Has anyone else noticed the sound on channel 10-1 is 30-50% lower than normal?

It's been like this for a couple of weeks now. I had to turn up the volume alot on my receiver to hear Lost tonight.

Has anyone else noticed the sound on channel 10-1 is 30-50% lower than normal?

Yea, tonight with Lost my reciever showed 5.1 surround, but only the front speakers had sound. No rears, center, or sub. :( Also alot lower volume.

Bummer, I call about once a month, this is the first time they sounded so positive, usually its just we don't know. Probably just got an agressive CSr who wants to build a customer list so that she gets more commission when they do come out.

Hope the news about TNT is accurate would like to watch the Heat in HD tonight

You need to arrange a face-to-face meeting with their headend manager to get specific details regarding their equipment plans. And it would be a good idea to find out who makes decisions about the channel lineup and speak with that person as well. CSR's very rarely have accurate and/or up-to-date information, and there are limits on what they can tell customers. If need be, start at the top....find out who's the president of Advanced, and have him put you in touch with the appropriate staff. After all, they have a pretty cushy deal with that exclusive arrangement in one of the most affluent communities in South Florida....they ought to be doing way better than they are.

Yea, tonight with Lost my reciever showed 5.1 surround, but only the front speakers had sound. No rears, center, or sub. :( Also alot lower volume.

I thought the engineer at WPLG had stated they corrected all of their 5.1 audio problems. And by the way, WTF happened last night on "Lost"???? I swear I'll never watch another show on ABC!

Well I have to eat some crow. Last evening while watching American Idol on WSVN 7.1, the video and audio broke up several times. I don't know if it was related to the actual feed or the Comcast HD feed, cause my wife wouldn't let me switch to OTA during the show.

Has anyone else noticed the sound on channel 10-1 is 30-50% lower than normal?
Yes. I notice this too. Also I havent been able to pick up NBC on 3.1 for the past 3 days. I hope comcast didnt move it to a frequency that my qam tuner cant lock on to. Anyone else?

i've been having audio/video breakups on wsvn during hd broadcasts for the last couple of weeks too. i'm getting mine ota with my hd tivo

greg

Yes. I notice this too. Also I havent been able to pick up NBC on 3.1 for the past 3 days. I hope comcast didnt move it to a frequency that my qam tuner cant lock on to. Anyone else?

I just checked, using my LG-LST3410A....NBC on Comcast is still at the same frequency for me (93.3), so it should be in the same place for you.

My lucky day today. I decided to send Advanced an e-mail telling them that I was tired of waiting for their DVR and that I was going to move to Dish (Mike, thanks for the thought). I got a call from a CSR within about 30min and she said that while the boxes were not in general distribution yet they would like me to take a box. I stopped by the office this afternoon and picked up the Motorola DCT6412 box, plugged it in and I'm up and running. All functions seem to be working fine. Only downside is that for some reason SD analog stations look worse going through the box than when going directly to the TV tuner. I had the same problem with my old Mot DCT6200 I had from Comcast. Not sure what causes this but I will probably tee the cable as I have done in the past.

The tech at the Weston office was not sure why they had not started general distribution yet, but it does look like it should be soon. Also said that they had signed a contract with CBS and it was in their hands to close the deal so they could add the station.

My lucky day today. I decided to send Advanced an e-mail telling them that I was tired of waiting for their DVR and that I was going to move to Dish (Mike, thanks for the thought). I got a call from a CSR within about 30min and she said that while the boxes were not in general distribution yet they would like me to take a box. I stopped by the office this afternoon and picked up the Motorola DCT6412 box, plugged it in and I'm up and running. All functions seem to be working fine. Only downside is that for some reason SD analog stations look worse going through the box than when going directly to the TV tuner. I had the same problem with my old Mot DCT6200 I had from Comcast. Not sure what causes this but I will probably tee the cable as I have done in the past.

The tech at the Weston office was not sure why they had not started general distribution yet, but it does look like it should be soon. Also said that they had signed a contract with CBS and it was in their hands to close the deal so they could add the station.

SD analog PQ from the Motorola boxes is pretty bad. I tried all the settings for 480i material, and found that for me the best is to set it to "OFF"---that way, everything is scaled to HD output resolution. However, if your display cannot stretch or zoom 720p or 1080i content, you should make sure you may risk burn-in on a susceptible display.

Here is a link that should help you get in-depth info on the 6412:
http://cjhengineering.com/DCTHDFAQ.htm

I tried Advanced's VOD tonight, very disapointing. Its letterboxed 4:3 and no DD 5.1. Not sure why they think they can compete with DVD rental pricing with subpar video and sound

Well I have to eat some crow. Last evening while watching American Idol on WSVN 7.1, the video and audio broke up several times. I don't know if it was related to the actual feed or the Comcast HD feed, cause my wife wouldn't let me switch to OTA during the show.

I watched half of it via D* on one TV, then OTA on 7.1 for the second half. I saw several breakups on the D* feed as well, like someone had walked in front of my dish (it's only about 2' off the ground) so if you saw the same I guess it must have been the feed.

Tony

Does anyone know why Comcast changed there local ABC and NBC Quam tunner channels? They used to be 93.1 and 93.3, now they are not there and cannot find them. Still have TNT, PBS, and FOX. :(

Does anyone know why Comcast changed there local ABC and NBC Quam tunner channels? They used to be 93.1 and 93.3, now they are not there and cannot find them. Still have TNT, PBS, and FOX. :(

I'm using an LG-LST3410A....I just checked and both ABC and NBC are at those same frequencies, 93.1 for ABC and 93.3 for NBC. So on my tuner, they haven't changed. I would suggest doing a manual (frequency by frequency) channel scan to those of you who're having problems finding these two channels with your QAM tuners. The LG tuner allows this---others may not. The only thing Comcast has been working on recently is the VOD service.

Anyone else having problems with heavy pixelation on TNT-HD? I spoke with the Weston headend tech on Friday and he said it was fine there and said it muct be a local area problem. However, I don't have a problem with any of the other stations. It so bad on TNT-HD that it is almost unwatchable. I would like to get it fixed before tomorrow nights heat game

I get TNTHD from Dish and it comes in perfect. A neighbor of mine who has the HD pack from Advanced told me on Thursday that he is having lots of pixelation on TNTHD and both HDNET channels. He called Advanced and a CSR said that it is a known problem in the Weston area.

I'm using an LG-LST3410A....I just checked and both ABC and NBC are at those same frequencies, 93.1 for ABC and 93.3 for NBC. So on my tuner, they haven't changed. I would suggest doing a manual (frequency by frequency) channel scan to those of you who're having problems finding these two channels with your QAM tuners. The LG tuner allows this---others may not. The only thing Comcast has been working on recently is the VOD service.

Thanks, I manually typed in the channels before because the Quam tunner did not find them when I first got my set a month ago. They were there until a day ago. :( Just those 2 channels, TNT, CBS, FOX are still there. I guess it does not matter since Comcast is scheduled to install the Motorola 6412 Dual tuner cable box on Tuesday. It will be hooked up through DVI to HDMI, I guess that will be ok. Also then I will get all the HD channels they have since the deal was to good. :)

Anybody know on what channels The WB and UPN are on? I have Comcast cable in Hialeah.
Not that I watch WB or UPN, :rolleyes:

Thanks, I manually typed in the channels before because the Quam tunner did not find them when I first got my set a month ago. They were there until a day ago. :( Just those 2 channels, TNT, CBS, FOX are still there. I guess it does not matter since Comcast is scheduled to install the Motorola 6412 Dual tuner cable box on Tuesday. It will be hooked up through DVI to HDMI, I guess that will be ok. Also then I will get all the HD channels they have since the deal was to good. :)

Sorry to hear it didn't work. But you'll like the DCT6412....it is a very nice unit, despite it's quirks (such as the Guide's propensity for freezing up occasionally). Mine has never failed to execute a recording, and setting up series recordings is quite easy. I've tried both component and DVI/HDMI connections to my Toshiba DLP, and found that I like the "look" of the component video connection better....it just seems less "digital" to my eyes.

You can find a wealth of information on the unit here:
http://cjhengineering.com/DCTHDFAQ.htm

In the Comcast Cable menu, if you go to setup then audio. There is an option for Compression, I imagine it is better on none, but can't tell the difference. Anybody can tell me what would be the best option. Also, is the best option Matrix Stereo, the help button says it for dynamic audio systems, whatever that means.

Sorry to hear it didn't work. But you'll like the DCT6412....it is a very nice unit, despite it's quirks (such as the Guide's propensity for freezing up occasionally). Mine has never failed to execute a recording, and setting up series recordings is quite easy. I've tried both component and DVI/HDMI connections to my Toshiba DLP, and found that I like the "look" of the component video connection better....it just seems less "digital" to my eyes.

You can find a wealth of information on the unit here:
http://cjhengineering.com/DCTHDFAQ.htm

Cool, I can't wait. :) The Comcast rep told me that TNT HD is not yet approved and in the lineup. It funny I get TNT HD with the QAM tunner on channel 117.300. What is the channel # with the 6412 HD box? I also need them to split the cable before the box because of PIP.

Cool, I can't wait. :) The Comcast rep told me that TNT HD is not yet approved and in the lineup. It funny I get TNT HD with the QAM tunner on channel 117.300. What is the channel # with the 6412 HD box? I also need them to split the cable before the box because of PIP.

It would appear CSR's, like wives, are always the last to know. :p

The current HD lineup is as follows:
202 ESPN
204 TNT
205 DISCOVERY HDT
206 INHD1
270 INHD2
210 WPLG
211 WTVJ
212 WFOR
213 WSVN
220 through 223 WPBT
228 HBO
233 CINEMAX
238 SHOWTIME
248 STARZ

In the Comcast Cable menu, if you go to setup then audio. There is an option for Compression, I imagine it is better on none, but can't tell the difference. Anybody can tell me what would be the best option. Also, is the best option Matrix Stereo, the help button says it for dynamic audio systems, whatever that means.

Herby,

Check the link I posted earlier...it can give you details on the Comcast DCT units so you can determine which setting is best for your equipment.

It would appear CSR's, like wives, are always the last to know. :p

The current HD lineup is as follows:
202 ESPN
204 TNT
205 DISCOVERY HDT
206 INHD1
270 INHD2
210 WPLG
211 WTVJ
212 WFOR
213 WSVN
220 through 223 WPBT
228 HBO
233 CINEMAX
238 SHOWTIME
248 STARZ

I figured out what the problem was with losing 93.1 and 93.3. I had changed around the way cable is routed through my place which involes a couple more splitters between the line in and my HDTV. After reconecting directly to my HDTV with one split I have all the channels back. So I guess there is a signal loss problem. Should I go and get a in line amplifier (do you know one I can get), or wait and explain to the cable guy?

Welp, another thing figured out. I had the cable comming in to my place then to the out of the first splitter instead of the in. It just fit in the wall receptical better the other way. Changed it around and now have 31-33 SNR with the QAM tunner on digital channels. Maybe I will discuss this with the cable guy tomorrow.

bluer101,

Ask the installer to check your signal strength; if it's low and he doesn't have an amplifier with him, you can buy the Motorola signal booster at any Office Depot store and install it yourself:

http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/products/signal_booster/

I thought the engineer at WPLG had stated they corrected all of their 5.1 audio problems. And by the way, WTF happened last night on "Lost"???? I swear I'll never watch another show on ABC!


WPLG needs to fix this! I am tired of having to turn my receiver up to twice the volume of a normal broadcast just to hear the dialog. Sucks when the SD broadcast sounds better than the HD one. God forbid I forget to mute the receiver or turn the volume down when a commercial comes on. My 3 month old daughter loves it! :rolleyes:

Why send two channel as Dolby 5.1 with the center and surrounds muted? :mad: Just send normal two channel and give our receivers a chance to decode center and surrounds. PLII works great with this. I have even tried every DSP setting on my Denon 4802 and I seem to get the best results setting it to Direct 2 channel mode. But, it still sucks. I watch quite a few ABC shows too. I am glad that the seasons have ended because of this audio problem. One thing I do not understand is that the audio was fine a few months ago.

I am pulling for the Heat to make it to the finals, but I fear that the audio will still suck and even though it will look great in HD, I may have to listen to the radio broadcast because of the poor audio.

Maybe I should write them a letter too.

Later

bluer101,

Ask the installer to check your signal strength; if it's low and he doesn't have an amplifier with him, you can buy the Motorola signal booster at any Office Depot store and install it yourself:

http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/products/signal_booster/

Rudy1..You give very good advice. Do you think a low signal could be my problem also? I use to get NBC on 3.1 but it suddenly went away last week. I was never able to pick up FOX or ABC with my built in Qam tuner. I have to use an antenna to get those. The cable comes in my living room where it is split 3 ways, one to the bedrooms and two to the 2 tuners on my tv. Tuner 1 is regular cable & tuner 2 is for QAM/OTA. I'm calling comcast right now to have someone come out and test my signal.

Rudy1..You give very good advice. Do you think a low signal could be my problem also? I use to get NBC on 3.1 but it suddenly went away last week. I was never able to pick up FOX or ABC with my built in Qam tuner. I have to use an antenna to get those. The cable comes in my living room where it is split 3 ways, one to the bedrooms and two to the 2 tuners on my tv. Tuner 1 is regular cable & tuner 2 is for QAM/OTA. I'm calling comcast right now to have someone come out and test my signal.

In some cases, if the signal strength drops below a certain level the QAM tuners just can't seem to get a lock. Unfortunately, a low signal doesn't always affect every channel you can receive, so it can be difficult to point out the exact cause when you suddenly lose a channel. But it's always a good idea to have the cable company check the signal levels to make sure that you're feeding the best possible signal to the equipment you have....especially if the in-house wiring is older or if you have long runs or if the signal is being split multiple times.

Thanks for the info Rudy1

Thanks Rudy,

I'm waiting for the Comcast guy to show up as I type. I want my HD box. :)

I hope they come when they say they will Bluer. I really pleased with my service.
The HD signal on TNT is awesome compared to the crap I saw last night on ABC.
Edit: The sound on ABC forget it, it sucked.

Anybody know on what channels The WB and UPN are on? I have Comcast cable in Hialeah.
Not that I watch WB or UPN, :rolleyes:

I'm in Hialeah too and today I got the WB on channel 214 but it says it is "not authorized" I'm guessing it is not ready yet but shouldn't it say "This channel will be available shortly"?

WPLG needs to fix this! I am tired of having to turn my receiver up to twice the volume of a normal broadcast just to hear the dialog. Sucks when the SD broadcast sounds better than the HD one. God forbid I forget to mute the receiver or turn the volume down when a commercial comes on. My 3 month old daughter loves it! :rolleyes:

Why send two channel as Dolby 5.1 with the center and surrounds muted? :mad: Just send normal two channel and give our receivers a chance to decode center and surrounds. PLII works great with this. I have even tried every DSP setting on my Denon 4802 and I seem to get the best results setting it to Direct 2 channel mode. But, it still sucks. I watch quite a few ABC shows too. I am glad that the seasons have ended because of this audio problem. One thing I do not understand is that the audio was fine a few months ago.


Tonight, the audio on ABC was fine. The DD5.1 came in at the perfect volume.

The guy came right before his cut off time. Nice guy. I already had all the wires ran for him, he said that was nice. Well the picture and sound on all the HD channels are, WOW!!! :) The installer said it will take time for the Moto box to get all the info downloaded, like program guide. Already recording Man On Fire HD and watching Day After Tomarrow HD. This is way to cool. I'm glad I don't have to mess with an OTA antenna anymore and Dish for now. :rolleyes:

The guy came right before his cut off time. Nice guy. I already had all the wires ran for him, he said that was nice. Well the picture and sound on all the HD channels are, WOW!!! :) The installer said it will take time for the Moto box to get all the info downloaded, like program guide. Already recording Man On Fire HD and watching Day After Tomarrow HD. This is way to cool. I'm glad I don't have to mess with an OTA antenna anymore and Dish for now. :rolleyes:


bluer101. What packakge did you get and how much does it cost. Did you hook up via component or dvi? I also need to know the dimensions of the box. I checked out the link below that Rudy1 posted but did not see anything about dimensions. I'm concerned about the height since I only have a little over 2" of space left in my audio rack.

"You can find a wealth of information on the unit here:
http://cjhengineering.com/DCTHDFAQ.htm

bluer101. What packakge did you get and how much does it cost. Did you hook up via component or dvi? I also need to know the dimensions of the box. I checked out the link below that Rudy1 posted but did not see anything about dimensions. I'm concerned about the height since I only have a little over 2" of space left in my audio rack.

"You can find a wealth of information on the unit here:
http://cjhengineering.com/DCTHDFAQ.htm

The DCT6412 measures approximately 2.75"H x 17"W x 13.25"D. The unit can become VERY warm to the touch, so you must leave adequate space at the top of the unit (on my rack I've got about 4") for air circulation.

They're testing a patch to address the intermittent video stuttering some of you might be experiencing with the VOD service.

bluer101. What packakge did you get and how much does it cost. Did you hook up via component or dvi? I also need to know the dimensions of the box. I checked out the link below that Rudy1 posted but did not see anything about dimensions. I'm concerned about the height since I only have a little over 2" of space left in my audio rack.

"You can find a wealth of information on the unit here:
http://cjhengineering.com/DCTHDFAQ.htm

I have everything except like about 12 channels that are included in the Digital Premier package. They are mostly news channels. I was supposed to have everything when I signed up and have tried to call but they said wait a couple of days for them to get me in their system since it was just installed. Also my paper said my next bill is way too much then i was told. But that is likely because I'm not in the system yet and on the Dish buy back program. I think they need to verify that I was a Dish subsciber. The total for what I have is $53 plus taxes, which is around $8. I will find out when I get my first bill or when I call in the next day. They are offering great deals to Dish people. I also did not know all the VOD service there is. :)

Mine is hooked up DVI to HDMI.

Comcast VOD service is fully up and running or is it still in the testing phase. The reason why I am asking is because i have two cable set top, One regular and one for HDTV. My HDTV reciver cannot access VOD service but the regular set top works fine. Wuz up with that?

Yardy,

I finally got all my channels done with a Comcast rep. I get every channel plus all the premium channels. Total with taxes $64 and change. :) Thats still $20 cheaper than Dish with alot more channels and equipment. :)


renamed,

My VOD is working fine except when you exit out and return to normal programing i get a picture but the sound flashes on and off for about 10 seconds, then returns to normal. The rep said it refinding the signal.

In all I'm enjoying the HD channels alot and the quality or SD is better than Dish for the most part. Maybe its my area, time will tell. :)

One other thing was the Moto 6412 box yesterday was only producing prologic only, even with a 5.1 movie on my receiver. I just turned the power off on the 6412 and on, problem solved. Maybe because I'm new and the box still was getting update since it has only been on for less than 24 hours at that point. :rolleyes:

Bluer mess with the audio in the setup menu for the cable box. It defaults to TV out if you change it you shouldn't have a problem anymore. I was having the same problem.
Check this link for more info(thanks Rudy1) CLick (http://cjhengineering.com/hdtv/cablehdtv/dctaudio.htm)

By the way WB is working in Hialeah area, Channel 214 WBZL

I don't know if to watch the playoffs or U2 Rattle and Hum. Damn you HD for taking over my life Damn you.

Bluer mess with the audio in the setup menu for the cable box. It defaults to TV out if you change it you shouldn't have a problem anymore. I was having the same problem.
Check this link for more info(thanks Rudy1) CLick (http://cjhengineering.com/hdtv/cablehdtv/dctaudio.htm)

By the way WB is working in Hialeah area, Channel 214 WBZL

I did not know there was the advanced option there. So should I set it to advanced, compression off, and matrix stereo?

Yardy,

I finally got all my channels done with a Comcast rep. I get every channel plus all the premium channels. Total with taxes $64 and change. :) Thats still $20 cheaper than Dish with alot more channels and equipment. :)


renamed,

My VOD is working fine except when you exit out and return to normal programing i get a picture but the sound flashes on and off for about 10 seconds, then returns to normal. The rep said it refinding the signal.

In all I'm enjoying the HD channels alot and the quality or SD is better than Dish for the most part. Maybe its my area, time will tell. :)

One other thing was the Moto 6412 box yesterday was only producing prologic only, even with a 5.1 movie on my receiver. I just turned the power off on the 6412 and on, problem solved. Maybe because I'm new and the box still was getting update since it has only been on for less than 24 hours at that point. :rolleyes:


Bluer101
WOW..Sounds like you got a really good deal...Guess you have no reason for ever leaving your house now except for food and beer :)

I noticed over the last week or so that Comcast in the Miami-Dade area of Florida has added the WB digital to it's lineup on channel 214. I made the switch from D* to Comcast Digital Cable about a month ago and here in Miami I now have ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS, and WB, all in Digital/HD, and all running DD 5.1. I would have to get new equipment and wait up to 2 years just to get those on D*, so the switch looks to be paying off right from the start for me.

A better place for your post would probably be in the thread linked below,

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5708424#post5708424
Miami, FL - HDTV - AVS Forum

I really am not concerned with Miami's HD lineup itself. I put the thread here because Comcast is national, and I would like to see more HD channels added, period. This is the first I have heard of WB-D being put on Comcast, so that is the pertinent reference of my thread. The subject is "WB Digital/HD on Comcast", not WB Digital/HD in Miami".

Congrats, it would be awesome to see WB pop up on Comcast over here.

Hopefully this will soon be nation wide.

Some Comcast systems have it, some don't. It's a local issue.

Still not WB or UPN in Pompano Beach, FL. :(

NO WB in HD here in Jacksonville, FL

Good for those so far that have it, sorry to those who don't. Call up your local, and maybe we can get this channel added nationwide for all Comcast subs.

To update the channel...it looks so/so thus far. Not an extremely sharp picture. And so far, unlike TNT-HD, about 1% of the programming is actual HD. Hey, it's a start!

hmm in Sunrise and there is no WB-HD on comcast.

I was told that the WB is not expected to be on all of the Broward/Dade Comcast systems until June 20th.

WB HD is coming to Baltimore this fall, according to a letter I got today from Comcast.

Please give me some info on Atlantic Broadband. I am moving to a condo where only this cable is available. How's the picture quality? Do they have a HD DVR? What model? What about cable card? Is it available? I would like to know some real experience with this company since my balcony doesn't face south and I can't have satellite.

Many thanks

Sergio

Atlantic Broadband uses a Scientific Atlanta 8300 HD-DVR. Picture quality is OK. I don't know about cable card availability. They have just announced that on July 20 they will be adding some new HD channels:

PBS-HD (WPBT)
UPN (WBFS)
Cinemax HD
TNT HD (I don't know why they had to wait for the NBA season to end!?!?)

They already have:

Starz-HD
HBO-HD
Showtime-HD
HDNet
HDNet Movies
Discovery HD
ESPN HD
CBS (WFOR)
NBC (WTVJ)
FOX (WSVN)
ABC (WPLG)

Non, HD related they are also adding some sub channels:
NBC Weather Plus
WPBT Digital channels 2-5.

Thank you very much Petteri. I'm planning to have a 70" TV and my concern is how this cable compares to satellite. I had a bad experience with a small cable company . The channels lineup is great. Their website doesn't show FOX HD in the list , don't know why.

Sergio

Has anybody heard when we are getting The Outdoor Channel 2HD in Hialeah Comcast?

Hello. Im new here. I have the basic plan from Comcast. I just called them because I wanted to get my local channels in HD and they told me they will send a technician to install a cablecard. Now I wanted to know if they will have to do something outside in the cables, or do they just install the card on the tv and that's it.

The Dew Action Sports Tour is on WTVJ in HD. Awesome PQ!

why isnt wsvn broadcasting the game in hd today? west palm's fox is but it keeps breaking up

Hope you don't think that pic is HD, cause it's only widescreen ;)

well it's better having a full widescreen pic than bars on the side!

and we'll have a full HD local lineup, anyone else having issues with Miami ON Demand Service with HD Silver BOX (COMCAST)? Everytime I choose it, it gives me this Unable to connect to VOD server error..

WSVN is not boradcasting the Nascar Race in HD... surprise, surprise...

The Dew Action Sports Tour is on WTVJ in HD. Awesome PQ!

I'm getting horrible PQ. Lots of motion artifacts. This is the only channel that looks bad. Is anyone else having this problem? I'm using a Dish 942.

I'm also using a Dish 942 and the PQ on 6-1 is really good. I'm not experiencing any motion artifacts.

WSVN is not boradcasting the Nascar Race in HD... surprise, surprise...

The race is in HD on 29-1 if you can get that channel.

I don't understand it...WSVN was doing so well for a while there. Why did they suddenly stop airing the hidef sportscasts? These stations should be getting better at this, not worse.

Rudy--
They are not alone. After all these years, WPLG is still unable to broadcast more than front L&R speaker audio with ABC HD sports. The latest example being the NBA finals. They were supposed to have had this fixed several months ago.

Bill,

I try to avoid watching WPLG....their DD5.1 problems damaged the subwoofer in my bedroom system last year. I find it very irritating that, despite the fact that both WSVN and WPLG were first in South Florida to go digital, they are still broadcasting at less than full power and are still unable to provide viewers with trouble-free broadcasts and consistent reception quality.

I believe that WSVN is having some problems. None of their shows last night where 16:9, probably not HD as well. This was true via cable and OTA.

I am having problems with my Comcast HD channels. All of my other channels are showing and I have unplugged the box to allow it to reset and checked to see if the cables were tightly connected. I am at a loss and wanted to know if anyone here could offer some advice?

I am having problems with my Comcast HD channels. All of my other channels are showing and I have unplugged the box to allow it to reset and checked to see if the cables were tightly connected. I am at a loss and wanted to know if anyone here could offer some advice?

No trouble here with my Motorola DCT6412. Been watching all evening, and all HD channels are coming in just fine.

No trouble here with my Motorola DCT6412. Been watching all evening, and all HD channels are coming in just fine.

Thanks. :(

Other Comcast threads are stating that they have UPN in HD, any news in Miami?

Rudy--
They are not alone. After all these years, WPLG is still unable to broadcast more than front L&R speaker audio with ABC HD sports. The latest example being the NBA finals. They were supposed to have had this fixed several months ago.

Bill,

FYI, NBA Finals are HDTV/Stereo according to the info I have received from ABC. I will admit that we have had our 5.1 troubles, but I am taking pains to make sure, nearly on a daily basis, that we pass what ABC sends us.

As far as the "full power" attacks go in this forum, the "full" power that the commission will allow us and WSVN, as VHF HD stations, is and will always be, far below what the UHF stations are allowed. As VHF signals naturally propagate much better than UHF signals, the FCC correctly limited the amount of power the VHF stations were allowed to keep from interfering in neighboring markets.It is true we have permission to boost power, but with final channel elections looming and the minimal benefit that the power boost will provide our viewers, at significant cost to us, makes this a very difficult problem. As you may know, many stations nationally are on temporary HDTV channels until the switch off of NTSC. Until recently, it appeared that the final switchoff was going to drag on indefinately. Thankfully, with more discussion about a "Final" date, Broadcasters will more accurately be able to plan the direction of our capital expenditures. Let me put it more bluntly...does it pay to put a significant amount of money into an RF system on a channel that we may abandon? While we, and many other stations nationally, have yet to make this final decision it is a question worth asking.

Contrary to other arguments in this forum, we, and WSVN are currently replicating our NTSC coverage with our current HDTV systems. This is the government's reckoning, not just mine. We built our system to the power level that we were originally alloted. Many stations nationally did not do this. We did. The "power gain" as planned with our construction permit, will merely increase the size of our pattern into Northern Palm Beach and down into Homestead and the Upper Keys, not put more power into the City Grade area (Broward and most of Dade).

WPLG and all the local broadcasters are VERY aware that critical mass is gaining for HDTV, and I for one couldn't be happier about that. As the final cutoff date approaches, you will all note significant technical improvements by the local broadcasters. Keeping two streams going is an extremely expensive endevour, unfortunately not supported by twice the ad revenue, but I can tell you that improvements are being made constantly, and future budgets are being planned with HD in mind.

Have mercy everyone. The technology and the ability of broadcasters to implement this technology is still evolving. Don't forget, it hasn't been that long since all the broadcasters made huge investments in a technology that hardly anyone watched!

Steve Ellis
Assistant Chief Engineer
WPLG/WPLG-DT

Steve,

You can tell your management AND the FCC that what they consider adequate power levels from the VHF stations sometimes leaves many viewers with too low a signal for our OTA receivers to lock onto. I don't understand why it is so difficult for engineers and politicians to understand that what we experience in the real world is far different from lab and studio tests. And, no offense, but frankly I am sick and tired of hearing about the "huge investments" that broadcasters have made. We, the viewers, don't exactly have "operating budgets" from which our HDTV gear purchases can be made. All this whining makes me wonder why, if this whole DTV transition was such a financial and emotional pain in the ass, didn't the broadcasters all just tell the FCC to forget about it. I remember the early days of DTV broadcasting at WPLG....when the signal would go off the air for days at a time, and no one at the station could answer any questions when I called and they couldn't find the chief engineer. And the main reason "hardly anyone watched" was because none of the local broadcasters exactly went out of their way to advertise the fact the DTV was a reality in South Florida. You broadcasting guys all need to realize that for us viewers your broadcasts are ENTERTAINMENT.....but it is your JOB----it is what you DO. So when we complain about things not being the way we think they ought to be at this point in time you need to understand where we are coming from. I remember emailing and calling Darren several times over the past few years, as well as talking to your program director on a couple of occasions, not only when things weren't right but also when they were excellent. Granted, sometimes the feedback you get from us here on the forum is less than positive, but at least you are getting feedback FROM us....the rest of your viewership simply changes channels when something goes wrong with your digital signal.

I for one was quite pleased when you started posting to this thread because I felt reassured that things would improve. But everytime there's a 5.1 hiccup I get flashbacks of that night when my subwoofer was damaged....or I turn on my OTA receiver and it can't lock onto WPLG's signal even though it is obvious (from seeing it on my cable STB) that the station is on the air. When one is in the middle of one's favorite show or some exciting primetime event, and there's some sort of major glitch in the signal, patience flies out the window and one tends to wonder "Why can't they get this right?"

So don't think for a minute that we don't appreciate your hard work. It's just that we're a little impatient when it comes to DTV....because, despite rumors to the contrary, this is not just a hobby. It's become the norm for 99% of us.

---Rudy

Ok guys I used to live in 104 st and 163 ave and I had a 80 boom radio shack antenna and never really had problems with channel 7 and 10... Well now I moved to 164 st and 144 avenue by metro zoo and the signal levels i get are 72 with it going down to 68 on average.. There are days when i get alot of pixellation on both channles.. Its actually driving me crazy.. Today odd enough both channel 7-1 and 10-1 are pixelattign big time even though my signal for both is at 71.. I cant watch the finals due to the pixelatting...my other channles like 4 6 33 and so for come in at about 92... Well I went to radio shack the other day and bought a 120 boom which does 90 miles uhf and 120 miles vhf.. its a bit bigger than the one I have now which does 70 uhf and 90 vhf.... Should I buy a 160 boom .. Help what can I do to have channel 7 and 10 back to normal liek I did at my old house.....I have not yet installed my new 120 boom antenna.. Anyone else getting pixelation with channel 10 and 7 tonight

I am getting pixelation tonight on 10-1 but I think this is due to the bad weather tonight. It's pouring in Weston tonight.

I am getting pixelation tonight on 10-1 but I think this is due to the bad weather tonight. It's pouring in Weston tonight.
Was really bad here in Margate...brought down Goodyear's Star's & stripes
blimp in Coral Springs @ Sample and Coral Ridge drive.

weather is not supposed to mess up off the air signals are they... im having major droppages with channel 7 and 10

weather is not supposed to mess up off the air signals are they... im having major droppages with channel 7 and 10


Electrical storms WILL cause a lot of problems on VHF channels. I don't know why the various stations choose to use VHF frequencies in Florida where we have so many electrical storms and are so well adapted because of the flat terrain to use UHF channels. Perhaps they had no choice.

Tony

I don't understand it...WSVN was doing so well for a while there. Why did they suddenly stop airing the hidef sportscasts? These stations should be getting better at this, not worse.

I spoke to WSVN’s engineering debt. yesterday and apparently a part broke on the transmitter that precludes them transmitting true HD. The part is on order, but it may be a couple of weeks before the problem is fixed.

Mike,

Thanks for the update.

---Rudy

I have been using a boom antenna in the attic for my HD Tivo and get all channels reliably except WSVN (7-1). It comes through most of the time, but at critical points in shows it locks up. Very annoying. Tivo says I’m getting a signal strength of 65 which is apparently not enough to give me a reliable picture. The other channels are in the 80-95 range and I see no problems.

Channel Freq Low Typical Peak

4-1 WFOR-DT 22 90 90 91
6-1 WTVJ-DT 31 90 90 92
7-1 WSVN-HD 8 66 68 68
10-1 WPLG-DT 9 82 82 84
17-1 WLRN-HD 20 95 95 95
33-1 WBFS-DT 32 90 90 92
39-1 WDZL-DT 19 88 90 91

The WSVN engineering debt. recommend I try a Terk antenna that clamps on the satellite dish so I installed a Terk TV-44 antenna last night. (The ad blurb says it installs in seconds… 1800 seconds later… I was done.)

As you see from the results below it didn’t help and in fact I got zero signal from WSVN! I tried rotating the antenna around the dish and still zero on both Fox & ABC !!!

Channel Freq Low Typical Peak
4-1 WFOR-DT 22 81 83 85
6-1 WTVJ-DT 31 74 77 78
7-1 WSVN-HD 8 0 0 0
10-1 WPLG-DT 9 0 0 0
17-1 WLRN-HD 20 10 19 35
29-1 WFKX-DT 28 68 70 70
33-1 WBFS-DT 32 74 75 78
39-1 WDZL-DT 19 74 76 78

At least I can now get Fox from Palm beach, but now there’s no ABC. So the Terk is going back!

Note: In my previous post I noted WSVN's HD signal was out, but they are still transmitting a SD signal on the DT channel.

I did a little research and found the local channels have hugely different power outputs of their transmitters. This explains why Fox and sometimes ABC are a problem – they are using toy transmitters powered by AAA batteries! Fox has a construction permit for a relatively real transmitter at 145KW, but who knows when it’ll be built. ABC have a construction permit too for a whopping 30KW jobby. Wow, can't wait!

WSVN 8 DT 14.4 kW
WFOR-TV 22 DT 1000. kW
WTVJ 31 DT 1000. kW
WPLG 9 DT 15.8 KW
WLRN-TV 20 DT 625. kW
WBFS-TV 32 DT 1000. kW

I especially like this one ...

WIMP-CA 25 CA 7.1 kW

... it's not DT but at 7.1KW it's very aptly named.

I believe WB-DT is live today on Comcast channel 214.

Steve,

You can tell your management AND the FCC that what they consider adequate power levels from the VHF stations sometimes leaves many viewers with too low a signal for our OTA receivers to lock onto. I don't understand why it is so difficult for engineers and politicians to understand that what we experience in the real world is far different from lab and studio tests. And, no offense, but frankly I am sick and tired of hearing about the "huge investments" that broadcasters have made. We, the viewers, don't exactly have "operating budgets" from which our HDTV gear purchases can be made. All this whining makes me wonder why, if this whole DTV transition was such a financial and emotional pain in the ass, didn't the broadcasters all just tell the FCC to forget about it. I remember the early days of DTV broadcasting at WPLG....when the signal would go off the air for days at a time, and no one at the station could answer any questions when I called and they couldn't find the chief engineer. And the main reason "hardly anyone watched" was because none of the local broadcasters exactly went out of their way to advertise the fact the DTV was a reality in South Florida. You broadcasting guys all need to realize that for us viewers your broadcasts are ENTERTAINMENT.....but it is your JOB----it is what you DO. So when we complain about things not being the way we think they ought to be at this point in time you need to understand where we are coming from. I remember emailing and calling Darren several times over the past few years, as well as talking to your program director on a couple of occasions, not only when things weren't right but also when they were excellent. Granted, sometimes the feedback you get from us here on the forum is less than positive, but at least you are getting feedback FROM us....the rest of your viewership simply changes channels when something goes wrong with your digital signal.

I for one was quite pleased when you started posting to this thread because I felt reassured that things would improve. But everytime there's a 5.1 hiccup I get flashbacks of that night when my subwoofer was damaged....or I turn on my OTA receiver and it can't lock onto WPLG's signal even though it is obvious (from seeing it on my cable STB) that the station is on the air. When one is in the middle of one's favorite show or some exciting primetime event, and there's some sort of major glitch in the signal, patience flies out the window and one tends to wonder "Why can't they get this right?"

So don't think for a minute that we don't appreciate your hard work. It's just that we're a little impatient when it comes to DTV....because, despite rumors to the contrary, this is not just a hobby. It's become the norm for 99% of us.

---Rudy


Rudy,

I'm certainly not going to argue with your experience. The transition path has been rough, the budgets have been astronomical and the arguments to spend more money, when in 2005 their are still millions of analog only sets flooding the market, has been a hard sell. If you check out Neilson numbers for HDTV homes, it is still disturbingly low. Is it because broadcasters have not pushed or because there have not been enough housholds to make it worthwhile? That's a chicken and egg story that is not worth the arguement.

The reason why we and other broadcasters adopted early was to best serve our viewers. I will apologize for the lack of response by WPLG to your issues, but believe me that we are commited to improve our product. The learning curve both for the TV stations and the equipment manufactures has been a difficult one, and we all will admit that the equipment that we bought in 1999 has in some cases reached the bounds of their capability.

Again, the best I can tell you is that equipment redundancy is being addressed (so there won't be prolonged outages when equipment fails) and equipment upgrades are being planned. We want our viewers to have the best HD experience possible. I realize this sounds like empty promises to those of you who feel burned, but this is the case.

I'll continue to monitor this thread and do the best I can to address the issues. We do take the complaints seriously and we do care to get it right.

Steve

Yep - WB-HD here in Tamarac via Comcast as of yesterday.

I thought I was going crazy when I saw WB in the HD lineup but, here in Pembroke Pines we got it a couple of days ago.

Got a few questions for you guys. New to Comcast, so please bare with me. I first gotta say dealing with Comcast has for the most part been a nightmare. If it wasn't for my communities rep (who's been great) I would have been pulling out my hair. They've had nothing but holes for me to jump through trying to get service established. I also find their customer service (for the most part) to be absolutely clueless. I will say this, coming from Adelphia was much better compared to what I've had to go through so far. Maybe it gets better, but so far I haven't been that impressed.

My communities Comcast rep told me that to save the $29 installation fee of HD service I can pick it up at the office and install it myself. Has anyone done this yet? I'm assuming the installation setup is pretty simple (plug in the coax cable and rgb cables and your good to go). The only thing I can think of is setting it so on 4:3 shows it stretches to fit the 16:9 screen. Is there anything else? My rep also told me that the HD service is $10 and the DVR is $5, but if you get them together you save the $5 and get everything for $10. Is this true?

I was also wondering about the features of the HD DVR box. I liked the Scientific Atlantic 8300HD box I used to have. Does the Moto box have the PIP when your viewing the guide? The digital cable boxes I have don't. Also, do the ads show up everywhere like on the digital cable boxes? I find that really annoying and liked how Adelphia's was nice and clean. Can it record 2 shows at once right (through the 1 coax cable)?

Sorry for the basic questions, but new to Comcast and any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. :)

P.S. Forgot to add, the WB HD channel is showing up on the guide for me and I can hear it when I tune to it in Deerfield Beach, so I'm assuming it's here too.

Got a few questions for you guys. New to Comcast, so please bare with me. I first gotta say dealing with Comcast has for the most part been a nightmare. If it wasn't for my communities rep (who's been great) I would have been pulling out my hair. They've had nothing but holes for me to jump through trying to get service established. I also find their customer service (for the most part) to be absolutely clueless. I will say this, coming from Adelphia was much better compared to what I've had to go through so far. Maybe it gets better, but so far I haven't been that impressed.

My communities Comcast rep told me that to save the $29 installation fee of HD service I can pick it up at the office and install it myself. Has anyone done this yet? I'm assuming the installation setup is pretty simple (plug in the coax cable and rgb cables and your good to go). The only thing I can think of is setting it so on 4:3 shows it stretches to fit the 16:9 screen. Is there anything else? My rep also told me that the HD service is $10 and the DVR is $5, but if you get them together you save the $5 and get everything for $10. Is this true?

I was also wondering about the features of the HD DVR box. I liked the Scientific Atlantic 8300HD box I used to have. Does the Moto box have the PIP when your viewing the guide? The digital cable boxes I have don't. Also, do the ads show up everywhere like on the digital cable boxes? I find that really annoying and liked how Adelphia's was nice and clean. Can it record 2 shows at once right (through the 1 coax cable)?

Sorry for the basic questions, but new to Comcast and any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. :)

P.S. Forgot to add, the WB HD channel is showing up on the guide for me and I can hear it when I tune to it in Deerfield Beach, so I'm assuming it's here too.

I have Comcast with a Moto 6412 dual tunner DVR. The guide has the PIP in the right upper conner that you speak of. Also you have a mini guide simular to a Dish browse guide. As for hooking it up, the box is very easy to do. I switched from Dish to Comcast and had them come out to set it up, but I still hooked it up myself. No ads anywhere, and for the price they gave me the Ditch The Dish deal. :) I just checked and WB HD is there now on channel 214 and the sound an picture is fine. :)

@ bluer101: Thanks for the info on the box. Appreciate it. :)

I’m in the “can’t cancel” part of Weston – stuck with advanced cable. I recently subscribed to digital/HDpak, for a whopping $27 per month and a crummy motorola 5100 STB. I’m not too happy, and thinking on just staying with OTA (and a new LG-4200A). I get most of the OTA broadcasts – but not the 2 VHF stations (ABC and FOX).

If I just cancel the HDpak and return the motorola STB, what do I get by keeping digital cable? Is there some advantage to paying the add’l $10 for basic digital? I assume the signal quality is better, but have no way to verify. Does anyone have any experience or sage advice?

Regards, Michael

I did a little research and found the local channels have hugely different power outputs of their transmitters. This explains why Fox and sometimes ABC are a problem – they are using toy transmitters powered by AAA batteries! Fox has a construction permit for a relatively real transmitter at 145KW, but who knows when it’ll be built. ABC have a construction permit too for a whopping 30KW jobby. Wow, can't wait!

WSVN 8 DT 14.4 kW
WFOR-TV 22 DT 1000. kW
WTVJ 31 DT 1000. kW
WPLG 9 DT 15.8 KW
WLRN-TV 20 DT 625. kW
WBFS-TV 32 DT 1000. kW

I especially like this one ...

WIMP-CA 25 CA 7.1 kW

... it's not DT but at 7.1KW it's very aptly named.

Mike,

Please do a little more research...you will see that nationally the VHF DTV stations are all at similar power levels. The theory is that VHF signals propagate SO much better than UHF that the FCC set our power levels low to "even the playing field" with the U's. That's theory...in practice, I'm not so sure and as the final DTV allocations are decided on, you may seem some changes. BTW, we did not choose our DTV channel, it was assigned by the Commission.

WIMP. if you check it out, is licensed as a low power station, not designed to cover the whole market.

Steve Ellis
WPLG/WPLG-DT

mpbg,

You can get the 6412 from Advanced but you have to pay an additional $9.95/mo. You will not see any inprovement in SD stations but at least you can record and have a better guide. I'm reasonably happy except that my area is having problems with TNT-HD. Al of these cables guys have wacky cost packages for HD i.e. Subscribe to Digital $9.95, Subscribe to HD additional $9.95, rent a box $4.95, get a DVR $9.95. But I figure, like you I have to pay for Advanced and if I went with D* I would have to pay for the HD DVR, pay Tivo $12/mo for the service so what can you do. No real good solution for Weston right now

stonecrd,

I have to disagree. The best decision I ever made was dumping Advanced and getting Dish Network. I got a 942 HD DVR which allows me to record 2 HD satellite and 1 OTA channel at the same time. I pay about the same amount as I would pay to Advanced for their HD Pack with the DVR. I get all of the local channels using an antenna plus 10 HD Voom channels plus ESPN HD, HDNET and Movies, TNTHD, and Discovery.

stonecrd and Mike4HDTV, thanks for your comments. I subscribed to Dish before moving here, so I know (and prefer) their offer. I’m renting right now, though, so I don’t want to spend a lot of money on a solution I can’t take along with me, and this obligation to advanced cable for their basic service really burns me. The cable signal is lousy, which makes it worse.

I think I’m gonna cancel HD pak and return the motorola POS 5100 and keep the digital cable additional for $10 for one more month and see.

Regards, Michael

Why pay $10 for the digital service from Advanced when you get no digital cable channels except for PPV and some music channels?

Why pay $10 for the digital service from Advanced when you get no digital cable channels except for PPV and some music channels?

Well, we do like the music channels, but that's not enough. I was thinking I could use the LG-4200A for the digital channels - and get the basic HD as well (ABC/FOX/NBC). I was also thinking I could switch the two signals into the LG STB with a radioshack switcher and that the LG would recognize the input automatically (I thought I had read that here somewhere).

Looks like it's going to be a bit more difficult than that. I'll probably send back the whole thing and live with OTA.

Of course, I'm still unahppy with BellSouth DSL and thinking about Advanced broadband. Looks like there's a decent package there. Any experience - or am I deluding myself (again).

Michael

Ok guys Who in miami does Off the Air antenna installs. Sound Advice charges 200 dollars.. I have a 80 boom antenna from radio shack but im getting channel 7 and 10 in the 60-70 range with alot of pixelation.. I recently changed to a radio shack 120 boom 37 element antenna and need to find out if this will do and who installs antennas here in miami for a good price.. Any suggestions

I've had some audio problems on OTA reception the last two nights.
WTVJ: Law and Order last night, Joey tonight - stuttery audio
WFOR: CSI tonight surround audio coming from front speakers
(at least I have my D* to fall back to, but it's not HD)

Please, someone else tell me they've had the same problems. Thanks.

CB Gaines
using my VOOM box to receive local HD

Of course, I'm still unahppy with BellSouth DSL and thinking about Advanced broadband. Looks like there's a decent package there. Any experience - or am I deluding myself (again).

Michael


I did the complete opposite. I had Advanced for my internet service since August 2003. Then in April 2005, they upgraded their systems to increase the speed. Since then, I had dropouts and lost connections for several hours every single day. I cancelled Advanced and got Bellsouth DSL in May and I am loving it. It works perfectly.

I've had some audio problems on OTA reception the last two nights.
WTVJ: Law and Order last night, Joey tonight - stuttery audio
WFOR: CSI tonight surround audio coming from front speakers
(at least I have my D* to fall back to, but it's not HD)

Please, someone else tell me they've had the same problems. Thanks.

CB Gaines
using my VOOM box to receive local HD


Well, WFOR/CBS finally straightened up the audio problem, but what about WTVJ. Anyone else hearing audio break-up there?

Mike4HDTV

Maybe reasonably happy was too strong a statement. I am currently having lots of problems in my area with TNT-HD and so far they are waiving my HD package charge. If the quality does not improve and if they don't get a few more stations like CBS then I'll probably swap out. The fact that I have to pay for Digital and the HD service and the DVR service really burns me. I don't listen to the music so its a complete waste of $10/mo for me but I would prefer the ability to rent the DVR rather than buy one so I can get the advantage of newer technology or swapping systems without eating a box cost.

stonecrd - A neighbor of mine was having lots of problems with TNTHD using Adavnced. Two techs came to his house and couldn't fix the problem. He got tired of waiting for Advanced to fix the problem so I got him to switch to Dish.

The $10 that Advanced charges for its digital service is the biggest ripoff I've ever seen. You get no channels for the $10.

Who can I talk to, to get Outdoor Channel 2HD in my Comcast HD lineup?

I recently bought a Radio Shack 80" boom OTA antenna and much to my surprise :) I'm able to pick up West Palm Beach stations as well. However I'm wondering if WPB's 42.1 (PBS) has better picture quality than our 2.1 since it shares bandwidth with 2.5... At first I thought 42.1 looked better, but it could have just been wishful thinking. Does anybody have any information regarding their similarities or differences?

well I went from 80 boom to 120 boom from radio shack is the 120 boom that much more powerful if i was getting 71 from 7 and 10 how much can i look to increase. I hope i do not have to go up to the 150 boom it looks like a damn airplane in sizeee.....

anyone

Well, I am pretty upset. I watch alot of tv, probably too much tv, but i was completely unaware that Adelphia was now my cable provider. I used to have Tele-Media, which was complete garbage. But noone, from my association or Adelphia have made me aware of this change. I have been looking to leave D* for a while and Adelphia's lineup, after doing my own research, seems to be pretty good, only channel I wish they had in HD that they don't is TNT-HD.

I can't believe that I wasn't notified about this. Sheesh.

BTW since I pay for their basic service through my association what would I pay for the HD service?

And has anyone upgraded? Feedback would be nice.

I just got it last night and it is unbelievable! I am so shocked on the great quality of the HD channels (200 range). I didn't know what to expect but it's totally worth the 5 dollars extra a month. All I can say is, it looks like the people are right there in front of you. And for the baseball game I was watching, I could read the stitching on the gloves. It's just very clean. I wanted to call people up and tell them to cover over to watch it! So if anyone is thinking about getting it from Comcast. Go for it!!!! You'll be stunned like I was. I was thinking to myself, how could the picture get any better than this. It's just something you have to see. I also got the DVR which is great. It's easy to use and has some great features. It all comes in one Motorola box.

well I went from 80 boom to 120 boom from radio shack is the 120 boom that much more powerful if i was getting 71 from 7 and 10 how much can i look to increase. I hope i do not have to go up to the 150 boom it looks like a damn airplane in sizeee.....

I have the same problem. I have the old model 160" Radio Shack (LP-190 I think Here is the new model - It's on radioshack website - product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F003%5F001%5F002%5F000&product%5Fid=15%2D2156).
It is huge and I am getting about the same signal as you are with your 80". The thing is I'm only 25 miles away so a 190 mile antenna (the 160" boom) should be a big overkill and I still have a weak signal.

I get 4, 6, 33, 39 and a few others at or very close to 100%. 7 and 10 are the only two that don't want to get along with the others. I had 10 at 85% and 7 at 75% and after trying to adjust the antenna 10 has dropped down to 75% as well (both 7 and 10 now fluctuate between 70-75%). I tried putting a 10dB booster on the line, but it doesn’t help (maybe 2% boost) so that tells me it isn't my cabling, just the antenna isn't getting the signal for those 2 channels.

One thing to point out is that both 7 and 10 are VHF channel while the others are UHF. The only other idea I have is making my antenna higher. Right now it’s about 18 ft at the highest point on my roof. I was thinking if I get it up another 10 feet it should clear more trees and other obstructions to get a better VHF signal.

Anyone else have any tips?

Thanks for the help!

*Edit*
I found another forum where someone posted the following which seems to back up my idea that I just need more height for 7 and 10:
"No Radio Shack's preamps are terribly noisy. The local San Diego Fry's Electronics carries a couple cheaper model Channel Master preamps and they have a 30day return policy. I got the $30 model and it works well with my CM 4221 antenna. But I find to get XETV you need to get a taller mast, elevation is the key. The amplifier has little or only a marginal effect, its primary value is compensating for longer coax cable lengths - I use almost 100feet so thats about 3db loss. - Don-RB "

I guess it makes sense to since the VHF signals are directional and the only two digital channels that are VHF (down here in South Florida at least) are 7 and 10

After receiving the Moto 6412HD box from Comcast, I must say I like the interface much better then the Scientific Atlantic box I had with Adelphia. The interface reminds me very much of ReplayTV's service which is very nice. I like the PIP on the guide and the commerical advance is very nice. Plus, not having all those adds there like on the digital cable boxes is great also.

Quick question though, it doesn't appear that my regular PIP is working at all. When I hit the PIP On/Off button on the remote nothing happens. I can hit the Swap button and it'll change to the other tuner, but can't turn on the PIP. Is the PIP enabled on this box yet?

For the guys with Atlantic Broadband, where can I see the announcement abot the new HD channels to be available end of July? I simply can't get any info about anything AB does and their website doesn't say anything about new HD channels to come. I am worried about the quality of this company since I came from a very bad experience with a small company in NYC. I will be moving to Miami in 3 weeks and it seems that AB is my only option (no South view to install any dish in my balcony).

Ok I finally installed a 120 boom antenna from radio shack which is the step up model from the 90 boom.... I beleive its the vu120 and before i had the vu 90.. welll guess what i only gained about 4 decibals on channel 10 and from all the other channels i gained no decibals.. I couldn't beleive that I was installing a much bigger antenna and it really didnt make a difference.. One thing i tried is I went about 5 feet higher and it really didnt make a difference. I do have a big palm tree about 100 yards in front of me to a distance which my antenna does not clear... but every other channel like 4 6 and 33 and 39 i get in the 92+ while 7 I get about 71 and 10 i get about 77-80.... How can I get more signal strength for channel 7 and 10.. now I do have some towers to the north East of me which is by the Coast Guard station to where my antenna is pointing.. Im about to give up i'm spending alot of money and im not really gaining much strength for 7 and 10... Will a booster help me out and if so can i connect the booster to the end of my run where my coaxial meets my receiver...

After receiving the Moto 6412HD box from Comcast, I must say I like the interface much better then the Scientific Atlantic box I had with Adelphia. The interface reminds me very much of ReplayTV's service which is very nice. I like the PIP on the guide and the commerical advance is very nice. Plus, not having all those adds there like on the digital cable boxes is great also.

Quick question though, it doesn't appear that my regular PIP is working at all. When I hit the PIP On/Off button on the remote nothing happens. I can hit the Swap button and it'll change to the other tuner, but can't turn on the PIP. Is the PIP enabled on this box yet?

The PIP button on the Comcast remote does nothing. If you want PIP you need a TV with PIP and split the cable before the 6412 box to make it work. Thats what I did.

Ok I finally installed a 120 boom antenna from radio shack which is the step up model from the 90 boom.... I beleive its the vu120 and before i had the vu 90.. welll guess what i only gained about 4 decibals on channel 10 and from all the other channels i gained no decibals.. I couldn't beleive that I was installing a much bigger antenna and it really didnt make a difference.. One thing i tried is I went about 5 feet higher and it really didnt make a difference. I do have a big palm tree about 100 yards in front of me to a distance which my antenna does not clear... but every other channel like 4 6 and 33 and 39 i get in the 92+ while 7 I get about 71 and 10 i get about 77-80.... How can I get more signal strength for channel 7 and 10.. now I do have some towers to the north East of me which is by the Coast Guard station to where my antenna is pointing.. Im about to give up i'm spending alot of money and im not really gaining much strength for 7 and 10... Will a booster help me out and if so can i connect the booster to the end of my run where my coaxial meets my receiver...
As i said before in my other post i have the big 160 boom model and I am getting similar readings to you. I have 2 10ft poles (2.5 underground) and I just added another 5ft pole. I dont have the antenna at the very top because I was getting worse reception there. So Im about 22-23' high. Now 10 is about 90-91% and 7 is 75%. They are both coming in pretty steady now with no breakups, but still 75% is pretty weak signal. I dont think there is anything else I can do now except hope 7 boost the power a little higher.

I dont think a booster will help much. That just boost the signal you get at the antenna over the cable to your TV. If you start with 75% you can only end up with 75% on the other end, nothing better, only worse. So unless you cable is over 100' or isn't very good quality a amp won't help you much, maybe a % or 2 (I tried a 10dB amp from radio shack and thats what I got so I returned it)

ok so your saying that im pretty much screwed.. theres nothing I can do... channel 10 is coming in today at 82-84 and channel 7 at 71-74... I guess moving to a bigger antenna like i did did not to much.. I guess its my location the tree in front of my antenna at 100 yards out and all those big towers about 2 miles out in front of the antenna which i think belongs to coast guard station.. I think I just have to ride it out will direct tv add channel 10 and 7 soon..

Hey all,

I just moved to Key Biscayne from New England and I'm having a heck of a time getting off-air HD. I'm using the LG 4200a box with a RadioShack indoor antenna (the round one). This worked great for me when I was outside of Hartford and Boston, but no such luck now. I'm on the third (top floor) of a condo building, and my room is away from the city. The first day I got here, I got just about every channel except Fox.... now, all I can get is NBC on 6-1.

I don't believe I can install an antenna on the roof so I need to stick with an indoor option.... any advice??

btw... great weather down here :)

Is anybody here using a cablecard with Atlantic Broadband with no problems? Why is that so difficult to get any information regarding AB in this Forum? Is my building the only one in Miami locked to AB?

Thanks

Sergio

Is anybody here using a cablecard with Atlantic Broadband with no problems? Why is that so difficult to get any information regarding AB in this Forum? Is my building the only one in Miami locked to AB?

Thanks

Sergio

I've got ABB, but I don't have any info about CableCard availability from them though...

Thanks for your reply, Petteri. I called them and they confirmed that the cablecard is available. I will be moving to Miami in few weeks and I'm scared about the possible picture quality of ABB. I came from a terrible experience with a small cable company. How's your picture? Do you have a large screen, over 50"? Is that true that new HD channels are coming in July?

Sergio

tie those antennas down as the wind is blowing really hard... How many antennas will be lost with this wind storm... One of my legs on the antenna clamped off and i needed to go up on the roof to snap it back into place..

Is anybody having problems getting a signal from Dish Network today? My dish is blowing around due to the strong winds and I can't lock a signal on the 110 and 119 satellites.

Also, my signal for 6-1 is going out a lot today. All other local stations are coming in fine.

Thanks for your reply, Petteri. I called them and they confirmed that the cablecard is available. I will be moving to Miami in few weeks and I'm scared about the possible picture quality of ABB. I came from a terrible experience with a small cable company. How's your picture? Do you have a large screen, over 50"? Is that true that new HD channels are coming in July?

Sergio


I'm pretty happy with the picture. I have a 34" direct view hdtv. The HD-DVR is good (SA 8300 Multi-room version, but no multi-room support yet.) Yes, new channels are confirmed, see my post earlier in this thread...

I notice that when I watch baseball on Fox HD, I see a lot "dot crawl" when the camera is focused on people in the stands or on signs. The picture overall is not as sharp as baseball games on shown on ESPN HD. I pick up Fox programs from both 7-1 and 29-1 and they both look the same. :(

The Saturday afternoon baseball games on Fox are not HD. They are 480p widescreen.

Hurricane Dennis slightly moved my dish when a strong rain band hit around 4 AM Saturday morning. It also moved one of my neighbors dishes. This resulted in my loss of signal.

I had to climb up to my roof yesterday and readjust the dish. I only had to move it a few millimeters to get a signal again. If I wanted a professional to do it, I would have had to wait until next Monday for a tech to come to my house.

Well, I am pretty upset. I watch alot of tv, probably too much tv, but i was completely unaware that Adelphia was now my cable provider. I used to have Tele-Media, which was complete garbage. But noone, from my association or Adelphia have made me aware of this change. I have been looking to leave D* for a while and Adelphia's lineup, after doing my own research, seems to be pretty good, only channel I wish they had in HD that they don't is TNT-HD.

I can't believe that I wasn't notified about this. Sheesh.

BTW since I pay for their basic service through my association what would I pay for the HD service?

And has anyone upgraded? Feedback would be nice.

I have Adelphia with the HD service. I just got it about 1 month ago. It is nice. They provided me with the 6412 dual tuner box. At first I had some issues with the box, but I threw a fan in the back blowing over the box and that seemed to solve my issues.

The price is not bad, my community provides basic cable, so I pay $13.95 for both the box rental and the HD channels. I picked up the box at their office at Miramar and Flamingo. Component cables are included, but the remote they give you is not programmable. So I don't have the skip button, or tuner swap.

I have Adelphia with the HD service. I just got it about 1 month ago. It is nice. They provided me with the 6412 dual tuner box. At first I had some issues with the box, but I threw a fan in the back blowing over the box and that seemed to solve my issues.

The price is not bad, my community provides basic cable, so I pay $13.95 for both the box rental and the HD channels. I picked up the box at their office at Miramar and Flamingo. Component cables are included, but the remote they give you is not programmable. So I don't have the skip button, or tuner swap.


So I live in a condo and we get basic cable included... so if I'm reading your post right I can get HD from Adelphia for $13.95 a month?!?

So I live in a condo and we get basic cable included... so if I'm reading your post right I can get HD from Adelphia for $13.95 a month?!?

That's what I am paying, yes. My HOA provides basic cable, so for $13.95 I have HD service with my basic service. You only get the HD channels, plus the basic channels. So you get: ABC,NBC,CBS,FOX in HD. Plus HDNet, HDNet movies, INHD1, INHD2, ESPNHD, and Discovery HD. You also get the dual tuner/DVR. I couldn't believe it when I got it myself, but that is the deal. The DVR is their only HD receiver. I couldn't pass it up.

I had crappy signal strengh with OTA for 7-1 (~75%) and 10-1 (~80%) after the hurricane blew by it pointed the antenna a little more north than north east and now Fox is coming in at about 95% and ABC is around 90% all others are about the same close to 100%. I tried pointing it that direction before, so maybe a tree or two fell down that was in my line of sight before. Either way, im not complaining. :D

Hurricane Dennis slightly moved my dish when a strong rain band hit around 4 AM Saturday morning. It also moved one of my neighbors dishes. This resulted in my loss of signal.

I had to climb up to my roof yesterday and readjust the dish. I only had to move it a few millimeters to get a signal again. If I wanted a professional to do it, I would have had to wait until next Monday for a tech to come to my house.
If you have D*, they will do a free service call........
Help for Customers in Storm-Affected Areas

If you find that you need more help, just give us a call at 1-800-DIRECTV. We'll give you the assistance you need and, if necessary, provide you with a free service visit. When you call, please advise your representative that you are in a hurricane-affected area in order to qualify for our free restoration services.


Service and Installation Delays

We appreciate your patience as we deal with local transportation issues and increased demand for support. Because of the recent storms, there have been delays with installation, service and upgrade visits from the DIRECTV HOME SERVICES™ Providers. The chart below lists areas affected by delays.

Affected Areas
Biloxi-Gulfport, MS
Dothan, AL/GA
Hattiesburg-Laurel, MS
Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL
Mobile, AL - Pensacola, FL
New Orleans, LA
Panama City, FL
Tallahassee, FL - Thomasville, GA


:)

kmullen - I have Dish Network but thanks for the help.

It takes Dish about 1 1/2 - 2 weeks for a tech to come to your house while I have heard that Directv techs usually are available in about 2 days.

That's what I am paying, yes. My HOA provides basic cable, so for $13.95 I have HD service with my basic service. You only get the HD channels, plus the basic channels. So you get: ABC,NBC,CBS,FOX in HD. Plus HDNet, HDNet movies, INHD1, INHD2, ESPNHD, and Discovery HD. You also get the dual tuner/DVR. I couldn't believe it when I got it myself, but that is the deal. The DVR is their only HD receiver. I couldn't pass it up.


That's great info thanks!! I'm going to give them a call tomorrow to see if I can get the same deal. And I already have a HD Tuner box with QAM support so I might be able to get it a little cheaper too. :)


EDIT - I just got off the phone with Adelphia, I got the same deal. But if I wanted to use the DVR function it's another $9 a month.... so I'm going to wait on using that for now, I'm just exciting to ditch the stupid spaceship on top of my TV!

Do we have any idea when Comcast might add UniversalHD to their lineup?

I had crappy signal strengh with OTA for 7-1 (~75%) and 10-1 (~80%) after the hurricane blew by it pointed the antenna a little more north than north east and now Fox is coming in at about 95% and ABC is around 90% all others are about the same close to 100%. I tried pointing it that direction before, so maybe a tree or two fell down that was in my line of sight before. Either way, im not complaining. :D


has anyone heard or found info about the channels going to full power yet?
where do we look and how can we tell? i have seen one website and it gave same info from months ago,so,i figure that either A: they haven't went to full power or B: the webpage hasn't been updated yet

thanks in advance

Well same thing happen to me after the hurricane my signal went up.. Fox was coming in at 72 and now i have about 83-85 and abc was at 78-80 and now its 85.. I dotn think its anythign related to hurricane perhaps the local stations upped there power a bit... Odd enough though when it rains my signal goes up slightly weird stuff.

Question is anyone noticing that abc channel 10 as of right now I went from 82 and im down in the low 60's .. Can anyone else check for me and see if channel 10-1 has decreased in strength as of right now or is it only me because i have dropped 20 decibals on the signal meter as of now....

Ive had channel 10 and 7 jump erratically today especially 10 most of the time the signal locks from 78-81 and sometimes it dips down to as low as 62 all the way up to 81.... Anyone else notice this tonight

Hi guys, does anyone knows how is the reception in Tamarac/L Lakes area ( Commercial & 441 )? Do I absolutely need an outdoor omni antenna or an indoor will do the job and what brands/models are good?
Thanks

Ive had channel 10 and 7 jump erratically today especially 10 most of the time the signal locks from 78-81 and sometimes it dips down to as low as 62 all the way up to 81.... Anyone else notice this tonight

I checked my LG LST3410A this morning and again early this evening, and both WPLG and WSVN had steady signals, though not as strong as what you've been reporting. In fact, both stations registered in the middle of the "NORMAL" range on the LG's signal meter. "GOOD" would be the highest possible, and neither station's signal has ever come close to the upper range of "NORMAL", let alone the lower range of "GOOD". All of the other stations, including Palm Beach's WXEL & WFLX, come in at or near the upper range of "NORMAL" on the STB's signal meter. By the way, I'm using a powered indoor antenna from Radio Shack (I have no idea what the model number is), and I'm in downtown Fort Lauderdale.

According to this link, http://www.hdsportsguide.com/cfb.php - the UM vs. FSU game on Sept. 5 will be shown in HD on ABC.

This is selfish "please help me" question. Is anyone in Country Walk successful with HD reception? I have a DirecTVHD receiver and triple LNB dish with a Terk clamped on the dish for OTA even though I have a local package and HD package. Local HD reception is inconsistent ( 7 and 10 are rare). Any suggestions for height of the dish or other OTA antennas?

According to this link, http://www.hdsportsguide.com/cfb.php - the UM vs. FSU game on Sept. 5 will be shown in HD on ABC.


Hell yeah!!!!!!!!!!!! :D


I will be at that game too.

That's great info thanks!! I'm going to give them a call tomorrow to see if I can get the same deal. And I already have a HD Tuner box with QAM support so I might be able to get it a little cheaper too. :)


EDIT - I just got off the phone with Adelphia, I got the same deal. But if I wanted to use the DVR function it's another $9 a month.... so I'm going to wait on using that for now, I'm just exciting to ditch the stupid spaceship on top of my TV!


I did that 4 months ago and have not looked back. Comcast gave me a great deal also. Now I don't have a Dish or an antenna signal to mess with. :p Just been sitting back and enjoying my tv now.

Recently entered the HDTV game w/ samsung slimfit tx-r3079wh along with a Terk HDTVi antenna. Live in Sunny Isles and was able to pick up CBS, FOX & ABC through the antenna. But the antenna did not recognize any DTV signal from NBC. What do I need to do for the antenna to recognize the NBC signal. While I do acknowledge that the DTV signals are all or nothing, I should be able to pick up the NBC signal b/c their antenna is located in the same antenna farm as the others. The engineering guy at WTVJ told me to try and manually tune the DTV receiver to channel 31 (6.1). But all I can do is tell the TV to start scanning the air for all the channels. I am a newbie and need some advice, any help would be appreciated.

Recently entered the HDTV game w/ samsung slimfit tx-r3079wh along with a Terk HDTVi antenna. Live in Sunny Isles and was able to pick up CBS, FOX & ABC through the antenna. But the antenna did not recognize any DTV signal from NBC. What do I need to do for the antenna to recognize the NBC signal. While I do acknowledge that the DTV signals are all or nothing, I should be able to pick up the NBC signal b/c their antenna is located in the same antenna farm as the others. The engineering guy at WTVJ told me to try and manually tune the DTV receiver to channel 31 (6.1). But all I can do is tell the TV to start scanning the air for all the channels. I am a newbie and need some advice, any help would be appreciated.

Terk antennas are not known for their great reception capability. You should try a couple of the amplified indoor antennas available at your local Radio Shack. If you are careful not to scratch or otherwise damage the units, you can always return them (keep your receipt!) if they don't work any better than the Terk. The TV's internal tuner may require several scans (with the antenna in different positions) to tune all of the available channels.

Thanks Rudy,

I appreciate the reply, but is there any other solution than to just buy more stuff? And if stuff-buying is my only avenue, then what antenna do you recommend for under $75? Anybody have luck with a particular antenna for a samsung slimfit tx-r3079wh?

I have had good luck with the Radio Shack 15-1880. It's about $50 and you can find it in stock at most stores. I'm able to get good reception from all of the Miami and WPB stations using this antenna

Comcast Question...
I have a friend who recently purchased an HD Set, but he has an issue with Comcast. When he called comcast,they said that he had a plan the was "grand-fathered" in. They are tellig him that he would have to sign up for a new package which will cancel his less expensive old package being that is the only way he could get HD. Has anyone had any luck getting around this or has a contact person that could help him.

Thanks Rudy,

I appreciate the reply, but is there any other solution than to just buy more stuff? And if stuff-buying is my only avenue, then what antenna do you recommend for under $75? Anybody have luck with a particular antenna for a samsung slimfit tx-r3079wh?

I am using the model 15-1838 at home as well as at the office....it costs $29.99. In one of the conference rooms in our 8th floor offices in downtown Fort Lauderdale, we have it connected to a 26" LCD TV, and we're able to receive all of the Miami DTV stations, as well as the Palm Beach FOX and PBS stations.

Comcast Question...
I have a friend who recently purchased an HD Set, but he has an issue with Comcast. When he called comcast,they said that he had a plan the was "grand-fathered" in. They are tellig him that he would have to sign up for a new package which will cancel his less expensive old package being that is the only way he could get HD. Has anyone had any luck getting around this or has a contact person that could help him.

I have no knowledge of your friend's plan, but I do know that you must subscribe to at least the Digital Classic package in order to obtain the local DTV stations (WPBT, WFOR, WSVN, WBZL, WTVJ, WPLG), as well as TNT-HD & Discovery HD Theater (ESPN HD may also be part of the Digital Classic package, but I am not sure). So your friend would have to switch packages in order to access the digital service.

However, if your friend's TV has a built-in ClearQAM tuner, he should be able to tune to the local DTV stations without changing his current subscription level. That is because the local DTV signals on Comcast are not scrambled. All the other HD channels are encrypted though, so he wouldn't see them.

Getting major signal weakness on channel 10-1 from metro zoo which is my location.... Anyone else experience major weakness in channel 10 signal tonight.. I am gettign so upset I changed from a radio shack vu 90 to a 120 and i still at times lose 7 and 10 as i expereince some weakness at times. will a vu 150 make a bigger diff..

Getting major signal weakness on channel 10-1 from metro zoo which is my location.... Anyone else experience major weakness in channel 10 signal tonight.. I am gettign so upset I changed from a radio shack vu 90 to a 120 and i still at times lose 7 and 10 as i expereince some weakness at times. will a vu 150 make a bigger diff..

Eddy13,

It seems as though you'll continue to have problems with WPLG & WSVN no matter what size antenna you get. Is Comcast cable available in your area? You may want to consider getting their basic service and trying one of the ClearQAM tuners on the market (Samsung SIR-T451, LG LST4200A). That way you won't have to rent a box from the cable company, and you'll have access to both OTA as well as unencrypted digital cable channels (WPLG, WSVN, WFOR, WTVJ, WPBT, WBZL).

Rudy

I have adelphia.. Currently im using hd tivo from direct tv..... Heres the thing I had my antenna installed a smaller version 3 months ago and i had no problems ever. Well it seems like the bracket got a little loose and i started having problems.. Well i tried alighnign and nothing so i moved up to new bigger antenna and i was doing better but as of yesterday channel 10 is going from 0-40 all the way up to 78 and droppign back down.... Cant hold a signal then sometimes i lock for 10 minutes at 78 and then it starts fluttering. I dotn know what do do... Help.. Im having a friend coming over on sunday and if i have to go bigger i will and higher... Where the antenna is pointing about 110 yards in the way is 2 big palm trees..... what could be the problem.. I never have problems with 6 4 33 and 39 but 10 is havign problems and suprisingly enough 7 is not giving problems when before it used to...

Ok well since im hard headed I went to radio shack and bought the biggest antenna they had.. the 190... Well had a buddy come over and as ive been tellign you guys I have 2 huge palm trees in the line of sight... well the funny thing is that right where i need to point theres a small space in between the trees.. Well the last time we really went up really high with the antenna right about 10 feet.. well i told my friend lets lower it and we lowered it to about 3.5 feet and now i get channel 10 and 7 at 87-89 and channel 4,6,33,39 and channel 2 anywhere from 91-95..... Huge diff.. What im wonderign is why having the antenna so low made a dramtic diff in about 8 decibals from my signal..

Blackouts suck. I hate it when games broadcasted in HD in your area on a network are blacked out because of the local network carrying it. I can understand if it's a SD signal, but if it's HD they should make an exception. The Marlins vs Cards game is on ESPN and avail in HD, but b/c of FSN we can't watch it. Evil blackouts. :mad:

Blackouts suck. I hate it when games broadcasted in HD in your area on a network are blacked out because of the local network carrying it. I can understand if it's a SD signal, but if it's HD they should make an exception. The Marlins vs Cards game is on ESPN and avail in HD, but b/c of FSN we can't watch it. Evil blackouts. :mad:

No ****! I just tuned to ESPN-HD and the screen is actually BLACK!!! :mad:

well everything seems ok but channel 7 dropped today to 71-75... Maybe atmosphere has something to do with it!

well july 2005 has come and gone! did any of the miami stations meet the deadline that has been discussed about going to full power? i.e. WFOR/WPBT/ etc.etc.

anyone know when 7 and 10 will ever go to more power... By the way anyone notice 7 coming in a bit softer today on the signal strength side

well july 2005 has come and gone! did any of the miami stations meet the deadline that has been discussed about going to full power? i.e. WFOR/WPBT/ etc.etc.

As far as I know, all of the UHF stations have been broadcasting their digital signals at full power since they went live.

using - MyHD computer card for HD reception, using QAM / CABLE setings. I live in Plantation (west broward) with Comcast

It seems that after I scanned for channels, I have "found" 3 of the "On-Demand" channels (I dont have the channel/sub-channel available at this time). On occasion I am able to view movies on these, which appears to be movies that someone on my "network" has subscribed to. I can see when the movie is paused, rewind'ed, and fast-forward'ed.

My question. Am I really viewing "On=Demand" channels and seeing when the subscriber is pausing/rewindiung/fast-forwarding? and if so does someone actually have a listing of the channel/sub-channel for the available On-Demand channels?

Patrick

BTW - 82-10, 83-10, and 84-9 are the "in demand" channels that I seem to be receiving

Just moved to broward, do you guys know if the Dolphins games will be broadcasted in full 1080i widescreen + 5.1 surround sound?

Blackouts suck. I hate it when games broadcasted in HD in your area on a network are blacked out because of the local network carrying it. I can understand if it's a SD signal, but if it's HD they should make an exception. The Marlins vs Cards game is on ESPN and avail in HD, but b/c of FSN we can't watch it. Evil blackouts. :mad:


I'd like to know why we don't have FSN in HD yet. It seems that most of the teams around the league have their games broadcast in HD. It's time for FSN to come into the 21st century. :mad:

This is selfish "please help me" question. Is anyone in Country Walk successful with HD reception? I have a DirecTVHD receiver and triple LNB dish with a Terk clamped on the dish for OTA even though I have a local package and HD package. Local HD reception is inconsistent ( 7 and 10 are rare). Any suggestions for height of the dish or other OTA antennas?

Glancing above, I don't think you got a reply, Patrick, but I wanted to mention that I believe there are a few people who follow this thread who do live fairly near to your area. They may not realize it because you only mentioned "Country Walk", and others may not be familiar with that area (though it is a bit of a landmark, thank you Janet Reno). You might want to describe your area a bit more generally, like "South of Kendall Drive, West of the Turnpike", etc.

I'm pretty sure Eddy13 lives south of you, down around Metro Zoo. He's talked about interference that he gets from the Coast Guard station. I don't think the station would affect your reception, though -- you're a good bit north of it, and Local 10 is ENE of you (if memory serves).

Anyway just wanted to give you a bit of feedback, for what it's worth. Please feel free to keep asking questions and people will help if they can. :-)

This morning I noticed I'm not getting sufficient signal on the WPB stations. Everything's low. I did a scan and the best signal from any station was 87 for one of the Miami stations versus a norm of 95. Either there's some atmospheric disturbance or something has deteriorated in my setup. I cannot get a lock on WFLX even which is the strongest WPB by far usually. I am in 33327.

This morning I noticed I'm not getting sufficient signal on the WPB stations. Everything's low. I did a scan and the best signal from any station was 87 for one of the Miami stations versus a norm of 95. Either there's some atmospheric disturbance or something has deteriorated in my setup. I cannot get a lock on WFLX even which is the strongest WPB by far usually. I am in 33327.

I'm in downtown Ft. Lauderdale (just north of Broward Blvd.), and all the stations are coming in fine for me, including WFLX. My OTA STB is an LG-LST3410A, and it's connected to a Radio Shack amplified indoor antenna.

tpalik - I'm in Weston (zip code 33331) and I'm getting a strong signal for the WPB FOX station. I'm using a dish 942.

Wow

I don't know if it is just me, but the quality of sound and video has improved dramatically since the NBA games. I can actually here fans clapping on my rear channels.
Awesome.

Wow

I don't know if it is just me, but the quality of sound and video has improved dramatically since the NBA games. I can actually here fans clapping on my rear channels.
Awesome.

I clearly heard the fans clapping and sometimes people booing coming out load and clear from the rear channels. I was getting sporatic audio and video loss, I have to check my antenna signal.

I have had good luck with the Radio Shack 15-1880. It's about $50 and you can find it in stock at most stores. I'm able to get good reception from all of the Miami and WPB stations using this antenna

Hey Stonecard, I also live in Weston. I was wondering where you placed your antenna. I get pretty good reception of most stations in WPB and MIA, but I have to keep getting up off the couch to change the direction of the antenna.
I was thinking of putting this thing in the attic and dropping a cable down to the TV to avoid any more signal problems, but not sure if it will work.
What is your setup like? ANyone else using this specific antenna?

Thanks!
Tom

This morning I noticed I'm not getting sufficient signal on the WPB stations. Everything's low. I did a scan and the best signal from any station was 87 for one of the Miami stations versus a norm of 95. Either there's some atmospheric disturbance or something has deteriorated in my setup. I cannot get a lock on WFLX even which is the strongest WPB by far usually. I am in 33327.
Tpalik,
What type of antenna are you using to get the stations? I have the 15-1880 and live in the Meadows, but to have this set-top antenna at TV-level, it needs constant adjustment to get the stations.

Tedler,

My attenna (Radio Shack 15-1880) is sitting on the window sill in the family room pointing SE and I have the gain set to about 3/4. I have the left rabbit ear at 90 and the right at 45. I very rarily have to make an adjustement. I get all of the Miami stations (ABC,NBC,CBS,FOX, WB, UPN) and can pull in Fox(42-1) and NBC (5-1) from WPB. Never been able to get ABC (12-1) but 10-1 has always been stable. I recently added a HD-DVR from Advanced so I now get the networks via coax except CBS (4-1). Good luck

Stonecrd,
Thanks for the reply!
I also bought the 15-1880 and I also have the 6412 HD-DVR from Advanced Cable, so I mainly want the OTA channels for CBS-DT, UPN and WB. A nice bonus was receiving FOX29, because they are tons better than the infamous Channel 7 tabloid station.
Plus they also show alternate MLB & NFL games than WSVN. I get Channel 5 in WPB great too. I also like the NBC-6 weather channel on 6-2.

The problem is, where I have my TV set, I must place the antenna almost near the ceiling to get the stations. So I figured I would use some of Advanced Cable's existing wiring in my house to put this antenna up in the attic over the garage and use one of the bedroom's hook-ups to route the cable to the back of my set.
I am going to try this tonight.

I don't know why Advanced just doesn't add CBS, PBS, WB and UPN to their channels...it's free OTA for them...makes no sense.

Success!
I put the 15-1880 up in my attic and attached the cable to an unused cable-tv cable which led to the room opposite my living room where the HDTV is located. I then fed that through the wall into the back of the set and it was amazing, every channel (both VHF and UHF) comes in with almost 100% signal strength. I can even receive the palm beach channels 12 & 25 stations, but for some reason their digital channels still will not come in.

The Radio Shack 15-1880 is worth every penny!

Tpalik,
What type of antenna are you using to get the stations? I have the 15-1880 and live in the Meadows, but to have this set-top antenna at TV-level, it needs constant adjustment to get the stations.

Tedler, I am using a ChannelMaster 3016. Here's my post from my initial install (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5429768#post5429768) .

One of the models I had used was the RS 15-1880 and it drove my wife crazy with all the fading in and out. I went straight to the CM as I didn't want to go through another iteration of testing and it was cheaper than the RS model. I did expend a lot of sweat installing it though :-)

My signal was fine last Saturday morning and degraded by the following morning. We had quite a storm on Saturday afternoon and I'm thinking one of two things :

1/ There is a gash in my RG6 cable going up to my attic. Some runs outside and some indoors. I have inspected some of it but not the full run.
2/ The input on my STB has suffered from an induced strike. If that were the case, I would expect the whole input stage to be cooked. As it stands I am getting all the UHF MIA stations plus Channle 10. Channel 7 is spotty right now.

I am also in the Meadows. This is a bit off-topic, but are you tedler64 on MyACC ? If so, I am a regular visitor to your weather site. It is very good !

Cheers,
Tony

I did expend a lot of sweat installing it though :-)
Tell me about it! Just going up there to hook up the antenna and connect it to the cable made me sweat a ton...not to mention breathing in that fiberglass crap.


As it stands I am getting all the UHF MIA stations plus Channle 10. Channel 7 is spotty right now.
Yep, 10 and 7 are a pain, but I get around that by using Advanced Cable's 6412 HD-DVR. It gets 10, 7 and 6. The stations I get with great signal are 2, 4, 5 & 29 (WPB), 33, 39 and 42 (WPB)...don't care about any of the other digital junk.


I am also in the Meadows. This is a bit off-topic, but are you tedler64 on MyACC ? If so, I am a regular visitor to your weather site. It is very good !

Oh yeah, that's me...a weather geek. My wife thinks I am crazy with all of the wires I have strung around the house, in the attic, backyard, etc...
It's a fun hobby though, especially when we get thunderstorms, tropical systems and cold fronts. Thanks for the compliment. I live in Highland.

Anyway, back to the HD stuff. I bought a Samsung LNR-408D last week and have been loving it! I have Directv too, and was going to order their HD package when I realized that what the offer totally stinks. Advanced offers at least some locals, plus a DVR for only an additional $35/month (on top of that stupid mandated fee we all pay to Sunrise).
Since I couldnt get CBS, and my TV has a built-in tuner, that is what got me to Radio Shack for the antenna. I watched CSI the other night in HD for the first time. Both me and my wife could not believe the difference...although she would probably be as happy with a 13 inch B&W tv. ;-)

What is your HD equip/setup like? You can send me a PM if you like.

Tom

I am located in west broward - plantation - and use COMCAST cable. I use an HD card in my computer to receive the HD signals from my standard cable and view them via my TV. currently I receive DIscovery-HD, 4 PBS'es, CBS-4, NBC-6, SVN-7, PLG-10, UPN-HD. I also seem to be getting 2 channels of on-demand (interesting to watch when the signal is paused, re-winds, and/or FF's)

I would be interesting to hear who else is using a similar method of receiving via cable, and what channels they are able to receive and on what channel/sub-channel.

Patrick

I was recording the NASCAR WTVJ-HD broadcast today (to my computer, via comcast) and noticed that the recorded stream was severely corrupted in many spots and had frequent stops and skips (which is not normal for my stream recordings). I also noticed that about 1/2 thru the broadcast switched from 16:9 to 4:3 (well 4:3 with the annoying NBC-HD borders on left/right). I was wondering if others were experiencing these issues with the broadcast, and if the broadcast switch mid-way thru is indicative that there was indeed problems with the HD broadcast...

Patrick

The exact same thing happened to me. I think it was the lightning. Although I have the NY NBC feed, I recorded the race on 6-1. Lost 2 laps here and 3 laps there. Missed Jeff Burton's crash. Sure enough, I had a quick power outage from the lightning and ended up with 2 separate recordingsn on the TiVo. 6-1 stopped sending the HD signal towards the end of the race. I am guessing that had something to do with the weather too. By the way, do you use a UPS?

no UPS - yet, but one is on the way - but I didnt actually lose the broadcast, just had poor reception on it.

Patrick

pglenn and michael1248, what day did you notice this ? For me it was the 6th of August. The morning was fine, then we had a terrible storm in the late afternoon.

This past Sunday afternoon, during thunderstorms.

This past Sunday afternoon, during thunderstorms.

Do you have an outdoor cable run or antenna ? My antenna is in the attic but my cable run is outside down the outside of the house. It runs under the eavestrough down along my patio parallel to a satellite feed which was unaffected.

On the power side, I have one of those Monster Power protection strips. If my issue was a power surge then I would have expected other equipment on the same power strip to have died too.

ESPNHD 202 Comcast is down in my area. Is it down for any other members?
I am watching the game on ESPN SD 34 right now. Called Comcast to see if they can do something about it. Good start for the Marlins in this game. You go Carlos Delgado.
Go Marlins.

ESPNHD 202 Comcast is down in my area. Is it down for any other members?
I am watching the game on ESPN SD 34 right now. Called Comcast to see if they can do something about it. Good start for the Marlins in this game. You go Carlos Delgado.
Go Marlins.

I don't recall the details correctly, but it is my understanding that these games are blacked out on ESPNHD due to a contractual agreement.

Figures.
Thanks Rudy

I also bought the 15-1880 and I also have the 6412 HD-DVR from Advanced Cable, so I mainly want the OTA channels for CBS-DT, UPN and WB. A nice bonus was receiving FOX29, because they are tons better than the infamous Channel 7 tabloid station.
Plus they also show alternate MLB & NFL games than WSVN. I get Channel 5 in WPB great too. I also like the NBC-6 weather channel on 6-2.

The problem is, where I have my TV set, I must place the antenna almost near the ceiling to get the stations. So I figured I would use some of Advanced Cable's existing wiring in my house to put this antenna up in the attic over the garage and use one of the bedroom's hook-ups to route the cable to the back of my set.
I am going to try this tonight.


GREAT idea. I'm a new HDTV owner in Weston and I bought a huge RCA indoor/outdoor antenna last weekend (looked like a pair of steer horns) hoping that I could do pretty well. In short, it was terrible. I read the posts in this forum and bought the 15-1880 the next day--success! Most of the stations you mentioned come in very strong, but I don't get 10 or 7 at all. Only a big deal on football days, really.

This weekend I'm going to try your idea of using some of the Advanced wiring and move it into the attic. I have DirecTV and am only a "hostage" customer of Advanced, so we wouldn't miss the cable service anyway. Thanks again for the useful info.

GREAT idea. I'm a new HDTV owner in Weston and I bought a huge RCA indoor/outdoor antenna last weekend (looked like a pair of steer horns) hoping that I could do pretty well. In short, it was terrible. I read the posts in this forum and bought the 15-1880 the next day--success! Most of the stations you mentioned come in very strong, but I don't get 10 or 7 at all. Only a big deal on football days, really.

This weekend I'm going to try your idea of using some of the Advanced wiring and move it into the attic. I have DirecTV and am only a "hostage" customer of Advanced, so we wouldn't miss the cable service anyway. Thanks again for the useful info.

Hi Texan!
Let me tell you, hooking the antenna up in the attic worked like a champ for me. But a few words of advice before you go up there. It is HOT up there, so do it in the morning!!! Your cable-tv wires should be over your garage near the attic entry. You need to get one of those "bulb socket screw-in plugs" to power the antenna. Also, do NOT use a regular cable-tv splitter to join the cable coming out of the antenna to the cable you wish to empower, grab a spare cable-tv connector (they are found in the cable-tv socket in every room in your house). Unscrew it from the plate and use that connector to attach the antenna to the cable-tv wire you desire. Doing this greatly improved my signal quality over a splitter.

The only pain in the butt is adjusting the antenna's UHF and VHF direction. I have tried a few ways, but getting channel's 10 and 7 are tougher than 2, 4, 5 and 6. You will need to play around with the rabbit-ears to get the optimum signal. As for the UHF portion (to receive all other channels above 10) turn the antenna's UHF rotator to make a "figure 8", not "infinity", and then I pointed mine due north. Doing this allowed me to get Fox 29 (so not getting channel 7 wasn't an issue), WB 39, UPN 33 and WXEL 42 (which has PBS-Kids in HD on 42-2). There are also a few spanish stations if you are into that.

Good luck, and let me know how you did!
Also, what brand/model of HDTV do you have? Mine is a Samsung LN-R408D 40" LCD.

Tom

Hey all,

New to all this so I'm learning as I go. I have a Terk TV55 antenna hooked on outside of my second story home. I live in west Dade by Bird Road and 152 Ave. From all the negative things I've read about this antenna I guess I've been lucky enough to get all the local DTV stations without blackouts.

I need some help because I want to boost the reception to get WPB channels and further. I've read the channel master preamp 7778 would be a good fit. Is there anything else I need to get? Is there another preamp that is better? Any help would be great. Thanks.

Hey all,

New to all this so I'm learning as I go. I have a Terk TV55 antenna hooked on outside of my second story home. I live in west Dade by Bird Road and 152 Ave. From all the negative things I've read about this antenna I guess I've been lucky enough to get all the local DTV stations without blackouts.

I need some help because I want to boost the reception to get WPB channels and further. I've read the channel master preamp 7778 would be a good fit. Is there anything else I need to get? Is there another preamp that is better? Any help would be great. Thanks.


Either the CM7777 or CM7778 are good choices. I don't know what level of success you will achieve. Your current setup is overachieving at levels I would never expect. Another consideration would be to increase the height of your antenna.

If these options don't work, I different antenna will do the trick.

A warning everyone...we received this today from ABC:

August 15, 2005

Attention HDTV Affiliates – No HDTV Feed 8/23/05 to 8/26/05

ABC will be upgrading its HDTV release facility including a replacement of the HD router. In order to accomplish this work in a timely manner, a four (4) day shutdown of the HD release facility will be required.

Accordingly, beginning Tuesday 8/23/2005 and continuing through Friday 8/26/2005, ABC will not offer an HDTV feed for either ECM or PT feeds. In addition, an upconverted SD feed will not be transmitted either. No HDTV transmission will take place in prime time, because doing so requires the use of the HDTV router and the release facility. During this time, stations are urged to upconvert the normal network SD feed, as many do now for non-primetime network and for local programming.

HDTV test feeds during the day will take place, as they can be accomplished without the use of the HDTV router or release facility.



So please everyone, have mercy!

Steve Ellis
WPLG/WPLG-DT

Either the CM7777 or CM7778 are good choices. I don't know what level of success you will achieve. Your current setup is overachieving at levels I would never expect. Another consideration would be to increase the height of your antenna.

If these options don't work, I different antenna will do the trick.
I bought a CM7777 and have it for sale. I hooked it up once and haven't used it since (so it's pretty much brand new, just opened and tested once). Too much trouble for me, decided to switch to cable. If you or anyone is interested, PM me and I'll settle for a fair price.

@ sellis: Thanks for letting us know that. Sucks we'll miss this weeks Lost in HD. I wasn't able to watch it during it's premiere in HD and it's been a real treat to see it in it's HD glory.

EDIT: the you was meant for patapuerco, not you ANSEK sorry about that. Hope it was ok to post it as well, don't want to break the rules or anyting.

If you or anyone is interested, PM me and I'll settle for a fair price.

Thanks for the offer, but I just got a 7778. I plan on installing it once Katrina passes.

Does anyone know if I add on the 7778 to the terk tv55 would give it the boost it needs to catch the WPB channels or more?

I've got a D* HD receiver- Zenith 1080- that I'm ready to sell. It has component and an RGB jack (for HD output) and a very sensitive local tuner for over the air channels (at times I've been able to lock stations from upwards of 100 miles away). Nothing wrong with it at all (original box, instructions, remote, etc.)- just sitting on a shelf since i switched to Voom, then E*. I've also got the 3lnb dish but you would need to buy a mounting pole if you don't already have one. If you are not too far away, i'll help you install it if you like.

If anyone needs a great quality D* box, PM or email me at: Darryl@BigInnovations.com

Has anyoen lost channel 7 outright.. Im not getting any type of signal reading on channel 7-1.. I live by metro zoo

Has anyoen lost channel 7 outright.. Im not getting any type of signal reading on channel 7-1.. I live by metro zoo

Me neither. Not 7-1 or 7-2. I'm still getting my locals on E* though.

CB Gaines
Surfside

I can't get 7-1 or 4-1. Also, the wind made my satellite dish face the ground so I am getting no signal for sat channels.

I kept my HD signals for 4-1 and 6-1 through Katrina with the Samsung spaceship on a second floor TV. Lucky enough to have power through the night.

You know what how is it that I lose Large Trees and Fences but my antenna just had once small crooked bar.. All I had to do is repoint and my strnegth is now stronger than ever.. Still no 7-1 though getting 0 strength anyone else

I had 7-1 this morning but now it is gone for me. All other channels are coming in fine.

Im in the sunrise area, I have comcast, all the local OTA channels are fine execpt WSVN ( No Signal) and WB ( No audio). Is anyone else experiencing these issues on comcast.

Im in the sunrise area, I have comcast, all the local OTA channels are fine execpt WSVN ( No Signal) and WB ( No audio). Is anyone else experiencing these issues on comcast.

Coconut Creek Comcast and no channel 7 HD either. :(

7-1 is back but on my sattelite meter it says wsvn sd but it looks like digital to me

Hey guys. Can't get 10-1 with my Silver Sensor & D* HD Tivo box. What indoor antenna will get this station-football season fast approaching.

Let me hear what you've got that pulls this channel in without losing all the others.

7-1 is bad too, but I do get 29-1 well, so it's not that big an issue.

Thanks

I have the Terk HDTVi (similar to the Silver Sensor) and I can get all local channels in Miami and some WPB channels. I also have a Squareshooter outdoor antenna and can pick up all channels.

Hey guys. Can't get 10-1 with my Silver Sensor & D* HD Tivo box. What indoor antenna will get this station-football season fast approaching.

Let me hear what you've got that pulls this channel in without losing all the others.

7-1 is bad too, but I do get 29-1 well, so it's not that big an issue.

Thanks
Hardball, take a look at my previous posts on the last few pages to see what I did with my Radio Shack Amplified Antenna. It is superb. I get every Miami station (including channels 2 and 17 PBS) and most Palm Beach stations. The antenna never needs to be moved or aimed, as it is in my attic. This, coupled with the 5 HD channels from my cable co add up to quite a selection.
You really should attempt to get both channels 29 and 7, because at times they will show different NFL games.

Good luck!

Hey, guys. I currently have HDTV, but I'm in Kansas City. My parents live in Weston, FL and I am planning on getting them an HDTV for Christmas, but I wanted to know what the local cable company offered in terms of service. Can you help me out?

Hey all,

New to all this so I'm learning as I go. I have a Terk TV55 antenna hooked on outside of my second story home. I live in west Dade by Bird Road and 152 Ave. From all the negative things I've read about this antenna I guess I've been lucky enough to get all the local DTV stations without blackouts.

I need some help because I want to boost the reception to get WPB channels and further. I've read the channel master preamp 7778 would be a good fit. Is there anything else I need to get? Is there another preamp that is better? Any help would be great. Thanks.


Sup... I live very close to you, 18 & 155... I get fox from West palm in the low 80's, i have the 4228... but I cant get the VHF channels... how high do you have it, houses around here are 25 feet tall so it could be a pain in the arssss

Jayhawk1977

Advanced cable offers ABC, NBC and FOX with a digitial package for $9.95 and the STB for $4.95. You can upgrade the STB to a DVR for $9.95. If you add the HDPack you get ESPN, HDNet, HDMovies, TNTHD and Discovery HD for another $9.95. If you subscribe to either Showtime or HBO you can get those in HD. So your parents would need to shell out another $30 - $40/month for HD service.

If you buy a TV with ATSC/QAM tuner (must have the QAM capability) you can pull in the majors; ABC, NBC and Fox at no additional charge with no STB requirement. My son does this using a Sony GWIV TV. This may be your best bet.

Thanks, stonecrd. That is what I needed.

I am using an MDP-120 and a CM4228 and I can get all the UHF channels fine. PBS, CBS, NBC, UPN, but since yesterday I am not able to get WBZL-DT (theWB). When I switch to the channel I see a signal reception of 64-69% but no picture. Is anyone else having this problem?

I am using an MDP-120 and a CM4228 and I can get all the UHF channels fine. PBS, CBS, NBC, UPN, but since yesterday I am not able to get WBZL-DT (theWB). When I switch to the channel I see a signal reception of 64-69% but no picture. Is anyone else having this problem?

I didn't get the WB Tuesday night in HD either.

CB Gaines
Surfside
still VOOMing for HD OTA

Anybody not getting a steady signal from FOX-HD in Miami area today? I'm trying to watch Prison Break again but my signal goes from 90 to 0 on my TIVO-HD.

Thanks

Sergio

Anybody not getting a steady signal from FOX-HD in Miami area today? I'm trying to watch Prison Break again but my signal goes from 90 to 0 on my TIVO-HD.

Thanks

Sergio

I've had trouble with their signal over the past few days, but it was limited to just a few breakups every now and then...not a total loss of signal.

I need help determining which antenna, if any, will allow me to get OTA HD channels. I am awaiting delivery of a Sony HDTV with a built in tuner. I have DirecTV and I will be using the Samsung HDTV receiver.

I live on a high floor of a condo south of downtown Miami. I have a corner unit. My balcony has exposure from Southwest to North. The dish is obviously on the SW side of the balcony. The TV is very near the dish. I believe all of the signals are to the North of me.

I need something small. Would any of the indoor antennas work? How about something that attaches to the Dish? This would not have direct North exposure since the corner of my unit blocks this part of the balcony. My last choice would be something small on the balcony's North exposure. However, I would rather not run cable all the way around the balcony. Thanks in advance for any ideas.

I need help determining which antenna, if any, will allow me to get OTA HD channels. I am awaiting delivery of a Sony HDTV with a built in tuner. I have DirecTV and I will be using the Samsung HDTV receiver.

I live on a high floor of a condo south of downtown Miami. I have a corner unit. My balcony has exposure from Southwest to North. The dish is obviously on the SW side of the balcony. The TV is very near the dish. I believe all of the signals are to the North of me.

I need something small. Would any of the indoor antennas work? How about something that attaches to the Dish? This would not have direct North exposure since the corner of my unit blocks this part of the balcony. My last choice would be something small on the balcony's North exposure. However, I would rather not run cable all the way around the balcony. Thanks in advance for any ideas.

I'm getting very good results with the RadioShack Model 15-1838 indoor antenna. I've got one at home (2nd floor apartment in downtown Fort Lauderdale), and one work (8th floor office in downtown Fort Lauderdale). Just hold on to the receipt and return it if it doesn't work. I wouldn't suggest using any antennas that attach to your dish because OTA reception of some of the local digital stations requires careful aiming....and more than likely that will mean repositioning your dish.

Can anyone here tune into WBZL-DT? I have a signal but no picture and wanna know if I should mess with the antenna or something.

Can anyone here tune into WBZL-DT? I have a signal but no picture and wanna know if I should mess with the antenna or something.

As of right now, I'm getting a strong signal from WBZL-DT.

WPBT is currently migrating towards a full time simulcast of their analog channel on digital channel 2-1; the new format will become permanent on or about October 1st. They're currently testing new upconverters, and once the change becomes permanent they will mix in true high definition programming when it is available.

Can anyone here tune into WBZL-DT? I have a signal but no picture and wanna know if I should mess with the antenna or something.
Same here, strong signal no picture or sound.

Anybody else receiving 27-3 and 27-4. Seems to be a simulacast of WSVN? Does this mean the end of WSVN broadcasting on a VHF channel? Will ch 10 be next?

So WPBT goes from pure HD to multicast to pure SD with some HD mixed in. Sad...

Speaking of multicast, that NBC Weather Plus channel during Katrina was the first decent use of it I have seen.

Just got a Panasonic with QAM tuner b/c I wanted to avoid getting a box or external antennae (I have basic cable via Comcast Miami). After initial scan last night at about 10:30, I have found several channels including wfor 4, tnt, wpbt, a bunch of music channels and a few other but so far I have not been able to find wtvj 6 or wplg 10.

Is there a guide to what's available unscrambled via Comcast Miami? Any help would be truly appreciated. Thanks.

Just got a Panasonic with QAM tuner b/c I wanted to avoid getting a box or external antennae (I have basic cable via Comcast Miami). After initial scan last night at about 10:30, I have found several channels including wfor 4, tnt, wpbt, a bunch of music channels and a few other but so far I have not been able to find wtvj 6 or wplg 10.

Is there a guide to what's available unscrambled via Comcast Miami? Any help would be truly appreciated. Thanks.

TNT (for now, anyway), DISCOVERY HDT (ditto), WPBT, WFOR, WSVN, WPLG, WTVJ, and WBZL are available unscrambled on Comcast. Your tuner may or may not find all of the proper frequencies, depending on its QAM tuning range. Of course, the channel assignments are going to differ from that of the virtual channels Comcast uses with its STBs. I suggest that you go into your TVs menu system, and surf the QAM frequencies slowly to find any channels you are missing.

Rudy,

Thanks... I just spent the last 2 hours manually scanning all the channels and no luck on ABC and NBC. Is it possible that the Panasonic QAM tuner cannot pick these up? And would an LG HDTV do any better? I am willing to return this set and get something else if it saves me teh hassle of gettiong an external antennae. Any suggestions are welcomed. Thanks.

Same here, strong signal no picture or sound.
I am getting WBZL-DT on 19-1 now. Good signal and picture.

Anybody else receiving 27-3 and 27-4. Seems to be a simulacast of WSVN? Does this mean the end of WSVN broadcasting on a VHF channel? Will ch 10 be next?
When I do a scan I don't get any of those channels, can you tell me the physical channel so I can try to manually add it?

I am getting WBZL-DT on 19-1 now. Good signal and picture.


When I do a scan I don't get any of those channels, can you tell me the physical channel so I can try to manually add it?


They are still broadcasting on CH 8. I have a Hughes HTL-HD with D* service. I didn't do a channel scan, they just showed up on there own. I'll investigate more when I get home tonight.

Rudy,

Thanks... I just spent the last 2 hours manually scanning all the channels and no luck on ABC and NBC. Is it possible that the Panasonic QAM tuner cannot pick these up? And would an LG HDTV do any better? I am willing to return this set and get something else if it saves me teh hassle of gettiong an external antennae. Any suggestions are welcomed. Thanks.

It is possible that those two channels are outside of the Panasonic's QAM tuning range. My LG-LST3410A DVR has no difficulty tuning the unencrypted channels on Comcast, so perhaps an integrated LG TV might do better than your Panasonic. You need to keep in mind that Comcast shares some frequencies among two channels, so you have to pay close attention to all of the sub-channels on a particular frequency. For example, TNT-HD is currently at 117-300, sharing the frequency with some music channels. And if I recall correctly, WPLG and WTVJ also share a frequency, as do WPBT and WSVN.

What is your current "line-up" for the Comcast Unscrambled channels? I too get TNT on 117-300 but I wanted to double check the others. On a related matter, do you think a weak cable signal may contribute to this probelm. I have split the single feed to about 5 sets and I read somewhere that an amplifier may help with tuning. Does that make sense? Thanks... AGAIN

Anybody else receiving 27-3 and 27-4. Seems to be a simulacast of WSVN? Does this mean the end of WSVN broadcasting on a VHF channel? Will ch 10 be next?


Confirming. 27-3 & 4 come in really strong here in Pembroke Pines on my DirecTV HR-250 via rabbit ears.

The signal may indeed be weak if it's split so many times. Try using one of these to boost it at the wall outlet, then split it using a high bandwidth splitter (they're available on the same webpage):

http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/products/signal_booster/

Here is the channel lineup on my LG-LST3410A (don't be surprised if yours does not match up exactly...I've seen wide variations with Samsung and Sony TVs):

WBZL = 80-3
WSVN = 85-1
WPBT = 85-3
WFOR = 89-2
WPLG = 93-1
WTVJ = 93-3 & 93-4
DISC = 119-1
TNT = 117-300

Checked 27-3, -4 last night. They are broadcasting on ch 8. Using old school rabbit ears on my balcony to get OTA HD. Just get "regular programing schedule" in guide though.

I am sure this has been asked a gazillion times! But here goes. I live at Rock Island and Atlantic in Margate (33063). Last night I purchased a RS HDTV Receiver (16-3499) on sale for $90.00. I have a junk tabletop VHF-UHF antenna lying around so I tried it. Semi decent results. PBS, NBC, CBS, lots of spanish & religious stations in upper UHF. I am willing and have the ability to mount an antenna farm for individual channels if need be. What antennaes are people using in this area (33063) to get the majors (ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, FOX). According to antennaweb all Miami stations are due south and PB stations are due north. Don't really care about Palm Beach but would really like ABC for football.
I gave up reading through the thread at 20 pages of posts and thought I would just ask away. Please give me a specific model number for your antenna. Better yet if it is available at RS so I can pick it up on the way home tonight and test over the weekend. Thanks for all your help in advance.

Chuck

I am sure this has been asked a gazillion times! But here goes. I live at Rock Island and Atlantic in Margate (33063). Last night I purchased a RS HDTV Receiver (16-3499) on sale for $90.00. I have a junk tabletop VHF-UHF antenna lying around so I tried it. Semi decent results. PBS, NBC, CBS, lots of spanish & religious stations in upper UHF. I am willing and have the ability to mount an antenna farm for individual channels if need be. What antennaes are people using in this area (33063) to get the majors (ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, FOX). According to antennaweb all Miami stations are due south and PB stations are due north. Don't really care about Palm Beach but would really like ABC for football.
I gave up reading through the thread at 20 pages of posts and thought I would just ask away. Please give me a specific model number for your antenna. Better yet if it is available at RS so I can pick it up on the way home tonight and test over the weekend. Thanks for all your help in advance.

Chuck




Use the Channel Master 'Stealth' Antenna (@$60.00) available at Lowes Home Improvement stores. I have installed hundreds of these and they always work. It is also a pretty good looking antenna (as good as one could look).

I just got a Sumsung Receiver, live in Fort Lauderdale with Comcast Basic analog. Tried to receive the unscrambled HD Comcast channels, all I got was:

102.2 CBS
104.1 WB
104.2 Discovery

I have tried for hours to find ABC, NBC and PBS, but no luck. A few months ago, with an LG Receiver, I was able to find multiple channels of all of the locals, plus all of the music channels of Comcast. Why is there such a variation on reception on these receivers? I too am getting a Pannie soon and worry that it will not pick up all the channels.

I just got a Sumsung Receiver, live in Fort Lauderdale with Comcast Basic analog. Tried to receive the unscrambled HD Comcast channels, all I got was:

102.2 CBS
104.1 WB
104.2 Discovery

I have tried for hours to find ABC, NBC and PBS, but no luck. A few months ago, with an LG Receiver, I was able to find multiple channels of all of the locals, plus all of the music channels of Comcast. Why is there such a variation on reception on these receivers? I too am getting a Pannie soon and worry that it will not pick up all the channels.

The QAM tuning ranges appear to vary widely from manufacturer to manufacturer. In my personal experience, the LG tuners seem to be able to find more of the channels on the Comcast system than the other brands. Your Panasonic TV may not be able to tune all of the unscrambled QAM channels, so you should arm yourself with a contingency plan. Comcast plans to introduce digital simulcasts of the analog tier channels by early 2006.

As a follow up to my previous post, I was able to locate the others that comcast offers. The problem, idiot me, was that they simply were not on the air, therefore my tuner returned "No Signal".

I now have:

FOX, ABC, NBC, NBC WEATHER, CBS, WB, 4 PBS, DISCOVERY and ESPN

My Samsung will not decode any of the music channels, even though the lineup is memorized. Does anyone receive the music channels on their Panasonic? Also just which stations broadcast HD, I seem to get 4:3 in most cases.

As a follow up to my previous post, I was able to locate the others that comcast offers. The problem, idiot me, was that they simply were not on the air, therefore my tuner returned "No Signal".

I now have:

FOX, ABC, NBC, NBC WEATHER, CBS, WB, 4 PBS, DISCOVERY and ESPN

My Samsung will not decode any of the music channels, even though the lineup is memorized. Does anyone receive the music channels on their Panasonic? Also just which stations broadcast HD, I seem to get 4:3 in most cases.

All of these channels (except for NBC Weather) broadcast in HD at some point in their broadcast day; however, Discovery HD Theatre is the only one that broadcasts in HD 24/7.

What's with DWPLG? They keep switching in & out of HD back to SD. Even during the game. It's rather annoying. Great picture and sound besides that.

I am sure this has been asked a gazillion times! But here goes. I live at Rock Island and Atlantic in Margate (33063). Last night I purchased a RS HDTV Receiver (16-3499) on sale for $90.00. I have a junk tabletop VHF-UHF antenna lying around so I tried it. Semi decent results. PBS, NBC, CBS, lots of spanish & religious stations in upper UHF. I am willing and have the ability to mount an antenna farm for individual channels if need be. What antennaes are people using in this area (33063) to get the majors (ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, FOX). According to antennaweb all Miami stations are due south and PB stations are due north. Don't really care about Palm Beach but would really like ABC for football.
I gave up reading through the thread at 20 pages of posts and thought I would just ask away. Please give me a specific model number for your antenna. Better yet if it is available at RS so I can pick it up on the way home tonight and test over the weekend. Thanks for all your help in advance.

Chuck

Chuck,

I'm in Deerfield Beach (33442). I just installed a RS 80" Outdoor Boom Antenna (15-2152, $60) and pick up all of the stations you listed 99% of the time using my Dish 811 box. I have the signal going through a 24db amp before feeding it to a diplexer for the run into the house. Signal strength (as shown on the 811) is usually >80% on all stations. The 811 won't lock on with less than 80% though.

HTH,
Nick

Good morning all! HDTV newbie here. Just had a D* HR250 box installed at home. I live in the Oakbrook comminuty in Coral Springs.

Not having any success at all picking up WSVN (Fox) or WPLG (ABC) with the OTA antenna installed by the technician. It looks to be a model similar to the DB2 sold bu Antennas Direct. Other than the Radio Shack 1880 amplified antenna, are there any other antennas I should try?

The DB2 is UHF only - I believe the two stations you refer to are VHF. I can receive FOx 7 just fine up here in Boca, so I know their signal is good and strong.

I use a Winegard GS2200 bi-directional wing antenna up here, but that is because I want to get both WPB and Miami stations without the bother of installing a rotor.