You know, it's amazing to me... I don't have an HDTV yet, but to compare Star Trek Enterprise on UPN 48 on WCTI DT and on UPN 9 out of New York on Dish Network is like night and day. I can't believe how much crisper and deeper the picture is on UPN 48 and how washed out it is on UPN 9.

Now that I've been watching ota for about a year now on my dtv receiver, it's hard for me to get excited about watching anything on satellite. It's so obvious how compressed the signals are versus ota.

I'm afraid to get an HDTV, cause then I might really be whack about my television viewing! *LOL*

Alright guys, catch you later, work is coming way too soon tomorrow morning! :(

Originally posted by easternncnewswat
Why don't stations, or your stations from your perspective, broadcast SD shows in SD mode and HD shows in HD mode. Does that require a lot of rebooting of equipment, programming, reconfiguring, etc? Is that why stations upconvert SD shows with the black/grey slides on the side?

It has to do with reclocking of the signal. You can't get a clean switch between one resolution and another, receivers don't like it and you can't do any mixing at all. That is why stations stay in one resolution and upconvert SD to HD.

thanx foxeng!

so when will WRAL be showing the news in HD again? after march madness?

Over in the RDU thread, one of their engineers just posted they will go back to HD tomorrow.

He's gives a bit more info too!

link please?

Just click on Local HDTV Info and Reception at the top or bottom of this page. Raleigh is maybe five or 6 down from Eastern NC. That'll take you right to the info about WRAL.

i will have 40+ jpgs from the oscars tonight... stay tuned

SWEET!

make it 51 (including the DLP from Texas Instrument)

http://www.kevin-yen.net/photos/HD/oscars/

March Gladness for CBS Affils, Ops

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Steve Donohue 2/28/2005 12:02:00 AM

Credit college basketball with an assist for helping to soothe relations between local broadcasters and cable systems.

About 15 CBS affiliates plan to broadcast up to four games simultaneously during next month’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, and most of them have agreements with local cable operators to distribute tournament games to digital-cable customers.

Digital-must-carry rights remain a contentious issue between broadcasters and cable operators after the Federal Communications Commission ruled earlier this month that cable systems are only required to carry local TV stations’ primary signals.

But with “March Madness” approaching, some CBS affiliates in small and midsized markets where college basketball is popular are teaming up with local cable operators to distribute and market the games.

While some stations are demanding that MSOs pay cash to carry their signals, general managers at several CBS affiliates said they aren’t asking local cable systems to shell out any money for the hoops contests.

By splitting their digital spectrum into one HDTV service and up to three additional digital-multicast channels, the CBS affiliates will be able to broadcast up to four games live during the NCAA Tournament, which tips off March 15.

Because few consumers own digital-broadcast receivers and the antennas needed to watch the games, offering the contests to local digital-cable customers gives the CBS affiliates an outlet for their programming.

Not all CBS affiliates are willing to supply the games to local operators free-of-charge. KOIN-TV in Portland, Ore., plans to multicast the March Madness games, but GM David Lipoff said the station won’t give them to the local Comcast Corp. system unless the operator agrees to pay for the matchups.

In addition to Portland, CBS affiliates also plan to multicast the basketball games in Columbus, Ohio; Detroit; Greensboro and Raleigh, N.C.; Huntsville, Ala.; Las Vegas; Lexington and Louisville, Ky.; Milwaukee; Roanoke and Norfolk; Va.; and Providence, R.I..

For cable operators, carrying the multicast signals of the tourney games from local CBS affiliates will also help them to compete against direct-broadcast satellite provider DirecTV Inc., which sells subscribers a $59 “Mega March Madness” package. Meanwhile, College Sports Television will offer a streaming-video package of tournament games.

The DirecTV package, which offers customers up to 37 games, is more comprehensive than the early-round games that operators can offer their customers with the local CBS multicasts. But the participating cable systems are offering the games free-of-charge to all digital-cable customers.

For more on digital-cable carriage of the NCAA Tournament, please see Steve Donohue’s story on page one of Monday’s issue of Multichannel News.

Thanx for the info, Canicitnow!

I noticed today that WRAL dropped it's tertiary channel and went back into HD mode on 5.1. The engineer at WRAL promised any HD games will be offered in HD on 5.1. The other subchannels will be SD broadcasts obviously.

WNCT NOT AIRING HD during Raymond. Someone flip a switch or two!!!

I checked your updated info on PAX easterncnewswat and I have only PAX 35.1.
I have faith and Pax west listed and turned on but no picture. I thought they were not on the air yet.

jspENC,

The problem with Raymond oriented at the network level; WRAL was running an SD upconvert of Raymond as well. WNCT was not to blame from the looks of it.

Pax 47 in Rocky Mount runs the primary and 3 subchannels. I didn't know that your Pax down that way wasn't running the other channels. Can't understand why that would be. Maybe they don't have the equipment online to offer multicasting or they haven't flipped the switch? I dunno...

I'll have some pics of WRAL's meterologist in the fountain online in a few after some editing and set up of the page. He lost his own bet on snow on or before Feb 28th at the RDU airport. The water in the fountain was 37 very cold degrees!

yeah that was funny as hell :D

glad to see the news back into HD

Wind is really playing havoc with my antenna reception today, ch 19.1-.5 WUNMDT is freezing bad, and WITNDT is freezing some as well.

I was experiencing some breakups on WITN yesterday really bad. Same with WNCT. No problems today though on my end.

Mine too Jamielee, BUt PAX West 35.2 is working now. Faith and WOrship still down.

I am having freezing problems at times on 3 12 and 19 digitals UNC 39 will not come in due to wind.

Now I cannot receive UNC 19 at all. I guess the wind turned my antenna out of place.........
WUNJ 39 is working though very good, and they are not even at half power! Right now they are at 200kw. Full pwr is 700kw. I guess I'll be watching them now since WUNM is so weak, yet it is supposed to be a Jacksonville station.

I am planning to replace my RG-59 line under the house with RG-6. I have RG-6 from the ant. to the house and RG-59 from there. At the time I wired the store only had 1 role of RG- 6. I switched my satellite line witch is RG-6 with the antenna and my strenght went to 100% on all channels I tried! I could not leave it that way though because I need satellite too.

PAX West 35.2 is not working today.

Lowered my antenna about 1 1/2 foot today due to the wind, seemed to help, 19 DT came back in.

Well, I had my brother (lives in Kinston) aim his antenna towards Raleigh, and he picked up ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, and PBS. His antenna is about 15 feet off the ground without a preamp. I didn't think he would been able to pick them up without the preamp (pretty long cable run to his house).

Jsp----- I have been out of the country for a few days ---- saw your question - I am using a PA-16 preamp from antennasdirect.com - it is a UHF preamp working in the 470-862 range----- 16 DP gain with only 2.5 db noise ----- I also spent the money for shielded cable --
I can not tell you how well it works - but my signals did got up across the board ----- really have not had the time to play with it much since I put it in ----
After being away from HD for a week and watching analog and such - HD sure is eye candy !!!!!! WOW

I work for MB in Rose Hill.

I had an extra Digital receiver so I have loaned it to the Dispatch crew.

I hooked it all up Friday night inside.

Medium fringe VHF/UHF Radio Shack on top of Two Story Office Building.
An RS Tunable amp.
Channel Master Remote controlled Rotator.

At the proper orientations of the Antenna
1 Set 5,11,17 and all subs
2 Set 7,12,19 and all subs (no WNCT 9)
3 Set 35 and all subs
4 Set 3,6,39 and all subs
_________________
Willard/Penderlea

cpanther, you may be overloading WNCT, it is very strong without an amp, try unpluging the amp and tune to channel 10 and see what happens...

WNCT overloads on me like all the time; same with WITN.

Originally posted by jspENC
cpanther, you may be overloading WNCT, it is very strong without an amp, try unpluging the amp and tune to channel 10 and see what happens...

I am going to try that tonight. The amp can be turned down.

Incidentally, It is receiving WWAY front and back of the antenna with the same signal strength.

cpanther,

Just wanted to fill you in that I'm digital wanabee on ilmhd.:D

Originally posted by jspENC
cpanther,

Just wanted to fill you in that I'm digital wanabee on ilmhd.:D

I am ncone1952 over there. It would not let me log back on as cpanther.

The wind has about tore down my antenna. It will be the weekend before I can restore all channels. All I get now are 7,9 and 19 a little bit.

My antenna is down, bent mast completly in half and broke the font section of my channel master 3020 off. Tree down across my drive way, nieghbors antenna mast broke in half.

Sounds like it was a lot worse up your way Jamielee. I guess you will be getting a new antenna. Mine was almost bent beyond repair, but I managed to straighten the mast back up. Good luck getting things back to normal. I saw on the news that wind was 86 MPH up your way. I think it was 65 down here, and Wilmington hit 89 MPH.

Where's Ken12? I don't think he's posted in weeks. I wonder if everything was OK yesterday at TV 12?

Just in Time for Spring... HD Newscasts Coming to Nation's Capital
Cherry blossoms will not be the only things of beauty that viewers in Washington, D.C. area can gaze upon in coming weeks. CBS affiliate WUSA-TV will become the first broadcaster in the nation's capital to present its regular local newscasts in HD. President/GM Darryll Green said parts of his studio and control room operations are literally being rebuilt from the ground up.


WUSA will soon unveil a new set and new graphics built with the 16:9 aspect ratio and HD's attention-to-detail in mind. (News sets that pass muster in analog often look dingy and cheap in HD, where little gets by the vastly enhanced video quality.) WUSA currently airs more than 35 hours of local news weekly, and all of it will be HD-delivered under the new scheme.


Like the rest of the nation, most viewers in the Washington, D.C. designated market area don't have HD sets yet in their homes or offices, but the HD newscasts should provide sharper video on newer analog receivers, as well. Washington, of course, is not your typical DMA, and the daily diet of HD, which is being heavily promoted, could play a significant role in enhancing HD's visibility among the nation's political movers and shakers. Washington may be a local market, but it's also the "hometown" market-away-from home for Congress, the White House, the FCC and other federal agencies.

Thanx for the info about WUSA in D.C., Canicitnow... There was a thread about this over in the programming section last week. Hopefully, this will continue to overspread the rest of the nation!

Since that article mentioned older sets not passing the muster, I thought I'd mention to you guys that I've added a new section to my website called Remember When?, which has screencaps of logos, bumpers, sets, and talent from Eastern NC's broadcasting past. I've spent a few days going through a box of old videotapes and capturing as many screencaps as I could of our local's from as far back as about fifteen years ago. Feel free to check it out!

I had forgotten about a lot of the stuff I found. I've still got some more tapes to work through so I hope to be adding more soon!

Great memories Eastern! I remember a few of those, mostly from channels 5, 9 and 12.
Is it ok if I pass the link to others on a different site?

Sure, jspenc! Glad you liked it.

I'm hoping I can find some more stuff, but I'm starting to run out of tapes! *LOL* It's amazing what you can find in a box of junk!

Originally posted by easternncnewswat
Sure, jspenc! Glad you liked it.

I'm hoping I can find some more stuff, but I'm starting to run out of tapes! *LOL* It's amazing what you can find in a box of junk!

Nice one of Bob Buckley! (Bob is thinner now!) Bob works for us now. He is the Senior Reporter and has his own franchise. I will have to tell him about that screen cap! Bob had a shot at going to FNC a few years back, but it happen at the same time he got married and his wife won out! Of well.

Thanx foxeng! That was a really old tape and had some bad creases in it so the pq wasn't as good as some of the other screencaps.

It's so strange to think that we see all these people come and go over the years and never know where they end up. Then again, some days you end up channel surfing while out of town or they pop up at the network level and you say, I remember them when... *LOL*

That happened to me a few years ago when I saw Donna Gregory on MSNBC, formerly of WNCN and WRAL before that. I always wondered what happened to her as well. I hated when she left WRAL! I liked her a lot... :(

Sorry, to get off on a tangent, but again, thanx for the words!

Originally posted by easternncnewswat
It's so strange to think that we see all these people come and go over the years and never know where they end up. Then again, some days you end up channel surfing while out of town or they pop up at the network level and you say, I remember them when... *LOL*

Brent Baier of FNC used to work at WRAL. (I worked with Brent one time when he was the newly hired Southeastern Reporter for FNC and my station helped out FNC cover the Faircloth/Edwards Senate Race in 1998. Brent is a good guy.) Tony Snow of FNC used to be a beat reporter for the Greensboro News and Record in the early 80's. Van Denton, who is our chief meteorologist used to work at WCTI and Ed Mathews who is one of the weather people at WFMY here used to work at WITN as well. Bertie Cartwright at WNCT used to be the Assist Chief Engineer at my place, he left right before I came but before that I worked with his wife in radio where she was an Account Exec and I was the Chief Engineer. The transmitter supervisor at WUNM channel 19 would have had my job right now if he hadn't had to move back to home to little Washington in the late 80's to take care of his ailing father, former WITN anchor, Lee Kanipe.

We have several photogs who worked at WITN, WNCT or WCTI. We also have a couple of News Producers who worked at one of those three at sometime in their career.

Talk about small world!

NO audio on WNCT dt

Got my antenna back up earlier this weekend from the windstorm, and I believe I have it aimed more towards the west and Im getting better reception from RDU channels, I was getting WRAL, WTVD WNCN only a day or two a week since the summer, now Im hitting RDUs like I first did when I installed my HDTV antenna. Around 5pm till 10am.
I put a compass on the end of the antenna and aimed it towards the degrees off the antenna web page. It works good.

I recieved more channels last night, that I usually only pull in on a good tropho night,
WUNC DT 4
WB22 DT

What antenna are you using Jamielee? The old broken one or a new one, and what kind is it? I need to fix my antenna still, but I did get four Charleston stations recently...

A new channel master 3020, same as the old one.

WRAL has downgraded 5.1 to an SD broadcast and brought 5.3 and 5.4 online for NCAA March Madness. Time to shoot some hoops!

Originally posted by easternncnewswat
WRAL has downgraded 5.1 to an SD broadcast and brought 5.3 and 5.4 online for NCAA March Madness. Time to shoot some hoops!

OT, but I thought you might like to know you have been mentioned in the "o-ffiical" (there is a difference between it and the official) broadcast media. One of the photogs who work at the station has a blog (interesting reading, he isn't as crusty as he makes out in the blog, he really is a nice guy) and he and Bob Buckley worked together at WITN years ago and after I mentioned to Bob about your screen caps, he mentioned it to Stewart and he gave you a whole blog entry with pictures and link and commentary about the pictures. If you ever wanted to know what a "real" TV thinks about the stories they cover, "Lenslinger Viewfinder Blues Blog" is a good one! http://lenslinger.blogspot.com/

Thanx foxeng! Stewart actually sent me an e-mail directing me to his site. I added an external link from my site to his once I had a chance to check it out. It was way cool seeing my site referenced on his; he did quite a write up! It was cool too seeing where some of ENC's alumni had ended up as well.

What's up with WCTI HD? Bobby Deskins has been standing there frozen in front of the weather wall since 5:43 this morning! 12.3 is streaming fine, but it looks like 12.1 is locked up. Strange...

working on it now

Ken

Ken12,

I sent an e-mail to engineering at the station; didn't know if anyone was aware of the problem. Hope all goes well.

the master plus module in my Harris Flexicoder locked up had to reset it should be fine now

Ken

Yep! 12.1 is streaming along fine now!

Good to see you back Ken, I saw the problem early and knew you would fix it promptly. I am planning on getting a 4 bay bowtie CM antenna soon and hope some of my freezing troubles will end on a couple of stations. People tell me they can pick up stations from 80 miles away with it, without an amp. so if your in the market for better reception thats the one for you! CM 4221 I think... is the model

Why isn't WNCT in HD?!!

i'm having trouble with NBC17

My back hurts! (OOPS! Wrong forum. Sorry!)

Will the CM4221 or CM4228 UHF have any problem with WNCT?

Thanks

is WNCT showing the games in HD? i can't get WNCT here in my room and WRAL is showing in 480i :(

WNCT is showing the games in HD when they're presented that way by the network. Had some trouble the first day or none of those games were HD; not sure. Last night and today, they are broadcasting HD.

will WRAL be airing the final four in HD?

WNCT is not consistent with HD, I came in and the Carolina was SD.

Panther I don't know about UHF for a VHF channel, so I'm using 2 antennas pointed in opposite directions basically.

Has anyone seen that ad on WITN about the VIPIR vs. Doppler 7? How are we suppossed to know those images are the exact same time? I think WITN is getting silly about their lack of Sweeps! LOL You don't hear WNCT bashing WITN's old flat doppler...

WYOD- the Nascar race today the signal sent to Direct TV by that bunch - was horrible!!!!! Fuzzy picture--- complained to Direct TV and was told that in 2 months - HD users could get all HD channels off national feed- was told some time the month of MAY!!!!
Asked that some one call that bunch and ask for an expaination of why signal was so bad---!!!!!
Great picture on basket ball games ---!!!!!!

Do you mean WYDO Griff, I just can't wait for DTV from them, it should be a barrel of laughs for sure! If they can't get analog straight I don't know how they can begin to understand digital reception...
I have not been watching hardly any local FOX channels since I got digital antenna compatible.
Also WYDO channel 11 in Greenville is awful on their cable TV as well.

Originally posted by jspENC
Panther I don't know about UHF for a VHF channel, so I'm using 2 antennas pointed in opposite directions basically.

Has anyone seen that ad on WITN about the VIPIR vs. Doppler 7? How are we suppossed to know those images are the exact same time? I think WITN is getting silly about their lack of Sweeps! LOL You don't hear WNCT bashing WITN's old flat doppler...

I think from where I am located I may have to try an RS Crossfire.

I guess since some have already asked me how do I find the time to look at 3 Sats, they will really wonder with that monster up there too.

Jsp- sorry for the typo- yes that was WYDO 14 out of Greenville - that was where the sat. feed was yesterday - analog was a joke ----could not make out numbers on cars--- even looked fuzzy on smaller tv,s after race feed was breaking up - that is what I wanted to let DTV know about ----
Problem is the ruling from the FCC - is that if you can get any signal at all no matter how bad --- you can not get a national feed---- new law going into effect for HD users - in about two months --- states that if you can not recieve a HD signal from local channels ---- you can get the national feed--
Thats what I have been told --- who knows ?????

Griff, can you still view WFXI on your VHF antenna? If so I guess that will be your best bet for watching the races! I can get 3 fox signals and somtimes four but none are clear. About a week ago I was able to get FOX 24 from Charleston SC and it was almost perfect and clearer than 8 or 14!

Just came home and tuned to WCTi and noticed the PSIP is not being sent. Does anyone else not have it?

No PSIP here on 12.1 or 12.3 for me.

I tried WXFI 8 Sunday ---- it was screwed up too---- sat feed was the best option but even that as very poor -- great race-- can,t wait till second half of season - to see them in HD-- Fox 26 came in but not very good --
Does anyone know if Camp Lejune or Cherry point can get the HD feeds on thier cable system --- If not thats a good politcal angle to work -

I believe they do get Hd Griff, but not 100% Time Warner does not Offer WNCT or Pax but all others are on the system. Lejeune has Charter cable.

My stb is showing WNCT 9.2 Weather popping up; no audio or video as of yet!

I just saw 9.2 labeled weather! I wonder if it will be VIPIR or a Mix of weather maps?
I also saw on Eyewitness 9 tonight they are going to air some multiple games on Friday night on dt 9.1 and analog 9.

I'm hoping for a full fledged channel instead of just a static radar image! I hope we find out tonight; i don't want to wait till tomorrow! *LOL*

It would be nice if they would use it for Basketball on Friday night. I don't want to have to watch analog again!

Just read on the Raleigh HD thread that WRAZ will air a game and WRAL another, isn't that a network violation?

Maybe that's what they're going to do. WNCT might be planning to use the channel for primarily weather, but also news simulcasts/rebroadcasts, and then special events like the basketball games coming up. That's what WRAL does with 5.2, the WRAL Newschannel.

Originally posted by jspENC
Just read on the Raleigh HD thread that WRAZ will air a game and WRAL another, isn't that a network violation?

In a normal case it probably would be, but I'm sure WRAL/WRAZ went through the proper corporate channels to assure that there are no legal ramifications. WRAL, from what I've always understood, is one of CBS' powerhouse affiliates; I'm sure that holds true for WRAZ and the Fox network. Especially since both are owned by Capitol Broadcasting Corp.

Maybe that's what they're going to do. WNCT might be planning to use the channel for primarily weather, but also news simulcasts/rebroadcasts, and then special events like the basketball games coming up. That's what WRAL does with 5.2, the WRAL Newschannel

If they did that it would really make this market as great as RAL DUR FAYettevilles for CBS. Fox is what really stinks bad around here...

Yeah, at this point, I'd just as soon see Media General buy Fox 8/14 and run it like Cap Broadcasting does with WRAL/WRAZ. We'd probably get much better service from Fox. Oh wait, we'd actually GET service from Fox 8/14! :D

All kidding aside, I wonder if the target date of the end of April is still what Fox 8 is shooting for to begin broadcasting dtv? I've read recently that a lot of extensions were recently given, but I've yet to be able to find out if WFXI/WYDO is on that list. Probably...

I've tried to find out more info about WFXI dt on the FCC website, but searching was difficult to say the least.

Yeah, wading through the FCC website is like trying to navigate a maze. Honestly, I hardly ever glean much of anything from it. It's easier to read trade papers, websites, etc. to find out what you want to know.

I'm bummed out! :( Looks like we may have to wait till tomorrow to find out what WNCT has in store! It's getting kind of late for them to be bringing the new channel online tonight unless they're waiting till after prime time, etc.

Then again, that's what WRAL did last week when they set up 5.1, 2, 3 & 4 for the March Madness Multicast. It wasn't until about 12:30 - 1 in the morning till all the channels came online.

I guess I'll be up late tonight! :D Eh, I will be anyway... *LOL*

I checked 9.2 about an hour ago and they had it in HD mode! The screen was black in the middle and lighter on top and bottom. They must be trying to tie things in...

Gee, I missed that... I've been watching satellite tonight, so I could monitor 9.2 on my computer to see when or if anything pops up. Wish I had of seen that. Maybe they are going to letterbox their weather channel. It should be cool to see what they are up to...

I checked Titantv.com out until 4/4/05 and it doesn't say anything for a new channel on WNCT. But I do love how on WITN 7.2, it says Live Doopler Radar! :p

Originally posted by easternncnewswat
All kidding aside, I wonder if the target date of the end of April is still what Fox 8 is shooting for to begin broadcasting dtv? I've read recently that a lot of extensions were recently given, but I've yet to be able to find out if WFXI/WYDO is on that list. Probably...

The FCC just granted them another extension first of the week. The reason being financial. Since they elected to stay on their analogs for both 8 and 14, my guess is they are going to try and keep the extensions up so analog runs out before they have to build and just convert the analogs to digital. I am not sure that is a good strategy. They may lose the whole thing. The new FCC Chairman may not put up with those type shenanigans.

That sure sounds plausible to me considering what we've seen so far. Personally, I feel like they should have their FCC liscense ripped away from them. I know there are always extenuating circumstances, but other stations across the country have had to comply, why not Fox 8/14? Sounds to me like they're thumbing their noses at the FCC. JMHO.

Foxeng, Thank you for filling us in.
That is the most pitiful thing I have ever heard so far about the transition to dt! I hope the FCC steps in and fines them good. "When you say...THEY may lose the whole thing" do you mean we could lose our FOX signals altogether, or will they be taken over by someone else temporarily? I'm really confused, and excited at the same time! LOL!

Hopefully, we will be able to sign up for Fox HD on D* shortly if our local can't send a digital signal. Why should we be made to suffer if those guys don't care about sending out a quality signal. I'm willing to pay for Fox HD if they will let me have it. Only in America??:confused:

jsp----- I can get WXFI--fox 8 clear on antenna but no sound - don,t know why--!!!!!!! Last night on American Idol sound trouble - not on other channels - that was off sat.-----
2scoops --- complain to Dtv and to the FCC and to our congressmen---- I have - the squeaky wheel gets the grease---
Sunday I spent an hour on the phone with D*- letting them know how poor the signal was coming from the local fox group--- if we don,t complain they don,t know --- it,s not our fault that fox8/14 can not afford the equipment --- thats what banks are for - loans -
D* did tell me that in two months we would be able to get the National FOX feed--- I,ll believe it when I see it - LOL---- change in the law-----
I would suggest calling Congressman Jones office and file a complaint - as I have -- we have the right to HD broadcast---

Griff you may need to go into the menu of your TV and make some audio adjustments. That is the best advice I can give on getting sound that I can come up with! LOL!

If I sign up for directv HD just for FOX, then I have wasted a lot of money on antennas and such! It jsut does not seem right to have to pay for somehting we should get for free like all other area...

Originally posted by jspENC
"When you say...THEY may lose the whole thing" do you mean we could lose our FOX signals altogether, or will they be taken over by someone else temporarily?

They would lose their digital allocation. When analog shuts down, they go out of business and then someone else could pick up the channel 8 and 14 assignments. Fines would be levied before that happens.

JSP_-- What I don,t understand about the sound issue I have is that the other analog stations that I pick up sound is fine ----???
Thanks foxeng----

Griff--- The only other thing I can think of is the Amplifier you have could be distorting the sound. Maybe if you unplug it that will fix the audio, if not plug it back up and see if reseting it helps. That is the last thing I can come up with! Good Luck!!
I get analog 8 very badly, but I do get stereo sound out of them. When I do look at FOX which is rare, it is 26 WSFX still...

JSP you were right ------ I changed some setting on my sound system and got the sound in ----- thanks -----
Griff

WNCT DT 9.2 is now airing channel SD programming, at 11:45am the Price is Right is showing in SD. Must be getting ready for WX.

9.2 now has a CBS news promo running over and over, no audio. Now they are running different CBS show Promos, wonder what in the world they are going to do with this channel?!

It'll be a storm team 9 weather channel I'm sure; maybe a few news rebroadcasts thrown in for good measure. They must be getting the settings and such right before they put any weather on the air. I'm glad to finally see something on this channel! *LOL* You can tell by the pq, the majority of their bandwith is going to go for the HD channel on 9.1. Good thing too!

I like weather, and am glad they are bringing in this channel, but I was really hoping for a local WB to be brought in some way or another. I would like to see another TV tower go up about where the 12, 19 towers are. That area sould surely be a good spot for everyone to get a signal from. I doubt anymore transmitters could go on the Grifton tower since there are four on it already.

*LOL* You are right about the Grifton tower! Yeah, it would be nice if somebody brought the WB in, but looks like we're out of luck for now.

Course, we can always hope WFXI loses Fox because of their procastination and somebody else can scoop it up and give us Fox finally and the WB! *LMAO* :D

*Note - That slam is directed at corporate level, not the people who would be out of jobs because of a closure.

Running a south east radar loop now at 4:20p

I guess its going to be the Vipir 9 channel.

Now it is CBS soaps on 9.2, They are working on surround sound too.

Cool what channel 9 did tonight with both the Duke and NCSU games on ---- both teams lost---- but thanks guys at 9 - for doing that !!!!!

OK, so now the guys at 9 are showing the Carolina game in SD and the UK game in HD. I guess there are more Kentucky fans around here who want to see the game in digital. I don't quite understand this???

Please channel 9 turn on Carolina on your HD channel!

I'm getting annoyed that 9.2 everytime I turn to it is just a simulcast of 9.1 or black screen. I can't believe they don't a "Coming Soon" slide or something to advertise or that their stuff isn't in place to broadcast whatever is intended for the channel. I wish they would at least put up the live vipir 9 sweep until they roll out the weather channel if that's what they're going to do with it. The only thing I've seen besides simulcast of 9.1 is a March Madness slide this afternoon.

Btw, I'm glad they've got the channel; just wish something was on it besides the black screen that they've got on there now.

I had Y&R on 9.2 at 12pm yesterday, and 45 minutes into it they stopped it and put up that March Madness Bumper.
Just before that they had the 4 radar sweeps going...
Then last night the cable company down here reached an agreement for carriage of the digital channels on WNCT. That is when they put up the Standard def channel on 9.2. I have all ideas that was one of the cable companies demands, so that those with just digital cable boxes could see the game. You have to have a HD cable box to get a picture on the 9.1 channel.
So it's going to be a guessing game I guess from now on with 9.2! LOL...
I can tell you this though, I will never use cable again!

Question what is market size that we are in - I think I read some where that we were 105 - is that correct-?
Fox14/8 has been granted another 6 month extension from the FCC---on going digital---- we were told April now 6 more months --
Time to complain to the FCC- about this -

Greenville-New Bern-Jacksonville is now Market 103. www.tvradioworld.com is up to date on this.
Griff, How did you find out it is going to be 6 months for Fox?

According to Nielsen Media Research, a couple of months ago, we were booted back to #105.

Oh no Eastern, I was hoping we would slip just below 100 before long. Now we are going in the wrong direction again.
Does anyone know how to get up with someone local about PAX 35? I found out today while working on my antenna, that when I am recieving Pax on 34, all the subchannels work. But just as soon as it reverts to 35, all channels go blank but 35.1 I'm sure they think everything is working when it actually isn't.

Got a letter today from Congressman Jones office---- saying that Fox14/fox had just been granted a 6 month expension by the FCC---

jspENC- Best bet is to check the phone book for the local Pax under yellow pages, tv stations. Either that, or check the Pax website and see if you can get a e-mail forwarded to the local office. I think first option is the best. See if you can talk to someone directly unless some of our engineers can chime in and tell you who to contact. *hint, hint* *LOL*

Fox 8/14 sux! 'nuff said...

I am quoting this from letter recieved--- From Walter B. Jones office today concerning Fox14/8 extension
" On March 15TH , 2005 , due to the stations financial difficulities, the Commission released an ORDER granting WFXI/WYDO a six month extension of DTV construction deadline . Prusuant to this order, WFXI/WYDO must complete construction of it,s DTV facilities no later then September 15, 2005. end quote
The "SHVERA" act was reinstated on December 8, 2004 ----- this gives Sat. the right to give distant feeds ---- under a whole list of conditions ---
One being a waiver from Fox14.Fox8 when I requested one earlier this law was not back in effect----
It also states that if no reply is recieved within 30 days of the request - the granting of distant feeds is automatic----
I have a copy of the law here with this letter-- but it is in legal ease need to find out what it means in English !!!!! LOL
Comments please------

Easternncnews, the only numbers in the book in this area are for WUNM, WCTI, WFXI and WITN.
No WNCT or WPXU. It looks like pax would have a local office here, but I guess not. Maybe the same person that works on Pax 38 works on 35 too?
I have been to the main PAX website, but they have no local link. So I'm right back where I started. LMAO!!

Griff, I guess your letter means we will either get FOX by September ot they will be in trouble with the FCC?!
By the way, can you get any of the pax sub-channels like worship or faith, or are they just black?

I contacted the Audio/Video section of Pax.com and here is what they say...

"Thank you for contacting PAX.

Due to the high volume of feedback from viewers, we are unable to respond individually to your requests and comments. Your feedback will be forwarded to the appropriate department and will be given proper consideration. We urge you to check the Frequently Asked Questions section on our website to see if your questions have already been answered there.

Thank you for visiting PAX TV."

I will wait and see what happens now...

jspENC - I tried looking in our local phone book with no luck. I remember not too long ago that WEPX was advertising for a engineering position. You might try contacting the Daily Reflector, Sun Journal, Carteret Times, or your local newspaper. They ran ads in the 3 I mentioned above. Maybe they did in your local paper as well?

Griff - It sounds promising that you will be able to get a distant Fox come Sept 15th unless Wfxi/Wydo tries to screw you, which undoubtedly they will. Personally, I'm of the mindset that they are going to drag out going digital until analog runs out as mentioned a few days ago. I just hope they get called on the carpet for it. There is no way they aren't making money off of the advertising that comes with Fox programming! If Pax stations can afford to turn on digital considering the sorry monetary position and ratings that they have, so can WFXI/WYDO! JMHO.

I found that the WEPX main studio used to be at the same place as WYDO's in Winterville I think it is...
Now Pax is located right across from the HOT 96/1037 studio in New Bern on Glenburnie Rd. I believe, but I don't know the phone number...

Your right Eastern, if Pax can go digital then so can FOX. Personally I think that particular owner is lost on dtv...

A quick Google search uncovered this:

http://www.pax.tv/stations/contact.cfm?sti_id=136


Greenville - WEPX TV-38
1301 S. Glenburnie Road
New Bern, NC 28562

Phone: 252-636-2550
Fax: 252-633-7851

For questions about PAX TV, please use our contact form.
Local Sales Manager
Jennifer Kingman jenniferkingman@pax.net 252-636-2550
Business Manager
Lisa Stroud lisastroud@pax.net 252-636-2550
Traffic Manager
Tammy Mason tammymason@pax.net 525-636-2550

Thanx for the head's up Inundated! I've got to remember to use Google more! *LOL* :D

Later guys, off to bed for the night; 5:30 coming way to soon!

Thank you Inundated,

But that is Pax 38 though, not Pax 35.

Maybe they can give you the number to Pax 35. Ciao!

Originally posted by jspENC
Thank you Inundated,

But that is Pax 38 though, not Pax 35.

Well, according to Pax's website, WPXU/35 is run out of Greenville:


Jacksonville - WPXU TV-35
1301 S. Glenburnie Road
New Bern, NC 28562

Phone: 252-636-2550
Fax: 252-633-7851

I have to go to New Bern soon anyway, so I will drop in and see what they say... Thanks guys.
I will pass on any info I get from the message I sent Pax.com too.

JSP I will check out pax today and see what we get----
Eastern you are probably right and Fox14/fox8. we are sending a letter to them requesting a waiver ??
In doing some reading on this mess - I ran up on some interestiing information
The FCC will shut down analog once a market has reached 85% digtal well that is not how many sets are sold - they are saying that if you have cable or sat- you have digital----
Last FCC commision ruling was that in 2009- anagol will be shut down---
Seems like congress and the FCC is starting to feel the heat about HD programming -- many congressman are getting complaints --- keep hollering guys -
STICKLER-- Commision rules at this time do not impose a HDTV requirement on TV broadcast------THIS IS WHAT WE NEED TO FUSS ABOUT____ IF it is broadcast in HD we have a right to recieve it --!!!!!

Originally posted by Griff Thomasson
In doing some reading on this mess - I ran up on some interestiing information
The FCC will shut down analog once a market has reached 85% digtal well that is not how many sets are sold - they are saying that if you have cable or sat- you have digital----
Last FCC commision ruling was that in 2009- anagol will be shut down---
Seems like congress and the FCC is starting to feel the heat about HD programming -- many congressman are getting complaints --- keep hollering guys -
STICKLER-- Commision rules at this time do not impose a HDTV requirement on TV broadcast------THIS IS WHAT WE NEED TO FUSS ABOUT____ IF it is broadcast in HD we have a right to recieve it --!!!!!

First, the FCC has NOT passed any rule changes for analog shut down. There are several proposals on the table, and one being a total shut down on Jan 1, 2009, but that is only a proposal at this stage. The current law is analog will shut down on Dec 31, 2006 or when a market reaches 85% of viewers can see the digital channels, whichever is later. There is no definition on what 85% means such as does cable count, will all the TVs have to be digital in some form to count, things like this. These are the issues that the FCC and Congress is wrestling with now.

As far as HD goes, the FCC and Congress granted 18 different digital formats for stations to use to broadcast their digital programming. All digital receivers are to have the 18 different formats in them by law. HD has never been a requirement and in the current round of debate, HD is not even on the table and no one plans on bringing it up. The current rules state a station must provide at least one free to the public MPEG2 stream that is equal to 480i. Beyond that, the station can use the remainder of their bandwidth as they see fit, including everything from HD to pay video service, to different codec and wireless internet.

Thanks Fox eng. - for clarifing all this --- hoped you would join in-- so at this time there is no rules as to what signal --- 480i is the base--- for a digital signal-- the FCC only recieved 380 some complaints last year from what I head ----- they are going to be busy this year----
Foxeng - what would you suggest as to what signal quality should be the min. it was my understanding that 720p was the min. ????
Wish I could pick you guys up off air---!!!!!!

JSP I checked this morning and all I was getting was 35.1---- none of the others had anything going on ----

Originally posted by Griff Thomasson
Foxeng - what would you suggest as to what signal quality should be the min. it was my understanding that 780i was the min. ????
Wish I could pick you guys up off air---!!!!!!

What's 780i?

Taz - that was a typo on my part - that should read 720 p-- that refers to the lines of resolution - sorry about that------

Originally posted by Griff Thomasson
Thanks Fox eng. - for clarifing all this --- hoped you would join in-- so at this time there is no rules as to what signal --- 480i is the base--- for a digital signal-- the FCC only recieved 380 some complaints last year from what I head ----- they are going to be busy this year----
Foxeng - what would you suggest as to what signal quality should be the min. it was my understanding that 720p was the min. ????
Wish I could pick you guys up off air---!!!!!!

Yes, the only video resolution required is one stream of MPEG2 480i that is free for anyone with a receiver to pick up.

In the ATSC standard, 720p and up is considered HD. I really don't want to get into which is better, 720p or 1080i and all that. Both have their good points and bad points and from what I can tell, it is subjective as well as depends on the native resolution of the display device. I have seen 1080i look great on a 1080i set and 720p look like crap. I have seen 720p on a 720p native display look stunning and 1080i look like crap. Anytime you have conversion (or transcoding as it is called) of up or down, it will NEVER look as good as the native. I think most people agree that a progressive scan will look better under extreme faster motion than 1080i and static pictures will have the slight advantage of "clarity" over 720p, but the problem is, television is a slow to moderate motion medium and as such, you really don't get the best of 720p nor 1080i so there is a compromise to either one. It really comes down to what YOU like better. My personal opinion is 1080p should be the cats meow, but the ATSC standard doesn't allow 1080p transmission and we don't have the bandwidth to transmit that much data nor the computer power yet for the needed compression. I think we will in the next 5 years or so, but right now, it is going to be somewhat of a struggle.

Originally posted by taz291819
What's 780i?

I know he means 720p, but 720i is an approved ATSC resolution format and your TV has it in it.

Originally posted by foxeng
I know he means 720p, but 720i is an approved ATSC resolution format and your TV has it in it.

I wasn't exactly sure if he wasn't talking about resolution, since he said 'signal quality'.

I agree with your assessment, it depends upon the native resolution of your display.

No PSIP Only on dt 7 WiTN

I meant to fix that earlier and forgot... LMAO!

You mean WITN, jspENC? *LOL* j/k...

I see WNCT 9.2 is not even showing a black screen now. Hope something comes on there soon. I think it's worse having just dead air than the black screen and that annoyed the hell out of me! *LOL* Maybe they should just run some CBS promos on it or something till they're ready for whatever they are going to put on it?

Fox eng--- as the digtal standard has not been set as of this date - if you were to set the standard what would it be -???- I am going to propose to Congressman Jones what we think it ought to be - but I do not have enough technical knowledge of how to phrase the statement -
Griff
What do you guys think----???

Originally posted by Griff Thomasson
Fox eng--- as the digtal standard has not been set as of this date - if you were to set the standard what would it be -???- I am going to propose to Congressman Jones what we think it ought to be - but I do not have enough technical knowledge of how to phrase the statement -
Griff
What do you guys think----???

1080p! But there isn't enough bandwidth available in 6 MHz and the codecs aren't technically there. I can tell you that Congress is not interested in picture resolution. They want the money for the frequencies and nothing else and they will not do anything to slow that down and to reopen the resolution issue brings things to a standstill. The reason there are no resolution limits is to not limit innovations for the technology. This was debated pretty heavy back in the 90's and that is why there are no limits.

You don't want a standard regarding resolution. The reason being, do you really want a broadcaster to waste bandwidth (ala 1080i, 720p) on a weather sub-channel? I certainly don't. I'm more than happy with the main channel being 1080i/720p and the subchannel(s) being 480i.

That makes sense- thanks guys-- I am just a furstrated Hd junkie-- I want my NASCAR in HD- wahhhhhh wahhhh----LOL-----

Looks like WNCT is playing with 9.2. There is a map or maybe it's Live Vipir 9 zoomed in over metro New York. Can't really tell yet...

Griff I just want to be able to see nascar! Every dam* channel around me is weak and it is just unexcusable. I think that every station should have to cover its market completely! I just wish that was a law! I hope somewhere along the line somebody takes care of these *white out* areas!!!!!

That could be Neighborhood Doppler, the roads look kind of like it... But why do they have it over NYC for anyway? :) LOL!!!!

I thought it would be a good idea to put up the signal strenths I am getting and compare them with you guys...

WWAY dt 3 --- 100% strenght 100% quality Surround sound on network only and incredible at night
WITN dt 7---- 67% strength 100% quality & surround sound works constantly
WNCT dt 9---- 60% strength 100% quality Without amp on strenght is 100% Surround sound on network shows day and night.
WCTI dt 12--- 59% strength 100% quality & surround sound on ABC at night only, No surround sound on UPN.
WUNM dt 19--- 74% strength 100% quality & surround sound constantly.
WPXU dt 35----53% strength 100% quality & surround sound constantly.
WUNJ dt 39--- 100% 100% at night only

Can anyone tell me if these are OK or if I should try some other way to improve these? I do not have any interuptions now, except on 9. occasionally it will freeze and pixelate a little, but not often. I have a feeling when one of the FOX signals goes up that I am going to need a mast head amp at the antenna!

Jsp----- I feel the same way about Nascar - i have watched some of the west coast races in HD- on HD net- so clear - can,t wait till NBC carries the second half of the season------
I agree with you about the need for some kind oif a law with these R-D stations ( rinky - dink)- no digital automatic waiver----
My signal strength is on all digital stations 67% or better---
The high gain antenna I put up was for UHF--- band trying to get Raliegh- no go there--- that antenna is not doing me much good --- as most digital stations are in the lower frequence- my VHF antenna is a cheap one ---- and I have them both on the same mast about 2' apart
JSP what reciever are you using I have the Samsung 360 the off air meter I do not trust---- signals bounce around so much --- maybe need to seperate the antenns some more---

Griff, you should have 5' clearance between antennas. If not you will lose a lot of signal strength from interference. All digital channels are on UHF except for channel 10 which is WNCT.
Here is a list of channels... 10 WNCT, 18 WUNM, 21 WYDO, 24 WFXI, 29 WUNJ, 30 WSFX, 32 WITN, 34 WPXU, 44 WECT, 46 WWAY, 48 WCTI, 49 WRAZ, 52 WTVD, 53 WRAL, 55 WNCN,

I am using a Motorola HDT 100 receiver. With CHeap antennas from RS.

As I stated a few pages back, my brother lives in Kinston and picks up all the Raleigh stations just fine. WRAZ is his lowest signal, but it's stable. He's using an old antenna that was already there when he moved to Kinston. He showed me the antenna on his webcam, it's a UHF/VHF combo, though it was hard to judge the length. It looks like it was 15 feet off the ground (attached to his utility shed) and he isn't using a pre-amp.

I'll have him snap a picture of it and find out the length, though I guess I could just count the elements.

I get no Raleigh Stations, but I have my antennas pointing the wrong way for those. When I tried to aim at Raleigh it fouled up all other channels. One day I will upgrade to a rotator and see what I can do. :)

PAX west is now operational again on 35.2

Thanks JSP---- I will try separating them some - I can get them 5 ft apart- that may be why my signal strength bounces around so much ---

I separated the antennas out this afternoon made a big difference in signal strength - Thanks JSP!!!!-----

Glad that your signals are steady now Griff. I learned a lot of tricks just by reading the HDTV primer website!

JSP- I was so excited when I got my antennas up---- but I got sick with that crud- and felt like s$#&t- for three weeks and have been sl;ammed with work----- just gotten around to being well enough and having a little extra time to fine tune the system------ made a big difference --- in signal strength

Jsp after adjusting my antennas today I am able to get a good analog from FOX 26- are they at low power now on digital-?? When are they going to full power--? Do you have any idea----

My Fox 26 analog looks like dung! WSFX is at low power on 30.1 to cover Wilmington Metro mainly. I have never picked it up. The latest info I got was towards the end of this year for full power. They have to build a new shack for the equipment and build out for more power. But it is going to be very directional towards the west, so careful aiming and amplification will be needed. I actually got WECT this morning for about five minutes for the first time. It has the exact radiation pattern as WSFX will have.

Neighborhood Doppler is now on dt 9-2

You beat me to the punch, jspENC! Glad to see something on there now...

Now I have a Live Vipir Sweep from Newport on 9-2 with some static interference.

Yeah, I noticed that too... First, it was fine, but once they added the "sweep," it went whacko! On the flip side, at least I have a new addition to my "Technical Difficulties" page on my website! *LOL*

You know, it's funny that we're witnessing the battle of the dopplers between 7 and 9. Now, both stations have their radar on digital sub-channels. I wonder which will rush to the plate with a full out weather channel?

Remember, Jamilee had told us long ago that the GM of WITN was considering some sort of 24/7 weather channel, but not WeatherPlus. I'm surprised that WNCT didn't try and beat them to the punch.

I just read recently that NBC is moving full steam ahead with WeatherPlus and is trying to sign agreements with as many station groups as possible. With the most recent deals, they are at 67% coverage of the US once the stations come online. I'm surprised they haven't gone after Gray Television, which owns WITN...

Also, this week Accu-Weather announced that they will be offering a nationwide product for stations across the country. The article referenced WRAL. After looking at the Accu-Weather channel on some affiliate up in Pensylvannia, it looks a lot like the WRAL weather channel. I wonder if this might be an option for WNCT down the road?

Let's face it, somebody around here is going to do a full fledged local weather channel. With WCTI out of the game until compression technology improves, that means it's got to be WITN or WNCT. I wonder who it's going to be?

I think someone is working on clearing up the interference. The colors keep changing on my TV

Now we need some storms so we can really see who's LIVE radar really is the BEST! I think VIPIR will win. The following channels all have it now... 5,6,9,11,17,50.
Now we need WCTI to get more than four sweeps to beat 9. LMAO! Come on Ken12!

Mine too! I sent an e-mail to Bertie at WNCT to let him know in case he was unaware and mentioned the forum to him. Maybe he will take that as an invite to come in and talk to us! :)

I think we should all e-mail these guys at WNCT, WITN, and WCTI to let them know they have an audience. With Nielsen Media Research not tabulating HDTV viewing yet, the stations need to know that their efforts are not in vain. Plus, they need to know what the viewers are interested in seeing too!

I think they read these boards, and just want to stay in hiding! I really like all stations in the market and hope that they keep doing the great job that they have been doing so far.
This does NOT include our Fox channel...

Yeah, I think that there might be some "lurkers" here that don't make themselves known. *LOL*

I agree that all 3 stations do a great job with their digital service. I myself would love to see a local news/weather combination station for our market. I do tend to watch WTVD 11.2 when I get the chance, but I wish they would:

#1. Brand it as the ABC 11 Eyewitness News Channel or something to that effect.

#2. Have an even mix of news, weather, and community affairs programming.

#3. Repeat some of the ABC News programs, which seems to be what they are doing now...

Off on a tangent here... I think this is what ABC News Now should have been. It should have been an even mix of national, local, and weather. Right now, ABC 11 seems to be working on doing their own version of this with repeat broadcasts of World News Tonight, Nightline, ABC 11's newscasts, and the radar plus Eyewitness News Updates.

I think they are on the right track, but it should be more like this. Eyewitness News updates at the top of every hour, rebroadcasts of the local newscasts, rebroadcasts of the ABC News broadcasts, and a Wralesque Weather wheel and have this stuff rotated every 30 minutes or so. This seems to be where they are headed, but, then again, we shall see...

Anyways, I'm glad to see WNCT on the map with 9.2! I just hope they do a full fledged weather channel. After all, the overwhelming opinion on here is that everybody loves Storm Team 9! I do too, but I still love WCTI's weather... When you grow up with something, it's hard to let it go! *LOL*

I still watch Skip at 5 and Bobby Deskin in the Morning when I can. I watched Bobby when he was on Channel 3. They had him out on the weather deck at WWAY in a snow storm we had a couple of winters ago just before he moved over to 12.

No HD on 7 tonight?

I never realized Bobby Deskins was at WWAY! I think he is an awesome meterologist and like his on air style and delivery.

Of the Noon news meterologists, I prefer Bobby to the rest. I like Gannon over at 9, but he seems like a newbie and is still trying to familiarize himself with the area. Jim Howard at 7 annoys the heck out of me! He is too animated with his crouching and waving his arms around and stuff! It really drives me up the wall!!!

Originally posted by jspENC
No HD on 7 tonight?

Not network related; WNCN in RDU is running HD!

Bobby and Colleen were both at WWAY. Bobby worked as an intern at first in the weather lab at 3. Colleen was a reporter then anchor before she moved up to 12 just before Bobby did if I remember correctly.
My favorite all time Meterologist in the area has to be David Sawyer. I like the way he knew every nook and cranny of the ENC area. It takes a while for those guys to familiarize themselves with all our little communities too I'm sure.
I admire the way these guys stay on air when we have Hurricanes come in. They really keep the area covered and prepared for anything.
Jim Howard does go crazy, but I think he really likes his job! Sometimes he is a little off on the weather forecast, but not too often.

Yeah, I think Jim Howard loves his job... He just goes a little over the top sometimes! But it sure makes for an interesting forecast. *LOL*

I emaile bertie yesterday and asked when we would see a picture on 9.2 and I geuss he threw something up even if its not working properly.

My WTIN DT was not getting a signal last night, came back around 12

It was working properly last night when it came on around 6 in the evening. After they tried adding the sweeps is when it went haywire. I e-mailed Bertie last night to let him know it wasn't working right then. We should also e-mail him today to let him know. I'm sure he's working on the problem. Right now, they have it zoomed out onto the storm coming up from the Gulf. I'm pretty sure they're working on the issue.

I also e-mailed Vicki Jones at WNCT to thank her for channel 9 putting this up. We need to let them know they have an audience even if it isn't measured by Nielsen Media Research. I think that will help make them feel like their hard work isn't in vain!

I like having a radar channel, but wish there was some video.

Me too! I mentioned that to the GM of WNCT when I e-mailed her last night. Hopefully, for WNCT, this is just the first step.

As long as it's been, it doesn't look like WITN is ever going to do anything more than RADAR on their channel.

Emailed Titan TV about WNCT 9.2 and they have added it to to line up.
WNCT WX

Cool!

Titan TV is an excellent source. Glad you filled them in Jamielee.

I have Neighborhood doppler back on 9-2 instead of Vipir, I guess Bertie could not figure out the static...

Aww, give Bertie some credit, jspENC! J/K!!! :D He's probably still trying to work out the kinks in the system.

Be sure to send an e-mail to the GM of 9 and tell her you want a Storm Team 9 Weather Channel! I did last night. I'm also going to get some friends and family to e-mail too.

Remember, if they build it, we will come to see it! *LOL*

I'm sure Bertie isn't giving up! LOL
He probably had to order a connecctor or something.
I will send in an e-mail and let the folks know I am thrilled. I just hope they hurry up before someone else beats them to the punch!

By the way, congrats to the staff at 9 for the first place standings!

I just had an intense Storm Cell over head. Sat was aol.(lol)

I turned to my ota receiver and there is no comparison to be made between 7-2 and 9-2.

7-2 looked more like analog definition

9-2 may not be vipir yet, but it still looks very good.

I see it cpanther, Vipir is now on again and is in motion. The big Storm cell is headed for the Beaulaville area of Duplin County.

Were you guys seeing that static interference when it was looping? It's not looping now and is fine. But when it's looping or the sweeps are swooshing around, that static and red flickering happens on 9.2. At least that's what I see...

Originally posted by cpanther1
I just had an intense Storm Cell over head. Sat was aol.(lol)

I turned to my ota receiver and there is no comparison to be made between 7-2 and 9-2.

7-2 looked more like analog definition

9-2 may not be vipir yet, but it still looks very good.

I agree that 9.2 looks much better; 7.2 looks just blah... I think that is more because of the texture of doodoo brown color that they use... *LOL*

Sorry, that was real juvenile of me to say...

Originally posted by jspENC
I'm sure Bertie isn't giving up! LOL
He probably had to order a connecctor or something.
I will send in an e-mail and let the folks know I am thrilled. I just hope they hurry up before someone else beats them to the punch!

By the way, congrats to the staff at 9 for the first place standings!

Me too, jspENC! I want the Storm Team 9 Weather Channel!!!

I can't take credit for the first place standings, but I'll pass along the congrats to my friend at WNCT. :D Thanx for taking a look at my page btw!

Just thought I'd mention I saw WWAY now has Vipir radars going on 3-3. They just turned it off and the channel is black for now. Everyone is into the VIPIRS! LMAO!!!

Eastern, when they use Neighborhood Doppler the picture is clear, but when the map swithces to the Vipir image is when the static lines come in. IF you look at the towns some are different on one map from another.

Yeah, I just noticed that too... In fact, I thought Bertie had it straightened out cause the static stopped during the loop. Then it started up again. I think Bertie is bound to be working on it as we speak!

SOmeones in the weather lab now at 9 and the pic is getting better!

YUP! And, I'm getting REAL happy that we're not going to be stuck with just a static radar image!

Somehow, I just have this feeling that WNCT IS going to be the one to give us a local weather channel around here. It may not be today, tomorrow or the next day, but I've got a feeling it's coming...

EVENTUALLY!

Sooner than later, I hope!

I just emailed Vicki Jones and Bertie via email with a link to this thread and invited them to join us. Lets see if we get a response.
I have not been able to check 9.2 in the last hour my son is playing the playstation2 right now.

I just sent an e-mail to Phillip Williams and let him know that we think their Weather Radar channel ROCKS! I mentioned the forum to him as well!

Wow you guys are really pumped up! I hope they do join us on here. I used to be a Storm Team 9 weather watcher a few years back, but my schedule was so loaded that I was not at home the majority of the time Phillip would call me. I talked with him on the phone about 4 times though. He probably doesn't even remember all those people, :)

Somebody has been taking us on a tour of the rain on 9.2 this morning. It looks loke a heavy rain is coming my way.

Was there still static and the visual distortions this morning when you were getting the tour of the rain heading your way? I sent Bertie another e-mail last night with screencaps of what we saw Thursday night when they first brought 9.2's Radar online. He hasn't replied back which is unusual considering he has before. But I attribute that to him being busy with trying to work out the bugs in the system.

No static, but it was not VIPIR they were using. I guess they have not fixed it yet...
Bertie might be off for the weekend maybe?

The WInd has fouled up my satellite and antenna again. It has been blowing as bad if not worse than some past hurricanes down here!

Cool... That's what I was wondering. Eventually, they'll figure out the VIPIR thing. And yeah, you're right, Bertie probably is off for the weekend.

I've been having some antenna troubles myself. I recently rearranged my living room and had to do away with my dish antenna setup. Thus, I'm back to using my RCA Amplified antenna. I've lost my full time Fox 50, majorly bummed there - usually get it at night though, WB 22, running on hampster wheel power anyway, WRAY - Shop At Home, never watched it anyway, and UPN 28, see WB 22, and WRPX, never got it reliably.

I'm still experimenting around hoping to find another sweet spot for my RCA Amplified antenna, but I've yet to find it. Usually, I can pull in Fox 50 and if I'm lucky WB 22 in the evenings around 5 or 6.

Oh well, the living room needed a makeover! *LOL*

Maybe you can try an outside antenna now! Mine normally picks up as far as 60 miles on UHF and 90 miles for WRAL analog on VHF. I still have the RS Yagi, but am still thinking of switching to a channel Master 4 bowtie. They are the BEST from everything I have read. You could even try it inside, because its fairly small for an antenna, and if you set it in front of that dish, that will really be a boost!

*LOL* Well, I don't know... I think now that it was the long coax with the boost from the amplifier that gave me such good reception. Anyways, I'm satisfied with what I got. Eventually, WB22 and UPN28 in RDU will have to go full power in July 2006. I can deal since we've got local UPN 48 and I've got WB on Dish Network; Smallville's going to be ending in the next year or so the way the ratings are trending downwards. No worries! *LOL*

I can tell you some antennas not to try----- the XG91 from antennas direct .com----- does not seem to be that good for me - not much better than the omni directional antenna that D* put up--- signal is about 50% stronger than the omni directional one --
when fox 26 out of Wil. comes up to full power I may be able to get it with this antenna----
I thing JSP is right that the bo-tie antennas may be the best for this area---- maybe some of the engineers can pipe in on this ---
Hope everybodys antennas do ok with the high winds today-----

Originally posted by Griff Thomasson
I thing JSP is right that the bo-tie antennas may be the best for this area---- maybe some of the engineers can pipe in on this ---

My own experimentation shows me that the bow-ties over all work better than the yagis because the bow-ties are more uniform in their gain and directivity over yagis because yagis have to be cut for certain parts of the TV band and not all yagis are made the same.

Griff, read the commentary on this site, it is really interesting and you may change your mind about the 91XG. IF you can see channel 26 with it, then you are doing great, since it is awful most of the time for me.

click here >>>>>http://www.geocities.com/Figbert/antennasdirect91xg.html

Thanks guys - that is what convinced me to buy it --- I can get 26 - analog with it - some nights clear other night a little fuzzy--- question what is the best connectors to use---- with the coax??? I bought a crimp on connectors from lowes and the tools but I have found two that have failed allready---- replaced them with screw on connectors---?

Thanks guys - that is what convinced me to buy it --- I can get 26 - analog with it - some nights clear other night a little fuzzy--- question what is the best connectors to use---- with the coax??? I bought a crimp on connectors from lowes and the tools but I have found two that have failed allready---- replaced them with screw on connectors---?
I would like to try the bow-tie out and see what it would do-----

Originally posted by Griff Thomasson
Thanks guys - that is what convinced me to buy it --- I can get 26 - analog with it - some nights clear other night a little fuzzy--- question what is the best connectors to use---- with the coax??? I bought a crimp on connectors from lowes and the tools but I have found two that have failed allready---- replaced them with screw on connectors---?
I would like to try the bow-tie out and see what it would do-----

If the crimp ons are installed correctly, they will work great. I know that many of the Dish installers like the compression connectors, but at VHF/UHF, the cost difference between the crimp ons and the compressions is not worth the compressions. If you have the little narrow crimp clamp on tool, go to Radio Shack and get the deluxe crimp tool. The little narrow crimp tool is crap.

Ken 12,
The surround sound on ABC is outstanding! Did you work on the DD equipment and set it to downconvert to Pro-Logic? I notice that on AFV tonight that your sound is superior to WWAY's.

Griff,
While I had my antenna lowered due to wind I got 26 better than at my normal height, Once I put it back up high tonight it got weak! I am going to have to tweak my installation I guess...\
I used rubber electrical tape and wrapped my connectors to keep water out of them. It workes well. I didn't do this on my first install and my coax prong was all rusted. I barely got any reception, so keeping water out is a must.

Looks like they're playing with Live Vipir 9 on 9.2 again today. It must be giving them a headache; it sure is giving me one! *LOL*

The Ocean is red on my TV. [/SIZE]

Is it that way for everyone else? lol

WITN sound is awful today

It's possible that you are seeing on 9-2 what I see locally on WSLS 10-2. They have the monitor output from one of their weather computers tied into the encoder for 10-2, so 9 times out of 10 the 10-2 is completely and utterly useless, since they're constantly changing them around as they're doing forecasts.

- Trip

I think they want to clear up the problem at WNCT, they might just need some parts or something... They just started this sub-channel, so maybe they are still learning? But if this problem persists for another week, then I have to beleive they are goofing off! lol J/K (I hope)

OMG 9.2 is CLEAR!!!!! Phillip must be in the weather lab...

I think Bertie finally got the problem cleared up; at least I hope so. It looks good now. I assume, eventually, they'll probably zoom it in a bit more over Eastern NC instead of the southeast U.S. except for maybe when there is a storm brewing in the Gulf, etc.

Well, jspENC, you were right. Phillip is in the studio today! *LOL*

Originally posted by easternncnewswat
I assume, eventually, they'll probably zoom it in a bit more over Eastern NC instead of the southeast U.S. except for maybe when there is a storm brewing in the Gulf, etc.

Ok, 9.2 is now zoomed over Eastern NC... Methinks that "someone" at channel 9 is definately reading our little thread!

So, I'll start the applause... Gread job on 9.2 WNCT! We like it, we really like it! *LOL*

Applause- bravo---- good job-----

Now we have a real LIVE radar! Thanks channel 9

I wonder if they can use handtracker now and give us some real time conditions across the area? Still hope they have more plans and give us a rotating weather map channel.

Hmm... I guess we shall see. Our best bet if we want a "Storm Team 9 Weather Channel," is to get as many people we know to view the content on 9.2 and get them to e-mail, write, or call WNCT and/or Media General. BTW, I'm coining the moniker "Storm Team 9 Weather Channel," so I want royalties! *LOL* J/K!

But seriously, Nielsen Media Research, to my knowledge is not measuring any HDTV viewing at this time. The only way our local stations, or any local for that matter, are going to know that they have viewers is to hear from them. Now, I'm sure they take their own surveys, etc. but let them hear from you, your friends, your family, co-workers, etc. They've got to know what the viewer wants from their own mouths, so to speak.

I visited a friend not too long ago, who has an HDTV and he gets his service from cable, but he doesn't pay for an HDTV package. Nor does he do anything for ota reception. I tried to explain to him what he was missing ota or via the cable package to no avail. He's satisfied with better picture even if it's not hd and doesn't know about the content because he never hears about it.

That's the one thing that our local's should do; promote their hdtv. Now I've seen a few ads here and there, but if you look at a station like WRAL, which heavily promotes the Newschannel, the WRAL Weather Center Channel, you can see they are driving people in the triangle and elsewhere, I imagine, to digital tv.

To be honest, it really impressed the heck out of me last week or the week before, I forget which, when WNCT advertised the NCAA tournament. During the Noon news, at least, they told viewers that they could see one game on analog 9 and a different one on digital 9. Smart thinking! They're definately getting the right idea about cross promotion and driving Eastern NC viewers to digital tv. Right now, they have an excellent opportunity to blow the competition and viewers away with the very first local weather product geared to their viewers.

Now, I want to see Phillip, Gannon, or Alyssa mention 9.2 on air to their viewers with hdtv and tell them about it. Then again, maybe they're saving that for another time. Who knows?

Whew, ok, I'm done now...

I've mentioned the radar channels to people on other sites, and it seems to have their attention, but they are still a bit worried about leaving behind analog I think. I have no idea why, because it is so simple to get digital, and you don't need cable. But the main problem right now is we have no FOX and I think that has persuaded people to hold back.

I can see that holding back some folks; I actually wish my stb picked up analog as well as digital, but you can't have everything...

I received an e-mail from the GM of WNCT today. I think it bodes well for the future! Here it is:

Thank you for your comments, and compliments to the Stormteam!!


I would LOVE to have a full-fledged news and weather channel on our 9.2 digital spectrum. I can assure you we are working hard to meet that goal, it just takes longer than any of us would like!


Have a great day!!

Vickie Jones, VP/GM

Induction was going good last night.

I was receiving 3 stations out Norfolk and 1 out of Richmond.

At least that is where their respective Radar was centered.

Channels from the North came in good, while those in the south did not.

Check out http://www.dxfm.com for the latest band openings. He is in Lexington, KY but he keeps up with the band conditions. He also DXs DTV and has a large collection of analog and digital screen caps. He also held the record for the longest distance in DTV reception for about 18 months when another guy beat him by 100 miles. Interesting site.

Thanks Foxeng----- cool site---lots of good info there!!!
I book marked the site -----

Just picked up an optical cable for DD and this is what my reciever is getting...

WWAY-full coverage on all speakers-L, C, R, SW, RR, LR,

WITN- Front L and R only

WNCT-full coverage on all speakers-L, C, R, SW, RR, LR,

WCTI-12.1 and 12.3 Front L and R only

WUNM-Front L and R only all sub-channels

WPXU-Front L and R only

Maybe this will change tonight, if so I will update...

Even with the 30-40 MPH wind, I have no break-ups in signals! I must have really fixed my antennas properly this time! :)

Masters Golf is on 9.1 dt while analog has Montels. Now at 4pm

jspENC,

Did WNCT show Dr. Phil and Eyewitness News and CBS Evening News on 9.2? Or did the Masters break for locals?

I just read in the Norfolk Broadcast Engineering thread that a new FCC rules states that NTSC programming must be on one of the digital channels in a case like the Masters... I don't really understand it since 9.2 is now showing the radar or was when I got home at 7. Why weren't they showing local programming on 9.2?

Not that I'm complaining... I think Live Vipir 9 looks great on 9.2! I just want to know about this FCC thing... Maybe Ken12 or foxeng can chime in and give us the dish...

WNCT did not air the news or Phil on 9.1 or 9.2. Just the masters and Vipir. Analog 9 had news and regular programs.

Interesting that 7, 12, and 19 do not have complete Dolby Digital Audio. Griff how do you receive these? I get WNCT dolby digital and WWAY incredibly! They about blow out my Living Room! Thanks again WNCT for the great quality!

jspENC,

Thanx for the info!

Wnct is the only one I get great sound on - some of the others I get the same as you JSP--- comes and goes from what I can tell----

Ok Griff,
I just wanted to make sure it was not my sound receiver that needed adjustment.
I remember reading a while back on here that Ken12 planned on getting dolby digital sound sometime ahead, and I am excited to hear when he gets it hooked in!

I am not doing Dolby 5.1 yet we don' have the equipment to receive it from ABC . The end of this year or the first part of next year ABC will be upgrading there satellite system (They are starting on the west coast and working east) When they get to us it is our plan to be able to pass through network in 5.1

Ken

JSP I have to tell this story on myself----- I noticed on some channels that I did not have sound on left or right channels-- of my system--- as we have two Dalmations puppies one is deaf 13 months old and the other is a hearing dog 10 months old- I though that maybe they had chewed the wires up under the house---- so at 10 pm one night I crawl under the house to check-- LOL they had not chewed the wires up----- had to laugh at myself ------ then I realized that some stations were not broadcasting in dolby- yet---

*LOL* That is pretty funny, Griff!

I have a new puppy and she chews everything! Thankfully, I just got a kennel and she is kept out of mischief when I am at work...

Recently, I was watching one of WRAL's newscasts and the puppy got this funny look on her face when Greg Fishel came on. I don't know if it was his voice or if she was "seeing" him, but she started howling at the tv!!!

Ocassionally, she'll do this during their newscasts. I don't know if it's the sound or video, but she definately knows that it is not regular analog tv. Weird!

Great story Griff!

Eastern, I guess she thought it was a "fish" or something on the screen!

I have been having PSIP trouble with WNCT.

I have as well, jspENC... Probably due to the experimentation with 9.2. That's my guess.

9-2 looks dim by the way too.

Originally posted by Ken12
I am not doing Dolby 5.1 yet we don' have the equipment to receive it from ABC . The end of this year or the first part of next year ABC will be upgrading there satellite system (They are starting on the west coast and working east) When they get to us it is our plan to be able to pass through network in 5.1

Ken

Ok Ken,
When you can turn it on I am all ready to go!
Is there a way you can turn on center channel audio and surround audio during programs? So far no stations I can get have been able to do this, but the engineer at WWAY says he is trying to figure it out. He says that this is all new to him since he ran a MONO station before digital came in. He worked on it once before, but kind of fouled things up a bit!:D

Originally posted by jspENC
9-2 looks dim by the way too.

*LOL*

You noticed that too, eh?

Actually, this morning around 9 or so, somebody was working on the display. I saw the computer desktop and they were playing with the display drivers for the VIPIR radar. I noticed around my lunch at 3 or so, that it was still the same image we were used to, but tonight it is dimmer.

My understanding is that stations that mulitcast sometimes re-encode their second channel so that it doesn't need as much bandwith thus preserving that for the main channel. I believe Ken12 has made reference to this when I've asked about how ABC 11 in RDU has 3 channels when ABC News Now was going plus the primary HD and tertiary local newschannel.

If you noticed on the VIPIR display prior to tonight there was a lot of artifacting when the met was zooming in to a particular area or when 9 was looping the display. I never noticed if affecting 9.1. However, I am not seeing the artifacting on 9.2 now.

My belief is that they are re-encoding or compressing 9.2 for a smoother image with little to no effect on 9.1. Makes that Eyewitness News 9 Newschannel that's coming sound a little closer than we may have initially thought.

But like most things, we shall see... ;)

At least we know that they have taken into consideration the picture quality for our Vipir channel.

True, jspENC...

Hopefully, it won't stay that dim; it's a wee bit muted for my tastes.

WTVD's subchannels aren't that dim anymore, nor is WRAZ's 50.3. Both of those station's seemed to have much dimmer subchannels a few months ago. Maybe they are utilizing new compression technology like what Ken12 was talking about a few months ago.

This morning I am getting Richmonds dt 54 -NBC 12 WWBT very strong. It is 3 channels one a widescreen labeled NBC 12-1 a standard labeled NBC 12-2 and Radar labled NBC 12-3, and this station runs the NWS radio continuously.
Just incredible how far away they are!

anyone here know how to combine two indoor antennas together?

Sorry, not my area of expertise... Maybe someone can tell me too. I've done some reading on the web about it, but it confuses the heck out of me!