no,fios isnt available in my area(pasco county) yet and i cant seem to get through to the right person about when fios will be available in my area,no one seems to know,or want to tell me i guess..

The package that i want is only about 20 dollars more a month than i am already paying for basic cable+roadrunner,i just want to be satisfied with what im paying for.

and the tivo2 was basically a hand-me-down freebie,so im not too concerned about using it if i have the hd-dvr

you are satisfied with the overall service and equipment from brighthouse?

Thanks for the help

the biggest problem i had with the hd dvr was when trying to watch a program that is currently recording...you could not start watching it from the beginning...it would only start from the current recording point. you could rewind it to the beginning at 16X speed with your eyes closed, but if you were not caught up by the time the recording ended you would get kicked out of the show and have to FF or RR to the point where you left off. it has been about 4 months since i left so i don't know if that changed.

thanks for the input

I have the TiVo Series3 with two CableCARDS, it sucks that BHN charges $4/mo per card and it needs two so you can record two shows at once.
It works great, worth every penny which is saying something at $600, but after having the SA8300HD it was either get a Seires3 or quit watching TV.

Calling all HD experts,

I need help choosing antenna for the Samsung DTB-260F. Please recommend a good either Indoor or Outdoor that I can try out. If an Outdoor antenna will give me a better signal reception, I might go that route. Also, any place around town to get the antenna? I'm located in St. Pete here are the
* yellow - uhf WEDU-DT 3.1 PBS TAMPA FL 88° 24.4 54
* yellow - uhf WXPX-DT 66.1 i BRADENTON FL 92° 24.4 42
* yellow - vhf WTVT-DT 13.1 FOX TAMPA FL 92° 25.7 12
* yellow - uhf WTOG-DT 44.1 CW ST. PETERSBURG FL 88° 24.4 59
* yellow - uhf WTTA-DT 38.1 MNT ST. PETERSBURG FL 89° 24.4 57
* yellow - uhf WMOR-DT 32.1 IND LAKELAND FL 92° 24.4 19
* yellow - uhf WFTS-DT 28.1 ABC TAMPA FL 89° 24.4 29
* yellow - vhf WFLA-DT 8.1 NBC TAMPA FL 89° 24.4 7
* yellow - uhf WCLF-DT 22.1 CTN CLEARWATER FL 92° 24.4 21
* yellow - uhf WTSP-DT 10.1 CBS ST. PETERSBURG FL 351° 26.5 24
* green - uhf WUSF-DT 16.1 PBS TAMPA FL 88° 24.4 34
* lt green - uhf WVEA-DT 25.1 UNI VENICE FL 92° 24.4 25
* red - uhf WFTT-DT 50.1 TFA TAMPA FL 89° 24.4 47
* blue - uhf WWSB-DT 52.1 ABC SARASOTA FL 138° 25.3 52
Note:

"Also, any place around town to get the antenna? "
Metro Electronics 391-1577

TV Trey,
Tried that, and they have none. Thanks.

Verizon's FIOS was just wired in Heritage Harbour, I-75 and exit 220. However, Verizon hasn't made any contact. So we continue to use Brighthouse, DirectV, OTA, etc. Meanwhile:

We're planning on round two of Home Theater get togethers. The next scheduled round of HT visits starts on Saturday February 24, at the home of Tampa Bay Bucs fans Dawn and Doug Hicks in northwest Bradenton, tel (941) 798-9911, e-mail hdawn@tampabay.rr.com. Detailed directions are available by e-mailing the Hicks. Please RSVP by e-mail or telephone so we have an idea of possible attendance. Significant others are welcome.

In general, take I-75 to State Road 64 (Exit 220), and go West about 10 miles. They have a big TV in an acoustic room with a raised game-type table at one end.

These are informal events, sometimes with light snacks, to talk HT, watch some demos, and have a good time.

We'll be posting another get together for possibly April 1 in Sarasota. So keep watching.

Sincerely,
Take Aim
AKA Jim Zientara
Bradenton, FL
E-mail: TAJimz@aol.com
Cell (941) 224-1347

I have two digital LCD TVs with Brighthouse HD boxes with all the channels. I have 5 tube analog CRT TVs connected directly to the cable giving channels 2-99. I will soon have the option of changing to Verizon's FIOS. The FIOS cable was laid in Heritage Harbour, I-75 and exit 220, but Verizon has made no contact so far.

If I convert to FIOS which is digital, will I still be able to connect my 5 CRT TVs directly or will I need to spend maybe $6+ per TV per month to get 5 boxes to operate my 5 CRTs? True, I may get more channels with the 5 boxes, but I don't really need them. I'm not interested in upgrading 5 CRTs to digital TVs until I have to.

I also wonder if there is a dumb box that converts FIOS digital to analog so I can continue using my TV remotes to change the channels.
Take Aim

The FIOS ONT(Outdoor Network Terminal) that is the interface box between the fiber cable and your internal network CAT-5 cable has a built in "modulator" that converts 15-20 of the basic/local channels that may be tuned on a regular TV by simply hooking up to the cable. If, however, you wanted all your TVs to be able to tune CNN, then you would require the converter boxes and the associated fees would apply. This is one difference between FIOS and cable that might be significant for a large family, or a household that wants the full lineup in all rooms.

I have two digital LCD TVs with Brighthouse HD boxes with all the channels. I have 5 tube analog CRT TVs connected directly to the cable giving channels 2-99. I will soon have the option of changing to Verizon's FIOS. The FIOS cable was laid in Heritage Harbour, I-75 and exit 220, but Verizon has made no contact so far.

If I convert to FIOS which is digital, will I still be able to connect my 5 CRT TVs directly or will I need to spend maybe $6+ per TV per month to get 5 boxes to operate my 5 CRTs? True, I may get more channels with the 5 boxes, but I don't really need them. I'm not interested in upgrading 5 CRTs to digital TVs until I have to.

I also wonder if there is a dumb box that converts FIOS digital to analog so I can continue using my TV remotes to change the channels.
Take Aim

you can get channels 2 - 49 directly, but you have to look at the channel guide to see what you are really getting (mostly locals and lots of public access) you won't be getting nick or espn for example...the STB was 3.95 last to time i checked...verizon never contacted me...i just kept check the web site until my address was listed as available.

They need to come up with a simple little cheap box the size of a cable modem that will let you get the digital channels. It could include the bare minimum rca-in rca-out or also include composite L+R audio and s-video. It would need to be able to decode mpeg2 and decrypt which I think is the part that costs the most.

It would be a good way to for cable companys to get rid of analog channels and give these to people that complain.

Current D* Sub needs help! Teach me whats new since 2002.

I left BHN when I got my first HDTV-the day the Bucs won the super bowl. I actually left BHN prior to that because they didn't have OLN and I'm a big fan of the Americas Cup.

But now MS Vista w/CableCard support is out or is about to be. And the D* solution is at least a year away by all accounts-and all reports indicate that their new mpg4 schemes are making the compression issue worse. So its time to go back to cable.

Questions:

1. What is the current opinion of knowlegy? I corresponded with one of their tech VPs about three months ago-they were supposed to have cablecards avail. by February. How is the cable modem service? reliable? I like their channel line-up better than BHN with NFL and ESPN2HD.

2. BHN does offer cablecard (its finally mentioned on their website-while they are trying to talk you out of it. I've had their cable modem service for a long time, its fast and generally reliable. Is their any thought that they will have NFL and ESPN2HD for next football season?

I've got a good friend with BHN and their HDPVR solution. He can't reliably get DD5.1, seems to be a glitch with his set-up or the PVR. Their locals don't look that much worse than what I get from my OTA side of the now four year old Samsung 160 D*/OTA box.

Reading this thread back a few pages left me upset that FIOS is so far off for S. Pinellas. Its nice to think that St. Pete city is trying. And Vista/Cablecard doesn't care which cablecard gets plugged in.

Your comments appreciated.

Robert

So...it turns out that FOX and ABC are not the only channels you can receive in HD with a QAM (this experience with a Westinghouse 32" LCD). Those are just the only channels that have the normal channel number that would coincide with a cable box (613 and 628, respectively).

Turns out that a bunch of HD channels are hidden in the 90's and 100's. Primarily 106.1 for CBS and 91.1 for NBC. These are broadcast in 1080i, as opposed to FOX and ABC in 720p.

91.2 is TV32 in HD
91.4 is WEDU HD
91.5 is PBS HD
106.2 is some nature channel in HD
106.3 is CW44 in HD (this is normally stretched on my cable box, however this is normal HD!)

Explore those areas. The channels are there!

My apologies if this is a repost.

So...it turns out that FOX and ABC are not the only channels you can receive in HD with a QAM (this experience with a Westinghouse 32" LCD). Those are just the only channels that have the normal channel number that would coincide with a cable box (613 and 628, respectively).

Turns out that a bunch of HD channels are hidden in the 90's and 100's. Primarily 106.1 for CBS and 91.1 for NBC. These are broadcast in 1080i, as opposed to FOX and ABC in 720p.

91.2 is TV32 in HD
91.4 is WEDU HD
91.5 is PBS HD
106.2 is some nature channel in HD
106.3 is CW44 in HD (this is normally stretched on my cable box, however this is normal HD!)

Explore those areas. The channels are there!

My apologies if this is a repost.


Which Westinghouse 32" TV do you have? I have the LTV-32w6 HD. It has NTSC & ATSC tuners but no Qam tuner as far as I can tell. I have Comcast cable so my Qam Channel #'s are different than yours. I originally received clear Qam on 1.1, 2.1, 84.1, 84.2, 113.3, 133.4 & two or three others. After the first week or so I could only get 1.1 & 2.1 which I assume are ATSC channels. I've tried rescanning numerous times but still only get 1.1 & 2.1.

I don't know if my TV has a defect or if this is normal . If it has Qam, I should get all the channels I received after my first scan. I have other devices with Qam that do receive 7 to 10 clear qam channels mentioned earlier so I know Comcast is still broadcasting them in the clear.

Any place to get an antenna and mounting gear in Tampa? I've heard that Dow sometimes won't sell to people off the street. I want to buy a Winegard PR-4400 and mount it to a small tripod. It's going on the porch of my apartment. Now I just have to figure out how to get the coax in without risking my security deposit. :)

BTW, thanks for all your thoughts about OTA HD in Tampa, I've learned a lot in reading the last 15 pages(ish) of this thread. My Sony 32" CRT needs some HD love.

- DT

I subscribe to Comcast Digital with HBO in Sarasota, FL for my main viewing TV.

If I buy an HDTV with a QAM tuner for my bedroom (no cable box at all..I just use the analog channel tuner in my current TV), which HD channels will I be able to see without buying the HD box from Comcast?

Although I currently subscribe to Comcast, FIOS is available on my street. If I move to FIOS is there any way to receive TV without buying their cable box. Specifically, I am concerned about my second and third TV's where I don't need every channel. Will a QAM tuner find anything??

Although I currently subscribe to Comcast, FIOS is available on my street. If I move to FIOS is there any way to receive TV without buying their cable box. Specifically, I am concerned about my second and third TV's where I don't need every channel. Will a QAM tuner find anything??

A QAM tuner will get you "in the clear" local HD broadcasts; specifically the local networks in HD. Otherwise you need to rent the decoder box from Comcast or Verizon, unless you have a TV or tuner that is cable card ready. In that case, you'll need to pay a monthly fee for the cable card.

Although I currently subscribe to Comcast, FIOS is available on my street. If I move to FIOS is there any way to receive TV without buying their cable box. Specifically, I am concerned about my second and third TV's where I don't need every channel. Will a QAM tuner find anything??

You can get a few channels (2 - 49) on a tv with a basic cable hookup without a box, but most of the more popular cable channels are not in that range...you mainly get local stuff.

Just joined from Dunedin. Will download and review this thread later. Am looking for a quality over-the-air outdoor antenna installer, someone who can do a quality job in Dunedin. Looking to install a mast, quality HD antenna and rotor. We have four bare-wire cable TV cables sticking out of the the west side of the house. We need someone who can secure and windproof(!) a solid mast and combiner to route OTA signals into the house. Never contracted with Time-Warner or Verizon for TV. Have had excellent reception of Tampa Bay HDTV with an indoor Terk TV-3 antenna, but tired of positioning it. Can almost pull in Orlando and Fort Myers stations, so outdoor OTA antenna would probably do the trick there. WUSF is the most problematic station here. All the best.............

For a long time I have been getting this audio distortion problem that happens every time I watch a show on WEDU's national HD feed. About 20 minutes into an hour long show it seems like someone is slowly turning up the volume gain for the broadcast at the source until it reaches the max and every thing is really distorted for 15 seconds and then it resets to normal and is gone for an hour. What could cause this?

I always thought it might be a problemmy house until I found someone else that was seeing it. I saw it with BH and I see it with FiOS now. As anyone seen this problem on OTA?

Thanks

For a long time I have been getting this audio distortion problem that happens every time I watch a show on WEDU's national HD feed. About 20 minutes into an hour long show it seems like someone is slowly turning up the volume gain for the broadcast at the source until it reaches the max and every thing is really distorted for 15 seconds and then it resets to normal and is gone for an hour. What could cause this?

I always thought it might be a problemmy house until I found someone else that was seeing it. I saw it with BH and I see it with FiOS now. As anyone seen this problem on OTA?

Thanks

Yes, I have regularly seen (heard) it OTA.

Ok, the anticipated new code for the SA8300HD will push out on Tuesday (at least on the Pinellas/Pasco/Manatee side) - First real update really since the boxes rolled out in Tampa.

Again, the only reason they are REALLY doing it is because of the new DST.

Good news, this should enable firewire - but if you check the Brighthouse thread on Satelliteguys.us you will find that Orlando updated their code (they are Passport, not SARA) a week ago and it KILLED god knows how many boxes, which is, as I say, why they don't push out many updates.

They are getting ready to push it out me now - and as I have 700GB of storage on mine, if it kills it, I'm hosed, lol.

I'll report if it worked or not - and anything new I see once I play around with it.

But if Orlando is any indication, many boxes will be changed out next week - most likely because they waited so long in between firmware updates.

UPDATE - all Pace and SA boxes are getting firmware updates on Tuesday.

I was upgraded an hour ago. I am now running SARA 1.89.17.1 on the 8300HD. It has a 12/18/2006 date code.

Supposedly firewire will finally work with DVHS units. I will be experiment with it and report back.

Good news is it took it and rebooted - and it appears it still knows the Star War Episodes are on my DVR, lol.

SA3250HD updated as well. Took very long time though.

Rebooted successfully and is working.

SARA is now 1.6.0.1801 date code 11/16/06

First things I see on SA8300HD

OSD now has program time and rating info on titles

Fast Forward and Reverse on DVR now has 4 steps instead of 3.

All reservations APPEAR to be kept intact

Pinellas, Pasco, Manatee gets updates Tuesday.

If it doesn't kill too many boxes, Hillsborough, Polk etc will get upgrade a week later.

Besides DST, is there a changelog for this update

Firewire is supposed to work with 8300HD now.

OSD display changes on 8300 (probably others but haven't gotten that far).

Faster 4th step FF/RR on DVR

Supposedly the AUX on front work now as well...again, have not tested it.

Thanks HD, what is OSD?

When I am recording 2 program at once, I get garbled signals. Almost as if the hard drive can't keep up. Not just pixelization but true breakups. I hope this issue is corrected in the update.

OSD = On Screen Display. It now has the Channel and Name of the Show....but it also has the time whether 8:00-8:30 or 8:00-9:00 or 8:00 - 10:00 for the 2 hour 24 etc.

I have gotten a lot of bad garbled things on multiple signals - but I am not 100% certain its from the DVR.

First, I noticed a few more after I added the External Hard Drive....but then I saw the same thing happen OTA on Monday night on WTSP (which seems to be the worse for this) - which reminded me again why I watch them so seldom and usually will use another CBS affiliate across the country.

I have seen much worse breakup in the last week (especially last Thursday night on WTSP which I just watched in the last 24 hours)...the worst I have seen.

I am about to watch ER from that same night so I am interested in seeing if it was all channels that night.

But..... there were SERIOUS memory leaks with the old firmware. Most of those are supposedly corrected. That should hopefully clear up much of this.

thanks for the info HD, I'm in Hills county so I guess I'll have to wait and see.

Well, I came across a problem late last night that unless they can figure out on Monday, my guess is they will not push it out until it is solved.

thanks for the info HD, I'm in Hills county so I guess I'll have to wait and see.


fyi, ER, Studio 60 and Earl was perfect on same night CBS was a mess on playback...so i dont think it was a disk bottleneck.

I just got my new TH-58PX60U on Thursday. I won't be getting my DirecTV HR20 until March 7 so I've been pulling in OTA digital channels.

I have a pretty good deep fringe antenna already mounted on my house (Radio Shack VU-190) but have never gotten a good analog signal from WTSP and I was now getting no DT signal at all.

Well today I looked up where all the Tampa market transmitters are and discovered that all but WTSP are 250 degrees and 35 miles away from where I am at (Winter Haven in Polk County). WTSP is like 285 degress and 65 miles.

So I go up on the roof and try to cheat the direction of the antenna toward the north to get channel 10.1 so my wife can watch CSI Miami in HD.

260 deg, nothing. 270 deg, nothing. I pointed it right at WTSP's transmitter, and was starting to lose some of the other channels. Still nothing on 10.1 or 10.2.

I start searching on line and it seems that a lot of folks have problems with WTSP's OTA signal.

Do these folks actually have a digital transmitter? Do they need more/bigger hamsters to power the thing? I'm getting better signals from Orlando and Clermont than I get from WTSP and I'm not even remotely pointed that way.

Does anyone have a setup that actually pulls this signal in east of the Veteran's?

I just got my new TH-58PX60U on Thursday. I won't be getting my DirecTV HR20 until March 7 so I've been pulling in OTA digital channels.

I have a pretty good deep fringe antenna already mounted on my house (Radio Shack VU-190) but have never gotten a good analog signal from WTSP and I was now getting no DT signal at all.

Well today I looked up where all the Tampa market transmitters are and discovered that all but WTSP are 250 degrees and 35 miles away from where I am at (Winter Haven in Polk County). WTSP is like 285 degress and 65 miles.

So I go up on the roof and try to cheat the direction of the antenna toward the north to get channel 10.1 so my wife can watch CSI Miami in HD.

260 deg, nothing. 270 deg, nothing. I pointed it right at WTSP's transmitter, and was starting to lose some of the other channels. Still nothing on 10.1 or 10.2.

I start searching on line and it seems that a lot of folks have problems with WTSP's OTA signal.

Do these folks actually have a digital transmitter? Do they need more/bigger hamsters to power the thing? I'm getting better signals from Orlando and Clermont than I get from WTSP and I'm not even remotely pointed that way.

Does anyone have a setup that actually pulls this signal in east of the Veteran's?

I can see their tower and strobes - and there is nothing but water between me and them - but even with that, I notice issues that should not be there - you would be better off watching CBS out of Orlando anyway.

Yeah, but when I point my antenna that way, I lose all the rest of the Tampa DMA channels.

I guess a rotator is in my future. Right now it is a fixed position.

Or just wait for the HR20 to show up.

I'd probably watch all the Orlando stations instead, lol.

A few weeks ago I was able to receive WWSB (Sarasota's ABC station) OTA in HD. It was channel 40.1. It came in beautifully and wasn't hard to receive.

Now I can't receive that channel no matter where I place the antenna. I live in the western part of Bradenton and even at times when I'm receiving Fort Myers and Naples stations OTA in HD, I can't receive channel 40.1.

Anyone know if WWSB is still broadcasting HD OTA? Thanks.

I'm sure it is, but 6,000 watts or whatever it is, goes about 5 blocks.

With further research, I found it switched its HD from channel 40.1 to channel 52.4. I can get that, but you are right -- it's not the strongest signal in th world.

I'm sure it is, but 6,000 watts or whatever it is, goes about 5 blocks.

It's never been on 40.1 - thats the virtual channel....not the physical channel.

It will move down to 24 replacing where WTSP Channel 10 is right now in 2009.

40.1 is definitely, without question, the channel I used to tune my TV to in order to receive WWSB HD -- it was for a few months in the latter part of 2006.

It's a normal, 2006-made, modern TV that detects channel numbers in a normal way. I don't get it there any more -- I have to tune to 52.4.

Not sure what you mean by virtual channel.

It's never been on 40.1 - thats the virtual channel....not the physical channel.

It will move down to 24 replacing where WTSP Channel 10 is right now in 2009.

You do know that NO HD Channel is on the channel they show on screen as their analog channel?

Channel 40 is not really on channel 40 in HD

Channel 8 is not really on Channel 8 in HD

Channel 28 is not really on Channel 28 in HD

Channel 3 is not really on Channel 3 in HD

Channel 16 is not really on Channel 16 in HD

And so on and so on and so on.

Yes, I know that. For ch. 8, e.g., : 8 is the analog channel, 8.1 is the HD channel, and 8.2 is its weather channel.

For Channel 40: 40 was the analog channel, 40.1 was the HD channel, and 40.2 was the digital (non-HD) channel.

Now, 40 is still there, but 40.1 and 40.2 seem to be gone. What was on 40.1 (HD) is now on 52.4.

You do know that NO HD Channel is on the channel they show on screen as their analog channel?

Yes, I know that. For ch. 8, e.g., : 8 is the analog channel, 8.1 is the HD channel, and 8.2 is its weather channel.

For Channel 40: 40 was the analog channel, 40.1 was the HD channel, and 40.2 was the digital (non-HD) channel.

Now, 40 is still there, but 40.1 and 40.2 seem to be gone. What was on 40.1 (HD) is now on 52.4.

Incorrect

For Channel 8, 8 is the analog and 7 is the digital

For Channel 40, 40 is the analog and 52 is the digital

After 2009, 24 will be all that is left but they will still call themselves 40.

Yes, I know that. For ch. 8, e.g., : 8 is the analog channel, 8.1 is the HD channel, and 8.2 is its weather channel.

For Channel 40: 40 was the analog channel, 40.1 was the HD channel, and 40.2 was the digital (non-HD) channel.

Now, 40 is still there, but 40.1 and 40.2 seem to be gone. What was on 40.1 (HD) is now on 52.4.

HDTVFanattic is correct. When you see 40 as 40.1, that's known as PSIP assignment. The real channel is 52. In your case, for some reason the PSIP is not getting assigned. Channel 40's HD station has ALWAYS been broadcast on 52. Nothing's changed.

So, on your TV, if you want to watch ch. 8 OTA in HD, do you tune to channel 7? I get absolutely nothing on ch. 7 after nuumerous TV auto-tunings. I tune to ch. 8.1 and it comes in beautifully in HD.

What I've been talking about is purely the actual channel one has to tune to on their TV to receive a HD broadcast, without regard to any physical vs. virtual technical details.

I tune to ch. 8.1. Would this not be standard on all TVs? If not, and if you get it by tuning to ch. 7, the digital broadcast channel, then that is the source of the confusion.

So, my question: what is the actual channel number you tune to on your tuner to recieve ch. 8 OTA in HD? Channel 7 or 8.1? And, if you get it on ch. 7, why would my TV be different? Thanks.


Incorrect

For Channel 8, 8 is the analog and 7 is the digital

Actually, nothing I said was wrong insofar as what I have to tune to to get HD OTA, except thinking that the 52.4 location for the HD signal was new. I've only been referring to what channel number one has to actually tune to to receive a particular HD OTA broadcast, not to any technical distinction between virtual and physical channels.

It was definitely at 40.1 for a while, but no longer seems to be there. So they were broadcasting HD on both 40.1 and 52 for a while? Is that what you are saying?

I hadn't realized they also broadcast HD on 52. And this was a very reasonable thing to overlook.

Just speaking in terms of what I have to tune to on my TV, channel 40.1 was the logical place to locate it. In terms of what I actually tune to on my TV:

Channel 3 (PBS) is VHF ch. 3. Its digital and HD channels are 3.1 -- 3.5.

Channel 8 (NBC) is VHF channel 8. Its HD channel is 8.1.

Channel 10 (CBS) is VHF ch. 10. Its HD channel is 10.1.

Channel 13 (Fox) is VHF ch. 13. Its HD channel is 13.1.

Channel 28 (ABC) is UHF ch. 28. Its HD channel is 28.1.

Channel 40 (ABC - Sarasota) is UHF ch. 40. Its HD channel is 52.4 LOL

Once again, if these channels for HD reception are different on your TVs and you tune to the "physical channel" --- then that is the source of any confusion. I get nothing at the "physical channels" and tune to the above channels for HD.


HDTVFanattic is correct. When you see 40 as 40.1, that's known as PSIP assignment. The real channel is 52. In your case, for some reason the PSIP is not getting assigned. Channel 40's HD station has ALWAYS been broadcast on 52. Nothing's changed.

Actually, nothing I said was wrong insofar as what I have to tune to to get HD OTA, except thinking that the 52.4 location for the HD signal was new. I've only been referring to what channel number one has to actually tune to to receive a particular HD OTA broadcast, not to any technical distinction between virtual and physical channels.

It was definitely at 40.1 for a while, but no longer seems to be there. So they were broadcasting HD on both 40.1 and 52 for a while? Is that what you are saying?

I hadn't realized they also broadcast HD on 52. And this was a very reasonable thing to overlook.

Just speaking in terms of what I have to tune to on my TV, channel 40.1 was the logical place to locate it. In terms of what I actually tune to on my TV:

Channel 3 (PBS) is VHF ch. 3. Its digital and HD channels are 3.1 -- 3.5.

Channel 8 (NBC) is VHF channel 8. Its HD channel is 8.1.

Channel 10 (CBS) is VHF ch. 10. Its HD channel is 10.1.

Channel 13 (Fox) is VHF ch. 13. Its HD channel is 13.1.

Channel 28 (ABC) is UHF ch. 28. Its HD channel is 28.1.

Channel 40 (ABC - Sarasota) is UHF ch. 40. Its HD channel is 52.4 LOL

Once again, if these channels for HD reception are different on your TVs and you tune to the "physical channel" --- then that is the source of any confusion. I get nothing at the "physical channels" and tune to the above channels for HD.

What you are not realizing is that the stations have two transmissions, one for digital and one for analog. The list you gave above is for the analog not the digital.

I wouldn't bother.....you can see he flip flops too much on various issues.

A few weeks ago I was able to receive WWSB (Sarasota's ABC station) OTA in HD. It was channel 40.1. It came in beautifully and wasn't hard to receive.

With further research, I found it switched its HD from channel 40.1 to channel 52.4. I can get that, but you are right -- it's not the strongest signal in th world.

No, I realize they have two different transmissions - digital and analog. The list I gave includes the analog and HD channels.

When I say, for example, "Channel 8 (NBC) is VHF channel 8. Its HD channel is 8.1" I thought it was sort of implied that channel 8 is analog. I guess I should have added the word "analog" before VHF or UHF in each of those examples.

BUT, I don't see how you can say that channel 8.1, for example, is analog.

Also there is ch. 8.2, their weather channel, which is digital. No question about that.

Channels 8.1 and 8.2 are HD and digital, respectively -- they are through PSIP.


What you are not realizing is that the stations have two transmissions, one for digital and one for analog. The list you gave above is for the analog not the digital.

It comes in ok if I find a good spot for the antenna. I was trying to be diplomatic and not flat out say it comes in fine after you had just said it only goes "ABOUT 5 BLOCKS". I'm over 5 miles away from its Parrish transmitter and can receive it ok. I didn't view that detail as especially relevant to the overall point and was trying to avoid confrontation. And now you use it against me. LOL.

I wouldn't bother.....you can see he flip flops too much on various issues.

If the picture was so great and powerful, with lack of errors, you would not have problems receiving the PSIP data that maps the channel from its real position on Channel 54 to Channel 40 on your display.

The last 10 or so posts are a price example of why its better to just blow someone out of the water in the beginning instead of trying to be helpful when they come up with misinformation.

What was I thinking....must of been the holiday....back to my old self.

Currently subscribed to Brighthouse standard cable w/ no digital box. When I purchased my Panasonic 42px60u, I was able to connect the cable from the wall directly to the TV and pick up several HD stations (NBC 608-1, CBS 10-1, FOX 613, ABC 628). However, recently I've lost the ability to receive FOX HD 613 and ABC HD 628. I can still get NBC and CBS though. I did a search in this thread and in the Plasma thread and didn't get any hits on this subject. I'm hoping someone more familiar with this matter could chime in and let me know if this is something due to a change with Brighthouse Tampa or if it may be a issue with the TV.

Thanks in advance!

Rescan for channels again. They are there.

The upgrade on the Digital STBs is starting in Pinellas.

The problem discovered over the weekend was they used the original package as their base and the Free To Air HD Channels added since then (608, 632 and 624) were added in Free to Air. The new software did not accept them as valid so they came up as Unsubscribed with a message to call Brighthouse to Subscribe.

It has now been fixed (they say) and the upgrade is proceeding as we speak.

Those in Pinellas should have the new firmware within the hour.

FWIW, the shows I DVR'ed over the weekend and last night have not shown one glitch - where there were glitches and stuttering issues up until the new firmware.

I am hoping this update correcting the memory leaks is responsible for this and that it holds.

I only had a problem with 1 recording I have made on my 500gig external SATA drive. It is now 95% full. I wish I had saved it to see if the update fixed it. It looks like my box just restarted...

HDTVFanAtic-- Do you know if WTSP will keep it's transmitter in Holiday after analog ceases?

Rescan for channels again. They are there.

I too thought that rescanning might fix the issue, but have had no such luck. I have rescanned several times and even did a complete reset.

Guess the problem is not with Brighthouse then.

Currently subscribed to Brighthouse standard cable w/ no digital box. When I purchased my Panasonic 42px60u, I was able to connect the cable from the wall directly to the TV and pick up several HD stations (NBC 608-1, CBS 10-1, FOX 613, ABC 628). However, recently I've lost the ability to receive FOX HD 613 and ABC HD 628. I can still get NBC and CBS though. I did a search in this thread and in the Plasma thread and didn't get any hits on this subject. I'm hoping someone more familiar with this matter could chime in and let me know if this is something due to a change with Brighthouse Tampa or if it may be a issue with the TV.

Thanks in advance!


I have a Phillips LCD (w/o STB) and Panasonic 50px60u (w/STB), I had the same problem of losing channels on Phillips. I would suggest you download the latest Panny firmware at
http://www.pasctraining.panasonic.com/SpecialApplications/ProductFirmwareDownloads/downloads1.asp

and rescan again.

Good luck,
Lesmiz

I too thought that rescanning might fix the issue, but have had no such luck. I have rescanned several times and even did a complete reset.

Guess the problem is not with Brighthouse then.

I do find it interesting that the 2 channels you lost were the two that transmit in 720p.

HDTVFanAtic-- Do you know if WTSP will keep it's transmitter in Holiday after analog ceases?

Yes - and they will move back from Channel 24 to Channel 10 as well.

Yes - and they will move back from Channel 24 to Channel 10 as well.Will they be adding more or larger hamsters? ;)
http://www.edbott.com/weblog/images/hamster_wheel.jpg

I only had a problem with 1 recording I have made on my 500gig external SATA drive. It is now 95% full. I wish I had saved it to see if the update fixed it. It looks like my box just restarted...

Out of curiosity, what route did you go for your 500GB External Drive? Did you purchase an internal SATA and an external enclosure? If so, which make and models?

Or did you go with a Maxtor, Western Digital or Seagate External Package?

I purchased the 500GB Seagate External Drive from CompUSA when it was on sale w/ rebate for $199 back in December - which is the cheapest I have ever seen it (their sale 10 days ago on it was $249 after rebate).

Just curious which models people are using successfully without issues.

One of my two SA-3250-HD's equipped with firewire came up dead after the update last night... this morning it was on but locked up. I pulled the power cord, waited a few and when plugged back in, it's stone dead.... no lights, no digits, no boot message :( So, I called "service" and was told they don't do firewire boxes... here we go again.... Do any of you guys know where in this area the STB's are actually repaired? Maybe it's worth a drive...

:mad:

I have a Phillips LCD (w/o STB) and Panasonic 50px60u (w/STB), I had the same problem of losing channels on Phillips. I would suggest you download the latest Panny firmware

and rescan again.

Good luck,
Lesmiz

Thanks Lesmiz,

I'll double check to see if I am running the latest firmware and if not upgrade and rescan. Hopefully that will fix my issues... well my issues with the TV that is. :p

I live in Pinellas and my STB was upgraded last night... no glitches so far, but I have no external drives...

>>>> is nice though.

One of my two SA-3250-HD's equipped with firewire came up dead after the update last night... this morning it was on but locked up. I pulled the power cord, waited a few and when plugged back in, it's stone dead.... no lights, no digits, no boot message :( So, I called "service" and was told they don't do firewire boxes... here we go again.... Do any of you guys know where in this area the STB's are actually repaired? Maybe it's worth a drive...

:mad:

I'll get it handled if you still have the RoadRunner address and don't mind me giving it to someone who will handle it.....if i even still have it, lol.

Out of curiosity, what route did you go for your 500GB External Drive? Did you purchase an internal SATA and an external enclosure? If so, which make and models?

Or did you go with a Maxtor, Western Digital or Seagate External Package?

I purchased the 500GB Seagate External Drive from CompUSA when it was on sale w/ rebate for $199 back in December - which is the cheapest I have ever seen it (their sale 10 days ago on it was $249 after rebate).

Just curious which models people are using successfully without issues.

I went with an internal SATA 2 HD and an external enclosure...This is the second time around too. The first time I got so many dropouts that I unhooked it a couple days later. This was about a year or so ago. I ended up getting another brand hard drive and another brand enclosure. Also the hard drive is SATA 2 where the first non working one was original SATA 1. The only other noticeable difference (other than brand) is the ESATA cable is thicker. I am using the same STB (SA 8300HD). I don't know exactly what did the trick but it works great now!

I will check my receipts and post the exact model #s...I think it was the professional version of the Western Digital but will check.Eric

I'm having some serious issues with it screwing up captures on 628 - 2 nights in a row at 10pm now.

I recently installed Fios here in Sarasota. I'm pleased to see that in their HD lineup they include Sun Sports and FSN FL. I'm wondering where I can find a schedule of any upcoming Lightning games to be broadcast in HD. The other evening, I caught the Panthers vs. the Lightning, but it was on FSN FL and was the Panthers broadcast crew. Haven't been able to find any HD schedule for the Lightning.

One of my two SA-3250-HD's equipped with firewire came up dead after the update last night... this morning it was on but locked up. I pulled the power cord, waited a few and when plugged back in, it's stone dead.... no lights, no digits, no boot message :( So, I called "service" and was told they don't do firewire boxes... here we go again.... Do any of you guys know where in this area the STB's are actually repaired? Maybe it's worth a drive...

:mad:

Just contact Greg he will take care of it for you.

Just contact Greg he will take care of it for you.
It's being taken care of, thanks to HDTVFanAtic, but who's Greg?

:confused:

The bunny.

The bunny

:confused:

:confused:


http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/846/48mil5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I believe that HDNET showed episode from the cancelled showed.

A couple of things.

I just recently purchased two HDTV's, with a 3rd soon, and am a Digital/RoadRunner Subscriber. I called BH to order HD and and 3 HDTV receivers, and was told that they do not have any and they have no clue when the will get any and that we could get added to the waiting "list". Well unsatisfied with this, I called the next day and spoke to a higher-up (manager) who said they were having problems with there supplier and it's true that they there is a waiting list of, get this.. at least 3 MONTHS.

Is anyone else getting this same response/reason? So I looked into OTA, well being in Winter Haven I am 30+ miles away from most towers, and about 60 miles away from the CBS tower. I really don't want to hook up a huge OTA antenna on the roof just to get the HD channels. Any other ideas?

I just find it pretty screwed up for a cable company not to be able to get any HD boxes. Just looking for other ideas, and if anyone else is having the same problem.

Thanks.

Any other ideas?


Consider dropping cable and going to DirecTV. They have HD locals and a pretty good lineup of HD material. And if you're a new subscriber, there's deals to be had.

Consider dropping cable and going to DirecTV. They have HD locals and a pretty good lineup of HD material. And if you're a new subscriber, there's deals to be had.

Looked into both DirecTV and DISH. It gets mighy expensive wanting 3 HD Boxes however, you can get one for $199 after $100 rebate, then the other two would be $299 each. So $800 just for 3 boxes is insane, plus I would need 2-3 SD boxes also.

I have 6 TV's, 3 SD and 2 HD (3 soon).

A large directional OTA antenna would be the cheapest route to get HD. I just never thought it would be this difficult getting HD through a major cable company.

Looked into both DirecTV and DISH. It gets mighy expensive wanting 3 HD Boxes however, you can get one for $199 after $100 rebate, then the other two would be $299 each. So $800 just for 3 boxes is insane, plus I would need 2-3 SD boxes also.

I have 6 TV's, 3 SD and 2 HD (3 soon).

A large directional OTA antenna would be the cheapest route to get HD. I just never thought it would be this difficult getting HD through a major cable company.

have you tried just hooking up cable to you tv and scanning for hd? i'm able to get all the hd locals this way on one of my tvs...if i wanted the encrypted ones i could get a a cable card...do any of your tvs support these options?

have you tried just hooking up cable to you tv and scanning for hd? i'm able to get all the hd locals this way on one of my tvs...if i wanted the encrypted ones i could get a a cable card...do any of your tvs support these options?

No Cablecard options. One is QAM (which should work?), The other just says ATSC Tuner. Going to try this is a bit.

mz_
It's not the cheapest route, but it is arguably the best, you could pick up TiVo Series3 for each TV that doesn't support QAM and just order CableCARDs from the cable co.

They run about $600 which is no doubt expensive, but as of today they are the best HD STB available. I have 2 and have previously had most of the BHN boxes as well as DirecTV boxes.

This morning (2:05am) BHN finally upgraded the software in my SA 8300 HD DVR. The version went from 1.87.23.1 to 1.89.17.1. I live in West Pasco county - I assume the entire service area of Tampa Bay received this upgrade. Hope they continue to stay current and add new hd channels.

Bob Booz

just a quick note.... MANY THANKS to HDTVFanAtic and Mike for the help in getting my SA 3250HD replaced.... :D

Using the new HD DVR update. I see they added an additional step in the Fast Forward (as previously mentioned). Not that it's important but I'm curious if they added a slower step, a faster step or an additional intermediate step. I can't quite tell.

Faster - much faster for getting through a program.

It was needed.

This morning (2:05am) BHN finally upgraded the software in my SA 8300 HD DVR. The version went from 1.87.23.1 to 1.89.17.1. I live in West Pasco county - I assume the entire service area of Tampa Bay received this upgrade. Hope they continue to stay current and add new hd channels.

Bob Booz


Interesting....I would have thought Pasco would have been updated last Tuesday morning with Pinellas. I assume that Tampa was updated this morning as well.

Has anyone noticed that the local commercials are quieter now compared to the national ones. I believe it used to be the other way around. This is on BHN.

Since BHN updated the SARA software on my 8300HD DVR the audio level on all channels has been much lower. Pre upgrade I set volume at 28-30 on all channels for normal listening. Post upgrade it takes boosting volume to 38-48 depending on channel. All controls on box are set the same as before the upgrade. In West Pasco there was a great difference in volume levels between watching a show and listening to an ad - volume of ads much higher especially on 13/613 from Tampa - at times very annoying.

Since BHN updated the SARA software on my 8300HD DVR the audio level on all channels has been much lower. Pre upgrade I set volume at 28-30 on all channels for normal listening. Post upgrade it takes boosting volume to 38-48 depending on channel. All controls on box are set the same as before the upgrade. In West Pasco there was a great difference in volume levels between watching a show and listening to an ad - volume of ads much higher especially on 13/613 from Tampa - at times very annoying.


I'm gettting this also on my SD DVR. My daughter did an iControl PPV movie last night and she had to turn the TV volumne to 100% to hear it with clearity. Setting set to Narrow (as before the upgrade)

Ok, I finally got my 8300HD boxes.

Has anyone tried to use CapDVHS via Firewire to capture the .TS streams on Bright House (Tampa)?

I got WinXP SP2 to detect the box after installing the drivers, however when I run CapDVHS all the information in the "Data Info" box is empty on ANY HD channel I try. Sometimes CapDVHS even crashes. I figured I wouldn't be able to get the "premium" HD channels, but thought I could at least get the Network stuff.

Any idea how to check if the channels are flagged (5c?). Thanks.

I have recorded plenty of times with CapDVHS from BHN, in fact when I wrote this howto (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=403695) I was using BHN as my source. I haven't done it in about 9 months, but would be very surprised if it was flagged 5c now. I know for a fact that the OTA channels on BHN vai QAM are in the clear, because I was just watching them the other day.

I can't remember how to resolve that issue, but you might try to re-install the drivers again. What STB are you using the SA 3250HD? If not that might be the problem, I think the 3250HD is the only BHN box that you can capture from, but that may have changed.

mz_,

I am in New Port Richey. I am having exactly the same results you reported. I've tried on various channels including the OTA ones. I am finding that CapD does not seem to crash when I try a SD channel (008 or 029) but always does on an HD channel (605 or 690).

I've been trying to record a 1 minute segment. When CapD finishes, the file is 0 bytes and as you observed, the Data Info boxes never get populated with anything. I wondered if everything was flagged (5C), and that is why I tried channel 8 figuring that they would leave the OTA stuff unflagged. I would also like to know if someone locally is able to get this to work.

I have 3 8300HD DVR boxes. I've gone through the diagnostic screens on the box hooked up to the PC and this is waht I get;

Page 31 - 1394 Information

Everything says unavailable.

Page 32 - Copy Protection

DVI/HDMI Protection Type = None
DVI HDMI Enabled = No
DVI HDMI Constrained = No

YBrPb Protection = None
YBrPb Enabled = Yes
YBrPb Constrained = No

1394 Protection Type = Unavailable
1394 Enabled = Unavalable
1394 Constained = Blank

Composite Protection Type = None/None

The computer sees the box after the drivers are installed, but again none of the Data Info gets populated an any channels (SD or HD), and sometimes just crashes.

Now, I'm not using a Tuner Card, I have the Box hooked up to my 24" DELL via Component inputs, and use the PIP function.

mz_

I just typed in a fairly long reply to you and when I tried to submit the post the system decided I wasn't logged in and wouldn't let me post it (although the screen showed me as logged in at the time). Basically, I am seeing pretty much what you are on pages 31 and 32, although there are some small differences.

In reading bdraw's howto he says "If the driver is loaded but the files are 0bytes after recording. Then you may have the driver loaded improperly or your cable company may have copy protection(5C) enabled." Do you think we both may somehow have gotten the drivers loaded improperly?

Or, maybe as bdraw said in his last post (yesterday) we cannot do this with an 8300HD box - we need a 3250 box?

Or, maybe as bdraw said in his last post (yesterday) we cannot do this with an 8300HD box - we need a 3250 box?

Could be. I had a hard enough time getting these boxes (see my previous posts), been on a waiting list for a month. They only had 6 8300HD's when they called me to pick these up (Auburndale) , and I was able to get 3 of them. They did have 3 3250's (Non-DVR's?), but I needed at least 2 DVR versions, and just decided to get a 3rd not thinking anything about the ports.

If this is the case, I'll wait a bit and return this DVR hooked to the PC for a 3250.

I did try uninstalling the device and installing the drivers again, with no luck. I even updated the patch for 1394 Firewire with XP SP2 and still the same. I'm going to look at the other two DVR boxes and see what they say for Firewire.

mz_

If you pm me your e-mail address I'll send you pics of my page31 and 32

Well, hooked up another 8300HD to the PC to try. 1394 said "disabled", when I plugged in the firewire cable, it then said "unavailable". This box is dated 8/23/2005, and the other one I had hooked up is dated 2/14/2006.

The 3rd one I have hooked up to my Samsung HDTV and thats dated 2/2006 also I believe and also says "disabled" for 1394. So you probably can't use Firewire with the 8300 boxes, unless someone here can tell us if they got it working or not with Bright House Tampa.

Ok, another update. Just got off the phone with Bright House Tampa.

Spoke to the "installation" department, and she said only the 3250 has the active 1394 IEEE firewire ports active and should come with a Firewire Cable.

So again, someone currently with a 3250 have CapDVHS working with Bright House Tampa?

Maybe I'll just get a DVICO FusionHDTV5 RT Gold Tuner card, and grab the QAM channels with that. That should work, I hope.

So again, someone currently with a 3250 have CapDVHS working with Bright House Tampa?
yup.... two of them :D You might have caught that in my posts above about getting one of the boxes fixed last week...

:cool:

yup.... two of them :D You might have caught that in my posts above about getting one of the boxes fixed last week...

:cool:

Well, I guess I'll return one of my 8300's for a 3250. I just hope I don't get a 3250 and it don't work. I know if I ask the customer service reps in the office they will have no clue what I'm talking about.

I still might get the FusionHDTV5 card for the hell of it, might come in handy.

I may have to get a 3250 too. Too bad! It would have been so much neater to be able to just playback an already recorded program on the 8300 and capture it thru the 1340 port on that box. That would have been a convenient way to archive recordings.

In posts back on 2/16/07 HDTVFanAtic mentioned that it was his understanding that the new updates that BHN was about to download to the 8300HD STB would include enabling the 1394 stuff. But he allowed that may not be the case and that he would try it out and report back. I've read all the posts since then and haven't seen anything from him. I suspect that he may know.

In posts back on 2/16/07 HDTVFanAtic mentioned that it was his understanding that the new updates that BHN was about to download to the 8300HD STB would include enabling the 1394 stuff. But he allowed that may not be the case and that he would try it out and report back. I've read all the posts since then and haven't seen anything from him. I suspect that he may know.


I've been busy with several pressing broadcast projects that pay the bills - including a tower that the Tornados knocked down in Orlando early last month which involved a get it back on the air, a temporary, a longterm temporary and a permanant solution - so I have not had the time to test it. I'll try and get around to it this weekend - as Brighthouse is asking me the same question.

I've been busy with several pressing broadcast projects that pay the bills - including a tower that the Tornados knocked down in Orlando early last month which involved a get it back on the air, a temporary, a longterm temporary and a permanant solution - so I have not had the time to test it. I'll try and get around to it this weekend - as Brighthouse is asking me the same question.

Great! I'm very interested in what you find out. I'll bet there are a lot of others too.

anyone ordering a 3250 should make sure they order a 3250HD instead :D

:cool:

Has anyone else noticed that Brighthouse channel 67 (Fox News) has the video frame shifted to the right, with a black bar on the left?

:confused:

Hey, wait up guys! I just tried something else and it works! I am using the SA8300HD and I had the exact same results that _mz reported - i.e. it seems to be working but the files are zero length ect. Today I tried something else - instead of downloading directely off the STB as the show was being aired, I recorded it and used the firewire port for archiving the recorded show. That worked perfectly. The Data Info boxes populated and the files were non zero length. I was able to replay them using VLC (WMP would not play the files - although they are mpg files). My tests are being run on an old laptop without a lot of free disc space so I have only tried recordings of one minute in length. I have yet to try a test of longer duration. Just for your info the files for the one minute runs were: for the STD case off of channel 8 - 41MB and for a HD off of channel 605 - 77MB so, if this is typical, you could expect to get about 12-13 minutes of HD material in 1 GB of storage (I assume this is in MPEG2 as saved in the file - but am confused as to why WMP wouldn't handle it, but that isn't particularly important since obviously other players will work). Also, I haven't tried recording off of non-OTA channel yet. Will post further results as I get them.

Has anyone else noticed that Brighthouse channel 67 (Fox News) has the video frame shifted to the right, with a black bar on the left?

:confused:

Fox News has always been shifted to the right

I thought I posted this already, but it isn't showing up. (Oops - there it is 2 above this - Sorry for the repeat). I have found a way to get the SA8300HD to work. I had been having the exact same behavior that _mz reported a few posts above - i.e. drivers appear to have loaded, CapD seems like it wants to work, but the Data Info page does not get populated and the resulting files were of zero length. This AM I tried something different. Instead of trying to record over the STB firewire port in real time as the program airs - I recorded the program on the STB-DVR and then tried to archive the recorded program using the firewire. That works! Now, I've tried this with both STD and HD material that was recorded from OTA sources (channel 8 and 605 here in the Tampa Bay area BHN). Also, since I'm doing this with a rather old laptop that doesn't have a lot of free disk space, I'm only testing with 1 minute recordings using CapD. There is no problem doing this. The resulting files (which I have gotten) are mpg type and play back just fine using VLC (WMP could not open them though). I've also tried recording material that was sent from a source other than OTA (I don't know what channel it was, maybe the HD Discovery - the particular program was an impressivly done film called "Winged Migration". I was not able to archive that program.

Also, one other thing I have noticed is that if I try to do a recording with CapD and CapD has a problem (for whatever reason, say that the material was not from an OTA source), then I need to reboot my computer before I try to record anything else using CapD. So, for those of you out there trying to make this work, you may want to frequently reset your computer.

Can someone tell me what XP drivers I need to load in order to install the firewire port of my Motorola QIP 6200-2 on my computer? The computer is recognizing the device but I can't seem to find the right driver(s).

Hey, wait up guys! I just tried something else and it works! I am using the SA8300HD and I had the exact same results that _mz reported - i.e. it seems to be working but the files are zero length ect. Today I tried something else - instead of downloading directely off the STB as the show was being aired, I recorded it and used the firewire port for archiving the recorded show. That worked perfectly. The Data Info boxes populated and the files were non zero length. I was able to replay them using VLC (WMP would not play the files - although they are mpg files). My tests are being run on an old laptop without a lot of free disc space so I have only tried recordings of one minute in length. I have yet to try a test of longer duration. Just for your info the files for the one minute runs were: for the STD case off of channel 8 - 41MB and for a HD off of channel 605 - 77MB so, if this is typical, you could expect to get about 12-13 minutes of HD material in 1 GB of storage (I assume this is in MPEG2 as saved in the file - but am confused as to why WMP wouldn't handle it, but that isn't particularly important since obviously other players will work). Also, I haven't tried recording off of non-OTA channel yet. Will post further results as I get them.

The way I understand it is the DVR only records the HD stream to MPEG2, therefore when you record off of the playback, thats what you get. If you did it live, you get the actual uncompressed .TS stream. Is this correct?

Edit: Well, just tried this, CapDVHS records for about 20-30seconds off the DVR and crashes. But the part that it does capture looks good. Just tried about 2 minutes of the Gators game and it played back at 1920x1080 with VLC Player and GOM Player.

mz_
I'm not sure. It seems to me that the .TS is already compressed (probably even MPEG2).

I also noticed that CapD crashes. In my case recording HD it crashed after about 5 minutes of recording. I was hoping that might be due to the fact that I'm using a fairly slow old laptop (1.6GHz Pentium 4).

mz_
I'm not sure. It seems to me that the .TS is already compressed (probably even MPEG2).

I also noticed that CapD crashes. In my case recording HD it crashed after about 5 minutes of recording. I was hoping that might be due to the fact that I'm using a fairly slow old laptop (1.6GHz Pentium 4).

Well, I have a Dual Core 6600 running @ 3.4Ghz. It varries, I was able to get about 50 seconds max so far. When it crashes, I have to reboot just to cap anything again, if not I just get a error popup.

Well, then I don't have much hope that a faster machine will make a difference. I googled "CapDVHS crash" and the first listing was an old thread in the AVS Forum; you may be interested in reading:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=564643

Maybe we need to tweak CapDVHS or find another capture program?

I'm wonder if the crashes are due to CapDVHS or something in XP? For me, whenever the crash happens I get that little window that asks me to report the problem to Microsoft. Also, if the problem was only in CapDVHS I would think that closing and restarting CapDVHS would allow me to try to make another recording - but I immediately get an error at that point unless I re-boot XP.

This morning I made a change in the Setup Tab to change the file extensions to .ts from .mpg (which is how the init file was originally set). I tried recording again, and maybe it was just a fluke, but I got more than 15 minutes into the program (HD) before the crash. The resulting .ts file, about 1.5GB in size is playable with VLC.

Obviously, this still isn't good enough. But so far I haven't been able to find a clue about what to try next.

Ron did anyone get back with you on the drivers needed to record from a Motorola 6208 to a PC Firewire input? Thanks, Dan

Ron did anyone get back with you on the drivers needed to record from a Motorola 6208 to a PC Firewire input? Thanks, Dan

Nope. Still need them, if you have them.

I'm wonder if the crashes are due to CapDVHS or something in XP? For me, whenever the crash happens I get that little window that asks me to report the problem to Microsoft. Also, if the problem was only in CapDVHS I would think that closing and restarting CapDVHS would allow me to try to make another recording - but I immediately get an error at that point unless I re-boot XP.

This morning I made a change in the Setup Tab to change the file extensions to .ts from .mpg (which is how the init file was originally set). I tried recording again, and maybe it was just a fluke, but I got more than 15 minutes into the program (HD) before the crash. The resulting .ts file, about 1.5GB in size is playable with VLC.

Obviously, this still isn't good enough. But so far I haven't been able to find a clue about what to try next.

on the windows error report dialog click on the hyperlink to see what info the report contains. on the next dialog copy of the path to the crash dump file (*.dmp or *.mdmp)...then upload it and i can analyze it and tell where the crash happened and maybe why. ps, compress the file if it is large

Random newb post:

I just had Fios TV/Data installed a couple days ago. Since Verizon gave me a box that has Firewire, I figured I'd try recording the output. I'm able to record from the 1394, but the majority of the broadcast HD channels are encrypted. The only non-encrypted channels are ABC, PBS and WTTV. So Fox, CBS, NBC, etc. are encrypted.

Now I understand channels like HD Net and Discovery being scrambled, but I was under the impression that the broadcast channels had to be offered unencrypted. As a comparison, the Fox standard definition feed was unencrypted. Anyone know why this would be the case? Is Verizon alright with me obtaining the SD versions of programs, but not the HD?

Any info would be much appreciated.

Random newb post:

I just had Fios TV/Data installed a couple days ago. Since Verizon gave me a box that has Firewire, I figured I'd try recording the output. I'm able to record from the 1394, but the majority of the broadcast HD channels are encrypted. The only non-encrypted channels are ABC, PBS and WTTV. So Fox, CBS, NBC, etc. are encrypted.

Now I understand channels like HD Net and Discovery being scrambled, but I was under the impression that the broadcast channels had to be offered unencrypted. As a comparison, the Fox standard definition feed was unencrypted. Anyone know why this would be the case? Is Verizon alright with me obtaining the SD versions of programs, but not the HD?

Any info would be much appreciated.

Where are you located? I'm in Sarasota and all the HD broadcast stations, starting with channel 800, are unencrypted and able to be recorded, however I'm not using the 1394 port. I'm using a QAM tuner called HD Homerun. However, while I haven't tried recording HD Net, etc., I checked the 5C flag for a few of the channels in the HD Tier, and they were set to 0, which means they should be recordable via firewire connection.

Where are you located? I'm in Sarasota and all the HD broadcast stations, starting with channel 800, are unencrypted and able to be recorded, however I'm not using the 1394 port. I'm using a QAM tuner called HD Homerun. However, while I haven't tried recording HD Net, etc., I checked the 5C flag for a few of the channels in the HD Tier, and they were set to 0, which means they should be recordable via firewire connection.

Thanks for the help, Ron.

I'm in Tampa, specifically Carrollwood, which I guess isn't really Tampa proper, but Hillsborough.

By QAM tuner you mean OTA, correct? If that's the case you would be recording it with out the intermediary of Verizon and a cable box, right? From what I understand, the OTA channels are unencrypted, but apparently Verizon has added their own layer of protection to most of them.

I'm not sure about a 5C flag. I know that the program I was using to copy them (AVCVideoCap, Mac OS X) was showing me the EMI for each channel as I was recording. The EMI for the unencrypted channels was "copy freely" (or something similar) and the encrypted channels were listed as "copy once." I was able to pull data files (.m2t) for all channels, but only those listed as "copy freely" worked in VLC (0.8.6a).

Should I call Verizon and ask them why most of the broadcast HD is encrypted?

Another question: Does the EMI change based on the content or is it set at a certain level for each channel regardless of what's being shown?

Thanks for the help, Ron.

I'm in Tampa, specifically Carrollwood, which I guess isn't really Tampa proper, but Hillsborough.

By QAM tuner you mean OTA, correct? If that's the case you would be recording it with out the intermediary of Verizon and a cable box, right? From what I understand, the OTA channels are unencrypted, but apparently Verizon has added their own layer of protection to most of them.

I'm not sure about a 5C flag. I know that the program I was using to copy them (AVCVideoCap, Mac OS X) was showing me the EMI for each channel as I was recording. The EMI for the unencrypted channels was "copy freely" (or something similar) and the encrypted channels were listed as "copy once." I was able to pull data files (.m2t) for all channels, but only those listed as "copy freely" worked in VLC (0.8.6a).

Should I call Verizon and ask them why most of the broadcast HD is encrypted?

Another question: Does the EMI change based on the content or is it set at a certain level for each channel regardless of what's being shown?

I'm totally unfamiliar with the program you are using. But let me say this. I believe we are both getting the same feed since Sarasota gets the Tampa feed which is identified on the guide as Verizon Fios Temple Terrace. Also, if you go onto the Verizon site, you will see there's only a FL Gulf Coast guide.

QAM refers to the modulation scheme for cable. You can take the cable feed and send it directly to any QAM tuner, HD Homerun being one of them, and if it's unencrypted it will play. Other tuners that I'm familiar with that operate the same way are MyHD and Fusion. Anyhow, all the Verizon OTA HD station, which are in the physical channel range in the 70s are unencrypted.

As far as the 5C flag, to the best of my understanding it relates to whether copy protection is on or off. Someone else can correct me, please, if I'm wrong. But while I have not tried to record anything off of the firewire port, specifically because I don't have the proper drivers, I went into the diagnostics menu of the Motorola 6200 box, and for the stations I looked at, the 5C flag is zero. AFAIK, that means that copy protection is off which should mean that you can record that station via firewire. However, as I mentioned before, I've not actually tried it out.

QAM refers to the modulation scheme for cable. You can take the cable feed and send it directly to any QAM tuner, HD Homerun being one of them, and if it's unencrypted it will play. Other tuners that I'm familiar with that operate the same way are MyHD and Fusion. Anyhow, all the Verizon OTA HD station, which are in the physical channel range in the 70s are unencrypted.


So if I were to run a setup such as yours (if I had a QAM tuner) would I run the cable directly from the wall or from an output on the cable box? I've got the Moto DCT6412. I assume there is a cable out, but running through the box might give me the same problem.

I'm considering the Elgato EyeTV Hybrid (I'd link it, but I'm a newb). Is that equivalent to the type of tuner you're using?

Again, thanks for the answers.

So if I were to run a setup such as yours (if I had a QAM tuner) would I run the cable directly from the wall or from an output on the cable box? I've got the Moto DCT6412. I assume there is a cable out, but running through the box might give me the same problem.

I'm considering the Elgato EyeTV Hybrid (I'd link it, but I'm a newb). Is that equivalent to the type of tuner you're using?

Again, thanks for the answers.

You would run the cable (probably need to split the signal with a regular splitter) directly to a QAM tuner, not from the cable box. I believe the output from the cable box is modulated from whatever channel you have the box set to.

I never heard of the tuner you are referencing. MyHD and Fusion are PC tuner cards and HD Homerun is a network tuner. I'm sure there are others, but the ones I mentioned are the only ones that I'm familiar with.

Good luck.

I've gotten more success recording with VLC than with CapDVHS which has been crashing as I mentioned above.

mz_ if you want to try that see:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8146474&&#post8146474

shawn12341234, I'll do another try with CapDVHS and try getting the file you mention. If I succeed, I'll upload it. I'd like to know what is happening.

Here is the only file I could find that might have some info.

I could not find a file as you described. The error that I am getting is a window that asks me to send a report to Microsoft. In that window, I can see details of the error (and that is a much longer file than the one I am sending). It looked like I was being told where that file resided. I had to close that window to do anything else and when I went to that subdirectory, I found this file (tuner.log) but not the other one.

I just tried to attach it but couldn't. I'll change the filename to tuner.txt.

OK, it should be there now?

Still not much luck with VLC. What I did get (FOX), turned up to be a blocky green screen. Most stuff just stayed at a 0 byte file, or it would just stop on its own.

I've tried it all, different drivers, installing/uninstalling, etc. Box still says "disabled" for firewire. CapDVHS works/looks good when it don't crash. Keep in mind, this is all done off the DVR, I can't seem to record anything at all "live".

I think I'll just invest in a QAM HD Tuner Card, and see what happens with that.

mz_

Are you sure about VLC? I'm only using it to record material that is already recorded on the DVR. But, other than some intermittent pixelization it seems to run without crashing. I really thought it would do what you wanted.

What will you do with the QAM card. Are you planning to go OTA or try the QAM card hooked up to BHN? I would think either would work - OTA if you are close enough to the xmitters. I'm in NPR so I'm about 33 miles from most of them.

mz_

Are you sure about VLC? I'm only using it to record material that is already recorded on the DVR. But, other than some intermittent pixelization it seems to run without crashing. I really thought it would do what you wanted.

What will you do with the QAM card. Are you planning to go OTA or try the QAM card hooked up to BHN? I would think either would work - OTA if you are close enough to the xmitters. I'm in NPR so I'm about 33 miles from most of them.

Going to try BHN connected to it, and see what happens. I'm in Winter Haven, so 30+ miles here, like 65 for the CBS tower.

I'll have to play with VLC more, and see what happens. What channels are you recording?

Here is the only file I could find that might have some info.

I could not find a file as you described. The error that I am getting is a window that asks me to send a report to Microsoft. In that window, I can see details of the error (and that is a much longer file than the one I am sending). It looked like I was being told where that file resided. I had to close that window to do anything else and when I went to that subdirectory, I found this file (tuner.log) but not the other one.

I just tried to attach it but couldn't. I'll change the filename to tuner.txt.

OK, it should be there now?


that path will tell you where you can find the dump files...once you send the error report to MS the dump is usually deleted.

i usually just highlight path on that window, ctrl+c, then open windows explorer, ctrl+v in the address bar, highlight find the most recent dump file, and then send it to my flash drive with a right click and analyze it from there.

Going to try BHN connected to it, and see what happens. I'm in Winter Haven, so 30+ miles here, like 65 for the CBS tower.

I'll have to play with VLC more, and see what happens. What channels are you recording?

I'm in New Port Richey, but almost all of them are around Riverview so I'm not really better off than you - plus you might have a chance of the Orlando stuff.

So far, I've only recorded programs that I had already recorded from Ch 605. PBS but in HD. But I've done 2 shows that were each 30 minutes - and no crash!

VLC is a bit tricky to set up. Follow the instructions the guy gave - to the letter. I found that I was not able to monitor the program on my computer screen and do the recording both, only do the recording. The weirdest thing is that you get no indication anything is happening - the counter stays at zero etc., you just have to trust that a file is being written. If you stop the process and check, yep, a file is there. And to record about 30 minutes, the files are about 2GBs. The only thing I've noticed is the ocassional artifacts (pixelization).

that path will tell you where you can find the dump files...once you send the error report to MS the dump is usually deleted.

i usually just highlight path on that window, ctrl+c, then open windows explorer, ctrl+v in the address bar, highlight find the most recent dump file, and then send it to my flash drive with a right click and analyze it from there.

shawn12341234

That just doesn't seem to work. I will include 3 screen pictures (taken with a seperate digital camera and reduced in size) to illustrate. Pic 1 shows the crash. The only choice other than aborting is the blue "click here". That leads to Pic 2. Again the only choice is the blue "click here", which leads to Pic 3. I close, don't send and look in the path shown in Pic 3. There are no .dmp or .mdmp files there (or for that matter, anywhere else on the c: drive). Any thoughts?

St. Petersburg FL
Brighthouse network HD
In-Demand Center Ice package.
In-demand online shows some games listed as HD feed but when I tune to those channels it is SD.

Anyone know if there is a special reserved channel for HD feeds for In-Demand sports packages?? Or am I just out of luck w/ this.

Brighthouse tech support gave me the "I have no idea what you are talking about" routine.

thanks.

shawn12341234

That just doesn't seem to work. I will include 3 screen pictures (taken with a seperate digital camera and reduced in size) to illustrate. Pic 1 shows the crash. The only choice other than aborting is the blue "click here". That leads to Pic 2. Again the only choice is the blue "click here", which leads to Pic 3. I close, don't send and look in the path shown in Pic 3. There are no .dmp or .mdmp files there (or for that matter, anywhere else on the c: drive). Any thoughts?

usually there is a second path on that third window...for some reason the dump is not created...the only thing left to do would be to download windbg from ms and use it to run capdvhs.exe (file->open exe), then in the command window type "g" for go, repro the crash, then type "!analyze -v" and post the output here....or, you can force the creation of a dump file at this point with the command ".dump <filename>"

Since BHN updated the SARA software on my 8300HD DVR the audio level on all channels has been much lower. Pre upgrade I set volume at 28-30 on all channels for normal listening. Post upgrade it takes boosting volume to 38-48 depending on channel. All controls on box are set the same as before the upgrade. In West Pasco there was a great difference in volume levels between watching a show and listening to an ad - volume of ads much higher especially on 13/613 from Tampa - at times very annoying.As of March 9th Bright House / Tampa Bay has admitted to a problem with inconsistent audio levels, especially in the digital tier. It is my understanding that work is underway to establish internal standards for digital audio encoding (something that apparently fell in the cracks) so that network programming, local inserts, locally-produced programming (e.g., channel 9, 109), and VOD all have the same average dialog levels. I think we'll see some improvement here in the coming weeks.

Note that the specific problem described in the quoted message (local ads produced and/or inserted by 13/613) originates at the producer / programmer, not with BHN, so perhaps a call to WTVT is in order.

Note that the specific problem described in the quoted message (local ads produced and/or inserted by 13/613) originates at the producer / programmer, not with BHN, so perhaps a call to WTVT is in order.

I've tried that, several times, to no avail, both by telephone and email. Apparently, they really don't care.

yeah, even OTA Fox has funky audio problems with dialog on the center channel...

:(

I've tried that, several times, to no avail, both by telephone and email. Apparently, they really don't care.Try writing a letter (snail mail, with a stamp and everything) to a senior executive (CEO, President, etc.) at WTVT. You might remind them that in addition to annoying viewers they may be in violation of FCC standards for DTV. The FCC requires that DTV broadcasters implement the ATSC digital television standard ATSC A/53D.

Specifically: From ATSC A/53D, Annex B, Section 5.5, Dialogue Level:

• “The value of the dialnorm parameter in the AC-3 elementary bit stream shall indicate the level of average spoken dialogue within the encoded audio program. Dialogue level may be measured by means of an “A” weighted integrated measurement (LAeq)."

If the average dialog level of the locally inserted material exceeds the average dialog level of the network originated programming then WTVT would be in violation of the ATSC standard. If there is anything that broadcasters hate worse than customer complaints it is attention from the FCC. If you don't get a response from WTVT, write the FCC.

It is sad that the customer feedback and complaint resolution process for companies like WTVT, BHN, and others is so broken that it commonly takes the personal involvement of their viewers and subscribers to get their attention on such routine problems.

Edit:
Contact information for WTVT - a letter to the GM with a copy to the engineering guy would be my recommendation:

http://msi.tvjobs.com/cgi-bin/quicksearch.cgi?id=1457

Also, in case that doesn't get the desired result:

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/complaints.html

From yesterday's Tampa Tribune...Looking at the comparison of the two plans, I had thought Verizon FiOS had more channels than BHN? In any case... price wars should be good for consumers.

http://www.tbo.com/news/nationworld/MGBEOTYT7ZE.html?imw=Y

As far as the 5C flag, to the best of my understanding it relates to whether copy protection is on or off. Someone else can correct me, please, if I'm wrong. But while I have not tried to record anything off of the firewire port, specifically because I don't have the proper drivers, I went into the diagnostics menu of the Motorola 6200 box, and for the stations I looked at, the 5C flag is zero. AFAIK, that means that copy protection is off which should mean that you can record that station via firewire. However, as I mentioned before, I've not actually tried it out.

The only channels you can record via 1394 (at least in Tampa) are the same channels you get OTA. So you are just as well off with a QAM tuner as the 1394 equipped STB.

The only channels you can record via 1394 (at least in Tampa) are the same channels you get OTA. So you are just as well off with a QAM tuner as the 1394 equipped STB.

Ben, I never got the drivers to work. But I have an HD Homerun QAM tuner and an R5000 modded Moto 2500, both of which will allow me to record what I want. I was just curious about the firewire output.

Thanks,

I have one of those nifty little samsung tuners and I am having some problems with knology. I get only a handful of channels(2-3) but I get choppy audio on a bunch of channels but no video. Is there something that I have to do? The model that I have is the 260.

As of March 9th Bright House / Tampa Bay has admitted to a problem with inconsistent audio levels, especially in the digital tier. It is my understanding that work is underway to establish internal standards for digital audio encoding (something that apparently fell in the cracks) so that network programming, local inserts, locally-produced programming (e.g., channel 9, 109), and VOD all have the same average dialog levels. I think we'll see some improvement here in the coming weeks.Good news -- BN9 Weather and BN9 en Espanol audio level issues have been resolved. BHN is still working on the audio associated with BN9 on Demand and Tampa Bay on Demand; these VOD channels will take longer to fix as all programs will need re-encoded.

Thanks to the engineering and management staff at BHN for their responsiveness.

Didn't mean to reply to my own thread, but how do I get channels above 900 on the H260? Thats where all the channels are for knology in tampa.

have had my antenna hooked up no prob with my HD box, cant seem to get channel 44 UPN, used to get it no prob, now it seems signal is no good, get a bunch of other stuff, according to antennaweb the angle if that station is the same and even closer than others i get with plenty of signal, just curious if im just the only one here
live in palm harbor
thanks

have had my antenna hooked up no prob with my HD box, cant seem to get channel 44 UPN, used to get it no prob, now it seems signal is no good, get a bunch of other stuff, according to antennaweb the angle if that station is the same and even closer than others i get with plenty of signal, just curious if im just the only one here
live in palm harbor
thanks

I get 44 UPN strong here in Palm Harbor. I have a smallish antenna pointed east on my porch. CBS is the station I have the most trouble with...

I get 44 UPN strong here in Palm Harbor. I have a smallish antenna pointed east on my porch. CBS is the station I have the most trouble with...
strange............ CBS i used to have some trouble with usually at nite but its ok now, i have one of those large antennas and since my assosication bitched when i hooked it up outside i ended up puttting it in my attic,, ill screw around with it some more, its really big and i can just move it any angle, its up against the beams up there
thanks

Why do all of the ota stations crop or strech sd programs on their hdtv broadcast?
Wtog-dt/upn does this the worst, It's annoying weather you have a 4:3 screen or 16:9 because you can't see some of the top and bottom of the image, but it's the worst if you have a 4:3 screen because you can't make it zoom in to fill the screen.

The simpsons looks 10 times better on wtvt-dt/fox than it does on wtog-dt/upn because they don't strech or crop the image.

8-1 streches all their sd shows alot, it's just all about reducing the size of those black bars isn't it?

Whenever their just playing 480i content they should broadcast in 480i, it would make recordings smaller and not have black bars on the side for 4:3 screens and alloy them to play more than one show at a time by multicasting.


I can't find where anyone else talks about this... Why do stations do this? I'm trying to figure out if its my TV or the stations. WTOG (in 16x9) cuts off a portion of the top and bottom picture and has black bars on the side. It's between 4:3 and 16:9.... Also, I think fox13 cuts off a small part of the top and bottom sometimes.

....anyone??

strange............ CBS i used to have some trouble with usually at nite but its ok now, i have one of those large antennas and since my assosication bitched when i hooked it up outside i ended up puttting it in my attic,, ill screw around with it some moreYou DO know that the FCC has pre-empted many of the deed restrictions and rules associated with installation of outside antennas, right?

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html

Need some help from the locals.... I live in California, but my mom (not technical) has just moved to Sarasota and got Comcast going directly into her HD QAM capable TV.

I (painfully) walked her through searching for digital stations and she says it found 17, but the numbers seem strange (like fox was 83.3 or 83.8).....

Does anyone have a list of the channel numbers for the core networks that Comcast Sarasota is broadcasting over QAM so I can help her finish setting up her TV (The local comcast guy didn't even know she could get digital channels without a cable box).

I once knew them, but no longer have Comcast. However there's only 6 HD locals, and I recall 83 and 101 or 102 as being correct. The others that she found are most likely encrypted or not HD. The numbers she found are not strange. Those are the physical channels for Comcast in Sarasota.

Need some help from the locals.... I live in California, but my mom (not technical) has just moved to Sarasota and got Comcast going directly into her HD QAM capable TV.

I (painfully) walked her through searching for digital stations and she says it found 17, but the numbers seem strange (like fox was 83.3 or 83.8).....

Does anyone have a list of the channel numbers for the core networks that Comcast Sarasota is broadcasting over QAM so I can help her finish setting up her TV (The local comcast guy didn't even know she could get digital channels without a cable box).



81.1 WTTA HD(ALSO 1.1)
81.2 WFLA HD NBC(ALSO 2.1)
84.1 WWSB HD ABC
84.2 WTSF HD CBS
113.3 WEDU HD PBS
113.4 WTVT HD FOX


I get WTTW HD on 1.1 & WFLA HD on 2.1 with only a ASTC tuner w/o a QAM tuner. NBC & CBS weather+ also usualy come in with QAM but the frequencies seem to change a lot.

From TampaHDTV.com:

Ok, I know it's taken a bit but...ESPN2HD

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

All,

It debuts tonight for HDPAK customers. Glad to finally get this one resolved.

Greg



Bright House Networks Tampa will launch ESPN 2 HD this evening between 7pm & 8pm on channel 704.
This service will be available to all HD PAK customers.
(Orlando/CFL BHN will also be launching this evening on their HD PAK Tier)

Now the HD PAK service offers 6 great services.
703- INDemand HD
704- ESPN 2 HD
705- HD Net
706- HD Net Movies
707- ESPN HD
708- Universal HD

Our guide data should be updated to reflect this additional service within the next 24-36 hours. And we will be notifying customers with more details of this exciting new addition early this week.

Enjoy the service!
__________________
Greg

exciting.... :rolleyes:

exciting.... :rolleyes:


Really. Anyone who really cared about ESPN2 would already be on D* for NFL ST or MLB EI at this point.

And I used to think Directv had the stupidest channel order in HDTV - BHN passed them with this one.

Atleast D* has ESPN and ESPN2HD together - even though ESPN2 is first in their order.

BHN put ESPN2HD at 704 and ESPNHD at 707. WTF are they thinking.

Why didn't they move UHD to 704 and put ESPN2HD on 708. Someone really isn't thinking.

I can think of other channels I would have wanted to see.

HOWEVER.....

I was watching some concerts today on HDNET 705 which is now just macroblock hell - especially with solid red spots or strobes on stage.

And HDNET via StarChoice out of Canada running within 30 seconds of the BHN version (actually 30 seconds fast) was rock solid through the scenes BHN had so much trouble with.

Pretty bad that I can get the signal better from a Canadian DBS than BHN locally.

BHN had better get their bandwidth act together if they want to compete against FIOS effectively. FIOS has only allocated 860Mhz to TV right now so BHN can compete - but they better get it together - because BayNews 9 with their focus on stories outside of Pinellas and Hillsborough is not going to keep customers at this rate once this all shakes out.

I was watching some concerts today on HDNET 705 which is now just macroblock hell - especially with solid red spots or strobes on stage.

And HDNET via StarChoice out of Canada running within 30 seconds of the BHN version (actually 30 seconds fast) was rock solid through the scenes BHN had so much trouble with.True macroblocking is most frequently seen as a result of MPEG-2 artifacts, not QAM losses. I wonder if the problem lies elsewhere?

Regarding MPEG-2: At the moment I thought that StarChoice (via Cancom's uplink) was still all MPEG-2. Have they already cut HDNET over to MPEG-4?

Regarding QAM losses: Are you sure you are seeing true macroblocking and not just pixelization caused by data drop outs or other interference (ingress, etc.) on the cable plant? In Pinellas I've seen a number of subscribers with pixelization problems caused by bad house drops.

True macroblocking is most frequently seen as a result of MPEG-2 artifacts, not QAM losses. I wonder if the problem lies elsewhere?

Regarding MPEG-2: At the moment I thought that StarChoice (via Cancom's uplink) was still all MPEG-2. Have they already cut HDNET over to MPEG-4?

Regarding QAM losses: Are you sure you are seeing true macroblocking and not just pixelization caused by data drop outs or other interference (ingress, etc.) on the cable plant? In Pinellas I've seen a number of subscribers with pixelization problems caused by bad house drops.

QAM 561MHz is division-zoned (one QAM on each side of the bay) and not ad-inserted. Current bitrate is 38.7Mb

SD 113 IFC 3.13Mb
SD 124 G4/TechTV 3.22Mb
SD 132 FUSE 3.44Mb
HD 705 HDNet1 12.98Mb
HD 706 HDNet2 16.53Mb

It's being caused by limiting the bandwidth from around 18Mbps to 12.98Mbps on BHN.

QAM 561MHz is division-zoned (one QAM on each side of the bay) and not ad-inserted. Current bitrate is 38.7Mb

SD 113 IFC 3.13Mb
SD 124 G4/TechTV 3.22Mb
SD 132 FUSE 3.44Mb
HD 705 HDNet1 12.98Mb
HD 706 HDNet2 16.53Mb

It's being caused by limiting the bandwidth from around 18Mbps to 12.98Mbps on BHN.Good job of data collection! I agree with your analysis.

I'm surprised that BHN feels it necessary to cram 3 SD and two HD channels (especially THESE two high-quality HD channels) into 1 QAM channel, especially given their move to almost-all-digital distribution. You wouldn't think bandwidth limits would be a problem now.

It makes you wonder who makes the decision as to which channels get transcoded and by how much?

my biggest concern is how I will handle years of e-mail registrations at tampabay.rr.com when I switch to FIOS....

:D

my biggest concern is how I will handle years of e-mail registrations at tampabay.rr.com when I switch to FIOS....

:D

sign up for gmail as soon as possible

Why did BHN blackout the Devil Rays home opener in NY today?

because they can ?

Why did BHN blackout the Devil Rays home opener in NY today?

On which station did they black it out? ESPN or FSN?

Do the Rays even have a local TV affiliate this year? Their website indicates mlb.tv is the choice.

Do the Rays even have a local TV affiliate this year? Their website indicates mlb.tv is the choice.

They were on FSN today, which is probably why they were blacked out on ESPN.

Maybe I should have been a little more clear on my question.

In the past I believe it was Ion\i\Pax\Whatever 66 carried the Devil Rays in Tampa Bay. I see no indication that they are doing so this season - and no mention as such on the website - only MLB.tv.

Does anyone know if the Devil Rays have an OTA affiliate or were they dissed by the local TV Stations as well?

Really. Anyone who really cared about ESPN2 would already be on D* for NFL ST or MLB EI at this point.

And I used to think Directv had the stupidest channel order in HDTV - BHN passed them with this one.

Atleast D* has ESPN and ESPN2HD together - even though ESPN2 is first in their order.

BHN put ESPN2HD at 704 and ESPNHD at 707. WTF are they thinking.

Why didn't they move UHD to 704 and put ESPN2HD on 708. Someone really isn't thinking.

I can think of other channels I would have wanted to see.

HOWEVER.....

I was watching some concerts today on HDNET 705 which is now just macroblock hell - especially with solid red spots or strobes on stage.

And HDNET via StarChoice out of Canada running within 30 seconds of the BHN version (actually 30 seconds fast) was rock solid through the scenes BHN had so much trouble with.

Pretty bad that I can get the signal better from a Canadian DBS than BHN locally.

BHN had better get their bandwidth act together if they want to compete against FIOS effectively. FIOS has only allocated 860Mhz to TV right now so BHN can compete - but they better get it together - because BayNews 9 with their focus on stories outside of Pinellas and Hillsborough is not going to keep customers at this rate once this all shakes out.

HDTVFanAtic,
I am constantly amazed at the wealth of info you provide here with respect to HD signals, bitrates and providers. If you don't mind me asking your opinion i noticed your comments regarding BHN and FIOS. Seeing as Fios has only allocated 860Mhz to Tv would that reduce the benefits of Fios's Fiber network with regards to PQ/bitrate compared to Bighthouse. I am new to HDTV and am currently on BHN in tampa. Needless to say i have caught the PQ obsession bug! I have not been that happy with the PQ on SD or HD with any regularity. Every now and then I am satisfied with the PQ but it just seems like it should be better. I have heard a lot of people say that fios is better but you seem like you might actually have the experience and data to back up those claims.
Basically i want to switch to Fios but i don't want to go through the hassel if its going to equate to very minimal gain.
Thanks for any info you can provide.

Kind of a newbie post, but... In the Pinellas area, would you say FIOS or BH has a better HD program? We have BHN now, but their prices are kind of OUTRAGEOUS with all the TVs we have (One regular with digital, hbo, dvr, three with just basic, road runner, and now an HD one we need service for) and to add on HD. But, the real thing is the wait times BHN gives. Is it the same for FIOS? They can't get out to hook our HD up from BHN until the 13'th.

Also, is the HDDVR worth it? The HDTV is in my room and I usually just watch recorded programs downstairs. I figured with ONE DVR we don't need an HD one. And since most of the shows I watch come on when I'm home and on different nights (House, Blood Ties, CW Monday nights, Stuff on The-N or Logo) it is not a problem. Any one on here know if BHN HD is hooked up through HDMI or...?

Thanks :D.

Kind of a newbie post, but... In the Pinellas area, would you say FIOS or BH has a better HD program? We have BHN now, but their prices are kind of OUTRAGEOUS with all the TVs we have (One regular with digital, hbo, dvr, three with just basic, road runner, and now an HD one we need service for) and to add on HD. But, the real thing is the wait times BHN gives. Is it the same for FIOS? They can't get out to hook our HD up from BHN until the 13'th.

Also, is the HDDVR worth it? The HDTV is in my room and I usually just watch recorded programs downstairs. I figured with ONE DVR we don't need an HD one. And since most of the shows I watch come on when I'm home and on different nights (House, Blood Ties, CW Monday nights, Stuff on The-N or Logo) it is not a problem. Any one on here know if BHN HD is hooked up through HDMI or...?

Thanks :D.

Yes the HDDVR is worth it! It does have limited storage capabilities but i don't know how i ever lived without one especially the hd DVR. And yes the BHN HD HDDVR can be hooked up via HDMI or Component connection.

HDTVFanAtic,
I am constantly amazed at the wealth of info you provide here with respect to HD signals, bitrates and providers. If you don't mind me asking your opinion i noticed your comments regarding BHN and FIOS. Seeing as Fios has only allocated 860Mhz to Tv would that reduce the benefits of Fios's Fiber network with regards to PQ/bitrate compared to Bighthouse. I am new to HDTV and am currently on BHN in tampa. Needless to say i have caught the PQ obsession bug! I have not been that happy with the PQ on SD or HD with any regularity. Every now and then I am satisfied with the PQ but it just seems like it should be better. I have heard a lot of people say that fios is better but you seem like you might actually have the experience and data to back up those claims.
Basically i want to switch to Fios but i don't want to go through the hassel if its going to equate to very minimal gain.
Thanks for any info you can provide.

There are plenty of other smarter people then me around.

FIOS is superior at this juncture - and a better selection of HD Programming.

Remember that BHN has roughly 420Mhz of their bandwidth tied up with just the 70 or so basic analog channels - and then adds another 7 or so QAMs (another 42Mhz) with the digital version of the SD Channels - so roughly 460Mhz are tied up on channels 2-70 on BHN - Obviously, thats over 50% of the 860Mhz that FIOS has allocated to Video alone - and lets not forget Road Runner and Telephone on BHN that is not in the 860Mhz allocation from FIOS.

BHN can setup their game and compete better - but thus far they have yet to do it - and Baynews9 isn't going to keep anyone on BHN that really cares about PQ.

Kind of a newbie post, but... In the Pinellas area, would you say FIOS or BH has a better HD program?


In Pinellas FIOS is a blank screen - it doesn't exist yet.
We have BHN now, but their prices are kind of OUTRAGEOUS with all the TVs we have (One regular with digital, hbo, dvr, three with just basic, road runner, and now an HD one we need service for) and to add on HD. But, the real thing is the wait times BHN gives. Is it the same for FIOS? They can't get out to hook our HD up from BHN until the 13'th.


Its luck of the draw. It sounds like BHN is busy at least.

Also, is the HDDVR worth it? The HDTV is in my room and I usually just watch recorded programs downstairs. I figured with ONE DVR we don't need an HD one. And since most of the shows I watch come on when I'm home and on different nights (House, Blood Ties, CW Monday nights, Stuff on The-N or Logo) it is not a problem. Any one on here know if BHN HD is hooked up through HDMI or...?

Thanks :D.

It can be hooked up HDMI, YPbPr or to a SD TV via RCA Jacks.

I would get a HD DVR and run the SD Feed downstairs and keep the HD Feed upstairs - get a remote extender - and so you would be able to watch the pre-recorded stuff in HD in one room and SD in the other - while controlling it from both.

In other words, I would trade the SD DVR in for a HD one if you only want one.

Yes the HDDVR is worth it! It does have limited storage capabilities but i don't know how i ever lived without one especially the hd DVR. And yes the BHN HD HDDVR can be hooked up via HDMI or Component connection.


You can add an external eSATA Hard Drive and expand the time on the SA8300HD DVR 5 times what is on there now (in other words if you are about full on your hard drive, once you plug in a 500GB eSATA it would be 20% full).

I picked up a Seagate 500GB eSATA drive for $200 AR @ Compusa in December.

And now there are 750GB eSATA drives which would give you 50% more than a 500GB drive.

I suspect we will see 1TB Drives before Xmas.

Thank you very much for the info. That was exactly the type of info i was hoping for. Looks like I will be making the call to verizon in the morning. I was a little hesitant prior as there are a couple of features the STB BHN provides that i like better(Pass Through, HD on demand). However I really think PQ should be the most important factor in this decision. Wonder how bad having to pick one resolution(720p or 1080i) for my 768 NR display will impact PQ. I have to imagine that sooner rather than later verizon will fix the pass through option on their STB's. Just out of curiosity what type of improvements in PQ would you expect to see other than say macroblocking(which is the biggest one I imagine.
Again thanks for taking the time to respond to my previous post .

You can add an external eSATA Hard Drive and expand the time on the SA8300HD DVR 5 times what is on there now (in other words if you are about full on your hard drive, once you plug in a 500GB eSATA it would be 20% full).

I picked up a Seagate 500GB eSATA drive for $200 AR @ Compusa in December.

And now there are 750GB eSATA drives which would give you 50% more than a 500GB drive.

I suspect we will see 1TB Drives before Xmas.

Saw this after my last post. C'mon now, I'm trying to talk myself out of the SA8300HD box as i know it is better than the motorola one verizon gives out. :) Not sure if the Motorola one is expandable with external sata drives. I was going to go that route if i stayed with BHN. Guess I still need to do a little more research on the Motorola box. Thanks again.

The bottom line for HD should be PQ, imo. Everything else should be incidental.

One should not purchase a HD Service for the DVR features. If the DVR is weaker than another, then thats the trade off for better PQ (and the 8300HD is ok but its certainly not a TIVO).

In a worst case scenario, get FIOS and a TIVO Series 3 if a DVR is that important.

And what part of Hillsborough do you live in? I have seriously been looking at a DS3 from South Tampa to get FIOS over here (and before you ask, there was no way I could find to get the compressed, mpeg2 signal over it - only the uncompressed video/audio which means it would have to be recompressed again so it was a no go) - does that tell you how serious I am about it's PQ?

Maybe I should have been a little more clear on my question.

In the past I believe it was Ion\i\Pax\Whatever 66 carried the Devil Rays in Tampa Bay. I see no indication that they are doing so this season - and no mention as such on the website - only MLB.tv.

Does anyone know if the Devil Rays have an OTA affiliate or were they dissed by the local TV Stations as well?


some games are on ch 66 the IO channel in Tampa, mostly weekend games. Thurs APr 5 and Fri the 6th channel 66 is carrying the Rays games, according to the tv guide with the Lakeland Ledger.

The bottom line for HD should be PQ, imo. Everything else should be incidental.

One should not purchase a HD Service for the DVR features. If the DVR is weaker than another, then thats the trade off for better PQ (and the 8300HD is ok but its certainly not a TIVO).

In a worst case scenario, get FIOS and a TIVO Series 3 if a DVR is that important.
Agreed


And what part of Hillsborough do you live in? I have seriously been looking at a DS3 from South Tampa to get FIOS over here (and before you ask, there was no way I could find to get the compressed, mpeg2 signal over it - only the uncompressed video/audio which means it would have to be recompressed again so it was a no go) - does that tell you how serious I am about it's PQ?
I'm in South Tampa. Yeah it blows me away to think what people are paying for their HD TV's only to feed them garbage. So once I have Fios how will the OTA signals stack up against Fios offerings of the same channel. I know from what I have read about OTA that is is the least compressed. True? Wondering if i should have OTA and Fios or if Fios is just as uncompressed. I will definately report back as soon as fios is installed. I am gonna have Brighthouse hopefully still hooked up when the Fios is installed so I can do a A/B comparison on HD and SD between the two carriers. PQ is King!

Yeah it blows me away to think what people are paying for their HD TV's only to feed them garbage. So once I have Fios how will the OTA signals stack up against Fios offerings of the same channel. I know from what I have read about OTA that is is the least compressed. True? Wondering if i should have OTA and Fios or if Fios is just as uncompressed. I will definately report back as soon as fios is installed. I am gonna have Brighthouse hopefully still hooked up when the Fios is installed so I can do a A/B comparison on HD and SD between the two carriers. PQ is King!

Well, as Ron can atest to, FIOS is literally as close to the a feed from the distribution satellite as you can get.

Thanks! I guess BHN it is, they will be here next week :D.

I picked up an UHF/VHF/HD indoor antena from RadioShack to tide me over in the mean time with the OAR HD channels I pick up with it. The best thing is I can return it if need be, or keep it for the next time I get an HD tv and have to wait for service...

Speaking on HDDs, I have an external Western MyBook 500GB with 300GB free on it, do you think I could plug that in? It doesn't have Firewire (Which is weird, because I'm on a MAC, I know. But, I have a Vista laptop that has no FW so..), but do they make connectors that might work? Do you know if the external HDD I plug into the DVR will be able to still host files that are not TV?

I'm still kind of wonky on the idea of the HD DVR, because most of the things I would record are not yet in HD. Does anyone have a good guesstimate when the premium channels will began streaming HD? Channels like Sundance, FUSE, BBCA? Also, when you have HD connected through a box would I have to manually switch the input or can I just turn to HD channels like I do premium channels Ie: 83.xx or 13-01 vs. 123 or 118?

Sorry for the STREAM of questions, I'm just trying to learn about my investment. From what I've seen so far HD is the only way to go. Switching from the OAR HD I get back to the crappy coxial is hurting me now :D.

eSATA Case (http://www.directron.com/enc311su41.html)

Findarto

You must use a dedicated SATA hard drive connected to the eSATA conector on the back of the HDDVR. The link above is the case I use.

That would be great, I have an SATA HD I'm not using from my old, old computer. How big is the standard HDD on the HDDVR?

That would be great, I have an SATA HD I'm not using from my old, old computer. How big is the standard HDD on the HDDVR?

160 gig on the sa8300hd...

You may or may not seen the news that Channel 8's John Winter blew his brains out this afternoon.

John's father is Jack Winter (he real name is actually John as well, but he goes by Jack), the head of engineering and operations @ ABC 28. Jack has been a great friend to High Definition in the Tampabay Area - much more so than those at Channel 8 or Channel 10.

Jack has been active in trying to get HD right at Channel 28. When there are problems, Jack has gone out of his way to find the problem and get them resolved. In no due part, thanks to Jack, the issue with the nationwide ABC Green Stripe was solved with Jack putting the pressure put on ABC to get new encoders which benefited HDTV viewers Nationwide.

Jack has gone out of his way to try and stop Channel 28 from cutting to 4:3 in the middle of programming to run promos for news (a la Channel 10) and news crawls whenever someone sneezes like Channel 8.

He went out of his way in his role several years ago in programming to make sure Channel 28 ran the ABC Saturday Night Movies in HD while the analog channel was running USF Football (and since he is now out of that role in the decision process, we see what last year brought on).

Jack has been a friend to HD in the Bay Area and unknowingly to HD Fans nationwide.

Bottom line - he is a really good person and he does not deserve to be burying his 39 year old son.

Sympathy goes out to him and his family during this time of personal tragedy.

so whats next for BHN

National Geographic?

Apparently a Devil Rays Baseball game that looks worse than any Stretch-O-Vision that TNT-HD has ever thought about.

Anyone have FIOS in the Westshore Mall area of South Tampa?

Baynews 9 - 609 - put 4:3 with wings on today instead of their static gray pillars which remains on digital channel 9.

As the graphics are not 16:9 they do not integrate very well compared to other stations doing HD News, but that they have done this is another step towards the equipment in place for HD Local News.

Baynews 9 - 609 - put 4:3 with wings on today instead of their static gray pillars which remains on digital channel 9.

As the graphics are not 16:9 they do not integrate very well compared to other stations doing HD News, but that they have done this is another step towards the equipment in place for HD Local News.

Don't get cable (TV that is, still using Roadrunner)...but that is interesting.

Fan, do you have any idea when any of the local stations plan to go HD with their local news?

Don't get cable (TV that is, still using Roadrunner)...but that is interesting.

Fan, do you have any idea when any of the local stations plan to go HD with their local news?

Have not heard of any....Gannett has been doing it in other markets, but they can't even get HD from CBS right...

Heard nothing about 28 doing it....Channel 8 (Media General) taking massive losses in Newspaper - just laid off 70 people today.

Channel 13 is interesting....new studio etc going in....makes sense they would do it if redoing studio.

So with no one mentioning it (and quite frankly, I would think they would all keep the information quiet for competitive reasons, Channel 13 is the one that makes the most sense at this time.

The 4:3 Wings on 609 clearly has my interest though....as this is not something you would buy otherwise.

But again, as I have noted, I have no inside information on who might do it - namely because I haven't asked. I literally never watch any of the local market newscasts any longer as they have seem to have lost their mind and shifted their focus from the Core of Pinellas Hillsborough and to the outerlying areas - even though those only make up 48% of the television DMA.

When stories from Pasco, Polk and Sarasota come before election results in Pinellas, something is seriously wrong.

Channel 13 is interesting....new studio etc going in....makes sense they would do it if redoing studio.


I believe they've actually said on air that they are rebuilding their studio for HD broadcasts.

When stories from Pasco, Polk and Sarasota come before election results in Pinellas, something is seriously wrong.

We rarely watch the local news channel here in Sarasota as the coverage and reporting is far superior from the Tampa stations.

I believe they've actually said on air that they are rebuilding their studio for HD broadcasts.


As noted, I really don't watch newscasts in this market - so you could be 100% correct (and probably are).

John and Kelly in HD - god that has to be a scary thought.

Apparently they plan to roll it out this month for the sweeps (with the switch coming over the weekend of before Monday the 23rd?) according to the website:

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/pages/InsideFox/Detail?contentId=2650217&version=6&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=5.1.1


We rarely watch the local news channel here in Sarasota as the coverage and reporting is far superior from the Tampa stations.

LOL.....that proves my point.

That Baynews 9 covers Sarasota is just ridiculous as they don't even have a cable system there. The Manatee County subs are in such a small area, that is also ridiculous - yet 52% of the 18-49s in the DMA are in Hillsborough and Pinellas

But regardless, I had someone from Brighthouse confirm to me this morning that BayNews 9 says they are going HD.

John and Kelly in HD - god that has to be a scary thought.



John - scary. :eek:

Kelly should look quite good in HD. :)

John - scary. :eek:

Kelly should look quite good in HD. :)

20 years ago

i was just watching WEDU HD and they did a emergency weather alert without going to SD...they replaced the sound track with the a computer generated reading of the alert about a tornado in dade city...is this the norm?

Clearly you did not see ABC where all of lost was in HD with full weather graphics and crawls.

As noted earlier, John Winter hated when 8 and 10 dropped out of HD to do the News/Weather Bulletins and even in a tight capital enviroment, he found enough to get the equipment so they would not have to do that on 28.

Consider that compared to 8 dropping out of HD if a dog gets hit by a car - or 10 dropping out every night around 10:48pm to promote their newscast.

As noted, at least Jack is trying his best to do it correctly - even with less equipment than the others.

Clearly you did not see ABC where all of lost was in HD with full weather graphics and crawls.

As noted earlier, John Winter hated when 8 and 10 dropped out of HD to do the News/Weather Bulletins and even in a tight capital enviroment, he found enough to get the equipment so they would not have to do that on 28.

Consider that compared to 8 dropping out of HD if a dog gets hit by a car - or 10 dropping out every night around 10:48pm to promote their newscast.

As noted, at least Jack is trying his best to do it correctly - even with less equipment than the others.

Just to expand on what you are saying, 13 has the same problem. Last night, during Idol, there was a weather crawl concerning a tornado warning in Pasco county. Each time they switched to the crawl, HD was lost, as well as the Dolby Digital audio. Quite annoying, particularly as the audio level changed as they went in and out of HD.

Kudos go to 28, as well as condolences to Jack.

As noted, at least Jack is trying his best to do it correctly - even with less equipment than the others.

Yeah, it is good to know that someone in this market seems to care about such things.

I see that BHN has channel 694 in the guide as VSGLH. Waht the heck is that?

Tonight (12 Apr, at approximately at 7pm), BHN will launch a new HD channel on channel 694 - available to all HD set tops. (i.e. not in the HD Pak).

*** Versus/Golf HD ***

The channel will be a combination of Versus (formerly Outdoor Life Network) in HD from 7pm to 12 noon, and then The Golf Channel in HD from 12 noon to 7pm.

This additional HD service is available to all HD Set tops at no additional cost.

To kick off the launch at 7pm this evening- Versus will feature the NHL Playoff game of the Calgary Flames vs Red Wings at Detroit

Guide data will be populated for this service tomorrow.

This service is not currently on Verizon, Knology, Dish or DirecTV.


Enjoy!
__________________
Greg @ BHN

I just noticed it, but my add. two HD channels were taken off, I think it was CinemaHD and HBOHD

argh

I just noticed it, but my add. two HD channels were taken off, I think it was CinemaHD and HBOHD

argh

huh?

Yeah, it is good to know that someone in this market seems to care about such things.

Yep, as could be seen tonight, everyone else goes to SD and reduces the screen to tell you nothing :rolleyes:

Just to expand on what you are saying, 13 has the same problem. Last night, during Idol, there was a weather crawl concerning a tornado warning in Pasco county. Each time they switched to the crawl, HD was lost, as well as the Dolby Digital audio. Quite annoying, particularly as the audio level changed as they went in and out of HD.

Kudos go to 28, as well as condolences to Jack.

I was obviously joking when I said yesterday that Channel 8 would drop to SD to tell you a dog was hit by a car.....and then tonight as they interupted the entire prime time schedule to tell you Dale Mabry was shutdown because of a "situation" for 8 hours - geeez.

Ok, so a guy has hostages at the gun range, but no one cares to tell you that as he has a TV and they think that will upset him - but come on.....does channel 8 have to run a crawl twice every half hour to tell me a "situation" is taking place?

Thanks for nothing :mad:

Anybody know why the heck The lightning playoff games arent in HD? I figured BHN would come through for me but they arent! WTH

Anybody know why the heck The lightning playoff games arent in HD? I figured BHN would come through for me but they arent! WTH

When I asked that question to FSN/Sun Sports earlier this week, this was their reply:

Although the schedule is not finalized yet, it appears we will be able to produce Game #3 on 4/16 and Game #6 (if nec.) on 4/22 in HD in the first round. You would need to check with Verizon to see if they are electing to offer these games in HD. Keep in mind, they may not yet be aware of them since they were just determined last night.

We tried and tried, but there are simply not any HD production trucks available for the games in NJ and no HD transmission facilities available for Game #4 on 4/18, which will probably air on FSN Florida instead of Sun Sports. As the playoffs continue, we will of course look to produce as many games as possible in HD, contigent upon the availability on those dates of HD production truck and HD transmission facilities.

When I asked that question to FSN/Sun Sports earlier this week, this was their reply:

Although the schedule is not finalized yet, it appears we will be able to produce Game #3 on 4/16 and Game #6 (if nec.) on 4/22 in HD in the first round. You would need to check with Verizon to see if they are electing to offer these games in HD. Keep in mind, they may not yet be aware of them since they were just determined last night.

We tried and tried, but there are simply not any HD production trucks available for the games in NJ and no HD transmission facilities available for Game #4 on 4/18, which will probably air on FSN Florida instead of Sun Sports. As the playoffs continue, we will of course look to produce as many games as possible in HD, contigent upon the availability on those dates of HD production truck and HD transmission facilities.

Wow your the man! Thats a shame that this far into 07 with the digital turnover in 09 that we still have these type of issues. Maybe im just crazy but that seems silly

No HD Transmission facilities? That sounds very bogus.

EDIT:

It is BS.....Forum is hardwired for DS3 45Mbps and even higher - 270Mbps fiber.

I also suspect the HD Production Trucks excuse out of NJ is BS as well.

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/8665/forumfiberuv5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

No HD Transmission facilities? That sounds very bogus.


Perhaps bogus or BS, but that was their response to my inquiry.

last night i noticed that FiOS added Food, HGTV and "Lady's network" in HD.

last night i noticed that FiOS added Food, HGTV and "Lady's network" in HD.

Are you referring to 840, 841 and 845? They're not listed yet in my Tivo guide, but I am able to receive these channels now that I've enabled them.

Perhaps bogus or BS, but that was their response to my inquiry.

Yes, it was their response, no "perhaps bogus or BS" about it - as the Forum is hardwirded in arena fiber circuit and full HD as high as 270Mbps can be transmitted with literally no advanced notice.

To give you a comparison, Fox typically used just under 60 Mbps for their HD Football games back to LA and had a DS3 backup.

A simple DS3 connection at 45Mbps would suffice - which as you can see is available - and consider that NBC backhauled some of the Playoffs games last year via satellite from Canada at around 36Mbps, a DS3 could more than suffice.

Are you referring to 840, 841 and 845? They're not listed yet in my Tivo guide, but I am able to receive these channels now that I've enabled them.

that is correct

NJ vs TampaBay was in HD from NJ from CBC tonight. No on screen bug during play either. Was NOT the FSN Devils feed.

NJ vs TampaBay was in HD from NJ from CBC tonight. No on screen bug during play either. Was NOT the FSN Devils feed.

for what is worth, they did say tonight that game 3 would be in hd

Unrelated to HD, but anyone know what channel 215 (HBO On-Demand/HODP) is all about? It says that you have to call to order it? I do have HBO and get the 200 On-Demand channel.

Yes, it was their response, no "perhaps bogus or BS" about it - as the Forum is hardwirded in arena fiber circuit and full HD as high as 270Mbps can be transmitted with literally no advanced notice.

To give you a comparison, Fox typically used just under 60 Mbps for their HD Football games back to LA and had a DS3 backup.

A simple DS3 connection at 45Mbps would suffice - which as you can see is available - and consider that NBC backhauled some of the Playoffs games last year via satellite from Canada at around 36Mbps, a DS3 could more than suffice.

You seem to be well connected throughout the area and have many contacts at various stations. Maybe you can find out from FSN/SunSports why they "really" aren't showing all of the playoff games in HD since the Forum, and presumably the Continental Airlines Arena (NJ) have the capability, as evidenced by the fact that it was shown in HD in Canada.

Continential arena has 270Mbps out on fiber, so it has plenty of bandwidth.

As I noted, it's clearly price - they just don't want to pay for HD.


http://img119.imageshack.us/img119/752/continentalarenanjvyvxri4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I see that the hockey game on WFLA-DT, while listed in the guide as being broadcast in HD, is not. I went to one of my other sources from out of the area, and it was definitely being broadcast in HD. Wonder what channel 8's problem is?

I see that the hockey game on WFLA-DT, while listed in the guide as being broadcast in HD, is not. I went to one of my other sources from out of the area, and it was definitely being broadcast in HD. Wonder what channel 8's problem is?

Dunno, but it's weak...and not the first time they've done this on a hockey game this year, either. Luckily I have access to an out-of-market feed, so was able to see the game in HD.

Lightning game looks great on SunHD viewed on Fios. Still don't comprehend why game 4 will not be broadcast in HD. The darn eqt. is already at the forum.

Lightning game looks great on SunHD viewed on Fios. Still don't comprehend why game 4 will not be broadcast in HD. The darn eqt. is already at the forum.

i'm not watching if it is not in HD

Lightning game looks great on SunHD viewed on Fios. Still don't comprehend why game 4 will not be broadcast in HD. The darn eqt. is already at the forum.

The SunHD broadcast looked simply awful on DirecTV MPEG4, far, far worse than any previous HD game. The while balance was completely off, so that parts of the blue and red lines were washed out. Since it looked good on FIOS, it seems that this must have been a D* issue...though I've never seen problems like that before.

Luckily I was able to watch the game on CBC via Star Choice. Widescreen-SD only, but high quality SD (along w/ HD studio stuff).

As to why no HD for game 4, a wild guess is that it has more to do with limitations at the FSN technical operations center in Houston than anything locally. At least that's the argument I've heard previously in similar situations.

WTVT went with their new set this morning which is clearly HD Ready. Strangely enough, they did not go HD at this time. Virtually every station that has gone HD has done it with the new set - as with a major studio rebuild, everything electrical is removed and it makes no sense to put the old equipment back in only to remove it later to convert to HD.

Also, WTVT ran a story in the first segment of the 10PM news about the legislation to pass State Franchising of Cable TV - and noted the focus is really Tampabay as it took Verizon 2 years to get franchise agreements for Video in Hillsborough.

I would not say they were sympathetic to the cause in their slant - as they portrayed it that cities could loose revenue if adopted (true - but should we really allow Verizon to build parks, gyms, swimming pools and the like to get a franchise?).

WTVT went with their new set this morning which is clearly HD Ready. Strangely enough, they did not go HD at this time. Virtually every station that has gone HD has done it with the new set - as with a major studio rebuild, everything electrical is removed and it makes no sense to put the old equipment back in only to remove it later to convert to HD.

They also said, in one of their segments showing off their new "digs", that there's more big things coming. I expect HD will be real soon, but it's just not ready yet. Heck, they could be using HD cameras but sending out an SD signal. Is that possible?

I expect HD will be real soon, but it's just not ready yet. Heck, they could be using HD cameras but sending out an SD signal. Is that possible?Yes. But from the myfoxtampabay.com videos of the new set it looks like the overwhelming majority of the monitors are still 4:3. And I'm betting that most of the news production is still being done in SD with betacams, too.

I hope WTVT proves me wrong, but I'm not holding my breath for any 'real' HD news content from this station.

Yes. But from the myfoxtampabay.com videos of the new set it looks like the overwhelming majority of the monitors are still 4:3. And I'm betting that most of the news production is still being done in SD with betacams, too.

I hope WTVT proves me wrong, but I'm not holding my breath for any 'real' HD news content from this station.

I would have expected Fox13 to be the first in our market with local HD production capabilities. I suppose time will tell :confused:

I'm pretty sure that if originating news (or even studio shots) in HD were imminent, the station would have said so. Here's an example of what is happening in more enlightened markets:

http://eastbay.bizjournals.com/eastbay/othercities/seattle/stories/2007/04/16/daily3.html?b=1176696000%5E1447922

But as you say, time will tell.

Conversion of local news production to HD isn't simple or quick.

http://www.tvnewsday.com/microsite/grass_valley/interviews/ed_casaccia_qa.html

It surprises me that the 'all news, all the time' cable networks haven't been more aggressive about HD content. I guess it will take a competitive entry (maybe more along the lines of HDNet News) to force them into responding.

It surprises me that the 'all news, all the time' cable networks haven't been more aggressive about HD content. I guess it will take a competitive entry (maybe more along the lines of HDNet News) to force them into responding.

Considering that there is none - zero out of 30 some - indication that going HD News has given any station ANY increase in viewer ratings, viewers are proving its still content over HD.


But from the myfoxtampabay.com videos of the new set it looks like the overwhelming majority of the monitors are still 4:3. And I'm betting that most of the news production is still being done in SD with betacams, too.

I hope WTVT proves me wrong, but I'm not holding my breath for any 'real' HD news content from this station.


Actually there are around 20 some Plasmas that I counted.

Many of the monitors in the monitor rooms clearly have the space for a 16:9 to go in their place - and I believe those are behind plexiglass so they really will not be that visible - whether HD or SD - most of the HD Plasmas are out in the open.

You can see the various areas of the set here:

http://media.myfoxtampabay.com/newset/

Click on them for a windows media view of that area. Again, look closely in the monitor area and you will see makeshift areas for 4:3 monitors where clearly 16:9 monitors are going - and again - I believe that area will be behind glass anyway - and not prime focus.

The plasmas will be out in the open and the most visible.

Again, look closely in the monitor area and you will see makeshift areas for 4:3 monitors where clearly 16:9 monitors are going I see a number of 'fixed' 4:3 openings that don't look makeshift to me. But maybe your eyes are better than mine.

Is anybody in the area watching the NBA playoffs on TNT (Brighthouse)? The feed frequently chops up and the audio cuts in and out. It's impossible to watch. What is the cause of this?

Very frustrating for basketball fans!

I see a number of 'fixed' 4:3 openings that don't look makeshift to me. But maybe your eyes are better than mine.


There are a number of fixed 4:3 openings....no doubt....but for a LONG time a number of feeds will be SD/4:3

What I am saying is there are a number of 16:9 openings that have 4:3 monitors sitting in there that are obvious temporary.

I see a number of 'fixed' 4:3 openings that don't look makeshift to me. But maybe your eyes are better than mine.

There are a number of fixed 4:3 openings....no doubt....but for a LONG time a number of feeds will be SD/4:3

What I am saying is there are a number of 16:9 openings that have 4:3 monitors sitting in there that are obvious temporary.

I've seen many photos of HD broadcast newsrooms and production trucks, and they use plenty of 4:3 monitors. Not all the monitors I've seen in these facilities are 16:9.

As I said a few posts back....... time will tell.

:) OK guys, been lurking about a month on and off between travels. Notes from Dunedin. With an indoor Terk, we get fine enough reception for 8, 10, 13 and 28. Have to adjust the rabbit ears now and then. 16 is spotty, 3 is a little better. Devil Rays are still on 66. The Humax box almost shows us WBBH Fort Myers and WESH Orlando. We need a quality, wind-resistant outdoor antenna. Any suggestions on an installer would be greatly appreciated.

Real news is FIOS is going in south of Curlew along the streets off of Belcher. We will try them out in a month or so, but still want OTA. Some of the neighbors are really miffed that the Verizon contractors ripped up St. Augustine and replaced it with bahiagrass. Looks funny but no one is laughing. They say they will return with St. Augustine (probably want the chinch bugs to mature first -- haha). Anyway, the info here is very useful. Hope this note is informative. Really am looking for a good installer. We may want a rotor. Have never had cable (terrible waste of money for us). FIOS sounds interesting because the package is $99 for everything and we can put it on vacation 6-months out of the year. GREAT!

:) Have never had cable (terrible waste of money for us). FIOS sounds interesting because the package is $99 for everything and we can put it on vacation 6-months out of the year. GREAT!

Just be sure to read the fine print very carefully. The $99 price is an attention grabber, and things you probably need (like STBs) is +++. And I believe the $99 price is for some limited time. But you will be very pleased with Fios quality and customer service. They blow Comcast and satellite away in terms of PQ and selection.

Good luck.

Is anybody in the area watching the NBA playoffs on TNT (Brighthouse)? The feed frequently chops up and the audio cuts in and out. It's impossible to watch. What is the cause of this?

Very frustrating for basketball fans!

same here

horrible the past 3-4 games

:) OK guys, been lurking about a month on and off between travels. Notes from Dunedin. With an indoor Terk, we get fine enough reception for 8, 10, 13 and 28. Have to adjust the rabbit ears now and then. 16 is spotty, 3 is a little better. Devil Rays are still on 66. The Humax box almost shows us WBBH Fort Myers and WESH Orlando. We need a quality, wind-resistant outdoor antenna. Any suggestions on an installer would be greatly appreciated.

Real news is FIOS is going in south of Curlew along the streets off of Belcher. We will try them out in a month or so, but still want OTA. Some of the neighbors are really miffed that the Verizon contractors ripped up St. Augustine and replaced it with bahiagrass. Looks funny but no one is laughing. They say they will return with St. Augustine (probably want the chinch bugs to mature first -- haha). Anyway, the info here is very useful. Hope this note is informative. Really am looking for a good installer. We may want a rotor. Have never had cable (terrible waste of money for us). FIOS sounds interesting because the package is $99 for everything and we can put it on vacation 6-months out of the year. GREAT!

If that report is accurate, its the first movement I've heard of FIOS going South in Pinellas, but it would be great news.

I am sure you have read or seen the news stories about the legislation trying to make it through the Florida house to push State Franchise legislation. Surprisingly, BayNews 9 has even been covering it.

It looked like Verizion was laying cable north of Curlew on Cuntryside Blvd. today.

The contractors already used that vacuum gizmo to lay the "pull-fiber" that will be used to run the actual FO line along the street (there are 10 houses on this offshoot from Belcher). They said they will be back this week to do the fiber and hook-up the boxes on the houses. I'll be out of town, so I won't be able to say for about a month. One of them said they are doing everything in north Pinellas from 19 to Alt-19. I'm assuming they can hook the four cable-TV wires that are sticking out of our house into that house-box for FIOS. I don't know how the quality of the signal will degrade going from FO to copper wire. Or do they rewire houses? I have no idea how it connects inside the house and whether the signal goes through cable TV wires, telephone wires or all of the above.

The contractors already used that vacuum gizmo to lay the "pull-fiber" that will be used to run the actual FO line along the street (there are 10 houses on this offshoot from Belcher). They said they will be back this week to do the fiber and hook-up the boxes on the houses. I'll be out of town, so I won't be able to say for about a month. One of them said they are doing everything in north Pinellas from 19 to Alt-19. I'm assuming they can hook the four cable-TV wires that are sticking out of our house into that house-box for FIOS. I don't know how the quality of the signal will degrade going from FO to copper wire. Or do they rewire houses? I have no idea how it connects inside the house and whether the signal goes through cable TV wires, telephone wires or all of the above.

They don't rewire your house. They use the existing inside wiring provided it tests to their specifications. If they need to run a new coax or cat 5 drop, they'll do that too. The inside phone wiring is usually fine. If it's not, inside wiring usually becomes your expense.

Hello. I'm not sure i am in the correct thread. I have FIOS and have times when watching TV the audio momentarily drops for a second or two. Is this a common iss with FIOS TV? Has anyone else experienced this?

Hello. I'm not sure i am in the correct thread. I have FIOS and have times when watching TV the audio momentarily drops for a second or two. Is this a common iss with FIOS TV? Has anyone else experienced this?

Depends on what you're watching. Sometimes I'll experience a momentary drop on HD programs. Could be Fios or could be the local broadcast source. Hard to tell. However, when I used to watch our local HD stations OTA, I would also sometimes experience the same momentary drops.

I suppose the same can be true for SD material. Unless you can do an A/B comparison, it's really hard to nail down the source of the drops.

Hello. I'm not sure i am in the correct thread. I have FIOS and have times when watching TV the audio momentarily drops for a second or two. Is this a common iss with FIOS TV? Has anyone else experienced this?

i see this when coming out of commercials when watching a program that is 5.1 audio on CBS...but, this could just my receiver.

This may have been posted before but......I just purchased a Channelmaster 4bay bow tie antenna to replace my old yagi style antenna in my attic to pick up CH 10.

The signal strength went fron 26-40 to 80-85....ch 10 never drops out now,and I have no amp connected. I live near Dale Mabry and Kennedy in South Tampa.

Last night I watched a recording of Letterman from Monday night from Channel 10-HD. I noticed a slight lip sync problem. Haven't had a chance to explore it further.

Did anyone notice the same thing?

Hello, I am joining the ota hd recieving. zipcode 33805, 11 channels available. Equipment is a phillip mant 920 w antenna and samsung DTBH260F. I have a Sony tv. Today I lined up the mast mounts after spending several hours locating the best spot. The area I chose has a direct view without any trees within 100's of feet.

Stefan

That antenna's instructions are the worst. If you get one of these, make sure you keep it folded it up until you are ready to raise it. I setup the receiver and it is ready to scan on video 4.

Anyone have a recent list of unencrypted QAM stations available on Brighthouse?