Sounds like you could substitute any of the local stations for KRQE.

Vader forbid anyone actually charge money or make a profit off their content. KRQE will allow ANYONE to carry their digital signal. They just have to pay for it. ...

I agree. However, why not let the consumer choose to purchase (via satellite, or cable) a different network feed, such as a CBS-HD out of Denver, or NY, etc... The problem here is that while KRQE holds back their HD signal from rebroadcast by cable/satellite (unless they pay whatever price KRQE decides the signal is worth), consumers who can't get the signal OTA do not have an option to purchase an alternate product.

I could care less about getting local info from KRQE. I just would like to have a "regional" CBS-HD feed and if that isn't available, I'd take an East coast or West coast feed. And I'm willing to pay for it. Why are the laws written so that they protect the local affiliate to such an extent?

Does anyone know why KASA-DT HAS to drop the signal to SD every half hour or so during NFL games to display the KASA logo or to list the translators? I have not seen them do that during primetime programming. Its quite annoying, especially when they "forget" to turn the HD signal back on after the logo/translators list is done.

VTJMan - None of the locals have the equipment required to do supers or scrolls over HD programming. That includes station ID, weather alerts, etc. so they have to switch to SD. Same is true for some commercial breaks. Master control switches to SD for the break and then back to HD after the break. I'm sure they will all eventually get the equipment needed, but it may take a while.

.....G

I agree. However, why not let the consumer choose to purchase (via satellite, or cable) a different network feed, such as a CBS-HD out of Denver, or NY, etc... The problem here is that while KRQE holds back their HD signal from rebroadcast by cable/satellite (unless they pay whatever price KRQE decides the signal is worth), consumers who can't get the signal OTA do not have an option to purchase an alternate product.

I could care less about getting local info from KRQE. I just would like to have a "regional" CBS-HD feed and if that isn't available, I'd take an East coast or West coast feed. And I'm willing to pay for it. Why are the laws written so that they protect the local affiliate to such an extent?


That's the law not KRQE's choice. Can't blame them for compliance with the law. Comcast/Dish/Directv are much larger than Cable One. KRQE Doesn't charge Joe Viewer for their HD feed. They only charge for carriage of their digital signal, which is in compliance with the law.

Oh ok, I thought I saw KOAT put up their KOAT-DT graphic during primetime a few times.

Oh I see commiecast also just added MyNetworkTV 50 KASY-HD(DT) to the line up also.

well as of 5pm both KASY and KWBQ were absent from the DVR. a call to commiecast revealed they are still waiting final approval and were removed from service. Tech said hopefully they will be back soon.

So the below CommieCast approval meter is a tentative approval. In the mean time Im taking my ATI TV Wonder 650 back to best buy. Going to get me a QAM capable tuner instead.

I just checked to see about MyNetworkTV in HD as bigglare just mentioned and it seems that not only do I NOT have MyNetworkTV, but the CWHD is now gone as well. Can anyone confirm this?

see above edit.

It must be new stuff. Their Technicians who were here last few weeks trying to figure out my internet problems, assumed they were live. they got here at 1pm and were eager to point those additions out to me considering the 3 missing networks have been my biggest gripe with commiecast.

I wonder if they are still there under QAM. but not on the boxes.

Will 5.1 sound be among KRQE's new capabilities?

Almost everything about KRQE has aggravated me:
-- They pre-empt nation-wide CBS Sports programming for infomercials and educational programming.

I wish we did not have to put up with local network affiliates, and could get national network feeds. No locally-originating television programming has much value.

As I understand it the NFL dictates what we see. Each week, generally, only 1 net gets a double-header (a national game & a regional one) and the other gets only the regional game. So KRQE isn't really pre-empting a game, it's just they can only show the one regional (usually the Broncos) game that week...even though sometimes the nat'l game may be the better one.

And the NFL breaks that up even further by breaking the US into zones and giving us a west coast match-up versus an east coast one. i.e.: we may get a KC vs DEN instead of NE vs NYJ.

What is HD radio? More expensive commercial ridden censored crap. Get Serious about Radio. Get Sirius Satellite radio. hee hee.

Everything is Bush's fault. err I mean KRQE's fault.

What is HD radio? More expensive commercial ridden censored crap. Get Serious about Radio. Get Sirius Satellite radio. hee hee.

Everything is Bush's fault. err I mean KRQE's fault.


I believe "HD Radio" is that in-band, off-centered digital carrier seen on some local FM station frequencies (and even some AM stations in some places but not Albuquerque AFAIK). I think it's a good thing to get some variety in programming (other formats in addition to the one in analog in that radio channel assignment) or even higher quality audio (I can't wait until some AM stations have audio quality that sounds like you are in master control at the station with higher fidelity sound).

SIRIUS/XM is Satellite Radio.

That's the law not KRQE's choice. Can't blame them for compliance with the law. ...

I understand. I was wondering why the law protects the locals to this extent. Granting them a government-mandated monopoly just seems wrong...

As I understand it the NFL dictates what we see. Each week, generally, only 1 net gets a double-header (a national game & a regional one) and the other gets only the regional game. So KRQE isn't really pre-empting a game, it's just they can only show the one regional (usually the Broncos) game that week...even though sometimes the nat'l game may be the better one.

I was referring to CBS Sports' coverage of NCAA College Basketball, where the national feed has often been dumped by KRQE in favor of infomercials or educational programming. This would be okay, except for the fact that we viewers are required to rely solely on our local affiliate for that content. That is, even though I pay for a subscription to out-of-market NCAA Hoops, if KRQE has the right to show it, my subscription feed will be blacked out. That's a bad situation: KRQE has exclusive rights to some content, but no responsibility to provide it. They are therefore able to prevent me from viewing certain content, even after I've payed a subscription fee to supplement such coverage.

If you can't get KRQE for some reason (bad location, etc) have you tried applying for a waiver for a distant CBS? From what I read this AM Dish/NPS may be able to offer Distant networks once again very soon due to a court ruling yesterday.

I understand. I was wondering why the law protects the locals to this extent. Granting them a government-mandated monopoly just seems wrong...

I understand. I was wondering why the law protects the locals to this extent. Granting them a government-mandated monopoly just seems wrong...

As opposed to government protected and mandated monopoly most Cable companies like Commiecast enjoy allowing them to charge so much for local HD while still refusing to offer ALL the local HD?

Cable One offers CBS-HD. I would love to have their service. But I can't choose that other cable company. I know of only 1 place that has over lapping cable company service. Rancho Bernardo in San Diego. You can choose either TWC with more HD over all or Cox Communications which had ALL the local HD channels. Competition works great. Commiecast should be required to try it.

I expect a lot of Commie's people to jump ship IF Verizon's Fios ever comes here.
JR

I expect a lot of Commie's people to jump ship IF Verizon's Fios ever comes here.
JR
If the FiOS service included the famous broadband, you bet yer arse we would jump ship. But given that Verizon has ONLY wireless out here (which is essentially a different company), i think that will take some time. Qwest is bad enough to work with from a consumer standpoint - as a business competitor, i can only imagine the nightmare they would present (line sharing, etc...)

If you can't get KRQE for some reason (bad location, etc) have you tried applying for a waiver for a distant CBS? From what I read this AM Dish/NPS may be able to offer Distant networks once again very soon due to a court ruling yesterday.

I can't get any HD signals OTA because of my location. I've tried with an 8-bay pre-amped channel master UHF antenna mounted on my roof.

I currently get KRQE (SD only) from E*. What I want is HD. I hadn't tried going for a waiver so that I could subscribe to E*'s CBS-HD feeds because I have heard that KRQE was not granting waivers to anyone. And then E* was forced to shutdown their distant networks feeds (which I believe were SD anyway) and also their CBS-HD feeds.

If E* is able to offer the CBS-HD signal again, then I'll try for a KRQE waiver.

If you can't get KRQE for some reason (bad location, etc) have you tried applying for a waiver for a distant CBS?

and to clarify... All American Direct (NPS) offers SD locals only (no HD at this time and I'm not sure if it's in the works for them or not to offer HD DNS locals).

I'm getting to the point it's about time to see if New Mexico and the rest of the nation can gets its representatives to repeal the "retransmission consent" language. Just let any cable, satellite, or Video over IP provider rebroadcast free over-the-air local channels and they can just pay some standardized copyright fee, no matter what the ownership group, affiliation or location in the United States. I would continue to protect the DMA for those broadcasters.

that way, if you live in Northern NM (or wherever else in the state) you aren't penalized for not beign able to receive the free service KRQE-DT off-air (whereas a lot of us in the transmitter footprint can get it for free off the air). Youl will have the ability to get it over local cable, satellite, or VideoOIP without any or all broadcasters asking for a ransom just to have the rights to offer the service to their customers.

I believe "HD Radio" is that in-band, off-centered digital carrier seen on some local FM station frequencies (and even some AM stations in some places but not Albuquerque AFAIK). I think it's a good thing to get some variety in programming (other formats in addition to the one in analog in that radio channel assignment) or even higher quality audio (I can't wait until some AM stations have audio quality that sounds like you are in master control at the station with higher fidelity sound).

SIRIUS/XM is Satellite Radio.

ABq does have 7 stations in HDon FM and 1 on AM. All the Clear Channel stations (94.1, 95.1, 100.3, 104.1, 104.7, 107.9(?)-the country one + 1350am) and also KUNM 89.5. The primary station is just a mirror of the analog channel, but the HD-2 channel is a comm'l free channel with a different format. You get song/artist info and a wider dynamic range on FM and the AM station sounds stereo. At least all the AM noise is cancelled out.

HD Radio: hybrid-digital radio...not really hidef but at least it's digital!

[QUOTE=hideftv]ABq does have 7 stations in HDon FM and 1 on AM. All the Clear Channel stations (94.1, 95.1, 100.3, 104.1, 104.7, 107.9(?)-the country one + 1350am) and also KUNM 89.5. The primary station is just a mirror of the analog /QUOTE]

Cool, didn't know Albuquerque had it's first AM HD radio station (and it has to turn the digital carrier off the air at night, right?)

any news on when HD radios are going to be reasonable priced? For as few HD radio stations as we have here right now, $200+ seems a little steep. I'd be in for $100 or less.

I can't get any HD signals OTA because of my location. I've tried with an 8-bay pre-amped channel master UHF antenna mounted on my roof.

FWIW -- CSR's at DirecTV are projecting HD locals Jan-Feb, 2007. They would have been offered by now except the complete array of cheapskate Locals aren't yet capable of providing a signal to D*.

Now that we have OTA for the HR20 [and the update went National, last night], those of us with line-of-sight are feeling less grumpy.

Anyone live down in the Petroglyphs area around Unser and the 40? Im moving into a house in january or February off Ladera and Kipuka between 98th and unser and wondering how good the DSL or OTA reception is there.

I do have a clear line of sight of the towers up on crest. Antenna web shows yellow for all the DT stations. I live accross from Cottonwood mall now and just use a pair of rabbit ears for all my channels.

What Kevin said, I live in the area you mention and actually had to try a lower gain antenna due to multipathing problems with the strong KOB signal. The lower gain "stealth" antenna, on a 8' mast I had installed, is working pretty good for me atm. You may be able to get by with a silver sensor just fine.

I enjoy my $12 a month sirius radio from my 39.99 radio. Paying multiple hundreds of dollars on an HD ad-ridden radio just doesnt float my boat.

FWIW -- CSR's at DirecTV are projecting HD locals Jan-Feb, 2007. They would have been offered by now except the complete array of cheapskate Locals aren't yet capable of providing a signal to D*.


How about D* installing ATSC tuners and off-air antennas at the KNME-TV local receive facility and sending the signals by fiber to LABC. What a concept!

Now I think I understand why stations want cash for retrans consent - it costs them money to pacify the baby DBS and cable providers.

How about D* installing ATSC tuners and off-air antennas at the KNME-TV local receive facility and sending the signals by fiber to LABC. What a concept!

Now I think I understand why stations want cash for retrans consent - it costs them money to pacify the baby DBS and cable providers.

Sadly, you have the cause-and-effect relationship reversed. It was the network locals who "lobbied" the FCC and Congress for satellite-based systems to be required to provide local broadcasts. Actually, in some regions, your proposal has been the solution -- especially for HD -- because the locals never could get the process they lobbied for -- in gear. But, until that last resort, the "locals" are required to meet the standards their side of the broadcast industry agreed to in the first place.

As it is, here we are with locals that can't even get their OTA-HD to work. I tried to watch several programs, OTA, in the last week from KRQE that simply never showed up. I could have watched the SD feed via D*; but, as for OTA-HD -- nada! Their sister channel, KASA, is just as bad; but, they offer nothing in HD I want to watch.

No, it was the locals who were afraid of losing ad revenue to the satellite systems who begged and pleaded that DBS systems invest the bucks on a couple of satellite's worth of transponders, etc. to provide spot beams for local ad revenue to go to garden spots of marketing smarts -- like Albuquerque. That's a lot more investment than figuring out how to get up to the requirements of providing HD to the DBS systems.

And then(LIN) withholding the HD from said DBS folks...both E* and D*...

Edward,

I was looking at the local receive facility side of things in my posting. If DIRECTV and DISH want to spend the money for infrastructure to receive locals with an antenna and transport them by fiber to their DBS uplink centers, then I feel there should be no retrans consent money paid to the local stations to uplink the signal (just pay a standard copyright fee for usage of the signal). That way, Echostar could put in ATSC tuners and off-air antennas and be able to carry KRQE-DT in their HD ABQ locals without paying a ransom to LIN.

It seemed to me in a posting here that D* isn't delivering Albuquerque HD locals yet because not every one of the four major network stations in town is providing a HD feed to D*'s local receive facility (costing local stations money to provide a feed to the local receive facility). I was just wondering why D* doesn't take the bull by the horns and invest in the infrastructure to receive the HD feeds off air and send them on to the uplink rather than relying on local stations to provide them feeds.

And then(LIN) withholding the HD from said DBS folks...both E* and D*...

How dare they "Withhold" their signal from DBS folks. They should give it away for free and apologize to Cable One who actually pay the carriage fees. DBS and Cable companies are frakken cheap considering how much they charge us each month.

Can we get over the KRQE/LIN/Carriage Fees issue? If DBS and Comcast wanted CBS-HD they could send a check like Cable One and have it tomorrow I would think. How many remaining Commiecast subs will cancel when they find that they cant watch the Superbowl in HD with Commiecast? Im personally throwing a Got-Comcast-And-Can't-Watch-the-Superbowl-in-HD?-Come-to-my-house-and-watch-free-via-OTA! party. And Im going to show off all my Comcast Free SDTVs in the house to boot!

Actually if they are not going to "give the signal away for free" then they should allow an alternate HD network source be it national or whatever, I would love to get stations much closer to me geographically such as Lubbock, Midland /Odessa or El Paso(if they ever become available) rather than being "stuck" with Albuquerque... as for Comcast, it doesn't exist in my neck of the desert...

I can understand your plight at living in the boonies where OTA doesnt exist. Unfortunately the signals are owned by the Network and the local Affiliates. You just live in an area thats beyond the reasonable coverage area of the affiliate that owns the rights to your advertising viewership. You need to keep writing to Dishnetwork and Directv to convince them to pay for carriage.

Look on the brightside. For all we know KRQE/LIN may be considering early shut off of their analog as allowed by law next week. Then those providers will have to carry the HD signal sooner than 2-17-09 and they will cut their operating fees and still get carriage fees. Double win for them.

I think those affliates that are holding out are actually slitting there own throats... I lost CBS HD November 30th, about 80% of my viewing / dvring came from CBS HD. Now I find myself with more room and the CBS shows I do watch most certainly do not come from KRQE but from D* SD (grandfathered) better PQ or from C-Band again a better source. Withholding HD programming lost LIN / KRQE my viewing(although truthfully I did not watch them anyway except for the 4:30 news), I watch more KASA HD, KOB HD and KOAT HD from E*. The broadcasters should be paying E* and D* to carry their programming, not the other way around... my 2 cents...

Well I always wondered when it comes to primetime viewing, what matters most to advertising, National Ratings or local viewership? Lets say Survivor and Two and a Half men, were the Top national shows according to neilson, and no one in the ABQ/NM audience watched these shows, would KRQE charge advertisers according to the national ratings?

How dare they "Withhold" their signal from DBS folks. They should give it away for free and apologize to Cable One who actually pay the carriage fees. DBS and Cable companies are frakken cheap considering how much they charge us each month.

Gut feeling tells me it's KRQE, not the DBS/cable providers. If KRQE's retrans cash request was in-line with KOB/KOAT and KASA (last round of retrans consent agreements), I'm sure DISH and D* and Comcast would pay it and get KRQE-DT on their systems.

What if KRQE is asking 4-10x what the typical retrans consent agreement cash fee is? do you think Comcast, D* and DISH should pay that or try to work out more reasonable cash fee for carriage? What if KRQE is asking $1-2/month per sub? Do you want your cable/satellite bill to go up $1-2 per month just for KRQE?

I feel sorry for those out of KRQE-DT's terrestrial footprint but I wouldn't want to see my cable bills go up just because of one local channel or DISH to have to pay way more for KRQE-DT than the others. I'm way lucky to be living where I can get KRQE-DT offiair.

I thought KRQE didn't have anything to do with it, but the big boys at CBS and Comcast could not get together, at least from what I've read.
JR

Well I always wondered when it comes to primetime viewing, what matters most to advertising, National Ratings or local viewership? Lets say Survivor and Two and a Half men, were the Top national shows according to neilson, and no one in the ABQ/NM audience watched these shows, would KRQE charge advertisers according to the national ratings?Good Question...
LIN
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LIN_TV
All threads I have seen around, No LIN owned HD station is on E* or D* unless they were put up before bought by LIN (KASA on E*)

Im in San Diego this week for the holiday visiting friends. I forgot how nice it is to have cable company like COX and TimeWarner that has so many HD choices.

Jan 1 is right around the corner, I wonder if Commiecast will turn on CW-HD and MTHD again. Superbowl is coming up to. Im hoping Commiecast will join CableONE and pay up for CBS-HD before the big game. Otherwise Im ditching cable for good.

Anyone in ABQ using a S3 Tivo with Cable cards? I am specfically interested to know about your experience getting the Cable Cards from Comcast. Painless? Painful?

D* has totally screwed the pooch with the last two HD-Tivo software upgrades, and I am looking at options. I get all my locals 5x5 via OTA, so the lack of certain HD channels via Comcast is a non-issue.

$700 is a lot of coin for a Tivo, but its pretty obvious that D* is not interested in supporting thier HD-Tivo customers.

And in case someone is wondering, I have zero interest in a non-Tivo solution (D* HR20).

Brian

So what problems are you having with the latest update? When they upgraded my HD Tivo from 3.somthing to 6.3a, sound dropouts and occasional lockups started. I just was upgraded to 6.3b about a week ago, and it has run flawlessly since then. Have I just been lucky, or what should I be looking for.

Tom

So what problems are you having with the latest update? When they upgraded my HD Tivo from 3.somthing to 6.3a, sound dropouts and occasional lockups started. I just was upgraded to 6.3b about a week ago, and it has run flawlessly since then. Have I just been lucky, or what should I be looking for.

Tom

I went from flawless (but admittedly slow) operation with 3.1, to the audio drop outs with Fox (6.3a).

6.3b fixed the audio drop outs, but since then, I have had one spontaneous reboot, and yesterday, woke up to find the box locked up tight...requiring me to pull the plug to get it to restart.

I was never really all that bothered by the slowness, and folders are of no value to me. I would have been happy to stay with 3.1.

How a company with the resources of D* could put out such a buggy release has really soured me on D*. Even if the SW was written by Tivo, surely D* would have done some amount of testing. These are not isolated problems.

In any event, in our household, Tivo is king, so any alternative to D* MUST be a Tivo based solution. Of course, that leaves only an S3 Tivo as an option, but I really am not looking forward to fighting with Comcast to get two Cable Cards properly installed.

Seems like I am in AOS mode (all options suck).

Brian

I have the 3, but opted not to get the cable cards. Commie wanted about $8 each/month, and they have to install them. Their SA8300 is only $10 a month and gets all the digital/premium channels you want.
JR

but the Commiecast 8300 also requires a Digipic Digital cable package at 59.99 a month. Plus DVR fee Plus Box rental plus HDTV package. I pay 85 a month for 12 HD channels from Commiecast.

I wouldnt touch Commiecast as it stands now unless THEY pay me.

Gee. Jan 3rd 2007 and Commiecast still hasnt turned on CW or MyNetwork in HD again. Time to start watching everything on DVR to empty it.

Uhhhh, guys? Dish Network? 40 channels of HD? HD recorder? $200? Dual DBS tuners + one off air HD tuner for the locals? Anybody? Bueller? Hello?

40!?

If you include a couple of PPV and the four or five locals, yes.

Agreed on Dish...only way to go.

Bigglare...what is MTHD? is that the Mt West network? Is it available--anywhere--in HD?

Thanks

Actually thanks to LIN no KRQE on E*... I have the 622 and the older 921 HDdvrs well worth it... (also a D*HD sub but no Dvr)

Well good news, as many of you may know I have been a long time subscriber to the 'virus" USDTV. Well I cancelled it yesterday and am waiting for my DISH to be installed shortly.

I still think USDTV provides a decent product, but their service and customer support has gone down hill FAST. Also I don't think they will be around much longer if they don't do something about their customer support.

So DISH here I come, and to USDTV, I gave you a chance and you let me down.

Spawnman

Actually thanks to LIN no KRQE on E*... I have the 622 and the older 921 HDdvrs well worth it... (also a D*HD sub but no Dvr)

Au contraire. Press 13 & enter. It will pick it up off air and record it. They just don't have it beaming down from the dish.

Not off Satellite ;) No OTAHD ava at Carlsbad...

MTHD was the Commiecast call sign for KASY MynetworkTv HD that they had tested a couple weeks back. CWHD was online all weekend, KASY was just on monday morning. But neither has been around on commiecast since.

Superbowl is just 31 days away. If Commie cast doesnt turn the three remaining networks on in HD by then Im cancelling completely. I will have Dish come into the new house.

I heard several months ago that Direct tv would have locals in hd early this year. Anyone know anything about this?

I heard several months ago that Direct tv would have locals in hd early this year. Anyone know anything about this?

Last I heard was they had it scheduled for December -- but, the usual suspects in Abq weren't yet up-to-speed. Last time I checked, 2 of the 4 "official" networks had test signals up and running on D*.

I run 7 OTA-HD locals available on my HR20-700. I don't think there are more than that.

Latest gossip is that all the Abq locals have "sworn" they'll be ready before the end of January for satellite carriage. I'll believe it when I see it.

We cant even get all the locals via cable. I'll just keep my OTA antenna for the locals.

I heard several months ago that Direct tv would have locals in hd early this year. Anyone know anything about this?

DIRECTV will probably transmit our HD locals when Albuquerque gets its next 16" snowstorm. :D

Check pages 132-134 or so in this topic for a recent thread about DIRECTV and HD locals.

Comcast has probably lost me as a customer.

For the last two years, I have been using MythTV for my DVR needs (and more). I have a UHF antenna pointed at the crest, which allows me to record all of the HD locals.

Last summer, I got one of Comcast's HD tuner boxes, and hooked it's firewire port up to my Myth system. This allowed me to watch such channels as DiscoveryHD, ESPNHD, UniversalHD, etc.

Tonight I discovered that Comcast has turned on the 5C encryption for all of those HD channels. This means I can no longer record them via firewire. If I cannot record those channel, there is no reason for me to have the Comcast STB. I am annoyed enough by the change in policy that I am probably going to drop Comcast all together.

So, now I have to decide what to do instead. I could just live with OTA stations. DISH is out because they require a home phone line, which I do not have. I believe that Directv can be used without a phone line, but need to verify that.

I know that neither DISH nor Directv receivers have a firewire port, so I would have to settle for using one of their DVRs. That will be a little painful, but has to be better than the DVR Comcast offers.

I know the Directv HR20-700 still has a lot of growing pains, but that is what I am probably leaning towards.

Any comments on my situation are welcome.

John

... DISH is out because they require a home phone line, which I do not have. ...I know that neither DISH nor Directv receivers have a firewire port, so I would have to settle for using one of their DVRs. ....I know the Directv HR20-700 still has a lot of growing pains, but that is what I am probably leaning towards.... John - Dish does not require a phone line, but you'll pay an extra $5/month if you don't have one. The Dish ViP622 DVR is an excellent piece of equipment. My brother in L.A. is a friend of the CEO of DirectTV and he got two HR20's which never worked enough to even be usable, so he reverted to HR10's (all this courtesy of DirectTV as a VIP customer.) Even according to the CEO of DirectTV, the HR20 is nowhere near ready for prime time yet. I recommend Dish and the ViP622 DVR.

.....G

Directv = HD lite
Dish Network = 30+ HD channels

jpoet: Same thing happened to me. Screw comcrap.

Im thinking about going OTA plus USDTV (for ESPN and the MTN). Havent made up my mind yet.

cOMMIE cRAP it seems added some VS HD and FSN HD. I don't know what VS HD is. But if FSN HD is Fox Sports Net, and if FSN West from when I lived in San Diego is any similar this is going to be a Dead channel. Much like my cable lines will be when they keep adding these frakken craptastic channels and not the 3 remaining locals.

It seems the KWBQ-HD and KASY-HD testing they did last month was to test their bandwidth not that they were going add the channels.


Must be this crap http://boards.wild.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t8125.html

Again, second the motion on Dish and a 622...Plus an OTA antenna...

You miss just about nothing, reliable DVR with 3 tuners, great selection.

Gotta do 13 OTA is all--no biggie if your antenna gets it, and you can't get it anywhere else anyway.

cOMMIE cRAP it seems added some VS HD and FSN HD. I don't know what VS HD is. But if FSN HD is Fox Sports Net, and if FSN West from when I lived in San Diego is any similar this is going to be a Dead channel. Much like my cable lines will be when they keep adding these frakken craptastic channels and not the 3 remaining locals.

It seems the KWBQ-HD and KASY-HD testing they did last month was to test their bandwidth not that they were going add the channels.


VS HD is Versus HD (and IIRC, it should consist of GOLF CHANNEL HD during the day and Versus HD content at night). It makes perfect sense to have Versus/Golf as Comcast is a big partner in both channels.

FSN HD is probably FSN Arizona or FSN Rocky Mountain in HD (I doubt it's any other region since we're in the Arizona/Rocky Mountain FSN area).

I still haven't checked KWBQ and KASY HD lately -- last time I looked, KWBQ was still trying to figure out how to pass through CW HD and KASY was using stretcho-smello-vision on their signal. If those two stations can't deliver true HD on the air, why would Commiecast be able to have them in HD? It seems Acme may be the problem with those two, not Commiecast.

Again, second the motion on Dish and a 622...Plus an OTA antenna...

You miss just about nothing, reliable DVR with 3 tuners, great selection.

Gotta do 13 OTA is all--no biggie if your antenna gets it, and you can't get it anywhere else anyway.

As a current DirecTV HR10 owner, what do I lose making this switch (not counting the bugs, reboots, audio glitches, etc)? Do you still get seamless locals OTA in the same guide along with the sat channels? I can't tell if the package pricing includes the box other than the $199 upgrade fee for the 622? Any others made this switch and have comments?

Thanks!
Jim

As far as I've seen only KASY does the strechy vision. KRQE-DT likes to do a partial zoom on 4:3 content (making it 14:9 I think). Neither network shows syndicated programming in HD. But I havent seen any of the other affiliates do it either.

Im getting so fed up with comcrap its ridiculous. Ive been waiting for YEARS for them to put on FSN-SW. Do they not realize there are tons of Mavs/Rangers/Stars fans here?

As a current DirecTV HR10 owner, what do I lose making this switch (not counting the bugs, reboots, audio glitches, etc)? Do you still get seamless locals OTA in the same guide along with the sat channels? I can't tell if the package pricing includes the box other than the $199 upgrade fee for the 622? Any others made this switch and have comments?

Thanks!
Jim
If you go with the $199 lease upgrade, you have a $6 leased receiver fee monthly, a $5.98 DVR service fee plus there is an 18 month HD programming committment.

I have the HD Bronze (will be AT100+HD in February) with two other non-DVR SD receivers and my bill is $71 per month.

In NM DMA you will automatically get HD locals if you also subscribe to locals via Dish - another $5 per month for locals, HD locals are gratis. No CBS HD because of KRQE's stinkiness.

If you go with the $199 lease upgrade, you have a $6 leased receiver fee monthly, a $5.98 DVR service fee plus there is an 18 month HD programming committment.

I have the HD Bronze (will be AT100+HD in February) with two other non-DVR SD receivers and my bill is $71 per month.

In NM DMA you will automatically get HD locals if you also subscribe to locals via Dish - another $5 per month for locals, HD locals are gratis. No CBS HD because of KRQE's stinkiness.

Thanks. No need for locals if I can get tham all OTA correct? I sure wish they would spell out all the pricing details to help figure this out. Just one of my pet peeves like CE companies that are too afraid to put MSRP pricing on web pages.

Jim

Aside the ability to get every obscure football game between two losing football games, why would anyone get Direct over Dish? I have several Direct customers who need it for these obscure football games, but their systems don't work nearly as well as the Dish systems and with far fewer channels. And why does *anyone* have cable at all with the piss poor quality? I look at it like :confused:

Aside the ability to get every obscure football game between two losing football games, why would anyone get Direct over Dish?

For me it is for historical reasons prior to either having any HD and having bought my receiver several years back. Now that they have turned my box into a pile of crap with buggy firmware I'm finally looking at options. For others like Brian it is Tivo.

Jim

Commi Crap had KWBQ and KASY's Digital feeds on cable for a weekend. This was the 15th to the 18th. They didn't seem to have any problems but Commie Crap took them off to await final CORPORATE approval. Commie Crap's corporate approval. According to Stan Gill the GM over at KASY/KWBQ they are more than anxious to have their HD signals on.

Commie Crap really doesnt have any excuse for these missing stations. Three remaining local broadcast networks are missing from THEIR system. They don't want to pay up for CBS-HD, Which is fine Im not going to pay for Commie Crap after the Superbowl if they won't play ball with LIN like Cable One seems willing to do.

KASY/KWBQ gave commie crap their feeds. They had them up for almost 4 days. That was 3 weeks ago. Someone at CC needs to pull their Comcraptastic head out of their behind and turn them on.

CommieCrap always sends out their canned responses to requests for more HD networks stating technical and bandwidth concerns. Yet they add VS and FSN HD channels before the three remaining local networks, two of which they already have established working HD links with. SHAME ON COMCAST AND NO ONE ELSE. (aside from me for having to deal with them until I get my dish.

AS for Satellite which I am getting at new house, I really can't understand anyone wanting directv. Aside from Sunday Ticket, Dish has far more HD channels that show HD all year round not just 4 months worth of sunday afternoons.

No offense, but I'm getting a little tired of hearing how bad Comcast is. Of course it's lousy, it's cable. If you don't like them, switch. If you have, there's nothing to discuss. If you won't switch, why do we have to hear about it constantly? That's why we have competition. You buy what works for you. You don't buy something that makes you complain all the time. I have Dish, therefore, I have nothing about which to complain. It would be nice if they turned on the USB finally. Hopefully, that will be announced at CES next week. Or maybe a dual zone HD outputs. That would be very nice too.

For me it is for historical reasons prior to either having any HD and having bought my receiver several years back. Now that they have turned my box into a pile of crap with buggy firmware I'm finally looking at options. For others like Brian it is Tivo.

I remember when Direct was kicking Dish's ass all over the place, but they've just not had a vision of how to do things whereas Charlie Ergen has a very precise vision of what he wants to do with Dish. He's an animal. I don't always agree with him, but he's a great businessman.

As a current DirecTV HR10 owner, what do I lose making this switch (not counting the bugs, reboots, audio glitches, etc)? Do you still get seamless locals OTA in the same guide along with the sat channels? I can't tell if the package pricing includes the box other than the $199 upgrade fee for the 622? Any others made this switch and have comments?

Thanks!
JimYes, the OTA channels are fully integrated into the EPG on the ViP622 and you can use trick play, PIP and DVR record for all the OTA channels. KRQE has a lovely HD signal, but only Stereo sound (DD 5.1 is supposed to be coming soon) and most evening CBS network programming is in HD.

.....G

Yes, the OTA channels are fully integrated into the EPG on the ViP622 and you can use trick play, PIP and DVR record for all the OTA channels. KRQE has a lovely HD signal, but only Stereo sound (DD 5.1 is supposed to be coming soon) and most evening CBS network programming is in HD.

.....G

Thanks. Am I correct that I can't go to any stores and bring home the equipment for a self install? I'd rather do the install myself, replacing the old dish with the Dish dish :)

Jim

John - Dish does not require a phone line, but you'll pay an extra $5/month if you don't have one. The Dish ViP622 DVR is an excellent piece of equipment. My brother in L.A. is a friend of the CEO of DirectTV and he got two HR20's which never worked enough to even be usable, so he reverted to HR10's (all this courtesy of DirectTV as a VIP customer.) Even according to the CEO of DirectTV, the HR20 is nowhere near ready for prime time yet. I recommend Dish and the ViP622 DVR.

.....G

Thanks for the info. That $5/month charge is kinda dubious.

I will continue to use my MythTV PVR for OTA HD. I would love to be able to continue to use MythTV for SD from satellite, but not sure that is practicle. I am sure there is no way to get HD content from a DISH reciever into MythTV.

Dish does seem to have a lot of HD channels, but how many actually have worthwhile content?

I will have to keep Comcast for internet, so that will cost me $55-$60/month. That leaves around $65/month in my budget for TV. I will not do any locals with Dish, so what Dish package can I get for that price?

Thanks,

John

Thanks. No need for locals if I can get tham all OTA correct? I sure wish they would spell out all the pricing details to help figure this out. Just one of my pet peeves like CE companies that are too afraid to put MSRP pricing on web pages.

Jim

On Dish network you need to subscribe to locals to get locals EPG info. It's only $5/month, which gives you guide info and the ability to record up to 3 locals in HD at the same time with the VIP622 (2 satellite tuners + 1 OTA). KNME-HD info is not available in the EPG, but it can be tuned in OTA.

On Dish network you need to subscribe to locals to get locals EPG info. It's only $5/month, which gives you guide info and the ability to record up to 3 locals in HD at the same time with the VIP622 (2 satellite tuners + 1 OTA). KNME-HD info is not available in the EPG, but it can be tuned in OTA.

Bummer. Why do they make customers do such nonsense? With the HR10, the guide for OTA does not depend on a monthly ransom and they all record just fine. So basically the $5 just gets me the guide. Great. This is starting to get pretty far above Dish pricing per month.

Jim

Just to clean up a bit of history -- folks who belong to more than one forum should/would know this. DISH moved out ahead of D* when they bought the VOOM package. D* lost a year to two delayed satellite launches. The 2 new birds in the next several months will sort that out. And I'm not certain there's much of anything from the VOOM package I'd want. I didn't add it when it was peanuts, after all.

I've had the HR20-700 since inception -- yes, being a long-term D* subscriber, I got it free along with a couple other SD DVR's. The bugginess for me was worked through in a few weeks. I have zero problems with the critter -- 2 sat tuners, 2 OTA tuners -- and the OTA sensitivity is about 10-20% better than my HR10 was.

Some of the goodies that probably will be announced at CES have already been turned on for those who wished to get a head start, e.g. the ethernet port is "on" and streaming music and photos to Intel's VIIV spec is enabled. Streaming video is not -- yet.

The Serial ATA port is hot and there are folks in the dbstalk forum running multiple terrabyte RAID arrays as external storage. The USB port is hot but still not usable for more than charging an iPod. :)

I see no reason to walk away from the technology leaders because of delays at getting birds into the sky. Cripes, I can't even complain about Rupert anymore! Plus, it wouldn't mean anything to most of y'all; but, there is at least one SD sports channel that I watch 30-40 hours/month that isn't available through any of the other choices available in NM.

Thanks. Am I correct that I can't go to any stores and bring home the equipment for a self install? I'd rather do the install myself, replacing the old dish with the Dish dish :)

JimYou can buy your own Vip622 lots of places, including many online stores. You can even install your own dish(s) and hook it all up yourself if you wish. You will of course, have to call Dish to subscribe and activate, but you can get it all aimed and set up yourself before you call, if that's the way you want to go.

.....G

Just to clean up a bit of history -- folks who belong to more than one forum should/would know this. DISH moved out ahead of D* when they bought the VOOM package. D* lost a year to two delayed satellite launches. The 2 new birds in the next several months will sort that out. And I'm not certain there's much of anything from the VOOM package I'd want. I didn't add it when it was peanuts, after all.
Does DirectTV require a phone line? Do they charge a silly fee if you do not have one?

I am thinking of getting a non-HD, non-DVR receiver to hook up to my Myth system. And getting a HD DVR receiver to put in my living room. I assume both Dish and Directv charge an extra fee for using two receivers?

Thanks,

John

Does DirectTV require a phone line? Do they charge a silly fee if you do not have one?
They will always tell you the DVR requires a phone line. In practice, only the TiVo-based systems require a phone line -- for activation. You can run them forever w/o a phone line though they will get slower and slower over time absent TiVo's phone line housekeeping.

The R15 and HR20 [SD and HD DVR's] do not need a phone line for activation or use. There isn't any charge for not having a phone line.

In all cases, software updates arrive via satellite.

As far as I've seen only KASY does the strechy vision. KRQE-DT likes to do a partial zoom on 4:3 content (making it 14:9 I think). Neither network shows syndicated programming in HD. But I havent seen any of the other affiliates do it either.

Im getting so fed up with comcrap its ridiculous. Ive been waiting for YEARS for them to put on FSN-SW. Do they not realize there are tons of Mavs/Rangers/Stars fans here?

KRQE stretches 4:3 to widescreen sometimes (and I can tell - the edges of graphics on CBS Sports events are fuzzy and broken-lined edges and not sharp).
I'd rather have 4:3 with black bars when CBS is not feeding KRQE with HD material since the image looks better on 4:3 material.

as for FSN-SW, you probably need to move to roswell. I believe Roswell and southeastern NM is in FSN-SW's territory. Alternately buy the out of market sports PPV season tickets and watch those FSN-SW games (maybe a rare blackout in MLB's Extra Innings package when the Rangers or Astros play the Dbacks or Rockies in interleague or regular league play depending on what FSN-SW team you are referring to).

KRQE stretches 4:3 to widescreen sometimes (and I can tell - the edges of graphics on CBS Sports events are fuzzy and broken-lined edges and not sharp).
I'd rather have 4:3 with black bars when CBS is not feeding KRQE with HD material since the image looks better on 4:3 material.

CBS only broadcasts about half the NFL games each week in HD, so part of it is their fault.

That being said, CBS finished up a game that was in HD one week, and switched viewers to another game that was not in HD. KRQE continue to pass-through the "HD" from CBS. While CBS did not have HD cameras at the second game, the picture was nice and clean. It was pillar-boxed, but pretty sharp. It was obvious that for the non-HD games, CBS does a nice job of upconverting SD to HD.

Unfortunately, KRQE's upconverting equipment just plain sucks. Anything KRQE upconverts looks extremely fuzzy. It would be very nice if KRQE would pass-through CBS's upconverted, digital signal, when SD cameras are being used, instead of upconverting the analog feed.

John

For the past couple months I've been getting bad reception from KOB-DT (on UHF 26). I used to get a signal strength of around 80, but now it is usually in the mid 60s (if I'm lucky) with frequent picture dropouts. All my other stations signal strengths are about the same as when I installed my antenna this summer, so I'm wondering if something's changed with the transmitter. Anybody else having this problem?

remaining local broadcast networks are missing from THEIR system. They don't want to pay up for CBS-HD, Which is fine Im not going to pay for Commie Crap after the Superbowl if they won't play ball with LIN like Cable One seems willing to do.

So comcast still doesn't have an agreement for KRQE-DT? I wonder if one is pending - comcast is promoting in new ads that you can watch the big game on their service in HD.

To me, "the big game" is the super bowl, but I'm sure comcast is vague enough that a montana/gonzaga potential game in HD would be considered "big" in terms of suing them for false advertising.

For the past couple months I've been getting bad reception from KOB-DT (on UHF 26). I used to get a signal strength of around 80, but now it is usually in the mid 60s (if I'm lucky) with frequent picture dropouts.

here at comanche/tramway, the sig strength has remained the same as typical for the last year plus, but the dropouts continue. nothing more frustrating than watching NBC News or KOB news and a good story airs and right in the middle... (dropout)... occurs.

Agreements signed with 70 networks > target is 100 addl for 2007 [prob. 3Q]. Confirmed includes:

A&E
National Geographic
Bravo
NFL Network
Cartoon Network
SciFi Channel
CNN
Speed
Food Network
TBS
FX
The History Channel
HGTV
The Weather Channel
MTV
USA Network

Regional Sports Networks (RSNs)

All premium movie channels

Press release is at http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/070108/20070108006784.html?.v=1

Agreements signed with 70 networks > target is 100 addl for 2007 [prob. 3Q]. Confirmed includes:

...

Great, all the channels I don't watch. When are they going to sign an agreement with LIN TV to get their digital station (KRQE) over the satellite.

KRQE lives on their own little planet.

I am looking forward to more world sports in HD, though. F1 should be a gas -- and I imagine [since these are networks, after all] more of the Fox sub-channels will include Sky TV's sports coverage from the UK and Europe -- already being telecast in HD.

And 2Q -- streaming content from computer to TV screen -- should move from photos and music to include downloaded video.

Now isnt SciFi, Bravo and USA all owned by NBC/Universal? The folks who package all the HD for SciFiv, bravo and USA into Universal HD? It wouldnt make sense for them to repackage into separate HD channels unless they are planning to switch these channels entirely to an HD entity and no longer offer the SD side. Which would be good for the cable and satellite carriers to help soak, charge, gouge us for more money each month for HD services.

Actually, including all the stuff they bought from Vivendi, I think Universal/NBC has about 20 channels or so. At least it feels like that.

Running 30-40 channels, SD and HD, isn't going to be any more difficult for them -- and it's the revenue that counts.

Now, all the new HD stuff on D* is going to be mpeg4 and require the new D* hardware. I don't believe any of these additions will be mpeg2. That's true of all the additions, networks, etc..

But, the SD product will stay at mpeg2 and be available for years on existing hardware.

I think its more a smokescreen. How much of it will be HD-lite MPEG4? All coming in 2007 from networks with no firm plans currently. Sounds like Circuit City's DiVX push. "Don't be a sucker and buy into Dish Network now, Directv will have all new enhanced Hd with over 100 national HD channels sometime in the future."

They boasted 150 HD channels last year and it was really 150 local HD channels which the average subscriber would only get 3 or 4 of that 150. Dish Network at least has 30 HD channels, Plus any HD locals via OTA antenna and lots of other cool features included in their DVRs.

Since I haven't a crystal ball -- cordless or otherwise -- I can't know any better than you or anyone else if the mpeg4 HD will be HD-lite or not. But --

There are sound technological reasons for the current practice -- like no spare bandwidth -- which will not exist when the basic premise for these additions takes place, e.g., launching the next 2 birds.

There isn't any economic rationale for not using available bandwidth to offer better product. What could possibly be the alternative? Just sit on it for future use? The 2 new birds offer more than enough transponder throughput for fullblown mpeg4 product.

And, of course, the Feds required stroking those "market-leading" locals before the remaining 95% of watchable content could be offered.

All we have is to wait and see what happens next, assuming the satellite rocket launch goes well in springtime and hoping by mid summer we should be getting a new HDTV channels. :)

1-9-07

Has anyone else had lip synch problems on KASAHD via D*HD. I have had lip sych problems since sundays eagles and giants game. All the other channels are good.
Mikey

Published today in HDTV Magazine: DIRECTV's HR20 - DVR Debate Rages On (http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/articles/2007/01/directvs_hr20_-.php)

.....G

Mr Campbell, I was going to post a comment, but your post sums up most of what I was going to say.

Just to clean up a bit of history -- folks who belong to more than one forum should/would know this. DISH moved out ahead of D* when they bought the VOOM package. D* lost a year to two delayed satellite launches. The 2 new birds in the next several months will sort that out. And I'm not certain there's much of anything from the VOOM package I'd want. I didn't add it when it was peanuts, after all.
I have checked the Voom schedule for months and there were no more than 5-6 movies in total that made me feel even the slightest bit left out. I love HD, but will not watch a program 'just because it's in HD' or let that prevent me from watching something that is interesting because it's in SD. All things being equal, of course I will watch the HD program if it's available. I guess I've had HD long enough that the 'wow' factor is not more important than the content.

I've had the HR20-700 since inception -- yes, being a long-term D* subscriber, I got it free along with a couple other SD DVR's. The bugginess for me was worked through in a few weeks. I have zero problems with the critter -- 2 sat tuners, 2 OTA tuners -- and the OTA sensitivity is about 10-20% better than my HR10 was.
I got the HR20 on release day as well and other than bugs in the first 3 weeks, mine has been solid. No missed recordings, no audio dropouts or any of the myriad other problems that people are pointing out. That's just my experience. I still have my HR10 (TiVo based) and prefer the speed of the HR20 in setting recordings and season passes. The software update for the HR10 didn't cause the problems for me that others have had, but the latest SW seems solid as well for that machine.
I have 4 other friends with the HR20 and their experiences mirror mine. I have heard quite a bit of problems with the TiVo Series 3 receiver that are every bit as annoying as some have had with the HR20, but have no personal experience. I have one friend that had his for 1 week before returning it and staying with Series 2.

Some of the goodies that probably will be announced at CES have already been turned on for those who wished to get a head start, e.g. the ethernet port is "on" and streaming music and photos to Intel's VIIV spec is enabled. Streaming video is not -- yet.
Not that important to me, I have access to the media I want to watch in other methods and the need to have the TV on to listen to music makes no sense to me, I have alternate inputs to my home theater for that reason.

The Serial ATA port is hot and there are folks in the dbstalk forum running multiple terrabyte RAID arrays as external storage. The USB port is hot but still not usable for more than charging an iPod. :)
Someday I might be interested, but not today.

I see no reason to walk away from the technology leaders because of delays at getting birds into the sky. Cripes, I can't even complain about Rupert anymore! Plus, it wouldn't mean anything to most of y'all; but, there is at least one SD sports channel that I watch 30-40 hours/month that isn't available through any of the other choices available in NM.
I have had D* for 10 years now and see absolutely no reason to go to Dish. Everytime I have called for info, I have found D* pricing to be very competitive and including Dish's initial enticement of programming credits, etc, just not worth the hassles. Sunday Ticket has helped keep me bound to D*, but my account with them is grandfathered to where I can have just the ST if I wish. The next 5-12 months is going to be much more interesting than with Dish. The sat capacity will allow D* to get all new HD up as soon as ink hits the contracts.

I seem the see same 'fanboy' response to people about satellite radio as well and it's funny how it follows product lines. Dish people generally swear by Sirius and DirecTV people tend to swear by XM (Must be familiarity). I have had XM since launch (well before it was on D*) and just don't see enough differentiation between XM/Sirius to justify switching. I have liked the XM equipment better and Howard Stern is just so tired. If you're a Stern fan that might do it, but I have grown used to Opie & Anthony and prefer their brand of humor. The rest of the programming is really not unique to either platform, other than specific talent used.

PS; I have had distant net Waivers since I moved into my house in Espanola in 2000. I get the 4 nets from both NY/LA in SD and LA in HD. I will probably lose the HD nets when ABQ comes up in HD, but will be able to retain the SD signals.

Just a small supplement to the comment immediately above > I checked the various signal strengths, today, and there still are only 3 of 4 Abq "national channels" participating. I'm not going to try to find out who the laggard is -- but, D* ain't putting the mpg4 HD channels up from Abq until all 4 are transmitting.

Agreements signed with 70 networks > target is 100 addl for 2007 [prob. 3Q]. Confirmed includes:

A&E
National Geographic
Bravo
NFL Network
Cartoon Network
SciFi Channel
CNN
Speed
Food Network
TBS
FX
The History Channel
HGTV
The Weather Channel
MTV
USA Network

Regional Sports Networks (RSNs)

All premium movie channels


Many of those channels probably will remain in SD. The press release did not say they had carriage agreements for all those channels in HD. It's hard for me to imagine Weather Channel in HD.

So, DIRECTV says they will have 100 national HD channels and on another front, they renewed programming contracts with 70 programmers (and some of those will be in HD as well as SD because I know some of those programmers have HD versions of their channels available).

What I've heard in a couple of interviews from CES is that all the channels and networks listed will have HD content running on D*. That does not mean 24/7. It also means that they will continue their SD content.

Published today in HDTV Magazine: DIRECTV's HR20 - DVR Debate Rages On (http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/articles/2007/01/directvs_hr20_-.php)

.....G
Saying "debate rages on" is worth at least a smile -- especially for those of us who have moved on post-TiVo.

I belong to the dbstalk beta group -- which has about 700 members nationwide. Since the "Santa" upgrade [don't ask!] when the OTA tuners were turned on, my read of the forum is that fewer than 3-4% of the group have deal-breaker kinds of problems.

My personal interpretation of those instances is that they either [1] need a new hard drive/replacement unit or, more likely, they need to do a complete reformat/reboot -- which is a menu choice, of course. Being DVR geeks, we all figure we're going to work through it -- rather than sacrifice the 7 episodes of whatever still remains unwatched.

I just took a look at the dbstalk forum -- the 100 most recent threads under discussion -- and there is no activity/response/concern about the article. I won't even say anything impolite about it. :)

I don't believe Sci-Fi is available in HD--certainly not on Dish--Tho the reruns of Battlestar Galactica on Universal HD are in HD. Wish they'd get it together--that's really a good show.

Latest I've heard is that NBC [who seem to own damned near everything] are impressed enough w/BG to push it into prime time. They just can't figure out where. That's why they're re-running the prev season yet again on UHD -- instead of the most recent season.

Maybe this means Sci-Fi HD comes on board asst'd locations, soon? We can only hope.

Yet another week and COMMIE CRAP hasn't turn on CW-HD or MyNetwork-HD. They tested them Dec 15th and we havent seen them since. Still no CBS-HD and just a few weeks before the Big Game.

Sounds like you need a OTA tuner/dvr.
JR

Originally Posted by guruka
Published today in HDTV Magazine: DIRECTV's HR20 - DVR Debate Rages On

.....G

I must apologize. I didn't find the discussion at dbstalk because it was over in the "coffeehouse" or similar. It's now been moved over to the HR20 forum.

Looking at the respondents, I'd revise my numbers up on "dissatisfied" up to 10-12% -- though, obviously they're not in the dealbreaker class because they're still here with D*. I've stated my disagreements/agreements with some of those folks over there.

Including the fact that [1] software upgrades did solve what problems I had -- and [2] I still think many of those with similar ongoing probs need to reformat & reboot or get replacement units. There is more elaboration over there.

Yet another week and COMMIE CRAP hasn't turn on CW-HD or MyNetwork-HD. They tested them Dec 15th and we havent seen them since. Still no CBS-HD and just a few weeks before the Big Game.

Dish Network.

I'd pay $10/month to get the Sci-Fi network in HD.

I have OTA tuners in my TVs. but pay for cable for DVR and all the other channels. Im done paying 85 a month for cable when I still need ears. When Im watching the superbowl via antenna I will be calling comcast to cancel. Im holding out until feb 1 to get the HD-DVR from dish free.

I must apologize. I didn't find the discussion at dbstalk because it was over in the "coffeehouse" or similar. It's now been moved over to the HR20 forum.

Looking at the respondents, I'd revise my numbers up on "dissatisfied" up to 10-12% -- though, obviously they're not in the dealbreaker class because they're still here with D*. I've stated my disagreements/agreements with some of those folks over there.

Including the fact that [1] software upgrades did solve what problems I had -- and [2] I still think many of those with similar ongoing probs need to reformat & reboot or get replacement units. There is more elaboration over there. Yes, I had the same problems with my E* PVR921 when it came out - reboots, lockups, missed recordings, etc. etc. After 18 months of software updates, it finally became 90% stable. Then I dumped it and bought the next gen DVR, the 622. The first one out of the gate with entirely new software (like the HR20) is always an adventure for us unwitting beta testers who like to live on the bleeding edge of technology. ;)

.....G

I'd pay $10/month to get the Sci-Fi network in HD.


Me too--if it was on Dish.

No Comcast available out here--not that I'd want it--and I don't care for dish.

For some reason though, I don't think they produce any of it in HD, though they probably use film and transfer it. Since it's HD on UNI-HD, I don't see how it could be too difficult for them.

As I noted before, in my case I'm a "half-witting:)" beta tester -- knew there were problems, incomplete apps, when I got the receiver. After 3 months, it was running like a Swiss watch, OTA delightful, etc.. I can't test the mpg4 aspect because the Abq champion stations still all aren't capable of providing an mpg4 feed to D*.

We rec'd another release candidate, last night; but, I'm in the quirky position of taking part in betas -- which usually don't mean much to me because everything already works! I continue to take part just to be able to report back if something negative results.

Last night's report back from me was -- "nothing new -- everything's working fine."

..<snip>....I can't test the mpg4 aspect because the Abq champion stations still all aren't capable of providing an mpg4 feed to D*. E* provides the ABQ stations in MPEG4. It's not the station providing the encoded feed to E* - they get the feed and encode it in MPEG4. i.e., the MPEG4 encoder is at E*, not at the station.

.....G

P.S. - I'm really glad to hear your good report on the HR20. It's got a great featureset.

Oh. I presumed it was the other way round -- and that was the excuse. I checked the other day and there were 3 of 4 network locals passing through D* transponders; so, there's still one laggard holding up the beginning of D* Abq HD via satellite. Wonder what's holding up whichever 1 is out of the loop?

Last I heard, folks were still expecting things to start up, this month > I'll finally get a chance to see how things roll through the HR20 via mpg4.

By the end of Feb [for a couple of reasons] I should be ready to experiment with streaming via Apple's new AppleTV stb.

Just started, today, with downloading a couple of [legal] movies as mpg4 to play with iTunes/Front Row. I use that a lot for weekly geek shows [h.264/.mov] I download; but, haven't previously played with any downloaded movies. Looks to be fun.

The holdout is KRQE. Both D* and E* won't ante up what LIN Broadcasting is asking for HD retransmission consent. E* is giving us KASA, KOB and KOAT in MPEG4 HD, but not KRQE. Luckily I get KRQE DT perfectly OTA.

......G

KRQE should be *paying* Dish and Direct to retransmit their signal and boost their viewership!!!!

Who turns down *free* transmission?!? Sheesh. Expanded coverage, no cost.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesnt the STB/DVRs from D* or E* support OTA? Do these boxes not integrate the OTA into the guide so you can effortlessly watch networks OTA or via the birds?

I just wonder if your Satellite equipment can tune all the networks via OTA why stress over missing locals from the satellite provider? Its not like a cable box where it ONLY receives whats on the cable so a missing network really is missing. I feel for the folks with HD monitors with Commie Cast who wont beable to watch the big game in HD. But any Dish or Directv subscriber in theory should be able to watch the game with the OTA tuner in their box.

How long are we going to argue over LIN's carriage fees? They have a right to charge. It's not their fault if the 3 largest carriers in the ABQ area refuse to pay up. CableOne is much smaller than the others but are paying for carriage rights so it cant be that high of a cost. I would love to see one of you LIN haters to provide actual numbers of LINs horribly outlandish asking price.

Todays Chargers Vs Patriots game was beautiful in HD on CBS even though chargers lost. I will enjoy telling CommieCast to kiss my ATSC after the superbowl I have to watch with rabbit ears. I am also looking forward to my house finishing in late feb to have Dish Network installed.

BigGlare: there are at least 2 reasons to want channels encoded over satellite even if you get OTA.
(1) You have additional tuners. Some nights I need all 3, with CBS or CW using the OTA tuner, NBC/ABC/HDNet/HDNmovie/HBOHD/SHOHD/STZHD on the 2 satellite tuners.
(2) The MPEG-4 encoding even as bad as it currently is, gives smaller files--unfortunately with more blocking and freezes. CBS produces the biggest files, IIRC. Never a disk large enough.
-Ken
Samsung HL-S5687 Dish VIP622+921(better keeping than the trade-in terms)+501(just in case) RCA DVD+R (now over 300 disks, too bad it is only S-video in, but HDMI out.)

BigGlare: there are at least 2 reasons to want channels encoded over satellite even if you get OTA.
(1) You have additional tuners. Some nights I need all 3, with CBS or CW using the OTA tuner, NBC/ABC/HDNet/HDNmovie/HBOHD/SHOHD/STZHD on the 2 satellite tuners.
(2) The MPEG-4 encoding even as bad as it currently is, gives smaller files--unfortunately with more blocking and freezes. CBS produces the biggest files, IIRC. Never a disk large enough.
-Ken
Samsung HL-S5687 Dish VIP622+921(better keeping than the trade-in terms)+501(just in case) RCA DVD+R (now over 300 disks, too bad it is only S-video in, but HDMI out.)

Another reason for me is that the KRQE signal over OTA is not too good so I get dropouts all of the time.

Where are you? A bigger/higher uhf antenna might fix you up.
JR

Where are you? A bigger/higher uhf antenna might fix you up.
JR

Four Hills in Albuquerque so I'm pretty close except I might be a little too east of the towers. The dropouts have occured more frequently since about Friday (1/12/07).

So I got my DISH installed Saturday and love it!! I got the Vip622 HD DVR and the Bronze package. Couple of questions for those who also have this.

1. Will locals that I'm getting via OTA show up in the guide as anything other than Digital Service?

2. I went with the Vip622 and have this going to a 2nd TV in SD. Should the locals also be transmitted to that TV as they are on TV1? Not sure why it wouldn't since it is passing the signals from TV1

Thanks

So I got my DISH installed Saturday and love it!! I got the Vip622 HD DVR and the Bronze package. Couple of questions for those who also have this.

1. Will locals that I'm getting via OTA show up in the guide as anything other than Digital Service?

2. I went with the Vip622 and have this going to a 2nd TV in SD. Should the locals also be transmitted to that TV as they are on TV1? Not sure why it wouldn't since it is passing the signals from TV1

Thanks

1. The locals will show up (except KMNE channel 5) on the guide if you also subscribe to the locals package from E*. Channel 5 will show digital service even if you subscribe.

2. Yes, the locals and everything else should be tranmitted to TV2 and if the program is in HD, it will be downconverted to SD on TV2.

Lujan,

Thanks for the reply. So to get this straight. I am getting my locals with an antenna I can't see paying $5.00 for something I get for free. So the guide should show the program content for the OTA locals? and not just "Digital Service".

And those same antenna locals should go to TV2? The installers didn't think it would work and it didn't so they didn't try any troubleshooting. Is there something you can recommend for me to try and get them to TV2?

Thanks again
Spawnman

...<snip>... I am getting my locals with an antenna I can't see paying $5.00 for something I get for free. So the guide should show the program content for the OTA locals? and not just "Digital Service".

And those same antenna locals should go to TV2? The installers didn't think it would work and it didn't so they didn't try any troubleshooting. Is there something you can recommend for me to try and get them to TV2?

Thanks again
Spawnman1. Unless you pay E* for ABQ locals you won't get EPG data for them OTA :( For me it's worth it to have the guide data seamlessly integrated.

2. Anything on TV1 goes to TV2 as well, but the Favorite Lists are separate on TV1 and TV2. Be sure you're on the full 'all channels' EPG on TV2.

.....G

Lastest news on digital low power stations,

The FCC has granted a CPs for analog channel 30 KYNM-CA to be on digital channel 51 and also for K43HW to be on digital channel 28 and the call letter changes to K28JT-D.

Channel 51 will be on the crest, and running at 15 KW ERP and at the sametime K28JT will transment from the west side a tall tower near I-40 will also run at 15 KW ERP. :)

I would not be suprised they get on the air sometime in the springtime or summertime.

I am scratching my head why KTEL-LP ch. 53, K56FB and KTFA-LP ch. 48 "Note ch. 48 is also seen on 42.4" has not filed for going to digital transmission? :eek:

As for KQDF-LP ch. 25 they are still waiting and they plan move the transmitter to the crest and go digital on channel 20 if I remembered right if not please correct me on this. :D

KTVS-LP and others still waiting for the FCC to make up their minds too. :)

Happy TV DXings!! :D

1-15-7

2. Anything on TV1 goes to TV2 as well, but the Favorite Lists are separate on TV1 and TV2. Be sure you're on the full 'all channels' EPG on TV2.

.....G

Wow are you sure? Was checking at dbstalk and it looks like you either have to do some kind of combiner or switch to single mode to be able to view OTA locals on TV2

Spawnman

Lujan,

Thanks for the reply. So to get this straight. I am getting my locals with an antenna I can't see paying $5.00 for something I get for free. So the guide should show the program content for the OTA locals? and not just "Digital Service".

And those same antenna locals should go to TV2? The installers didn't think it would work and it didn't so they didn't try any troubleshooting. Is there something you can recommend for me to try and get them to TV2?

Thanks again
Spawnman

Like Guruka said, you will get the programming from the OTA, but you will not get the guide data. It will say "Digital Service" or something like that. It is worth it for me as well to pay the $5.00.

Ok, so what do I need to do to enable locals on TV2? When I go to the menu, the locals are greyed out.

Thanks
Spawnman

Wow are you sure? Was checking at dbstalk and it looks like you either have to do some kind of combiner or switch to single mode to be able to view OTA locals on TV2. Spawnman Yes, you do have to be operating in 'single mode.' .....G

I'll give it a try...

thanks all

RE: Comcast & KRQE

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the last time CBS had the Superbowl didn't Comcast carry the HD signal then dump it after "the big game" was finished?...at least by the next day?

So I would suspect that they are gonna work out some kinda deal for at least Super-Sunday.

Even more reason to dump them like a hot load of Comc R a P if they pulled that.

As it stands Im dumping them after the game. Im not paying them more money that I have to. Im just waiting for the next 30 days for my house to finish and get my dish.

KRQE should be *paying* Dish and Direct to retransmit their signal and boost their viewership!!!!
Who turns down *free* transmission?!? Sheesh. Expanded coverage, no cost.

KRQE probably doesn't care because they have the #1 10PM news in the DMA (thanks to strong CBS lead-in shows). If they were #3 in the DMA at 10pm and not even close to KOB/KOAT, it'd be a different story.

as long as they have their 10pm viewers, why should they care to favor wider viewership rather than extracting retrans cash for their HD signal from commiecast, DIRECTV and DISH Network?

Is KRQE providing 5.1 sound yet?

Well single mode works, thanks to all that helped. Much easier then messing with the a/b switch to go back and forth between locals and sat in the bedroom.

Spawnman

I'm moving to ABQ in a month and this thread is huge! Can someone give me a quick lowdown on the cable providers, which one is best, how much HiDef do they carry and do they carry the local channels in HiDef, etc.

See you guys soon in ABQ! Thanks

I'll let the folks with direct experience with Comcast answer that one. :)

Yea ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL! Hopefully you've shamed KRQE!

Front page story in Wednesday's paper is a story about how Comcast and KRQE can't reach a deal for cable carriage of the HD signal.

Story written by a sports reporter - pretty obvious when KRQE's owner is referenced throughout the article as "Link TV" rather than "LIN TV". Also obvious when there is no talk about in the article about a failure for KRQE HD to show up on Echostar DISH Network HD locals and presumably DIRECTV HD locals when they launch.

Poorly researched article, but great to have it on the front page so the little bit of info gets out there.

I'm moving to ABQ in a month and this thread is huge! Can someone give me a quick lowdown on the cable providers, which one is best, how much HiDef do they carry and do they carry the local channels in HiDef, etc.

See you guys soon in ABQ! Thanks

Well, you have a choice of Comcast, or.... no cable.

The locals here are on Sandia Crest which give them mostly excellent coverage for ota. Most of the residents here can get them with an indoor antenna if ota is of interest to you. As mentioned, Comcast is our only cable operator with all their plusses and minuses. My bill with them doubled last month because I was on a promo and it ran out; naturally they didn't warn me that it was about to expire. I am now without the premium channels until the next promo, whenever that is.
JR

In Albuquerque you have Comcast (shuddered at typing real name). Theres a reason why they are known as Comcrap, commiecast and many other names the admins won't allow us to type. They have a horrible HD selection, although it has grown by 4 in the last month. They only have 4 out of 7 local broadcast networks. ABC FOX PBS NBC(wasnt added until last november).

They are missing CBS CW and MyNetwork for various reasons. CBS is due to carriage aggreements held up by the owners of KRQE, the CBS affiliate here, wanting to charge carriage fee as they are entitled by law. KWBQ and KASY are the CW and MyNetwork stations respectively. These stations are held up merely by CommieCasts pure unwillingness to turn them on. These channels were tested for a weekend one month ago and were turned off after the weekend while they "Wait for final corporate approval."

Here is Commie Crap's semi current HD lineup. VS-HD and FSN-HD were added last week but an updated lineup not yet available. 12 full time HD channels, 4 HD premiums, Weatherplus is nbc's SDTV multi-cast weather channel, and 2 empty HD channels (special events and FSN-HD which has been just a test pattern since it went live.) 16 channels if you get all the premiums. You will need to have at least one of their Digital cable packages starting at 59.99, add in HDTV service for another $6, DVR service if you want it $6, Set top box rental $5, and each of the premiums are around $10 a month. Prices are a rough estimate since I cant bare to read my bill without crying.

208 NBC Weather Plus News & Info
210 KOAT (ABC) HD High-Definition TV
211 KOB HD (NBC)
213 FOX HD High-Definition TV
220 KNME (PBS) HD High-Definition TV
225 Discovery HD High-Definition TV
226 InHD1 High-Definition TV
227 MHD (MTV) High-Definition TV
228 HBO HD High-Definition TV
233 Cinemax HD High-Definition TV
238 Showtime HD High-Definition TV
248 Starz! HD High-Definition TV
249 TNT HD High-Definition TV
250 UNI HD High-Definition TV
252 ESPN HD High-Definition TV
253 ESPN2 HD Sports
254 InDemand Special Events HD


If you move just north of town in the psuedo Suburb of Rio Rancho, which is technically a separate city that has grown together into one metro area. The Cable company there is CableOne. They do however carry the 4 big networks but not CW or Mynetwork. I don't have Cable One but this is from their website which I hope is out of date since it doesnt show Fox.

450 HBO HDTV HBO in HDTV
451 SHOWTIME HDTV Showtime HDTV
452 ESPN HD ESPN in HDTV
453 TMC HD The Movie Channel HD
454 TNT HD TNT in High Definition
455 ABC HDTV ABC Network in HDTV
460 CBS HDTV CBS in HDTV
465 NBC HDTV NBC in HDTV
490 UNIVERSAL HD Universal HD

Personally Im currently in an apartment and a dish just wont work for me. I am building a house which should be finished next month. I specifically looked for a lot where I will have perfect line of site to the Sandia Crest where all the broadcast towers are. I've take my laptop with USB tuner and got perfect reception there. I also have a clear site of sky for a dish.

I would recommend going with Dishnetwork, they already offer 30 HD channels above and beyond the locals which are freely available with a rabbit ear antenna.


DO NOT TURN TO COMMIECAST! Their customer service specializes in canned responses to requests for new channels or inquiries into CBS-HD in time for Superbowl. I wrote to them just yesterday and got my 6th copy of the exact same canned response. I've told my wife that cable gets turned off after the superbowl if the remaining 3 channels arent added. I've had enough of them. Hell when I moved to ABQ in Jul 2005 only abc fox and pbs were on cable. I watched more via antenna than cable and Im extremely biased towards their television services.

heres the link to the ABQ journal peice mentioned.

http://www.abqjournal.com/news/metro/530011metro01-17-07.htm

"We don't feel our customers should pay extra to watch free TV," Dunkenson said. Comcast General Manager Chris Dunkenson said.

It's funny then why my cable bill is so high just to get the locals from them....

Cantrall said he doesn't think it would be difficult to unhook the cable and connect to a UHF antenna, but said he wouldn't be getting the same quality picture that he would get through cable.

I think my picture is better with antenna. No one is compressing it or processing it through a DVR.

I know I'll be watching the Super Bowl and recording it in HD. Gotta love the Sony OTA DVR. I'm actually pretty happy I don't have Sat or Cable. From the complaints I've read, it seems like more frustration. I'll be interested to see what D*tv offers with HD as I can't stand the Commies and have DSL service. BTW I've recorded all the Playoffs in HD (<--- Pats Fan from Boston) and KRQE OTA is 2nd to none. I think FoxSports does HD the best however. Anyone else ever notice a difference?

---Kevin

I think FoxSports does HD the best however. Anyone else ever notice a difference?

---Kevin

Do you mean FoxSports Net or sports on FOX? I have yet to see anything but a test pattern on F-HD on comcrap.

Your right KRQE has the best picture IMHO, if CBS decides to broadcast a particular game in HD. Fox looks very nice as well, especially on a 720/768 set (which I have one). I also watch TV on a 1920x1200 computer monitor. In which case KRQE looks better.... sports on KOB/NBC look awful.

OTA beats cable for ATSC image quality, as a general rule. Of course, if the local affiliate is lame (like KRQE), then you're pretty much out-of-luck regardless.

Fox Sports Net.

I know I'll be watching the Super Bowl and recording it in HD. Gotta (...) BTW I've recorded all the Playoffs in HD (<--- Pats Fan from Boston) and KRQE OTA is 2nd to none. I think FoxSports does HD the best however. Anyone else ever notice a difference?

I"ll be recording the super bowl on my multimedia PC (USB HDTV tuner connected). It'll stay on the hard drive until I buy a HDTV burner and then I'll burn it to a HD DVD when I get the burner (blu ray or HD DVD - probably HD DVD when it finally wins the battle).

As for HD, CBS beats FOX Sports hands down (1080i of CBS versus only 720p for FOX and FOX Sports and even ABC Sports).

FOX just has the nicer looking graphic presentation...

I was talking about Fox on 2.1 the picture quality seems better than KRQE via OTA IMHO. My tv maxes out 1080i but tax season is coming up and I'm getting a LCD. So I can use it as a computer monitor too. I also plan on getting a 1TB external HD to rip my DVD's and play them via Front Row to the LCD controlled via BT mouse and KB. I will also be getting eyeTV so I can record to the external and then burn one day. Can't wait to get it setup.

As for HD, CBS beats FOX Sports hands down (1080i of CBS versus only 720p for FOX and FOX Sports and even ABC Sports).

FOX just has the nicer looking graphic presentation...

So that's why it looks better for you guys. I'm going to have to check it out.. Sometimes it sucks to be an early adoptor. :)

I am happy with my Directv and OTA and looking forward to seeing Directv adding more HDTV by mid summer if there's a sucessfull rocket launch.

Yep just stay away from Comcrap I hear a horror story, but I do wish the Verizon FIOS would come to Albuquerque market sooner the better but sadly it's still controled by QWEST which has a crappy DSL bandwith. :p

Anyway welcome to Albuquerque Metro areas! :)

1-17-07

I"ll be recording the super bowl on my multimedia PC (USB HDTV tuner connected). It'll stay on the hard drive until I buy a HDTV burner and then I'll burn it to a HD DVD when I get the burner (blu ray or HD DVD - probably HD DVD when it finally wins the battle)

Ulead DVD movie Factory 5.
Strip out the commercials with HDTVtoMPEG.
Master the file with ulead as an HD-DVD iso.
Burn to DVD-R DL.
Play in HD-DVD player from toshiba.

Has anyone who ownes or leases a E* 921, 942, or 622 noticed that KNME 5.1 is now listing the programs on the guide rather than "Digital Programming"?

Ulead DVD movie Factory 5.
Strip out the commercials with HDTVtoMPEG.
Master the file with ulead as an HD-DVD iso.
Burn to DVD-R DL.
Play in HD-DVD player from toshiba.

What's the max amount of time you can put on a DL DVD?

i think comcast and dish not carrying cbs-hd is total crap. but even more important to me is dish does not carry pbs-hd. if they would carry it with pbs-hd on the guide i would change in a minute. why does dish not carry pbs-hd? since both do not carry cbs-hd that is a wash. dish says you can get pbs-hd but the guide does not appear and i don't want to go to the internet to see what is on. plus i get a crappy signal with rabbit ears down her at paseo and barstow. i don't like comcast but the lack of pbs-hd on the dish is a deal killer now. any ideas?

i think comcast and dish not carrying cbs-hd is total crap. but even more important to me is dish does not carry pbs-hd. if they would carry it with pbs-hd on the guide i would change in a minute. why does dish not carry pbs-hd? since both do not carry cbs-hd that is a wash. dish says you can get pbs-hd but the guide does not appear and i don't want to go to the internet to see what is on. plus i get a crappy signal with rabbit ears down her at paseo and barstow. i don't like comcast but the lack of pbs-hd on the dish is a deal killer now. any ideas?

Did you see the information I just posted? Dish is now showing the guide information for PBS (KNME) 5.1!!!

What's the max amount of time you can put on a DL DVD?

about 50 minutes. 4.5gb per 30 minutes. Take out the commercials and you can easily fit an hour long show onto a DVD DL.

So does Comcast have any Hi Def programming?

Play in HD-DVD player from toshiba.

gotta figure out which format player to buy and buy the burning drive. ;) I'm just waiting a little bit longer to make sure blu-ray loses out to HD-DVD so I'm not stuck with gear that only I can author and watch High Def DVD's using.

btw, don't worry about Commiecast and CWHD and MNTVHD - KASY wasn't in high-def tonight (when it should have been if all was right in the world since MNTV dramas are in hi def) and KWBQ's HD signal was full of cracklies in the audio tonight but had HD video, so I had to watch the SD version of KWBQ due to the crackly audio driving me nuts.

Well, we hit national news with the KRQE / Comcast fiasco...

http://www.tvpredictions.com/newmexico011707.htm

So that's why it looks better for you guys. I'm going to have to check it out.. Sometimes it sucks to be an early adoptor. :)

Being an early adopter works -- as long as your better half doesn't mind if the budget then gets reworked for the next step up. I run 720p/1080i, now; but, intend to move to 1080p around year-end. Though not likely to go to either HD recording format [I hardly watch DVD's], I presume that eventually we'll get some 1080p from DirecTV. Especially movies, Discovery HD.

Oh, and though I escaped from 14 miles away from Foxboro over 20 years ago -- Go, Pats!

As for HD, CBS beats FOX Sports hands down (1080i of CBS versus only 720p for FOX and FOX Sports and even ABC Sports).
Not that this thread is the place for a format debate, but your assertion that 1080i should be better than 720p for sports as a matter of course is one I reject. ABC/ESPN and FOX chose 720p for various reasons. Among those reasons was their conclusion that 720p provides a better image for sports. While CBS has earned accolades for their high-quality picture (not that our CBS affiliate KRQE cares anything about quality), I have usually preferred 720p for high-motion imagery. Your preference may differ; however "1080i vs ... only 720p" reflects a possible lack of understanding of the tradeoffs associated with the ATSC standards.

I presume that eventually we'll get some 1080p from DirecTV. Especially movies, Discovery HD.

Don't hold your breath on that one. 1080i is a bandwidth hog, and 1080p is worse (twice?)
JR

So does Comcast have any Hi Def programming?
Didn't you read the posts at the top of the page?

It's shamefull no one from LIN or KRQE has commented on the situation. The way the article (in the ABQ Journal) is written one would think LIN and KRQE are just being jerks and not cooperating with Com---t, and not the mere fact that Com---t refuses to pay carriage fees. The article also fails to mention that CableOne in RioRancho has worked out deals with LIN and will have CBS-HD for the game.

The Article also fails to call the cable rep on his fact he doesnt think people should pay extra for what they get free. But if you want HD service from comc---t you have to pay for all the extra services and equipment they "require" you to have.

The story at TV predictions is worse, the author there didnt look any further into the situation and merely reported on the first story further distorting and ignoring all the facts.

I wonder if Com---t would let me not pay my bill "in-good-faith" while they refuse to carry the THREE remaining NATIONAL BROADCAST NETWORKS. The CW and MynetworkTV are national networks after all.

Didn't you read the posts at the top of the page?

It's shamefull no one from LIN or KRQE has commented on the situation. The way the article (in the ABQ Journal) is written one would think LIN and KRQE are just being jerks and not cooperating with Com---t, and not the mere fact that Com---t refuses to pay carriage fees. The article also fails to mention that CableOne in RioRancho has worked out deals with LIN and will have CBS-HD for the game.

The Article also fails to call the cable rep on his fact he doesnt think people should pay extra for what they get free. But if you want HD service from comc---t you have to pay for all the extra services and equipment they "require" you to have.

The story at TV predictions is worse, the author there didnt look any further into the situation and merely reported on the first story further distorting and ignoring all the facts.

I wonder if Com---t would let me not pay my bill "in-good-faith" while they refuse to carry the THREE remaining NATIONAL BROADCAST NETWORKS. The CW and MynetworkTV are national networks after all.

While I agree with you that Comcast is no saint, read the following Q&A answer from that same site:


Q. Whose side do you take in these disputes between cable and the local stations over HDTV signals? -- Barry C.
In dozens of cities, local stations are not permitting the cable operators to carry their high-def feeds unless they pay an extra fee. I think this is insane. For years, local stations have happily let cable and satellite operators carry their signals so they can reach more people, improve their ratings and, therefore, sell more advertising.

But now some independently-owned stations are trying to generate additional revenue by demanding fees for their HDTV signals. Why are they doing this? Because Nielsen has yet to begin publishing ratings for HDTV viewers. So the local stations do not see an immediate benefit of letting cable operators offer their HD channels for free. If more people watch their HD signals, they probably won't be able to translate that into more advertising. So they are demanding programming fees.

Instead of holding the HDTV viewer hostage with their demands, the local stations should be pushing Nielsen to measure the high-def audience. Then they can use HDTV to generate revenue the way they're supposed to.

The more people that watch commercialy broadcast TV stations, the more ad revenue they receive. Why on earth should comcast have to pay them, when the additional amount of viewers will only benefit the station!

Don't hold your breath on that one. 1080i is a bandwidth hog, and 1080p is worse (twice?)
JR

Two more birds, this year, helps with bandwidth. And the dude who now owns D* -- well, by mid-summer closing -- is up for competing with HughesNet and WildBlue for internet access via satellite.

He'll need a chunk more bandwidth for those,as well -- and the licensing for that is included in the future birds and [I believe] the last couple, too.

Did you see the information I just posted? Dish is now showing the guide information for PBS (KNME) 5.1!!! sorry lujan i missed your post. thanks for the info as i think it is dish here i come but the cost of 2 hd dvr's upfront might change my fiancee's mind. do i get stuck for $200 each for the hd dvr's?

I don't know since I only have one 622 receiver.

Yep,

And unless your a long time customer with a clean payment history and a large monthly bill to boot you will only get one leased receiver every 12 - 18 mo's. You could purchase one/lease one though.

do i get stuck for $200 each for the hd dvr's?

sorry lujan i missed your post. thanks for the info as i think it is dish here i come but the cost of 2 hd dvr's upfront might change my fiancee's mind. do i get stuck for $200 each for the hd dvr's?

I'd also like to thank lujan for the info about KNME-HD guide info now available on the 921. I just added it to my favorites list.

As to the $200 cost to lease a 622 HD dvr, Dish announced at CES that a new customer would be able to lease a 622 without the $200 lease fee beginning in Feb. You will need to wait till Feb. to verify what the deal is. I think you will be limited to one 622.

I'm new to this forum, so hope I'm in the right place. As far as I can tell I cannot receive an HD signal 140 miles away in Gallup. I have Directv HD, but the date keeps getting pushed back for the Albuquerque stations to be broadcast in HD. I tried to get waivers, but was rejected by all of them. I was really hoping to have the Albuquerque stations in HD by the Superbowl, but I'm losing hope. Anyone have any ideas?

I just got off the phone with Comcast. They must be getting swamped with calls since the ABQ journal article. The rep tried to spin it to look like it was KRQE holding things up.

He also stated theres no word on when or IF KWBQ or KASY will return.

I merely stated I knew all the facts involved and I will call them in a couple weeks to cancel.

I was really hoping to have the Albuquerque stations in HD by the Superbowl, but I'm losing hope. Anyone have any ideas?

Top 5 List:

5) Try to get a microwave link licensed and setup for point-to-point between someone in Albuquerque receiving the HD telecast and you
4) Wait for DIRECTV to hopefully add significant Albuquerque HD locals in 2007 and be set for the 2008 and 2009 Super Bowls
3) Move to Albuquerque for Super Bowl weekend
2) Have a high def DVD of the game delivered by sleddog
1) Be thankful CBS doesn't have the Super Bowl again until 2010

Looks like the sttttttuuuuuttttering and breakup is back on KOB 4-1. Last night and again this AM. Only on my 622's not any of my other boxes.

Looks like the sttttttuuuuuttttering and breakup is back on KOB 4-1. Last night and again this AM. Only on my 622's not any of my other boxes.

I noticed it as well on my 622 when I watched a recording of "Medium". It was recorded from the satellite digital station (6326).

You guys make ABQ sound pretty bleak in its cable/hi def programming. I didn't think any place could be worse than Tucson, AZ or Bakersfield, CA. In Tucson, you couldn't get the local channels in Hi Def, but at least here in Bakersfield, I get all of the local channels in Hi Def plus about a dozen other channels from cable.

I've accepted a job in ABQ but haven't moved there yet but am scoping out the availability of programming there. Is Comcast the only game in town for cable? If you don't go with Comcast, who else carries high speed internet service?

Sorry if I've asked questions that have already been posted and answered. This thread is 140 pages long now and would take me a long time to get through all of it.

I appreciate your advice and help. thanks! Jimmy

You can get high speed internet via Comcast cable of Qwest DSL in ABQ. You can get excellent over-the-air HD reception in the ABQ metro area. All our local stations transmit in HD via our Sandia Mt. towers. They include PBS, CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, WB and UPN. Our local CBS high-def station is not carried by our cable and satellite providers due to a tranmit agreement not able to be reached. I receive all the HD channels by a cheap UHF antenna on my roof via my Dish over-the-air tuner on my satellite receiver. The reception is pretty good here.

if you dont mind a commute, you can move into the Rio Rancho area on the west side of town. There Cable One, the cable company for that area carries CBS NBC ABC and fox. None of the cable or sat companies carry CW or MyNetwork.

Get High Speed Internet from Qwest, the local phone company.

DSL from quest is definately better for high speed than comcast on the west side (Albuquerque). However wait list for DSL has been as long as 6 months I had to wait 4 1/2 for mine, just due to huge growth out here on this side of town. Comcast's networks over here get so bad speed drops below 1mb which for me is unacceptable, my DSL is solid at just over 5 and right near 1mb up. Bottom line is get whats best for your budget but whatever you choose a decent OTA antenna is a must.

DSL from quest is definately better for high speed than comcast on the west side (Albuquerque). However wait list for DSL has been as long as 6 months I had to wait 4 1/2 for mine, just due to huge growth out here on this side of town. Comcast's networks over here get so bad speed drops below 1mb which for me is unacceptable, my DSL is solid at just over 5 and right near 1mb up. Bottom line is get whats best for your budget but whatever you choose a decent OTA antenna is a must.

4.5- 6 mos for what??? Just to have a technician flip the switch on??

I called them one day and 10 days later it was a done deal over here in the heights. I'm off Osuna and Penn.

Also, in regards to Qwest, if you get their DSL, they offer a package for DTV. I don't have it right now but I might when the new birds go up. I just can't see paying all that cash for a few HD channels. I use OTA now and that's plenty as I watch mostly PBS, but they do need some new programming. Other than that it's mostly PT programming for me.

DSL isnt like cable they can only have so many people hooked up to a DSLAM at the CO, once it is full they have to set up a new one which can take a while especially if they have more people on waiting list than the new point can service. I dont know what situation is as of now but qwest has been slammed with people on the west side and they couldnt keep up. Cable doesnt have these limitations but when they overpopulate the network we (people on upper west side) experience dramatic slowdown. I am sure the NE hieghts has no wait because they have very little growth compared to the west.

Cry me a river....

I can't get high speed here period...my typical connection is a whopping 24k, and actual download speeds max out around 5k, on a good day.

If I try to send a 100k image by email, my mail server coughs and hiccups.

Qwest has installed some kind of station up the road from me and told me a year ago that that was the last thing they needed to BE ABLE TO provide DSL.

Like I said, that was a year ago......:(

Ya so now i don't feel to bad. That sucks.

You should see my bandwith suck really bad here in Four Hill download speeds varys at 300 to low 200 KBs from Qwest DSL. :(

We were supposed to get 1.5 MPs, since the Four Hills it's like a islands to itself away from the DSL motherhost server. So theres no way to improve the service unless they install the motherhost in the Four hills and get it up to 1.5 MPs.

But I do wish Verzion FIOS would come to Albuquerque and if they do that, then I will dump Qwest.

Now as for LIN "KRQE-DT" and Comcrap they are to blame for this mess, and not caring for the customer's need and wants which is a shame IMHO.... :mad:

No latest news on pending Low Power Digital TV stations from the FCC's database so hang tight!! :D

1-21-07

Is anyone having dropouts with KOB's OTA again. I noticed it last night. They can't seem to keep the problems from occuring over at KOB, huh?

I just watched Earl from thursday last night, had drop outs on it from the E*HD version...
Don't get me started on LIN ;) may have to "move" to the Great White North providers to get CBSHD...

It might have been working on the night you recorded "Earl" but it wasn't last night. Have you checked it live?

Not yet today, archiving to dvdram from E* receiver and watching D*...

Im watching the Auto show, no dropouts...

Still seeing drop outs here in RR on my 622 via local antenna. Has been this way for a few days now. Watching the signal strength it goes as high as 89 - 92% then drops to zero.

The only time I can say anything good about Comcrap up here -- is their internet access. I run a pretty solid 5mbps > peaking at 6. The best Qworst will offer me for DSL is 1-1.25 mbps.

Of course, I watched a [proper] football match from London, yesterday -- and Pipex was offering people speeds of 12 mbps starting at $13/month over copper. Phah!

Internet: I had to give up on Comcast for HS Internet after they doubled
the price $32 incl tax to $60 before tax. I think I was getting the
intro rate for nearly 3 years. I am like 5 miles from the Qwest central
office (CO) and I took the higher bandwidth option via the local ISP but
I think they have some field mini-COs that get me within 3 miles. The
ISP charges more than Q or some others but he did get the order through
the red tape. Comcast good point, you can drop immediately.

Comcast in Los Alamos does not have any HD that I know of. I had
switched to Dish before HD or HS Internet just to get more selection.

Dish 622: my failure to get HD closed captions (CC) on ABC most of the
time and NBC some of the time seems to be a failure in the VIP622. When
the stream recordings are viewed on the TV-2 SD composite signal the TV
displays CC even though the same recording on TV-1 component or HDMI
fails to convert them in the box. Curiously CBS HD CC (OTA obviously)
comes through almost all the time.

Really glad to have the program descriptions for PBS-HD (chan 5.1)
although I had found a few programs by watching into the night. Now if
they could add KNMD (9.1 - 9.3) it would help some more. I noticed my
Samsung HL-S5687 displays descriptions for the over-the-air SD and HD
when available but I like to be able to pause and rewind.

-Ken

Internet:
Dish 622: my failure to get HD closed captions (CC) on ABC most of the time and NBC some of the time seems to be a failure in the VIP622. When the stream recordings are viewed on the TV-2 SD composite signal the TV displays CC even though the same recording on TV-1 component or HDMI fails to convert them in the box. Curiously CBS HD CC (OTA obviously) comes through almost all the time.


-Ken

This is not uncommon. Several receivers do the same thing. For example the Sony HD 200 receiver usually will get cc on Fox and ABC but not CBS or NBC. The Sony HD 300 seems to get cc on all most of the time.

Sent Sean an email about the drop outs today and got this back from him:

We have a loaner encoder coming in tomorrow so that we can send ours off for
repair. It's been driving me crazy not being able to do anything about it...

Thanks for the note!

Sean

Now if I could only figure out why I'm getting so many dropouts on KRQE. This is worse because we don't have a fallback for KRQE (no KRQE digital on satellite or cable).

KRQE was acting wierd on sunday before and during early part of AFC championship. Got better with sporadic drops for the rest of game, I dont know what their problem was possibly weather on the mountain?

Now if I could only figure out why I'm getting so many dropouts on KRQE. This is worse because we don't have a fallback for KRQE (no KRQE digital on satellite or cable).

I don't think they feed their hamsters on Sunday! :D

It's the weirdest thing with KRQE that I've noticed (this coming from someone who watches about 2-3 shows a week on CBS primetime and NFL football in high def and rarely some basketball). I notice on Sundays the signal level is usually lower and I have a tendancy to get more dropouts. On Saturdays for basketball and the 2-3 primetime shows I watch, I don't have any digital reception issues. I know i'm not a wealth of datapoints since I don't make CBS/KRQE a big part of my life, but it seems like they cut back the power on Sundays or something happens on Sundays that makes their signal worse.

fyi, The championship game yesterday was dropout free, but for the regular season I could expect to have a dropout issue during the singleheader/doubleheader.

since dish now has knme-hd guide on i assume it is just a click on the show and record. what about krqe-hd. is it on the dish ota guide like knme-hd? if so then all i need is to have dish to hook up a new antenna and i could record cbs and pbs hd ota? the antenna dish uses seems to pull a lot of stations in the demo they have me at their office over at central and juan tabo roughly. i am looking to change from comcast but since cbs-hd is not on either comcast or dish i am trying to see if all local channels (at least the major ones) are on the dish guide for ease of recording shows.

CBS OTA is on the Dish guide if you have HD package and locals package. You can record with a click just like all other channels on the guide.

moonhawk: that's it i am coming back to dish. i will go get another demo to see exactly the cost involved and how the guide works, but if i can get the major locals with the guide for easy recording comcrap is gone. the only downer is costs $15 more for high speed internet with comcast and my neighbor has been on the roof sweeping snow off dish lately. i still think dish will be better depending on what it costs to get 2 hd-dvr's. i need 2 hd-dvr's as we have 2 comcast hd-dvr's now and could not exist w/o 2 of them. thanks for the advice

The Dish 622 DVR has THREE tuners, 2 Satellite and one OTA, so you may need only one...I don't know how the Comcast ones work, so I may be wrong, but check it out.

Good luck

Did KASA crap out on anyone else around here?

I lost the signal, both OTA and Sat, about 10 minutes into "24"--I hate it when that happens!--

And my 622 went totally nuts. Wouldn't change channels or respond properly to commands.

After 9, I did a power cord reboot, and at least "Heroes" recorded in full.

Luckily, my brother in SC will send me a disc with his recording of 24.

Moonhawk,
I have a HTPC with 2 tuners and I set one up this evening to record HD OTA "24" and the other tuner to record HD OTA "Heroes" as I watch them after the fact. I only got about 12 minutes of "24" and all of "Heroes". I thought it was probably my HTPC or the software , etc. that messed up. But since we both experienced the same problem with different hardware, I have a feeling that Fox OTA 2.1 might be to blame?

There were a few glitches in the "Heroes" OTA HD broadcast (I think they are refered to here as dropouts) as spawnman and others have experienced. It's good to know, for troubleshooting purposes, that other HD recording hardware is experiencing the same problem. It means my HTPC is not messing up.

It was KASA. I lost 24 on 2-1 on my hr10-250 at the same spot as well, however their analog feed kept going. My sd tivo caught it.

Tom

KASA for sure. This happened Sunday night as well for a short time. Guess I will have to Bittorent it. I was watching Heroes during the recording so I had no idea they went dark until it was too late.

I was watching on about a 15 minute delay, but when I tried to change channels to the other feed the 622 went haywire and needed a hard reboot, which I didn't do till after 9 PM to avoid killing the Heroes recording.

kg6mvb--are you referring to the SD broadcast from Kasa?

Luckily we caught KASA going dark before it was entirely too late, and got the last half of 24 on sd ota. I wonder if they and KRQE (LIN), will ever be on cable?
JR

It was KASA. I lost 24 on 2-1 on my hr10-250 at the same spot as well, however their analog feed kept going. My sd tivo caught it.

Tom

Phew! I thought it was my HR20-700 starting to act up. Had the same problem w/KASA and when I went to surf to other channels, 2-1 hangup started locking them up. Rebooted and the problem went away.

I will be moving into my house around the 15th. I am waiting for the Feb 1st date when Dish starts to offer the 622 free without the 200 upgrade fee. I will definately get multiple dvrs if allowed.

KASA has been on Comcrap for some time. Its KRQE, KWBQ and KASY that arent on cable. As for CW and MyNetwork, Commiecrap is waiting until they fill up all their bandwidth with comcraptastic channels like VS and FSNHD before they ask for corporate approval to turn the channels BACK on. Thank fully cable will be a moot point in a couple weeks. Time to let some other sucker worry about their wallet being raped each month by the cable company.

Hi All,

My first post here. The last two years I have been getting ABQ OTA HD
with mixed results. Most of the major stations inluding FOX, PBS, ABC,
CBS, W19 usually come in fine. NBC (i.e. KOB-DT) has always been my
problem child. Seems like the last few weeks I cannot get it ever, at
least on the one HDTV that needs ~200 ft of cable going to it from a
roof top antenna. Now 200 ft of cable is quite a bit, agreed, bit I live
a mere 6.2 mile from the transmitter and have clear line of sight. Also,
I get similar results with an indoor antenna. Besides, all the other
stations come in - why not NBC? Other folks have this problem as well?
Any other experiences? Anything else I can try?

Here are my signal levels using DireTV HR10-250 signal strength test.

January 25, 2007 at 5:30 PM

Frequency Channel Network Call Sign DirecTV Signal

9 9-3 ? KNMD 90 (Excellent)
10 11-1 ? KCHF-DT 80 (Very Good)
16 13-1 CBS KQRE-DT 70 (Good)
17 32-1 ? KAZQ-D1 70 (Good)
21 7-1 ABC KOAT-DT 85 (Excellent)
24 23-1 ? KNAT-D1 85 (Excellent)
26 4-1 NBC KOB-DT <20 (Very Poor)
27 2-1 FOX KASA-DT 85 (Excellent)*
29 19-1 WB19 KWBQ_HD 78 (Very Good)
35 5-1 PBS KNME-HD 88 (Excellent)
42 41-1 ? KLUZ-D1 91 (Excellent)
45 50-1 ? KASY-HD 88 (Excellent)


* FOX is dead to the world this particular minute (just like last night
~10 minutes into 24), but usually it is reliable with >85
signals.

Thanks for any help and insight.

I think the problem with KRQE is that they are transmitting at a relatively low power compared to some of the other stations. As far as I know, they don't plan on increasing the power for a few years. KOB is always having problems with their equipment and that is the reason for their dropouts. You should be able to get them when the equipment is working though. KOB at least, for me, has their DT station on the satellite so that if the OTA is not working, I can get it over the satellite. KRQE is not over the satellite so if I get dropouts from them, I have no other solution except to watch the crappy analog station (yuk).

So regarding KOB-DT. I run my locals from an antenna into my vip622. This way the dropouts are horrible and make it unwatchable. So as an experiment I put a splitter before the 622 and ran a cable directly to my Samsung S5053's tuner and KOB looks fine. Don't see any dropouts or anything.

So does the 622 need more signal to work than the internal HD tuner in my tv?

Spawnman

KOB 4-1 has been having signal problems as of late that only seem to be causing problems on the 622. I have 4 other HD Set top boxes in the house and only the 622 has problems with constant drop outs. The problem has come and gone several times over the last few months.

Luckily Dish gives us a working backup over Satellite.

KOB 4-1 has been having signal problems as of late that only seem to be causing problems on the 622. I have 4 other HD Set top boxes in the house and only the 622 has problems with constant drop outs. The problem has come and gone several times over the last few months.

Luckily Dish gives us a working backup over Satellite.

I don't think that's entirely true because when I get the dropouts on KOB on the 622, I also get them looking at the station through the TVs built-in digital tuner.

I only see the bad ones on the OTA. I see an ocassional blank screen for a second or two on all my set top boxes on 4-1. Not sure I mentioned that but its very different than the constant drop outs and actual loss of signal messages that you get on the 622 OTA tuner.

I only see the bad ones on the OTA. I see an ocassional blank screen for a second or two on all my set top boxes on 4-1. Not sure I mentioned that but its very different than the constant drop outs and actual loss of signal messages that you get on the 622 OTA tuner.

So you guys are only getting dropouts with dish? Or also with OTA?

Jerry, you getting dropouts? I think you are closest to me in location and I have not seen any via OTA.

I am using my HD250 DVR as a tuner also and haven't seen one dropout. The signal strength varies from 93-95 with a rooftop antenna.

I've been getting the latest batch of dropouts from KOB-HD OTA, as well. I usually don't bring up any of the dropouts from our locals -- because I don't expect anything better than that, frankly, except from KNME.

So you guys are only getting dropouts with dish? Or also with OTA?

...

I only see them via OTA on both the 622 OTA tuner and the TV's OTA tuner. The occasional dropouts from the satellite digital feed is very infrequent.

Lujan, if you don't mind me asking where do you live?

I'm 8.3 miles away from the towers and since I got the dvr w/ tuner I haven't had a single dropout. I didn't have one during 24 the other night either.

Four Hills so I'm pretty close except that I might be too far southeast. Who knows? Anyone think that an attenuator would help?

Four Hills so I'm pretty close except that I might be too far southeast. Who knows? Anyone think that an attenuator would help?

Hmm I'm on Osuna/ Penn area so I'm pretty much right in front..

What kind of antenna are you using? Is it amplified?

Hmm I'm on Osuna/ Penn area so I'm pretty much right in front..

What kind of antenna are you using? Is it amplified?

It is a non-directional, non-amplified antenna. I once faced it 180 degrees exactly opposite of the towers and I could still get KNME. Would a directional antenna work better?

More than likely. I remember reading that HD doesn't like the omnidirectional. If you want you can try my silver sensor. I had it pointing right at mountain and got great reception from that little thing. I was amazed and surprised at the same time. Since I've got the rooftop going it's not being used ATM.

More than likely. I remember reading that HD doesn't like the omnidirectional. If you want you can try my silver sensor. I had it pointing right at mountain and got great reception from that little thing. I was amazed and surprised at the same time. Since I've got the rooftop going it's not being used ATM.

Thanks, I might take you up on your offer.

Thanks, I might take you up on your offer.

Just pm me or something. I don't mind :D

Four Hills can be tough. You'll likely have to go roof top if you can't get a channel or two. It's a weird location. We've got a few antennas here at the store you can try too. Roof top, Silver Sensors, etc, etc.

When did this happen? I just noticed it last night on my 622. Very nice! Going to make it much easier to see whats on than going to the web and setting a manual timer.

Way to go KNME and Dish!

(Hope this was not a fluke!)

When did this happen? I just noticed it last night on my 622. Very nice! Going to make it much easier to see whats on than going to the web and setting a manual timer.

Way to go KNME and Dish!

(Hope this was not a fluke!)

I guess you don't read this forum often enough. Read post #4156. I mentioned this on 1/17/2006.

I read it almost every day but somehow missed it!

Might be time to break out those rabbit ears for superbowl if you dont already Or start finding a friend to throw a superbowl party.


Dear Mr. ,

I understand that you are interested in CBS HD in your local area. I apologize for the inconvenience, however at this time we do not have a contract with your local CBS affiliate to provide broadcasting from this station in HD.

Whenever we are able to provide new programming or channels, we include that information with your monthly billing statement.

You can check an updated list of channels available in your area by entering your location information on the page listed below:

Comcast is still in negotiations with the new owner of KRQE. We do not know at this time if and when a contract will be reached.

Thank you for your patience and for taking the time to tell us what is important to you.


Thank you for choosing Comcast.

Sincerely,

Is KOB-DT up and running on their loaner encoder yet? It certainly would not surprise me as KOB-DT has gone to heck tonight (trying to watch 10PM news and Leno and finally went analog after the Leno monologue as the signal issue was bugging me!). More full dropouts now than before and even some frequent audio dropouts that seem to happen every 15-30 seconds on average. If this is their new encoder with much poorer results, I"d rather go back to their old encoder with 2 full dropouts per half hour on average.

Did anyone else experience awful static on the audio of OTA CW 19.1 last night during Smallville? I've had this problem for two weeks in a row now. Also the audio has not been 5.1 since the change over from the WB to the CW. Smallville and Friday Night Lights are my two favorite shows. One is never shown in HD for some reason (FNL) and one suffers from chronic HD problems.

yeah I noticed the static again. Was going to contact KWBQ to see whats up with that.

Thanks bigglare I'm glad I was not the only one experiencing it. Now does anyone know why Friday Night Lights is never in HD on KOB 4.1? I thought maybe with the switch to Wednesday @ 7 it might be but no such luck.

Is KOB-DT up and running on their loaner encoder yet? It certainly would not surprise me as KOB-DT has gone to heck tonight (trying to watch 10PM news and Leno and finally went analog after the Leno monologue as the signal issue was bugging me!). More full dropouts now than before and even some frequent audio dropouts that seem to happen every 15-30 seconds on average. If this is their new encoder with much poorer results, I"d rather go back to their old encoder with 2 full dropouts per half hour on average.

I was wondering the same thing. Sean made it sound like swapping out the encoder would be a quick thing I thought. Not sure if they've done the swap out yet or not, but it doesn't seem like it to me. Not sure if I want to write him again or not. Hate to be a pest :(

Do they show the Lottery on KOB on Friday night (or whatever night FLN is on)?

Because of the delay necessary, they can't pass on the live HD feed for that hour...At least that was the case with the cancelled show "Kidnapped."

Yes Sean confirmed the lack of HD is due to the lottery though they are working on some type of solution.

Did anyone else experience awful static on the audio of OTA CW 19.1 last night during Smallville? I've had this problem for two weeks in a row now. Also the audio has not been 5.1 since the change over from the WB to the CW. Smallville and Friday Night Lights are my two favorite shows. One is never shown in HD for some reason (FNL) and one suffers from chronic HD problems.

Yes, I actually got a call from Stan Gill (CW General Manager) who was in Ohio. He said that they are working hard to find a solution for this static. It has gone on for the last two episodes of "Smallville" but was worse last night at some times where it was difficult to hear the dialog over the static.

Not sure if they've done the swap out yet or not, but it doesn't seem like it to me. Not sure if I want to write him again or not. Hate to be a pest :(

I think they've swapped out the encoder because it's MUCH MUCH WORSE. It's hard to imagine KOB's primary encoder would get this bad on its own when it's never been as bad as it has been in the last couple days (adding audio stutters and other audio dropouts to the full blown dropout issue that has been ongoing).

Yes Sean confirmed the lack of HD is due to the lottery though they are working on some type of solution.

They need to get a Tivo3.
JR

Hello! New here, and impressed by the knowledge base and the great participation from the ABQ folks.

A situation I encounter (and haven't yet seen mentioned) is the loss of 5.1 DD audio on KRQE. This occurs on CSI and others, with the whole program being broadcast in 2ch. I've immediately switched to other locals and they were 5.1, so it's not on my end.

Is this a known condition for KRQE? Perhaps it has been discussed, and I haven't found the right thread yet.

Thanks.

Weird stuff going on with ACL. I have had a few shows in the last month or so that start out with the normal opening credits for ACL, then switch to some sort of outdoor/nature show. WTF?

The most recent was the Dixie Chicks (no political comments, PLEASE!). The show began, and actually got halfway through the first song, and zap, switches to some nature program.

I typically try to Tivo the first airing of a particular program, and have had poor luck.

On a related note, the recent Soundstage (Peter Frampton) was not broadcast in 5.1, and when decoded in ProLogic II had very poor sound, in particular the center was way low. I am pretty sure that Soundstage is true DD 5.1, and past seasons shows were broadcast as such, but not this one.

On a positive note, IMHO, ACL has always been in wide screen, but standard def. What little I saw of the Dixie Chicks looked to me like it was HD. Not sure if ACL has upgraded to full HDTV or not, but it looked very, very good for the brief moment before something went south.

Brian

Hello! New here, and impressed by the knowledge base and the great participation from the ABQ folks.

A situation I encounter (and haven't yet seen mentioned) is the loss of 5.1 DD audio on KRQE. This occurs on CSI and others, with the whole program being broadcast in 2ch. I've immediately switched to other locals and they were 5.1, so it's not on my end.

Is this a known condition for KRQE? Perhaps it has been discussed, and I haven't found the right thread yet.

Thanks.

KRQE does not broadcast in 5.1. Yes, it has been discussed. FWIW, their programming does sound quite good when decoded in PL II.

Brian

KRQE does not broadcast in 5.1. Yes, it has been discussed. FWIW, their programming does sound quite good when decoded in PL II.

Brian

KRQE is working on a big HD broadcast center here and has indicated that they will broadcast HD in 5.1 soon. The question is, how soon is soon?

On a related note, the recent Soundstage (Peter Frampton) was not broadcast in 5.1, and when decoded in ProLogic II had very poor sound, in particular the center was way low. I am pretty sure that Soundstage is true DD 5.1, and past seasons shows were broadcast as such, but not this one.
Brian

Agreed about Peter Frampton.

Other shows such as Great Performances have also been in DD 2.0, instead of DD 5.1, for the last few months. I was also starting to wonder if it is a local problem, or if the production of these shows has changed.

I have not gone to one of the local meetings in a long time. Has anyone asked Jim Gale about it?

John

Hello! New here, and impressed by the knowledge base and the great participation from the ABQ folks.

Welcome aboard.

"Now does anyone know why Friday Night Lights is never in HD on KOB 4.1? I thought maybe with the switch to Wednesday @ 7 it might be but no such luck."



RE: Friday night Lights: I know KOB starts prime at 659p (1 minute early) on Tuesdays...at least that day, maybe others too...to get that extra ad revenue and have heard that they take NBC HD live so there would be the problem. It seems that they are back on time at 8p though for Law&Order. Heroes has no prblems on Monday @ 8p and Earl on Thurs @ 7p has been HD all season. And as we all know $$$ comes before viewers!

The KRQE remodel should be done pretty quick. I've seen some pics and it looks great! I'm sure after some testing it should be on-air soon.

Thanks for the confirmation!

Also, thank you for the welcome.

6 Days until Antenna Day.

This is the holiday named for an Annual event broadcast in HD each year but this year it's on a station that is not HD or not carried by cable or satellite providers.

This year it's Superbowl XLI.

So break out your Rabbit ears. Warm up the OTA HDTV tuners. Compusa has a nice Hauppauge USB tuner on sale for about 70 bones. Buy one or two as a Party game prize. Pick up some cheap antennas as party favors. Find some old cable boxes or VCRs to gut and use as chip dishes.

Any other party ideas for this years Antenna Day?

6 Days until Antenna Day.

This is the holiday named for an Annual event broadcast in HD each year but this year it's on a station that is not HD or not carried by cable or satellite providers.

This year it's Superbowl XLI.

So break out your Rabbit ears. Warm up the OTA HDTV tuners. Compusa has a nice Hauppauge USB tuner on sale for about 70 bones. Buy one or two as a Party game prize. Pick up some cheap antennas as party favors. Find some old cable boxes or VCRs to gut and use as chip dishes.

Any other party ideas for this years Antenna Day?

Must be nice. We have no CBS OTA that I know of up here in Farmington. Direct TV is still not giving us KRQE in its HD local package because of $$, so I get to watch the Super Bowl in SD. Darn. Its toooo bad that the NFL HD channel doesn't show the game in HD live.