, so would that provide a better signal to the TV than the component video would? I see you can get DVI to HDMI cables at Monoprice.

My Suddenlink hd-dvr box has hdmi out ... maybe they haven't upgraded their non-dvr cable boxes? That being said component output resolution should be the same as HDMI, although I think for some settings (color output maybe) HDMI is required. As mentioned previously DVI carries the same video signal as HDMI, so if you get a cheap converter on monoprice that would work, you just need to hook up the audio separately, which is the main advantage of HDMI (one cable, less clutter).

That being said, I am also thinking of switching to satellite because Suddenlinks HD offerings are pretty pathetic... the HD-only Dish package is pretty appealing...

I noticed this too during NFL playoffs last weekend and the Fiesta Bowl last night. Makes it a chore to enjoy an otherwise exciting game. Is this an atmospheric thing or is it something that can be repaired? Tried watching analog OTA and Dish Network and both were affected. Did not try to pick up WYDO but I just may do that this weekend if the fade is still killing WFXI's signal during the Cards @ Panthers game.

If you remember the outrage of viewers during last years Super bowl, WYDO had the same problems that you saw on WFXI recently, and had been having them for as long as anyone can recall. WFXI never had the problem, because their studio in Morehead was so close to the transmission tower. Recently, they moved the studio to New Bern when they changed owners, and moved the microwaves to the towers I posted a map of above, hoping to fix the problems and making a much better path to WYDO, and a bit longer path to WFXI, in which case, set that channel up for the possibility of being affected.

I think right now, what they may be waiting on is to see what the FCC says about them moving WYDO's new digital channel to the tower I posted maps of just above. They may not need to simulcast, but we are just guessing on that.

I just looked at fcc website, and WYDO was granted the authority to broadcast from the Trenton tower, with the directional antenna pointed inland. This will mean Duplin and Onslow counties will finally have a first rate signal penetration from a FOX broadcast station, especially Duplin county, which had no in market signal, and grade B from Raleigh and Wilmington. The signal will reach well into Pender and Sampson counties also, and all of Wayne county. This should be good for more ratings.

http://www.fcc.gov/ftp/Bureaus/MB/Databases/fm_tv_service_areas/maps/DT1284690.jpg

I really don't see a need for WFXI to simulcast anymore after that is built out. The number of people who fall in that little sliver east of Morehead that's outside of the WYDO city grade is probably less than 5,000.

Wonder what'll become of WFXI?

Well, it's good to see that Suddenlink is still behind the times with their cable boxes. My father-in-law picked up his box yesterday and the stupid thing doesn't even have an HDMI output on it. WTF? I will say it's a lot better than the piece of crap box from the 80's I had with Cox in 2004 to get HBO, but, come on Suddenlink. The documentation was spectacular as well. One page on how to set the thing up. :rolleyes:

I am now permanently sold on DirecTV forever. FOR-E-VER


edit: The box does have a DVI output, so would that provide a better signal to the TV than the component video would? I see you can get DVI to HDMI cables at Monoprice.

I'm with Suddenlink. I'm told by our engineering group that we do have HDMI boxes in stock; they may not have been in stock locally when your father-in-law picked up his box, but if you want him to get one, I'd be happy to see what we can work out. You can contact me directly at pete.abel@suddnelink.com. More on who I am here (http://www.suddenlink.com/about/executives/abel/).

Anybody know why Suddenlink is offering Brovo, USA, Sci-Fi, TLC, and Animal Planet in HD in Washington but not in Greenville?

DIRECTV Delivers Local HD Programming To Customers in the Greenville-New Bern, N.C. DMA

Local HD Programming from DIRECTV is Now Available in 117 U.S. Cities

WHAT: DIRECTV, Inc., the nation's leading satellite television service provider, is now offering local HD programming to customers in the Greenville-New Bern, N.C. designated market area. The following broadcast networks are available in HD: WITN/NBC, WNCT/CBS and WYDO/FOX. DIRECTV now offers local HD broadcast channels in 117 cities, representing more than 87 percent of U.S. TV households.

WHEN: Now available

HOW: To receive DIRECTV's local HD programming, customers must have an H20 or H21 HD receiver or an HR20 or HR21 DIRECTV Plus® HD DVR and a Ka/Ku band dish. For information on how to get DIRECTV HD consumers can visit DIRECTV.com.




WITN-HD
WNCT-HD
WCTI-HD(pending contract agreement)
WYDO-HD
WCTI-DT2 The CWsd MPEG 4

Directv has added HD locals for our market.

WITN-HD
WNCT-HD
WCTI-HD
WYDO-HD
WCTI-DT2 The CWsd MPEG 4


Not sure why they added THE CW in Standard definition when it was already available in SD.
But it says MPEG 4 on the channel description.When you tune to the new CW feed does the box light up on 480i?

Yes, The CW is coming in on 480i.

Another thing, I have my HR20 set to hide duplicate SD channels.


You would think that being that WNCT has Directv's local recieve site that they could pass a HD feed of The CW. They would not have to use a over the air feed.

My thinking is that when 72.5 goes away, they have CW on the MPEG4 sat so they will have all the markets locals on the same sat. UNCTV is not in 72.5 it is on 101, they are using WUNC from Raleigh for the feed.
Ive noticed most installs ive seen around here are now the 5lnb dish, and they are installing HD reciever in houses. Ive been in numerous homes with a cheap looking Directv HD reciever hooked to standard tvs. I guess this is a transition to do away with 72.5.

The feed WNCT is airing is called "CW+" and comes straight off the satellite dish with syndicated shows and whatnot already in the feed. All WNCT does is add IDs and local advertising. The CW+ feed is not available in HD.

- Trip

I bet there will be a lot of calls to D* for re-alignment of dishes after all this wind is said and done. Good grief. I could feel it blowing through the double pain replacement windows. At one point I thought the roof would come off.

I could feel it blowing through the double pain replacement windows. At one point I thought the roof would come off.

How is it that they're "double pain" windows? Were they really expensive?:D

Just having a little fun with your words. :D It's pane.

How is it that they're "double pain" windows? Were they really expensive?:D

Just having a little fun with your words. :D It's pane.


LOL - It's been a long day.:eek:

1st day with Directv local hd thoughts


All the HD locals Picture quality is great. Fox looks a little bit better than the over the air.

The SD A3 MPEG4 feed of The CW is clearer than the MPEG2 feed we already had.

Nice to have the sat feeds now so when WCTI looses signal here in Washington during the early am hours Ill have the sat feed.

72.5 local dish coming down this week.

I just looked at fcc website, and WYDO was granted the authority to broadcast from the Trenton tower, with the directional antenna pointed inland. This will mean Duplin and Onslow counties will finally have a first rate signal penetration from a FOX broadcast station, especially Duplin county, which had no in market signal, and grade B from Raleigh and Wilmington. The signal will reach well into Pender and Sampson counties also, and all of Wayne county. This should be good for more ratings.

http://www.fcc.gov/ftp/Bureaus/MB/Databases/fm_tv_service_areas/maps/DT1284690.jpg

I don't know. I've thought about this for a couple of days and I think there will be a lot of unhappy OTA viewers in the Morehead area if they pull WFXI down. Just because you're inside the circle doesn't assure you that you'll be able to pick up those signals. All of the Morehead area is at the fringe of the new signal. I do get the Raleigh stations but I have to use a 4228 with a 7777 pre-amp. I'm at the fringe of those stations coverage.

Sorry I haven't posted for awhile I've been pretty busy working on the problems we have been having.

It is great news getting approved to move WYDO to our Trenton tower. It will give us greater coverage and be more reliable. We will start this process as soon as possible after Feb 17th. We will be using the same equipment that we are currently using on WCTI's digital and it will need to be retuned to 47. We have no intentions of turning off WFXI. We are looking forward to maximizing WFXI in the future.

We did have microwave fade on WFXI this past weekend and then an equipment failure that agravated the problem. We have worked around the equipment untill it is repaired. The path for WFXI has not changed it is the same now as when WFXI first went on the air. We looked at going from New Bern to Opengrounds last spring but could never get a signal that we felt would be reliable enough. What we did instead was use fibre to get the signal to Morehead and then put it on the existing microwave path. This path is normally a very reliable path. It is our intention to try and improve this path in the future with space diversity.

There will always be the possibility of microwave fade on both WCTI and FOX. Most of the time the fade occurs early morning or late night and the problem is not as noticable. We will continue to try and improve these paths and install redundant equipment where we can but we will never elimanate the possibility of fade.

I now know what is causing the end of the comercial to repeat on WYDO. I will work on finding a soulition to this problem.

I am very happy with the carriage of the hds on DirecTV. I subscribe to both Suddenlink and DirecTV at home and now I can reliably monitor all our stations. Negotations are beeing handled for carriage at the corporate level and I don't believe deals have been made with all the systems yet. I am not in the loop but don't be surprised if we are temporarily removed from some systems while negotations take place this is happening to stations all across the country I am confidant that they will be able to work it out in the end.

Ken

Thanks Ken. I can't wait to be able to use my antenna for recordings without having to worry whether or not I remembered to turn the antenna, and it will make it so much easier for viewers to be able to point their antennas one way and then leave them alone.

The Directv HD feed of WCTI 12 is coming in at 480, anyone else notice this?

Directv has added HD locals for our market.

WITN-HD
WNCT-HD
WCTI-HD
WYDO-HD
WCTI-DT2 The CWsd MPEG 4


Not sure why they added THE CW in Standard definition when it was already available in SD.
But it says MPEG 4 on the channel description.

So, does this mean I can return my Philips off-air antenna and Directv AM21?

I JUST bought them a week ago! You would think that after all my calls to Directv, dealing with this problem, that they would have let me know that the local channels in Greenville would be available in HD within the week! Geez....:cool:

If you keep that ant. connected and have DVR, you can record two shows and watch a third. However, it's not like there is regularly anything on three channels worth messing with... Once in a while though.

Well...that's true.

I also just called Directv to determine their return policy. The lady informed me that there is no return policy on the AM21!! I can't believe that a week ago, they had no idea that the HD locals would be available through their Directv satellite.

The Directv HD feed of WCTI 12 is coming in at 480, anyone else notice this?

Mine was showing up last night and this morning as 480i as well. Anyone know if it's been fixed yet?

Great that WFXI is still staying on the air, but I'm equally glad about WYDO moving to Trenton. My choice of OTA for Fox might go from 2 weak analog signals (one of which was unfortunately sandwiched between 7 and 9) to 2 really strong digital signals, if I ever get around to getting a digital tuner. BCS game last night (watched it on Dish Network) was a thousand kinds of awesome (the broadcast and the game).

Anybody know why Suddenlink is offering Brovo, USA, Sci-Fi, TLC, and Animal Planet in HD in Washington but not in Greenville?

Seriously? They'll probably say it has something to do with bandwidth... hopefully they'll upgrade us here in Greenville soon. There are like 7 more HD channels on the Basic Tier in Washington than in Greenville!

DirecTV had put up WCTI HD in error I found out that we still do not ave an agrement in place with DirecTV. I am told they have agrements with most of the other providers and they hope to have an agrement soon. I'm just as disapointed as everyone else

Ken

Expect an announcement soon I believe regarding the extention of DTV Feb, 17th 2009 analog death. This is ludicrous, but what else is new with the way politics works...

Now the networks are backing the idea. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6627822.html?desc=topstory It's like saying we've failed, and time to give everyone a pass...

It's crap.

Whats the deal with the WCTI's owners. Seems like they are having issues with getting agreements. You would think that if they have a deal for SD locals that it should also be the same for the HD. Especially when the digital transition occurs.

Directv has WYDO up in HD same company as WCTI, looks like they would have the same deal.

Dish does not have WCTI or WFXI up in HD, hope that it does not take as long as it is for Dish, they have had HD locals for a few months now.

Expect an announcement soon I believe regarding the extention of DTV Feb, 17th 2009 analog death. This is ludicrous, but what else is new with the way politics works...

Now the networks are backing the idea. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6627822.html?desc=topstory It's like saying we've failed, and time to give everyone a pass...

It's crap.

I saw that garbage on the news last night. I'm gonna be so pissed if they push it back. I've patiently waited all this time to get WCTI-DT, and now that it's a little more than a month away they start with this crap.

You can basically get the converter box for free, and they have an advertisement for the switch twice an hour on all the networks, it seems. There is no way that these people don't know. I think they're just morons.

I want Obama to reimburse me for the TV I just bought in anticipation of the switch. ;)

Why cant you get WCTI-DT now, I have had it for several years now. Get a strong signal here in the Lizzard slip area.

Why cant you get WCTI-DT now, I have had it for several years now. Get a strong signal here in the Lizzard slip area.

I don't have a good place to mount a good antenna at the house I'm renting right now; the roof is off limits. I tried a antennas direct db4 and could get it OK, but sent it back. I have a small terk clip-on-dish antenna that gets 7 and 9 perfect, WFXI decent depending on weather. It won't pick up 12, though.

I am about 7 miles farther away from the station than you; even though my address is Pinetown, I'm closer to Bath. How strong is the signal there? As good as WITN/WNCT?

Seriously? They'll probably say it has something to do with bandwidth... hopefully they'll upgrade us here in Greenville soon. There are like 7 more HD channels on the Basic Tier in Washington than in Greenville!
According to Suddenlink's web site. If you use a Washington zip code they are listed, but not for Greenville. Can anyone verify this? I'm betting on the bandwidth excuse too.

ok .I've been reading all the posts..let me get this straight D*tv is broadcasting High Def local..i'm getting all the stations..is this temporary or not?..WNCT AND WYOD don't have agreements yet ??? I'd like to drop suddenlink and just keep them for internet and turn my house completely to direct TV this would save me about $100 bucks a month....any input would be great......

Directv is now broadcasting the Greenville Washington New Bern HD locals.


Available now...

WITN HD
WNCT HD
WYDO HD
WNCT DT THE CW SD

WCTI ***SD they are sending down a 480i sd feed in the place of the HD channel. Once a contract is in place it will be hd.
You can now get all the locals on one dish, you can remove the 2nd dish.

UNC TV is coming in on the main sat (101west).

<rant>

Message to the management of WCTI: Here's the thing. I don't want to have an antenna in my house just to pick up HD. However, if I do have an antenna I'm going to tune into channel 11 from Durham instead of WCTI since their newscast is actually in HD. Sign the freaking contract so I can throw my antenna away. However, I won't watch WCTI until they are transmitted in HD through my DirecTV.

</rant>

Greg

Anybody know why Suddenlink is offering Brovo, USA, Sci-Fi, TLC, and Animal Planet in HD in Washington but not in Greenville?

I'm with Suddenlink. We are planning to add more HD channels in Greenville this year. Details will be announced locally as they're confirmed.

ok .I've been reading all the posts..let me get this straight D*tv is broadcasting High Def local..i'm getting all the stations..is this temporary or not?..WNCT AND WYOD don't have agreements yet ??? I'd like to drop suddenlink and just keep them for internet and turn my house completely to direct TV this would save me about $100 bucks a month....any input would be great......

Suddenlink offers bundled deals in NC which might save you more money than if you get TV and Internet from two separate companies. But don't take my word for it: I'm w/ the company. Check with the local Suddenlink team to see specifically what they might offer you in terms of bundle/package savings.

I'm with Suddenlink. We are planning to add more HD channels in Greenville this year. Details will be announced locally as they're confirmed.

Pabel,

That's great to know I like getting new HD channels. I guess I'm really just wondering why Suddenlink is giving Washington priority over Greenville considering the Greenville market has to be significantly larger than Washington. I'm a BSG fan and would love to see the final episodes in HD.

I thought that Greenville was now connected to Washington.

Got word from General management at Bonten Media that owns WCTI that they are asking Directv less than 1 penny per customer to allow there HD signal to be carried.
They hope to have a deal soon.

Every Suddenlink system in eastern NC is connected via a fiber ring, but there are still individual RF headends for each system. The channels are distributed from that.

Directv has added HD locals for our market.

WITN-HD
WNCT-HD
WCTI-HD
WYDO-HD
WCTI-DT2 The CWsd MPEG 4


Not sure why they added THE CW in Standard definition when it was already available in SD.
But it says MPEG 4 on the channel description.
For some reason I am not getting the Directv local HD channels. I have the hd package. Did you have to do anything different in the receiver setup to get these through the receiver?

For some reason I am not getting the Directv local HD channels. I have the hd package. Did you have to do anything different in the receiver setup to get these through the receiver?
My stupidity......I just simply turned the receiver off and back on and they magically appeared.

Good news we just signed a deal with DirecTV

Ken

Great any word when?

I would assume as soon as DirecTV can make the switch I'll see what I can find out tomorrow

Ken

Thanks! The email I got from Bonten said they also had a deal with Dish, but the Dish site only shows 7 and 9 listed in HD.

Anyword if Bonten got ENC worked in the deal, to get on Directv?

I have not heard but I will find out for you tomorrow. I am also told we have a deal with dish. I know there equipment is picking both WCTI and WYDO in HD and I will be installing a direct feed to them.

I have seen some break up on the DriecTV feed mostly in the early morning. I'm sure that problem will go away when I go back to 12

Ken

WCTI ***SD they are sending down a 480i sd feed in the place of the HD channel. Once a contract is in place it will be hd.
You can now get all the locals on one dish, you can remove the 2nd dish.

Does that also apply to those of us that don't subscribe to Directv HD packages?

WCTI is still in SD on Directv.

WCTI is still in SD on Directv.

They know to switch it DirecTV does stuff in there own time frame as well as dish

Ken

I'm glad everyone got all the negotiating worked out. If running banners and crawls is what it takes, then so be it. :) I hope that not a single viewer went to cable again though!

Just got a email from Bonten, Said that contracts still have to be finalized, but if things go well, we should have WCTI HD on Directv sometime next week.

So does anyone have an idea when we can see WCTI & WFXI in HD for Dish Network?

Pabel,

That's great to know I like getting new HD channels. I guess I'm really just wondering why Suddenlink is giving Washington priority over Greenville considering the Greenville market has to be significantly larger than Washington. I'm a BSG fan and would love to see the final episodes in HD.

I second this, I would be perfectly happy if Suddenlink would just add Sci-Fi HD before BSG ends!! It's ridiculous that I need to go online to find an HD version when I am paying so much for cable!

Got my HDTV and box, the Bride and I really loved the high def content on Discovery HD....that is for about 2 months till Suddenlink Rocky Mount suddenlinkedly dropped it from the lineup.

AAARRRAAAGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! STUPID!!!!!!!!!!!

DSL and DirectTV may be the best choice for those of us on this second rate system.

I second this, I would be perfectly happy if Suddenlink would just add Sci-Fi HD before BSG ends!! It's ridiculous that I need to go online to find an HD version when I am paying so much for cable!

I second this sentiment. Here in Rocky Mount, we get what amounts to jack-crap for HD, and they appear to have no intention to resolve it. It's over compressed and devoid of any real variety. Combine that with the 1980's SARA software on their DVR, and I'm actually upset and miserable most times I turn it on.

Thank goodness I have a HTPC hooked to my 46" LCD, I download torrents of HD rips of most shows I watch (such as Mad Men), rather than watch the grainy crap I have available to me on the analog channels. Only reason I even keep the box is for ESPNHD, it's worthless after that.

So if someone here such as Mr. Abel is listening, please tell me why we are so far behind everyone else, and don't give me the tired excuse of "bandwidth/infrastructure". Is it because the RM demographic and/or avg income level makes you think we don't know any better and will just be happy with our crumbs?

Suddenlink reps are equally in the dark, calling them and asking about future improvements is like asking a 3yr old about quantum physics, they just don't get it, and will lie to cover it. Case in point, they once made a change that made me lose my QAM channels, when I complained, they said I was trying to steal cable. I had to get the FCC involved to help them do their job and fix the problem.

PATHETIC.

* Only reason I keep Suckenlink and not go with D* is the wife, who has valid reasons I won't get into. Those who are married understand that I'm laying the framework, but have to get her to agree, which may never happen :(

So does anyone have an idea when we can see WCTI & WFXI in HD for Dish Network?According to CEO at Bonten Media, the parent company, they have signed a contract with Dish, but dish has not chosen to show the channels yet in hd. Email ceo@dishnetwork.com and express your displeasure.

I called Suddenlink this week to ask the rep what I would have to pay for internet if I canceled everything but cable internet. He asked me why I would want to do such a thing and I told him I was thinking of switching to DirectTV due to Suddenlink's lack of HD channels. He responded by essentially saying that Suddenlink felt that hight speed internet was more important due to HD not being in as high of demand with the economy and all so they were giving bandwidth preference to high speed. I then told him is that so because due to node congestion I can't get over 1 meg in the evening. I don't even want to get into the rest of that conversation.

A day later my company's Suddenlink phone service went down and when the tech came out to look at it, he made a comment about the new 12 meg service they have. I couldn't help but think I don't need more speed on my broadband connection I need more HD. Hell the 4 meg service I had 5 years ago was fine, and I'm in IT so I understand the need for speed on a internet connection, but for residential customers unless you download a lot of large files you don't need 12 megs. They just want to be able to say they offer the highest speed internet available so the people that think the 12 meg package will make their myspace pages load so much faster than the 8 meg package will be all over it.

I also get tired of the Suddenlink more HD channels are coming (no indication of when) so be happy, patient, and ignore the fact that dish has 3x the HD channels we have attitude. Soon as dish gets the local channel thing figured out I'm going with dish. I can't say enough good about their business services. We have Suddenlink fiber and phone at work and the service is great every aspect. It's just the lacking HD channels that bugs me. Heck, just the additional channels Washington has would make me happy for now.

Sorry for the rant.

Cox was (is) a cable company. Suddenlink is an investment venture that happens to have wires on poles in a few places around the USA. The management doesn't seem to care about the fact that they're a cable company, only about saving money. The result is... well, I don't have to tell you what the result is. The higher-up RF line techs (and I have dealt with a ton over the past few years) are good guys who know their stuff but are starved for resources by the powers that be.

Dish Network + Embarq DSL = happiness.

I called Suddenlink this week to ask the rep what I would have to pay for internet if I canceled everything but cable internet. He asked me why I would want to do such a thing and I told him I was thinking of switching to DirectTV due to Suddenlink's lack of HD channels. He responded by essentially saying that Suddenlink felt that hight speed internet was more important due to HD not being in as high of demand with the economy and all so they were giving bandwidth preference to high speed. I then told him is that so because due to node congestion I can't get over 1 meg in the evening. I don't even want to get into the rest of that conversation.

A day later my company's Suddenlink phone service went down and when the tech came out to look at it, he made a comment about the new 12 meg service they have. I couldn't help but think I don't need more speed on my broadband connection I need more HD. Hell the 4 meg service I had 5 years ago was fine, and I'm in IT so I understand the need for speed on a internet connection, but for residential customers unless you download a lot of large files you don't need 12 megs. They just want to be able to say they offer the highest speed internet available so the people that think the 12 meg package will make their myspace pages load so much faster than the 8 meg package will be all over it.

I also get tired of the Suddenlink more HD channels are coming (no indication of when) so be happy, patient, and ignore the fact that dish has 3x the HD channels we have attitude. Soon as dish gets the local channel thing figured out I'm going with dish. I can't say enough good about their business services. We have Suddenlink fiber and phone at work and the service is great every aspect. It's just the lacking HD channels that bugs me. Heck, just the additional channels Washington has would make me happy for now.

Sorry for the rant.
I understand your frustration. At least you got HSI, I don't and I am at the mercy of the satellite(or nothing at all) which is disgustingly and outrageously expensive. Most of the time my computer speed is 45.2 kb/sec. With good weather and a little less traffic I might get 46.6, 47 and rarely 49.2! Yes, I have D*. I can't get 8-1 NOR 12-1. A few more of us have frustrations, too.:(

I feel your pain Electrico. When I lived at home years ago we had DirectTV and dial-up because that was all that was offered in the area. Fast forward 6 years my parents can still not get any descent HSI ( I don't consider satellite or any type of 3G descent) . When my wife and I recently purchased our 2nd house we would not even look at a house that didn't have both cable and DSL HSI available, but some people don't have that option and it does suck. I wish the government would give the service providers more incentives to expand their services to more rural areas. Being a business owner I understand that it doesn't make much sense to spend a large amount of money to expand into a area that may offer you 30 extra subscribers, but it sucks to be in school and have to go to someone else's house to do homework.

Three miles from where I live HSI and cable is available. Almost $60/mo for HSI via the satellite(only option) is disgusting, PERIOD.

Welcome to the forums all the new folks. Watching TV and getting internet is so much more complicated than it outta be. If they would let us get the channels we want only, that would get rid of all the wasted bandwidth of channels nobody watches, and the junk that is on them, but that would make people happy, and they don't want to do that!! :(

Electrico, I know a ton of people in your situation, and it doesn't seem like Suddenlink or Embarq have any plans of bringing HSI to those areas. You would think that with even grade school requiring so much use of the internet these days that the local, state, and federal government would put pressure on service providers with exclusive local contracts to expand their coverage at a reasonable rate to more rural areas. It's just sad to see how far down the mighty US is on the broadband wired countries list. Many countries pay less and get more than the US. See link for list http://blogs.zdnet.com/ITFacts/?p=12874

Regis and Kelly look horrible on WNCT ???

News from Wilmington on WSFX DT 26-2. On February 2nd, ThisTV will come on the air, with Movies, sitcoms, and childrens programming.

Regis and Kelly look horrible on WNCT ???They're running a crawl about winter weather and I think that's making the picture bad. I noticed when the crawl ends, the picture gets brighter. As soon as the crawl starts back, the picture is darker and less crisp.

They're running a crawl about winter weather and I think that's making the picture bad. I noticed when the crawl ends, the picture gets brighter. As soon as the crawl starts back, the picture is darker and less crisp.

I think Regis is supposed to be in HD, but maybe they didn't have it that way because of the weather crawl... That's unusual, but they should be doing that now, especially with the transition this close. It looks like we will all get some serious snow too this time!:D

I was also wondering what would happen with WCTI if the date to DTV gets extended? Would they turn off the analog as planned, or keep it on till the next date? They would have a disadvantage if WNCT and WITN keep their analog signals up after that Feb, 17th date. WITN doesn't have to hurry because nobody is going on channel 7, channel 9 is going to WSKY, channel 48 is going to WRAL, and I bet they probably want to get their power up... just guesses though...

I cant believe that it is taking so long for Directv to add the WCTI-HD feed back to Directv. Ken said a deal was reached early last week, but still no HD feed on Directv.

Im glad I can get WCTI over the air in HD.

I cant believe that it is taking so long for Directv to add the WCTI-HD feed back to Directv.

I know. I didn't realize how difficult it was to go to the WNCT backyard and push a button or two on a receiver... lol

I cant believe that it is taking so long for Directv to add the WCTI-HD feed back to Directv. Ken said a deal was reached early last week, but still no HD feed on Directv.

Im glad I can get WCTI over the air in HD.
NOT everybody is fortunate enough to live in flat areas NOT to mention obstruction [FREE]; AKA: TREES:rolleyes:

Well, thanks to my friendly directv installer, I now have HD channels, along with the locals. At least now I only have to wait on Directv to switch WCTI to HD, instead of the DTV transition that may or not take place next month.

Any Directv subscribers with HD locals notice anything funny with the picture on WYDO? The picture is very jumpy, almost like slow motion. It's like every other frame is not coming through. The sound seems to be normal, though. I didn't notice it on Judge Judy this afternoon, but did notice it when House was on tonight. WITN and WNCT look great.

I wish the government would give the service providers more incentives to expand their services to more rural areas. Being a business owner I understand that it doesn't make much sense to spend a large amount of money to expand into a area that may offer you 30 extra subscribers, but it sucks to be in school and have to go to someone else's house to do homework.

If your parents are in Pitt County then they suffer from the fact that Pitt County is not classifed as a "poor" county. As such then the various different Internet providers are not obligated to provide service to them.

I've ridden all over Eastern NC and Pitt County seems to be about the only place where cable TV isn't everywhere. The wife and I will be driving down some rural back country road somewhere that only has 2 single wides on it for 5 miles and they have cable TV.

I went round and round with Suddenlink over providing cable to my area a couple of years ago. Pitt County law says the cable provider must provide cable TV to any area that meets certain qualifications. I spoke with the Pitt County liason with Suddenlink and he agreed with me that my area qualifies. But nothing short of a lawsuit is going to get Suddenlink to provide cable to us. It's their loss however.

Last year Embark brought DSL to our area and the first 100 node sold out before it was even installed.

RMartin631, yes they do live in Pitt County, and you are 100% right on everything you said. Don't even get me started on the "impoverished" county thing. It's sad when children in Green County all get MAC laptops and have Cisco wireless access points in each classroom for teachers paid for by federal government money, and the children in Pitt County sometimes don't have enough text books to go around. Oh yeah then there was the Green County Wavelength wireless internet contract, and many people in Pitt County can't even pay for decent HSI.

Directv added Comedy Central HD today.

Directv added Comedy Central HD today.

Interesting. I wonder what HD programming they will show? Daily Show/Colbert?

ok guys...I pulled the trigger.I'm having the whole house converted to Directv only and dropping suddenlink ( not internet ) ...direct tv on my main tv has been great and the NFL package has been awesome...this will save me about $100 - $120 PER MONTH...the CSR at directv told me that installer was bringing some HDMI cables for my other TV"s anybody know of the quality they have..I was thinking of ordering some from monoprice any input ???

Wow, Scrubs on Comedy Central now looks like crap.

ok guys...I pulled the trigger.I'm having the whole house converted to Directv only and dropping suddenlink ( not internet ) ...direct tv on my main tv has been great and the NFL package has been awesome...this will save me about $100 - $120 PER MONTH...the CSR at directv told me that installer was bringing some HDMI cables for my other TV"s anybody know of the quality they have..I was thinking of ordering some from monoprice any input ???
woodardshd posted a link on his #5631 thread concerning the monoprice cables. Personally I stay away from the D* spaghetti looking/poor/anemic performing D* HDMI cables. I had one of them on my BR HDTV. Something went wrong I think it was an HDMI shake-up. I changed that D* HDMI cable and the PQ improvement was as dramatic as night and day. This statement is not a joke NOR an exaggeration; your call. Good luck!

woodardshd posted a link on his #5631 thread concerning the monoprice cables. Personally I stay away from the D* spaghetti looking/poor/anemic performing D* HDMI cables. I had one of them on my BR HDTV. Something went wrong I think it was an HDMI shake-up. I changed that D* HDMI cable and the PQ improvement was as dramatic as night and day. This statement is not a joke NOR an exaggeration; your call. Good luck!

I just upgraded to 2 HD receivers with D* on Monday and the HDMI cables came with the receivers. They seem pretty generic. Picture quality seems good, but my Samsung ln32a450 had an issue receiving signal from the receiver at first. The installer said that some Samsungs had trouble communicating with the HD receiver through HDMI. After a while the signal came back by itself. My other Samsung (1 year older) had no issues. I have a Monoprice HDMI connecting my HD-A2 to my older Samsung and it has worked good. I'm debating wether or not to buy 2 more cables for the HD receivers.

You may want to go buy a higher-end cable from a store with a return policy and a Monoprice one as well. Try them both to see if you can tell a difference. If you can, take/send the other one back. I personally don't think you could tell a difference between a Monster and a Monoprice cable in a length less than 6'

Monster cables are overpriced, and no better than most others.

You may want to go buy a higher-end cable from a store with a return policy and a Monoprice one as well. Try them both to see if you can tell a difference. If you can, take/send the other one back. I personally don't think you could tell a difference between a Monster and a Monoprice cable in a length less than 6'

Monster cables are overpriced, and no better than most others.

Monoprice all the way:

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/field-notes/the-truth-about-monster-cable-266616.php

http://i.gizmodo.com/268788/the-truth-about-monster-cable-part-2-verdict-cheap-cables-keep-upusually

http://i.gizmodo.com/282725/the-truth-about-monster-cable-+-grand-finale-part-iii

Im hearing that Dish Network will add WCTI-HD and WFXI-HD around Feb 24th.


Ken, Have you heard any news about WCTI-HD on Directv? I thought a new deal had been reached 2 weeks ago, but still nothing.

Thks...I ordered a couple from monoprice..i've been happy with there products...plus I have to run to a splitter because my current TV only has one HDMI input..I bought a splitter from monoprice that had good reviews..how did the instal go ..what HD boxs did you get..I'm moving my one box to upgrade to their DVR..wish me luck for the big game

Thks...I ordered a couple from monoprice..i've been happy with there products...plus I have to run to a splitter because my current TV only has one HDMI input..I bought a splitter from monoprice that had good reviews..how did the instal go ..what HD boxs did you get..I'm moving my one box to upgrade to their DVR..wish me luck for the big game
Did you mean an HDMI switcher to increase your HDMI inputs?

I've had good luck ordering from Blue Jeans Cable, which is a sponsor of this site. The HDMI cables that I bought from them are made by Belden and are high quality. They even offer different wire gauges to choose from. You could easily buy a small STACK of HDMI cables from Monoprice or Blue Jeans Cable for the price of 1 stupid Monster Cable.