Yeah I face south. I've actually looked around complex at other DISH installs. Ive seen flat cable sections wraped through the door so the patio door will still open and close and still pass signal through.

Love those cable companies! Always on the cutting edge of not only technology but programming as well!

I use them for my internet access (BIG pipe). The last time I had a technician out (last month) I asked when Los Alamos would get HD channels through them. He said there are currently no time tables for ANY HD in Los Alamos. I flat told him you can't even tempt me to go back without a PVR and a full slate of HD.

I just shook my head and he packed up and left. I wonder if Comcast reluctance to rolling out HD has anything to do with the fact that roughly 6-7 out of every 10 homes in Los Alamos/White Rock have those little pizza dishes on their roofs pointing south!

Love those cable companies! Always on the cutting edge of not only technology but programming as well!

I use them for my internet access (BIG pipe). The last time I had a technician out (last month) I asked when Los Alamos would get HD channels through them. He said there are currently no time tables for ANY HD in Los Alamos. I flat told him you can't even tempt me to go back without a PVR and a full slate of HD.

I just shook my head and he packed up and left. I wonder if Comcast reluctance to rolling out HD has anything to do with the fact that roughly 6-7 out of every 10 homes in Los Alamos/White Rock have those little pizza dishes on their roofs pointing south!

I've resisted the urge to go cable this long I don't see myself going anytime soon. If anything I will upgrade my OTA receiver and get a DVR for OTA (nice pipe dream for now) With all of the HD broadcasts during primetime I'm more than content with not having 200 channels of nothing on. If nothing is on I just switch it over to PBS even if it's something I have already seen. I'm having a tough time watching anything in SD now. :cool:

Bigglare, good luck with getting SatTV, whichever service you choose. I think the only thing you will need is letter from the complex stating it's alright to install it.

Wish I could go down to the DTV user group meeting too. Will someone please post a summary if they go?

Sorry to get off topic on this but do any of you have a set of Axioms? I'm debating on getting a set from all the reviews I've read but I'd like to hear them in person... Would hate not to like them then have to ship all the way back to Canada.

I have a complete used 5-channel set that I traded in for some NHTs at the store - john@adnm.com - 2225-J Wyoming NE across from the Black Angus - 298-9185

Does anyone know why KOB is not transmitting in HD?

Looks like KOB is back up transmitting HD.

Is it just me or has the 5.1 PBS National feed on KNME seem to be a little softer and not as "wow" as it had been? It always seemed to be the best picture on HD, but now seems to lost some luster, or maybe I'm just seeing things. Did they lose some bandwidth? Thanks.

On the antenna note, I'm using the "stealth" antenna, http://www.copperbox.com/images/cm3010.jpg (ChannelMaster 3010 Stealth antenna) and it seemed to really help my multipath problems since it is less sensitive. Direct los to the crest from the Ladera Golf Course area.

Satellite Warehouse installed it and was really helpful in getting me up and running. My 2 cents.

Some months ago they added a subchannel, 5.2 which ate up some of their bw. A lot of people hated this but they were required by law to add it. They also xmit some shows in Widescreen, which is kind of like HD lite. It can look very good, but not full blown 19mb/s HD, which may not be available anymore from anyone. JR

Breaking news......

UPN and WB will merges together as a new network called CW on September, 2006 from cnn.com.

Well I guess KASY-DT will become a ind, station and KWBQ-DT will become a CW network station.

Might as well get more sports on KASY-DT! :)

1-24-06

Just read the article on the merge. I do now they keep KWBQ. Since they have farm more HD capablility than KASY. I havent seen any HD on UPN yet. Having moved from San Diego the UPN affiliate there was owned and operated from Tijuana Mexico and was not HD or digital. Maybe this will let USDTV survive more since KASY wont need any HD capability.

I wanted to post a new message but can't figure out how to do it so I have to resort to using the Post Reply method (on advice of Chris Blount AVS Administrator).

My question is: has anyone noticed that with some HD programs the closed captioning is about two seconds late? Makes me switch over to SD and I lose all the beauty of HD.

I wanted to post a new message but can't figure out how to do it so I have to resort to using the Post Reply method (on advice of Chris Blount AVS Administrator).

My question is: has anyone noticed that with some HD programs the closed captioning is about two seconds late? Makes me switch over to SD and I lose all the beauty of HD.

KRQE captions are closer to 10 seconds behind the action. I have asked them about it, and they said their equipment just can't do it any faster :(

KNME and KOB seem pretty good to me.

KWBQ's captions are pretty close to the action, but the letters are all jumbled.

I don't remember noticing a problem on KASA.

John

Is it just me or has the 5.1 PBS National feed on KNME seem to be a little softer and not as "wow" as it had been? It always seemed to be the best picture on HD, but now seems to lost some luster, or maybe I'm just seeing things. Did they lose some bandwidth? Thanks.


KNME programs which were actually FILMED in HD, look awesome. Unfortunately, most of what KNME broadcasts, is just upconverted SD. Now the upconversion is excellent, but it cannot compare to "true" HD material.

John

Is it just me or has the 5.1 PBS National feed on KNME seem to be a little softer and not as "wow" as it had been? It always seemed to be the best picture on HD, but now seems to lost some luster, or maybe I'm just seeing things.


the PBS watcher in the family says it looks fine still (no change in picture quality noticed).

PBS is sending it over the communications satellite at 16.67 Mbps, while KNME is sending it out over 5.1 at 14.xx Mbps. KNME is definitely giving it plenty of bandwidth so missing a couple Mbps is no big deal in the processing between satellite and terrestrial.

Looks like Acme (NM stations portion) lucked out with this CW network announcement.

they get to keep their revenue from USDTV rental, they get to keep a station (KASY, for instance) in SD (since there isn't much syndicated fare in HD, HD bandwidth allocation is not needed) and they can put CW Network and CW Network HD on bandwidth already allocated for that kind of scenario (the KWBQ signal).

Gee now if only we could get them to say, New Network, New Era, We don't want no Analog Spectrum. Give up the analog channel for pure digital broadcast so Comcrap has to carry it.

I truly hope that the new CW network will provide a high-bandwidth HD transmission. Would nice to see Enterprise in high-quality HD. Time will tell.

I sure hope, so if the AMCE kick the USDTV cancer out both of their stations KASY-DT and KWBQ-DT. :)

I would love to see Indepenent KASY-DT station put their money on upgrading on HDTV cameras for the Lobos games and same goes for local pro sports covereges as well too! :D

1-26-06

I sure hope, so if the AMCE kick the USDTV cancer out both of their stations KASY-DT and KWBQ-DT. :)

I would love to see Indepenent KASY-DT station put their money on upgrading on HDTV cameras for the Lobos games and same goes for local pro sports covereges as well too! :D

1-26-06

I doubt anything will change with the ACME stations when CW launches (there is enough bandwidth allocated for a HD channel that can be used for CW HD and then the bandwidth already allocated to some of the USDTV channels).

as far as the lobos in HD, contact Sportswest or ESPN+PLUS. there aren't very many locally financed lobo game productions anymore. It's mostly syndicated.

Is anyone getting anything from KCHF-DT 10 (like you guys west of Eubank blvd? ;)

My USB 2.0 tuner card is showing a hint of something on KCHF-DT 10 (a "locked" status was returned), but since i have a mountain in the way, i'm not getting any good signal to be able to analyze the transport stream or to view anything that might be transmitted over digital channel 10.


Thanks.

I've never got anything on 10 with a LG3410a and a RS VU90 aimed at the crest. JR

I've never got anything on 10 with a LG3410a and a RS VU90 aimed at the crest. JR

it appears you need to be aiming for the jemez - the FCC records for KCHF-DT seem to show the transmitter is in the jemez and not on the crest like it's been reported here before.

Where I live the Jemez is blocked. I never could receive KHFM well either after they moved up there. They now have a repeater on the crest, but it is so low powered, I still don't get them very well. JR

anybody know what is up with pbs? Having seen a picture on channel 5.1 in a couple of days.

Dunno. Just scrapped a couple of TiVo'd "searching for signal" shows.

anybody know what is up with pbs? Having seen a picture on channel 5.1 in a couple of days.

Glad to hear it wasn't just me. I moved my antenna around a little bit and then nothing. I am getting everything else (NBC, ABC, even Tubetv) but no PBS stations (5.x's and 9.x's). I need my PBS fix. :confused:


John, stopped by the shop the yesterday around 11 am but you weren't there. I'll try to head over there sometime next week.

I notice that I can get KNME's HD feed to Comcast (Channel 220) but none of the 5.x OTA channels. Can someone tell me which channel KNME feeds to Comcast? Thanks.

Hello Osoman,

KNME-DT is on channel 35.1 "PBS HDTV" and 35.2 "Simucast of KNME-TV SDTV"

Also try out the KNMD-DT channel 9.1 up to .4 they are still running low power at 200 watts ERP at this time..... :)

1-29-06

Thanks. I'm so used to my Sammy changing the channel number that I forgot KNME really broadcasts on Channel 35.x.

Hello Osoman,

Also try out the KNMD-DT channel 9.1 up to .4 they are still running low power at 200 watts ERP at this time..... :)

1-29-06

they have .4 back? last time I checked out the 9.x channels, 9.1-9.3 were active and mirroring the PBS satellite distribution feed, while the distribution satellite feed had a fourth channel that KNMD-DT was filtering out and not retransmitting for some reason (licensing?)

That's last time I heard they were using all 4 channels so I guess they dropped PBS Kid and PBS You.

Since I can't get this channel, here in Four Hills so I have no way of knowing what is going on. :p

I will get this channel, KNMD-DT when they can upgrade the transmitter power at some point in the future only if KCHF-DT get's their act together, and move to Sandia Crest in order to keep the 2 channels signal level at the same strenth.

1-29-06

That's last time I heard they were using all 4 channels so I guess they dropped PBS Kid and PBS You.


1-29-06

PBS Kids became PBS Sprout (a cable exclusive, maybe on DBS too, no longer a multicast PBS station channel) and PBS You is the channel being filtered out locally that you can find on satellite in the distribution multiplex.

I've never pulled in 35.1, only 5.1. Odd.

I've never pulled in 35.1, only 5.1. Odd.

I've been able to pull in 35.1 for almost two years now, but suddenly late last week it didn't come in. I'm using an E* 921 receiver and it gets a strong signal strength of about 110 plus a lock but when I save it, it doesn't become part of the list of OTA stations. I haven't tried 5.1 since I only try the digital station numbers and not the remapped numbers.

35-1 is 5-1. The ATSC channel number is 35-1. Your receiver remaps it so it shows as 5-1

.....G

Lujan - Yah, I have a E* 921 too and all the ABQ stations come in perfectly except for PBS which is fine sometimes and won't lock at other times. I had no problem saving the station and the subchannels, but it just won't lock at many times unless the atmospherics are just right. Of course, I'm 60 miles NW of the crest. I have high hopes for the new Vip622 DVR receiver since it has a much better, later generation Broadcom chipset. I'm definitely taking Charlie up on his $99 upgrade offer.

.....G

Minor news update...........

KKOB-AM plans to go digital HD-radio "IBOC" sometime this year. :eek:

It should be intresting to see how good the sound is........

But the HD radio are too pricy right now.

No news on KASY-DT and KWBQ-DT status concering over shutdown of UPN and WB.

That's the news!! :D

1-30-06

where is Fox hd today? hope its transmitting before 24 at 8pm.

Wow that's very strange for KASA-DT's signal has gone wacko my signal meter showing 0 to 90% bouncing back and forth like crazy! :eek:

They better shut the transmitter down or it will burn up and I think it's the bad SWR, or it's somthing else.

Hope it's not too windy on the crest. :(


1-30-06

Missed watching and PVRing 24 in HD last night. Good thing for backups of locals via SAT as well. They do pay off at times plus give you that option to record one more thing at the same time if needed.

It was a good streak whilst it lasted.

Very strange to have a signal like that but no picture. I even tried a channel scan on my 921 hoping it may be some weird PSIP problem but it locked and loaded it but then again no picture. Hope they get it fixed soon!

At least the Superbowl is on ABC in case they remain down for awhile.

The feed to Comcast wasn't there either.

I missed it too, but didn't realize it until too late...wonder if they'll re-broadcast?

Did they OTA the analog broadcast, or was that down also?

Watched 24 in hd on comcast with no problems last night. The 5.1 audio was solid also. JR

Ot... But What happened to Nelson Martinez on Kob? did he retire again?

Watched 24 in hd on comcast with no problems last night. The 5.1 audio was solid also. JR

I wonder what I did wrong. I checked just before the show started and saw no picture so I switched to SD.

I called Fox 2 and was told their digital was down last night and they were working on it...don't know where comcast gets their feed.

Ok, maybe you guys can help me out, I want to watch the superbowl at my parents house over the weekend, and want to bring my HD set. I don't normally watch that much tv, it's used mostly for gaming, and to do this I would have to pick up a reciever. Before I spend the money, do you guys know how good the quality of signal is up in Rio Rancho? Is it worth it knowing that anything other than the bunny ears is out of the question since this isn't permanent. Thanks for the help, much appreciated.

Ok, maybe you guys can help me out, I want to watch the superbowl at my parents house over the weekend, and want to bring my HD set. I don't normally watch that much tv, it's used mostly for gaming, and to do this I would have to pick up a reciever. Before I spend the money, do you guys know how good the quality of signal is up in Rio Rancho? Is it worth it knowing that anything other than the bunny ears is out of the question since this isn't permanent. Thanks for the help, much appreciated.

For what it's worth, I know a guy in the west end of Paradise Hills who has a cheap set of rabbit ears in his basement for HDTV. Takes a bit of fiddling to get signal to lock, though. If you're line-of-sight to the Crest, I think rabbit ears would do. This might depend on whether you're in south or north Rio Rancho. As you get closer to US550, I'm not sure if the signal holds up. If you jury-rig just for the Super Bowl, you might be able to set the antenna outside for maximum effectiveness.

Go Seahawks!

I called Fox 2 and was told their digital was down last night and they were working on it...don't know where comcast gets their feed.
As of this morning at 7AM, their ATSC signal was back on the air.

.....G

Supersloth...

I'd allow lots of time to set everything up before the game, at least the day before.

I don't know if any of you guys are in Rio Rancho but it's in vista hills just north of target down 528, next to the boys and girls club, but it is in line of sight to the crest. hmmmm... now to decide to spend the money or not.

Not to be advertising, but we do have those Silver Sensors for $25. Heck, if you just need one for the weekend, I'd loan you one. It seems to work fine in most of RR. I have a customer using it for a few days and is getting everything.

i wish i had seen that post before buying the reciever. who's 'we'? sorry, i only read the last 5 or so pages of the thread.

edit - everything is coming in perfect right now, i didn't have to do anything extra, thanks guys.

Yeah, who is "WE?"

Oh, sorry, Audio Designs - www.adnm.com or http://forum.adnm.com

Hi all Dishers,
Anyone know from which orbital position our market #46 HD OTA signals will come? It'll help in asking for the right dish when I'm ready for a 622, soon. I'm currently using a Dish 500 for 110 and 119 and a Dish 500 for 61.5 with legacy LNBs to 501/811/921. It's likely they will be on 129 some months away but knowing now will save trouble later. Thanks,
-Ken
BTW, I have Alb. OTA by LOS between houses from under my lower porch. I did see some Sandia towers with binoculars, once from the upper porch. I get good signals with a small amp from 47.6 miles away.

Kklare - I have the same setup as you. The ABQ locals in HD are being uplinked to 129 right now for testing. I don't know if they will be mirrored to 61.5 or not. Since E* is offering the $99 deal for us 921 owners and it includes installation of DP LNB's and switches, I'm going to use my $99 deal to get a 622 and a Dish 1000 and I will keep my wing dish as well to get CBS East. For that single upgrade price the installer will upgrade all your dishes and switches.

.....G

are you able to tell them what you want upgraded? I called for the 622 yesterday and got mixed info regarding whether my old dishes needed to be swapped out for a dish1000. I'd rather not miss content or have to pay for more installations later on down the road if i'm paying $299 for an upgrade now and qualify for the new dish.
Thanks

E*'s upgrade deal says they will upgrade "whatever is required" in order for you to receive the complete programming package to which you subscribe, which in my case is the "Platinum HD Pack."

No, you don't get to specify... the average Joe doesn't know what's on his roof (much less the difference between DishPro and Legacy LNB's or DP44 switches and SW21 switches) all he cares about is that he can get the channels he is subscribed to, so that's how their deal is worded.

.....G

Open question for me is what must I return for rebate with VIP622?
If none, I'll still return 811.
If DVR, I'll return 501. Will keep to have 5 tuners to force install of DPP44 using separators on 2 dual tuners.
If 921, I'll keep it for the $200 diff. But I could do update now or as soon as avail.
Granted that I cannot get $200 rebate until 4/1 but sure would clarify what I need to do and when.
-Ken

the rebate is on 921 and 942 only I thought.

What is a 622 and what is the rebate deal you are referring to?

( I have Dish and a 921.)

the new hottness dish just announced which is the only mpeg4 dvr in town for dish users. the rebate is $200 for users of the above boxes that sign up after april 1st.

Open question for me is what must I return for rebate with VIP622?
If none, I'll still return 811.
If DVR, I'll return 501. Will keep to have 5 tuners to force install of DPP44 using separators on 2 dual tuners.
If 921, I'll keep it for the $200 diff. But I could do update now or as soon as avail.
Granted that I cannot get $200 rebate until 4/1 but sure would clarify what I need to do and when.
-Ken
If you have any SD or HD E* receiver now, you pay $299 now and get upgraded to a Vip211. If you have any SD DVR now, you pay $299 now and get upgraded to a Vip6221. Lessees return their boxes, owners don't.

If you have a 921 or a 942 HD DVR and you wait till April 1st, you get the $299 deal on a Vip622 and a $200 rebate on your E* bill. Lessees return their boxes, owners don't.

.....G

I get nothing for currently having a 6000 and upgrading to the 622, but they wanted to charge me an extra $6 a month for just having the two HD capable boxes! I'm having them disable the 6000 from their network and I'll sell it or throw it in my basement rather than pay that fee. way to promote HD Dish!

If you have any SD or HD E* receiver now, you pay $299 now and get upgraded to a Vip211. If you have any SD DVR now, you pay $299 now and get upgraded to a Vip6221. Lessees return their boxes, owners don't.

If you have a 921 or a 942 HD DVR and you wait till April 1st, you get the $299 deal on a Vip622 and a $200 rebate on your E* bill. Lessees return their boxes, owners don't.

.....G

Do you mean after April 1st I get the $200 rebate AND keep my (owned) 921?

Minor news update...........

KKOB-AM plans to go digital HD-radio "IBOC" sometime this year. :eek:

No news on KASY-DT and KWBQ-DT status concering over shutdown of UPN and WB.



I can't wait for KKOB-AM to go IBOC (and hoping KNML does the same). It would be awesome to hear local AM stations like I can off the satellite in high fidelity to the point it sounds like you are sitting next to them in the studio (some of the same national talk shows/radio networks that air on those two local stations).

Clear Channel FM IBOC should be on the air (they were planning for Feb 1) and Citadel has announced plans for their FM IBOC, but I didn't catch an anticipated start date or what FM stations would be outfitted for IBOC.

Did the AM IBOC issue get resolved (something to do with IBOC and nighttime reception? or is AM IBOC going to be a daytime use only thing?)

as for as KASY-KWBQ, they have continued to not respond to my emails about what station CW will air on and what plans are for the other station. I am hoping KWBQ is the winner for CW.

Ot... But What happened to Nelson Martinez on Kob? did he retire again?

He left the station around December 2nd according to the ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL and KOB management didn't comment on the reason since it was a personal matter.

Since Nelson retained an attorney, I bet he had a clause in his contract to be considered a front-runner if other daypart jobs became available and probably left the station when he didn't get to anchor the morning newscast after Monica left.

Hello Sthscan,

There are 5 FM stations "All owned by Clearchannel is now on the air in digital and at least 2 or 3 stations may go multicastings by feb, 20th.

As for AM IBOC plans for nighttime skip as yet to be determed as they are still debating. :confused:

I am hoping for a full nighttime digital skip since I like to DX digital signals. :)

I am pretty much sure KASY-DT will be a "IND" and KWBQ-DT "CW"

Also any news on getting Weather Plus to KOB-DT or not on now wasted 4.2 channel bandwith?

2-2-06

I get Digital Radio now. Sirius. Well worth the 12bucks a month. I can't listen to commercial ridden AM or FM now. I download my Rush Limbaugh commercial free now and carry my sirius radio everywhere I go.

NBC's Weather plus was great. The NBC station in San Diego carried it. I never noticed any problems with NBCs regular programming as far as multicast is concerned. Although in San Diego you could bet someone it would be 75 and sunny and pretty much win every day of the year. Here in albuquerque I want to know the weather report and I don't have this great tool available to me.

Is Rush on Sirius, or do you do that with an Ipod?

Also any news on getting Weather Plus to KOB-DT or not on now wasted 4.2 channel bandwith?

2-2-06

i'm not holding my breath on KOB-DT 4.2 having weatherplus -- i'm looking around for a used commercial satellite receiver to pick up the Weatherplus satellite feed. :D

I copied this from the good folks at dbstalk.com, but it comes from E* and it's handy to understand the upgrade options:

For customers with an 811
• Lease next generation High Definition Receiver (ViP 211 or similar)*
• Leased Upgrade Fee: FREE
• Professional Installation: $49 (includes state of the art dish antenna if applicable)
• Total Upgrade Package Price: $49
*Requires return of existing receiver as exchange

For customers with a 921 or 942
• Lease next generation High Definition Receiver (ViP 622 or similar)*
• Promotional Price Available to New & Existing Customers: $299
• Special REBATE: $200
• Total Upgrade Package Price: $99*
*includes professional installation and state of the art dish antenna (if applicable) Due to limited quantities of equipment, we are not starting the rebate promotion until April 1, so it benefits people to wait a little bit.

For customers who want HD for the very first time, but don't want HD DVR
• Lease next generation High Definition Receiver (ViP 211 or similar)*
• Leased Upgrade Fee: $49
• Professional Installation: $49 (includes state of the art dish antenna if applicable)
• Total: $98

For customers who want HD for the first time and want DVR
• Lease next generation High Definition Receiver (ViP 622 or similar)*
• Promotional Price Available to New & Existing Customers: $299
• Total Upgrade Package Price: $299
*includes professional installation and state of the art dish antenna (if applicable)

Thanks, G

Still not sure if I would have to send back my paid for 921, but it's a sweet deal either way.

It would be even sweeter if I could keep/sell my 921.

nah subscribers can download the shows as an mp3. part of the rush 24/7 deal.

Hi guruka,
Differing opinions on 622 HD-DVR at satelliteguys.us (a lot of poo-pooing of DBStalk, especially claim of 10000 available--turns out all have to go back for chip refit) include:
-Send in 921/942 even if owned (Dish's delight, warehouse nightmare),
-Keep if owned and pay if used but still a rebate,
-Keep 921/942 even if leased but pay fees,
-Send in anything like a 301 some are claiming,
-Send in nothing but unlikely.
I think we will not know until closer to the $200 earliest rebate date of April 1 or when we hear some install results with installer take-aways or return box.
Maybe you buy at $299 (now?) and expect no rebate or maybe there is a better deal later.
Looks like installs will be March at the earliest despite initial Feb dates.

I guess the E* (Echostar=Dish) chart does not cover the option I want--to keep 921 HD-DVR but to get the rebate or at worst send in my 811 HD-tuner or 501 SD-DVR and get the rebate. It just does not speak to owned boxes.
-Ken
BTW, you will not be able to sell old HD units and get them enabled even for MPEG2 HD. -K

<snip....>I guess the E* (Echostar=Dish) chart does not cover the option I want--to keep 921 HD-DVR but to get the rebate or at worst send in my 811 HD-tuner or 501 SD-DVR and get the rebate. It just does not speak to owned boxes.
-Ken
BTW, you will not be able to sell old HD units and get them enabled even for MPEG2 HD. -K

Actually the option you want is the one I want and, since I have owned my 921 since Dec 2003 and gotten much great use out of it, I am totally happy to keep it and use it as a SD DVR for another room, or even give it away, and get the Vip622 for $99. Yes, I heard the rumor about the "bad chip" issue with early units. It's not all units, but yes, it appears that about 1000 boxes went back for refit. The rumor on Satelliteguys.com is that the HDMI output started smoking :D

That's why I'm happy to wait till April to get my 622. I'll can watch and record the Turin Olympics (and anything else I want to watch in HD) just fine on my 921 till then. All existing subs are fine and E* will even have an Olympic feed in MPEG2. Heck, they havan't even gotten all the MPEG4 envcoding bugs worked out yet. Waiting till April seems prudent in many ways, even though my male technolust gene whispers... "gotta have an MPEG4 receiver NOW!" :)

.....G

I just ordered a 622 last night. Due in about a week. I think Dish's service has gone down hill however, or maybe that's just "exported".

So let me get this right. If I have a Dish 921, after April 1st, I can get a new mpeg4 Dish PVR after rebate for $99 but that is a least setup so I have to pay a monthly lease payment.

So let me get this right. If I have a Dish 921, after April 1st, I can get a new mpeg4 Dish PVR after rebate for $99 but that is a least setup so I have to pay a monthly lease payment.
Hi Fred.... Nope. There is NO monthly lease payment. Just the $299 upfront and a $200 credit on your Dish bill. In fact the programming I get now is actually cheaper under the new HD packaging system. I now get 15 channels of HD from Dish and I will get 20 for less $$.

It's actually a very sweet deal.

.....G

The folks I talked to at Dish...both of whom had somewhat different stories, told me there IS a lease payment, and/or a DVR fee.

At $6 a month (lease fee only), you come out ahead unless you keep the unit for over 8 years.

Still, I think we need to wait and see.

The folks I talked to at Dish...both of whom had somewhat different stories, told me there IS a lease payment, and/or a DVR fee.

At $6 a month (lease fee only), you come out ahead unless you keep the unit for over 8 years.

Still, I think we need to wait and see.

There is a "lease fee" if you do not subscribe to an HD package! If you subscribe to an HD package, there is no lease fee. This is designed to prevent Dish customers from getting a Vip211 or Vip622 and using it for only OTA HD reception. Again... there is NO lease fee if you subscribe to the Dish Bronze HD (http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/programming/dishhd/programming/pricingandpackages/index.shtml) pack or higher.

.....G

Cool...but how about a "PVR" fee...?

In the past these have been two separate items.

I'm not arguing, just trying to get it straight...:)

No extra fees would be amazing, but I was told differently...though two different things by two different Dish reps.

/ guruka: "about 1000 boxes" No the quoted number is 10,000 less ~240 in warehouse.
/ guruka: If I have to turn in my owned ~$1000 921, I would rather spend the extra $200 and keep it, as you say for dual-tuner SD + OTA HD recording. Would like to know now.
/ guruka: "Olympic feed in MPEG2" Yes, an SD highlight plus an HD feed on channel of ABC O&O areas + Pitt will get the Superbowl. No, Univeral HD (additional NBC coverage) will be with MPEG4 headers, AFAIK.
/ from dish e-mail: "the Opening Ceremonies Friday, February 10th at 8 PM ET * NBC Showcase: View up to 6 channels simultaneously or select any one to watch full screen. * NBC Enhanced Application: Check event schedules, athlete bios, medal counts and more! Over 400 hours of Olympic coverage including HD * 200 hours of high definition simulcast on NBC HD * Over 100 hours of content on Universal HD"
/ moonhawk: "At $6 a month (lease fee only)" I saw where they will now be requiring a fee on the first set as well. DVR fees did apply without All-Everything for all but additional receiver fees only applied starting with second.
/ guruka: "I now get 15 channels of HD from Dish and I will get 20 for less $$." Don't know your packages but with a couple dollar increases in most, I think, mine will go up but not enough to warrent getting AEP to save DVR fees.
/ guruka: "rumor on Satelliteguys.us [sic] is that the HDMI output started smoking" was only for the 211 non-DVR model, AFAIK. Encouraging use of component until fixed. Hard to check 622 until some are out there.
/ moonhawk: "how about a "PVR" fee" I think that still applies to 622 but not of course to 211.
/ to all: Sorry about trying to consolidate all these responses without yet getting to fully investigate today's boards. Just to many to read! This board seemed a more leisurely place to discuss this but I'm sure we are boring OTA, Cable, and Direct readers. Again sorry,
-Ken

KOAT-DT is not showing any pregame super bowl in HDTV!! :(

Please keep bugging the station so everyone can get this game in HDTV because not everyones has a backup channel. "KABC-DT on Directv"

I guess somthing is wrong with this station.

2-5-06

This stinks. Has anyone talked to anybody in engineering?

According to a guy in KOAT engineering, ABC is broadcasting the pre-game stuff in SD but will broadcast the game in HD. He sounded like he was in touch with the network. But you never know.

They are wrong.............

I am watching KABC-DT on Directv and the Pre Game Show IS in HDTV!!!!!

2-5-06

I can't get through to anyone at engineering. This sucks.

Koat tells me that the network is not transmitting HD signals. They say that what DriectTV is sending is SD in 16:9 format. Is that true?

Well they are wrong again, I am getting true HDTV on KABC-DT channel 87 showing great 720p widescreen as I am typing.........

2:37 PM MST.

Sheeze don't they know how to tune in ABC satellite HDTV feed they must be on the wrong satellite channel?!! :mad:

2-5-06

Good news!!

KOAT-DT is now showing 720p ABC HDTV feed!!

Now go enjoy the show!!!

2-5-06

Well, druing the Super Bowl, I had three instances of the infamous "machine gun" noise. Of course, one of those had to be during the Rolling Stones. DANG!

Brian

Well, druing the Super Bowl, I had three instances of the infamous "machine gun" noise. Of course, one of those had to be during the Rolling Stones. DANG!

Brian

yes, those "machine gun" sentiments are right on the money .. other than having at least one hit during the Rolling Stones show, those "machine gun" sounds are exactly what I wanted to do to the audio engineer of the rolling stones part of the hafltime show.

Was it me or was mick's vocals very low level and muddy? it was pretty hard most of the time to hear his vocals. the instrumentals were at a good to great level, the vocals were poor most of the time.

That's about what I wanted to do to those prancing emaciated geriatric metrosexuals....:D

Was it me or was mick's vocals very low level and muddy? it was pretty hard most of the time to hear his vocals. the instrumentals were at a good to great level, the vocals were poor most of the time.

They had issues with the mix throughout the broadcast. I only caught the tail end of the pre-game, but did see Stevie Wonder and the National Anthem...a horrible mix throughout.

While I will tip my hats to the performers for actually singing live (with what seemed to be taped background music), whoever was running the mix did not seem to know who was singing at any given time. The first few words of the vocals were AWOL when the vocal lead switched from one singer to the next.

And overall, the mix was just poor regardless of who was singing.

That said, I will also tip my hat to the Stones for really playing...."dead man cumming" and all!

Edit: Actually, the offending word and another from the second number were cut from the actual broadcast via the delay that ABC was running during the 1/2 time show.

Brian

The audio was a major sore spot in this abc broadcast. But what I want to know is the machine gun noise something KOAT is doing, or is it coming from ABC? It would seem that its local since I don't see many other posts regarding it. It definitely has to stop. And sometimes the audio just drops out completely. Can it be that complicated?

Don't forget we're dealing with a station that didn't even know that the pre-game stuff was in HD; they kept telling me that the network was not sending HD signals. I suspect that I and others who called the station finally got through to their engineering department and convinced them to try again.

One of the things that bugs me about the sound was their bringing up the crowd noise for some sort of ambience which tends to mask the commentators comments.

The audio was a major sore spot in this abc broadcast. But what I want to know is the machine gun noise something KOAT is doing, or is it coming from ABC? It would seem that its local since I don't see many other posts regarding it. It definitely has to stop. And sometimes the audio just drops out completely. Can it be that complicated?

i'll have to find a night of good ABC programming and watch the satellite feed - we can then have more of an idea if it's ABC NYC or KOAT. I keep forgetting to, but i'll make more of an effort this week to check on that (maybe thursday or friday evening when I actually watch more than 30 mins of ABC).

The audio was a major sore spot in this abc broadcast. But what I want to know is the machine gun noise something KOAT is doing, or is it coming from ABC? It would seem that its local since I don't see many other posts regarding it. It definitely has to stop. And sometimes the audio just drops out completely. Can it be that complicated?

FWIW, I was "forced" to watch the game in analog SD, and noticed several audio dropouts. Past experience (from my walking between rooms where I have analog and HDTV sets on the same program) SEEMS to indicate that the "machine gun" on the HDTV broadcasts corresponds with dropouts on the analog SD. This still doesn't answer the question about whether this is an ABC or KOAT problem, but it's an observation on the state of the overall switchover from analog to digital broadcasting. Given our experiences with digital TV glitches in a top 50 market, is anyone else having doubts about the congressionally-mandated February 2009 deadline for digital-only broadcasts? As somebody said (maybe on this forum), it feels like we're all part of a big beta-test.

What does the "machine gun noise" actually sound like.
I ask this because KMGH-DT in Denver recently moved its low-power transmitter to a downtown skyscraper (co-located with most of the the other locals), and I can now get ABC-DT.

The first thing I noticed is that my sound would be on-then off-then on... at about 1/2-1/3 second intervals. At first, this seemed to be 100% of the time, and I was bummed that there was something in their stream that my 1st gen SIR-T150 didn't like. Nobody else in the Denver Thread seemed to have the problem, and now I've found that if I put my receiver on ABC, then turn it off and turn it back on (no hard boot like unplugging needed) I can get "normal" audio (I'm only running stereo signals to my TV at this time since my surround receiver met with an untimely "static shock" induced death -- so I can't really say "normal").
Anyway, I wrote the engineer, and he hadn't heard about the problem before, but reading this, I started wondering if this was related. I'm wondering when you get this, does it eventually go away, or do you need to turn you receiver off then back on? Also, anybody on this thread that DIDN'T have a problem during the Stones? just curious.

Thanks, Greg

Hi, guys. New to the forum. Thanks for the thread. It's been a real help.

Over the last year, I've called KOAT engineering at on least five different occasions to ask them to turn on the HD feed. Amazing. I'm just grateful for the programming.

btw, we just upgraded to the expanded E* lineup. Fantastic picture quality and a good array of programming.

dal91

Are you getting Universal HD, and what equipment does this require?

Do you need a dish 1000 and a 622?

Yes, I'm getting Universal HD and ESPN2HD, as well as the 15 voom channels, which look very good. Just in time for Torino and the World Cup!

I have a Dish 1000 and a 211. Passed on the $300 lease fee for the 622.

I also had the tech put up an outside OTA antenna. It's part of the Dish-N-It Up promotion. After a year of spotty receiption with a Radio Shack indoor antenna, the locals' pictures here in the Far NE Heights is consistently locked in at 70+. No burps, no pixelation. He told me, though, that E* has told them to expect ABQ locals by mid-April.

I wonder if the 1000 will work with my 921...I want to wait till
april for the rebate on the 622, but I'd like to get Universal in time for the Olympics...not to mention Battlestar Galactica.

The machine gun audio problem sounds like somebody is coming down on your head with a skill saw. Seriously, if you have the volume turned up pretty high it jolts you out of your seat. It is completely ridiculous that this happens and I agree that the mandated switch to digital broadcasts will not happen without major complications. I think if the people working in this field today were the ones responsible for getting analog radio and TV off the ground many years ago it would have never happened.

I doubt hardly anybody in congress, and the FCC for that matter, truly understand what is happening in DTV land. I'm afraid down the road some of us will prefer to have SD back instead of overcompressed digital and HDTV channels. I think this all should have been handled as an alternate, maybe even optional, broadcasting method. Whenever you mandate anything, it happens by cutting corners.

I wonder if the 1000 will work with my 921...I want to wait till
april for the rebate on the 622, but I'd like to get Universal in time for the Olympics...not to mention Battlestar Galactica.Yeah, the Dish 1000 will work with your 921, but you won't get any new channels. That includes Universal HD since that channel has an MPEG4 header and only the new MPEG4 receivers can see it.

.....G

Actually yesterday Scott said that E* would make UHD ava in MPEG 2 for the Olympic's only... we can hope... I want to compare E*'s version with D*'s...however the Alb. locals were up on 129 testing, if they stay there and I want to upgrade to the new packs, I will need a 1000(unless I loose my CBS off 148 or 61.5 which is possible)
http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=55484

I think the noise is ABC. The ABC affiliate in San Diego had similar problems along with annoying Pink Macroblocks throughout a lot of shows. Lost and Boston Legal were plagued with them last season. Having similar problems here in aBQ I have to beleive its network related.

On a side note, anyone have an inside line to Comcraps intent on HD Olympic coverage from UHD? Supposedly some systems can carry Universal HD starting the 9th while others which are Bandwidth plagued and pre-empt INHD2 for olympic coverage during the games. Hopefully we will get it outright. So we can have 9 channels of HD. hee hee.

...I agree that the mandated switch to digital broadcasts will not happen without major complications. I think if the people working in this field today were the ones responsible for getting analog radio and TV off the ground many years ago it would have never happened. I doubt hardly anybody in congress, and the FCC for that matter, truly understand what is happening in DTV land. I'm afraid down the road some of us will prefer to have SD back instead of overcompressed digital and HDTV channels...

I wasn't around for the beginning of broadcast TV in the 40s, and certainly not for radio. I'm sure each had its problems for a while, and early adopters included many hobbyists who tend to be quite tolerant of problems (indeed, many regard them as challenges). But I have the sense with the ABC/KOAT problem (as well as the KOB reception problems several months ago, and KNME-HD being off the air the weekend before last) that the expertise doesn't yet exist that will get us through the analog-DTV transition without some difficulty, and that's without even talking about converter boxes for older TVs. I pity the smaller markets that are just now starting the move to DTV. 2009 will be here in a hurry.

hey, if you have comcrap and a QAM tuner, tune to 89.09 for Showtimes Smutfest tittyshows unscambled and FREE! WAY TO GO Comcast!

Nice to know you can get the nice rauncy channel for free on Comcrap!!! :D

But no luck for me on Directv.

BTW,
I just noted KCHF-DT's signal is barely starting to show up on my signal meter still too weak to lock it in maybe later tonight it might improve depending on the propegation weather.

Has anyone chances to DX the signal?

2-7-06

Hey guys check it out I am getting a TV skip on channel 3 KCRA-TV from Sac, California!!

The signal is very weak fading in and out at one time it went up to P 2.5 out of P5 "P 5 means the best picture"

Go get that station!!! :eek:

2-07-06

[I wasn't around for the beginning of broadcast TV in the 40s, and certainly not for radio. I'm sure each had its problems for a while, and early adopters included many hobbyists who tend to be quite tolerant of problems (indeed, many regard them as challenges). But I have the sense with the ABC/KOAT problem (as well as the KOB reception problems several months ago, and KNME-HD being off the air the weekend before last) that the expertise doesn't yet exist that will get us through the analog-DTV transition without some difficulty, and that's without even talking about converter boxes for older TVs. I pity the smaller markets that are just now starting the move to DTV. 2009 will be here in a hurry.]

I had DBS service back when they barely had a million customers. Way back when you could get east coast and west coast feeds of the network stations. It was awesome, and the picture quality was unbelieveable. Then one day I turned it on, and everything looked like crap. I soon realised that in order to stay competitive they added a bunch of new channels and shrunk the bandwidth down without caring about pictures that had artifacting and obvious over compression flaws. I for one am not tolerant of those kinds of problems, the kind we'll see even more of. As long as we have access to quality recorded media I suppose I won't feel to bad, but otherwide all this money on HD equipment is wasted.

Im sitting here watching some sitcom on Universal HD on Channel 212 on Comcrap. I guess they did have bandwidth to add a full hd channel. now if only they had interest in CBS.

Im sitting here watching some sitcom on Universal HD on Channel 21 on Comcrap. I guess they did have bandwidth to add a full hd channel. now if only they had interest in CBS.

Don't get me wrong, I don't particularly like comcast. But I'm not sure why you keep on this about cbs. It has nothing to do with "interest." Ask the Time Warner customers in NE Wisconsin about it. It's the same reason they don't have it. Emmis owned the stations and wanted money for the channel and none of the big cable companies are willing to pay to carry the broadcast networks.

Im sitting here watching some sitcom on Universal HD on Channel 21 on Comcrap. I guess they did have bandwidth to add a full hd channel. now if only they had interest in CBS.

Is it "in the clear", or encrypted? I have a QAM decoder in my TV, but I don't have one of their HD cable boxes.

Thanks,

John

"Doctor, it hurts when I have Comcast."

"Stop having Comcast"

BTW, what would a Comcast bill with 7 or 8 total HD channels be? Just curious. I think my Dish 622 bill will be about $75 with 120 regular stations, 23 HD satellite channels, local 5 or 6 local HD, and an array of PPV channels with more on the way.

BTW, what would a Comcast bill with 7 or 8 total HD channels be? Just curious. I think my Dish 622 bill will be about $75 with 120 regular stations, 23 HD satellite channels, local 5 or 6 local HD, and an array of PPV channels with more on the way.

I give them 136 a month with a hd-dvr, sho, hbo, and their internet service. So for digital cable alone, no dvr, and no premium channels it would be about 70 dollars or so.

Oops. Its on 212 not 21.

Comcrap charges too much. I just have a box on one set and Internet. No premiums and Im over 100 a month. At least now with UHD theres more to watch. I still wish I could get rid of my rabbit ears. $6,000 HDTV and I got a $3 pair of rabbit ears sitting on top so I can watch the rest of the Broadcast networks.

What is it with Albuquerque cable companies? Cable One offers CBS-HD but not NBC-HD. Sucks to be one of their subscribers this month.

My Comcast bill is just over $150/month, with their platinum package, hd dvr and internet access. Bigglare, get a Silver Sensor from John Ashman for the top of your tv; much better looking than the bunny ears. :)
JR

Why pay more for an antenna when the ears work. Thats like paying comcast for half the hd channels I get over the air. Oh wait. I already do. good point.

Just wish they would get some program data up in guide.

My bill with comcast is $118 for platinum pkg + hd. No dvr or internet. And it's gone up about $10 over the last 6 months!

The "machine gun" noise on KOAT should be...should be fixed...hopefully. Post if ya hear any.

Anyone hear anything about Universal HD on Dish in MPEG2 for the OLympics only...or was that an unsubstantiated rumour?

UPDATE:

UHD now available on Dish channel 9426...Check your "All Channels" folder.

moonhawk, thanks, just added UHD to my favorites on Dish. Is there anything worthwhile on that channel? How about Enterprise?

fjerina

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA!!!!!!!!(I think)

don't know if we'll get to see it during the Olympics, but it's reason enough for me to upgrade to the new 622 MPEG4 ...a great show.

I see UHD on my Dish mpeg2 PVR 921 as channel 9426. However, on TitanTV.com it shows it on channel 9419. I wonder why? Also, my guide does not show information on UHD programming beyond 7 pm tonight. I wonder why?

Does titantv say when Galactica is on?...same time as Sci-Fi?

TitanTV shows Battlestar Galactica being on UHD on Sundays at 6 pm and repeated at 9 pm on channel 9419.

Thanks..

Hopefully there'll be a lull in Olympic coverage at one of those times...:)

Why pay more for an antenna when the ears work. .

Just for the neat futuristic looks, if nothing else. I thought you didn't care for the looks of the bunny ears, but maybe I misunderstood. JR

Be aware that the showings of BSG on UHD is the first part of Season 2, for another guide to UHD and more visit this thread http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=29723

Not currrent episodes?...Bummer.

Do you know if it's true HD?

Yes its true HD, I will be ready to check out how it looks on E* Sunday night as the E* version of UHD is much better than D* PQ wise. I watched the episodes on Scifi and am now watching the UHD versions on my X1 with a 73" screen, with surround sound and shakers. :D

Minor news update.....

KPEK-FM 100.3 MHz is now broadcasting HD-Radio. "IBOC"

KGLP-FM 91.7 in Gallup is now broadcasting HD-Radio. "IBOC"

So that's mean there are 6 radio stations in New Mexico is now broadcasting digital. :)

2-11-06

Hello all,

I just installed the ATI HDTV Wonder, but can't get 1080i channels. Audio works great, but video doesn't.

Here is my system: Dell SC400, P4 2.4 HT, 1gb memory, Nvidia GeForce 6800 (v. 81.98), XP home SP2 w/ all patches, ATI Multimedia center 9.13

The 480i or 720p TV stations (e.g. KASA-DT 2.1, KOAT-DT 7.1) are pretty good w/o any problem. But the 1080i stations (KOB-DT 4.1, KRQE-DT 13.1) have only sound, no picture. I don't think it's the problem of the multipath because my signals are strong (~70%).

I also tried the Nvidia Purevideo Decoder, WatchHDTV, changing PCI slots, and UIUseHVA trick. But no lucky. I am wondering if any of you knows the possible solution?

Is it the problem of the Nvidia video card? Does an ATI card help?

Thanks in advance! :)

Terrible dropouts on KOB Olympics...anyone else?

Yep. OTA and Comcast HD.

Yup. Terrible. Looks like a KOB issue since I'm seeing them during the local commercials too. I suspect their server since they are delaying the NBC feed by one hour. Overall the Olympic HD video has been gorgeous!

.....G

There was talk of dropouts etc.. on WNBC HD , I only get KNBC HD and did not notice...

I emailed Sean Anker and he pointed out that the Saturday evening droupouts were due to the big storm on the right coast. He also pointed out that KOB is not using video delay. NBC is actually giving them a MST feed.

NBC was having uplink problems due to the big storm that was dumping 2 feet of snow on them. Unfortunately they don't have backup uplink facilities for the HD feeds, so the entire nation was affected. Loss of signal affected the local insertions too. NBC is providing us a true mountain time zone feed for the duration of the Olympics. It's a beautiful thing!

We're running 15.5 megabits on the HD and 2.3 on KOB-2. I may tweak that balance a little bit today, but after watching it this weekend I really see very little difference at 15.5 vs. what we were running in 2004. I think most of the damage is already done just to get a 1gigbit/second signal smashed into a 19.34 megabit stream.

Sean
.....G

Do anyone here have experience with HD reception in White Rock? For example, which channels come in, where in White Rock they're located?

Thanks

We had a good DTV User Group meeting last night at KNME. The main presentation was by Robert Mallory on room treatments for echo and reverb control. He mainly does large rooms like gyms and auditoriums but also will analyze needs for HT. He showed pictures of Dr. Dybwad's house that had the ceiling treated and got the echo time down to an acceptable level. The resulting change in sound in the room was reported to be dramatic. Audiophiles esp., should have been there. Later, JR

I was going to come but I had a last minute emergency. Glad it was a good presentation. Anyone know when our local ABC will be presenting Good Morning America in HD?

[QUOTE=jerrich]We had a good DTV User Group meeting last night at KNME. /QUOTE]

JR...I'm sort of new. How does one find out about meetings and the like?

RBM

So the olympic drop outs being experienced aren't showing you guys sudden drops of signal strength and are manifesting as something else?

Just got a Dish 622 and some ears the other day and my signal strength for NBC-4 is all over the map on the OTA side.

Since my other locals are showing to be in the 80-95% range, it seems unique to them.

So the olympic drop outs being experienced aren't showing you guys sudden drops of signal strength and are manifesting as something else?

Just got a Dish 622 and some ears the other day and my signal strength for NBC-4 is all over the map on the OTA side.

Since my other locals are showing to be in the 80-95% range, it seems unique to them.
I have my local dealer working to get me a 622, the Alb HD Locals are in testing on 129 so hopefully those of us that do not get any OTA will get them befroe long MPEG4 ( although I have mixed feelings as I am grandfathered and have waivers for CBSHD)

Haven't had any dropouts on Olympics since the second day of coverage....

JR...I'm sort of new. How does one find out about meetings and the like?
RBM


Glad you asked. There is an audiophile/videophile/digital meeting at KNME on University Blvd. every third Thursday of each month, at 7 PM. They are very informative and entertaining. The chief engineer, Jim Gale, sponsors them and something new is featured for each meeting. We have techs, engineers, scientists and hobbyists that come fairly regularly. Do make a note on your calendar and try to come. JR
PS. The meetings are free.

Speaking of meetings, (I missed the last one due to spending some needed private time with my stepdaughter), we're going to do version of January's meeting at the ABQ Art/History museum on two Sundays March 5th/March 12th 10-5 with a 6.3 NHT Xd surround system playing multi-channel music/movies, some new NAD/NHT electronics and the new InFocus $3000 720p DLP projector. The acoustics are much more favorable than the huge studio at PBS and we can seat up to 90 people in the auditorium.

More info and updates here: http://forum.adnm.com/viewtopic.php?t=649

We just moved into Carnuel(Tijeras Canyon) and now only get 2,7,19 off air digital signals. Of course, Comcast isn't offering anything additional except 5. My question is: Can anyone give us an idea when D* will offer local HD service in our market(I think we're around #46 size wise). I'm committed to D* since they're sole source for NFLST. Any info appreciated. Thx.

How about that AACS news? No Component video love. Guess Im buying a nice upscaling dvd player.

How about that AACS news? No Component video love. Guess Im buying a nice upscaling dvd player. Both my HDTV's and my Projector take Component in / only... The HD-DVD players will work with Component, just downrezzed to dvd quaility...I think it sucks...

Can anyone give us an idea when D* will offer local HD service in our market(I think we're around #46 size wise). I'm committed to D* since they're sole source for NFLST. Any info appreciated. Thx.

all I can say is I have no idea. DirecTV just announced the next 24 markets to get local HDTV services and Albuquerque wasn't on the list. I'm guessing the next round of 25 stations may include Albuquerque, but who knows when it'll go active.

If I were a betting man, I'd probably say late 2006 or early 2007.

Hi guys,

I'm in Abq., and I'm new to the HD stuff. Right now I have a Philips 30" HDTV with a Samsung SIR-T451 HD tuner. I'm pulling in plenty of over the air channels with an old antenna (2, 4, 5, 5.1, 7, 13, 19, 23...not 50 though). I have a couple of questions, if someone wouldn't mind answering them:

I also have Comcast cable (not Digital, just regular old coax). How does coax cable interact with the HD tuner? Is it possible to plug the coax into the tuner and get some channels I didn't get before?

What's this QAM business? Will my tuner decode/encode/whatever a QAM signal? (does that even make sense?)

Thanks for everything!

How about that AACS news? No Component video love. Guess Im buying a nice upscaling dvd player.

What is AACS and what news are you referring to?

Thanks

Max, QAM is the modulation system used by cable cos. for their signal and I don't think your Sammy will receive it. Even if you buy a QAM capable receiver or dvd combo unit such as the LG 3510a, you can only receive unscrambled channels, not many. You should look into getting the SA 8300 dvr from Comcast and subscribe to some of the digital and hd channels if your budget permits. JR

ACSS is the new copy deterent system for HD-DVD and BlueRay. CSS is used by DVD that was cracked by DVDJon to allow all the now available DVD Copy software.

ACSS announced that under no circumstances will they ALLOW full High Definition video to be output via Component video. ACSS will be used by all the major studios just like CSS is used today. If your TV is pre HDMI or HDCP you will only get 900x500 (roughly) out via component. This is less than 720p which is 1280x720. With a progressive scan dvd at 720x480 your improvement for picture quality is very slim.

While if we shell out 500 for an HD-DVD player, and an HD-DVD burner we would have to Rip and copy any movie we wanted in High Def. That is once ACSS is cracked. Or if we had an HD camcorder we could make our own high def movies.

The ACSS group is taking a bat and smashing all its relations with those dirty HDTV early adopters, Most Pre 2004 owners. I paid a few grand for my TV. Im not planning to replace it anytime soon.

ACSS is merely going to limit the legitmate sales of players and movies while further encouraging efforts to crack their schemes to allow copying which will hurt their sales.

I have a Floor to ceiling bookcase full of DVDs Ive bought since my first player in early 1997. I will buy an upscaling DVD player and skip HDDVD and BlueRay until I cant get around it. (PS3).

Thank you for the answer....will ACSS work over DVI?...I have a 2 1/2 yr old Sammy with DVI in, no HDMI. But I use a HDMI/DVI cable from my Arcam AVR 700.

That said, I'll probably not jump on HD/BR for quite a while.

The whole hd/bd format war is almost a non issue for those of us with hd dvrs. I have the 8300 from Comcast that is full of hd movies just waiting for me to find time to watch. I said 'almost' because I really want a hd dvd recorder to archive some of the stuff I have on the 8300, like the Roy Orbison Black and White concert in hd, John Fogerty, Alison Krause, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, BBC Proms, etc. that would be great on disk. JR

Yes, ACSS will work over DVI if the DVI input supports HDCP. Your Sammy manual should tell you that info.

Re: DVR's.... it gets better. Not only does the new Dish Vip622 HD DVR have a 400 MB internal hard disk, but it will support archiving SD and HD content onto external USB 2.0 hard disks. You can have as many of these hard disks as you like. The upside is that you have unlimited HD video archive capability. The downside is that the archived content is, of course, encrypted. It's encrypted with a key unique to your 622, so in order to view the archived content, you have to plug the external drive back into your 622's USB port since it will only play on the 622 on which it was originally recorded. The 622 also has an ethernet port (Vip = Video Over IP) which has not been enabled yet, but Dish says it will be enabled in a future software update. Just a month to go till I get my shiny new Vip622. I just installed a neighbor's 622 on Saturday. It's the best DVR I've ever seen (and I've seen almost all of them.)

.....G

Those Slimey Bastages at Comcrap pulled UniversalHD. Time to Frakken cancel my cable.

I was looking at all the HD movie channels on dish and I think I'm going to sell my damned DVD player. I just have to get my damned 622 first.

Re: DVR's.... it gets better. Not only does the new Dish Vip622 HD DVR have a 400 MB internal hard disk, but it will support archiving SD and HD content onto external USB 2.0 hard disks.


Huh. I think I just cancelled Neflix as well.

Those Slimey Bastages at Comcrap pulled UniversalHD. Time to Frakken cancel my cable.

In the FWIW department, I just talked to a sup. at Comcast and he said they didn't pull it off, but NBC quit providing it to them. Call NBC and holler.
JR

OOH Thats a good line. NBC pulled it from them. hah hah hah.

Or better yet cancel Comcrap, and hop over to Directv they have NBC UniversalHD!! :)

Other than that not much going on around here though..... :p

2-27-06

Dish has 23 HD channels compared to Comcraps 8. After enjoying Sirius so much this past two months. Going with a central satellite service sounds all the more appealing. Especially with cable conglomerates like Comcrap being so unfriendly to customers.

If Im going to get more HD ota than I do for cable no since continuing to pay cable.

I bet CBS, WB and UPN also pulled their HD feeds from Comcast? The common demonitator is Comcrap. Someone at comcast doesnt want to pay their bill to provide us the HD service we want. If we continue to pay our bill with them, they will continue to drop the ball. Hell They havent even picked up the ball. I moved from terrestrial radio to Satellite. Time to move my Television services to the magic bird in the sky too.

Huh. I think I just cancelled Neflix as well.
Oh wait... there's more. The 622 allows you to record three channels at once (any combo of SD and/or HD) Two satellite channels plus one OTA channel. And, of course, you can watch pre-recorded shows while you are recording three others at the same time.

.....G

I can't even get cable up here in the mountains, but I'm generally quite happy with Dish...Which BTW now has Universal...

Can't wait for the upgrade $100 lease deal in April.

And Dish also has Sirius music stations in addition to their own.

Oh wait... there's more. The 622 allows you to record three channels at once (any combo of SD and/or HD) Two satellite channels plus one OTA channel. And, of course, you can watch pre-recorded shows while you are recording three others at the same time.

:eek:

Another thought. NBC pulled UHD from comcrap. Why?

Because Comcrap wouldn't aggree to NBC Universals terms. Are we as subscribers to comcrap just supposed to sit here and be happy and thankful for what comcrap will give us? I don't think so.

Comcrap doesnt pay up because they know that their subscriber base will still pay up. Thats why they don't even carry CBS's HD or The WB. Whats the likely hood they will carry CBS and CW come fall if they cant even, err, WON'T even pay to keep the channels they wave in front of us like a carrot.

I had my taste of Universal HD and I want more. I have tasted a full service cable company in San Diego which carried all the networks. If I have to get all my networks from OTA rather than just the half comcrap doesnt carry. So Be it. Just like Radio, as cable providers drop the ball and drive more people to satellite the less will come back.

Oh wait... there's more. The 622 allows you to record three channels at once (any combo of SD and/or HD) Two satellite channels plus one OTA channel. And, of course, you can watch pre-recorded shows while you are recording three others at the same time.

.....GI ordered one today, should be in Thursday or Friday... Bought it , as I am keeping my 921 and 811...(and my D*HD receivers ;) ) Have you gotten one yet guruka?

Have you gotten one yet guruka?
I'm waitin' til April 1st to take advantage of the $200 rebate from E*. I installed one for my neighbor last Saturday. Definitely the best receiver E* has ever made. The menus and EPG are super-fast and the install went without a hitch. Remember, if you want the ABQ locals in HD, you'll need a dish pointed at the 129 degree bird since they are not mirrored on 61.5.

.....G

I guess I will have to try the 5 sat configuration... or give up one of my wings...

The Vip622 will handle 5 sats if you have the correct switches.

.....G

Yup, I have the Dpp44 currently running 61.5, 110, 119 and 148... I love the 148 CBSHD west as it is still full rez compared to the East Feed... and HBO/SHO have better PQ...The only HD network I gain from getting the 622 is ABC as I get Fox, Nbc and Cbs West's from D*...I have not watched Abc other than the news or MNF so all programming would be new to me except lost which I am catching up on on DVD...

Guruka

Is your friend getting Albq locals NOW on sat?

Is that available for anyone, or do you need a waiver?

thanks

I think I heard March 15th as a date, they have been testing for awhile on 129... And dang near the whole State of NM is in the Alb. Dma so no waivers required...

Guruka

Is your friend getting Albq locals NOW on sat?

Is that available for anyone, or do you need a waiver?

thanks
Also they will be Ava Only on the new E* MPEG4 Receivers... the 411, ViP 211 and the ViP622... D* has not announced Alb. locals yet... the next 24 markets for them did not include.

BTW, since I am totally new to HDTV in my home (having ditched my two EDTVs for an LCD and a DLP PJ), and still waiting for the 622 to replace my Dish 721, what is the state of Fox and NBC? Last I heard, they weren't even doing real HD. Are they now?

Fox is 720P and NBC is 1080i... but It really depends on your provider as to the final product. There are many threads at this and other forums on the final resolutions...

Since many of the people that access this forum are much more knowledgeable than me with regards to the new HD DVD players coming out soon, I thought I would ask this question.

Which technology is going to be better or more supported, HD DVD or Blu-ray? I have heard that movie studios are supporting Blu-ray to a greater degree but have also heard a lot of good news about HD DVD. I hear the HD DVD players are coming out this month and that the Blu-ray players will be out in June. Does anyone have any ideas about which is better and which technology may last longer? I know this is probably like trying to look into a crystal ball, but any information might be helpful. Is either technology going to be almost the same so that it really doesn't matter which type of technology we invest in at this point? I'm just not really sure and would like some more opinions.

It's been suggested that we boycott all the new hd players due to the draconian copy protection systems they carry, like no hd over component, etc. That leaves the majority of early hd tv owners out in the cold. There is an extensive discussion on the fair use laws that we will be losing, over on the Spot. JR

BTW, since I am totally new to HDTV in my home (having ditched my two EDTVs for an LCD and a DLP PJ), and still waiting for the 622 to replace my Dish 721, what is the state of Fox and NBC? Last I heard, they weren't even doing real HD. Are they now?Go to this forum and "Search Forum" for resolution... http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=34 should be something to help you...

It's been suggested that we boycott all the new hd players due to the draconian copy protection systems they carry, like no hd over component, etc. That leaves the majority of early hd tv owners out in the cold. There is an extensive discussion on the fair use laws that we will be losing, over on the Spot. JR

This did not answer my question. I'm sorry if that's affecting those that only have component inputs on their monitors, but I have an HDMI input so that would not affect me.

Good news if you have a 411 or ViP 211 / 622 and no OTA in the Alb. DMA... locals are supposed to be launched Thursday March 2nd...
http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=58136 and
http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=58121

Blu-Ray is definitely more supported, but Toshiba thinks it can leverage a price advantage against them. I'm going to sit it out and enjoy HD over satellite.

Its hard to say which format is going to be better right now.

HD-DVD isnt shipping until end of the month week of the 26th. Blue Ray not until May.

If you have a new tv and willing to bite. HD-DVD players will start at $499 and $1000 depending on which player you buy. Blue-Ray's initial players will start at $1000. A big price difference.

With support for mutiple compression formats, AVC, MPEG2, VC1 the fact that HD-dvd is 30gbs to blue rays 50gb really isnt a big factor.

I think Blue ray may have a few more studios supporting them. But HD-DVD seems to have more recent titles expected to launch with players while Blueray is launching with more older titles. Keystone titles, Titantic, Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, or Lord of the rings are missing from either camps selection. While you will be able to get the recent Batman Begins, or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on HD-DVD.

Personally as an "Early Adopter" with a TV less than three years old, Im taking the next generation up the... I'm looking to get a nice upscalling DVD player to enjoy my large library of titles in a much sharper picture on my TV. Lets hope someone like Tivo or Scientific Atlanta builds an HDMI pass through on their DVRs. Like when we got our first dVD players for TVs with just coax. But until I can strip the AACSS off my BlueRay or HDDVD discs to enjoy HD movies, I wont be buying either side.

I think the first company to get Players and Drives at a low enough cost to consumers will win. At this point HD-DVD as it stands. But things could be different after Christmas. Circuit city way back killed their bastardized DVD format, DiVX after just one Christmas season. With HD Camcorders becoming more numerous People like me will want an HD disc format to produce home videos to. So I'll at least be buying a drive of either format for that purpose.

Is DISH adding ALL the Local Networks, ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, WB, and UPN?

Yeah...and is it only for folks who can't get OTA?

I get OTA, but I wan't HD locals on Sat as well, so I can record two HD locals at once, without buying a second tuner and DVR, or whatever.

Is DISH adding ALL the Local Networks, ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, WB, and UPN?
Just the Big 4 no WB or UPN as far as I know...

Yeah...and is it only for folks who can't get OTA?

I get OTA, but I wan't HD locals on Sat as well, so I can record two HD locals at once, without buying a second tuner and DVR, or whatever.
Anyone in the NM DMA will get them...(and possibly others in the Mt Zone with waivers, Denver is also showing up tomarrow)

...I think the first company to get Players and Drives at a low enough cost to consumers will win. At this point HD-DVD as it stands. But things could be different after Christmas. Circuit city way back killed their bastardized DVD format, DiVX after just one Christmas season. With HD Camcorders becoming more numerous People like me will want an HD disc format to produce home videos to. So I'll at least be buying a drive of either format for that purpose.

I'm probably going to bite with the new HD DVD players because I'm sort of that way. I like the state of the art. To give you an example, I got the Dish 921 in February of 2004 because it was the first HD DVR. That worked out OK except for the few bugs here and there but mostly I've enjoyed it.

Anyone in the NM DMA will get them...(and possibly others in the Mt Zone with waivers, Denver is also showing up tomarrow)

Anyone with Dish satellite service, an HD monitor, and a MPg 4 receiver who purchases the local stations should be able to get them, right? What is DMA?

I'm going to guess "designated market area". IOW, you have to qualify with your zip code to get them.

Is DISH adding ALL the Local Networks, ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, WB, and UPN?

Dish advertises their "locals" as ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, UPN, WB & PBS. I'd assume HD locals would be the same but we'll see tomorrow.

From what I hear they are on right now... all but KRQE as some of the CBS stations owned by the same company are holding out (probably for money)

Anyone with Dish satellite service, an HD monitor, and a MPg 4 receiver who purchases the local stations should be able to get them, right? What is DMA?You will probably have to go to one of the new Metallic named HD packages... and Nielson determines the DMA and Alimentall is right about the name.

Only the big four are being uplinked on E*5 (129 degrees) Transponder 27:

KOAT DT (ABC) Albuquerque, NM (MPEG-4) KOAT Channel 6324 TP27 129° E*5
KRQE DT (CBS) Albuquerque, NM (MPEG-4) KRQE Channel 6325 TP27 129° E*5
KOB DT (NBC) Albuquerque, NM (MPEG-4) KOB Channel 6326 TP27 129° E*5
KASA DT (Fox) Albuquerque, NM (MPEG-4) KASA Channel 6327 TP27 129° E*5

Shame even dish is shunning The WB.

These are the launch titles for blueRay. Any of these movies from 2005? HDDVD clearly has better launch titles.


The eight titles are: XXX, Resident Evil Apocalypse, 50 First Dates, The Fifth Element, A Knight's Tale, The Last Waltz, Hitch, and House of Flying Daggers.

A second set of titles will follow a few weeks later on June 13th, and will include Robocop, SWAT, Stealth, Species, Legends of the Fall, Terminator, and Kung Fu Hustle.

Quick question. Does anyone know if the 622 receiver will play back recorded material if the dish is not installed? I'd like to be able to load up the hard drive with movies and then use it for demo in the store. Heck, if I could get mine tomorrow or Friday, I'd load it up for this weekend's demo.

Speaking of which, the demo at the art museum is still on for the next two Sundays 10-5. The last minute news of today is that I'll have the NHT Xds of course, but the NHT Controller preamp/processor, the NAD Masters M55 universal player, the M15 preamp/processor, the InFocus 576p IN74 DLP projector, the NAD Masters M3 integrated with the new NHT Three speakers (I think) in the class room area and probably a Sonos system for music demos. I'd wanted to get the InFocus 720p IN76, but beggars can't be choosers.

Quick question. Does anyone know if the 622 receiver will play back recorded material if the dish is not installed? I'd like to be able to load up the hard drive with movies and then use it for demo in the store. Heck, if I could get mine tomorrow or Friday, I'd load it up for this weekend's demo.Yes. As long as the box has been authorized, the recorded shows will play just fine.

.....G

I was just wondering because when I moved and couldn't get my dish working, the 721 wouldn't let me get into the menu of recorded programs as long as it was searching for the satellite. No matter what I did, I couldn't watch anything until I had a signal again. Maybe it needs to be reauthorized every few days?

Actually, now that I remember, the problem was that I could get into the menu, but couldn't get rid of the "searching for satellite" screen.

I don't have my 622 yet, but other users report that you can watch pre-recorded programs without the sat inputs connected.

.....G

dfergie, do you or do you know of anyone who has watched ch 6.1, now KOCT-DT? Is it or will it ever be HD? Can anyone down there receive KOBR-DT or KBIM-DT? Is satellite your only HDTV source?

I moved from there to Lubbock in 2001. I just got my 622 installed last Tuesday. I love it, except that when I recorded the NASCAR race from California Sunday, I could not fast forward it without it locking up, I had to use skip forward. No other OTA recording I've done has exibited this problem. I have a Sony D50 Projector in my "office" and HD 80 inches diagonal is truly like just being there.

When you get HD Locals on Dish , You'll be ahead of us, our CBS and ABC affiliates are still SD only and <1kW.

dfergie, do you or do you know of anyone who has watched ch 6.1, now KOCT-DT? Is it or will it ever be HD? Can anyone down there receive KOBR-DT or KBIM-DT? Is satellite your only HDTV source?

I moved from there to Lubbock in 2001. I just got my 622 installed last Tuesday. I love it, except that when I recorded the NASCAR race from California Sunday, I could not fast forward it without it locking up, I had to use skip forward. No other OTA recording I've done has exibited this problem. I have a Sony D50 Projector in my "office" and HD 80 inches diagonal is truly like just being there.

When you get HD Locals on Dish , You'll be ahead of us, our CBS and ABC affiliates are still SD only and <1kW.As of a few months ago(the last time I contacted Koat)I was the only one in my area that knew it (koct-dt) existed... according to my D*Hd receiver guides it is HD. I tried a week or so ago to pick it up but was unable to get a signal... (wiring problem)No KBIM-Dt nor Kobr either. And yes Satellite is my only HDTV source.
I have a Hitachi 43" and a Samsung 27"along with a Infocus X1 Connected to my 921 and D*H10 with a 73" screen... I watched Part of last race on the 43" and the PJ from D*HD west and all of Daytona on them... CBSHD west from E* blows the socks off of the other nets(and for that matter does the downrezzed CBSHD east) ABC will be a new experience...

Shame even dish is shunning The WB.
IIRC, the big-4 reason is that they can put 4 HD (no subchannels) stations on one transponder and is not to slight WB/UPN. One more channel would require a second transponder and nix getting 50 cities/DMAs up this year with more to come.

Now do I bite on the VIP622?

-Ken

Here is a Thread by one of my fellow forum mods, post #2 will give you the info you need and post 1 has links to many helpful threads for E* users.
http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=32421

I could be wrong, but I didn't think WB or UPN were HD in the Albq market anyway....would getting them off the bird change that?

All E* is uplinking is the Big 4 for all markets for now...which for us will be 3 as Gannett is not allowing any of thier stations(KRQE) to be uplinked to any of the new HD Lil's

Moonhawk - In ABQ WB is broadcasting in HD but UPN is not.

......G

All E* is uplinking is the Big 4 for all markets for now...which for us will be 3 as Gannett is not allowing any of thier stations(KRQE) to be uplinked to any of the new HD Lil'sThen why is KRQE being uplinked on 129?

KRQE DT (CBS) Albuquerque, NM (MPEG-4) KRQE Channel 6325 TP27 129° E*5


.....G

I misspoke it is uplinked but not available unless someone here has one of the new receivers and can confirm it is on. ( I should know within a couple of hours if UPS brought my new box or if I have to pick it up Monday as I work the weekend)

I just installed a Vip622 for my neighbor last Saturday. I emailed him this morning and asked him to see what HD locals appeared in his guide today. Will post when he replies, unless another 622 owner gets to it first.

.....G

heh... I am trying to find 129 , using an 2700... Started with extra Dish 500 and unable to find, I have an old D* Dish now looking for.....(I am planning on hooking the 622 to legecy dishes for the weekend, if I can find 129 and I get the 622)

Moonhawk - In ABQ WB is broadcasting in HD but UPN is not.

......G

Thanks...

I don't watch anything on those stations since Buffy and Angel went off the air.

The Vip622 will handle 5 sats if you have the correct switches.

.....G
The attachment from the DBS 622 review only shows 4 sats but has the spot for the fifth... There is a thread by Mike 123abc for 5 sats for the 921 using a Dp21 switch If I remember. I found 129 with the Dish 500 best strength 55 with the 2700 will have to try my 811 on it later. (looks like the 622 comes in tomarrow)

I would rather they provide all 5 networks, (UPN is dead in a few months anyways) in 40 markets rather than 4 out of 5 in 50 markets. I would rather see these providers give us all or nothing.

If we already get all the networks in HD via OTA, Why pay extra for locals from dish if they wont give us all. Its just like comcrap. Why do we pay them for 3 networks when wet get all of them OTA for free? Now we are goiing to pay Dish for less than we get ota for free.

But then someone else would want a religious channel or spanish channel. And then in the big city, they would expect 50 channels. They have to make a decision somewhere and I expect they figured the Big 4 is the safe bet. I mean, really, the WB? Why?

Besides, when you ask for all or nothing, you know what you get? Usually *nothing*.

<snip!>...If we already get all the networks in HD via OTA, Why pay extra for locals from dish if they wont give us all. So that I can record multiple programs simultaneously. Unless I have two independent OTA tuners, I need one HD sat local and one HD OTA local to record them simultaneously.

.....G

Hello Guruka,

Little error on ownership of KRQE-DT is not Gannett the real new owner is LIN broadcasting. :)

Anyway it's nice that's we are becoming a major TV market, to be up sooner on Dish Network and sure wish Diretv would carry that sooner.

Minor news,

KNME-DT, KENW-DT and KRWG-DT has been very busy to flash cut to digital for low power relay stations around the state.

So there's a feeling that our full power PBS may shut off analog signals sooner than you think :cool:

Any good guess when they will shut down the analog transmitter?

As for my guess KNME-DT will shut off the analog on 12-31-07.

You may bring your best guess on local analog shut down date. :)

3-2-06

Maybe they will carry KRQE then... My 622 was a no show so its Monday at the soonest before I can report Yay or Nay..

So that I can record multiple programs simultaneously. Unless I have two independent OTA tuners, I need one HD sat local and one HD OTA local to record them simultaneously.

.....G

Amen to that, Brother G....

Hello Guruka,
Minor news,

KNME-DT, KENW-DT and KRWG-DT has been very busy to flash cut to digital for low power relay stations around the state.

So there's a feeling that our full power PBS may shut off analog signals sooner than you think :cool:

3-2-06

KENW in Portales has already got Roswell and I believe Hobbs up with low power DTV locally. They have been on air with DTV in Portales/Clovis for some time now. They carry the national PBS HD feed, with a SD sub channel of their main channel 3 signal. The method of a distributed network of low power DTV transmitters is probably the best way they can go. Considering the limited range their Channel 3 transmitter gets, being so far away from ANY major population zone. They could never hope to hit any city from their 1000ft tower way out on the Caprock, even if they had a full megawatt of DTV at UHF. Why invest that much into a site that won't reach the major cities of interest? All you would ever hope to hit are a bunch of ranchers that are already on satellite and have not tuned into your off air signal for years. Plus, channel 3 is one of the worst DTV channels you would want to broadcast on. Being a low VHF subject to all kinds of interference. Yup, PBS is the only off air HD available in SE NM for now.

But then someone else would want a religious channel or spanish channel. And then in the big city, they would expect 50 channels. They have to make a decision somewhere and I expect they figured the Big 4 is the safe bet. I mean, really, the WB? Why?

Besides, when you ask for all or nothing, you know what you get? Usually *nothing*.


Com'on you may not like most of the WB shows. Hell theres aside from Smallville theres only been 2 or 3 shows there that I would watch occasionaly. But they are a NATIONAL BROADCAST NETWORK. Thats a big difference between the many small local stations. Yeah they have the second to last(WB)/lowest(CW) ratings and viewers but they still should be carried as one of the broadcast networks for locals.

As far as Spanish channel, has anyone translated the DTV rules for Telemundo or Univision? Are they in HD anywhere? Yeah they are in SDTV but do they offer any High Definition?

OK, the official word from my neighbor, for whom I installed a Vip622 last Saturday, is that they have only KOB and KOAT. Channel 6325 does not appear in the program guide :( That means I will keep my wing satellite dish at 61.5 and my distant WCBS HD and install a new Dish 1000. That way, I'll still get two CBS-HD feeds: KRQE over the air and WCBS over the 61.5 bird.

.....G

As far as Spanish channel, has anyone translated the DTV rules for Telemundo or Univision? Are they in HD anywhere? Yeah they are in SDTV but do they offer any High Definition?

What rule are you talking about?

IIRC, the legal mandate is for Digital broadcasting, not HD digital broadcasting. Any station that is doing digital SDTV has met the requirements of the law.

We all want as much HDTV as possible, but there is absolutely no legal requirement for it. IMHO.

Brian

OK, the official word from my neighbor, for whom I installed a Vip622 last Saturday, is that they have only KOB and KOAT. Channel 6325 does not appear in the program guide :( That means I will keep my wing satellite dish at 61.5 and my distant WCBS HD and install a new Dish 1000. That way, I'll still get two CBS-HD feeds: KRQE over the air and WCBS over the 61.5 bird.

.....G

That isn't ideal, of course, but it works for me....As long as I can watch/record one show OTA, and one from the Sat HD local feed...Unless, of course, I have a conflict with one show on Fox and one on CBS at the same time...

Your friend isn't getting Fox?

Your friend isn't getting Fox? Whoops! I forgot FOX. Yes, they're getting FOX as well. ABC, NBC abd FOX. They all look great.

.....G

So no CBS or WB.

But then I guess, thats the norm for Albuquerque.

Comcrap doesn't carry CBS WB
CableOne Doesnt carry NBC WB
Dish Doesnt carry CBS WB.

Man Albuquerque sucks for DTV. Guess I'll keep my rabbit ears up until someone pulls their head from their posterior.

Yeah, Gannet may strike a deal with Dish yet. Time to wait and see. It's a shame that KRQE isn't passing Dolby 5.1 audio. Their video looks great though. Significantly better than WCBS on Dish. So it's a choice between HD-Lite video and Dolby 5.1 audio, or full res HD video and stereo audio. :rolleyes:

.....G

Thanks G...Good news about FOX

Bigglare:

Don't know why you think ALBQ sucks so bad...every network but UPN is available in HD, OTA.

That's WAY better than some much bigger markets. Just because they're not all available on Sat of Cable, doesn't mean they're not there.

I'm personally grateful that we have as much HD content as we do, this early in the game.

That said, more is always better...:)

Guruka,

KRQE is NOT owned by Gannett, the real owner is LIN broadcasting.........

3-3-06

News from JohnH in a post at SatelliteGuys(have not checked DBStalk yet... is that the Gannett stations are now Ava... I will still get my CBSHD's from East and West unless they screw me over when I activate the 622 g... I usually watch East and Record West as East PQ went south when they downrezzed...

Well I came from San Diego where Cox Communication offers all the networks and about 20 channels in HD total. To Abq where comcrap and Cableone do not offer even all the top three networks in HD. One has NBC and not CBS, one has CBS and not NBC. Hell Comcrap didnt add NBC until oct or november. I got here in August and comcrap only offered PBS Fox and ABC. Thank fully my TV has a full HD tuner. If it wasnt for a lack of ability to record OTA HD right now, I would ditch Cable.

The Satellite installers here for Dish I spoke to this week who said they can't use the cable in the wall to get signal to all my TVs, because comcast owns them and wont let them touch the cable lines. Im not going to have a cable running accross my hallways. So if I cant get dish service to all my TVs Im not going to go with them (or directv).

well, my point was that all the networks are available here OTA...get an antenna.

Also, why can't you hook up the cables to the other rooms yourself after the installer leaves?

I won't tell comcast.

The Satellite installers here for Dish I spoke to this week who said they can't use the cable in the wall to get signal to all my TVs, because comcast owns them and wont let them touch the cable lines. Im not going to have a cable running accross my hallways. So if I cant get dish service to all my TVs Im not going to go with them (or directv).

Sure sounds like total horse crap to me.

Last I looked, when you build a house, I don't think Comcast supplies the cable or labor to install it. They own up to the distribution point at the side of your house; nothing more.

When my D* sat system was installed, the sat guys ran a set of cables from the dish to the distribution point, and used existing cable to get to each room.

Personally, I think someone is feeding you a line of BS.

Brian

The Satellite installers here for Dish I spoke to this week who said they can't use the cable in the wall to get signal to all my TVs, because comcast owns them and wont let them touch the cable lines. Im not going to have a cable running accross my hallways. So if I cant get dish service to all my TVs Im not going to go with them (or directv).

They're either idiots or liars. In any case, call someone else.

BTW, I got home and had a delivery ticket it from Dish on my door! So, knowing that I already had an empty box for my 721, it HAD to be the 622, just in time for the weekend! Heck, I might even be able to record a bunch of high-def to use as demonstration material on Sunday at the museum! So I dropped my plans ran down to the UPS place, gave them my ticket and they handed me.........an empty box. :mad:

1: Im in an apartment so I can only go by what the installer says. If dish doesnt want more business they will keep f_cktards like those I talked to as retailers.

2: Yeah its all there OTA. That part of ABQ doesnt suck. But when the cable monopolies wont provide all the same networks as OTA. Isnt the point of Cable or Satellite service to get away from using an antenna. Both major cable monopolies fail to provide more than whats available OTA.

3: The final phase of the transition as originally set is upon us come dec31. When markets that already have the necessary number of qualified users of digital broadcast. I belive the magic number about 85%. Which most surveys show most of the major markets are close to it. Markets that are at that point should be turning off their analog signals. With the new Feb 17th 2009 date being the end all be all of analogs death.
Some of the details may be different now, but we're no where close to anyplace that I would consider "Early" in the transition. I guess Im just tainted from living in a market where the cable providers are actually moving forward. Which comes back around to ABQ sucks. or for the nitpickers, ABQ service from Cable and Satellite sucks.
So if we are not getting CBS why cant dish provide theWB? Because they shun thewb. So if we have to still use OTA for ALL the networks, Who really cares what Dish is providing. They will be no different than Comcrap, Just with more HD Non-broadcast networks. But we will still need antennas.

Antennas are my friend.

Indeed they are.

I love my antenna. But its 2006. We are supposed to have cable and satellite service that replaces the need for ota antenna. Not Antennas suplementing the pathetic shortfalls of paid services.

Gosh, I don't see it that way at all. Just as analog TV has been free to everyone, so is digital TV free to everyone. To that end, the local stations are installing many repeaters all over the state so that even rural and more remote areas can receive their ATSC signals.

.....G

I guess you're just missing the point. I agree the sky is blue, but clouds are white, and sometimes grey and black.

It's great to have free digital tv or radio or what not. But when the paid providers or stations themselves act to limit the services they provide while still expecting us to pay more all the time is the problem. I love the fact that I just need a $5 pair of rabbit ears connected to my $5k TV to get perfectly clear HDTV. But when cable and Satellite service is generally meant to be a replacement for antenna by providing more that what you could get for free but then offer less there's a big problem. I know all the time I've had analog television before HDTV. We got Cable or Satellite to get ALL the channels available cleanly without interference or the hassle of an antenna. Isnt that why cable providers offer pretty much all the local ANALOG broadcasts? But now these companies fail to live up to reputation they earned as analog providers in the DIGITAL age.

I remember growing up in milwaukee all the houses having the big antennas on the roofs. Then when the local cable rep came door to door pitching cable in early 80s or so. All those antennas disappeared slowly because cable came to the rescue offering clear reception of TV. Now those antennas are coming back because 7 years into the digital transition cable providers are failing to step up and provide the same level of service to a community that in most cases given them a monopoly on cable TV service.

Eventually satellite providers came along which finally offered a choice but for a while lacked local channels aside from OTA antenna. This slowly changed again but now they face it again with digital locals. Now they are slowly offering some of the broadcast NETWORKS. Yeah it has to be tempered by bandwidth. But they only offer some of the networks to a larger number of markets rather than offering the complete selection to markets as they are able.

I am merely stating that it is a travesty what is happening to consumers in this Digital age. We pay more for less less everyday. We have to upgrade to digital TV and forced to deal with Cable and satellite providers failing to keep up. We have have to deal with markets where even the major network afiliates are merely stepping up to the plate and getting walked to SDTV than hitting an HDTV grandslam. Sure they only have to do so much but then why should we support the underacheiver? Because we want to maintain some level of ability we had before. With out an inexpensive way to record HD or have HD DVR many like myself still pay cable. Between broadcast flags, IEEE1394 being forgotten, HDCP being force upon us crippling options for older HDTV sets. We are under attack from legislatures and hollywood as well as corporate entities. All we can do is just bend over.

Whew! Rant off.

Got the 622 up and running... put in a Dish 1000 also... waiting on 7pm to check out the "local" HD...

What's your signal strength on the 129 bird?

.....G