I understand what your saying, the point is there are a number of people that don't necessarily want to visit multiple forums in order to get an answer. Although that may be the most efficient means in the short term, it has proved to be perpetuating the problem long-term. It may mean we take one step back now in order to take two steps forward.

While I would hope that what you say is true, that people would be encouraged to come back - that has proved not to be the case. In the future, if nobody seems to be answering a question posed - PM me and I'll try to help track the answer down.

OK, deal.

Looking for a little help.

I have an HD Tivo (Direct TV) and also a DLP both with integrated HD tuners. I have a Winegard GS 2200 mounted to the roof of my house, Di-Plexing on both ends. (house is located off of Constitution Drive) I currently pick up 22 analog channels, 75% are very good. I am not picking up one digital channel. I am hoping I've got a connection problem that is creating this. My next option is to mount on my neigbors mast (30ft). This will make my antenna cable run be about 125 ft.

Curious if anyone has any ideas or insight.

Thanks,

Kevin

Originally posted by capnkt
Looking for a little help.

I have an HD Tivo (Direct TV) and also a DLP both with integrated HD tuners. I have a Winegard GS 2200 mounted to the roof of my house, Di-Plexing on both ends. (house is located off of Constitution Drive) I currently pick up 22 analog channels, 75% are very good. I am not picking up one digital channel. I am hoping I've got a connection problem that is creating this. My next option is to mount on my neigbors mast (30ft). This will make my antenna cable run be about 125 ft.

Curious if anyone has any ideas or insight.

Thanks,

Kevin

Kevin:

How high off the ground is your antenna? Any obstructions to the NW? I'm at only about 17ft with no problems whatsoever receiving Riverview. Make sure your amp for the GS2200 (I assume you have an amp) is plugged in and the power supply red light is on.

Originally posted by capnkt
Looking for a little help.

I have an HD Tivo (Direct TV) and also a DLP both with integrated HD tuners. I have a Winegard GS 2200 mounted to the roof of my house, Di-Plexing on both ends. (house is located off of Constitution Drive) I currently pick up 22 analog channels, 75% are very good. I am not picking up one digital channel. I am hoping I've got a connection problem that is creating this. My next option is to mount on my neigbors mast (30ft). This will make my antenna cable run be about 125 ft.

Curious if anyone has any ideas or insight.

Thanks,

Kevin

Hi Kevin,

Which digital station are you having difficulty with?

I'm not familiar where Constitution Drive is, but if you're trying for the Holiday transmitter, it's about 80 miles away, and I think the Winegard GS 2200 is only good for about 55 miles.

Did you hire a local company to install your antenna? If so, who were they, and would you recommend them to others?

Thanks.

Ron: I know that you have experience with the Winegard antenna, but are you also using that fancy Blonger-Tongue antenna?

Larry

Originally posted by LarryChanin

Ron: I know that you have experience with the Winegard antenna, but are you also using that fancy Blonger-Tongue antenna?

Larry

Hi Larry:

The Blonder-Tongue is down, and I'm now just using the Winegard. I gave up on getting Holiday. It was way too sporadic for any decent viewing.

Constitution Drive is North of Stickney Pt. Road, between Swift and 41. I live just a little south of that, on Palmer Ranch.

Kevin,

I sent you a private message.

Larry

Originally posted by Ron Tobin
Hi Larry:

The Blonder-Tongue is down, and I'm now just using the Winegard. I gave up on getting Holiday. It was way too sporadic for any decent viewing.

Constitution Drive is North of Stickney Pt. Road, between Swift and 41. I live just a little south of that, on Palmer Ranch.

Hi Ron,

Thanks.

Do you know whether Holiday transmits CBS? Isn't Ft. Myers due to start broadcasting digital CBS soon? If so, that might be easier to get reception for us.

I'm relatively new to the Sarasota area. I know that Constitution Blvd is in the area you describe. My wife thinks Constitution Dr. may be a new street since a friend and she were looking for it when trying to track down an advertised estate sale, but they never found it. In addition. Constitution Dr. might be in North Port. If so, it might be a useful experiment if Kevin tried pointing his antenna South to pick up the Ft. Meyer's stations.

Larry

Originally posted by LarryChanin
Hi Ron,

Thanks.

Do you know whether Holiday transmits CBS? Isn't Ft. Myers due to start broadcasting digital CBS soon? If so, that might be easier to get reception for us.

I'm relatively new to the Sarasota area. I know that Constitution Blvd is in the area you describe. My wife thinks Constitution Dr. may be a new street since a friend and she were looking for it when trying to track down an advertised estate sale, but they never found it. In addition. Constitution Dr. might be in North Port. If so, it might be a useful experiment if Kevin tried pointing his antenna South to pick up the Ft. Meyer's stations.

Larry

Hi Larry:

I didn't pick up on the Drive vs. St. I have no idea where Constitution Drive is located.

Yes, Holiday is CBS - WTSP. I know Ft. Myers finally got their FCC permit approved, but I haven't a clue as to what the timing is or even if it's going to be this year. I had several emails with the WINK chief engineer trying to get a waiver from them so that I could get CBS NY/LA HD from DirecTV, inasmuch as WTSP granted me a waiver, but he wouldn't give me one, claiming that my location in Sarasota is part of their viewing area, despite the fact the WINK has not HD.

When the poster responds to you, I'd be curious to know where he actually lives, and why he can't get a thing as far as digital stations.

Originally posted by Ron Tobin

When the poster responds to you, I'd be curious to know where he actually lives, and why he can't get a thing as far as digital stations.

Hi Ron,

Duh! In my initial reading of Kevin's comment, "I am not picking up one digital channel.", I took him literally thinking that there was one particular channel that he couldn't receive. From your response I now see that I misinterpreted his remark.

I've got an inside antenna, and although my digital reception is mediocre, I can get a few channels. So with an outside antenna he definitely should be getting something.

Larry

Originally posted by LarryChanin
Hi Ron,

Duh! In my initial reading of Kevin's comment, "I am not picking up one digital channel.", I took him literally thinking that there was one particular channel that he couldn't receive. From your response I now see that I misinterpreted his remark.

I've got an inside antenna, and although my digital reception is mediocre, I can get a few channels. So with an outside antenna he definitely should be getting something.

Larry

Larry:

Agreed!!

We'll await his reply.

Sorry, I live off of Constitution Blvd. in the Philipi Gardens area A couple of blocks off of Swift & ClarkRd.

I was pointing the dish at 25 degrees. Is that in the wrong direction?

I'm at probably 15 feet. I am thinking of going to my neighbors mast at about 30 feet.

Sorry for the confusion.

Thanks,

Kevin

Kevin:

That's where I thought you were located.

You say "pointing the dish at 25 degrees". You can't get the local digital stations with a dish. You need an antenna. The direction toward Riverview is a shade east of due north.

I apologize for speaking in riddles!

I was actually referring to the antenna not the dish.

I am going to get one of our installers to stop by the house and take a look at what I may be doing wrong. I'm sure it's a clear case of "operator error"

Best regards,

Kevin

Originally posted by SirChaos
Hello Everyone,
My wife and I are going to be moving to Oldsmar, FL (Tampa Bay), we are moving from Seattle, WA.

We are very big into HDTV and currently have HDTV with DVR via Comcast HD. We get all the locals (except UPN), ESPN HD, DISCOVERY HD, INHD1, INHD2 and the Prem Movie Channels.

I have looked at the Brighthouse and I'm shocked that they don't offer NBC in HD. I was wondering what are my options for HDTV and High Speed Internet in the area.

Thanks to everyone for your help!

SirChaos (Chase)

Hey Everyone,
I'm revising my post to see if I can get some new replies....

My wife and I are moving to Clearwater, FL in about 2 weeks from Seattle, WA. We would like to know about all of the HDTV and High Speed Internet offerings and opinions.

We will be living off of Sunset Point Drive in Clearwater, just south of Dunedin.

We are open to getting DirecTV or Dish.....or whatever the cable company is.

We got permission from our new landlord to put a dish on the roof if we need to. (we are going to rent a townhome).

Thanks for your input and time.

Chase

Well I'm not sure what the problem with my TV's tuner, but the HD Tivo is finally picking up the digital channels.

Following is a list of channels I receive:
3-1, 3-2, 3-5, 10-1, 13-1, 16-1, 16-2, 16-3, 16-4, 20-1, 20-2, 22-1, 28-1, 32-1, 44-1, 50-1, 66-1, 66-2, 66-3, 66-4.

I would have thought I'd pick up WFLA. CBS comes in great. After reding through all of the posts I was under the impression that I wouldn't receive it very well.

My next move will be to move the antenna to my neighbors mast which is up almost 30ft. The trade off for this is that the cable run will probaly triple in disance. Will I need to amplify it? It is already an amplified antenna so I'm a little unclear what the additional requirements might be.

Thanks,

Kevin

Originally posted by capnkt
Well I'm not sure what the problem with my TV's tuner, but the HD Tivo is finally picking up the digital channels.

Following is a list of channels I receive:
3-1, 3-2, 3-5, 10-1, 13-1, 16-1, 16-2, 16-3, 16-4, 20-1, 20-2, 22-1, 28-1, 32-1, 44-1, 50-1, 66-1, 66-2, 66-3, 66-4.

I would have thought I'd pick up WFLA. CBS comes in great. After reding through all of the posts I was under the impression that I wouldn't receive it very well.

My next move will be to move the antenna to my neighbors mast which is up almost 30ft. The trade off for this is that the cable run will probaly triple in disance. Will I need to amplify it? It is already an amplified antenna so I'm a little unclear what the additional requirements might be.

Thanks,

Kevin

Glad you sorted things out. Surprised you're getting CBS. Atmospheric conditions may have been good the day you did the channel scan. You may find it to be spotty. And yes, you should get WFLA, and well as WWSB, although they are running at low power. Also look for 38.

If your antenna is already amplified, I wouldn't recommend another amp in the line. Don't know what might happen. Just try it on your neighbor's mast, and compare readings of signal strength on the HD Tivo, to see if it's worth the long cable run.

Originally posted by SirChaos
Hey Everyone,
I'm revising my post to see if I can get some new replies....

My wife and I are moving to Clearwater, FL in about 2 weeks from Seattle, WA. We would like to know about all of the HDTV and High Speed Internet offerings and opinions.

We will be living off of Sunset Point Drive in Clearwater, just south of Dunedin.

We are open to getting DirecTV or Dish.....or whatever the cable company is.

We got permission from our new landlord to put a dish on the roof if we need to. (we are going to rent a townhome).

Thanks for your input and time.

Chase

The option is of course yours. I live just north of Sunset Point and have Dishnet. I receive all 4 major network plus several local digital stations with a rooftop antenna. There are two cable companies in Clearwater (Brighthouse and Knology). Both offer high speed internet. I believe Brighthouse is now at 5MB and I don't know what speed Knology offers. AFAIK, both cable providers are now offering NBC HD. HTH.

Originally posted by capnkt
Well I'm not sure what the problem with my TV's tuner, but the HD Tivo is finally picking up the digital channels.

Following is a list of channels I receive:
3-1, 3-2, 3-5, 10-1, 13-1, 16-1, 16-2, 16-3, 16-4, 20-1, 20-2, 22-1, 28-1, 32-1, 44-1, 50-1, 66-1, 66-2, 66-3, 66-4.

I would have thought I'd pick up WFLA. CBS comes in great. After reding through all of the posts I was under the impression that I wouldn't receive it very well.

My next move will be to move the antenna to my neighbors mast which is up almost 30ft. The trade off for this is that the cable run will probaly triple in disance. Will I need to amplify it? It is already an amplified antenna so I'm a little unclear what the additional requirements might be.

Thanks,

Kevin

Hi Kevin,

It's good to hear that things are working for you.

Were the results you received based on a straight coax run to the HDTV, or did you have diplexers installed?

Will you use diplexers when you connect to your neighbor's mast, or do you plan to run an extra length of coax for the outside antenna?

By the way, I envy your CBS reception. I'm frankly surprised.

Regards,

Larry

Larry,

I managed to get the signals through the HR10-250. That problem was all OE (operator error). I was never able to get the tuner on the LG to work.

I am diplexing the signal currently. I probably could run the antenna direct from the mast to the tuner bypassing the sat feed. Do you think this makes that much of a difference?

I'm happy about CBS, I'm hoping that this is a good sign and getting it up on the mast will make it that much better.

We shall see!

I'll call you as soon as I hear from the Lexicon rep.

Best regards,

Kevin

Originally posted by capnkt

I am diplexing the signal currently. I probably could run the antenna direct from the mast to the tuner bypassing the sat feed. Do you think this makes that much of a difference?



Hi Kevin,

Obviously if you're getting consistently good reception with your house mounting, I would leave well enough alone. This is particularly true if you continue to get CBS. I wouldn't see the point of bothering with your neighbor's mast.

The reason I asked about diplexers is because some diplexers have Insertion Losses of about 7 dB. So I figure if you've got one at each end of a coax run your total loss might be 14 dB. I read that 150 feet of coax produces a 20 dB loss, so your 125 foot run should cause a loss of about 17 dB. For a total loss of 31 dB. For this diplexer scenario I guess you would be running coax from your neighbor's mast to your dish where the diplexer is located. If when you hook your antenna to the 30 ft mast you don't have any problems, great. Otherwise a straight coax run might gain you 14 dB of signal on that 125 foot run.

An other option if you are diplexing the long run is to use an in-line amplifier. (http://www.smarthome.com/manuals/7784.pdf) These have a gain of 20 dB. They even have an amplifier with a diplexer built into it. It says its for dual LNB installations, so I'm not sure whether it would work for a triple LNB installation.

Larry

Hi everyone, I'm moving to the Tampa area within a couple of weeks and I'm trying to choose my HD solution. Bright House is rather expensive for my taste since I would have to get digital cable (which I wouldn't watch) to get the local HD channels so I'm thinking OTA. I will probably be living in South Tampa between Kennedy and the AFB, hopefully in a house rather than an apartment. I will be renting though, so I'll have to live with pole envy and use an indoor or maybe porch-mounted antenna. My question is, I'm thinking of getting a Winegard MS-2000 omnidirectional amplified antenna. Should this get me the reception I need? Is it overkill? I was going to post the output from antennaweb.org but the formatting makes me cry, so just plug in zip code 33629. Thanks for the help.

Help in south Sarasota? Just added Winegard 2200 amplified Off air antenna to Direct TV hd unit. Has a rotor, but despite adjustments I still get pixelization several times a show on 8 or 13 and will not get 10 at all. When I check signal strength for 8 or 13 it stays about 79-88 and about 30 or 40 for 10 which otherwise won't register.
Any suggestion. I know --higher I guess, but I don't know why a professional installer would not get this right.

Originally posted by wabkab
Help in south Sarasota? Just added Winegard 2200 amplified Off air antenna to Direct TV hd unit. Has a rotor, but despite adjustments I still get pixelization several times a show on 8 or 13 and will not get 10 at all. When I check signal strength for 8 or 13 it stays about 79-88 and about 30 or 40 for 10 which otherwise won't register.
Any suggestion. I know --higher I guess, but I don't know why a professional installer would not get this right.

How high are you? Any obstructions? Your signal reports are consistent with mine. I have same antenna, up about 17 feet. You may have best signal attainable.

I'm about 20 feet high and my neighbors roof probably is the limiting factor. The installer had some other options, but didn't suggest any. Is this pixelization a couple a times every 5 minutes or so as good as it gets?

I'm off Clark Road a 1/2 mile East of the trail, and I don't even get channel 8! Channels 8-1, 8-2, 8-3 show up when I scan, but they don't come in at all. I do receive 10 without any pixelization (word ?).

I get NBC out of Ft. Myers with an occasional pixelization, but I'm more interested in CBS so I'm not touching it.

It is certainly a frustrating exercise, but worth it in the end. From what I understand higher is definitely better!

Good Luck

Kevin

Strange I get 8,13,44,3,and others but not 10 when you kind of are getting the opposite. I'm at the south end of Turtle Rock not far from your position. What kind of antenna do you have capnkt? I've heard from one near me with an in attic antenna with an amp that get 10, 8, basically all the locals from Tampa and no pixelization issues. I've got a call in for my installer, maybe he'll have some ideas. He wasn't surprised at all about me not getting 10 when he set it up.

Maybe I'm expecting too much. I was under the impression that the off air signals were golden once locked in.

I'm moving to Hillsborough County (Lithia) in a development called Fishhawk Ranch from New Jersey. Can someone let me know if there are any sweet packages that include HD/VoIP/Internet ? I have it up here for a combined bill of $100. And I'm looking for something like that down there. I'm also open to Directv but I don't want to incurr the expense of buying an HD box.

If anyone cares, Brighthouse apparently added PPV HD InDemand to the system at Midnight on channel 750.

Selection is identical to Dish HD PPV - VERY LIMITED - essentially only Dreamworks Movies and IMAX stuff at this point.

Dish also has also had small independent films over the last 8 months - ie Passion Of The Christ, Fahrenheit 911 and Ghost in the Shell 2 - so Brighthouse most likely will too.

I have no idea about quality, resolution or how long you can view a film for as it is IN DEMAND. It's clearly not the selection that DirecTV HD PPV has at this time, but its a good start - and the fact that it is IN DEMAND instead of a set schedule makes it more versatile.

They have it priced at $4.99.

Any suggestions on how to get Comcast in Sarasota to get us NBC-HD? Who can we whine to? It would make it a lot easier for me to continue being a Comcrap customer if I were able to watch those few NBC shows I watch in HD...

Did WTSP-DT go off the air? I went from around a 60-65% signal here in Lee County to 0%

I watched WTSP 10.1 for almost 2 hours tonight without much issue, but it just died there. I am using rabbit ears and a DISH 811.

Did WTSP-DT go off the air? I went from around a 60-65% signal here in Lee County to 0%

I watched WTSP 10.1 for almost 2 hours tonight without much issue, but it just died there. I am using rabbit ears and a DISH 811.

In Cape Coral you're lucky to have gotten any signal on 10.1, particularly with rabbit ears. Here in Sarasota their reception is sporadic, with their antenna being about 70 miles away.

Well their analog signal comes in semi-well during the day and night so since the digital is supposed to replicate that I was expecting a similar result.

Maybe I'm expecting too much. I was under the impression that the off air signals were golden once locked in.


You may have already figured this out, but 10-1 is at a different transmitter location, in fact almost in the opposite direction of the other Tampa DTV stations. It is a UHF channel that is actually at 24-1 and then remapped to 10-1. 8-1 and 13-1 are VHF and all of the others are UHF. I am able to receive all of the above with two antennas coupled with a jointenna in my attic from St. Petersburg.

Have any of you guys dumped D* to go with BHN? I've put up with the compressed HD for a long time, but the increased cost for the HD-NFL Sunday ticket was the straw that broke the camels back. If you have had D* and BHN-HD at the same time, a couple of questions:

1) How is the BHN HD channel's picture quality? Full bandwidth?

2) How are the HD cable boxes user interface/ speed?

3) How is the HD PVR as implemented with BHN? Buggy?

4) Was there anything you missed once you left D* other than PPV-HD or NFL-ST?



I am most interested in the PQ of BHN. I may just have them install the cable and then compare directly with D*. I know D* just sent up a bunch of sats, but I don't need HD locals and that seems to be D*'s primary focus.

Thanks,

Mike

You may have already figured this out, but 10-1 is at a different transmitter location, in fact almost in the opposite direction of the other Tampa DTV stations.


When you are in Ft. Myers (Lee County) the direction difference between New Port Richie and Riverside is miniscule.

When in St. Petersburg in the metro, you are correct.

If you have had D* and BHN-HD at the same time, a couple of questions:

1) How is the BHN HD channel's picture quality? Full bandwidth?
2) How are the HD cable boxes user interface/ speed?
3) How is the HD PVR as implemented with BHN? Buggy?
4) Was there anything you missed once you left D* other than PPV-HD or NFL-ST?



1) PQ is better than D*on HBO, HDNET, DISCOVERYHD, ESPNHD and SHO. They also have INHD1/2 and TNT-HD that D* does not. OTA HD Pictures are being recompressed by BHN and look far worse than OTA.

2) BHN uses the Pace Box (Actually not that bad) and Scientific Atlanta. In a word, the SA boxes are inferior to the Motorola boxes, but no one uses them in Tampa-St. Pete. The SA boxes do not have great pictures compared to Motorola - or even the Pace Box for that matter. The picture on BHN looks much better with a cablecard.

3) The 8300s are much better than the older models, but it's not as intuitive as TIVO. They continue to make improvements, but BHN is slow to update firmware.

4) Haven't left D* yet.

I'm off Clark Road a 1/2 mile East of the trail, and I don't even get channel 8! Channels 8-1, 8-2, 8-3 show up when I scan, but they don't come in at all. I do receive 10 without any pixelization (word ?).

I get NBC out of Ft. Myers with an occasional pixelization, but I'm more interested in CBS so I'm not touching it.

It is certainly a frustrating exercise, but worth it in the end. From what I understand higher is definitely better!

Good Luck

Kevin


Channel 8 is actually DTV on 7 - one of the few in America to stay on the Low VHF side. In a word, those frequencies are a nightmare for DTV as you are finding out.

Most every owner that thought they would save money staying in the Low VHF band (less transmitter power = less electricity) is now regretting it and looking for possible changes in frequencies.

And yes, you should get WFLA, and well as WWSB, although they are running at low power. Also look for 38.


Lots of luck.

I tried recorded Saving Private Ryan last November from 4 miles due south of the WWSB transmitter (the direction in which their low power signal is aimed).

No go.

They seem to serve mostly farmland with their signal.

I got a better signal from the ABC affilate in Ft. Myers/Naples.

I've just noticed in the past couple of weeks that 38-1 (WB affiliate, WTTA I think) has been on almost every time I've checked. They have been capable of full power HD since shortly after the first of the year, from what I understand, but were told by Sinclair corporate not to go full power. I found the station a few times since the first of the year, but it was always off more than on. Now I've only found it "off" once in the last 2 weeks, and checked and found it "on" probably a dozen times, all different times of day and night, and different days of the week. Hopefully that is a good sign. I live in Lutz (north Tampa), and get good signals from everything else (HDTiVo and HD-TL).

On another note, I'm glad to see some activity in this thread. The other site which was supposed to be a great thing (for someone) seems to get very little traffic. The last post on the WB story (see above) was almost 3 weeks ago, and there was no update.

I noticed the opposite.

They went full power first of year and were on most of time, but seemed to be off (or low power - same deal for me) for the entire April/May Ratings Sweep (I guess trying to get ratings on their main SD channel).

I noticed they came back on when the ratings were over.

Stupid programming in my mind.

Other stations, like ABC-28, have gone out of their way to put out a HD signal, even if ratings are jeapordized on their main channel. For example, 28 ran the ABC Primetime HDTV Schedule tonight when their SD channel did a Stanley Cup Special.

They also showed Harry Potter on Saturday Night during the sweeps starting at 7pm on the HDTV channel even though they tape delayed it until 8pm on the SD channel.

AFAIK, none of the local stations have the ability to capture and delay HD programming from the networks at this point.

I agree with you; what I was noting was that for some time (since around the first of the year, when they supposedly got everything running) I hadn't seen a signal (like you, when they aren't full power I can't receive them). Since they've been on so many times that I've checked them lately I'm assuming that they are either going permanenty to full power or are doing some kind of extended testing (seems unlikely).

Several years ago they had a full power signal, but I don't believe it was broadcasting HD. Then there equipment went out, or something, and for a long time I could get nothing. Somewhere around the first of the year (maybe Feb or March, I forget now) I saw a signal from time to time.

I wasn't implying that they could do anything with HD other than pass thru what the network sends out. A few of my Wife's shows (Gilmore Girls, for one) is in HD, and despite their annoying voices I could stomach it a little better if we received it in HD (I note that they are now done for the season; how ironic).

Has anyone heard any news regarding any of the local stations plans for doing any HD locally? I haven't heard anything at all along those lines.

1) PQ is better than D*on HBO, HDNET, DISCOVERYHD, ESPNHD and SHO. They also have INHD1/2 and TNT-HD that D* does not. OTA HD Pictures are being recompressed by BHN and look far worse than OTA.

2) BHN uses the Pace Box (Actually not that bad) and Scientific Atlanta. In a word, the SA boxes are inferior to the Motorola boxes, but no one uses them in Tampa-St. Pete. The SA boxes do not have great pictures compared to Motorola - or even the Pace Box for that matter. The picture on BHN looks much better with a cablecard.

3) The 8300s are much better than the older models, but it's not as intuitive as TIVO. They continue to make improvements, but BHN is slow to update firmware.

4) Haven't left D* yet.


Thanks for the insight.

RE #1 PQ, that may make more sense to me as I mostly watch the premium Networks vs. locals, although it is disappointing to find out that the locals are compressed. I would keep my antenna active, so not much of an issue except for guide information and integration.

RE #2 I would more than likely go with the HD-PVR. How does the 8300's user interface compare to the D* non-tivo HD receivers? I have a Samsung SIR160 and really enjoy the speed of the menus. I used to have a DTC-100 and that was painfully slow. Also, am I correct in assuming that channels cannot be removed from the 8300's guide? I do like the profile feature of D*, I block out all of the channels that are not appropriate for my small children.

The picture on BHN looks much better with a cablecard.



Do you have any tips for getting cable card to work with BHN? I know someone who is trying to have BHN install one in a new Panasonic Plasma. On BHN's first attempt they were not successful, and from all indications, the installer did not know a whole lot about the cablecard.

RE #2 I would more than likely go with the HD-PVR. How does the 8300's user interface compare to the D* non-tivo HD receivers? I have a Samsung SIR160 and really enjoy the speed of the menus. I used to have a DTC-100 and that was painfully slow. Also, am I correct in assuming that channels cannot be removed from the 8300's guide? I do like the profile feature of D*, I block out all of the channels that are not appropriate for my small children.

I have not played with the 8300 - only going by other users reports.

I have an old DTC-100 for D* that, even though it picks up all the HD Channels, I really only use for watching the West Coast HDTV feeds of ABC/CBS/FOX/NBC as well as UniversalHD as I have E* and BHN with better quality on the other HD channels. Thus I really cannot tell you about the speed of the other boxes. I simply haven't bothered to upgrade as it's a rarely used box.

I agree with you; what I was noting was that for some time (since around the first of the year, when they supposedly got everything running) I hadn't seen a signal (like you, when they aren't full power I can't receive them). Since they've been on so many times that I've checked them lately I'm assuming that they are either going permanenty to full power or are doing some kind of extended testing (seems unlikely).

Several years ago they had a full power signal, but I don't believe it was broadcasting HD. Then there equipment went out, or something, and for a long time I could get nothing. Somewhere around the first of the year (maybe Feb or March, I forget now) I saw a signal from time to time.

I wasn't implying that they could do anything with HD other than pass thru what the network sends out. A few of my Wife's shows (Gilmore Girls, for one) is in HD, and despite their annoying voices I could stomach it a little better if we received it in HD (I note that they are now done for the season; how ironic).

Has anyone heard any news regarding any of the local stations plans for doing any HD locally? I haven't heard anything at all along those lines.

Again, to the best of my knowledge, no local station can even capture and playback HD Programming, so local HD is a good ways off.

Even on a network level, I find it interesting watching KABC-DT out of Los Angeles with their Air7HD Helicopter as they are only able to show live pictures and during taped replay of scenes shot from it, they are only in SD.

Thus, here is a Network O&O with one of 2 HD Copters in the nation and they cannot even tape it in HD for delayed playback.

I venture to say HDTV local produced programming is a way off for Tampa.

The only positive sign I see is that the new President of Gannett TV (owners of Channel 10) is from KUSA in Denver, where they are one of 7 stations doing a HD Newscast. Gannett also does one at WUSA in DC. We will see how much of a priority it is for them - which could spur the other companies. However, Channel 10 is #4 behind WEDU/WFTS/WTVT - and just slightly ahead of WFLA which is the worse - in terms of HD screw ups - so they have a long way to improve just passing Network HD without botching it up.

Edit: Actually WTSP should fall at #6 and WFLA #7 in order of attention to HDTV detail and lack of screw ups. UPN44 and WB38 have far less screwups than either of them - but then again they have less HDTV content as well. For obvious reasons, PAX 66, 50, 32, 22 and 16 don't screw up as they don't have real HiDef content so they are not a part of the equation.

Also, the more I think of the other subject, I am sure Sinclair pulled the power on 38 for the ratings to try to push people to their SD channel for Neilsen credit in the May Sweeps.

You may have already figured this out, but 10-1 is at a different transmitter location, in fact almost in the opposite direction of the other Tampa DTV stations. It is a UHF channel that is actually at 24-1 and then remapped to 10-1. 8-1 and 13-1 are VHF and all of the others are UHF. I am able to receive all of the above with two antennas coupled with a jointenna in my attic from St. Petersburg.

Hi Mike,

Am I correct that WTSP (CBS) used to transmit from the Holiday transmitter which is 70-80 miles from Sarasota?

Where is the new transmitter location?

That might account for the fact that Kevin (capnkt), who is in Sarasota, can now receive this channel.

Thanks.

Larry

Hi Mike,

Am I correct that WTSP (CBS) used to transmit from the Holiday transmitter which is 70-80 miles from Sarasota?

Where is the new transmitter location?

That might account for the fact that Kevin (capnkt), who is in Sarasota, can now receive this channel.

Thanks.

Larry


Huh??? According to WTSP's web site, their transmitter is still in Holiday. That would be a very expensive proposition to move a transmitter site. But stranger things have been known to happen.

Hi Mike,

Am I correct that WTSP (CBS) used to transmit from the Holiday transmitter which is 70-80 miles from Sarasota?

Where is the new transmitter location?

That might account for the fact that Kevin (capnkt), who is in Sarasota, can now receive this channel.

Thanks.

Larry

I don't have any evidence that WTSP has done anything with regard to moving their transmitter. In fact, my attic setup still receives them pointing to the same location that it always has. However I am not an expert at this or a person in the "know".

Based on reading forums like these, I have come to understand that the Tampa Bay market has two different transmission locations for the DTV stations. Most all of the Tampa DTV stations are broadcast from Riverview and WTSP is from Holiday. I think WMOR may also be at a different site, but I receive that as well from my current location.

Huh??? According to WTSP's web site, their transmitter is still in Holiday. That would be a very expensive proposition to move a transmitter site. But stranger things have been known to happen.

Hi Ron,

Thanks for the response. I tried looking it up on WTSP's web site, but obviousy missed it. Could you please provide a link? Well, based on my past performance, I've been guilty of misinterpreting other poster's comments before. :o

Larry

Hi Larry,

Here is some info from WTSP-DT: http://www.tampabays10.com/inside10/RECEPTION_TIPS.pdf

Hi Ron,

Thanks for the response. I tried looking it up on WTSP's web site, but obviousy missed it. Could you please provide a link? Well, based on my past performance, I've been guilty of misinterpreting other poster's comments before. :o

Larry

Hi Larry:

I got my information from the same place as Mike_P who posted right after your response. Also, I would have thought that, if they had moved, there might have been something on their newscasts, which I watch often.

Do you have any tips for getting cable card to work with BHN? I know someone who is trying to have BHN install one in a new Panasonic Plasma. On BHN's first attempt they were not successful, and from all indications, the installer did not know a whole lot about the cablecard.


The install on my Sony was as easy as plugging in a pc card to a computer. The only issue is it has 1) Lost the Mapping of the Station when BHN changed QAM assignments and they had to hit the card again to update the channel map (I assume they made a note of this to realize they had to reauthorize cards when they make changes at NOC from here on out) and 2) It lost authorization and mapping for the entire 600-900 Channel Sequence for reasons that were never known - again, reauthorizing the card from NOC quickly fixed this.

I seem to recall something about some issues with Panasonic TVs that they were trying to identify if the problem was with the TVs or the Cablecard specs - but that was months ago. I do not know if that had a bearing - especially as the first cablecard TV they tested in their internal system in Pinellas County last June/July was a Panasonic.

I do know Panasonic and the SA cable card has 3 or 4 channels that there is a problem with, but your post sounds like the cablecard just did not install properly.

BHN did have a bad set of cable cards that SA recalled and they have not received the replacements as of this date. The problems were channel maps dropping out on the cards. But that was for cards that were shipped between 3/22/05 to 4/29/05.

It could be the installer had a bad card.

WTSP-DT's transmitter remains at the same location as their analog site - which is also essentially the transmitter location for 98 Rock, 97x and The Dove.

Thanks for the info on BHN cable cards. Sounds like it might have been a bum card, I will pass on the information.

You guys might want to look at this thread - especially if you can add anything you have seen locally on Channel 10.

CBS Green Dots (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=543319)

HDTVFanAtic,
Why do you say that BHN compresses the locals?
When did they start?
When I used to have BHN about a year ago, I captured via 1394 from BHN, and OTA. The Bit rates were identical.

Have they changed?
If so what encoders did they buy, and what is the bit rate now?

HDTVFanAtic,
Why do you say that BHN compresses the locals?
When did they start?
When I used to have BHN about a year ago, I captured via 1394 from BHN, and OTA. The Bit rates were identical.

Have they changed?
If so what encoders did they buy, and what is the bit rate now?

They tested putting 3 HD signals on 1 QAM late last Summer - as typical - over a weekend when the head tech people weren't around to fix it when it went south. That was the weekend that 610/613/628 were all unwatchable all weekend.

Obviously, they put it back that Monday and worked on it offline. Late last Fall they went to recompressing and limiting bandwidth.

You can check with Jack Winter at 28 about how he watched ABC Monday Nightfootball OTA and then noticed it wasn't as sharp on BNH. He called NOC and they were only giving 28 3Mbps - that figure again THREE Mbps. At that time, the main signal on 28 OTA was set to 16Mbps - its now 15 with 28.2 online.

I have not checked this in the last month or so - especially since they deleted 609 and put on 607 2 weeks ago - but at that time it was:

Mhz QAM Program

555.00 79 WTVT FOX 13 HD 613
555.00 79 WUSF 16.1 616
555.00 79 WUSF 16.2 617
555.00 79 WUSF 16.3 618
555.00 79 WUSF 16.4 619
555.00 79 WFTS ABC 28 HD 628

561.00 80 HDNET 705
561.00 80 HDNET MOVIES 706

567.00 81 INHD 1 703
567.00 81 INHD 2 704

627.00 91 WFLA NBC 8 HD 608
627.00 91 WFLA NBC 8 SD 609
627.00 91 WMOR HD 632

651.00 100 DISCOVERY HD 690
651.00 100 ESPN HD 707

657.00 101 HBO HD 700
657.00 101 SHOWTIME HD 701

687.00 106 WEDU 3.1 603
687.00 106 PBS Kids 604
687.00 106 PBS HD 605
687.00 106 WTSP CBS 10 HD 610
687.00 106 WTVT FOX 13 HD 613

693.00 107 TNT HD 691

Remember that ATSC can transmit 19.2Mbps and a digital 256QAM can pass 38.81Mbps.

A simple look at QAM 106 shows 3.5, 10.1 and 13.1 on it.

Clearly even if all the stations only passed 15Mbps on their main HDTV signal, that would be 45Mbps on a 38.81Mbps QAM - and we still haven't allocated the bandwidth for PBS Kids and WEDU Main. Thus they must compress the OTA station WAY DOWN to fit it all on a 38.81Mbps QAM.

You can see the same thing on QAM 79 and 91 with the other OTA stations.

I would be interested to know how much bandwith each channel is allocated. Is there a way to test this other than averaging the number of channels on 1 QAM.

If they were smart about it, they could allocate less bandwidth for the sub-channels and still have a fair amount left for the HD channels.

Even so, looking at your chart, they need one more QAM. 106 has way too much on it. They should take WUSF and WEDU and put them on their own QAM.

This conversation sure makes me wary of dropping D*. I don't care too much about locals because I get OTA, but if they don't allocate more bandwidth for HDTV, BHN will start compressing just like D*. D* seems to be trying to address their bandwidth issues with new sats and MPEG-4. Once the sats are in place it remains to be seen whether they return to full bandwidth allocation or still compress and just add more channels.

I would be interested to know how much bandwith each channel is allocated. Is there a way to test this other than averaging the number of channels on 1 QAM.

If they were smart about it, they could allocate less bandwidth for the sub-channels and still have a fair amount left for the HD channels.



All signals are not given the same bandwidth. They allocate a piece of the 38.81Mbps QAM. Clearly, they do not give the same bandwidth to 604 PBs Kids as they do to 605.


Even so, looking at your chart, they need one more QAM. 106 has way too much on it. They should take WUSF and WEDU and put them on their own QAM.


106 is no different than 79. The only saving grace is both Fox and ABC are 720p, so they can get by on a little lower bitrate before you get macroblocking. And Fox's true bitrate is so low that saves BHN real room anyway.

I requested around the first of the year to higher powers they combine the educationals on 1 QAM, but clearly it didn't happen.

This conversation sure makes me wary of dropping D*. I don't care too much about locals because I get OTA, but if they don't allocate more bandwidth for HDTV, BHN will start compressing just like D*. D* seems to be trying to address their bandwidth issues with new sats and MPEG-4. Once the sats are in place it remains to be seen whether they return to full bandwidth allocation or still compress and just add more channels.

I haven't measured it, but D* might actually be giving the HDLITE channels more bandwidth than BHN is already.

And what do mean BHN will start compressing? They already are!

If they were only giving 3Mbps to 628 during a Monday Night Football game, thats below what is transmitted OTA on the 4:3 subs of 3.1, 3.3, 8.2, 16.1, 16.2, 16.3, 28.2 and 38.2.

I should also note that that I didn't go through the entire 900 channels to see if they had stuck some other items on the QAMS listed above (like Music Choice or the like) that would have take more bandwidth from the HDTV signals.

But the above chart was enough to show that they were recompressing the OTA signals, which is what bdraw asked.

And what do mean BHN will start compressing? They already are!

I should also note that that I didn't go through the entire 900 channels to see if they had stuck some other items on the QAMS listed above (like Music Choice or the like) that would have take more bandwidth from the HDTV signals.

But the above chart was enough to show that they were recompressing the OTA signals, which is what bdraw asked.


Yeah, I hear you. :o What I meant, from you chart it looks that BHN is only putting two premium HD channels on one QAM. That's alot better than D* who presumably bit starves and crams three channels into one transponder.

I think at the end of the day, we who value picture quality are going to be the losers no matter which provider we chose. We are just too small of a minority to matter economically to these companies.

Using statistical multiplexing they could easily fit 3-5 10-1, and 13-1 on one qam 256 channel without recompressing.

3-5 is not even close to using 19.2 since PBS is transmitting 3 streams.
Fox is only 720p so the normally only use 13Mbs rather than 19.2Mbs.
10-1 is the hard one to swallow. I guess it depends on what they had on.

As for 28-1 sending 3Mbs, that seems impossible. In fact the only way I would believe that is if you were to post a captured clip that I can examine myself. MNF should use about 13Mbs.

You listed alot of information but no first hand captures of bit rates of BHN captured content. Capture some BHN via 1394 and post the actual bit rates of shows, not just specs displayed from the STB.

Not to mention what hardware is BHN using to re-encode this HD to a lower bit rate.

I don't want to call you out, I just want the facts. Don't take this as a challenge, just accept it as a sceptic who want the facts.

Nor have you offered any information that it isn't being done. In fact, you have only stated that it wasn't being done a year ago when you subscribed to BHN. No facts, just your observation.

As I stated, you can call Jack Winter, head of Engineering and Programming at WFTS and ask him specifically about his experience with MNF and BHN NOC.

OTA, 3-1 is set up for roughly 5Mbps, 3-2 is set up for roughly 5Mbps and 3-5 is running about 9Mbps - or roughly the entire 19Mbps allocated OTA.

http://img271.echo.cx/img271/2184/wedu5zc.png (http://www.imageshack.us)

10-1 needs roughly 18Mbps.

http://img258.echo.cx/img258/1387/wtsp6nw.png (http://www.imageshack.us)

13-1 needs roughly 10Mbps.

http://img258.echo.cx/img258/2411/wtvt7hg.png (http://www.imageshack.us)

That's would be roughly 47Mbps on a 38.81Mbps QAM.

Unless you have some new math and have changed the laws of physics, it can't be done with MPEG2.

If you want to call me out, go ahead. Or you can put me on ignore - which might be better for you.

Now we are getting somewhere(posted data).

I don't put people on ignore, I don't run from disagreements even after I realize I am wrong. When I realize I am wrong I admit it.
I am not ready to do that yet.

What we have here are some great OTA captures and we can easily see the bit rates.
These can be our control. Now we need to see captures from BHN via 1394 of the same channels captured at the same time.

You know my so called "new math" is statistical mulitplexing, and I know you know what it is, so I don't have to explain it. It would be theoretically possible to fit these 3 channels on one QAM256 channel.

Either way your analysis is is based on rough estimates and all I asking you to do is show me the ACTUAL bit rates of HD content captured from BHN via 1394. If you don't have a STB with 1394 (I know you had one at one time) then this debate is a waste of time, since it can only be based on half the information and guesses.
At that time we would both have to concede.

I don't mean to "Call you out", I am just demanding you backup your posts with verifiable facts. As I am sure you know, I don't accept things just because they are posted on the Internet.

Silly me. I forgot you must be the queen bee of every forum you are on. You can state things without proof but others cannot. How could I forget?

Anyone who is a BHN subscriber, of which you are not, can watch the ATSC OTA signal and see the multisecond delay on 605/608/610/613/628/632 etc that was not there a year ago as the signal is compressed.

Anyone who is a BHN subscriber, of which you are not, can compare the the pictures of the ATSC OTA signals and see the degredation of quality in 605/610/613/628/632.

Anyone who is a BHN subscriber, of which you are not, can go to the diagnostic page of their STB and see what QAM any digital channel is set to and simply do the math. As the old line goes, you can't get blood out of turnip and you can't put 48Mbps in a 38.81Mbps 256 QAM.

If you want to prove me wrong, again, have at it. But I don't need to give you proof on anything. If you want to prove me wrong, I'll let the burden fall on the queen bee to post documented captures and facts to do so instead of wasting my time to prove what I and others know as fact.

Are there any 1394 BHN STBs? I did not know BHN had 1394 active.

I would have to agree, despite the empirical evidence of viewing the channels, without actual data we can't know exactly what BHN is doing.

Does anyone locally (Tampabay) have the BHN 8300HD Box working with an external SATA hard drive? I think it depends on the software and if they have it active. Eric

Yes BHN has 1394 boxes out, in fact HDTVFanAtic was the first to get one, he has a great story about how he acquired one. He lead the way for the rest of us. I assume he no longer has one or he would post the captured data.
I had one till I switched to D* after having a 8000HD for a few weeks, using that box motivated me to buy a HDTivo. Which I have had for over a year and I am very happy with it.

I don't see myself switching back to BHN any time soon, if Tivo ever releases a Cable Card Tivo I will switch back.

At this point unless anyone wants to do the captures, we are at an impasse, and we both must concede.

Nice personal attacks by the way.
For future reference I prefer "know it all" to "queen bee".

Can the BHN local digital channels be decoded with a QAM tuner such as those found in some of the new Digital HDTVs?

Can the BHN local digital channels be decoded with a QAM tuner such as those found in some of the new Digital HDTVs?

Yes, but i guess you won't believe it because no evidence is presented - even though I have a Sony with a QAM tuner and had the first BHN cable card in Hillsborough or Pinellas that went out to the public.

FCC mandates they they be kept in the clear, just as their analog counterparts are. In fact, you could in theory subscribe to the low price basic unadvertised BHN 2-13 service and according to FCC law should be able to receive 603-632 (and 638 and 644 and 666 (nice ring for PAX) when available).

I do not know anyone who has done this though. It might be attractive for some D* and E* users I would imagine.

You could also receive all HD channels, including 690-706, up until 6/15/2004 with a QAM tuner. At that point they were encrypted for obvious reasons. But again, no proof, so you might want to just put me on ignore.

Yes, but i guess you won't believe it because no evidence is presented - even though I have a Sony with a QAM tuner and had the first BHN cable card in Hillsborough or Pinellas that went out to the public.

FCC mandates they they be kept in the clear, just as their analog counterparts are. In fact, you could in theory subscribe to the low price basic unadvertised BHN 2-13 service and according to FCC law should be able to receive 603-632 (and 638 and 644 and 666 (nice ring for PAX) when available).

I do not know anyone who has done this though. It might be attractive for some D* and E* users I would imagine.

You could also receive all HD channels, including 690-706, up until 6/15/2004 with a QAM tuner. At that point they were encrypted for obvious reasons. But again, no proof, so you might want to just put me on ignore.

Actually, if you have a QAM tuner and can receive the channels, that's good enough evidence for me. ;) I am sorry that my previous post came off as offensive, it was not my intent. :o For the record, I don't recall suggesting I should put you on my ignore list. I value your information.

The reason I ask, is that my sister in-law just got a set with an integrated tuner, but they only have basic cable through BHN. How does one go about accessing the BHN channels with a QAM tuner? Do you just scan for digitals and they appear?

Thanks,

Mike

There is a scan function in the TV and you should connect the cable and then let it scan.

Be aware that without the CableCard in the set, the numbers will not show up as 603,604,605 etc.

They will show up with the QAM number or Frequency of the QAM, with a .1, .2, .3 etc.

For example, they would show up something similar to this - probably not in this order:

555.1 or 79.1 WTVT FOX 13
555.2 or 79.2 WUSF 16.1
555.3 or 79.3 WUSF 16.2
555.4 or 79.4 WUSF 16.3
555.5 or 79.5 WUSF 16.4
555.6 or 79.6 WFTS ABC 28

You only get the 603, 604, 605, 607, 608, 610 etc designation if you put in a CableCard that will map the cable channels to the proper QAM.

Cool, Thanks!

Anyone else catch WFTS-DT 28.2 Monday night? While analog and the HDTV signal had the network feed of Patch Adams, 28.2 was showing the movie "Bean" instead. It had an ABC network bug, but appeared to be running all local commercials. Any word if this was a one-shot deal, or if 28.2 will end up showing different entertainment programming than the main WFTS signal?

This has been done on 28.1 and 28.2 several times in the past.

Last year they aired Sixth Sense on 28.1 and the analog channel had some Brad Pitt movie or similar.

During the Hurricanes last year, they aired the ABC HD Movies on Saturday night and ran news on the analog channel only. In fact, all channels except 8 ran network on the HD channels that night and news on their analog counterparts.

On Harry Potter a month ago, the network started it at 7pm and they were going to delay it to 8pm on the analog channel - but with no way to tape delay the HD channel they ran 28.1 with the pure network feed starting at 7pm and no local spots though the analog started at 8pm.

The real issue will be Saturday night on TV28 this fall.

Last year they ran USF football on Saturday night on HD and SD - even though it was typically just a SD feed. This meant all the ABC HD Movies on Saturday night were missed.

Now is the time to request to them that they put USF Saturday night football on 28.2 and analog - and air the ABC Network intact!

HDTVFanAtic,

Please get your facts correct.. the statement "This has been done on 28.1 and 28.2 several times in the past." is incorrect. You did state the facts later by stating it was the analog channel.

Another statemet that is incorrect is that WFTS does not have a way to do HD tape delay. Incorrect. They have done this several times in the past.

28.2 was not around last year for the hurricane coverage. Nor was it around during USF football..

Monday night was the FIRST time that WFTS had different programming on 28.2.

HDTVFanAtic,

Please get your facts correct.. the statement "This has been done on 28.1 and 28.2 several times in the past." is incorrect. You did state the facts later by stating it was the analog channel.

Another statemet that is incorrect is that WFTS does not have a way to do HD tape delay. Incorrect. They have done this several times in the past.

28.2 was not around last year for the hurricane coverage. Nor was it around during USF football..

Monday night was the FIRST time that WFTS had different programming on 28.2.

Mr. Anal?

28.2 is a simulcast of the analog Channel 28 if you haven't figured it out. Yes 28.2 was color bars until several weeks ago. All references use common sense that 28.2 programming will continue to mirror the analog 28 for the forseeable future - if you have failed to realize that. Thus 28.2=Analog 28 and Analog 28=28.2.

So, to help you out:

This has been done on 28.1 and the analog 28 which is now simulcast on 28.2 several times in the past.

Last year they aired Sixth Sense on 28.1 and the analog channel had some Brad Pitt movie or similar.

During the Hurricanes last year, they aired the ABC HD Movies on Saturday night and ran news on the analog channel. In fact, all channels except 8 ran network on the HD channels that night and news on their analog counterparts.

On Harry Potter a month ago, the network started it at 7pm and they were going to delay it to 8pm on the analog channel - but with no way to tape delay the HD channel they ran 28.1 with the pure network feed starting at 7pm and no local spots though the analog started at 8pm.

And despite what some people think they know, WFTS has no way to Tape Delay HD programming and has never done so, as evidenced by not airing the Stanley Cup Final Highlights on the first anniversary in HD. They cannot even get an automated switcher for the HD programming although it has been requested for several year and thats why you often see the 4:3 feed for a second or two at a time when rejoining HD programming from local because the switch is manual and located behind the operator in master control who must hit it over his shoulder.

The real issue will be Saturday night on TV28 this fall.

Last year they ran USF football on Saturday night on HD and SD - even though it was typically just a SD feed. This meant all the ABC HD Movies on Saturday night were missed.

Now is the time to request to them that they put USF Saturday night football on 28.2 and analog - and air the ABC Network intact!


Happy?

Mr. Anal?

28.2 is a simulcast of the analog Channel 28 if you haven't figured it out. Yes 28.2 was color bars until several weeks ago. All references use common sense that 28.2 programming will continue to mirror the analog 28 for the forseeable future - if you have failed to realize that. Thus 28.2=Analog 28 and Analog 28=28.2.

So, to help you out:

This has been done on 28.1 and the analog 28 which is now simulcast on 28.2 several times in the past.

Last year they aired Sixth Sense on 28.1 and the analog channel had some Brad Pitt movie or similar.

During the Hurricanes last year, they aired the ABC HD Movies on Saturday night and ran news on the analog channel. In fact, all channels except 8 ran network on the HD channels that night and news on their analog counterparts.

On Harry Potter a month ago, the network started it at 7pm and they were going to delay it to 8pm on the analog channel - but with no way to tape delay the HD channel they ran 28.1 with the pure network feed starting at 7pm and no local spots though the analog started at 8pm.

And despite what some people think they know, WFTS has no way to Tape Delay HD programming and has never done so, as evidenced by not airing the Stanley Cup Final Highlights on the first anniversary in HD. They cannot even get an automated switcher for the HD programming although it has been requested for several year and thats why you often see the 4:3 feed for a second or two at a time when rejoining HD programming from local because the switch is manual and located behind the operator in master control who must hit it over his shoulder.

The real issue will be Saturday night on TV28 this fall.

Last year they ran USF football on Saturday night on HD and SD - even though it was typically just a SD feed. This meant all the ABC HD Movies on Saturday night were missed.

Now is the time to request to them that they put USF Saturday night football on 28.2 and analog - and air the ABC Network intact!


Happy?

You just love the name calling.. What are you 5?

No I am not happy.. and and go ahead and call me Mr Anal.. I'll be Anal as long as you give out wrong information on this board.

You might want to talk to Jack over at WFTS so you can get your facts correct.. BTW.. I've known Jack for years. And I know for a FACT...THEY DO HAVE A WAY TO TAPE DELAY.. I just forgot right now the name of the machine.. I'll find out from Jack and post it here just to prove you wrong.. and you think they dont just because "as evidenced by not airing the Stanley Cup Final Highlights on the first anniversary in HD.." Get Real!

Once again you are wrong.. just because 28.2 is a simulcast of the analog channel now does not mean they have done this before in the past when there was no 28.2.. Period.. you need to get over that fact..

Yes.. the HD channel of 28.1 has shown network programming and the Analog channel (NOT DIGITAL 28.2) has had local programming before in the past at the same time.

Monday Night was the first time that 28.2 was used to show different programming from 28.1 AND the analog channel. Ohh btw "Bean" was a tape from their library..


All references use common sense that 28.2 programming will continue to mirror the analog 28 for the forseeable future - if you have failed to realize that.


No I haven't failed to realize that now but it will not continue like that for long. They may have any one of the Scripps channels on 28.2, WFTS hasn't decided yet.. Whatever the programming will be Jack has stated that he will make sure that that channel does not exceed 3mb.

And despite what some people think they know, WFTS has no way to Tape Delay HD programming and has never done so, as evidenced by not airing the Stanley Cup Final Highlights on the first anniversary in HD.



From Jack at WFTS..
They have "two Panasonic AJ-HD2700 D5 video tape machines."

And despite what some people think they know, you don't know much.

hehe

:cool: hello to all the people from this area. I used to live in France and because I am fed up about the french government spirit I am moving to bradenton. i just bought an home with cable ( light house something) I need help from you to tell me wich company is the best ( I was thinking about cable) what are the compagny ? what the priuce to have HDTv,

THANKS TO ANSWER ME. licoto en vacances y trouvera pas ce message

alexandre simard
asimard

Hi,

I hope the moderator will not mind us cross-posting in this Tampa/Sarasota local thread, but believe it or not I think there's more traffic here than at the Area Home Theater Meets forum. ;)

Three AV Sciences members who live in Manatee and Sarasota Counties in Florida would like to start a local Home Theater Club. While we expect that much of the discussions will center around somewhat technical subjects, there will be occasions when we will be watching movies. At such times members will be encouraged to bring their spouses or significant others. This is not meant to imply that spouses and significant others aren't welcome to the technical sessions, they are certainly welcome to join us for whatever activities that interests them.

Folks living in Manatee or Sarasota counties who are interested in joining, or have questions and/or suggestions, are encouraged to contact us.

Thanks very much.

Larry Chanin (LarryChanin), Sarasota, FL
lfchanin@verizon.net

Jim Zientara (takeaim), Bradenton, FL
TAJimz@aol.com

Jerry Pease (Jerry Pease), Parrish, FL
jpease@tampabay.rr.com

Is the "YES" channel available on Directv in Tampa ?....if so, will the yankee games be blacked out ?

Anyone know what happened to tampahdtv.com? Is it just down?

Anyone know what happened to tampahdtv.com? Is it just down?

Its down for me the last two or so days.

Hi,

I hope the moderator will not mind us cross-posting in this Tampa/Sarasota local thread, but believe it or not I think there's more traffic here than at the Area Home Theater Meets forum. ;)

Three AV Sciences members who live in Manatee and Sarasota Counties in Florida would like to start a local Home Theater Club. While we expect that much of the discussions will center around somewhat technical subjects, there will be occasions when we will be watching movies. At such times members will be encouraged to bring their spouses or significant others. This is not meant to imply that spouses and significant others aren't welcome to the technical sessions, they are certainly welcome to join us for whatever activities that interests them.

Folks living in Manatee or Sarasota counties who are interested in joining, or have questions and/or suggestions, are encouraged to contact us.

Thanks very much.

Larry Chanin (LarryChanin), Sarasota, FL
lfchanin@verizon.net

Jim Zientara (takeaim), Bradenton, FL
TAJimz@aol.com

Jerry Pease (Jerry Pease), Parrish, FL
jpease@tampabay.rr.com

Would this club be for the "Greater Tampa Bay" area?

If so, I would be interested. I live in Land O Lakes.

Anyone know what happened to tampahdtv.com? Is it just down?

The domain name has expired.. I am not sure what the admin is going to do about it..

Isn't it like $10 to renew for another year? Oh well........

Depends on where is was registered with. Netsol is like $35..

I'll grab the domain and start it up again if need be.. I have the resources to keep it up..

Same here... I already own a server running over a half dozen sites I manage and could easily handle the simple Tampa HDTV board. I for one always enjoyed it and would hope Jaymer didn't just get "bored" and let it go. Looked to me like it's probably still hosted somewhere but the domain named expired. If I can be of any help, let me know.

Would this club be for the "Greater Tampa Bay" area?

If so, I would be interested. I live in Land O Lakes.

Hi,

No, while folks living in the Greater Tampa Bay area would certainly be welcome, the meetings will be held in Manatee and Sarasota Counties. It's about an hour's drive from the Tampa area to Sarasota, less to Manatee.

Larry

I get something when I go to the tampahdtv.com site but it is just filled with commerical links and a bunch of weird stuff like comcast and other stuff that does not apply to tampa. No forums or anything useful. Has anyone been able to contact Jaymer and see what is going on? I sure miss the site.
Harry

Read a few posts to see what happened that that site.

I did. Maybe I am dumb but all I can see is that it went off the air for awhile and that it is expiring. What am I missing?

Harry

tampahdtv.com is back.

tampahdtv.com is back.

Still not working for me........maybe soon

Yep.. back up and RENEWED for another year at least..

I did. Maybe I am dumb but all I can see is that it went off the air for awhile and that it is expiring. What am I missing?

Harry

The domain name has expired.. I am not sure what the admin is going to do about it..


Nope you got it.. it was down because it WAS expired not that is is expiring.

Is the "YES" channel available on Directv in Tampa ?....if so, will the yankee games be blacked out ?

Is the "YES" channel available on Directv in Tampa ?....if so, will the yankee games be blacked out ?


No, YES is only available to the NY Metro Area.

Mike_p I know of someone who gets it (YES Channel) in Orlando from Directv.

Well, that may be, but I suspect they either are a tester for D* or have a hacked card. I believe YES-HD is only available to NY Metro.

You know, I just re-read your post and made an assumption that you were talking about YES-HD, as this is a HDTV forum. I think the regular YES-SD channel is available in all markets for a subscription fee.

Mike_p, you can get the YES channel but the MLB games are blacked out.

I live in St Pete (only a few blocks in from the Bay), and am new to HDTV and looking to see what kinda easy solution I can try for OTA reception.

I am a DirecTV customer, and sticking with that. I just bought my first HDTV and the HDTivo receiver, and am looking to see what I need to do to get my OTA reception setup for HD.

Antennaweb says I'm about 25 miles from the brodcast locations, and all (except CBS) are in the same location.

What have people found that work well from St Pete? What's the easiest answer of something I can try, as I can always return it and move up in the world if I have to. My wife isn't going to want something else on our roof if I can avoid it. I do have attic access, and it would be possible that I can do one of those clip-on to the dish type antennas.

What do I really need - and how little can I get away with spending?

thanks

I can only speak for myself, but I have two antennae in my attic and can receive all local tampa channels except 38-1 using a DirecTV HD Receiver. One VHF/UHF antenna covers most of the locals and the second UHF is for CBS. They are combined with a low loss spliter type device and it seems to work well. The general concensus is that antennae generally work best outside. You might get away with just one outside, but even if you have to have two, it will be a lot easier to point them if they are outside. I had a heck of a time getting the right spot in my attic.

You could always try a set top amplified antenna to see what you can get, although they look cheesy to me.

Hey Y'all

I'm looking for suggestions on how best to receive channel 10 in HD. I can get every other Tampa local channel with my POS RS 15-1880 indoor antenna here in South Lakeland, but CBS would be great because of the NFL games (I refuse to pay the additional $49 for the ST SF package for HD games, but that is another thread...). I am open to getting another antenna, with the caveat that it has to be attic mounted. I have outlets in the attic, so using a pre-amp is not a problem; in fact, I already have a signal amp installed before the splitter for when I had BHN.

Any help would be appreciated.

John

Hi Folks,

A lil off topic, but, figured this would be a good source to find folks w/ front projection...

I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on a FP system (which I will be showing bhn hd on.. see - back on topic lol)...

I'm looking at either the Panny AE700 or the Sony HS51

Question is - do we have any local B&M stores in the area that sells these??? Seems like BB and CC have the business / pc line of projectors.. and SA has the over the top $5K projectors...

If I can find one, I'd rather buy from a local shop - in case I run into issues down the road.. as opposed to buying online..

Any ideas?? Thanks!!

How have some solved the problem of getting CBS & all the other digital channels in the Boyette area with their antennas.

Anyone else notice WB (38-1) seems to be broadcasting continuously (apparently at full power, cuz when their powered down I get no signal) this last week? Everytime I've checked (even late at night) it seems to be on. It was on for a while last May, IIRC, though, so I don't know if this is permanent or more teasing :p.

Hopefully they've come to their senses and will leave it on. Some of the programming looks great!

Anyone else notice WB (38-1) seems to be broadcasting continuously (apparently at full power, cuz when their powered down I get no signal) this last week? Everytime I've checked (even late at night) it seems to be on. It was on for a while last May, IIRC, though, so I don't know if this is permanent or more teasing :p.

Hopefully they've come to their senses and will leave it on. Some of the programming looks great!


They've gone on this rollercoaster several times.

New Season started - they powered up - just like with the May Sweeps. Thursday night did look nice though - but we'll see if this is just another wobble or the start of something new.


OF COURSE WTSP PROVES AGAIN WHY THEY COMPETE WITH WFLA FOR THE WORST HD STATION IN AMERICA.

Premiere of the much hyped Threshold Friday night. WTSP decides to not put the audio back on after a commercial break around 9:40PM.

Simply amazing.

WFLA and WTSP must look for ways to screw up. You couldnt make this many mistakes without trying.

10.2 WTSP-SD is up and operational - though not on 24/7.

Say GOODBYE to the higher bitrates on WTSP HD.

http://img271.imageshack.us/img271/9894/wtspsd6il.th.jpg (http://img271.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wtspsd6il.jpg)

Now if they would just learn how to not mess up their HDTV Programming on 10.1...... But that's asking for a miracle.

Anyone notice they switched LETTERMAN to SD on Thursday night at 12:36am when it ran late because of the President's Speech at 9pm?

IDIOTS.

WTSP and WFLA are just the worst.

Has anyone had trouble picking up FOX-13 ? I live in Sebring and have always been getting it just fine untill the last week and it's gone. I have rescanned channels and all. I even get WTSP-10 from here most the time.

No problems at all in Sarasota, but I'm in a totally different direction from you.

channel 10 and 13 are in different locations so prehaps you need to repoint your antenna a little south to get 13

Anyone else notice WB (38-1) seems to be broadcasting continuously (apparently at full power, cuz when their powered down I get no signal) this last week? Everytime I've checked (even late at night) it seems to be on. It was on for a while last May, IIRC, though, so I don't know if this is permanent or more teasing :p.

Hopefully they've come to their senses and will leave it on. Some of the programming looks great!


I have never been able to get 38-1 from a St. Pete attic antenna. I occasionally check, but no go. Oh well, still can't get it.

Has anyone had trouble picking up FOX-13 ? I live in Sebring and have always been getting it just fine untill the last week and it's gone. I have rescanned channels and all. I even get WTSP-10 from here most the time.

I noticed a much weaker signal on all Riverview station over the weekend. I attributed it to weather conditions.

channel 10 and 13 are in different locations so prehaps you need to repoint your antenna a little south to get 13

From Sebring I would suspect that Riverview and New Port Richie are in the same general direction.

Anyone else have glitches wathcing WTSP 10.1 during primetime last night? Every time the signal switched from network to local, my Sammy 360 "Lost Signal" for about 3 seconds. The switch from a local break back into network was fine. Since I'm in Palm Harbor, I almost never have a problem picking 10.1 up.

I had problems last night....Thursday....that were similar to what you had. My OTA signal was going from near 80 down to 0 and I had major pixelization probs during the baseball game (probs started about 9:15pm).

Only thing I can think of was the storm that was passing....perhaps the lightening caused interference to the signal?

The 'other' site is down for awhile.. Jaymer and I will be working on transfering the data to another server. It will probably be down for a week or two. It may come up and down during that time. The forums may be locked during that time also so we can grab all the data. I'll post a note on the main page when the transfer is complete. But you'll know when your on the new server though. It won't exactly look like the old one.

Hey,
Sorry if this is in the wrong forum but I searched and couldn’t find a more appropriate forum to post in. I live in spring hill about 1 hour north of Tampa…and was wondering what the signal strength of the OTA HD signals are up there??? Does anyone know? I’ve checked antenna web but that doesn’t really tell me how good the stations come in up there. I’m getting ready to buy and OTA antenna like the DB8 multidirectional hd antenna and just want to make sure that will be sufficient for my needs. Any help would be appreciated.

You will need a BIG STRONG Antenna with a good preamp if you want error free OTA reception. The cheap multdirectional antennas will be worthless for you.

You will need a BIG STRONG Antenna with a good preamp if you want error free OTA reception. The cheap multdirectional antennas will be worthless for you.


Define STRONG??...do you have an example??? :)

Define STRONG??...do you have an example??? :)


Well, you went to antenna web, right?

How far did it say your location was from the farthest broadcast station?

You need an antenna with that range of reception...

You will also need a 30 foot push up pole at a minimum, I would think...

You may need more than one antenna, I am not sure, not being in your location myself... But a "Tampa Bay Special" with two antennas on the same pole is what works for most...

Good Luck!

Scott

I had problems last night....Thursday....that were similar to what you had. My OTA signal was going from near 80 down to 0 and I had major pixelization probs during the baseball game (probs started about 9:15pm).

Only thing I can think of was the storm that was passing....perhaps the lightening caused interference to the signal?

I had that problem (During the game of course)....

I adjusted my antenna direction slightly, (maybe 3 degrees) and my signal has been fine ever since...

Dunno if that will help, but it worked for me...

Scott

I've tried....I've adjusted and adjusted, got signal strength of 92 for NBC, CBS and FOX with an 88 on ABC. But I keep getting these split-second dropouts; video pixelizes/studders and I know the signal drops down below 50 for that instant (I've watched it). This happens on all channels, maybe 2 or 3 times per hour. Annoying. I've tried an attenuator, but to no avail.

Utilizing a RatShack VU-75 XR antenna in my attic....I'm 30 miles from the majority of the towers (CBS only 8 miles)....along with D* DVR (HR10-250) which I suspect might have something to do with the problem since a lot of others seem to experience the same.

Considering trying antenna outdoors on a roof mount, but I think it would be a waste of time.....my signals are strong now.

Am I alone with this problem? Suggestions?

Thanks....

I also have a hr10-250, and your signal strength seems better than mine.
I live 15 miles form Riverview and 20+ miles from Holiday.(Ybor City)
I do not have the same problem you have. I would think it is either your HR10-250 or your wiring. The HR10-250 makes more sense. You are welcome to bring your HR10-250 to my house to test it.
PM me with your phone number if you are interested.

Before changing anything major, I would check the ground and all coaxial connections to be sure they are in good shape. Make sure there are no shield wires touching the center core of the RG6 cable.

If you do not have a ground wire and ground block you should install them as well...

Just some thoughts... hope it helps!

Scott

This may not be relevant to HDTV but I am receiving excellent reception on all channels with the exception of 38.1.

My distance is 25 miles to Holiday and about 50 to Riverview. I use a USDTV receiver that is downconverting to a 32" analog receiver. The antenna is an old Radio Shack about 15 years old. Mast is about 15'. I am splitting the signal three ways. No preamp.

Basically I am conducting a test before I go out and spend the money on an HDTV receiver. So far so good.

38.1 is operating at around 2% of their licensed power - forgot the exact number...but its either 6kw or 20kw.

It's hard to pick it up through much of Hillsborough and Pinellas.

As they are not one of the big 4 Network, Sinclair pilaged their equipment to go to other markets with stricter rules for the big 4 networks.

They are getting pressure from WB to go full power and supposedly it is coming by end of year or 1Q 2006.

You might want to check channel channel 38.1 and 38.2 again.

It could be just weather conditions, but as of tonight they are coming in on the beach at the same strength as WUSF-DT. Usually 38 does not come in at all.

Using a MyHD 130 and outside antenna, WEDU and WMOR come in around 100%. WTVT and WTOG comes in at around 85%. WFTS and Paxson comes in at around 80%, WTSP comes in around 75% (which I figure is because I have the antenna pointed 90% off axis to Riverview as I can see the strobes), I get around a 70%-75% on WFLA which I have the most trouble with probably due to their Channel 7 placement at the low end of VHF High.

Tonight both 38 and WUSF-DT are showing in the 45% to 55% range but bouncing all around, so its probably weather related instead of the promised power increase.

Greetings,

I will be coming to the area in November to put my In-Laws into the OTA world. I am very well versed in the voodoo required to obtain DTV via OTA, so no need to direct me to antennaweb or any other newbie list.

All of their channels are in basically the same direction except for CBS which is ~66 degrees over. I am pretty sure that the wide viewing angle of a DB8 or 4228 will cover it w/o the need of a rotator. How strong is WTSP's signal?

I am also wondering about WFLA. I have a low NBC VHF channel in my area that I can pick up just fine with a 4228 and a CM7777; any input on this channel 7?

They are on average only 40 miles from the towers so I am unsure on the pre-amp needs. I have to use a CM7777 here as I am over 70 miles away. I doubt that I would be overdriving the signal at 40 miles if I amped it?

TIA :)

ThePicMan

Ben - drop me an email ar rgreene7@ tampa bay <dot> rr <dot> com

I need some help with an antenna as well as a HDTIVO question.

I also have a hr10-250, and your signal strength seems better than mine.
I live 15 miles form Riverview and 20+ miles from Holiday.(Ybor City)
I do not have the same problem you have. I would think it is either your HR10-250 or your wiring. The HR10-250 makes more sense. You are welcome to bring your HR10-250 to my house to test it.
PM me with your phone number if you are interested.

Appreciate the offer Ben....unfortunately w my schedule there's almost no way I could even get over there w the unit. If it's a possibility tho, I'll PM you ahead of time in hopes that you're free and we might hookup.

I'm gonna conclude it's signal related due to my location and the location of my antenna.

I just tried an "FM trap" to no avail; only thing I *haven't* done is move the antenna outside.

For some odd reason, I've lost completely my CBS today (10-1 or 24)....absolutely no signal at all...anybody else have this problem?

FYI:

Just got off the phone w Tampa Bay 10....they're doing maintenance work and will be down during the day today up until possibly 5:30pm. They will continue doing this work in the coming weeks which may lead to sporadic signal outages in the coming weeks.

They will only be doing the work during daylight hours and should have the signal restored each evening.

Excuse me if some of this is clueless or disjointed - color me newbie.

We're almost ready to purchase our first HDTV, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to go for the Sony KD-36XS955. We watch mostly old programming, and will be with 4:3 for years to come, most likely.

We're in South Pinellas, can't get FIOS (yet), and quite possibly can't get an acceptable satellite setup. So that leaves Brighthouse.

We want DVR capability, and that means the SA8300, right? But I've read on this forum about how much better the picture quality can be with CableCard. And the 955 is CableCard-ready, although that wasn't really a factor in choosing it.

You lose HD record capability with CableCards, right? If we want both CableCard and DVR we would need to have the signal split and fed to each, correct?

How is Brighthouse around here about getting CableCards working?

I don't much mind the extra expense (although this whole deal of "getting a new TV" is turning out a good 5-10x more expensive than I thought it would be), but I want some opinions on whether having both a CableCard and DVR is a) possible, and b) worth fooling with.

Any comments from Pinellas CableCard users?

1) Don't know why you can't get satellite. I sure can in Northern Pinellas.

2) You have Knology and Brighthouse as options in cable.

3) Brighthouse is compressing the OTA HDTV stations. Simply looking at them via a 8300HD and cablecard, you can see a major difference. Then go from cablecard to OTA and its another major step up.

4) From what I saw in Detroit this week, most likely Directv will have better OTA than Brighthouse for Channel 8, 10, 13 and 28 within 10 days.

5) Cable cards are not DVRs - so you would give that option up with a cable card - or you would need both.

6) Brighthouse would supply a splitter on install.

7) CableCards still have minor issues - but because of some detail record keeping between myself and several people at NOC in Brandon, we have isolated where the issues are coming from and they are looking to fix them.

8) The SA8300HD still have quirks as well and are not perfect, just like cablecards.

Thanks much for the reply.

The satellite option may be problematic because it's a ground-floor apartment that faces North. While, unlike most apartments, we do have a patio area we control, I'm not sure there's a good place to put an antenna, nor that I would want to look at it. How do you find out if you can "see" the satellite or not?

As to Knology, don't they have to run their own wire? If so, "apartment" may be an issue again.

I really don't care much about the OTA HD stations. We very, very rarely watch any of them in SD.

A few more questions, if I may:

Will the CableCard make a difference in picture quality on regular channels? What about on non-OTA HD channels?

Am I "guaranteed" to get the 8300HD if I pay for HD DVR? In other words, is this the only HD DVR Brighthouse Pinellas uses?

If it is the 8300HD, do you know if the HDMI and SATA ports are active? The Sony has HDMI, but I don't want to buy the rather expensive cable if it's not going to work.

The satellite option may be problematic because it's a ground-floor apartment that faces North. While, unlike most apartments, we do have a patio area we control, I'm not sure there's a good place to put an antenna, nor that I would want to look at it. How do you find out if you can "see" the satellite or not?


A compass from a outdoor supplier and a protractor:


Saint Petersburg, FL
Latitude 27° 44.736'N Longitude 82° 45.096'W

Sat Name Sat Lng Az(t) Az(m) El Skew
-------------------------------------------------------------

*** All Satellites 61W - 160W ***

EchoStar 3 61.5W 140.1 144.6 50.0 -34.6 <<Dish Demo Channel/Sky Angel
Rainbow 1 61.5W 140.1 144.6 50.0 -34.6 << Dish Voom
Brasilsat A2 (incl. 5.8 deg) 63.0W 142.4 146.9 50.9 -32.7
Brasilsat B2 65.0W 145.5 150.0 52.1 -30.1
Brasilsat B1 70.0W 154.1 158.6 54.7 -22.8
Nahuel 1 71.8W 157.4 161.9 55.4 -19.9
AMC 6 72.0W 157.8 162.3 55.5 -19.5
Galaxy 12 74.0W 161.7 166.2 56.2 -16.1
SBS 6 74.0W 161.7 166.2 56.2 -16.1
GOES 12 75.0W 163.7 168.2 56.5 -14.4
AMC 5 79.0W 172.0 176.5 57.3 -7.1
DirecTV 3 81.8W 178.0 182.5 57.6 -1.8
Nimiq 2 82.0W 178.4 182.9 57.6 -1.4 <<<< BEV HD
Brasilsat B3 84.0W 182.7 187.2 57.6 2.4
XM Roll 85.0W 184.8 189.3 57.5 4.3
AMC 9 85.0W 184.8 189.3 57.5 4.3
AMC 3 87.0W 189.1 193.6 57.3 8.0
Galaxy 11 91.0W 197.3 201.8 56.3 15.3
Nimiq 1 91.0W 197.3 201.8 56.3 15.3 <<< BEV
Brasilsat B4 92.0W 199.3 203.8 56.0 17.0
Telstar 6 93.0W 201.2 205.7 55.7 18.7
Galaxy 8I (incl. 1.0 deg) 95.0W 205.0 209.5 54.9 22.0
Galaxy 3C 95.0W 205.0 209.5 54.9 22.0
Telstar 5 97.0W 208.6 213.1 54.0 25.1
Inmarsat 2 f2 (incl. 1.7 deg) 98.0W 210.4 214.9 53.5 26.6
Galaxy 4R 99.0W 212.0 216.6 52.9 28.0 <<<< Directv 99 Ka Position
DirecTV 2 100.8W 215.0 219.5 51.9 30.5
DirecTV 1R 100.8W 215.0 219.5 51.9 30.5
AMC 4 101.0W 215.3 219.8 51.8 30.8
DirecTV 1 101.0W 215.3 219.8 51.8 30.8 <<<<Directv 101 SAT A
AMSC 1 101.1W 215.5 220.0 51.8 30.9
DirecTV 4S 101.2W 215.6 220.1 51.7 31.0
AMC 1 103.0W 218.4 222.9 50.6 33.3 <<<< Directv 103 Ka position
Solidaridad 1 (incl. 2.8 deg) 103.5W 219.1 223.6 50.3 34.0
AMC 2 105.0W 221.3 225.8 49.3 35.7
G-Star 3 (incl. 11.5 deg) 105.0W 221.3 225.8 49.3 35.7
G-Star 1 (incl. 6.0 deg) 105.0W 221.3 225.8 49.3 35.7
MSAT 1 106.5W 223.4 227.9 48.3 37.4
Anik F1 107.3W 224.5 229.0 47.8 38.3 << Starchoice
Anik E1 109.2W 226.9 231.4 46.4 40.3
DirecTV 6 109.8W 227.6 232.2 46.0 40.8 <<< Directv SAT C
EchoStar 6 110.0W 227.9 232.4 45.8 41.0<<< Dish 110
EchoStar 8 110.0W 227.9 232.4 45.8 41.0
Anik E2R 111.1W 229.2 233.7 45.0 42.1 <<< Starchoice
Solidaridad 2 113.0W 231.4 235.9 43.6 43.8
Morelos 2 (incl. 4.4 deg) 114.9W 233.5 238.0 42.1 45.3
XM Rock 115.0W 233.6 238.1 42.0 45.4
SatMex 5 116.8W 235.4 239.9 40.6 46.8
Anik E2 118.7W 237.3 241.8 39.0 48.1
DirecTV 5 119.0W 237.6 242.1 38.8 48.3 <<< Directv Sat B
EchoStar 7 119.0W 237.6 242.1 38.8 48.3 <<< Dish 119
EchoStar 5 119.0W 237.6 242.1 38.8 48.3
EchoStar 9/Telstar 13 121.0W 239.4 243.9 37.1 49.6
Galaxy 10R 123.0W 241.2 245.7 35.4 50.8
Galaxy 5 125.0W 242.9 247.4 33.7 52.0
Galaxy 9 127.0W 244.5 249.0 32.0 53.0
Telstar 7 129.0W 246.0 250.5 30.2 53.9 <<< Dish 129 Position
Satcom C3 131.0W 247.4 251.9 28.5 54.8
Galaxy 1R 133.0W 248.8 253.3 26.7 55.6
Satcom C4 135.0W 250.2 254.7 24.9 56.4
GOES 10 135.5W 250.5 255.0 24.5 56.5
AMC 7 137.0W 251.5 256.0 23.1 57.0
AMC 8 139.0W 252.7 257.2 21.4 57.7
Inmarsat 2 f3 (incl. 1.9 deg) 142.0W 254.5 259.0 18.7 58.5
EchoStar 1 148.0W 257.9 262.4 13.3 59.9
EchoStar 2 148.0W 257.9 262.4 13.3 59.9 <<< Dish 148 - lots of luck
TDRS 9 (incl. 7.4 deg) 151.0W 259.5 264.0 10.6 60.5
TDRS 10 (incl. 6.2 deg) 151.0W 259.5 264.0 10.6 60.5
EchoStar 4 157.0W 262.5 267.0 5.2 61.3




As to Knology, don't they have to run their own wire? If so, "apartment" may be an issue again.


Yes, they need their own drop.


Will the CableCard make a difference in picture quality on regular channels? What about on non-OTA HD channels?


If you mean regular HD channels, yes. If you mean regular OTA HD channels, its still yes.

The pitcure with cablecard is cleaner than any other option I have seen from BHN. I have not spent time watching the Non-OTA SD channels so I can't tell you how different they are.



Am I "guaranteed" to get the 8300HD if I pay for HD DVR? In other words, is this the only HD DVR Brighthouse Pinellas uses?


They used to have 8000s but they no longer use those.


If it is the 8300HD, do you know if the HDMI and SATA ports are active? The Sony has HDMI, but I don't want to buy the rather expensive cable if it's not going to work.

HDMI and SATA ports are active. I use it with mine.

Thanks very much for the help and info. :)

I'm still deciding on a TV - it's much more difficult than I thought it would be!

I am looking for suggestions on an indoor antenna for OTA reception. This is really as a backup to my BHN. I have the cable split so the TV has coax already running to it from a splitter and also have an optical cable coming out of the tv into my receiver. I planned ahead for getting the cable card.

I live right at SR54 and the Suncoast have read on the Tampahdtv.com that the Jensen TV940 has worked well for others in this area. This is a hard item to find and was looking for other options that might work. Again, this is mainly as back up to my BHN and more or less just wanting to try it!

Thanks for the advice!

I now see that BrightHouse Cable in Bradenton now offers the four major networks in HDTV. But, I can't find any definitive info about Comcast's local HDTV lineup in Sarasota anywhere on this forum.

Unfortunately, OTA signals are not a viable option for me because gigantic pine trees block signals to the north and east of my house. I can't even get decent regular tv signals from my 25-foot tall roof-mounted VHF antenna...

I would simply call Comcast and ask them, but whenever I've called previously I never get in touch with anyone who seems to know anything for sure.

Does Comast in Sarasota currently offer HDTV on ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC?

It looks like D*Tv is still promising local channels in HDTV but I've been waiting about a year for that to happen and their promises seem to keep getting delayed.

It sure would be nice to get that new plasma television and be able to enjoy watching programming in HDTV!

Thanks for any info or if you can tell me what to search for to find the pertinent info it would be greatly appreciated.

TechoFobe

I've heard, but can't confirm, that Comcast in Sarasota has recently begun carrying all four networks, meaning that they've just added NBC. In addition, I can confirm that they carry WB38 in HD.

I've heard, but can't confirm, that Comcast in Sarasota has recently begun carrying all four networks, meaning that they've just added NBC. In addition, I can confirm that they carry WB38 in HD.

Thanks Ron.

I was just looking at the Titan website and it "looks" as though Comcast in Sarasota does not offer any HD programming on ABC.

Anyone know for sure?

Thanks Ron.

I was just looking at the Titan website and it "looks" as though Comcast in Sarasota does not offer any HD programming on ABC.

Anyone know for sure?

Thanks incorrect. They offer WWSB, an ABC affiliate located in Sarasota, which is channel 40 (40-1 HD) OTA and channel 7 SD cable. I'm not sure what channel they have the HD mapped to as I receive Comcast's OTA HD on MyHD.

I'm buying my mom an HDTV, and she lives in Sarasota. She has basic cable now, do you have to upgrade to the digital cable package in order to add HD? She really doesn't want all of the digital stations, just the HD station.
Ideally she would like to add the HD box and get just the additional HD stations and pay for the box rental of hopefully under $10 a month.

Well I just ordered it online and the chat customer service guy said it would only be an additional $5 per month on top of her basic cable bill.

got this big antenna from r/s get everything really well, but channel 10 cbs is the problem, i know many people have 2 dishes to get it since its pointing diff direction, but during the day i have a 50 signal meter and it worn come in, but
Letterman comes in great with 85 meter, only at nites it works, like 7pm and on................... right its not working, live in pinellas co

thanks

I'm sure you realize that 10 is in Holiday (north of you) whereas all the others are in Riverview, which is probably due west, depending where in Pinellas County you're located.

Channel 10 DT has been off the air many days during the past several weeks for some sort of technical reasons.

They turn it back on during primetime.

It was off all day Friday for example.

Posted last week....


FYI:

Just got off the phone w Tampa Bay 10....they're doing maintenance work and will be down during the day today up until possibly 5:30pm. They will continue doing this work in the coming weeks which may lead to sporadic signal outages in the coming weeks.

They will only be doing the work during daylight hours and should have the signal restored each evening.

According to a Sky Report news article posted in the Hot off the Press sticky in the Programming forum, Tampa HD LILs will be added by D* this Thursday.

Anybody having issues with FOX 13.1 lately? I'm getting pixelization with a strong 86+ signal....

During yesterday's Bucs game, the pixelization was sporadically terrible, yet my signal is about 95.

Yeah I have been seeing the pixelation. On both of my recievers. My HDTivo is reporting 91% without any drops in level. My H20 is reporting 100% with no drops in the levels.

I am assuming it is a uplink issue, or something else other than my signal.

CPanterh95, I called them last week and ask them about scheduling an install they said no. But to call back later. Kinda funny that they wouldn't allow me to schedule an install so I would be ready when they were.

At least you didnt have a AT9 5lnb dish in your possession a month ago and stolen on the way back to Tampa - thank you American Airlines O'Hare Baggage Thieves.

And they want us to believe the airlines are safe and secure when someone can walk off with a box that went through 3 different rental cars before I could find one with a trunk big enought to hold it - as big as a mini-fridge.

Great Security. I certainly feel safe flying now.

I'm buying my mom an HDTV, and she lives in Sarasota. She has basic cable now, do you have to upgrade to the digital cable package in order to add HD? She really doesn't want all of the digital stations, just the HD station.
Ideally she would like to add the HD box and get just the additional HD stations and pay for the box rental of hopefully under $10 a month.

Well I just ordered it online and the chat customer service guy said it would only be an additional $5 per month on top of her basic cable bill.

I just called Tampa/Brandon Brighthouse about getting their HD service and I was told I would have to take their digital pack at a cost of $60+ per month. I told the sales dude no thanks.

Typically, you must have the basic service, then add on their digital service. Of course, then you have the expense of a digital STB rental. Then you add on the HD Package. You get the idea.

ala carte pricing is clearly the answer for the 200 SD Channels no one wants.

I figured since I was getting Brighthouse's high speed cable internet for $42 per month I might get a break. Nope. I get all the basics I need from my c-band dish, I don't need theirs.

Actually, if you are getting their broadband for $42 without their TV service, you are getting a deal unless they have changed that to address Verizon's heavy push.

I was wondering if anyone has a recommendation for a good professional antenna installer in the Tampa, FL area?

It really is a sin that I can get a 10% higher bitrate on NBC via BEV than I can from WFLA and their bitstarved 8.1.

Then if you use Brighthouse and have the signal cut even more, you begin to wonder why they bothered in the first place.

Then if you use Brighthouse and have the signal cut even more, you begin to wonder why they bothered in the first place.

I really wish you would verify this before posting this.

Yes it is a shame how much WFLA chooses to compress their signal. It is also a shame that NBC doesn't do anything about it. Not to mention the fact that they don't pass the DD 5.1 signal.

I really wish you would verify this before posting this.



Its verified. Sorry if you don't believe it.

It is also a shame that NBC doesn't do anything about it. Not to mention the fact that they don't pass the DD 5.1 signal.

I emailed George Thompson daily for months of the screwups every night. He said he would get his affilate relations people to ask if they needed help in the engineering department - you see the answer nightly.

Considering they had no center channel audio for over 2 weeks (although WTSP still has the same problem) until I finally broke down and called them, what do you expect?

Its the worst excuse for a Top 12 market affilate I've ever seen.

Its verified. Sorry if you don't believe it.



It's not verified and you know it.
Anyone can read the last few pages if they want and see that your guess doesn't count as verification.

Not my guess. Its fact and documented over and over.

Why don't you just run the tests yourself as you don't want to believe me.....oh because you aren't a BHN subscriber and can't check it for yourself....never mind.

Who would I believe? Someone who subscribes and has measured it 50 times or someone who doesn't have BHN?

lol.

Hi All ,

I just got the Fusion 5 gold usb version yesterday and I hooked it up to the OTA antenna ( came as a bundle from snapstream), and got a bunch of local HD channels thru my HTPC. I am in Riverview.

I downloaded and installed the official 3.2 version from DVICO website and did not install the older version from the included CD.

My problem is ( in my limited testing I did yesterday), I get picture judder and sound skip in a few channels.
ABC was coming in fine.
PBS and FOX was fine too.

With UPN 44 the picture kept on skipping frames every few seconds and the sound was also intermittent. Same situation with NBC and WB32.

I have a total of 3 usb devices connected to that HTPC -

1 wireless network connector
2 wireless keyboard / mouse
3 fushion 5 Gold usb HDTV .

My HTPC consists of amd64 3200, MSI K8N Noe 4 Platinum, nvidia 6600 GT and 1 Gig of RAM.

Anyone have any ideas as to how I can diagnose and eliminate these judders. They are not on all the channels.

The signal strength is anywhere between 73 % and 90 % and above on these channels.

The taskmanager never showed performance going above 25 to 30 % during this stutter .

Thx in advance.

Once again, bdraw will have to take someone's word on this, but such is life.

Fox 13 believes their might be fixed. They were able to see number of continuity and transport errors in their pixelmetrix box which continued through prime time last night.

Interesting to note, the problems were in the same place OTA or via BHN, but BHN would freeze for several seconds on the worst errors as their re-encoding could not handle the the problems - thus BHN was exhibiting even worse problems.

OTA you would get something like this:

http://img332.imageshack.us/img332/8426/stacked05121425wg.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img332.imageshack.us/img332/3170/stacked05121417nm.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img496.imageshack.us/img496/8950/stacked05121438oh.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

On BHN, the lesser errors were passed while you would get a freeze of audio and video on the more severe errors as their reencoders choked and held the last good image they could process.

Fox13 has not seen the errors this morning and believe the problem might had been a problem in their splicer interface and fixed overnight.

If anyone sees the same type of problems on Fox13 as you have since around the 5th, please not the time and if its via cable (system) or OTA.

Welp, once again on FOX...Bucs pregame is having problems. Studdering every few minutes (sometimes LESS)....anybody else?

i'm seeing the same thing on D* too

I'm watching this OTA thru an HR10-250, and apparently due to the signal being split in the unit to accomodate the 2nd tuner...along with utilizing a hard drive...the studder is much worse and more pronounced than if I just watch it directly hooked into my TV's tuner.

I called WTVT and they took my name and ph #...said there's been a few complaints in my area. VERY annoying.....

Same issues and yes, its pretty bad.

http://img465.imageshack.us/img465/3737/bucspats012ew.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img465.imageshack.us/img465/9382/bucspats024xj.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I'm watching this OTA thru an HR10-250, and apparently due to the signal being split in the unit to accomodate the 2nd tuner...along with utilizing a hard drive...the studder is much worse and more pronounced than if I just watch it directly hooked into my TV's tuner.


Actually, thats due to the way each tuner circuit handles the errors.

Some can handle them better than others - some lock up totally causing the studder where others will show them as the actual error as I have posted here.

It's not due to splitting the signal.

It's not huh? OK...thanks for the clarification.

One thing I *do* know for certain...it's really bad and makes the game almost unwatchable...

One thing I *do* know for certain...it's really bad and makes the game almost unwatchable...

It was unwatchable - no almost about it.

I flipped around and had no issues on Fox out of NY, Boston, Seattle or LA nor TSN-HD out of Canada - so its clearly the same issue we've seen for a week.

They thought they had at fixed yesterday.

Obviously not.

It's not huh? OK...thanks for the clarification.



Just for point of reference and you might be interested, there are 2 lines of thinking.

The first line of thinking is if there is an error, trap it and freeze the last good frame until there another good frame.

The logic behind that is simple - why show an error? If its only a few frames - you might not even notice that it happened.

This was how that Harris IRD at Channel 10 operated up until about 6 months ago. You would see a freeze of the last good frame when they lost their CBS HD Feed. Now you see the famous "Loss of Input Signal" black slate instead.

The other line of thinking is go ahead and show the error and not do any error trapping.

The downside to this is it can desync audio and video - and even lock up a TV or Computer if severe enough - see the MyHD 130 section under the HTPC section of AVS on how this Fox 13 problem is doing exactly that to MyHD cards.

Thus most go with error trapping you describe where the last good frame is captured and frozen until the next good frame arrives.

Once again, bdraw will have to take someone's word on this, but such is life.

I don't have to take your word because you posted proof. No need to take your word when you post pictures that prove your point. This is unlike your past estimates of Bit rate.

When I did have BHN I did do the tests and I did post the proof. Something you are either too lazy to do or you know it would prove yourself wrong. Either way it doesn't matter.
Too bad this forum doesn't have a feature to leave feeback for other users or their posts I would love to see where you stand around here.

As for Fox's problem I have been having it for some time now. My signal strenght indicates 100% on my H20 reciever and their are still drop outs. No doubt it is on their end I just wish they would fix it. As of right now it is still broken during the Saints vs Carolina game.

I don't have to take your word because you posted proof. No need to take your word when you post pictures that prove your point. This is unlike your past estimates of Bit rate.

Interesting. So you post proof with everything you post here? Nope, that's right...you really don't post here anymore....just criticizing others.


When I did have BHN I did do the tests and I did post the proof. Something you are either too lazy to do or you know it would prove yourself wrong. Either way it doesn't matter.


And a year ago I was a year younger. Things change. A year ago D* had 1920x1080i HD Feeds. If it was up to you, you'd still be asking for proof they had Down Rez'd.

I've decided a year ago that you will never get proof on anything from me you request. I have never seen you offer any proof on your posts (when you did them) but wanted full documentation on mine. Sorry.....I've posted more proof on various forums of AVS this year than you have in your life. And I won't be questioned by you any longer. I just find it comical to see you flapping incorrectly in the wind.

If you cared or had any true connections, you could simply go to someone else's house or call the NOC of Brighthouse and get find out for yourself. But you'd rather question those who do know when you don't.


Too bad this forum doesn't have a feature to leave feeback for other users or their posts I would love to see where you stand around here.


Let's see, if you checked the LA Local Threads and the Atlanta threads you will find I have been responsible for fixing the CBS feed in LA in the last 2 weeks as well as the ABC feed in Atlanta - something they stated had been a problem for 2 years and I got it fixed within 3 days. I bet they would just lambast me on the feedback.

I was personally responsible working the Jack Winter at WFTS to get to the bottom of the green stripe on the ABC HD feed last month which ABC now has admitted is their problem nationwide for which they are getting a new decoder for.

The CBS Green Pixel Problem is fixed because of my work with the CBS Advanced Technology Gurus.

So, some like you with high post counts might hate me.

Sorry - actually, no I am not. Use ignore.

Just got off the phone with WFLA. They have agreed to drop the subchannel and broadcast in 5.1 for the upcomming HDTV Jello wrestling match between bdraw and HDTVFanatic.

Can't wait...

:>

Just got off the phone with WFLA. They have agreed to loose the subchannel and broadcast in 5.1 for the upcomming HDTV Jello wrestling match between bdraw and HDTVFanatic.

Can't wait...

:>

Very funny, David. Welcome back!!

I was personally responsible working the Jack Winter at WFTS to get to the bottom of the green stripe on the ABC HD feed last month which ABC now has admitted is their problem nationwide for which they are getting a new decoder for.



But yet you stated as fact that Jack Winter at WFTS has no way of tape delaying HD programming. But yet you were proved wrong.. hmmm.

Interesting. So you post proof with everything you post here? Nope, that's right...you really don't post here anymore....just criticizing others.



You know why I don't post in this thread except to call you out when you spew your fud.
And I know why you don't post where I post.

I never said you were all bad, but I know I am not the only one that goes rounds with you. You do some good, in fact you are the reason I know the bit rates with BHN when I did have BHN.

The only friend I have with BHN and a 1394 port on their STB has the SA8300 and you know the problem with capturing with that box. In fact that is probably the real reason you don't post what I ask for is because you are not able to capture from the SA8300. If you would of said that and dirgressed I would have let it die. But instead you insist on continualy posting what people from BHN say is not true and what I have witnessed in the past as not being true.

But yet you stated as fact that Jack Winter at WFTS has no way of tape delaying HD programming. But yet you were proved wrong.. hmmm.

They have a D5 unit that is not in line and can be installed in the Master Control if they had to.

That still does not allow them to time shift network programming, which was what the thread was about at the time.

And no, I was never proven wrong by anyone on that. They don't tape delay HD programming.

In fact for the past year the GM has gone out of his way to air HD Programming when the SD channel has shown other programming - which is what was questioned- why they were doing that.

The only time ABC HD Programming has been interrupted for local programming was the Hurricane Preparedness Special at the beginning of the season.

You know why I don't post in this thread except to call you out when you spew your fud.
And I know why you don't post where I post.

I never said you were all bad, but I know I am not the only one that goes rounds with you. You do some good, in fact you are the reason I know the bit rates with BHN when I did have BHN.

The only friend I have with BHN and a 1394 port on their STB has the SA8300 and you know the problem with capturing with that box. In fact that is probably the real reason you don't post what I ask for is because you are not able to capture from the SA8300. If you would of said that and dirgressed I would have let it die. But instead you insist on continualy posting what people from BHN say is not true and what I have witnessed in the past as not being true.

lol...I have a 3250 and 8300 and IEEE 1394 out of my Sony CRT.

And if you can't see it, then you just said enough for me as anyone with a decent system can see it.

You better call Sound Advice and have them replace your Mitsubishi again - or better yet - just go back to analog NTSC.

Just got off the phone with WFLA. They have agreed to drop the subchannel and broadcast in 5.1 for the upcomming HDTV Jello wrestling match between bdraw and HDTVFanatic.

Can't wait...

:>

Don't worry - they couldnt get the audio correct - it would only be sound effects and music with no center vocals - and probably 2 1/2 weeks again before someone couldn't take it any longer (I wonder who) and had to call them to tip them off to fix it.

I'm watching this OTA thru an HR10-250, and apparently due to the signal being split in the unit to accomodate the 2nd tuner...along with utilizing a hard drive...the studder is much worse and more pronounced than if I just watch it directly hooked into my TV's tuner.

I called WTVT and they took my name and ph #...said there's been a few complaints in my area. VERY annoying.....

For the people want info, it happened off and on yesterday. They believe they have isolated it now to the Twinstream STL Microwave Path and are working that route.

For those who want proof of everything, just stay in the dark and ignore this post.

Oh yeah.. you won't be able to grasp this but the reason the GM won't allow for HD Tape Delaying is a LEGAL issue and not a technology issue.


You have really proven yourself wrong.

Time shifting of HD programming is totally legal. CBS Affiliates that had the ability were able to do it with Sunday night programming in markets with where the regional 4pm NFL football game ran long and so Cold Case and the Movie were fed on time on the CBS HD Channel. If Channel 10 had the ability, it would have happened here.

The discussion came out when discussing why they did not show the Stanley Cup game in their special a year later in HD. It was shown in SD instead. There are no different legal requirements that would have allowed them to show it in SD and not HD - thus you have proven you know nothing.

Then a discussion came out of timeshifting which is what CBS does on Sunday night in markets where they have the proper storage median (raid arrays). You cannot do that with 1 D5 as you cannot time shift, only record and the rewind the tape. Of course, you wouldn't know that.

lol...I have a 3250 and 8300 and IEEE 1394 out of my Sony CRT.

And if you can't see it, then you just said enough for me as anyone with a decent system can see it.


This post makes no sense to me.
Why did you start a thread over at the recording forum about issues recording from the 8300 to a PC?

If I can't see what?

What was the deal with 28 tonight? The SD, 28-2, was showing Dragonheart and the HD, 28-1, was showing some sitcom at the same time. Is that normal in Tampa???

This post makes no sense to me.
Why did you start a thread over at the recording forum about issues recording from the 8300 to a PC?

If I can't see what?


Because there are issues with the 8300 recording out on the IEEE 1394 to DVHS or PC.

That doesn't mean I don't still have the 3250HD and output from the Sony CRT that output to the IEEE 1394 within their own limitations that are well known - as are the output problems of the 8300HD at this time.

What was the deal with 28 tonight? The SD, 28-2, was showing Dragonheart and the HD, 28-1, was showing some sitcom at the same time. Is that normal in Tampa???

This has happened several times in the past on WFTS.

As stated earlier, the GM decided this year to let the HD Channel feed HD when they change the local SD programming outside of the Hurricane Prepardness Special.

Last year every Saturday Night they had USF Football on both - and the ABC Saturday Night Movies that were on in HD were pre-empted. Luckily he has decided to let the HD split from the SD programming for now - and thus we do not have to endure the Billy Graham specials that are sold in Primetime on the HD Channels either.

I'm having a hard time getting my MDP 130 to tune CBS (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=621993) . I'm using BrightHouse Networks in Clearwater, FL. Does anyone know if CBS is encrypted, or where I might get this info?

By the way, I am able to receive FOX, ABC, and NBC in hi def.

Merged.

Let me start with telling people on here that this may be a unique story. I had been with d* for 7 years and quite happy until I bought an HDTIVO and found out if I wanted to get the HDLILs, the HDTIVO would be basically a brick. I figured, well it happens. Within the next hour as if out of a twilight zone episode, Brighthouse calls me and tells me about the "jump back from satellite" deal and offers me 2 HD DVRs, a cable card for the living room and every channel, Road Runner, and the Phone service for less than $190 per month. I tell her thanks, however I originally switched to D* based on the fact that a service call that I had 7 years ago, nobody showed up for 4 days. She said "we now only give 2 hour blocks, and they are guaranteed". So she schedules my complete install for last friday from 12pm to 2pm. I call D* and cancel and verizon as well.
Friday rolls around and I get a call in the am saying they would not be able to do phone today and reschedule that for Jan 3rd. No big deal at all. Then 2pm comes and goes. I call them and they say it will be by 3pm. That comes and goes. Then they say by 5pm. That comes and goes. Then they say by 8pm. That comes and goes. I call and they reschedule me for sat from 8am to 12pm. Noon comes and nobody is there again. I call and they say it will be around 5pm. He shows up at 4:50 (this is christmas eve) and has the modem and cable card but no HD DVRs. He says "see, its not on the work order". I look at it and it says right there, 2 HD DVRs. So they have to reschedule me for tuesday at 8-10am. I am writing this at 10:10am and still nothing. I will keep you guys updated.

I'm having a hard time getting my MDP 130 to tune CBS (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=621993) . I'm using BrightHouse Networks in Clearwater, FL. Does anyone know if CBS is encrypted, or where I might get this info?

By the way, I am able to receive FOX, ABC, and NBC in hi def.

I just checked it with the a MyHD 130.

It coming in fine.

With the cold weather over the last week, its possible you are having a thermal problem somewhere on the line.

HOWEVER, last I checked Channel 10 was on QAM 106 at 687Mhz - MUCH higher than the other Stations you mentioned. However, WEDU is on the same QAM. You did not mention any of the WEDU Channels. Are you getting them?

If you are getting WEDU's 3 channels, then its a MyHD issue.

If you are not getting WEDU's 3 Channels, I would suggest that your high end is probably loosing signal gain and that's why you cannot get CBS or WEDU. You need to call BHN and get them on a service call to check and balance the line.

One more test - I have uploaded the Channel file for a MyHD 130 for Over The Air on Ant1 and BHN on Ant 2. As AVS will only take certain file types, download the file MyHDCHList.txt and save it to your hard drive. Rename the extension from .txt to .mcl.

Then go into MyHD and open up Channel Settings - Hit Load and point to this saved file.

As I have manually editted it, all you have to do is tune to Ant 2 (make sure your BHN Cable is on Ant 2) and hit 610. It should bring in CBS. If it doesn't then it's clearly the cable connection. Also try the same for WEDU on 603, 604 or 605.

Quite Honestly, I don't really use a MyHD with Brighthouse - only OTA so the channel settings might not be complete and some might have been moved since the Summer when I last editted this file - but it will find WEDU and CBS for you if you have the signal.

And for anyone wondering how I got the BNH Channel Mapped numbers instead of the QAM numbers, I did a scan and made sure I had all the information in the MyHD Software - saved the file to disk and manually editted the .mcl file. Then I simply reimported the file with the Channel Mapping in place.

Also, even though the HD Encrypted Channels are noted, they obviously will not come in with the MyHD Card as it cannot decrypt the signal on these.

Let me start with telling people on here that this may be a unique story. I had been with d* for 7 years and quite happy until I bought an HDTIVO and found out if I wanted to get the HDLILs, the HDTIVO would be basically a brick. I figured, well it happens. Within the next hour as if out of a twilight zone episode, Brighthouse calls me and tells me about the "jump back from satellite" deal and offers me 2 HD DVRs, a cable card for the living room and every channel, Road Runner, and the Phone service for less than $190 per month. I tell her thanks, however I originally switched to D* based on the fact that a service call that I had 7 years ago, nobody showed up for 4 days. She said "we now only give 2 hour blocks, and they are guaranteed". So she schedules my complete install for last friday from 12pm to 2pm. I call D* and cancel and verizon as well.
Friday rolls around and I get a call in the am saying they would not be able to do phone today and reschedule that for Jan 3rd. No big deal at all. Then 2pm comes and goes. I call them and they say it will be by 3pm. That comes and goes. Then they say by 5pm. That comes and goes. Then they say by 8pm. That comes and goes. I call and they reschedule me for sat from 8am to 12pm. Noon comes and nobody is there again. I call and they say it will be around 5pm. He shows up at 4:50 (this is christmas eve) and has the modem and cable card but no HD DVRs. He says "see, its not on the work order". I look at it and it says right there, 2 HD DVRs. So they have to reschedule me for tuesday at 8-10am. I am writing this at 10:10am and still nothing. I will keep you guys updated.

As this was moved to the Tampa Thread, are you on the Hillsborough side or the Pinellas side of the Bay? Or are you in Orlando and CPanther thinks all of Florida is Tampa :)

Im on the Tampa side in Westchase. They finally got everything up and running. THis has been the worst ordeal in customer service I have ever gone through. I have become friendly with one of the managers there over this whole thing, so that is a plus if I ever have any more problems atleast.

Let me start with telling people on here that this may be a unique story... ...I originally switched to D* based on the fact that a service call that I had 7 years ago, nobody showed up for 4 days. She said "we now only give 2 hour blocks, and they are guaranteed"... ...I am writing this at 10:10am and still nothing. I will keep you guys updated.

Joshesi,

Guarantee? What was the guarantee? Did they guaranteed you to endlessly screw you around? :(

Doesn't sound too terribly "unique". It sounds like the same - old same old; only worse? Hope you eventually get service... Your're evidently much easier going than I am. Wow. Guaranteed to disappoint?

Maybe you should never have cancelled D* and Verizon? I wouldn't guaranteed it, but if you would've opted to pay for all three expensive companies (simultaneously) you could at least watch TV while you wait for service. Maybe. :eek:

The scariest thing for me is that I'm ready to get the MPEG4 deal from D*... What did you do while you waited and waited?

joshesi,

That tale of installation woe is the most disturbing I've heard in a long time, and I think it irritates me as much as it does you. Why? Because those guys work for me, and I'm going to find out how and why this happened.

We'll make this right. But I need to get some more info from you to resolve this. Check your PM's.

My apologies for the troubles.


Greg

So... now that the little tiff is over...

Any word on 13.1?

For the last two weeks I've stopped my Bucs recording after the first few minutes and just watched/recorded in SD (HR10-250). The playoffs are approaching and I'd hate to have to watch that in SD too.

So... now that the little tiff is over...

Any word on 13.1?

For the last two weeks I've stopped my Bucs recording after the first few minutes and just watched/recorded in SD (HR10-250). The playoffs are approaching and I'd hate to have to watch that in SD too.

The 13-1 Atlanta v. Bucs game was bad early, but ok in the second half as I recall. I also use a HR10-250. I still don't think it is entirely resolved, but it was clearly better in the second half.

Little tiff? Thanks newbie, but I dont think it was a little tiff. I am sorry you could not watch your precious game in HD.
Back to the real world. BHN now guarantees appts. Atleast that is what they say on the commercials. It turns out all the guarantee is, is if they miss it, you get a $20 credit towards your account. I am installed, but it was a bad install. Nobody knows how to do anything with cablecard, and the upstairs install has a coaxial running through my movie theater since the guy did not bring enough cable. I think I might leave and go back to D*, but the principle of them not informing me that the HDTIVO will not work was the part that bothered me. Then they would not install my loft movie theater unless I paid for the install myself. So BHN made the most sense, until I missed three days of work waiting for them.

Little tiff? Thanks newbie, but I dont think it was a little tiff. I am sorry you could not watch your precious game in HD.
Back to the real world. ...

Sorry that you had trouble with your Bighthouse install.

This thread is about the Tampa local HDTV scene, not just brighthouse. There is nothing wrong with a new poster asking questions about OTA tampa reception in this thread.

Having also read the previous posts, the man who has the power to give you satisfaction has already sent you a PM, so I could see where the new guy thought it was resolved.

Your situation sucks and I can show empathy for you, but please don't jump on the newbies.

It wasnt meant to jump on them, but rather than say, the tiff is over, a person CAN just ask a question rather than trivialize another matter.

Fair enough...then again the "newbie" has been lurking since feb 2005. He has probably seen similar posts describing every service providers installation practices, as they all offer gererally poor service. Good luck and I hope it gets resolved!

looking to pick your brains for some ideas. i've been trying to pull in 8-1 at my parents house in venice for at least a year and can't. i'm using a antennas direct v-21 vhf/uhf yagi, a dishnetwork 921 and a cm 7777 pre-amp.

all other riverview stations come in strong and solid including 38-1. what has me baffled is i'm using the exact same equipment 30 miles further south in port charlotte and i get 8-1 solid? and i installed the same antenna at a friends house in south venice about halfway between my house and my parents and can get 8-1
with a voom receiver and no pre-amp? all 3 locations are pulling in ft. myers off the
back of the antenna solid.
is anyone else on the same tower as 8-1? if so i'll try to peak them. any ideas?

Little tiff? Thanks newbie, but I dont think it was a little tiff. I am sorry you could not watch your precious game in HD.
Back to the real world. BHN now guarantees appts. Atleast that is what they say on the commercials. It turns out all the guarantee is, is if they miss it, you get a $20 credit towards your account. I am installed, but it was a bad install. Nobody knows how to do anything with cablecard, and the upstairs install has a coaxial running through my movie theater since the guy did not bring enough cable. I think I might leave and go back to D*, but the principle of them not informing me that the HDTIVO will not work was the part that bothered me. Then they would not install my loft movie theater unless I paid for the install myself. So BHN made the most sense, until I missed three days of work waiting for them.


Time Out.

I think the tiff comment and more about 13.1 was talking about the tiff between some elitest of some lame website and myself - so don't get in an uproar.

A copy of this thread was sent to the top people at Brighthouse overnight and judging by the response above from this morning, people there were not happy and wanted some answers.

I have built a tolerable relationship with BHN over the past 2 years and don't agree with everything - but I have complaints with Dish and Directv as well - not to mention other satellite services.

Now, you have their attention. Get the install you want. If you aren't happy then you can move on. But at least they are listening to you.

So... now that the little tiff is over...

Any word on 13.1?

For the last two weeks I've stopped my Bucs recording after the first few minutes and just watched/recorded in SD (HR10-250). The playoffs are approaching and I'd hate to have to watch that in SD too.

They thought they had the problem narrowed down to their STL (Studio Transmitter Link) between the studio on Kennedy and the Transmitter in Riverview.

If you have the any recordings of the entire stream during the problem and examine it, you will see that it was throwing PIDs everywhere. All these were errors. And you had literally hundreds if not thousands of PIDs a minute.

This was causing some devices to lock up. The MyHD cards were one of these items if you left them on Ch 13.1 (12.1) overnight and during the day. It was so bad it would lock up your entire computer and require a hard power disconnect.

I knew that as of last Friday night they were not throwing out all those erroneous PIDS each second.

Their VP of Engineering left for vacation last Friday until 1/3/2006 and obviously thought they had it corrected for the most part or I am sure he would not have left.

I flipped on the game very briefly (60 seconds) around 3:30pm and did not see a problem at that time.

I do however know that there is still an error occurring every few hours as I have had the MyHD card and computer lock up every day at random times on Channel 13. Thus something is still intermittent - although you as you can probably guess - intermittent problems are the most difficult to find.

If the problems are still there, document the time and what kind of frequency and I will make sure they get the info. I'll probably go back and watch Stacked and see if I see anything out of place :)

Little tiff? Thanks newbie, but I dont think it was a little tiff. I am sorry you could not watch your precious game in HD.
Back to the real world. BHN now guarantees appts. ...

Hey fella. I wasn't talking about you. Reading comprehension? This thread didn't start with your BHN rant. I came here looking for info about 13.1 and the recent problems. I saw some messages about it, then there was a "fight" between two posters, and then your post. I did NOT in fact read anything about your problem. So I have no idea what it is you are complaining about. And I still don't know, because I don't care. So, sorry you had trouble with BHN. That's why I'm on DirecTV myself.

They thought they had the problem narrowed down to their STL (Studio Transmitter Link) between the studio on Kennedy and the Transmitter in Riverview.

If you have the any recordings of the entire stream during the problem and examine it, you will see that it was throwing PIDs everywhere. All these were errors. And you had literally hundreds if not thousands of PIDs a minute.

This was causing some devices to lock up. The MyHD cards were one of these items if you left them on Ch 13.1 (12.1) overnight and during the day. It was so bad it would lock up your entire computer and require a hard power disconnect.

I knew that as of last Friday night they were not throwing out all those erroneous PIDS each second.

Their VP of Engineering left for vacation last Friday until 1/3/2006 and obviously thought they had it corrected for the most part or I am sure he would not have left.

I flipped on the game very briefly (60 seconds) around 3:30pm and did not see a problem at that time.

I do however know that there is still an error occurring every few hours as I have had the MyHD card and computer lock up every day at random times on Channel 13. Thus something is still intermittent - although you as you can probably guess - intermittent problems are the most difficult to find.

If the problems are still there, document the time and what kind of frequency and I will make sure they get the info. I'll probably go back and watch Stacked and see if I see anything out of place :)

Thanks for the info and for being civil.

I have been in conversation with a couple of managers there. We will see how it is handled. One manager when he heard the whole story could not believe what he was hearing. 9 times did they not show up. All within a 3 day period.

Thanks for .....being civil.

I must be getting sick or not feeling right :D

I have been in conversation with a couple of managers there. We will see how it is handled. One manager when he heard the whole story could not believe what he was hearing. 9 times did they not show up. All within a 3 day period.

Remember, if everything goes right, everyone is happy. But in the real world crap happens. What really seperates the good from the bad is how it is handled when the bad stuff happens. The bad companies just don't care and have lousy follow through. It will be interesting to see how your experience turns out.

Considering that they first saw the email with the threads when they arrived at work and you had a response from Greg the same morning shows upper management is taking this seriously and I do give them points for that.

At least the right people have now seen it which most likely would not have happened without avsforums.


That tale of installation woe is the most disturbing I've heard in a long time, and I think it irritates me as much as it does you. Why? Because those guys work for me, and I'm going to find out how and why this happened.

http://tbtf.org/page.cfm?link=gregmclaughlin

"Greg McLaughlin is the Assistant General Manager of Bright House Networks' Hillsborough County Operation, based in Brandon, FL. In this capacity, he is responsible for daily operations in the delivery of video, advanced broadband and digital phone services to the more than 500,000 residents of Hillsborough County, Florida"

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6810882&&#post6810882

Sinclair makes deal with Verizon
Ryan Sharrow
Staff

Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcast Group has reached a multi-year affiliation with Verizon Services Corp., to provide cable service for Sinclair owned and operated television stations in the Baltimore and Tampa Fla., markets.

Sinclair's two Baltimore stations, WBFF Fox 45 and WNUV WB 54, are among those affected.

Baltimore and Tampa will also serve as the first Sinclair markets to use Verizon's FIOS-TV service. The service will compete with cable and satellite providers of television programming.

According to Verizon's Web site, FIOS will provide a 100 percent fiber optic network with an on-demand library, HDTV channels, DVR, premium and international channels, much like Comcast's digital cable service.

Sinclair hopes to enter into similar agreements for its other stations as FIOS-TV expands its footprint into other Sinclair markets, Sinclair General Counsel Barry Ferber said in a statement.

Sinclair's television group stretches to roughly 22 percent of U.S. television households and includes ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, WB and UPN affiliates.

a

An update is after speaking with some of the upper mgt, I have agreed to let them come back out on the 3rd to finish the install that they did not do right to begin with. IE a cable card that still does not work, coaxial runs, not nearly long enough, and to finally hook up the phone. I agree with the poster that said, upper management is handling this and doing it well so far. However the problem is getting to uppermanagement. I dont care about any company, if someone missed three days of work, and the company missed 7 appts, those things should not happen. And should be addressed rather than here is a credit for the month where things are going wrong, and "since you are dealing with management now, I promise these things wont happen again." I understand that dealing with higher ups helps, but they are basically making me the same guarantee that the CSR's are making. I hope it is different, I seriously do. Maybe I will see some of them at CES and make some friends, you never know.

I'm in a totally different direction from you.

8.1 (really 7.1) is a bitch to get and it's trial and error. It's so low on the "High" VHF band that it just very difficult.

I am finding that the MyHD 130 with the newer tuner actually does WORSE with WFLA-DT than the older MyHD 120 in my location out on the beach.

If there is any news happening they will cut in or run crawls over the down rezed HD.

Between the difficultly receiving, their constant crawls, the lack of quality HD and their low bitrate (not to mention their lack of any real HD Programming that has ratings during Prime Time), I've have found myself almost to the point of not punching them in any longer - only to be disappointed.

I go to out of market NBC stations first for better quality HD.

If you really want them, you can only keep trying different antennas, amps and tuner combinations because 7.1 is difficult.

It isn't a big deal if I can't get it as I'm picking up 20.1(15.1) NBC Fort Myers off the
back. I'm more curious in a technical sense as to why I had no problem locking them in solid at my house 30 miles further south. My parents think that I'm nuts
going up and down their roof the past year trying to get one station that they get anyway with their Dish local package and the same prime time programming from Ft. Myers on 20.1?

Channel 8 makes money on News - they don't on HD.

Thus they will drop out of HD in a heartbeat to solidify their news image.

Quite honestly, the Ft. Myers station will most likely have much better looking quality on the HD without all the Channel 8 HD errors, low bitrates and news crawl interuptions.

IS THERE SOME WHERE TO GET A WEEKLY SCHEDULE OF hd PROGRAMING FOR THE TAMPA AREA

Anyone else seeing these signal drops on Channel 28 DT? Mostly during commercial breaks? Been happening 2-3 days.

8.1 and 28.1 were off air around 12:30am this morning for 2 hours. Will find out what that was about today.

Edit:

Tower work at top of the tower. Both had to go down for RF radiation standards.

They both have the backup sites for analog but not for Digital.

Just when you think WFLA cannot screw it up any worse, they prove they can.

No center audio on premiere of Four Kings after major network promotion for 4 weeks. Nothing but music and applause - except for commercials.

Hands down pathetic - no attention to detail.

Hey, everybody. I've been lurking here for a while but haven't posted before. I was wondering if anyone the the Tampa area has gotten the new AT9 dish installed. Since I live in Sebring OTA is hit or miss, CBS is miss all the time. I am supposed to have the new dish and H20 receiver installed tomorrow. I'll post how it goes.

Anyone in the Valrico/Brandon area able to bring in channel 10 CBS OTA, I just got a LG 3510A tuner and can bring in all the local HDTV channels with the terk tv5 indoor antenna but cant get any signal for CBS.

My friend has his AT9 dish installed. He likes it but hasn't made many comments on the PQ.
D* has been out twice to do my install and they never bring everything they need. They resheduled for next month hopefully they will remember to bring everything they need.

Any word on BHN getting MTV HD which is suppose to launch 1/16/06?

My friend has his AT9 dish installed. He likes it but hasn't made many comments on the PQ.
D* has been out twice to do my install and they never bring everything they need. They resheduled for next month hopefully they will remember to bring everything they need.

Next Month??????

What else do you need besides the AT-9, a H20 and a meter?

BHN INSTALL - Nightmare for cable TV install and phone service!

I've called BHN about 10 times prior to date.
I visited BHN office in Bradenton on SR-64 (Bradenton).
I selected the HD cable box I wanted (DVI, no HDMI, several inputs).
I selected install times (after 3 p.m. teacher here so I work)
I called to verify my equipment & install time on Tues. January 17. Everything OK.

Did install go smoothly after all the proactive steps? You decide.

Thursday (install date):
BHN called about 1 p.m. to install. (message given to BHN "I'm home by 3 p.m.)
I'm home at 3:15 p.m.
Phone service w/Verizon shut down for BHN phone service (people can not call in).
I'm a quadriplegic (paralyzed chest down) & if emergency occurs there is BIG trouble.
I called BHN.
Customer Service on phone helpful but asked why did I make a 12 - 4 p.m. install time. I didn't.

I'm told install will occur today. If BHN not here by 6 p.m. I should call.
6 p.m. I call. (I'm receiving email that my phone is not working.)
BHN rep said they will be here tonight.

7:15 p.m. on install day:
BHN arrives
BHN can only install phone service due to late hour.
BHN installer decent person & stated he'd return the next day to install cable TV (after 3!)

Day 1 after install date:
BHN appears just after 4 p.m. This is good.
Disconnected satellite service, had a few glitches but that's OK.
Cable box: PACE cable box with HDMI!!! (I ordered DVI!)
All my cables are DVI. TV is DVI. DVD player is DVI. I bought additional DVI cables.

BHN installer said this is the new box. I was at their office 3 weeks earlier.
BHN installer on phone. I hear that HDMI is better than DVI.
I state "That's an opinion." and I mention that my cables & equip. are DVI.
I have optical cables for audio.
I print a copy of the Pace DC550HD. (It has DVI.)

BHN installer can not get behind my HDTV. (Awkward setting needing 2 people to get behind plus install cable.) Installer stated he'd call on Saturday around 11 a.m. to give me time that he could return with another person to finish the install.

I agree.

Day 2 after installation date:
Waiting for phone call.
I waited until 1:30 p.m. because I received no call.
BHN customer service was requested by me to read back the equip. I ordered.
BHN read about Pace DC550HD with DVI.
BHN rep was respectable. She stated that she'd make an app't for 2 installers to come here
AND to bring a DVI HD box.

When? NEXT SATURDAY!!!! Only 9 days after installation.

What can I do to finish this install properly?

Stan

Sorry about your problems Stan, that really sucks. Here are a couple of observations that maybe others can benefit from:

1: Don't rely upon installations to occur at a set time. My personal experience and reading posts of others has been that they are very rarely on time.

2: If you are replacing a service, don't discontinue the previous service until the new one is up and running. This is especially true with phone service where you could have a life safety issue.

3: HDMI and DVI are compatable, a $20 dollar adapter can be used to carry HDMI video over a DVI cable. Obviously, since Stan told them he needed DVI, they should have at least arrived with the adapter. It is probably likely that they don't have many DVI boxes in service, and even more likely that they will not receive any new ones as everything new is constructed with the HDMI interface.


I really hope they make things right.

Beat Regards,

Mike

Not good at all.

I am not beginning to make excuses for most of this, but be aware, under US Code, all STBs sold to a MSO after 6/30/2005 for HD MUST HAVE HDMI and IEEE1394 ports. Now I will also tell you that BHN is in violation of the US Code as the IEEE 1394 Ports on the SA8300HD are not working, but they claim they are working on the situation. That said......

As HDMI is the same as DVI with audio added, I am not aware of any STB that has DVI and HDMI any longer. It's simple redundant and adds to the cost.

If they can find you an older DVI box they had in stock, that would be nice, but you are essentially requesting and original bumper for a 1909 Model T at this point.

The $20 adapter to convert a HDMI to DVI might be your only choice.

The other stuff is totally unacceptable, however I still don't understand why people turn off one service before another is active.

I feel pretty confident that BHN reps will see your comments and make things right.

Hope everything turns around this week.

[B]Thank you for the support.

Regarding turning off of service:

A) I put Dish Network on "Dish Pause" where $5/month puts my account on hold for up to 6 months.
• However BHN installer completely disconnected my Dish Network Video Path Multi-Dish Switch from the outside of my home and brought the unit into the home. So, I still have all the hardware but have been cut-off. I still have Dish Network on 'hold' in case BHN is not desirable down the road.

B) Phone service: in order for BHN to take-over my phone service Verizon had to release my line & number. Took them 2.5 weeks but Verizon HAD to be halted before BHN could take over my phone service. I had no option. (I have no cell phone because I physically can not work a cell phone.)

I covered my bases with Dish Network on 'hold.' (Up to 6 months!)
I never expected BHN to remove my Dish Network video switch from exterior of home. (Is the S.O.P.?)

I agree that HDMI is the way to go but...
A) my HDTV is DVI
B) DVD player is DVI
C) cables I must suppy (BHN does not supply HDMI nor DVI) are ALL DVI, even an all DVI switch.
D) set top box that I was shown & ordered in person was Pace DC550HD (DVI and componant with no HDMI)
E) Installed was Pace DC551 with HDMI
F) I have read my arcticles regarding the SA 8300 cable box having 'issues,'
G) I was to by BHN tech person (face-to-face) that BHN supports DVI and that BHN does not support HDMI.

Regarding install time: All according to the day Verizon would release my phone service & number. They could release on the 19th (about 17-18 days after I ordered everything.). Also, since I work it's 3 p.m. on. Guess I could have scheduled a Saturday install but if install went wrong then I'd miss NFL play-offs on Sunday with no recourse.)

I'm trying to figure what base was not covered!

BTW,

No manual for cable box with HDMI

Cable box is connected to my receiver with componant cable only.

HD channels change their zooming on their own about every 1-3 minutes (not counting commercials) with digital and lower stations do not have this issue.

I watch news EVERY day and the only way to hear my HDTV is through my surround sound stytem. News in surround sound is strange! I get NO audio from HDV unless I switch to my local rotary roof-top ant. Does this 'sound' correct?!

Stan

Looks like you covered all of your bases and they still screwed it up.

Did not know that about verizon, I guess the only thing you could have done would be get a new number for the bhn phone, but that wouldn't be practical.

Regarding the DVI/HDMI thing, there is no reason they should touch your DVD player, so don't let them. The Cable box can be connected using a HDMI to DVI adapter using your existing DVI cabling, but you would have to run a seperate rca-pair for the analog audio if you use your display's speakers.

I would be pissed if they took my dish down, what gives them the right to do that. I would demand that they have the dish reattached and alligned. Who are they to decide that you can't have both services.

I am a little unclear on your setup...are you saying that you are using your A/V receiver as a video switcher? Where does DVI come into play?

HD channels changing zoom could have to do with the way the box is set up. I beleive that there is a setting when using a component connnection that will automatically zoom 480i signals. Maybe someone with the 551 box can chime in here.

Not a good start for BHN.

Thanks Mike__P.

I know about the HDMI - DVI cables but I have already purchased DVI only cables plus my switch box is only DVI. As you state, I'd have to run another cable for audio since DVI only carries video. So, I bought addition Toslink (optical) cable for audio from BHN cable box to my receiver.

My current, with BHN, set-up has ...
my DVI & componant HDTV receiving video. (HDTV supports 1080i with no support for 720p.)
How?
My receiver has all video & audio connects BUT no HDMI & NO DVI.
Video travels this path:
BHN cable box connected to my receiver with componant cable that I provided.
Receiver connected to HDTV (with video out to VID 1) by S-video.

I'm watching HI-DEF on S-video? I don't think so because that's impossible! This is why I think the screen frequently changes viewing size on Hi-Def channels.

I'm getting a $20 break on my 1st BHN bill due to install time problems.
I would prefer a smooth install with no removal of my Dish Network equipment.

Tech support did call while I was out leaving a message for me to call so that we can solve this issue.
BHN customer service, when I call, is extremely pleasant and several have commented on my pre-install efforts and dismay on install difficulties.

I WANT to switch to BHN.
I WANT BHN to be my provider for TV, internet, and phone service.
However, they are making my selection questionable.

Stan

Maybe I am not understanding you, tell me if I have this right:

You have a HDTV with one DVI input. To expand inputs you have a DVI switch box.

Given the above as fact, this is how I would connect your video setup:

Use an HDMI to DVI adapter to connect the back of your HD cable box to your existing DVI cable that goes to your DVI switch box. When I say adapter, I mean this a plug that screws right onto the DVI cable and terminates with a Male HDMI plug.



The way you described your connections above, you are not getting HDTV. S-Video is only capable of 480i, so unless you have your receiver connected to the display with component (red, blue, green), you are not getting HDTV.

Hope this helps.

Mike__P

Thanks, that does help.

You are correct regarding my DVI HDTV plus switch box.

I agree with you regarding HDMI to DVI adaptor. Looking into getting this connector.

• Hot off the press (phone) •

Talked with Manatee County tech and...

1) instead of waiting for Saturday they're coming out tomorrow about 3:30 (Great!),
2) they are bringing out the correct cable box with DVI,
3) they will reinstall my Dish Network equipment,
4) they will fix my audio problems (currently everything is surround sound & that includes the news),
5) Two people will be here
6) my DVI cables will be used so no additional cable to be bought

Now, this sounds great! I'm hoping everythings occurs!

If above happens, I'm happy!

Stan

Does anyone have Cable Card for Brighthouse? How is the SD PQ on HDTV, is it same as DTV?

Does anyone have Cable Card for Brighthouse? How is the SD PQ on HDTV, is it same as DTV?

The cable card has the best picture you will get from BHN. For SD (I assume you mean the analog SD Channels 2-99) you will get the same marginal picture you get with 8300HD and the 3250HD. That of course is due to the limitations of analog SD broadcasts.

With digital HD signals if your HDTV can resolve it, you can see a clear difference in the CableCard vs the SA8300 connected by HDMI. Quite honestly, you probably need glasses if you cannot see the difference.

But even with cablecard, BHN is still VERY inferior to OTA HD Broadcasts. You would have to need glasses not to be able to see that difference almost instantly as well.

Obviously, few people compare the 2 or they would know how poor the locals look in HD on BHN.

The 8300 via HDMI is also superior to the SA3250HD connected via DVI > HDMI or YPbPr.

The IEEE 1394 to the HDTV looks very promising - but I have not played with it enough to see where it falls in the rank order.

Thank you for your reply HDTVFanatic,

I just ordered the H20, but won't be installed until March 4th, that is along way to go. Do any of you guys do installation? I wouldn't mind paying you guys to do the installation for me :) I live in St. Petersburg.

Until they get the bugs worked out of the mpeg4 (which might not be until your install date - or later) I am not sure D* is going to be any better for you.

• Update on Install •

BHN showed it wants my business and wants to satisfy me as a customer!

2 techs showed up at 3:30 to fix everything that was messed up from before.

Initially was a bit surprised that when the correct cable box was installed, DC550, it was defective, HOWEVER, a quick phone call had a new one in transit.

After 4 hours (yes that's 4 hours!) BHN had accomplished...

1) reinstalling my Dish Network equipment and had it working,
2) connect a DC550 DVI cable box that works great,
3) connected audio back to my HDTV,
4) brought out 2 more techs to help install progress,
5) connected Samsung upconverting DVD player,
6) and have ALMOST everything working PERFECTLY in my main room and my receiver zone 2 room (very minor glitch to be fixed Friday or Saturday for DVD player send video to zone 2).

4 hours was long but worth it!

BHN demonstrated SUPERIOR follow-up to correct a messed up install and BHN now has an extremely happy customer.

If you are in Manatee County I would highly recommend Kevin install your system. Great person who understands what he is doing.

Thank you BHN!

Stan

But even with cablecard, BHN is still VERY inferior to OTA HD Broadcasts. You would have to need glasses not to be able to see that difference almost instantly as well.


Haha,
Everytime I read this thread I am tempted to subscribed to BHN just for your.

I feel very sad for you if you that someone on your local website that has BHN and OTA won't let you come over in person so that you can compare the two. Speaks highly of you, your local web site and it's users as you continue to speak out of your butt.

I live in Sarasota county and get basic Comcast service(paid for out of my condo fees). I've just purchased a Sony HDG HHD 500 HD PVR with a built in QAM tuner. I understand most cable companies broadcast their local channels(including HD) unencrypted which I should be able to receive with my QAM tuner. I' m receiving O/A digital and analog - and cable analog channels w/o a problem. Although I receive some(about 10) cable digital channels, I don't receive any HD cable channels including any local HD channels which everyone else seems to receive with the QAM tuner w/o a cable card or settop box. If these channels aren't encrypted they should have showed up on the initial channel scan with the PVR .


I know from previous posts the frequencies for the digital channels can be different when using the QAM tuner rather than a settop box(channel 205 with a box might, for example, , be 110.68, 552, or any other # when using the QAM tuner). Can anyone tell me whether Sarasota Comcast encrypts their local HD channels. If not what are the local HD channels mapped to as well as those for TNTHD, DISCHD, HBOHD, SHOHD, INHD, & INHD2.

Thanks Stingray1

Can anyone tell me whether Sarasota Comcast encrypts their local HD channels. If not what channels they have the local HD channels mapped to as well as those for TNTHD, DISCHD, HBOHD, SHOHD, INHD, & INHD2.

Thanks Stingray1

Stingray:
The unencrypted channels, and their locations are:

81-1 WB38
81-2 NBC
84-2 CBS
84-1 ABC
113-1 PBC
113-2 FOX

These are where I find them with my MyHD MDP-130 QAM tuner. TNT, ESPN, Discovery, HBO, Showtime and InHD are encrypted.

Hope this helps.

Thanks a lot Ron - I' give them a try. Are they unencrypted?

Sorry Ron your post already answered that question.

Thanks a lot Ron - I' give them a try. Are they unencrypted?


The ones I listed are unencrypted.

I just picked up a Pace DC551 from BHN with firmware 2.4.18.1101 sara 1.42.05.

I wated to do some comparive captures between BHN and OTA. But when I plug in the 1394 port from PC into the Pace box it isn't detected by windows.
I also went through the service menu and didn't see 1394 mentioned. I seem to remember it being mentioned on the 3250HD I had before where the 1394 port did work.
*to reach the service menu hold down select on the front of the box till the mail icon appears then hit info. Use vol+/- on the front of the box to change through the pages*

Anyone else have this box and tried the 1394 port to see if it works?

Simply plug the unit into your Mitsubishi 1000 and see if the ports are active or going through the same issue that the SA8300HD is.

But you are making this process to complicated.

Just switch between an OTA HD feed and the Pace box and if your Mitsubishi has the resolution, you'll see it right away - even with the delay.

Just use your eyes.