Thanks, Jeff. I'll look into that antenna.

That antenna is not for everyone. A lot of the gear-heads up here sneer at such a lowly antenna. And, in fact, if you are not trying to grab stations from two differnet directions, it is probably not the best choice. I do, however, like it for more than it's bi-directional capability. It is small, and, dare I say it, aerodynamic. I have it mounted on a very short post on a peak tile on my roof. It is held down with 4 cement screws and the plate is epoxied to the tile as well. This has survived 3 minimal hurricanes, while my neighbors traditional antenna was shredded apart.

I have a Sony KDF A5520A hd television. So far I've been able to find all the local channels plus TNT & Discover HD. I dont have a comcast HDTV cable box because my TV was able to pick up all the HD channels so far but I dont find the ESPN HD and INHD stations

I'm planning on getting the box in a few weeks but I would like to view ESPN HD and INHD in the mean time.


On what channels are you guys finding ESPN HD and also INHD with standard cable without the comcast HDTV cable box?

Thanks
Aaron

Just hooked up an RCA indoor antenna I had sitting around while I wait for my silver sensor to arrive. I live near downtown Miami. I can get two stations from West Palm Beach, but I can not get ABC or FOX in Miami. I can get FOX 29 from Palm Beach. I'm hoping the Silver Sensor will be able to get them all. I would hate to not be able to watch MNF in HD. Any thoughts on why this is happening?

miami580

I believe the Silver Sensor is a UHF antenna. Both WSVN 7.1 and WPLG 10.1 are VHF signals. You may need to add some rabbit ears to get these stations. Fox in WPB on 29.1 is also UHF.

miami580

I believe the Silver Sensor is a UHF antenna. Both WSVN 7.1 and WPLG 10.1 are VHF signals. You may need to add some rabbit ears to get these stations. Fox in WPB on 29.1 is also UHF.

Stonecrd - Thanks - That answers my question. Now I have to figure out how to get the vhf stations. Channels 7 and 10 come in very fuzzy, so I'm probably going to have problems getting 7.1 and 10.1.

I just got HD service via Comcast. I live in Lauderhill, the local HD channels like CBS, NBC etc... a lot of the content in HD is presented in 4:3. Like the Dolphins game today, I could only get a 4:3 picture. I've watched many Widescreen HD programs on other HD channels and I can even recall watching The US Open on CBS last weekend and that was in widescreen but it seems hit or miss. Any thoughts?

launche,

I'm not sure what your question is? In regards to football FOX provides all games in HD, however, WSVN 7.1, seemed to be having problems yesterday so the game was not HD. CBS generally only has 3 games in each time slot in HD. Last week we got Miami in HD which because of their record last year may be the only one we get. It is not really hit or miss, they plan it out and generally you know ahead of time. Take a look in the HD programming forum, they usually have the up to date schedules posted there.

miami580

I believe the Silver Sensor is a UHF antenna. Both WSVN 7.1 and WPLG 10.1 are VHF signals. You may need to add some rabbit ears to get these stations. Fox in WPB on 29.1 is also UHF.

I have a problem receiving FOX on either 7 or 29. I live in Margate and get good signal strength on both (84 plus). I have a roof mounted channelmaster stealth antenna pointing at Miami antenna farm. I can receive all the rest of Miami great and most of Palm Beach, but on FOX 7 I get a stuttering audio sound and a black or no picture at all. Does anyone else have trouble receiving FOX? If you don't have trouble receiving FOX, what I can I do to receive it? Thanks for your help.

Chuck

I have noticed in the last week that FOX 7 is having some pretty bad pixelation problems on my system, and is nearly gone altogether a good portion of the time. I am not sure what is going in with them, wish I knew.

I just mounted an amplified antenna from Radio Shack in my attic. Reception is great. Here is the item number in case anybody is interested: 15-1634.

I also think WSVN is having digital problems so I would not judge your reception quality right now. I noticed last night that they were broadcasting in HD which they had not been through the weekend. Also you will find a lot of reception problems when we have big storms blow through. Interestingly I find that when I loose my digital channels on cable I can fire up the OTA and watch.

Interestingly I find that when I loose my digital channels on cable I can fire up the OTA and watch.

My wife was not convinced of the value of having OTA or HD for the matter. She saw it as a waste of time and money when there were lots of other more important things to do around the house.

Then, after Katrina, we lost our cable for awhile and satellite was off and on but we could still watch TV. Our neighbours who came knocking were impressed and asked her how he still had signal. She was forced to tell them what I had done months before :D

As of yesrterday, I lost WB-39 on the following receivers:
LG 4200a
LG 3510
Samsung T-150

I unplugged the antenna feed, did a channel scan, re-connected the antenna feed and re-scanned but still no 39.
In my bedroom, a Samsung 27" w/built-in HD tuner is still receiving 39.

Anyone else?

As of yesrterday, I lost WB-39 on the following receivers:
LG 4200a
LG 3510
Samsung T-150

I unplugged the antenna feed, did a channel scan, re-connected the antenna feed and re-scanned but still no 39.
In my bedroom, a Samsung 27" w/built-in HD tuner is still receiving 39.

Anyone else?

I checked and my signal strength has not changed....it is still in the high range....but all I get is a black screen with a Samsung SIR-T451.

Anyone that lives in Weston know if/when Advanced Cable is going to add CBS4 to their HD package?
It irks me to no end that I cannot record the CSI shows in HD.
I watch them OTA-HD, but that means I have to stay up late and deal with commercials too.

Anyone that lives in Weston know if/when Advanced Cable is going to add CBS4 to their HD package?
It irks me to no end that I cannot record the CSI shows in HD.
I watch them OTA-HD, but that means I have to stay up late and deal with commercials too.

Get an LG-LST3410A...then you can receive ALL of the digital locals OTA, and record in HD to the unit's harddrive.

http://www.circuitcity.com/rpsm/oid/124025/rpem/ccd/productDetailReview.do

I currently have Comcast HD DVR with digital cable, but would like to cancel the digital cable and return the DVR. I've had reports that some people get HD local channels with basic cable, but haven't been able to confirm that locally. Is there anyone in the Coconut Creek vicinity, with Comcast basic cable, that gets the local HD channels included?

I varies from area to arera AND QAM tuner. LG tuners seem to do the best job.
You can find out by simply pluging you cable directly, no cable box, from the outlet to the TV and doing a new scan.

I live near Pompano and first tried it with a Sumsung HD tuner.. Got all, except the 50+ music stations. Comcast also threw in ESPN, ETWN, Discovery and Goltv.

I now have an LG 26" LCD, the scan gave me the 50+ Music stations, plus the locals, with but no FOX, or ESPN. I am waiting for my Panny 50tx500U, and hope that will get me all the stations.

I varies from area to arera AND QAM tuner. LG tuners seem to do the best job.
You can find out by simply pluging you cable directly, no cable box, from the outlet to the TV and doing a new scan.

I live near Pompano and first tried it with a Sumsung HD tuner.. Got all, except the 50+ music stations. Comcast also threw in ESPN, ETWN, Discovery and Goltv.

I now have an LG 26" LCD, the scan gave me the 50+ Music stations, plus the locals, with but no FOX, or ESPN. I am waiting for my Panny 50tx500U, and hope that will get me all the stations.

Could you please tell me on what channesl are you getting EspnHD & ETWN ?


Thanks
Aaron

I just tried a FusionHDTV 5 on Atlantic Broadband in Aventura, FL and the fusionhdtv software says everything is encrypted. So looks like using their box is necessary. :(

Unable to receive WSVN on my Samsung SIR-T150. Get full signal reading and signal lock but receiver displays signal unavailable. My Samsung SIR-T165 can receive it after 30 second blank screen. I hope they fix it soon. I remember going through this last year for a month then they fixed it. This probably is why they are showing up on 27-3 and 27-4 on some boxes :(

That is great news if WPBT is going to only broadcast on 2-1 and shutdown all other channels! A lot of their members including me have stopped supporting them because the picture quality of 2-1 sucked because they were also broadcasting on 2-2 and 2-5. I used to give them $100 a year but I told them two months ago I was not renewing my membership because their digital channel 2-1 had become unwatchable. I told them if and when they shut down 2-2 and 2-5 my one hundred dollar check would be in the mail. They told me they had received a lot of complaints about the picture quality on 2-1. :)

I posted a few days ago about losing WB 39 and it finally did come back.

As posted above, I too lost WSVN on my Samsung T-150.

Unable to receive WSVN on my Samsung SIR-T150. Get full signal reading and signal lock but receiver displays signal unavailable. My Samsung SIR-T165 can receive it after 30 second blank screen. I hope they fix it soon. I remember going through this last year for a month then they fixed it. This probably is why they are showing up on 27-3 and 27-4 on some boxes :(

No such WSVN problems here via 10-250 during Dolphin game or quick peek at 6:30 PM.

Unable to receive WSVN on my Samsung SIR-T150. Get full signal reading and signal lock but receiver displays signal unavailable. My Samsung SIR-T165 can receive it after 30 second blank screen. I hope they fix it soon. I remember going through this last year for a month then they fixed it. This probably is why they are showing up on 27-3 and 27-4 on some boxes :(

WSVN is coming in fine via a Samsung SIR-T451.

That is great news if WPBT is going to only broadcast on 2-1 and shutdown all other channels! A lot of their members including me have stopped supporting them because the picture quality of 2-1 sucked because they were also broadcasting on 2-2 and 2-5. I used to give them $100 a year but I told them two months ago I was not renewing my membership because their digital channel 2-1 had become unwatchable. I told them if and when they shut down 2-2 and 2-5 my one hundred dollar check would be in the mail. They told me they had received a lot of complaints about the picture quality on 2-1. :)

They may have received complaints regarding the picture quality on 2-1, but that doesn't necessarily mean they plan on dropping the sub-channels entirely. I was told specifically that they are moving to a full-time simulcast of the analog channel, with true HD programmin mixed in when available. So in effect we may end up with one HD channel and three sub-channels (instead of four) in the daytime. I do not know what the arrangement will be for primetime, but I expect some form of multicasting will continue.

I just tried a FusionHDTV 5 on Atlantic Broadband in Aventura, FL and the fusionhdtv software says everything is encrypted. So looks like using their box is necessary. :(

You need to contact upper management at Atlantic Broadband (and be sure to copy your local franchising authority) and remind them that per the FCC they're supposed to pass any local channels they may carry on their digital tier (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, PBS, WB, and UPN are all considered "local channels") in the clear so that people with ClearQAM tuners can view them without a cable box. They may try to confuse you by telling you about CableCards, but this has nothing to do with that. CableCards allow you to receive encrypted programming from your cable company.

I could not get a good 7-1 picture this weekend, so I biased my antenna towards WPB, and picked up 29-1 instead. I wish 7-1 would get it together, when they are steady, I don't have to choose between WPB and Miami on my antenna positioning.

I could not get a good 7-1 picture this weekend, so I biased my antenna towards WPB, and picked up 29-1 instead. I wish 7-1 would get it together, when they are steady, I don't have to choose between WPB and Miami on my antenna positioning.

Jeff,

You may want to consider adding a small, powered indoor UHF antenna to your setup so you can receive the Palm Beach FOX affiliate. That way you can set your main antenna for optimum reception of the Miami market channels.

---Rudy

I've just learned that WPBT will only have channels 2-1, 2-2, and 2-3 in their "new" lineup. This should help to improve the PQ on the HD broadcasts when they occur.

I am not getting ESPN HD with the LG now. I get ETWN on 90.5.

It seems to vary from QAM to QAM. Per examble:

------------------------ Samsung---------LG

ABC----------------- 93.1 -------------93.1
NBC----------------- 93.2 -------------93.3
CBS----------------- 102.2------------102.2
WB ----------------- 104.1------------104.3
Discovery --------- 104.2 -----------104.1
ETWN ------------- 90.3-------------90.5
TNT ---------------- NO --------------117.300
ESPN -------------- 86.1 ------------NO
FOX --------------- 92.2 ------------NO
GOLTV ------------- 116.5 -----------116.1
Music Channels--- NO --------------117.1 to 117.56
PBS----------------- 92.1-------------NO

Does anyone else have had similar experiences with different QAM tuners???

RUDY1 will they only be broadcasting on 2-1 at night? This was the main complaint by their members like me. I do not care if they run 3 channels during weekdays until 8pm. From 8pm to midnight they should only run 2-1 so we receive the best picture.

RUDY1 will they only be broadcasting on 2-1 at night? This was the main complaint by their members like me. I do not care if they run 3 channels during weekdays until 8pm. From 8pm to midnight they should only run 2-1 so we receive the best picture.

I believe they intend to multicast 24/7.

I am not getting ESPN HD with the LG now. I get ETWN on 90.5.

It seems to vary from QAM to QAM. Per examble:

------------------------ Samsung---------LG

ABC----------------- 93.1 -------------93.1
NBC----------------- 93.2 -------------93.3
CBS----------------- 102.2------------102.2
WB ----------------- 104.1------------104.3
Discovery --------- 104.2 -----------104.1
ETWN ------------- 90.3-------------90.5
TNT ---------------- NO --------------117.300
ESPN -------------- 86.1 ------------NO
FOX --------------- 92.2 ------------NO
GOLTV ------------- 116.5 -----------116.1
Music Channels--- NO --------------117.1 to 117.56
PBS----------------- 92.1-------------NO

Does anyone else have had similar experiences with different QAM tuners???


On my Samsung SIR-T451, CBS is at 89.2, WB is at 80.1, and Discovery is at 119.4; no ESPN, TNT, PBS, music channels, or FOX. On my LG-LST3410A, CBS is at 89.2, WB is at 80.3, FOX is at 85.1, PBS is at 85.3, and Discovery is at 119.1; no ESPN, and the music channels are literally all over the place. So the channel numbers obviously vary not only by model of QAM tuner, but also by the service provider's geographical area as well.

Did anybody notice audio dropouts on ABC Digital (CH 10-1) during Lost tonight? I recorded the show on my HD TIVO but the audio was terrible with a dropout every 10 seconds or so. Picture was OK and signal was always strong.

Sergio

I watched it an did not experience problems, it was through Advanced Cable though not OTA

I noticed this with Lost on 10-1 on Wednesday, but attributed it to the thunderstorms we were having, my dropouts seemed to immediately follow a lightning strike. This was at 8-9PM. From 9-10, 10-1 became almost unwatchable for blackouts, so I switched to satellite (yuck). I sure wish 25-1 wasn't way the hell up in Martin county. I can get all Miami and WPB stations except 25-1 (25 is the WPB equivalent of Miami 10).

My guess is that 10-1 has an inferior system. I also recorded Fox )7-1) at the same time with no problems and CBS and NBC were also good at the same period. Interesting that I normally lose picture as well but this time was just this annoying audio dropouts.

Loking at other boards from other places it seems that almost everybody had a problem with ABC yesterday.

Sergio

Thank You WSVN for fixing your PSIP signal. I can now again receive 7-1 and 7-2 on my Samsung SIR-T150 and SIR-T165.

Rudy1 you were correct. It appears WPBT-2 is going to continue broadcasting two sub channels of crap along with 2-1 their main channel. I did not renew my membership this year and I will not renew my membership in channel 2 again until they stop it. Thank you WPBT for saving me $100 a year in membership dues. :confused:

I can honestly say i've never been more confused in my life. I have no clue what to do. I really don't want a huge ant. sticking up from my roof. I was thinging of something a little smaller. i have my HD Tivo from DTV as my set top box, but i'm so confused on what to get for my house. I don't want an over kill but don't want a sucky ant too.

http://www.squadxp.com/news/results.JPG

those are my results from antannaWeb. And i only care about channle 7-6 and 10. Though it would be nice to get those plus 33 and 39.

Also is there a nice cost effective ant that can pick up signal 360 degree's so that i just have to put it up? Or do they need to be pointed a certain way? My budget is $150.

I found this ant,

http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?CAT=&PROD=HDTVS#dishpics

while at solid signal.com i don't know anything about this stuff so if terk sucks please let me know. IT's also very important to me that i get very nice crisp clear signal. My closest cross street is 162nd AVE. and 56th Street.

Also do any of you guys recommend me puting this ant. on the top top top part of my house right now my dtv ant is on the left right side of the house. if you see the pic below it would be on the right side 1st roof.

http://www.squadxp.com/news/house.jpg

Thanks and if anyone can point me to the right ANT. I would be most greatful.

i also found some of these ant. cheaper and seem to cover more distance.

http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=ANC3016&xzoom=zoom#xview CM3016

also saw the cm4248 n 3671

What the heck is the deal with NBC 6-1?? Do they have one guy dedicated to making sure that the program is in 16:9 when it comes back from commercial but he only works the first 40 minutes of every hour??

Crossing Jordan was 4:3 the last 7 minutes, and then I just checked my recordings from last night and all three shows (Surface, Las Vegas, and Medium) start off fine and go to 4:3 at the end.

I also recorded 5-1 for the same shows just in case, and they were all 16:9 throughout. It's a sad day for 6-1 when 5-1 is more reliable.

I am getting major audio breakups on WPLG 10-1. I live in the Kendall area and noticed it last night during Monday Night Football. I figured it was the weather but it's gotten worse today. Am I the only one experiencing this?

First let me say the HD presentation of tonights baseball game on DWSVN was near perfect. THe picture was great, the sound was great as well. I wish I could watch all baseball games in this quality.

My only gripe is them switching back to SD with the last out in the game. I'm assuming this is to prepare for the next program in SD which I can understand, but I wish they would have waited till the baseball program is over or at least till the last out is recorded. The same thing bugged me a couple MNF's ago on DWPLG when they kept switching back and forth between commercials. It gets rather annoying. Is the technology still this old that somebody has to flip the switch with this stuff? I would have thought it'd be all automatic by now.

I am getting major audio breakups on WPLG 10-1. I live in the Kendall area and noticed it last night during Monday Night Football. I figured it was the weather but it's gotten worse today. Am I the only one experiencing this?

I had the center speaker (announcers) turned off for MNF. Tonight (Tuesday) the audio was terrible from 9 to 11 PM, with constant breakups. I turned on the CC in order to follow the dialog; and almost went so far as to switch to SD <g>.

WPLG-DT has had various audio problems ever since they started doing 5.1. They usually blame them on the network feed, although I have not seen complaints about ABC audio in the nationwide AVS HD Programming panel.

Was it weather related? WSVN-DT, also a VHS channel and transmitting from the same location -- albeit with a significantly higher signal number (mid 90s vs high 70s) -- had no such audio problems during the same time period.

What the heck is the deal with NBC 6-1?? Do they have one guy dedicated to making sure that the program is in 16:9 when it comes back from commercial but he only works the first 40 minutes of every hour??

Crossing Jordan was 4:3 the last 7 minutes, and then I just checked my recordings from last night and all three shows (Surface, Las Vegas, and Medium) start off fine and go to 4:3 at the end.

I also recorded 5-1 for the same shows just in case, and they were all 16:9 throughout. It's a sad day for 6-1 when 5-1 is more reliable.

The switching is automated. I watched WTVJ on Tuesday night and noticed no problems of this nature, but I will contact engineering should I notice it in the future.

hey guys i live in Miami (162nd Ave vs 56th st (SW) ) Was wondeirng if anyone knows a place that does ANT. installs and about how much it would run me? I tried searching in the yellow pages but found nothing. Thanks

Also anyone use the CM4228 8 Bay (i'm about 22 miles from the stations) and i'm only interest on channel 4,6,7,10, and if i can get 33 and 39 i'll be happy too. but 4,6,7,10 are the main channels i want.

Thanks and hope u guys can help.

Does anyone else get Channel 208 on Comcast. Its a High Def channel and all its labeled is "Hi-Def Special Event".

Does anyone else get Channel 208 on Comcast. Its a High Def channel and all its labeled is "Hi-Def Special Event".

I noticed that new channel earlier this evening, but I've been busy watching other stuff so I haven't had the opportunity to check it out. But according to the listings in the program guide it looks like it's going to feature a very wide variety of programming. :)

I got a signal on channel 208 now. Just an HD/SE HI-DEF SPECIAL EVENTS screen but checking the schedule it indicates off-air. Programming starts at 8pm.

I have notice in the last couple of months that PBS is no longer airing High Def content, Has anyone else notice is or its just me?

I have notice in the last couple of months that PBS is no longer airing High Def content, Has anyone else notice is or its just me?

They will air high def content "when it is available". Which means that, instead of endless reruns of the same HD programming, you'll see an upconverted simulcast of their analog feed with some actual HD programs mixed in.

So far HDSE is an extension of INHD. Looking forward to Game of the Week. Which I think is the same show as on NFL TV. Six Days to Sunday sounds good too. We need more HD content.

So far HDSE is an extension of INHD. Looking forward to Game of the Week. Which I think is the same show as on NFL TV. Six Days to Sunday sounds good too. We need more HD content.

I don't get why HDSE is broadcasting content that is on INHD when we get INHD. Yes, the other programing is from the NFL Network.

What the heck is the deal with NBC 6-1?? Do they have one guy dedicated to making sure that the program is in 16:9 when it comes back from commercial but he only works the first 40 minutes of every hour??

Crossing Jordan was 4:3 the last 7 minutes, and then I just checked my recordings from last night and all three shows (Surface, Las Vegas, and Medium) start off fine and go to 4:3 at the end.

I also recorded 5-1 for the same shows just in case, and they were all 16:9 throughout. It's a sad day for 6-1 when 5-1 is more reliable.

I noticed it happened again with Medium this week. Last 15 min or so in SD. There has to be some problem.
Also getting many shows with significant dropout s on 6-1 eg West Wing on Sun. but also several others.

Anyone having trouble with WFOR's digital channel(4-1)??? I can't seem to find it!!

Somebody was telling me that NBC just changed the system they use to identify to the stations when a show segment ends and begins and that the station probably was using the old system. I don't know if this is true but I have been using NBC 5-1 on QAM and capping 4-1 OTA lately.

Anyone having trouble with WFOR's digital channel(4-1)??? I can't seem to find it!!
--------
A simple re-scan (which I should have tried first) fixed it..thanks...

hey guys i live in Miami (162nd Ave vs 56th st (SW) ) Was wondeirng if anyone knows a place that does ANT. installs and about how much it would run me? I tried searching in the yellow pages but found nothing. Thanks

Also anyone use the CM4228 8 Bay (i'm about 22 miles from the stations) and i'm only interest on channel 4,6,7,10, and if i can get 33 and 39 i'll be happy too. but 4,6,7,10 are the main channels i want.

Thanks and hope u guys can help.

I had a good antenna experience with Latta TV and Video,
305 235 1771. I will be calling upon them again after hurricane season to repair/replace minor Katrina damage. Your cost will depend on what is installed and what it takes to install it. They also install dishes.

Since all of the Miami transmitters are in the same location,
you should be able to receive them all. Just remember that you need VHF/UHF.

I'm in Boynton Beach, 36 miles from the antenna farm, and I just installed a CM4228 in my attic. Even though the CM4228 is a UHF antenna it has significant gain in high band VHF; I get both 7.1 (broadcast on 8) and 10.1 (broadcast on 9)as well as 2.1 (18), 39.1 (19), 17.1 (20), 4.1 (22), 6.1 (31) and 51.1 (52).

I am located in Key Colony beach in the florida keys.
I just got HDTV cable installed from comcast i got the motorola 6412 box phase III
Everything on the box works fine except the firewire , the handshake between the boxes works fine but i get the following message from my jvc 30k COPY PROTECTED output changed to 480i I went to the boxes diagnostics screen and saw that the 4 network channels plus pbs is 5c=0 and the movie channels are
5c=1 which from my understanding means that 0 equals copy freely and 1 = copy once , is anyone else experiancing the same or is this unique to my area ? I would imagine that we get our feed from the miami comcast subdivision .If anyone else had that problem how did they go about getting it fixed? I allready had the unpleasant task of speaking to one CSR from comcast who told me that they dont have any boxes that firewire recording is enabled which is wrong since the firewire port is working its just the flags must be set incorrectly.
The box itself is running firmware 12.18

Channel 2 -- PBS was supposed to make some changes to improve their digital channel. But all I can see is that they don't do anything in HD anymore and and are putting widescreen material inside a 4:3 box.
Very disappointing! No more pledges from me.

I'm told they added this channel so they could air the NFL Game of the Week on Wed/Thurs evenings. Also, corporate has not finalized an agreement for ESPN2HD as yet, but it will be added immediately afterwards.

Rudy you are the man.

I love Game of the Week.
It is a great show that highlights what happens behind the scenes in the NFL. This is great news.

ESPN2HD is also great news. As we have seen this week in baseball, ESPN2 have provided games that cannot be shown on ESPN. I would love to see Bassmasters in HD. Yeah. But we all know that we will get enough HD content on ESPNHD and ESPN2HD for one channel. They need to step it up. Hardly any shows and games are shown in HD on ESPN. What a shame.

Thanks for the News, Rudy.

The switching is automated. I watched WTVJ on Tuesday night and noticed no problems of this nature, but I will contact engineering should I notice it in the future.

I just checked my recordings for Surface, Las Vegas and Medium. Each one starts off in 16:9 and at the last commercial it stays in 4:3 letterbox coming back with the blue bars on the sides. Do you have a phone number or email for engineering because I would love to see this get fixed.

I recorded the same shows on NBC 5-1 as a backup but next week there is going to be a good monday night football game and I don't want to have to record two nbc stations to get a decent recording. I would just record 5-1 but it only has 2 channel audio.

I just checked my recordings for Surface, Las Vegas and Medium. Each one starts off in 16:9 and at the last commercial it stays in 4:3 letterbox coming back with the blue bars on the sides. Do you have a phone number or email for engineering because I would love to see this get fixed.

I recorded the same shows on NBC 5-1 as a backup but next week there is going to be a good monday night football game and I don't want to have to record two nbc stations to get a decent recording. I would just record 5-1 but it only has 2 channel audio.

Try NBC6 Master Control at 954-622-6516. Be sure whomever you speak to understands that you're calling about the wallpaper on their digital channel.

I spoke to someone at NBC6. He knew what I was talking about and said it was a problem with the automated switching. He said the same thing happened on the first HD ep of Saturday night live as well.

Unfortunately it doesn't seem like there is an easy fix for it. I'll just hope that they fix it or NBC5 can get there audio back to 5.1

Thanks Rudy1 for the info.

I spoke to someone at NBC6. He knew what I was talking about and said it was a problem with the automated switching. He said the same thing happened on the first HD ep of Saturday night live as well.

Unfortunately it doesn't seem like there is an easy fix for it. I'll just hope that they fix it or NBC5 can get there audio back to 5.1

Thanks Rudy1 for the info.
It seems other stations have this problem as well. I posted my digust in the switching a few posts ago with MLB baseball & MNF presentations by Fox and ABC. I wasn't aware they're actually auto-switching. It looked like to me someone's flipping the switch. So if the local stations all seems to have this problem, why does ESPN-HD seem to be pretty stable? Are they using different/better equipment?

Just a heads-up in case anyone missed it, but tonight's Nova apparently ran in SD on 2-1, but *HD* on 2-2. Both channels were marked "HD" in the programming guide. I wonder if they're planning to move all their HD content to 2-2. Seems like they did the same thing with Frontline last week, but I didn't notice 2-2 then so I can't be sure.

The good news is that they're running it again on Thursday night, at 8pm on 2-1, and 10pm on 2-2. As before, they're both marked HD, but if you Tivo both of 'em you should get SOMETHING in HD.

Hopefully they'll get all this straightened out at some point, but if anybody hears any kind of official word from the station please pass it along. :-)

have been using a borrowed LG-26" LCD, until I got delivery of my Panny yesterday. The built in QAM tuner on the LG decoded most of the HD Comcast local channels, available on my cable system. I have analog service only here in South Florida. I received TNT, WB, Discovery, CBS, NBC, ABC, WB & PBS, with the Music Channels. No Fox or ESPN

Comes the Panny, hooked it up to the cable, did 20+ cable scans and many more searches, all I get is CBS, TNT, WB, and Discovery with the Music Channels. The channel numbers indicated on the Panny are the same as on the LG, so I assume that the missing channels should be found on the same numbers as the LG

I was getting ABC on 93-1 and NBC on 93-2 & 93-3, but the Panny just scans right over these numbers and manually tuning has no result.

Has anyone had a similar problem with their Panasonic QAM tuner? Is there a way of "nudging" the tuner into decoding these channels?

For info, I have a 2.3K splitter and a 2.2K splitter before the cable feed into the set. With the LG, I had 2 cheap 0-900 Mhz splitters, can this be the cause?

If it cannot be resolved, I will have to switch to Comcast Digital service and get a cable card. By the way, what will happen when Copmcast switches off their analog channels over to the digital side, will I have to get a cable card anyway????

ESPN was on 86-1 with the Samsung tuner, but it is not on with the LG TV. ETWN was on 90-3 with the Samsung and 90-5 with the LG TV.

Can anyone tell me if they have been getting hickups in the audio with ABC. I have Comcast and would like to know if its Comcast or ABC's problem. Its been alot lately. :(

Can anyone tell me if they have been getting hickups in the audio with ABC. I have Comcast and would like to know if its Comcast or ABC's problem. Its been alot lately. :(
I use an OTA antenna and noticed weird audio problems with ABC. I noticed it in a little of the monday night football and also on Lost last night.

10-1, Lost - I noticed audio issues, also, but at the same time, I was getting some weird pixelation problems, mostly, oddly enough, during commercials.....

I use an OTA antenna and noticed weird audio problems with ABC. I noticed it in a little of the monday night football and also on Lost last night.

Thanks for the response.

The picture was fine, just the audio was irratic like very short hickups. Also was alot worse on Monday Night Football. Lost was alot better last night though. ITs weird, because some of the programming is fine, like the news, but the sitcoms before and after are bad.

Can anyone tell me if they have been getting hickups in the audio with ABC. I have Comcast and would like to know if its Comcast or ABC's problem. Its been alot lately. :(


I just tried to watch this weeks episode of Invasion but about 5 minutes into it the center channel dropped out. This is the first time I've noticed this problem.

Comcast

I just tried to watch this weeks episode of Invasion but about 5 minutes into it the center channel dropped out. This is the first time I've noticed this problem.

Comcast

That happens alot also to me. Some weeks it is in 5.1 audio then other weeks it just stereo, but the guides says 5.1 :confused: . I think its just issues with ABC Miami. I sent them an e-mail with still no responce.

Neither of the WPBT Nova rebroadcasts tonight (that I mentioned a few posts back) went off as scheduled. I guess the data in the DirecTivo guide is completely unreliable at this point. Not all that different from last year, really. (sigh)

My local digital ABC, channel 10-1, has been droping audio on all major shows like ALIAS and LOST. Tonight I watched ALIAS without the center channel (dialogue) for a whole segment between commercials. I am getting good picture through a local antenna, it's just the audio that seems to be a problem for the last 3 weeks or so.

Hey guys, I could use some help with something. I sent a note to WBPT about the programming discrepencies with Channel 2, and I got back this email:

--------

Pat, I have forwarded this message to oue engineers, because there may be some confusion between the channel designations and DirecTV or TiVo.
We did run the NOVA in HD on Tuesday evening on our HD channel, which is our 2-1. If you saw the standard definition on 2-1 and HD on 2-2, then there is a discrepanciy in how these channels are being identified on the other end.

I view our HD channel with rabbit ears and a Set Top Digital Receiver and I saw the HD on broadcast Channel 2-1.

Director of Programming
WPBT/Channel 2

---------

(I removed his name and contact information since he didn't give permission to post it, but I'm going to mention this forum to him in case he wants to drop by himself.)

I'm wondering if the problem might be at my end. In other words, if somehow channels 2-1 and 2-2 have gotten mixed up on my receiver.

I'd appreciate if someone *with DirecTV HD service* could confirm that the HD programming for WPBT has been appearing lately on 2-2 instead of 2-1 (or not). I think it's all programming, not just the most recent episodes of Nova and Frontline, but I haven't seen every program so I can't say for sure that it's been everything. But it'd be a good start if someone could give any feedback at all on this.

Thanks!

what antenna work best for u guys in the miami area?,can u list all the OTA channels we can receive in the area?
thanks!

I get all the digital channels with an ordinary indoor antenna but I live in North Miami Beach and have an open view to the west from the 8th floor. If you live in a house and have trees around you'd better go for a large roof antenna.

Slimoli:

Thank you for your post about the lack of dialogue on 10.1. This has happened to me twice, most recently on a recorded "Invasion" on Wednesday. Is it only on HD with Dolby Digital, or on other audio formats also?

I think there were some posts about that from a WPLG engineer last season. If you search this thread you may find more discussion on the subject, for what it's worth.

I noticed the lack of dialog audio on Invasion as well. I don't actually watch that show, but I turned on the set to watch Lost and noticed it. (It's odd that Lost did't have the same problem.)

I'm still having lots of audio hickups with ABC. :mad:

I'm still having lots of audio hickups with ABC. :mad:

"Desparate Housewives" was hiccup-free here tonight via HR10-250 OTA.

Oldfart

I only noticed the problem when the signal is Dolby Digital. I actually emailed ABC and got a reply asking if I was using Comcast (which is not my case). No further communication after that.

I noticed the ABC audio dropouts of the center channel (OTA) in the past several days. Last night with Grey's anatomy for about 10 min.-no voices.
Also the NBC annoying switching (after return from commercials)from HD to digital (4:3) more often recently-last night with West Wing.

I noticed the ABC audio dropouts of the center channel (OTA) in the past several days. Last night with Grey's anatomy for about 10 min.-no voices.
Also the NBC annoying switching (after return from commercials)from HD to digital (4:3) more often recently-last night with West Wing.

I just got off the phone with HD engineering at NBC6; they're working diligently to figure out what is causing this problem (their original hypothesis on the cause proved to be incorrect) so that they can implement a solution ASAP.

Thanks for checking on that and letting us know.

Alas, I'm not seeing a whole lot of improvement by any of these stations over the situation last season.

I just got off the phone with HD engineering at NBC6; they're working diligently to figure out what is causing this problem (their original hypothesis on the cause proved to be incorrect) so that they can implement a solution ASAP.

That's good to hear. I have confidence they will get it fixed long before NBC5 gets 5.1 sound back.

Ok Monday Night Football.. Im not hearing the announcers on center channel.. Also have had alot of hiccups with alot of shows on center.. Especially Monday Night Football and lost... on 10-1 local off the air

Still getting hickups on ABC MNF. :mad: Whats weird I get them with Comcasts 6412 box and the built in Sony Quam tuner. But there is no problem on the analog ABC channel 10. :confused:

I just got off the phone with Comcast and the tech (if you call them that) said, its still new tecnology. Wanted me to reset the cable box. Which that would not work since I still have the problem without the cable box using the Quam tuner.

Please someone with Comcast please say they hear them too. :rolleyes:

well having problems with hd tivo direct tv using off the air 10-1.. no other channels ever has problems

well having problems with hd tivo direct tv using off the air 10-1.. no other channels ever has problems

Audio problems with ABC?

channel 25 in west palm beach has no HD either for Monday Night Football. If you checkout the thread in the programming forum it seems that alot of ABC stations are having problems with this game tonight.

I have an HD-3000 HiDef card. Although I have not been able to get MythTV to work properly, I have been able to get the frequencies of the channels and make a channel.conf file for them. (Used with azap, xine, and mplayer.) I wanted to post it here to help anyone else out, as Comcast is not properly broadcasting the PSIP data which causes the autoscanning scripts to partially fail.

channels.conf for Comcast West Miami - Coral Gables - Digital:

TNTHD:759000000:QAM_256:2048:2049:204
WPLGDT:615000000:QAM_256:2048:2049:210
WTVJDT:615000000:QAM_256:2112:2113:211
WFORDT:645000000:QAM_256:2112:2113:212
WSVNDT:609000000:QAM_256:2048:2049:213
WBZLDT:759000000:QAM_256:2112:2113:214
WPBTDT:609000000:QAM_256:2112:2113:220
CAS:609000000:QAM_256:2240:2241:223
WPBTBT3:609000000:QAM_256:2304:2305:221
WTVJDT2:615000000:QAM_256:2176:2177:250

I could not seem to get Discovery HD here.

I can get the music channels, but they are not decoded properly. I'll post them below; however, I have not properly added the channel names.

Music 02:681000000:QAM_256:2048:2049:445
Music 04:681000000:QAM_256:2112:2113:444
Music 05:681000000:QAM_256:2176:2177:443
Music 06:681000000:QAM_256:2240:2241:442
Music 07:681000000:QAM_256:2304:2305:441
Music 08:681000000:QAM_256:2368:2369:440
Music 09:681000000:QAM_256:2432:2433:439
Music 10:681000000:QAM_256:2496:2497:438
Music 11:681000000:QAM_256:2560:2561:437
Music 12:681000000:QAM_256:2624:2625:435
Music 13:681000000:QAM_256:2688:2689:434
Music 14:681000000:QAM_256:2752:2753:433
Music 15:681000000:QAM_256:2816:2817:432
Music 16:681000000:QAM_256:2880:2881:431
Music 17:681000000:QAM_256:2944:2945:430
Music 18:681000000:QAM_256:3008:3009:429
Music 19:681000000:QAM_256:3072:3073:428
Music 20:681000000:QAM_256:3136:3137:427
Music 21:681000000:QAM_256:3200:3201:426
Music 22:681000000:QAM_256:3264:3265:425
Music 23:681000000:QAM_256:3328:3329:424
Music 24:681000000:QAM_256:3392:3393:423
Music 25:681000000:QAM_256:3456:3457:422
Music 26:681000000:QAM_256:3520:3521:421
Music 27:681000000:QAM_256:3584:3585:420
Music 28:681000000:QAM_256:3648:3649:419
Music 29:681000000:QAM_256:3712:3713:418
Music 30:681000000:QAM_256:3776:3777:417
Music 31:681000000:QAM_256:3840:3841:416
Music 32:681000000:QAM_256:3904:3905:415
Music 33:681000000:QAM_256:3968:3969:414
Music 34:681000000:QAM_256:4032:4033:413
Music 35:681000000:QAM_256:4096:4097:412
Music 36:681000000:QAM_256:4160:4161:411
Music 37:681000000:QAM_256:4224:4225:410
Music 38:681000000:QAM_256:4288:4289:409
Music 39:681000000:QAM_256:4352:4353:408
Music 40:681000000:QAM_256:4416:4417:407
Music 41:681000000:QAM_256:4480:4481:406
Music 42:681000000:QAM_256:4544:4545:405
Music 43:681000000:QAM_256:4608:4609:404
Music 44:681000000:QAM_256:4672:4673:403
Music 45:681000000:QAM_256:4736:4737:402
Music 46:681000000:QAM_256:4800:4801:401
Music 47:681000000:QAM_256:4864:4865:436

Hope this helps someone out.

I was on the phone last night during primetime with the engineer. We went over various items but were not able to identify the cause of the problem, though he can pretty much predict exactly when it is going to happen. Unfortunately, he's also having to deal with audio and other network issues while investigating the cause of the switching problem, so a solution may take a little longer than anticipated.

It is pretty clear that WPLG is having problems with their D5.1 and lossing center, analog is not 5.1 so no sound problem. I kind of enjoyed the football game without the announcers but watching primetime with no voice isn't good, I either have to turn on CC or grab a small tv and tune in anolog just for the sound. I think HD is past the early adopter stage they need to get these things working right or they risk stalling the technology

I either have to turn on CC or grab a small tv and tune in anolog just for the sound. I think HD is past the early adopter stage they need to get these things working right or they risk stalling the technology

I was thinking last night between MNF not being in 16x9 for me and the problem I knew I would have on my 6-1 recordings that it seemed that we were actually going backwards, instead of making progress. I think that the retailers should give out little emergency tv's with every HDTV purchase, they can be used incase of hurricane or when there is no audio coming from the center channel.

I think HD is past the early adopter stage they need to get these things working right or they risk stalling the technology

I hear most master control rooms don't even have 16:9 monitors so frequently they have no idea what viewers with HD equipment are actually seeing.

Er, well that's just silly, given that any old television can simply be set to display the 16:9 image (albeit "squeezed"). That would at least tell them if we're getting a full-frame or sideboxed image. Come on, guys, pull an old monitor out of storage or something!

Another messed-up night on WPBT. The channels appear to be swapped in D*'s Tivo guide. 2-1 is mimicking 2, but 2-2 is listed at the "mimicker" in D*/Tivo. Bleh.

Whatever the guide problem is, WPBT can't seem to show anything in HD at all on 2-1. Not sure what's up with that. The only HD content I've seen recently from WPBT has been on 2-2.

Still hoping someone here can confirm these issues.... :-)

Er, well that's just silly, given that any old television can simply be set to display the 16:9 image (albeit "squeezed"). That would at least tell them if we're getting a full-frame or sideboxed image. Come on, guys, pull an old monitor out of storage or something!

I seriously doubt the professional monitors currently in use in most master control booths around the country have this feature. Remember, these units are very small....13" diagonal, if I'm not mistaken. Besides, as we all know, the analog broadcasts take priority for now, so 75% of their efforts are geared towards ensuring that things go smoothly for THOSE viewers. They do have a DLP with which they can check the status of the digital broadcast, but it is not something that would fit in the control booth. In any event, there were no problems during last night's primetime broadcasts so maybe things are going to get better. :)

Another messed-up night on WPBT. The channels appear to be swapped in D*'s Tivo guide. 2-1 is mimicking 2, but 2-2 is listed at the "mimicker" in D*/Tivo. Bleh.

Whatever the guide problem is, WPBT can't seem to show anything in HD at all on 2-1. Not sure what's up with that. The only HD content I've seen recently from WPBT has been on 2-2.

Still hoping someone here can confirm these issues.... :-)

According to my sources, this is a TV Guide issue (as far as the channels appearing to be "swapped" in the guides). It affects only satellite and cable broadcasts. As for the lack of HD content on WPBT, I have written to my contact there but I haven't heard back from him as yet. I happen to be able to receive WXEL just fine, so I've been getting my PBS HD fix that way. :D

I seriously doubt the professional monitors currently in use in most master control booths around the country have this feature. Remember, these units are very small....13" diagonal, if I'm not mistaken. Besides, as we all know, the analog broadcasts take priority for now, so 75% of their efforts are geared towards ensuring that things go smoothly for THOSE viewers. They do have a DLP with which they can check the status of the digital broadcast, but it is not something that would fit in the control booth. In any event, there were no problems during last night's primetime broadcasts so maybe things are going to get better. :)

No, what I'm saying is that if you connect a regular TV to an HD tuner (obviously configured to output a 480i signal) then it'll simply 'squeeze' the 16x9 image into a 4x3 frame. Everybody looks tall and thin, but the point is that because they look tall and thing (i.e. they aren't letterboxed), you know you're looking at an HDTV signal.

In short, a plain-jane TV can tell you if you're outputting a proper signal. You can use your standard equipment -- an expensive DLP screen is not needed. (I see this with my HD Tivo all the time, by the way, when I don't feel like flipping on my projector just to watch SD content, and I happen to flip past an HD station.)

Also, an expensive DLP screen isn't needed anyway, even if you insist upon having an HDTV monitor in the booth. They sell small direct-view (CRT) HDTVs in 16x9 format for like $300 now.

But yeah I know, analog is their priority. I agree with your point there.

According to my sources, this is a TV Guide issue (as far as the channels appearing to be "swapped" in the guides). It affects only satellite and cable broadcasts. As for the lack of HD content on WPBT, I have written to my contact there but I haven't heard back from him as yet. I happen to be able to receive WXEL just fine, so I've been getting my PBS HD fix that way. :D

I appreciate the feedback on this.

I've just spoken (exchanged emails) again with the programming director at WPBT, and he said that he's trying to get the listings people to fix the guide issue. He assured me that 2-1 is "synched" with 2, so I can just record 2-1 manually and get what I need.

I also learned today from him that they're having trouble getting out an HD signal with some of their programming right now. HD service in total is sporadic at the moment, apparently. I have seen one or two shows appear full-frame, but most HD content is showing up letterboxed and sideboxed at the moment. But they're appparently working on the problem.

It was nice of him to get back to me on that stuff, and I promised I'd pass it along here. I'm sure you're right about the overall emphasis on analog -- I was hoping last season was the end of that, but I guess we've got another season of that in store for us. Not much we can do about it but at least we still have helpful engineers willing to talk to us and work on the issues as best as they can.

WOW, tonight ABC audio was perfect finally. :D No more hickups.

WOW, tonight ABC audio was perfect finally. :D No more hickups.


I got an email from the engineers stating they got it fixed Tues morning.

No, what I'm saying is that if you connect a regular TV to an HD tuner (obviously configured to output a 480i signal) then it'll simply 'squeeze' the 16x9 image into a 4x3 frame. Everybody looks tall and thin, but the point is that because they look tall and thing (i.e. they aren't letterboxed), you know you're looking at an HDTV signal.

In short, a plain-jane TV can tell you if you're outputting a proper signal. You can use your standard equipment -- an expensive DLP screen is not needed. (I see this with my HD Tivo all the time, by the way, when I don't feel like flipping on my projector just to watch SD content, and I happen to flip past an HD station.)

Also, an expensive DLP screen isn't needed anyway, even if you insist upon having an HDTV monitor in the booth. They sell small direct-view (CRT) HDTVs in 16x9 format for like $300 now.

But yeah I know, analog is their priority. I agree with your point there.

I've been trying to get the local engineers to install consumer-grade HDTV monitors in their control rooms, but every engineer I've spoken to insists that these 16x9 HDTVs are nowhere near good enough for them to reliably monitor the signal they're outputting (FYI, the pro monitors---almost all of which have tiny 14" 4:3 screens---cost around $4,000!). They prefer to rely on viewers calling in to report problems with the HD signals, but this doesn't always work because they cannot see exactly what the viewers are seeing. And they constantly complain that management won't fund the sort of equipment they'd like to have, so it's not like they're not interested in putting out a quality signal. Obviously, if the stations were doing in-house productions in HD there wouldn't be so many problems; the equipment for that is so expensive that everyting would be geared towards realizing the equipment's potential.

I'm afraid the industry mindset is such that things are not going to improve dramatically until analog broadcasting actually ends. So it helps immensely when you guys provide feedback to the stations, and I know many of the engineers truly appreciate hearing from viewers. :)

I've been trying to get the local engineers to install consumer-grade HDTV monitors in their control rooms, but every engineer I've spoken to insists that these 16x9 HDTVs are nowhere near good enough for them to reliably monitor the signal they're outputting (FYI, the pro monitors---almost all of which have tiny 14" 4:3 screens---cost around $4,000!). They prefer to rely on viewers calling in to report problems with the HD signals, but this doesn't always work because they cannot see exactly what the viewers are seeing. And they constantly complain that management won't fund the sort of equipment they'd like to have, so it's not like they're not interested in putting out a quality signal. Obviously, if the stations were doing in-house productions in HD there wouldn't be so many problems; the equipment for that is so expensive that everyting would be geared towards realizing the equipment's potential.

I'm afraid the industry mindset is such that things are not going to improve dramatically until analog broadcasting actually ends. So it helps immensely when you guys provide feedback to the stations, and I know many of the engineers truly appreciate hearing from viewers. :)


Forum Readers:

Believe it or not, we do have constant HDTV monitoring on a fairly decent sized screen in our control room, along with 5.1 monitoring. The problem is the master Control operators cannot monitor 5.1 and the NTSC stereo feed at the same time and we just don't have the personnel to do so. (The lag would drive them really crazy!) Remember, we are on the air with HD maybe 3 hours per day, with limited viewership. Like it or not, the money is still our NTSC signal. We all fully realize the importance of HD, so spare me your rage when I bring this fact up, but that's the case. We try to have them periodically monitor the 5.1 signal, but sorry to say it does not get the attention that the stereo signal gets.

We did discover our audio problem last week, and I apologize for the fact that it took some time to track down the problem. The audio problems resulted from an unexpected issue that developed when we upgraded some HD switching equipment at the studio...coming up with a fix took a lot of time, research and thought, but I think we finally do have the problem taken care of. Sorry, but this equipment, and the problems that develop, are all new to us as well. Not an excuse, but fact.

The upgraded equipment is proving to give us much cleaner switches between our local upconverted fare and the network HD feed. We have felt for some time that the nasty glitch between these sources was unacceptable.

I think you will all see that all of the local stations are trying, within budgetary limits, to make significant efforts in improving the HD experience for our viewers.
I watch HD extensively at home, and though I don't have 5.1 receive as of yet, I did notice our dropout problem, was annoyed, and took to tracking down the problem as soon as reasonably possible.

I agree totally with the notion that as HD content expands, so will all phases of our engineering, monitoring, etc. ABC will start doing Good Morning America in HD starting Nov 3, and I expect that the balance of the network feeds will follow shortly after. From that, I think the dramatic difference between HD and the local upconverted SD will become even more pronounced, and the checkbooks will open all that much wider. Congress is now looking at a Spring'09 analog cutoff, and I think you will all see significant improvements as that date approaches. Trust me, widespread Comcast deployment of HD and the impending Direct TV deployment is top of mind as well. As usual, the marketplace will be the driver of this car.

Believe it or not, we do take your complaints seriously. Sometimes we cannot fix things as quickly as you (or we) would like, and some problems (like WPLG's and WSVN's signal strength) are really problematic, but we do listen.

Steve Ellis
WPLG/WPLG-DT

Forum Readers:

Believe it or not, we do have constant HDTV monitoring on a fairly decent sized screen in our control room, along with 5.1 monitoring. The problem is the master Control operators cannot monitor 5.1 and the NTSC stereo feed at the same time and we just don't have the personnel to do so. (The lag would drive them really crazy!) Remember, we are on the air with HD maybe 3 hours per day, with limited viewership. Like it or not, the money is still our NTSC signal. We all fully realize the importance of HD, so spare me your rage when I bring this fact up, but that's the case. We try to have them periodically monitor the 5.1 signal, but sorry to say it does not get the attention that the stereo signal gets.

We did discover our audio problem last week, and I apologize for the fact that it took some time to track down the problem. The audio problems resulted from an unexpected issue that developed when we upgraded some HD switching equipment at the studio...coming up with a fix took a lot of time, research and thought, but I think we finally do have the problem taken care of. Sorry, but this equipment, and the problems that develop, are all new to us as well. Not an excuse, but fact.

The upgraded equipment is proving to give us much cleaner switches between our local upconverted fare and the network HD feed. We have felt for some time that the nasty glitch between these sources was unacceptable.

I think you will all see that all of the local stations are trying, within budgetary limits, to make significant efforts in improving the HD experience for our viewers.
I watch HD extensively at home, and though I don't have 5.1 receive as of yet, I did notice our dropout problem, was annoyed, and took to tracking down the problem as soon as reasonably possible.

I agree totally with the notion that as HD content expands, so will all phases of our engineering, monitoring, etc. ABC will start doing Good Morning America in HD starting Nov 3, and I expect that the balance of the network feeds will follow shortly after. From that, I think the dramatic difference between HD and the local upconverted SD will become even more pronounced, and the checkbooks will open all that much wider. Congress is now looking at a Spring'09 analog cutoff, and I think you will all see significant improvements as that date approaches. Trust me, widespread Comcast deployment of HD and the impending Direct TV deployment is top of mind as well. As usual, the marketplace will be the driver of this car.

Believe it or not, we do take your complaints seriously. Sometimes we cannot fix things as quickly as you (or we) would like, and some problems (like WPLG's and WSVN's signal strength) are really problematic, but we do listen.

Steve Ellis
WPLG/WPLG-DT

Thank you very much for posting. Comcast or WPLG did not ever contact me back on the problem. But now its fixed (audio hickups) and thank you. :)

Forum Readers:

Believe it or not, ...


Steve Ellis
WPLG/WPLG-DT


Thank you for posting.

Forum Readers:

Believe it or not, we do take your complaints seriously. Sometimes we cannot fix things as quickly as you (or we) would like, and some problems (like WPLG's and WSVN's signal strength) are really problematic, but we do listen.

Steve Ellis
WPLG/WPLG-DT

I really do appreciate you posting the truth to us "consumers" that enjoy new technology. It makes me feel like we can make a difference and I, for one, appreciate it in today's world of big corporations. Thanks for the common sense update.

Chuck

"....so spare me your rage..." Hahaha ! I love it ! This is the first time I have heard a station employee tell it like it is. Dang, that's refreshing, and puts things in their proper perspective - thanks Steve !

As a loyal Today Show viewer, I must say that if Good Morning America goes HD on November 3rd (like the guy from Channel say it will) I willing be GMAing it for a while. (Guess I am not as loyal as I thought!)

Hopefully, The Today Show and the network news broadcasts will not be far behind in going HD.

I agree totally with the notion that as HD content expands, so will all phases of our engineering, monitoring, etc. ABC will start doing Good Morning America in HD starting Nov 3, and I expect that the balance of the network feeds will follow shortly after. From that, I think the dramatic difference between HD and the local upconverted SD will become even more pronounced, and the checkbooks will open all that much wider. Congress is now looking at a Spring'09 analog cutoff, and I think you will all see significant improvements as that date approaches. Trust me, widespread Comcast deployment of HD and the impending Direct TV deployment is top of mind as well. As usual, the marketplace will be the driver of this car.


These are certainly good reasons for us to be optimistic.

Thank you very much for posting. Comcast or WPLG did not ever contact me back on the problem. But now its fixed (audio hickups) and thank you. :)

If it was me that you contacted and I did not get back to you, I apologize. WPLG's Engineering department takes complaints seriously, and we try to get issues resolved as soon as possible. Like I said, though, sometimes getting it done fast is difficult!

Steve

As a loyal Today Show viewer, I must say that if Good Morning America goes HD on November 3rd (like the guy from Channel say it will) I willing be GMAing it for a while. (Guess I am not as loyal as I thought!)

Hopefully, The Today Show and the network news broadcasts will not be far behind in going HD.

According to the press release I saw from ABC, Nov. 3rd is the day. Weekend GMA as well. Glad we have a convert!

Steve

With Hurricane Wilma still over a DAY away from the WEST coast of Florida, why did CBS4 find it necessary to permanently interrupt the broadcast of the football game to bring us endless updates and press conferences? :mad:

With Hurricane Wilma still over a DAY away from the WEST coast of Florida, why did CBS4 find it necessary to permanently interrupt the broadcast of the football game to bring us endless updates and press conferences? :mad:

This certainly pi$$ed me off too. :mad:

If it was me that you contacted and I did not get back to you, I apologize. WPLG's Engineering department takes complaints seriously, and we try to get issues resolved as soon as possible. Like I said, though, sometimes getting it done fast is difficult!

Steve

Thanks, I sent it through the website (WPLG) to the programming dept. I'm just happy I know where the problem was coming from. Thank you again Steve. :)

I'm kinda miffed that I didn't get The West Wing tonight, but of course it's understandable. I just wish they'd announce when it's going to be shown. I just spoke to someone at NBC6 (whom I called and bothered ONLY because they don't post email addresses on their web site, grrr) and the person I spoke with said that they haven't rescheduled tonight's shows yet. Hopefully they'll post something about it at some point.

One bright spot: All of tonight's NBC prime time shows are available from the NBC6 web site (apparently a standard feature):
http://www.nbc6.net/index.html

"The West Wing" was available to DirecTV HD subscribers via WNBC, New York, on channel 82.

Sure, if you're one of the lucky few who's got a waiver. Are you waving your waiver in my face? :-)

Sure, if you're one of the lucky few who's got a waiver. Are you waving your waiver in my face? :-)

I would not dream of waving a waiver in your face or any other part of your anatomy.

You assume too much. There is no waiver involved.

ALL subscribers to DirecTv HD who reside in markets with network owned and operated (O&O) stations automatically receive either the New York or Los Angeles CBS and/or NBC HD stations. WTVJ and WFOR are O&O.

Just got our internet back after Wilma. We are only getting 6-1 right now plus a couple of Spanish stations. I am in 33327. Can anyone confirm what is happening to the other OTA channels ?

I'm also in Weston and am lucky have both electricity and DSL. The OTA digital seems to be going up and down I was watching both 10-1 and 6-1 with 7-1 and 4-1 going in and out. Since there really has been no HD content I just switched my antenna off my box to the TV direct and am watching the analogs. All of the majors are broadcasting OK on analog. I'll probably switch back tonight to see if I can watch the WS, I'm originally from Chicago and I'm not going to let a Hurricane stop me from watching the Sox in the series.

Hope everyone's OK, I have a bunch of tree damage but the house is fine. It was quite a morning yesterday

I can still only get 6-1.... anyone having any luck getting the other OTA networks?

I had no luck with any of the digital signals last night, which is interesting since they were up during the storm. Maybe their generators ran out of gas or they are conserving gas for the station and only broadcasting analog. I know 4-1 was running their HD feed to UPN on Monday night, I didn't check it last night

Still no power at my house but i was wondering, if you have no power and have the TV and the cable box run off the generator, can u get cable signal

Still no power at my house but i was wondering, if you have no power and have the TV and the cable box run off the generator, can u get cable signal
You should be able to assuming your cable singal is still up. I heard on the radio (still w/o power, water, etc. in Deerfield) of some people running it off a generator, but they had satellite. They said a neighbor was hooking up off them and she had cable and it wasn't up, so it all matters if your connection is up and running.

The only digital signal I can get in PGA is PAX 67-1thru4, just what I need infomercials and preachers.. :eek: :confused: :mad: :( .................ABC, CBS, NBC are all STATIC (on a digital feed no less), think they've dropped their digital broadcasts in favor of analog, (which comes in like crap here).

ALL subscribers to DirecTv HD who reside in markets with network owned and operated (O&O) stations automatically receive either the New York or Los Angeles CBS and/or NBC HD stations. WTVJ and WFOR are O&O.

But I specifically requested these channels when I set up my HD service with D* back in January, and they were denied. None of the network satellite stations are available for me. I can get the local SD stations off the sat, but for network HD I have to resort to OTA.

Have I been mishandled off by a D* CSR here?

Our power just came back on. Unfortunately my OTA HD antenna got knocked over in the storm. Thankfully, it just got pushed down along its normal swing axis, and folded up along its normal fold-over-for-shipping axis, so I think I can just climb up there and push it back into position.

Same Here Wilma swung around my big antenna and it folded the arms on my antenna... So when I went up I re pointed the antenna and folded the arms back but I noticed that one element arm had broken off the antenna... Will this affect my reception.. Actually I was getting the same reading on channel 6-1 than I was gettign before so perhaps that 1 leg wont do a thing... I have the radio Shack biggest antenna they have... Well same goes here not gettign a signal on 7-1,4-1,10-1,33-1,39-1..... Any news on these channels

6-1 is the only one I've been getting tonight, and it's been sporadic.

For a while D* had nothing on 4, but they were cloning CBS4 on Channel 33, so it didn't really matter.

Just got my power back out here in West Miramar and the only channels I get is 6-1, nothing on 2-1,4-1,7-1,10-1,33-1, or 39-1.

I'm in Plantation and I'm getting 5-1 and 6-1, as well as 69-1(who cares). I have both cable and Sattellite, and no cable working of course. No power, but generator is working well for now. I usually can get 12-1 but that is off now too. Too bad 5-1 and 6-1 are both NBC, but at least 5-1 doesn't alway pre-empt most prime-time programming for local repetitious and senseless interviews with people who are in the same boat as we are. Who are they expecting to react to these interviews with gas station owners??? It's all Wilma All the time on NBC-6 and CBS-4.

Can any indoor antennas successfully tune any of the local HDTV stations from Coral Gables, or is it a lost cause? Maybe the Terk HDTV Amplified Indoor Antenna (I think it used to be sold under the Zenith name... it's the one whose yagi portion looks kind of like Klingon artwork) ;)

I tried hooking up the old Voom box to the original Weingard outdoor antenna, but the only channel I could receive was either 25 or 35 (don't remember, but it was a useless infomercial channel).

Alternatively, is there anywhere local I can actually buy something to inject 12vdc into the coax so I can use the Weingard Voom antenna for non-HDTV? Should I just buy one of radio shack's inline amplifiers and just use the half that connects the wall wart to the cable inside the house?

Finally, does anyone have any suggestions for removing generator noise from NTSC OTA? Are the radio shack interference filters as worthless as I suspect they'll be? I'm currently getting semi-tolerable reception with a Radio Shack "bowtie" UHF antenna (ancient design, but apparently one of the best for indoor uhf reception ever designed... I bought it a couple of years ago after one of the hurricanes) for both vhf and uhf, but all the VHF channels have "sparklies" that are fairly regular and equidistant (roughly 1.5" apart in both the x and y directions on a 65" DLP). I'm fairly sure it's generator noise, because the one digital channel I managed to pick up with the old voom box and weingard antenna was absolutely noise-free (but utterly worthless content-wise). Ironically, channels 7 and 10 look better from the bowtie UHF antenna than they do with the "Rabbit ears"...

finally getting 4-1 and 2-1 and 7-1 still no 10-1,33-1,39-1... Also I notice that channel 7-1 is coming in at a weaker signal than usual anyone else notice this..

anyone out there notice 7-1 coming in at a weaker strength.. I used to get like 88 signal now it varies between 69-75...

How bad was the damage comcast get? Althrough I am running a generator I don't have cable service and its been 10 years since using the rabbit ears... :(

Btw... Still without power.

In response to Eddy13, I cannot make a judgement on 7-1 with the H10 as the signal strength meter seems to jump arond a lot. Anything under 80 (units ?) seems to lead to drop-outs.

I am getting 38 channels OTA acording to the count on my receiver though I think many of these are the PAX sub-channels on 35 and 67 (why ?). I see no signal on 17, 29, 33, 39, and 42. I got 10-1/-2 tonight for the first time and WPEC is back too. I notice that 2-3 is blank screen with loud static on audio. Anyone else seeing this ?

My antenna is installed in the attic and given the wrath of Wilma, I am glad I didn't put it outside. Funnily enough, my D* dish, located about a foot off the ground anchored on the north-west of the house (the worst for Wilma) stayed put. :) Mind you, I wish I could say the same for five panels from my shutters that were ripped from their fixings !

Yeah I was a little surprised to see everyone's dishes staying put. You'd think they'd act like a little sail and just go flying.

I'm in Pembroke Pines with Adelphia HDTV and WSVN (FOX) HD is horrible, it keeps on getting pixelated and skipping/dropping frames. Completely unwatchable. All of the other HD channels (CBS, ABC, NBC, ESPN, HDNet, etc) look fine. Of course I want to watch my Denver Broncos in HD on FOX at 4:15pm but this is completely unwatchable, and to make matters worse, FOX on regular cable is the WORST image I think I've ever seen, so much snow and static it's nearly unwatchable also. I guess time to get an OTA antenna to watch this at least is somewhat decent SD! :(

I am trying to figure out which dvi cable i would need for the SP4805 PJ that I am about to purchase. The projector has a dvi input that i will be using for hdtv. Anyone that has comcast know if the hdtv box output is hdmi or dvi or whatever so i can get the correct cable. Thanks.

I have a SP4805. But I have the Motorola 6412 hooked up via Component and it looks great. The 4805 has a weird connection on the back it's an M1 connection. I have an M1 > DVI cable that I use to hook up the SP4805 to my PC.

I figured dvi would be better quality than component. I was planning on using component for my dvd player since that does not support dvi. Is the motorola 6412 what comcast is providing for hdtv boxes? The M1 connection is the same as dvi isn't it? On projectorcentral it states "Digital Input: DVI (HDCP)" and the user manual says DVI M1-DA.


I have a SP4805. But I have the Motorola 6412 hooked up via Component and it looks great. The 4805 has a weird connection on the back it's an M1 connection. I have an M1 > DVI cable that I use to hook up the SP4805 to my PC.

I figured dvi would be better quality than component. I was planning on using component for my dvd player since that does not support dvi. Is the motorola 6412 what comcast is providing for hdtv boxes? The M1 connection is the same as dvi isn't it? On projectorcentral it states "Digital Input: DVI (HDCP)" and the user manual says DVI M1-DA.

I think Comcast is providing 6412. I'm not too sure though since I have Adelphia and that's what they provided me with. The M1 connection is a bit different than a DVI connection, the M1 connection can be converted/used for several different connections like VGA, DVI, Etc. If you go to the Infocus website and look under accessories you can see what cables are available for the 4805. Or if you'd like you could PM me and I'll give you a direct link.

ok just want to know as of nov 3 what ota digital channels are up and running. just want to know when my power comes on so that i dont freak out if some dont come on.

also the dtv guy came out yesterday and realigned my dish with his signal meter even though i didnt have power but was clueless about how to point my winegard (looks like the sensar) ota antenna so i had him point the ends of it from NE to SW to the front of it faced southeast. the winegard is just a long flat antenna. i'm also wondering he didnt tighten the ota antenna up all that good and it shakes around a bit will that disturb my picture?

Of those of you who had to realign Dishes, who did you use and how much did it cost?

Of those of you who had to realign Dishes, who did you use and how much did it cost?
-------
I have not had mine done yet...be prepared for long waits...anything more
than $ 70-90 is NOT normal. Or if you can wait awhile, you can e-mail D*(don't
know about E*), using their "contact Customer support". For the box titled
"my question is about:", select on the drop down menu, "Affected by recent
hurricanes?". Give them your phone nbr, address etc, and request they set you
up with a service call. Due to conditions, it will be a "OPEN" call, meaning you
will not get a date, and the Repair comp. will call you before they come. This
service is FREE..There are a lot of "unemployed" former installers about, so be
carefull as some may not have your best interest in mind. Also you may have
damage that no re-alignment will fix, resulting in higher out-of-pocket expense
to you. Good luck!! :)

ok my power is still off but i'm expected to get it back on sometime today or tomorrow.

just wondering when i turn my tv and hd tivo back on what to expect.

are all the local miami/ft laud digital channels back up and running? 4-1, 6-1, 7-1, 10-1, 33-1, 39-1?

thanks

ok my power is still off but i'm expected to get it back on sometime today or tomorrow.

just wondering when i turn my tv and hd tivo back on what to expect.

are all the local miami/ft laud digital channels back up and running? 4-1, 6-1, 7-1, 10-1, 33-1, 39-1?

thanks
-----
Yes those channels are all up and running OTA with rabbit ears or outdoors antenna...my H/D Tivo
is pretty much useless however, except for watching recorded material, as
the dish is out of alignment, so the box can't speak with the satellite to confirm
DVR service.(searching for sat. msg on all channels)..Comcast cable is still out in
Margate area, but power is pretty much back on.

I've learned from Comcast management that they took a massive hit during the storm, plus they're experiencing problems with the electrical utility workers accidentally damaging their fiber optic cables. However, I'm told they will have trucks going from neighborhood to neighborhood today and next week to make repairs.

I finally got my cable back yesterday and both TV and internet are working good. Only problem is on the digital cable boxes (including the 6412), the guides aren't loading like they should be. The clocks are set to 12:00 and nothing is coming through the guides, they're all TBA. I tried resetting the 6412 but that didn't work. I tried calling their customer service but they're not answering calls. Is anyone else experiencing this problem or are all your guides working fine?

the dtv guy that came out and re aligned my dish and ota antenna was able to do it without power with those little signal meters they bring out. he says u can call in and they will still do u even if u dont have power. u just have to lie to the customer service rep and say u have power then tell the guy that comes out "oh.my power just went back out before u arrived."

also...the installer didnt bolt my ota antenna down very good to the pole of the dtv dish. it wiggles a bit in the wind which it didnt do before. if ur ota antenna moves around a bit in the wind does that make the picture stutter?

thanks
greg

is 7-1 off the air i cant get it? the signal meter is going wild on that channel.

i just got my power back get all my channels fine even the cbs and fox west palm digital channels. i am off davie blvd and 95 and have my antenna pointed towards the southeast.

greg

I had no problem at all today getting 7-1 & 7-2 to watch the Dolphins game. I live by Pines Blvd. & I-75 using a PC HDTV Tuner. I just tried it now and The Simpsons were on at 720P working fine :)

hmm..i'm now getting a very low signal strength from 7-1 and 10-1 (50's) on my signal meter. before wilma they were both in the high 80's

should i maybe point my antenna more towards the south instead of the southeast?

greg

That's weird, I just set this is PC HDTV Tuner up yesterday and I actually have my antenna pointing into the North/Northeast direction in order to get the best possible signal on all channels.

i have a winegard antenna that dtv installed with my dish. it's long and flat and has what looks like a retangular box in the middle.

does anyone know what part of this antenna gets the signal and which way i should point it? the ends or the middle "box" part? i'm off davie blvd and 95 just west of downtown ft lauderdale

also where exactly are the digital towers for 4,6,7,10 located? i dont get it because for 4-1 i'm getting 70's, 6-1 signal in the 90's, but for 7-1 and 10-1 only in the 40's and picture breaks up. i thought essentially that all the digital towers are in the same place.

oh and i made a mistake i'm pointing my antenna middle towards the southwest.

greg

i have a winegard antenna that dtv installed with my dish. it's long and flat and has what looks like a retangular box in the middle.

does anyone know what part of this antenna gets the signal and which way i should point it? the ends or the middle "box" part? i'm off davie blvd and 95 just west of downtown ft lauderdale

also where exactly are the digital towers for 4,6,7,10 located? i dont get it because for 4-1 i'm getting 70's, 6-1 signal in the 90's, but for 7-1 and 10-1 only in the 40's and picture breaks up. i thought essentially that all the digital towers are in the same place.

oh and i made a mistake i'm pointing my antenna middle towards the southwest.

greg

Greg,

I believe the ends of your antenna receive the signal, but I'm not sure. All of the Miami stations have their towers at the antenna farm in Miramar. I suggest you keep rotating your antenna (slowly) until you find a position that gives you the best overall results for all the stations you want to watch. 7 and 10 are VHF stations and have always been very difficult to tune (I don't even try anymore...it's just not worth it in my opinion). For what little Fox programming I care to watch, I tune to the Palm Beach affiliate, WFLX.

Good luck!
---Rudy

someone on the hdtivo community forum told me to point my antenna in the direction of the towers like i'm flying an airplane. so basically the middle of it facing the towers.

i cant get to the antenna it's on the 2nd floor of my apt complex so dtv is gonna come out since they installed it. they have so many repairs that i just got an order number and no date of when they will be out. i guess for now i'll watch fox hd on 29-1 and forget about watching any hd on ABC.

i know all the towers are on a farm basically in the same place southwest of me. that's why it is odd to me that 2 of them come in so well and the other two 7 and 10 that are just southeast of the others dont. a woman at wsvn say i maybe just need to tweak my antenna a bit counterclockwise. but crap man i can get 29-1 which is 30 miles away and wsvn is only 10 miles away.

also i did some research on antennaweb.org. 2-1 is at 203 degrees which is the same degree 7-1 and 10-1. i'm getting almost an 80 signal strength on 2-1.....double that of 7 and 10. perhaps the fact 7 and 10 are vhf just means u have to be more precise at getting a perfect aim at those kind of stations.

do uhf signals "spread out" more than vhf?


greg

anyone in ft lauderdale/miami area know any good reputable antenna installers i can hire to re align my ota antenna?

any info would be appreciated. i dont want to have to wait weeks for dtv to get out here to do my ota antenna

thanks
greg

Your friend with the airplane description likely meant to point the narrow end of the antenna at the towers. This is the front of the antenna, and is how it should be aimed. If you place it sideways, you probably not get the optimal signal. I do not know of any antenna installers myself, I could never find one interested in 6 months of looking, so ended up doing mine myself.

jeff are u familiar with the winegard sensar? it is a long flat antenna. if i am one of the two ends of it that means around 4 or 5 inches of antenna to receive a signal if i place is "sideways" so that the middle faces the towers i have around 3 or 4 feet of antenna to receive signals.

Ah, I have a Winegard GS2200 myself. Yes, your friend is correct in this case, the front of the antenna being the side opposite where the cable plugs in.

it's really frustrating me because i only need to move it counterclockwise a bit but it is installed on the back of my apt complex on the 2floor on the back of the top of the roof where gutters are normally bolted to.

only if i had a 40 foot ladder!

oh and i thought that the sensar was bi directional....meaning both sides of it receive a signal. when positioned correctly i get channels from miami AND west palm beach.

greg

That's a tough one! It is bidirectional, but the response graph varies on frequency, and does not encompass 180 degrees, more like 120-140, and as little as 100 on at least one frequency, as I recall. From my location in Boca, by aiming the face at approximately 170 degrees, I can get all but WPB 25, and all of Miami, with Fox 7 giving me a little trouble.

if anyone lives near the davie blvd and I95 area that has 40 foot ladder i can borrow and bring it over to me for like 30min i'd sure appreciate it. my email is gregsla@bellsouth.net. will pay u 50 bucks for the "rental". i'll do the work myself

greg

anyone in ft lauderdale/miami area know any good reputable antenna installers i can hire to re align my ota antenna?

any info would be appreciated. i dont want to have to wait weeks for dtv to get out here to do my ota antenna

thanks
greg

Just before the hurricane, I had an outside antenna installed by Soundvisions Systems, Inc. They are in Coral Springs. Their phone number is 954-752-3188. Tell them Bruce Tyko recommended them.

thanks for the recommendation

Do you guys know if there is anything wrond with CH 7-1? I am getting no sihnal at all today.

Thanks

Sergio

Do you guys know if there is anything wrond with CH 7-1? I am getting no sihnal at all today.

Thanks

Sergio

Sergio,

Many here experience frequent reception problems with WSVN, one of only two VHF channels in our local DTV lineup. I was getting a signal (a rather weak one) from them around noon today; there is no signal for them at this very moment.

---Rudy

Signal came back. Thanks.

are vhf signals harder to receive than uhf? if so, why?

Anyone else experiencing severe lip sync issues with WBZL 39-1? Seems to have become an issue since restoring HD broadcasts after hurricane Wilma.

are vhf signals harder to receive than uhf? if so, why?

I don't know whether or not VHF is harder to receive than UHF, but I do know that I've had reception problems with WSVN and WPLG with every single receiver I've owned since 1999. None of them (RCA, Princeton Graphics, Samsung, Accurian, LG, ProHD, Mitsubishi) was able to get a signal lock on those channels 100% of the time, and the signal strength would frequently fluctuate wildly on all of the receivers.

damn wilma. my setup was perfect until that stupid hurricane. lol

I agree about WSVN 7. That station alone led me to bias my antenna more towards WPB to grab FOX 29 instead. Too bad, I actually preferred 7.

ok the dtv guy just came out and fixed my ota antenna. i'm getting 80's and 90's on all ft laud/miami stations ...EXCEPT 7-1.......the signal is fluctuating and the picture is stuttering. also..i'm getting 12-1 and 29-1 from west palm fine so at least i have my abc back and can just watch fox from wpb if need be.

7-1 still at 0 on the signal meter! anyone else?

Hey guys, I just got Adelphia today and I was just wondering, are you having stuttering problems since Wilma? I called Adelphia about it and they couldn't even help me because the WPB office is overwhelmed and the office I reached doesn't support the Motorola equipment.

Basically if I do side-by-side with DirecTV, the image from DirecTV is smooth as glass, but the Adelphia image is stuttery, kinda like watching a movie on the Internet (but not that bad).

I got it because BellSouth was having DSL problems and I found out that Adelphia is a better deal for HD+Internet than DirecTV+BellSouth. But if it's gonna look like this then I'm sending it back!

Is it safe to say that all of the stations are broadcasting lower-strength/lesser-quality HD signals than their "normal" NTSC ones, and view their HD systems as the bottom of their priority list for restoration after hurricanes?

If this is as good as their digital terrestrial broadcasts are ever going to get, we're going to be stuck with NTSC simulcasts forever, because otherwise NOBODY is going to be able to meaningfully watch a battery-powered TV with built-in antenna during hurricanes (or afterward, for that matter) once analog broadcasts are discontinued.

As much as I look forward to universal HDTV, I don't want to see NTSC broadcasts discontinued until after we've had at least one hurricane hit with at least one station broadcasting its ATSC signal at full-power during and after the storm to REALLY judge the consequences of trying to live with ONLY ATSC in a hurricane-ravaged area where proper outdoor antennas simply don't exist, and won't exist, for days or weeks afterward.

NTSC must not be discontinued, in South Florida, at least, until ATSC is robust enough to literally survive a hurricane. If that means delaying NTSC's final departure until someone finds a way to graft a "robust" mode onto 8VSB that (hopefully) won't break existing tuners, so be it.

couldnt all the stations just keep their old analog towers up and not run them except in instances of emergencies?

Nice thoughts, but the Gov't is legislating when 100% digital cut off is. Our concerns with hurricanes and poor mgmt. at local channels is a very provincial viewpoint, that is not shared (at least the hurricane concerns) with the vast majority of the country. I, for one, want to see analog gone soon, so they can put their resources 100% into digital, instead of it getting the leftovers as is currently the case, seemingly.

It might be provincial, but I'd argue that it's definitey nontrivial. If 8VSB can't be made sufficiently robust to be received under the same conditions under which, say, a pocket LCD TV is capable of tuning analog NTSC now, one of two things must happen:

* Broadcasters must have the right to switch from ATSC to NTSC during hurricanes, and possibly for a day or two afterward.

* 8VSB needs to be extended in a way that would allow a local station to broadcast one stream that a "legacy" tuner can receive using part of its bandwidth, while simulcasting a second, more robust digital stream (that would require a new tuner, obviously) using the rest of the station's available bandwidth that older 8vsb tuners would be oblivious to and simply ignore.

Rendering an entire region TV-less after a major hurricane is not an acceptable option. If 8VSB can't be transparently extended to shoehorn a "robust mode" carrier into the station's available bandwidth during emergencies (or even to make mobile and portable reception possible all the time), then the government needs to admit it screwed up and permanently give stations a second sliver of bandwidth (say, 1MHz instead of ~4MHz wide) for simulcasting their main program stream via some robust digital mode that can be received via mediocre antennas and in moving vehicles.

It just amazes me that nobody seems to think it's a big deal that, for all intents and purposes, mobile and portable reception of 8VSB is just about impossible... especially since those are just about the only conditions under which the 98% of Americans with cable/satellite actually care about being able to receive terrestrial broadcasts in the first place.

I think you may misunderstand the law - analog is dead, all future receivers must be capable of receiving digital. This renders the analog broadcast moot. Your future handhelds will be able to receive digital. Once stations no longer have to monkey with analog, digital will become much more reliable. It may be a nontrivial point, but national decisions are not based on rare events in relatively small areas. As bad as a hurricane is, the problem does not encompass a vast majority of the US. My point is, I do not wish to see digital broadcasts held up because of local concerns about not being able to watch TV during a hurricane. Radio sufffices quite well during and immediately afterwards. Lordy, if I never have to see Laurel and Jim (or insert your local anchors here) yammer on endlessly about the same thing in the next hurricane, it will not be soon enough.

If 8VSB in its current incarnation isn't going to work as a viable transmission scheme for indoor portable TVs during hurricanes, the FCC needs to find out once and for all, and find out now so they can start work on a robust, low-bandwidth broadcast scheme for stations to simulcast their main stream on to replace NTSC once it's gone for good.

I guarantee it... if the day comes to pull the plug on NTSC, and there's still no good way to receive TV broadcasts indoors on portable devices during bad weather (and while we're at it, from moving vehicles), the public backlash will be huge. Nobody really cares about welfare recipients without cable... but normal, middle-class and wealthy people absolutely will care about being able to watch radar weather maps during hurricanes -- and make lots of noise screaming if they can't.

You are right... NTSC and analog TV needs to go away. But before it does, there MUST be a viable alternative to it for devices not connected to cable, satellite, or a proper outdoor yagi.

Long before our cable TV service was restored, I used my ATSC receivers connected to small indoor antennas to reliably and consistently receive over the air broadcasts from the local DTV stations. Reception was 100% better than with both of my LCD pocket TVs which are only capable of receiving NTSC transmissions. With NTSC, neither of my pocket TVs was able to get a strong enough signal to even produce a color picture for WTVJ-NBC 6; yet I had no problem tuning their digital broadcasts. And during Hurricane Katrina I didn't even bother getting out my pocket TVs....I had perfect reception of all the live DTV stations, interrupted only by a brief power outage.

Korean manufacturers have already demonstrated pocket TVs with onboard digital tuners. Surely these will come to market long before analog transmissions cease in this country. The ATSC standard continues to evolve and be refined...just like NTSC, it is far from perfect and probably never will be, but once the broadcasters put all their horsepower behind their digital transmissions I am quite confident that we will be able to receive TV broadcasts in all but the most inclement weather.

Hmmm. Well, that's encouraging. Using my old Voom box, and the Winegard antenna I used to use with it, the only channel I could get in Coral Gables after Wilma was channel 35.

If you had no problems at all, I'm wondering whether the problem might have been with the Winegard antenna's amplifier. I know it needs to have power injected somehow, and I assumed the power source was the collection of Voom boxen themselves that were all plugged into the passive multiswitch to which the antenna was connected. I suppose it's possible that the antenna physically needed to be connected to the multiswitch instead of directly to the Voom box... but I can't fathom what role the multiswitch might have had, power-wise, that would have differed from the power feed available directly from the Voom box.

I never actually tried connecting a UHF loop to the Voom box, on the theory the Voom box was presumably injecting DC into the antenna output, and connecting a UHF loop via balun would have created a short-circuit and potentially damaged the Voom box itself (not that I'm really using them for much at the moment, but they might come in handy someday if DirecTV and/or Dish make a home media server available that distributes signals through the house over coax via 8VSB).

I thought I would post about my thread over in the CRT forum and the Tweaks forum. It is about making your own DIY Antenna (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=600737). I was having trouble getting ABC with my former all in one antenna, so I decided to build a Yagi around ABC's 189 frequency. It is in the attic and working like a charm.


As for the digital/analog debate, I don't understand the need to watch TV when radio will suffice. I doubt you will have that many people up in arms. Isn't the National Weather Service all you need from radio? This may end up being regional, but moot once the switch is to all digital with full power. In the end, I don't care that much because I will hopefully be gone from this dump before the next hurricane. Actually the city is nice, but the people are the worst I have ever encountered in the nation.

Ericglo

channel 7-1 was comign in strong before hurricane like 90.. then the winds came and had to repoint and got 90 again but last few days my signal fluctuates with 7-1 only down to 70 up to 75

any reason why 7-1 is fluctuating so much

they need to get their act together...all the other channels are fine

i'm 30 miles from the west palm beach fox and get a better signal strength from them than wsvn which is only 10 miles from me!

My DTC100 is showing 70. I have not had any dropouts all day. It has been rock solid. Are you having any reception issues or do you just want to see a stronger signal?

Ericglo

occasional dropouts on the picture....then i go to the signal meter and watch it ...it goes bezerk.....then back to normal. only happens once every few hours the last few days. and only on 7-1. my signal is about 68. i get 78 from wpb fox which is 30 miles away!

80 and low 90's on all other ft laud / miami local digital channels

greg

Have a question about Comcast. I just got back service today in Coconut Creek and alot of the channels are poor. Mostly are the HD channels. Most are not watchable lots of pixilization or no signal. Is anyone else having these problems close by or is it to early to judge quality? I talked to Comcast and they said it was up and running. I set up an appointment for 2 weeks from now. :( Maybe there is not enough amplification in the repairs they did. My service was perfect before, hardly ever any sign of pixilization.

get directv!

get directv!


I just moved from Dish to Comcast 6 months ago because of the equipment cost for HD. So far I have no complaints until now about the service and quality. :) Dish still wants too much for thier flagship reciever and then I will still need to go out and get and outdoor antenna again. I used the Wingard Squareshooter when I first got my TV and what a pain in the butt it was. With Comcast there was never a signal problem.

I just think they don't have all the locations, amps, or whatever up and running to give a good signal. Now some of the regular digital channels have problems. Like the premium channels, HBO, SHO, TMC, Stars, etc.

I just moved from Dish to Comcast 6 months ago because of the equipment cost for HD. So far I have no complaints until now about the service and quality. :) Dish still wants too much for thier flagship reciever and then I will still need to go out and get and outdoor antenna again. I used the Wingard Squareshooter when I first got my TV and what a pain in the butt it was. With Comcast there was never a signal problem.

I just think they don't have all the locations, amps, or whatever up and running to give a good signal. Now some of the regular digital channels have problems. Like the premium channels, HBO, SHO, TMC, Stars, etc.

I reported this to the headend manager a week ago; most of their equipment was damaged either during the storm or afterwards by the utilities crews restoring power for FPL. Your best bet for correcting signal problems at this point is to make an appointment as you already did. As I've mentioned here previously, not only were some of the fiber optic cables cut, but some of the amplification equipment was stolen as well.

greg,
VHF is harder to receive because the waves are longer. UHF has other issues, but with digital they are not relevant like ghosting. I have some links in my DIY thread. With the old antenna I could receive Fox, but hardly ever ABC. Now I have the antenna designed around the VHF channels (fortunately they are 8 and 9) and have had few problems even though it is in the attic. If it was outside, then it would be better but I am satisfied with the occasional drop from ABC inside. Also, I am getting the UHF channels as well. I was set to make a seperate antenna for UHF, but this one is picking up those as well. Anyway, if you make an antenna just for VHF or buy one, then it should resolve the Fox and ABC issues. By the way, I am in downtown Brickell.

Ericglo

I got it because BellSouth was having DSL problems and I found out that Adelphia is a better deal for HD+Internet than DirecTV+BellSouth. But if it's gonna look like this then I'm sending it back!

I have their (Adelphia) Internet and am picking up the HD box today. How much of a deal do you get with both services?

Thanks,

Luis in Pembroke Pines

I reported this to the headend manager a week ago; most of their equipment was damaged either during the storm or afterwards by the utilities crews restoring power for FPL. Your best bet for correcting signal problems at this point is to make an appointment as you already did. As I've mentioned here previously, not only were some of the fiber optic cables cut, but some of the amplification equipment was stolen as well.

Thanks Rudy1,

I live in an apt. complex / townhomes and everyone with a cable box said they are having breakups. My analog channels 1-99 are ok, but still look bad. Also the ones with internet with Comcast said its hit or miss with that service and is really slow like dial up. Good thing I still have DSL. :)

Thanks Rudy1,

I live in an apt. complex / townhomes and everyone with a cable box said they are having breakups. My analog channels 1-99 are ok, but still look bad. Also the ones with internet with Comcast said its hit or miss with that service and is really slow like dial up. Good thing I still have DSL. :)

Bluer 101

I have had no problems with Comcast HD service since I got cable back (about 1 1/2 weeks ago).

Wiles east of 441 if that helps

Bluer 101

I have had no problems with Comcast HD service since I got cable back (about 1 1/2 weeks ago).

Wiles east of 441 if that helps

Thanks, we just got ours back 2 days ago. We live in Winson Park and all the main fiber optics we ruined. I'm missing channel 212, 211, 210, they won't even hold a signal. Hbo ,SHO, MAX, STARS, are lots of breakups. There are alot of non correctable errors in the menu setup of the Moto 6412 box on all those channels. Even most of the regular( non HD) channels have breakups. I know its not just my unit, because my nieghbors are complaining.

thanks for the advice but the dtv installer came out last friday and pretty much fixed the problem and aimed the antenna in the correct direction. just west of south.

still perplexed though at why the west palm beach fox comes in 10 points higher on the signal meter than wsnv 7 fox. very odd but i'm happy and will live with it

greg

How has people's ESPNHD channel been the last couple days (for Comcast)? I'm trying to watch the Penn State game and the signal keeps getting interupted. SD looks fine. It was happening last night as well.

How has people's ESPNHD channel been the last couple days (for Comcast)? I'm trying to watch the Penn State game and the signal keeps getting interupted. SD looks fine. It was happening last night as well.

Maybe on 5% of the day. All my channels are messed up still. :mad:

How has people's ESPNHD channel been the last couple days (for Comcast)? I'm trying to watch the Penn State game and the signal keeps getting interupted. SD looks fine. It was happening last night as well.


What channel number is ESPNHD ? I have a cablecard with Comcast with no guide data at the moment and I can't seem to find it since the hurricane. Everything else seems to be working fine. I'm in Coconut Creek with Comcast. Thanks

What channel number is ESPNHD ? I have a cablecard with no guide data at the moment and I can't seem to find it since the hurricane. Everything else seems to be working fine. I'm in Coconut Creek with Comcast. Thanks
Not sure about cablegaurd (is it different from comcast?), but for comcast it's 202 I believe.

New question for you guys. I just found out that Comcast doesn't offer the college basketball package (ESPN Full Court). Why they don't is beyond me, when I lived in Delray and had Adelphia they did. I'm thinking of switching to satellite, but undecided about which one. I don't like the fees that DTV has for the HD-DVR and really don't know what Dish offers for them. I'm not too thrilled about having to hook up an antenna for local HD channels, so if they've changed their ways please let me know about that as well. Any suggestions about which one DTV or Dish is better for HD service compared to Comcast?

What channel number is ESPNHD ? I have a cablecard with Comcast with no guide data at the moment and I can't seem to find it since the hurricane. Everything else seems to be working fine. I'm in Coconut Creek with Comcast. Thanks

How has your cable been quality wise since the hurricane? Mine is almost unwatchable with any HD channel and now the analog channels are getting bad too. :mad:

How has your cable been quality wise since the hurricane? Mine is almost unwatchable with any HD channel and now the analog channels are getting bad too. :mad:
For the most part for me it's been good. A few channels acting up here and there, but not too much to complain about. ESPNHD has been acting up recently, now ESPNews has as well. When I 1st got it back Comedy Central was pretty much unwatchable, but that has come back recently. If I were you I'd definietely contact Comcast and setup an appointment and hopefully they'll be able to fix your problem.

For the most part for me it's been good. A few channels acting up here and there, but not too much to complain about. ESPNHD has been acting up recently, now ESPNews has as well. When I 1st got it back Comedy Central was pretty much unwatchable, but that has come back recently. If I were you I'd definietely contact Comcast and setup an appointment and hopefully they'll be able to fix your problem.


They are coming out on this Saturday to see. I live in apt. / townhomes and that may be different than home problems. It was totally fine before the storm, never a breakup on Comcast's fault. Alot of my neighbors are having problems too, with cable and internet. The only HD channels I get tonight are Max HD, Stars HD, Fox is in and out, and the rest say the channel will be there shortly. Then alot of the digital channels are the same way. Then the analog are very grainy and interference. I keep seeing Comcast contractors come out to the buildings, but only for a few minutes. I asked one this weekend and he said there are still problems (like I did not know that). I know when they come out this weekend it will be BS. :(

Hey is anyone having problems with channel 10-1... Was watchign the game fine but ever since halftime I get no signal.. Whats odd when I go tot he signal meter im getting 85-89 but I am getting no picture and before I was getting major pixelation.. Anyone else not gettign 10-1

Hey is anyone having problems with channel 10-1... Was watchign the game fine but ever since halftime I get no signal.. Whats odd when I go tot he signal meter im getting 85-89 but I am getting no picture and before I was getting major pixelation.. Anyone else not gettign 10-1

Don't panic Eddy. I have had the very same thing here. Strangely, the signal on WSVN is lower than that of WPLG, which is not usually the case.

My uneducated guess is that it has something to do with the cold front that has been coming through tonight affecting the VHF OTAs. The UHFs are good.

That we have a signal but no picture is probably due to their turning off the unwatchable image, but not the transmitter.

Ditto! I was watching it fine then switched over to Roadhouse in HD (couldn't resist:)). When I came back, it was gone even though the meter said 75. I noticed the wind was blowing, so maybe that had something to do with it.

Ericglo

I've had no problems with my cable or internet since it's been back. The only "issue" that I have is that I can't find ESPNHD. I'm pretty sure that I used to get it at some stage, but I'm not sure whether that was before I installed the cablecard. I might have to try without the card to see whether that's the problem. Other than that it's been fine. I use Vonage for phone service so my internet connection gets a good workout and it's been fine, even with the phone.

I seem to be getting a signal from ABC now. I have lost NBC, so I might just need to build a UHF Yagi tomorrow to handle those channels.

Ericglo

Came home from work and my cable is back to normal for now. :) Hope it will stay that way. Every channel with no problems. My SNR is good and AGR is good with my Moto 6412.

I just bought a sony A10 TV and have a small antenna. how do i get the HD programming (or can someone point me to a faq or something?) i'm in fort lauderdale, thanks.

I just bought a sony A10 TV and have a small antenna. how do i get the HD programming (or can someone point me to a faq or something?) i'm in fort lauderdale, thanks.

Do you have cable? If so your Sony TV will pick them up through the cable, your locals.

Do you have cable? If so your Sony TV will pick them up through the cable, your locals.

sorry, i have standard directv.

sorry, i have standard directv.

Ok, then you can try to connect the antenna to the tv and do a digital scan from the tv. Its in the owners manual on how to do it. But if you are not close enough to the station towers then you might not get a strong enough signal. Its trial and error.

Ok, then you can try to connect the antenna to the tv and do a digital scan from the tv. Its in the owners manual on how to do it. But if you are not close enough to the station towers then you might not get a strong enough signal. Its trial and error.

thanks bluer. doing a scan right now - i think!

thanks bluer. doing a scan right now - i think!

I takes a long time though. If not you can try putting them in manually.
4.1, 6.1, 7.1, and 10.1
CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC

just got the channels and WOW!!!! amazing. i'm so glad i got this setup today.

just got the channels and WOW!!!! amazing. i'm so glad i got this setup today.

What channels did you pickup?

The only thing missing or can't access is Comcast VOD. Is it down?

i have a samsung sir ts360 hd receiver that has directv, ota antenna, and cable tv inputs. comast in my area. i was wondering if i wanted to get my local hd channels via cable tv, could i use my samsung with comcast or do i have to use one of their hd receivers?

thanks

i have a samsung sir ts360 hd receiver that has directv, ota antenna, and cable tv inputs. comast in my area. i was wondering if i wanted to get my local hd channels via cable tv, could i use my samsung with comcast or do i have to use one of their hd receivers?

thanks
Please correct me if I'm wrong but, you'd have to get one of Comcast's HD-DVR's. You could still use the OTA antenna to get OTA singals and hooked up to your Samsung IRD to watch it, but that's about all the use you'd get out of it. Without the DTV service you wouldn't have any of the DVR features. Of course if your TV has a HD-tuner built in, then you really don't need your Samsung there at all. ;)

the samsung sir ts360 is not a hd dvr. it is just an hd receiver with cable tv, directv, and ota antenna inputs

greg

the samsung sir ts360 is not a hd dvr. it is just an hd receiver with cable tv, directv, and ota antenna inputs

greg

Greg,

The TS360 won't tune any of the digital channels from Comcast, but it will tune the analog ones.

---Rudy

the samsung sir ts360 is not a hd dvr. it is just an hd receiver with cable tv, directv, and ota antenna inputs

greg
Gotcha, thanks for the clarification. I have heard of people getting the local broadcast channels w/o paying for the HD package through adelphia by just plugging in the receiver to the outlet (I'm assuming they have basic cable TV). You could try using it for that. I'll have to try that later tonight w my HD tuner in my TV.

When will PBS 2-1 start broadcasting PSIP data? My receiver only shows 'Digital Service'.

anyone else get OTA signal breakups during monday nite football? signal meter steady in the 80's for 10-1. happens every 10 minutes or so for like a second.

greg

I have a signal strength of 73 on 10-1 and had no breakups last night.

rudolph the red nosed reindeer was supposed to be presented in hd on cbs on wednesnite...i recorded it on my hd tivo...it said hd on the bottom but when it began but it had side bars.

what's up with that?

greg

rudolph the red nosed reindeer was supposed to be presented in hd on cbs on wednesnite...i recorded it on my hd tivo...it said hd on the bottom but when it began but it had side bars.

what's up with that?

greg


4:3 HD Just because it says HD does not mean widescreen. That show was originally filmed in 4:3 so thats what it got presented in. :)

well that is what hd means to me.....16:9 and at least 720p.

also ...i thought anything filmed ...before video tape...was in 16:9 format. i seem to recall watching some 70's shows like charlies angels and hogans heroes on one of the hdnet channels last summer and they were in widescreen hd.

well that is what hd means to me.....16:9 and at least 720p.

also ...i thought anything filmed ...before video tape...was in 16:9 format. i seem to recall watching some 70's shows like charlies angels and hogans heroes on one of the hdnet channels last summer and they were in widescreen hd.

Nope. Some movies were actually produced in narrow aspect ratio.

everyone alive??

Has anyone gone with the Adelphia Cable service in West Miramar since they took over for Tele-media?

Specifically HD service. I currently have D* and it is getting way too expensive and I want a HD-DVR. What model does Adelphia use, is it worth it? My community, Silver Isles has the Basic cable included in our association costs so it would be a better deal but I dont want to degrade the HD quality. And I do know that D* is referred to as D*Lite.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

anyone heard yet when ft lauderdale/miami market dtv upgrading to mpeg4?

is there a separate thread for it somewhere if so provide a link. maybe it's too early :)

greg

I have Adelphia digital cable in Miami. to get HD TV I'm forced to get the service and the box with them? or can I buy myself a compatible box and get their signal in HD??

djufo,

In general the cable companies cannot scramble the HD transmissions from the major networks. So if your TV has a built in ATSC QAM tuner you should be able to pull those stations directly. Note: many TVs come with built in ATSC tuner that does not support QAM and can only be used with an antenna for OTA signals. I know the Sony GWIV works since my son has one and pulls the HD for the majors in without additional boxes or purchasing the cable HD package (we have advanced cable). If you want additional HD content like HDNet, ESPNHD, DiscoveryHD etc these are encrypted and you would need a cable set top box or cable card and pay for the HD service from the cable company