The FCC mandate is that all broadcasts will be digital....not necessarily HD....

Randy

That's true; death to those who, in 2009, transmit digital SD instead of HD.

Hi DubC, if you still have this and would like to sell, it I am very interested in taking it off your hands. I live in Corinth and work in Carrollton, so I'm in your general area, and would have no problem meeting somewhere convenient for you to buy it.
I have it in my car (Tahoe) right now. I am in Lewisville (work) during the day. Price was 69.99 + 8.25% tax = $75.76. If you want to pay cash you can just make it $75. Like I said, I have the receipt if you want to check.

I never even pulled the antenna out of the box. However, the box was already open when I bought it. I looked inside and didn't see anything missing. If there is then I will give you your money back and return the antenna myself.

The box is 41"x39" and 5.5" thick. Might be difficult to fit in a car.

I will be in the office today, tomorrow, and Friday. You can call me at the office if you want. (972) 459-5031

Name is Wes

Check to see if your tv has a signal meter built into it. My Mits does. That could be one way to dial in 8.1 (would have to set to channel 9 though). Other than that you would just have to point the VHF portion toward Cedar Hill, which is southeast of us.

I tried two or three different indoor antennas and had no luck in our neighborhood. Ended up getting a Channel Master 3018 at Fry's (~$40). Haven't had any problems since.

I did a little tweaking and now have 8.1. Ch 4.1, 11.1 are perfect and if i watch 5.1 or 8.1, i have to play with it just a little as they cut out from time to time. There are some huge trees right outside the window so i know that doesnt help.

A few years? It can't be past 2009 when the FCC broadcast mandate takes effect.

Actually, it can be past 2009. All that has to happen at KDFW in 2009 is that they turn off their analog transmitter. They can continue broadcasting their news in standard definition as long as they want...as long as that standard definition newscast is transmitted digitally.

Remember: there is no HD mandate, only a digital one.

I was watching KERA-HD Wednesday night over-the-air (watching 'Seeing In The Dark' and 'American Masters: Orozco: Man of Fire' in HD -- 'Seeing In The Dark' was particularly cool). I noticed that all of the programs, including the local 'insert' elements, had static in the audio portion of the soundtrack. I had separately recorded the shows in standard-def from my cable signal, and the static was not present.

My biggest concern is that the static issue on the HD channel be checked and addressed before the first episode of "The War" airs on Sunday night -- I've e-mailed KERA about this, but I was curious if anyone else had experienced this, and if this was a longer-lived issue.

Actually, it can be past 2009. All that has to happen at KDFW in 2009 is that they turn off their analog transmitter. They can continue broadcasting their news in standard definition as long as they want...as long as that standard definition newscast is transmitted digitally.

Remember: there is no HD mandate, only a digital one.

Yes, you're right. It has me wondering "What's the point?" of requiring digital but not HD. For the most part, digital SD will still be as "bad" as traditional analog SD. It's like the "digital cable" many cable companies promote. When they're not HD, they look as bad as old school "analog cable".

In an unrelated note, I was reading the Oct. 2007 issue of "Home Theater" mag. Geoffrey Morrison was responding to letters to the editor. One guy asked about Verizon FiOS. From what I inferred reading it, the best to worst HD quality will be as follows:

fiber optic service, cable service, satellite service

Not coincidentally, that is the order from least compression to most compression. If you want to throw in antenna service, then that would be the best b/c it has the least compression.

I did a little tweaking and now have 8.1. Ch 4.1, 11.1 are perfect and if i watch 5.1 or 8.1, i have to play with it just a little as they cut out from time to time. There are some huge trees right outside the window so i know that doesnt help.

How close are you to the Cedar Hill towers?

Yes, you're right. It has me wondering "What's the point?" of requiring digital but not HD. For the most part, digital SD will still be as "bad" as traditional analog SD.

It allows TV's to be built with type of tuner instead of two (NTSC, ATSC).

How close are you to the Cedar Hill towers?
according to tvfool.com, between 22-25 miles.

according to tvfool.com, between 22-25 miles.

I use a Winegard HDP-269 amplifier. It is designed to boost the signal without raising the noise level for antennas close to the source (I'm in Forney about 30 miles away). I have another still sealed in the box, if you want it, send a message to me. It solved my inability to get KERA 13, when all the other stations were fine. Here is some independent observations...

http://www.highdefforum.com/search.php?searchid=926187

anyone getting kind of muffled sound from TXA 21-1. All the other OTA stations come through perfectly for me, just wondering if anyone else is having this issue. By the way, TXA starts HD tomorrow

It has me wondering "What's the point?" of requiring digital but not HD. The point is so the goverment can get the cash from auctioning off the analog spectrum.

KTVT Channel 11 was supposed to go HD for news this morning. I did not see anything on HD this morning.

The point is so the goverment can get the cash from auctioning off the analog spectrum.

I heard from a coworker that the gov.'t will charge for both spectrums, which will hopefully encourage broadcasters to ween off analog and adopt digital only. In the end, we (collective customers) can make the broadcasters make the transition faster by only watching those shows and channel that transmit in HD.

KTVT Channel 11 was supposed to go HD for news this morning. I did not see anything on HD this morning.

It started at 1600. Their debut far exceeded that of KXAS's and was about on par with WFAA's. Still some bugs to work out. I can't figure out why they start with HD before they're 100% ready. The weather maps/graphics are all zoomed/cropped and not in HD. This is the same approach KXAS took.

The set and anchors looked great and much of the field footage was widescreen, although not HD.

Are you listening to all this ch.4?

Are you listening to all this ch.4?

no $hit !!!!!!!! I strongly agree!!!!! Like i said numerous times, fox 4 and cw 33needs to get their head out of their A$$ and pronto!!!!:mad::mad:

A coworker who just recently got an 52" LCD HDTV and DirecTV HD service says NBC news has the best looking hi-def. What do you think?

He also said DirecTV has no clue on how to install satellite dishes. He said the installer didn't even ground the dish! :eek: And he had to go up on the roof to clean up the wires. He called that installer (20-something y/o kid) back out to show him how to do his job. :D

Just to let others know, I received an e-mail from Crutchfield that they're selling the CM 4228 and 7777 as a set, which gives a $25 discount (http://www.crutchfield.com/S-X2RrP0uaCt0/cgi-bin/ProdColl.asp?cid=531&omnews=5950085). It's automatically applied - no coupon code is needed. The promotion/deal ends 11/30/07. When I put it in the shopping cart, it was ~$136 shipped. I didn't buy it since I don't think I need the 7777 pre-amp; I just want the 4228 antenna.

A coworker who just recently got an 52" LCD HDTV and DirecTV HD service says NBC news has the best looking hi-def. What do you think?I think NBC's is the worst. I haven't looked in a week, but they had some serious problems. In addition to the technical problems they had mixing SD and HD, they had a serious lighting problem in the studio. I'm not a lighting expert, but it appears that the direction of the lighting and the colors are very wrong. The on-air news staff just don't look healthy.

Xesdeeni

I think NBC's is the worst. I haven't looked in a week, but they had some serious problems. In addition to the technical problems they had mixing SD and HD, they had a serious lighting problem in the studio. I'm not a lighting expert, but it appears that the direction of the lighting and the colors are very wrong. The on-air news staff just don't look healthy.

Xesdeeni

I'm wondering if he isn't talking more about the NBC national news, rather than local.....dunno.

Randy

well i got a chance to see cbs 11 in hd and i am excited that we finally have a station worthy to stand up against the mighty WFAA!!! all jokes aside ktvt does look pretty awesome. now got to watch txa 21 in hd.

Did CW OTA show "Reaper" in HD or SD?

well i got a chance to see cbs 11 in hd and i am excited that we finally have a station worthy to stand up against the mighty WFAA!!! all jokes aside ktvt does look pretty awesome. now got to watch txa 21 in hd.

Their set looks great but their weather graphics are expanded SD. Look at the numbers on the 7 day forcast...
WFAA did it right from the start!

I'm wondering if he isn't talking more about the NBC national news, rather than local.....dunno.Local: KXAS.

Xesdeeni

I think NBC's is the worst. I haven't looked in a week, but they had some serious problems. In addition to the technical problems they had mixing SD and HD, they had a serious lighting problem in the studio. I'm not a lighting expert, but it appears that the direction of the lighting and the colors are very wrong. The on-air news staff just don't look healthy.

Xesdeeni

I'm wondering if he isn't talking more about the NBC national news, rather than local.....dunno.

Randy

My coworker mentioned the local Dallas NBC news. He said it looked great on his just-subscribed DirecTV w/ local HD service. I'm just reporting what he said since I don't have HD ... yet! I finally got the HDTV, I just need the HD service. I hope I get around to buying and installing the CM 4228 antenna before the football season passes me by. :eek:

My coworker mentioned the local Dallas NBC news. He said it looked great on his just-subscribed DirecTV w/ local HD service. I'm just reporting what he said since I don't have HD ... yet! I finally got the HDTV, I just need the HD service. I hope I get around to buying and installing the CM 4228 antenna before the football season passes me by. :eek:Maybe I should take another look. That's not what I thought at first look....

Xesdeeni

Maybe I should take another look. That's not what I thought at first look....

Xesdeeni

Based on what I've read here (I'm out of town), I couldn't believe it, either...that's why I thought he (the co-worker) might have been talking about the NBC news instead of local. Apparently not, though...

Randy

Well guys I have a question. I recently bought a 42 lcd w/hdtv tuner. I did the auto program with my basic standard analog cable and i get the standard channels plus TNTHD, discoveyHD, playboy (no sound), hdnet(nosound), mojo(no sound), and all the local hd channels(abc,cbs,nbc,etc). does anyone know how to get the sound on those three channels with no sound. I'm in dallas,tx and am usin TWcable.

Maybe I should take another look. That's not what I thought at first look....

Xesdeeni

Maybe his DirecTV service is doing something funky (i.e. over compressing) w/ hi-def from other local channels? :confused:

He also admitted his bias in favor of the Dallas NBC news people, so that might also have something to do with it.

DirecTV finally added to their HD line up...but where are the 100 promised channels?:eek:

...does anyone know how to get the sound on those three channels with no sound...

Pay for 'em?

yeah i was trying to avoid the paying part but thanks for the advice.

yeah i was trying to avoid the paying part but thanks for the advice.

Don't blame you for trying, but the answer is that you need a settop box or DVR and for Mojo and HDNET you also need to pay for the HD Tier.

I think NBC's is the worst. I haven't looked in a week, but they had some serious problems. In addition to the technical problems they had mixing SD and HD, they had a serious lighting problem in the studio. I'm not a lighting expert, but it appears that the direction of the lighting and the colors are very wrong. The on-air news staff just don't look healthy.

Xesdeeni

I recorded KXAS (NBC-5) last night (10p News via DirecTV HD) and agree with Xesdeeni. The in-studio stuff was sharp but kinda dark -- like it was underlit. And all the field stuff was still SD. I need to give KTVT (CBS-11) a try, but for now I'm sticking with WFAA (ABC-8).

-TJ

I recorded KXAS (NBC-5) last night (10p News via DirecTV HD) and agree with Xesdeeni. The in-studio stuff was sharp but kinda dark -- like it was underlit. And all the field stuff was still SD. I need to give KTVT (CBS-11) a try, but for now I'm sticking with WFAA (ABC-8).

-TJ

CBS-11 looks like they are doing pretty much the same approach as WFAA, using 480p widescreen for field shots in addition to their 1080i for the studio. I agree that the weather graphics (or at least the radar) look like 480p instead of the beautiful 1080i radar that WFAA throws up. Both are better then the 4x3 graphics that NBC5 uses... even though the weather person is shown on 16x9.

Besides the constant switching from 4x3 to 16x9 to side bars to whatever, NBC5's main studio is just too bland for HD.

I like what CBS has done... my problem is I've come to like the WFAA folks (always liked Hansen) over the last 7 months that they have been doing HD that its hard to switch back to CBS for news... At least the choice in HD news is finally here.

Hello all, newbie just checking in. I have directv and
am seriously thinking about subscribing to their High Def
service, but not sure about the HR20 DVR.

Hello all, newbie just checking in. I have directv and
am seriously thinking about subscribing to their High Def
service, but not sure about the HR20 DVR.

The HR20 is no HD Tivo. But if you have a HD TV, want a HD DVR capable of getting the new HD channels, and want to keep DTV service then you have no choice.

I just added the HR20. Do I like it? Not yet.......but I want to stay with DTV and have no other choice right now.

The new HD channels that just came out the other day are:

265: A & E HD
282: Animal Planet HD
220: Big Ten HD
202: CNN HD
278: Discovery HD
206 / 73: ESPN HD
209 / 72: ESPN2 HD
70/501/509: HBO HD East
269: History Channel HD
76: HD Theater (was Discovery HD Theater)
79: HDNet
78: HDNet Movies
280: Learning Channel HD (TLC HD)
544: Movie Channel HD
212: NFL Network HD
284: Science Channel HD
538: SHO Too HD
71/537/543: Showtime HD
540: Showtime HD West
267: Smithsonian HD
519: Starz Comedy HD
520: Starz HD East
521: Starz HD West
522: Starz Edge HD
518: Starz Kids and Family
247: TBS HD
245 / 75: TNT HD
74: Universal HD
604: Versus HD / Golf Channel HD
362: Weather Channel HD

[QUOTE=DubC;11751140]The HR20 is no HD Tivo. But if you have a HD TV, want a HD DVR capable of getting the new HD channels, and want to keep DTV service then you have no choice.

I just added the HR20. Do I like it? Not yet.......but I want to stay with DTV and have no other choice right now.

The new HD channels that just came out the other day are:


Thanks, looks like D is going to be the big kid on the block when it comes to HD channels..:)

For DFW DirecTV subscribers, which satellite/transponder should I be looking at to see signal strength for my HD locals? Last night during The Office (KXAS) we got some pixellating and a number of audio dropouts. This happened occasionally last season during Lost as well on WFAA.

Thanks.

Hello all, newbie just checking in. I have directv and
am seriously thinking about subscribing to their High Def
service, but not sure about the HR20 DVR.

If you want to know more about the HR20, there is a great forum for the device (and all the D*TV receivers) at DBStalk.com ... http://www.dbstalk.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&f=112

-TJ

For DFW DirecTV subscribers, which satellite/transponder should I be looking at to see signal strength for my HD locals? Last night during The Office (KXAS) we got some pixellating and a number of audio dropouts. This happened occasionally last season during Lost as well on WFAA.

Thanks.

I noticed the pixelation as well and I was receiving it OTA so I guess we can blame the source.

I noticed the pixelation as well and I was receiving it OTA so I guess we can blame the source.
Whew. That makes me feel better. I just got my HR20-100 and 5-LNB dish installed last week, and was afraid it was already giving me problems. :)

Whew. That makes me feel better. I just got my HR20-100 and 5-LNB dish installed last week, and was afraid it was already giving me problems. :)

gseeg, did they install your(or any one else's) 5-LNB on your roof by any chance? I am about to order the HR20 and I saw somewhere there was a problem with mounting the 5-LNB on roofs. My 3-LNB is mounted on the roof and
I would like to see the 5 go in the same place.

my 5-lnb is on the roof. it's a one story house though--don't know if it matters

gseeg, did they install your(or any one else's) 5-LNB on your roof by any chance? I am about to order the HR20 and I saw somewhere there was a problem with mounting the 5-LNB on roofs. My 3-LNB is mounted on the roof and
I would like to see the 5 go in the same place.
Yes, they installed it on the roof. Most of the other ones I've seen in my neighborhood are also on the roof. My old 3 LNB dish was on the chimney, which of course wouldnt work for this one. I actually like it better now, because where he installed it, you can't really even see it from the street.

gseeg, did they install your(or any one else's) 5-LNB on your roof by any chance? I am about to order the HR20 and I saw somewhere there was a problem with mounting the 5-LNB on roofs. My 3-LNB is mounted on the roof and
I would like to see the 5 go in the same place.

Unless you have a line of sight issue with the new satellites then they will put the new dish next to the current location. They will not remove the old mount that is attached to the roof because of the holes that it would leave.

I noticed the pixelation as well and I was receiving it OTA so I guess we can blame the source.

Did you guys have video dropouts as well?

All the audio dropouts were driving me up the wall.

Yes, they installed it on the roof. Most of the other ones I've seen in my neighborhood are also on the roof. My old 3 LNB dish was on the chimney, which of course wouldnt work for this one. I actually like it better now, because where he installed it, you can't really even see it from the street.

That's good to hear, I was afraid I might have go put it on
a steel pipe. I read somewhere that the 5 was too heavy
for roof mounting. My 3LNB can't be seen from the street,
so I should be in good shape.

Thanks, All :)

[QUOTE=DubC;11751140] looks like D is going to be the big kid on the block when it comes to HD channels..:)

Judging from all the complaints, can't wait to switch!:rolleyes:

Is the Texas-K-State game on Channel 8 in HD. It shows it when I tune. But it is displaying as 4x3.

It's 4X3 OTA.

Just to clarify. You are saying it is HD but is 4x3. I am getting 5 channel surround sound. Also are you saying you could get it as 16x9 somewhere else?

The game is shot in standard definition from the event itself.

OK. I get it. Whats the deal. Hdsportsguide doesn't show the Texas-OU game as being in HD either. For HD to really catch on you need to just turn on the TV and see your favorite team in HD with no extra effort. And the broadcasters wonder why viewers are confused about HD.

Is anyone having any trouble this afternoon picking up CW KDAF-DT? I live in McKinney and just installed a CM 4228 along with the CM 7777. All of the local HD channels come in great, except KDAF. I'm using a new Vista Windows Media Center PC, and while scanning the digital channels I get all green bars for KDAF. Yet, when trying to watch the channel, it says no signal. Could the digital broadcast be off the air at the moment? I checked and checked again, and it gives me green bars all the way, indicating that I'm getting a strong signal. Yet, no picture. Weird.

Is anyone having any trouble this afternoon picking up CW KDAF-DT? I live in McKinney and just installed a CM 4228 along with the CM 7777. All of the local HD channels come in great, except KDAF. I'm using a new Vista Windows Media Center PC, and while scanning the digital channels I get all green bars for KDAF. Yet, when trying to watch the channel, it says no signal. Could the digital broadcast be off the air at the moment? I checked and checked again, and it gives me green bars all the way, indicating that I'm getting a strong signal. Yet, no picture. Weird.

Are you still having a problem? It is OK here on both my OTA tuners.

Just checked...no problem.

OK, thank you. The problem must be on my end. Not sure what to do, though. I've scanned and re-scanned the digital signal, and I'm getting all green bars, indicating that the signal is strong. Yet, when I try to watch the channel it says I have no signal. I was just up on the roof and I tried adjusting the antenna a little to see if that would make any difference, but no luck. I also tried to bypass the CM 7777 to see if that would help, but it just made things worse. Oh, well. All the other channels come in fantastic, though. Thanks a lot for checking.

OK, thank you. The problem must be on my end. Not sure what to do, though. I've scanned and re-scanned the digital signal, and I'm getting all green bars, indicating that the signal is strong. Yet, when I try to watch the channel it says I have no signal. I was just up on the roof and I tried adjusting the antenna a little to see if that would make any difference, but no luck. I also tried to bypass the CM 7777 to see if that would help, but it just made things worse. Oh, well. All the other channels come in fantastic, though. Thanks a lot for checking.


Hi Steve,
This may or may not help, but it sometimes seems to get people going when nothing else does. Disconnect your antenna completely, do a digital scan, then reattach the antenna connection and scan again. It very well might clear things up for you....

Good luck!
Randy

Thanks a lot for the suggestion. I tried it, but it's still not coming in, despite Windows Media Center telling me that the signal is strong. (Perhaps it's a bug with Media Center.) No crisis. I'll keep trying. I'm just thankful that I get all of the other local channels. I really appreciate all of the info that I've found here. It helped me find the right antenna and signal booster for my area.

Thanks again,

Steve

I believe multipath can cause the same problem.

You could try re-aiming the antenna to actually get an image of the station in question. Then, once the channel is locked, aim the antenna back in it's optimal position.

The only other thing I can think of is if the signal is very strong, you may need to bypass the amp if there is one.

I just bought a Samsung H260 HD receiver for my HDTV ready TV. The result is great. I can receive pretty much all local channels by just using an old RCA ANT 200B indoor attenna (installed in attic). Now, I have a question for channel

KXIIDT 12.1 (20) (CBS HD)
KXIIMNT 12.2 (20)
KXIIFOX 12.3 (20) (FOX HD)

In the day and evening time, I normally could not receive any signal for these 3 channels. But, at night (maybe after 10:00 pm), there is not problem.

I live in Plano (Legacy & coit) and I know the station for KXII is in Sherman. That is about 66.5 miles away and it is hard for an indoor antenna to get its signal. But, why do I get them at night?
Does anybody know why?

Thanks,

Steven

I just bought a Samsung H260 HD receiver for my HDTV ready TV. The result is great. I can receive pretty much all local channels by just using an old RCA ANT 200B indoor attenna (installed in attic). Now, I have a question for channel

KXIIDT 12.1 (20) (CBS HD)
KXIIMNT 12.2 (20)
KXIIFOX 12.3 (20) (FOX HD)

In the day and evening time, I normally could not receive any signal for these 3 channels. But, at night (maybe after 10:00 pm), there is not problem.

I live in Plano (Legacy & coit) and I know the station for KXII is in Sherman. That is about 66.5 miles away and it is hard for an indoor antenna to get its signal. But, why do I get them at night?
Does anybody know why?

Thanks,

Steven
It is the same phenomenon that is explained at this link: http://www.howstuffworks.com/question1.htm

OK. I get it. Whats the deal. Hdsportsguide doesn't show the Texas-OU game as being in HD either. For HD to really catch on you need to just turn on the TV and see your favorite team in HD with no extra effort. And the broadcasters wonder why viewers are confused about HD.

ABC Sports had 5 regional games on Sunday afternoon and 2 of them were done in HD. You must be new to HD as this is the first fall where easily over 1/2 of the sports you can watch is being done in HD... its probably twice as much as what was done last year.

Unlike 3-4 years ago, where the major problem with HD was not having enough production trucks to put into the field to film the games in HD, the problem these days is more related to either the costs of sending the HD signal to the control room (Just like satellite companies, it takes more space on a transponder to send an HD game [2 - 3 games per transponder in MPEG2] then it does for an SD game [8 - 12 games per transponder])... or the control room itself. For example, CBS, which was the first Sunday afternoon NFL provider to give us an HD game a week back in the late 90s... could only handle 3 HD feeds max at one time until this year and that is why only 2-3 games a week were done last year in HD.

So, while you complain that your game isn't in HD... just remember where it has been and how much it has changed... to accommodate the 20% of the US households that can actually handle an HD signal (if the number is even that high). Sure, over 50% of TVs sold this year will be HD TVs... but a lot of people don't have or won't pay for an HD source to connect to it.

Apparently it went away on the Sept 30th due to lack of funds. Anyone notice?

Apparently it went away on the Sept 30th due to lack of funds. Anyone notice?


I hadn't yet, but I would've....it was nice to have as a fallback position....

Randy

I hadn't yet, but I would've....it was nice to have as a fallback position....

Randy

Sad, it was one of the few stations to be counted on. I suggest a a letter campaign :) Anyone know who produced it? Was it leased space from CW33?

I went to the CW33 site (http://cw33.trb.com/) and posted the following to them via the Contact Us option.

I recently noticed the Tube on 33-2 is no longer broadcasting. I sincerely hope this is temporary as I often tuned to it's programming. If there is someone else to contact, I would appreciate that information.

I'm in Lakewood, also.

All TWC HD channels, so far as I can tell, are on A-side. We haven't been "upgraded" back to single cable yet as you know, but that is supposed to happen in the first week of October (according to TWC).Lakewood was "upgraded" yesterday back to single cable. Works like a champ in my bedroom, but I'm not getting the full signal to my living room television. This may be due to the fact that my living room television is not "close" to where the cable connection is. So whereas in the bedroom I was able to remove the A/B switch and plug directly into the (formerly) A-side line, in the living room the A/B switch is still inline so as to run a single cable from it to where the television is. I will find a solution today that removes the A/B switch and see if this helps.

Cable modem seems slower, too. Prior to the switch I was averaging 9.5 Mbps download speeds (subscribe to the 10 Mbps offer). Last night I was averaging only 1.5 Mbps! Not pleased! Upload speeds were still just shy of 1 Mbps, as they should be.

I'm going to test it again tonight. All bandwidth is shared at some point in the chain, so with the system being down most of the day for the upgrade there may have been more traffic than usual as people try to catch up on their habitual Internet uses.

Sad, it was one of the few stations to be counted on. I suggest a a letter campaign :) Anyone know who produced it? Was it leased space from CW33?

I went to the CW33 site (http://cw33.trb.com/) and posted the following to them via the Contact Us option.

I recently noticed the Tube on 33-2 is no longer broadcasting. I sincerely hope this is temporary as I often tuned to it's programming. If there is someone else to contact, I would appreciate that information.

Received the following from the Tribune:

It was the decision of The Tube to cease operations due to financial
limitations.

Thanks for your feedback!

Thanks a lot for the suggestion. I tried it, but it's still not coming in, despite Windows Media Center telling me that the signal is strong. (Perhaps it's a bug with Media Center.) No crisis. I'll keep trying. I'm just thankful that I get all of the other local channels. I really appreciate all of the info that I've found here. It helped me find the right antenna and signal booster for my area.

Thanks again,

Steve

Steve,
I had the same problem with my Media Center - I had good signal strength, but nothing showed up on the screen. CW33 DT broadcasts on UHF channel 32 (32.1 and 32.2), but I had to use Channel 33.1 and 33.2. In Media Center, you have to manually add channels 33.1 and 33.2, add 32.1's programming to 33.1 (32.2 was the The Tube, and there is no program info for any multiplexed channels other than .1), and then remove channels 32.1 and 32.2. That worked for me.

Edit: Changed VHF to UHF (whoops!). Also, I'm using an HDHomeRun as my ATSC Tuner.

ABC Sports had 5 regional games on Sunday afternoon and 2 of them were done in HD. You must be new to HD as this is the first fall where easily over 1/2 of the sports you can watch is being done in HD... its probably twice as much as what was done last year.

So, while you complain that your game isn't in HD... just remember where it has been and how much it has changed... to accommodate the 20% of the US households that can actually handle an HD signal (if the number is even that high). Sure, over 50% of TVs sold this year will be HD TVs... but a lot of people don't have or won't pay for an HD source to connect to it.

Thanks for the details. I am definitely a HD newbie. Dipped my foot in the water, so to speak, buying a used 30 inch samsung slimfit. I was just disappointed that the first truly exciting thing I was interested in watching OTA was not in HD. I stand by my basic idea that for HD to go truly mainstream (and people to actually want to make sure and get an HD source) it can not require ANY extra effort (like going to hdsportguide.com). Also having misleading HD on the screen guide for an SD broadcast is really bad also.

Lakewood was "upgraded" yesterday back to single cable. Works like a champ in my bedroom, but I'm not getting the full signal to my living room television. This may be due to the fact that my living room television is not "close" to where the cable connection is. So whereas in the bedroom I was able to remove the A/B switch and plug directly into the (formerly) A-side line, in the living room the A/B switch is still inline so as to run a single cable from it to where the television is. I will find a solution today that removes the A/B switch and see if this helps.

Cable modem seems slower, too. Prior to the switch I was averaging 9.5 Mbps download speeds (subscribe to the 10 Mbps offer). Last night I was averaging only 1.5 Mbps! Not pleased! Upload speeds were still just shy of 1 Mbps, as they should be.

I'm going to test it again tonight. All bandwidth is shared at some point in the chain, so with the system being down most of the day for the upgrade there may have been more traffic than usual as people try to catch up on their habitual Internet uses.Replaced the splitters in the attic with beefier equipment (the 5-2.4GHz low loss types usually used for DBS installations, figure if I do move to satellite it will be good to have them anyway) and got a simple F-type female-to-female adapter to replace the A/B switch in the living room. After a box reset from TWC all is well in the living room again.

Cable modem is actually averaging just over 10Mbps, so that seems to have resolved itself as well. Now we just need more HD content from TWC, but I'm not holding my breath on that one (and why I'm planning for satellite unless there is big news from TWC soon).

I'm asking this question on behalf of a friend. His cable provider (Onesource Comm. in northwest Tarrant County) went 100% digital. He's wondering if he can buy any digital cable box (e.g. from EBay or CL) and use that. Or if all digital cable boxes are tied to specific cable providers. Does anyone know? Thanks.

Steve,
I had the same problem with my Media Center - I had good signal strength, but nothing showed up on the screen. CW33 DT broadcasts on UHF channel 32 (32.1 and 32.2), but I had to use Channel 33.1 and 33.2. In Media Center, you have to manually add channels 33.1 and 33.2, add 32.1's programming to 33.1 (32.2 was the The Tube, and there is no program info for any multiplexed channels other than .1), and then remove channels 32.1 and 32.2. That worked for me.

Edit: Changed VHF to UHF (whoops!). Also, I'm using an HDHomeRun as my ATSC Tuner.

YES! THANK YOU PETER!

That was it! Media Center had the wrong frequency assigned. It should be 33.1, not 32.1. I followed your instructions and poked around a bit and now I have the channel! Fantastic! Thank you so much for that great advice. Note that TitanTV.com listings agree that it's 33.1. I really appreciate the help!

Steve

He's wondering if he can buy any digital cable box (e.g. from EBay or CL) and use that. Or if all digital cable boxes are tied to specific cable providers.

Cable system headends are based on specific equipment providers (most commonly, Motorola or Scientific Atlanta). So, to start with, the box must at least match or be compatible with the general system. Then, depending on the exact type of digital security implementation, the 'generation' of cable box may or may not be compatible with that security system.

Bottom line: the only way to practically do this is to find out what they're currently distributing and try to get the same unit. And then, he has to hope there's not an upgrade that renders that box useless. Or, to try to get one of these newer 'cable-card based' cable boxes, and then get rent a cable card to insert into the box (presuming the box actually will work like this in the real world).

For other Charter subscribers throughout North Texas (such as Fort Worth), I thought I'd let y'all know the response I got from an e-mail I sent to Charter Corporate. Since we're about to get HD turned on here in Denton (supposedly...it's real this time...right?), I wanted to find out the status of the Charter vs. Belo battle on HD re-transmission, which caused WFAA-HD to be pulled from Charter back in January.

I did a search, and couldn't find any stories, announcements or news releases since this happened back in January -- so I wanted to find out if anything had progressed. Unfortunately, I got the response I expected: "At this time I do not have any estimated time frame of when your local ABC affiliate will be added to our line up in HD. I will forward your request to our marketing department to make it clear that there is a demand for it in your area."

The last 3 days or so the sound level has gone way up on 33.1 for me. KERA 13 (pbs) has had low volume for yrs & 13.1 is a little lower than 13. Most of the other stations are all about the same.

If I go frm 33 to 13 I can't hear it. 13 to 33 & my nabrs can hear that!!

Is there anything up with 11-1 (KTVT-DT/CBS) in the Dallas area? I don't use my digital tuner (a Humax HFA100) a lot, but for at least the last week or so, I'm not getting anything for 11-1 and I know I used to. Even if I ask the tuner to scan 11 or 19, it comes back with no signal. I'm in the White Rock Lake area with a fairly large rooftop antenna. All other stations have 90% or 100% signal strenth as reported by the Humax, including 13-1 which Antennaweb shows to be at the same compass heading as 11-1. I also get strong signals from stations that Antennaweb shows on either side of 11-1's heading.

Thanks in advance.

*UPDATE (10 minutes passes)* Weird. I went back in and played with it some more. I scanned 19 a couple more times and nothing. Then the next scan locked on and up came 11-1. Signal strength is 80% with no macroblocking. The Humax is kinda buggy so maybe it's a tuner issue.

Anyone know if the Cowboys vs Buffalo game tonight (10/08) is in HD on KTXA 21 OTA?

Anyone know if the Cowboys vs Buffalo game tonight (10/08) is in HD on KTXA 21 OTA?

Was wondering the same thing... from the cbs11tv homepage;

Watch The Game In HD Tonight at 6:30 p.m. On TXA 21!

Woot!

Watch The Game In HD Tonight at 6:30 p.m. On TXA 21!

Hrm, where do you see that? All I see on their homepage is "Dallas Cowboys Vs. Bills On TXA 21"

Hrm, where do you see that? All I see on their homepage is "Dallas Cowboys Vs. Bills On TXA 21"


If you drill down to the story on the game, it has it at the top of the article....


Randy

Sweet!

Cable system headends are based on specific equipment providers (most commonly, Motorola or Scientific Atlanta). So, to start with, the box must at least match or be compatible with the general system. Then, depending on the exact type of digital security implementation, the 'generation' of cable box may or may not be compatible with that security system.

Bottom line: the only way to practically do this is to find out what they're currently distributing and try to get the same unit. And then, he has to hope there's not an upgrade that renders that box useless. Or, to try to get one of these newer 'cable-card based' cable boxes, and then get rent a cable card to insert into the box (presuming the box actually will work like this in the real world).

Thanks for the reply. There are many "if"s involved. I convinced him that he's best off getting an HD tuner/receiver (his HDTV didn't come w/ an ATSC tuner since he bought it a few years ago) and get an antenna like the CM 4228. Then he'll get free hi-def for shows that broadcast in HD. He probably lives about 50 mi. northwest of Cedar Hill, so he probably doesn't need the CM 7777 pre-amp.

Was wondering the same thing... from the cbs11tv homepage;

Watch The Game In HD Tonight at 6:30 p.m. On TXA 21!

Woot!

Since MNF games are now on ESPN, wouldn't ESPN HD show it? Unless they're not allowed to air it b/c it's a local market game.

I was in New Braunfels (approximately halfway between Austin and San Antonio) over the weekend. The cabin where we stayed at had a flat-panel TV with Dish Network service. However, many of the stations didn't come on during certain times, giving an ERROR message that it was searching for a signal. I know there are multiple satellites that sat. TV uses, but I thought it was bizarre and very frustrating that some channels worked just fine but some had a hard time coming in. That's just another reason I don't like sat. TV. :(

Yep OTA is best. Here's comment I saw yesterday:
---------- about 1080P --------------
The only way to get that is from HD-DVD or Blu-Ray discs.

OTA 1080i will look better than cable because it is not compressed.
------------------------------------------

& this cnet article:
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6449_7-6661274-1.html?tag=nl.e702

That's just another reason I don't like sat. TV. :(

Yep, compared to OTA...sat is just OK. Compared to cable...well there's just no comparison there.

The Dallas Mavericks and HDNet announced today that select Mavericks games will be available in high definition EXCLUSIVELY on HDNet to fans who live within the Mavericks Texas viewing area, beginning 10/9/07.

http://www.hd.net/mavsonhdnet.html

Yep, compared to OTA...sat is just OK. Compared to cable...well there's just no comparison there.

Just curious....are you talking about HD cable being worse than Sat? I know when Comcast was the (primary) provider here, they didn't compress HD signals, so the difference between cable and OTA was minimal...but I'm not sure of TWC's policy. That is why I'm asking...I've avoided D* and E* primarily due to their down-rezzing HD (well, that and the fact I have a killer deal on TWC right now), and if their PQ is (now) superior to TWC's, that would be good to know....

Thanks,
Randy

Yep, compared to OTA...sat is just OK. Compared to cable...well there's just no comparison there.

It's true that cable TV introduces more artifacts in PQ than satellite TV. However, cable TV (NJ exp.) has been much more reliable for me than sat. TV (TX exp.). The only thing I haven't tried yet is OTA HD, which I'll try once I make a trip to Fry's or buy from Crutchfield.

A coworker asked me why Cowboys games are shown in 720 but all other football games are shown in 1080. I have no idea. For me, everything is 480 until I get hi-def service. :o

Just did one of my periodic rescans for clear QAM channels sent out by TWC here in McKinney. There's a new HD channel - 84-6 AMC (american movie classics).

OK - maybe not. Just went back and 84-6 is no longer a channel! Must have been an in-demand HD show that was sent out in the clear.

btl.

Just curious....are you talking about HD cable being worse than Sat? I know when Comcast was the (primary) provider here, they didn't compress HD signals, so the difference between cable and OTA was minimal...but I'm not sure of TWC's policy. That is why I'm asking...I've avoided D* and E* primarily due to their down-rezzing HD (well, that and the fact I have a killer deal on TWC right now), and if their PQ is (now) superior to TWC's, that would be good to know....

Thanks,
Randy

The picture quality on HD is quite simular between all 3 types, HOWEVER, the SD picture on sat. kills cable.

It's true that cable TV introduces more artifacts in PQ than satellite TV. However, cable TV (NJ exp.) has been much more reliable for me than sat. TV (TX exp.). The only thing I haven't tried yet is OTA HD, which I'll try once I make a trip to Fry's or buy from Crutchfield.

If you had problems with sat reception, then you had poor installation or good installation on a poor surface (like a roof or wood siding). I need a frog strangler before I lose signal. Unlike cable, the picture is either perfect or not there at all.

The picture quality on HD is quite simular between all 3 types, HOWEVER, the SD picture on sat. kills cable.

I thought that might be what you were talking about...and I agree. Since a large proportion of my viewing is HD these days, I'll just ride the TWC deal I've got for awhile. Thanks!

Randy

A coworker asked me why Cowboys games are shown in 720 but all other football games are shown in 1080. I have no idea. For me, everything is 480 until I get hi-def service. :o

Fox (AKA ch. 4) broadcasts in 720p as does ESPN (refreshing every line every time) with the idea being the progressive scan will allow less motion blur than 1080i. Most other networks use 1080 interlaced (refreshing every other line in rotation). Personally, I think blur has more to do with one's display than from a reasonable quality source. I have a Sony Bravia and have yet to see blur whether a 120 mph tennis serve or 200 mph NASCAR.
So...its not just Cowboy games, but all the ESPN/ABC/Fox games...BUT, our local ABC affiliate (WFAA) changes their local broadcast to 1080i.

Yep OTA is best. Here's comment I saw yesterday:
---------- about 1080P --------------
The only way to get that is from HD-DVD or Blu-Ray discs.

OTA 1080i will look better than cable because it is not compressed.
------------------------------------------

& this cnet article:
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6449_7-6661274-1.html?tag=nl.e702

There are some seriously confused people out there, and the salesmen love 'em.

1080p is shorthand for 1920x1080@60p.

But there is only really one type of source that supplies 60 frames per second of 1920x1080 content, and that would be a video game box, like the PS3 or XBox 360.

All other sources are either from film or from live video.

Film contains 24 frame per second of video. Period.

To get 60p from 24p, you do something called telecine, or 3:2 pulldown. That is, you repeat the first frame three times and the second frame two times and repeat the pattern. But note that there is no new information introduced.

To get 60i from 24p, you do something similar, but you only include half of the lines in each field. So the first field is contains half of the first frame, and the second field contains the other half. The third field contains the same half of the first frame as the first field. The fourth field has half of the second frame, and the fifth field has the other half of the second frame.

Most TVs are already progressive. LCDs, DLPs, plasma, etc. are natively progressive. (CRTs generally are not.) To display ANY image on those screens, the picture must be converted to a progressive image.

Since much content is from film, TVs contain circuitry to reverse the telecine. They notice the pattern of repetition and reconstruct the 24 progressive frames by putting pairs of fields together. The result you see is 60p.

Now consider a high definition DVD player (HD DVD or Blu-Ray) playing a movie. If you set the player to output "1080p," it will send your TV 1920x1080@60p frames, but with only 24 unique frames per second. On the other hand, if you send your TV the same movie at "1080i," it will send your TV 1920x1080@60i fields. But since your TV is progressive, it will have to inverse the telecine to reclaim the original progressive frames.

Today's TVs are excellent at doing this, particularly when the source is a stable DVD player (TV networks play games with editing for time and commercials that can disrupt the 3:2 pattern and confuse the TVs, but that's not the case for a DVD.)

So there is unlikely to be any difference in what you see on the screen.

For 1920x1080 live video, the cameras are almost exclusively 60i. The source isn't progressive to begin with (the other choice is usually 30p). So either the DVD player or your TV will have to convert the 60i to 60p. Which is better? That depends on which player and TV you have. But it's likely that they will both be about the same.

For 1280x720@60p, it's likely your TV already accepts this. So then it's a matter of whether you TV or DVD player does a better job of scaling the 1280x720 up to 1920x1080.

So unless you are playing video games, or until they begin filming actual 1920x1080@60p content, "1080p" TVs are just a gimmick to get you to buy them.

Xesdeeni

Has anyone else with a QAM tuner and TWC basic cable noticed the increase in dropouts of late, especially during the morning and day? At night the picture is very sharp and there are no dropouts, but during the day some channels (but not all) are virtually unwatchable. ABC (Channel 8), during the monring and day, is among the worse. I live in Lake Highlands and really started noticing it right after we were converted from two cable lines to one.

At first I thought it may be my HDTV (JVC LT-32E478) but if it was, I would think it would happen all the time. It definitely varies from channel to channel and is dependent upon the time of day. If this a TWC problem, do I even have a right to complain because I am only paying for Basic cable?

Jim

whether or not ABC ch 8 in Dallas will remain vhf or will
it change to UHF? I just got a UHF antenna (DB8) and
wonder should I add a vhf antenna to it or wait if ABC
may change soon. I am in Mabank and about 50-52 miles
from the Cedar Hill antennas.

thanks,

newbie :o

If you had problems with sat reception, then you had poor installation or good installation on a poor surface (like a roof or wood siding). I need a frog strangler before I lose signal. Unlike cable, the picture is either perfect or not there at all.
My signal is pretty good. I forgot the percentage but will check for it the next time I remember. It even worked during the hailstorm we had on Fri. the 13th of April. However, I hate how it defaults to the "Please Press SELECT To Continue" screen every so often (unpredictably), which makes it unreliable for me use the VCR to record shows in advance. Also just as randomly is sometimes, when I turn on the TV, it has to search for many minutes to find a signal, even though the weather is fine. I'm thinking it's an issue w/ my receiver (322).

Fox (AKA ch. 4) broadcasts in 720p as does ESPN (refreshing every line every time) with the idea being the progressive scan will allow less motion blur than 1080i. Most other networks use 1080 interlaced (refreshing every other line in rotation). Personally, I think blur has more to do with one's display than from a reasonable quality source. I have a Sony Bravia and have yet to see blur whether a 120 mph tennis serve or 200 mph NASCAR.
So...its not just Cowboy games, but all the ESPN/ABC/Fox games...BUT, our local ABC affiliate (WFAA) changes their local broadcast to 1080i.
Yes, I'd take 720p over 1080i for fast motion (video games, sporting events, action movies), etc. 1080i is better for slower detailed video, such as Discovery Channel, National Geographic shows, hi-def "Planet Earth", beauty pageants, etc.

Also just as randomly is sometimes, when I turn on the TV, it has to search for many minutes to find a signal, even though the weather is fine. I'm thinking it's an issue w/ my receiver (322).
.

You might have a grounding issue (try unplugging for 5 min.) or it just may be too many mini-surges over a long period of time. This is the reason most electronics fail when there is no other apparent cause. Surge protectors do not help this problem, only a power conditioner can stop it (and they cost more than most are willing to spend).

Has anyone else had problems receiving ABC (ch. 8) in HD since yesterday? I have not changed a thing on my system or touched my antenna (it's in the attic like always) and have never had reception problems (I'm in Saginaw - NFW) and as of yesterday ABC just completely lost all reception. I mean it's like I don't even have an antenna hooked up, though all of my other HD channels are fine. It worked perfectly fine for the 6 months that I've lived here. Did something change that I'm not aware of?

Has anyone else had problems receiving ABC (ch. 8) in HD since yesterday? I have not changed a thing on my system or touched my antenna (it's in the attic like always) and have never had reception problems (I'm in Saginaw - NFW) and as of yesterday ABC just completely lost all reception. I mean it's like I don't even have an antenna hooked up, though all of my other HD channels are fine. It worked perfectly fine for the 6 months that I've lived here. Did something change that I'm not aware of?
slomo, I am receiving ABC (ch 8) just fine on my old antenna now
and I was getting it yesterday just as well. I'm in Mabank.

slomo, I am receiving ABC (ch 8) just fine on my old antenna now
and I was getting it yesterday just as well. I'm in Mabank.


Thanks mabhanks...this is weird. I'll have to troubleshoot this weekend if it's still not working. I could have sworn something changed on the broadcast side, but apparently not. I'm receiving the SD signal just fine OTA. Just not the HD signal, but like I said all of my other channels work fine and nothing has changed at all in the past couple of days. Just part of the fun of being an avid HD fan I suppose.

However, I hate how it defaults to the "Please Press SELECT To Continue" screen every so often (unpredictably), which makes it unreliable for me use the VCR to record shows in advance. Also just as randomly is sometimes, when I turn on the TV, it has to search for many minutes to find a signal, even though the weather is fine. I'm thinking it's an issue w/ my receiver (322).

You ought to call Dish, as both of those problems are not normal. Why pay for a service, if you're not getting it properly??
My Dish service is just about flawless. Only time I lose signal is during a reaaly heavy storm. And I NEVER have the problems you are describing.
I would insist on a new receiver, or someone to come out and reset the satellite.

Tom in TX

whether or not ABC ch 8 in Dallas will remain vhf or will
it change to UHF? I just got a UHF antenna (DB8) and
wonder should I add a vhf antenna to it or wait if ABC
may change soon. I am in Mabank and about 50-52 miles
from the Cedar Hill antennas.

thanks,

newbie :oSearch in this thread and you'll find your details (or use the link below). In 2009, WFAA (ABC) will move from digital 9 back to 8 and 52 will move to 9. Also, KTVT (CBS) will move back to 11. Finally, KUVN (Univision) will move back to 23.

Source: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf

Bottom line, you need a VHF antenna for ABC and CBS.

Xesdeeni

You might have a grounding issue (try unplugging for 5 min.) or it just may be too many mini-surges over a long period of time. This is the reason most electronics fail when there is no other apparent cause. Surge protectors do not help this problem, only a power conditioner can stop it (and they cost more than most are willing to spend).

I'll try unplugging the Dish receiver for 5 min. as you suggested. I normally have it plugged into an APC UPS. APC is a pretty high-quality company when it comes to surge protectors and UPSs.

On a different note, I'll probably be able to make a trip to Arlington this weekend and hit Fry's. I'm anxious to buy a Channel Master 4228 antenna, assuming they have it in stock. (I know people have said they're located in a non-obvious part of the store.) At first, I think I'll put the antenna right next to my TV, which is downstairs in my 2-story house. (Yes, I know it'll look ghetto putting an outside antenna inside in my family room.)

Seeing that I'm 35 mi. from Cedar Hill, would it be an issue having the signal penetrate a floor and the roof to grab the signal from 35 mi. away? I don't plan on getting a CM 7777 pre-amp. Assuming everything works well, then when the weather cools down, I'll move the CM 4228 antenna upstairs in the attic, assuming I figure out the diplexer stuff by then. TIA.

You ought to call Dish, as both of those problems are not normal. Why pay for a service, if you're not getting it properly??
My Dish service is just about flawless. Only time I lose signal is during a reaaly heavy storm. And I NEVER have the problems you are describing.
I would insist on a new receiver, or someone to come out and reset the satellite.

Tom in TX

Thanks, you're right. I just hate calling tech support. Also, w/ my luck, the receiver will be working 100% perfectly when they come out. But I'll call them this weekend so it's on the record and hopefully they'll be able to send someone out the following weekend. You have to watch out w/ these tech support people when they come out. They can do a pretty crappy job, as what a coworker mentioned about a kid installing his DirecTV dish and leaving a mess behind and not even grounding the dish!

Bottom line, you need a VHF antenna for ABC and CBS.

Xesdeeni

One can get a UHF antenna that has supposedly very good VHF reception, such as Channel Master 4228.

Directv Aggrevation!!
I am kind of a newbie here, so excuse me if this has been brought up before.
I bought a brand new Directv HR20-100S DVR box on Ebay so I could own my own equipment.
But now Directv tells me that they only lease this box and will only connect it if I pay them the lease deal. I think it is like $300 up front and a monthly charge.
I was furious since they want to get paid for the box I own!?
Is there any way of having them just connect the standard DVR box and then later me switching the boxes to my HR20?
Has to be some way around this - any help???????

GoFRO, check this on ebay:



Watchout!
These units are NOT being sold, per se.

What you are buying in every case, is a LEASE plan for the unit. When you register and activate any of these units, Directv will tell you that you DO NOT own the unit, they do. They will charge you $4.99 "lease" fees for the unit plus an additional $4.99 a month "DVR" or "additional receiver" fees. In addition, they will "lock" you in to either a 1 or 2 year obligation, which means that you cannot terminate their service without paying a substantial penalty. This occurs regardless of whether or not you are a new or long-time customer of Directv. Their contention is that NOBODY is authorized to sell you any Directv equipment except them and at their price. They do this all without benefit of any contract with you; without advising you that they are doing it when you activate the equipment; and without your signature on anything! BEWARE!!!

What do you get from them, in return? NOTHING. They will NOT repair it if it breaks; and, they will not replace it if a newer version comes along. They WILL penalize you severely if: You terminate your DirecTV contract; or attempt to dispose of the unit in any way. In effect, you are paying them for the privilidge of storing their unit in your home and then you are paying them $4.99 per month, forever, for the privilidge of keeping the unit. Unless you can get a Bill of Sale from your seller, stating that the unit is SOLD to you, that it is PAID IN FULL and no additional purchase/lease fees are due, then you shouldn't purchase the unit. Yes, there is a LEASE clause in ALL of the LEGITIMATE purchases, so why not go ahead and buy them directly from the leasor, rather than be deceived into believing that you own the equipment in the first place. and then being told AFTER the fact, of the "gotchas"! In addition to DIRECTV charging you the "lease" fee forever, in many cases they will also, without your knowledge, lock you into a 1 or 2 year "commitment" when you activate the receiver. At no time will you be told about this commitment, not even when you activate the receiver. Is this legal? Personally, I don't think so; but, at this time, they are getting away with it. I cannot see how Directv can produce an enforceable "contract" when you have NOT agreed to any of the terms.

here is the link to the above, sorry about the size..

IS 27.1 down for anyone here? My TV says no signal, but when I look at the signal strength I am in the 90s.

:D:):)qam listings for twc arlington:):):D

78.2 jewelry tv
78.7 cspan 3 (maps to 78.10)
79.1 vod preview
79.9 shop nbc
79.11 new channel (but encrypted)
80.4 metro sports
80.5 - 80.51 music choice
80.104 music choice
82.8 lifetime real women
83-86 vod (unencrypted)
92.1 nba preview
101.6 we
104.11 new channel (but encrypted)
105.5 vh1 soul
106.3 hd theater
107.1 ktvt hd
107.2 tnt hd
107.3 ktxa hd
108.1 kera hd
108.2 wfaa hd
108.3 kdaf hd
110.1 kdfw hd
110.2 kxas hd
110.3 xpress 8.2
110.4 nbc weather plus
113.1 kdfw sd
113.2 kxas sd
113.3 wfaa sd
113.4 ktvt sd
113.5 kdtn sd (not mapped to cable box)
113.6 kera sd
113.7 ktxa sd
113.8 kdaf sd
114.1 tbn
114.2 ion
114.3 ewtn
114.4 txcn
114.5 kuvn (univision)
114.6 qvc
114.7 cspan
114.8 cspan 2
114.9 disney
114.10 hsn
114.11 abc family (not mapped to cable box)
115.2 kdfi hd

have fun playing with it:):):):):

Thanks, you're right. I just hate calling tech support. Also, w/ my luck, the receiver will be working 100% perfectly when they come out. But I'll call them this weekend so it's on the record and hopefully they'll be able to send someone out the following weekend. You have to watch out w/ these tech support people when they come out. They can do a pretty crappy job, as what a coworker mentioned about a kid installing his DirecTV dish and leaving a mess behind and not even grounding the dish!

If you are leasing your receiver, Dish will send you a refubished receiver at no charge. If that doesn't work then you can get a tech to re-aim your dish. The location of the mount is very important. Wood will eventually warp from moisture allowing the dish to lose focus on the sat. Brick siding on the south directly under the eve will allow maximum protection from wind and rain.
Be careful opening your new antenna inside...they don't close easily!

IS 27.1 down for anyone here? My TV says no signal, but when I look at the signal strength I am in the 90s.

I'm having the exact same problem with 27.1. I'm glad it's not just me. I get good signal strength, but there's no picture. I'm pretty sure it's been happening since Thursday or Friday.

Steve

I'm having the exact same problem with 27.1. I'm glad it's not just me. I get good signal strength, but there's no picture. I'm pretty sure it's been happening since Thursday or Friday.

Steve
Alright, well I guess it isnt on our end. The good news is that 27 still comes in analog, so I can still watch Seinfeld.

My Tv picked it up on 36.3. They must have moved it for whatever reason.:rolleyes:
I wish they would move 11.1 and 21.1 to some other digital channel. I lose 21.1 almost every night and sometimes 11.1.:mad:
I am 60 miles from Cedar Hill and pick up all other digital stations I like with no problems.:o

If you are leasing your receiver, Dish will send you a refubished receiver at no charge. If that doesn't work then you can get a tech to re-aim your dish. The location of the mount is very important. Wood will eventually warp from moisture allowing the dish to lose focus on the sat. Brick siding on the south directly under the eve will allow maximum protection from wind and rain.
Be careful opening your new antenna inside...they don't close easily!

Thanks. My Dish antenna was mounted to the side of my brick siding. it has a clear signal to the south, so the installer didn't have to mount it to the roof. I'll take a picture of it one of these days.

This is another Channel Master 4228 success story. I bought this antenna from Fry's in Arlington yesterday. Those who said it's hard to find in that huge store are correct. It's not in the TV/antenna dept. I went to the Electrical Components dept. near the computers and asked someone. The CSR poked around the computer and was able to find it. He then had to go in the back to fetch it. The box is very large, probably 40" x 41" x 5.5". It barely fit in my car (hatchback).

I got it home, connected the transformer, and then connected a co-ax cable between it and the TV. After running through the TV's antenna setup, I was able to pull in all the major local channels with very strong signal. I'm about 35 mi. away from Cedar Hill and the antenna (for now) is in the living room, right next to the TV.

I'm using an RG-59 cable that came w/ Dish Network (it's an extra co-ax). Is that better than RG-6? I know there's a difference but I forgot which is better. Thanks.

Has anyone else with a QAM tuner and TWC basic cable noticed the increase in dropouts of late, especially during the morning and day? At night the picture is very sharp and there are no dropouts, but during the day some channels (but not all) are virtually unwatchable. ABC (Channel 8), during the monring and day, is among the worse. I live in Lake Highlands and really started noticing it right after we were converted from two cable lines to one.

At first I thought it may be my HDTV (JVC LT-32E478) but if it was, I would think it would happen all the time. It definitely varies from channel to channel and is dependent upon the time of day. If this a TWC problem, do I even have a right to complain because I am only paying for Basic cable?

Jim

Yes, you should call TWC. ABC, for example, is part of what you are paying for. ABC does have unique problems because of the frequency range they broadcast in and the cable TWC is aware of it. If the coax in your house or to your house isn't properly shielded or if any of the connectors aren't perfect you will experience problems on channel 8 much more so than on other channels.

Bernie

Directv Aggrevation!!
I am kind of a newbie here, so excuse me if this has been brought up before.
I bought a brand new Directv HR20-100S DVR box on Ebay so I could own my own equipment.
But now Directv tells me that they only lease this box and will only connect it if I pay them the lease deal. I think it is like $300 up front and a monthly charge.
I was furious since they want to get paid for the box I own!?
Is there any way of having them just connect the standard DVR box and then later me switching the boxes to my HR20?
Has to be some way around this - any help???????
If you already pay for DVR service then all you would have to pay is the $4.99 a month for an extra receiver. If this is your first DVR then there is a monthly DVR service fee.

All the new DTV DVRs are considered a lease. Just how it is.

There is no way you would have to pay them $300 up front. The new HD DVRs are $300 if you order them from DTV or buy them at BB or CC. Costco has them for $270. I think this is where the confusion is coming in.

...I'm using an RG-59 cable that came w/ Dish Network (it's an extra co-ax). Is that better than RG-6? I know there's a difference but I forgot which is better. Thanks.

You've got it backwards. RG-6 is superior to RG-59. RG-59 is not recommended for DBS, I cannot speak to OTA.

You've got it backwards. RG-6 is superior to RG-59. RG-59 is not recommended for DBS, I cannot speak to OTA.

Maybe that's part of the problem he's having with Dish?

Tom in TX

I'm using an RG-59 cable that came w/ Dish Network (it's an extra co-ax). Is that better than RG-6? I know there's a difference but I forgot which is better. Thanks.

RG-6 Quad shield is the best and prvides the max protection from outside interference and signal loss for OTA or DBS. Enjoy that OTA!

You've got it backwards. RG-6 is superior to RG-59. RG-59 is not recommended for DBS, I cannot speak to OTA.
Yes, I was momentarily confused and had it backwards. :o RG-6 is better than RG-59.

Maybe that's part of the problem he's having with Dish?

Tom in TX
The funny thing is that Dish is the one who connected that RG-59 coax cable to my TV. I know that's the cable b/c it's got a red sticker on it that says "Dish Network". Shame on them for installing RG-59 cables. :mad:

RG-6 Quad shield is the best and prvides the max protection from outside interference and signal loss for OTA or DBS. Enjoy that OTA!
Thanks, yes, I did a little reading up on it to learn this as well. In addition to what you said, RG-6 uses a thicker conductor (18 AWG) whereas RG-59 uses a thinner conductor (22-AWG). I found an 18 AWG coax cable, while it doesn't specifically say RG-6, should be that. So tonight, I'll replace the RG-59 cable (that I got from Dish) with the RG-6. They're both about 6' long.

I have some OTA HD comments that I'll make in my next post.

I've now enjoyed my CM 4228 antenna to get OTA HD for 2 days. I have a few comments. I noticed the same problem many here have been having w/ Channel 8-1 (ABC). Since it's VHF, it goes in and out for me on my UHF antenna. :( The signal strength on my Mitsubishi DLP TV indicates it often dips below 50%. This is frustrating and I don't know what else one can do short of getting a VHF antenna. (And even then, how to combine the 2 antennas? Use a diplexer?)

The local news on 4-1, 5-1, and 11-1 looked very good. (Again, 8-1 was very pixelated for me, given the low signal strength.) While showing the newscasters in the studio, the PQ was excellent. But when running stories, such as interviewing others out on the field, PQ was much worse. I agree w/ my coworker that NBC 5-1 looked great, at least while in the studio.

Leno vs. Letterman

I watched both shows last night (flipping back and forth). Both had great PQ - about the same. However, Leno's (Channel 5-1) audio was only 2.0 (maybe 2.1). There was no sound coming out from the center or surround speakers. However, Letterman's (Channel 11-1) audio was true 5.1. The sound was noticeably better. Why is Leno not broadcasting 5.1 sound? Is that a fault of NBC or the local affiliate?

The signal strength, other than Channel 8, was excellent. My DLP TV was routinely very strong. It doesn't have a digital # readout, but rather, a line that tells you the signal strength. I'd say it was 80-90%. Remember, I live in FW about 35 mi. from Cedar Hill and only approximately pointed the CM 4228 antenna southeast rather than getting a compass and fine tuning it to the exact average degree. Maybe if I play around w/ the angling, I'll get Channel 8-1 (ABC) better.

I've now enjoyed my CM 4228 antenna to get OTA HD for 2 days. I have a few comments. I noticed the same problem many here have been having w/ Channel 8-1 (ABC). Since it's VHF, it goes in and out for me on my UHF antenna.

The high-VHF reception of the CM 4228 is thought (maybe proven) to be due to the 2 'screens' and they accomplish it because they overlap each other to give a broad screen. So there have been some who've recommended using something like zip ties at 3 or 4 points along the overlap edges to secure one edge of one screen to the edge of the other so they make contact to each other solidly. I've done this on mine but didn't actually test it both ways, so your results may vary.

MC

Remember, I live in FW about 35 mi. from Cedar Hill and only approximately pointed the CM 4228 antenna southeast rather than getting a compass and fine tuning it to the exact average degree. Maybe if I play around w/ the angling, I'll get Channel 8-1 (ABC) better.

I would definitely "fine-tune" the antenna. Just a slight change can have a BIG impact.
Is the antenna still in your living room? Mine is in my attic, and to help with the tuning, I get on my cell phone, and call my wife who is watching the strenght levels. Beats going up and down the stairs, trying to do it alone!

Tom in TX

The high-VHF reception of the CM 4228 is thought (maybe proven) to be due to the 2 'screens' and they accomplish it because they overlap each other to give a broad screen. So there have been some who've recommended using something like zip ties at 3 or 4 points along the overlap edges to secure one edge of one screen to the edge of the other so they make contact to each other solidly. I've done this on mine but didn't actually test it both ways, so your results may vary.

MC
That's an interesting suggestion. After I read it, I did a quick search and found that [others also recommend (http://hdtvmagazine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=17632) connecting the two halves of the CM 4228. I tried this at home. It's very tough to connect the 2 halves together. So for the heck of it, I first put on Channel 8-1 (VHF) and with my hands, squeezed the two halves together until the metal parts touched. Unfortunately, I still got very choppy reception. The signal strength was almost always less than 50%. Maybe once I relocate the antenna to my attic (so it's higher in elevation) and point it to the exact angle, I'll be able to get ABC.

I would definitely "fine-tune" the antenna. Just a slight change can have a BIG impact.
Is the antenna still in your living room? Mine is in my attic, and to help with the tuning, I get on my cell phone, and call my wife who is watching the strenght levels. Beats going up and down the stairs, trying to do it alone!

Tom in TX
I don't have a wife at home, but I can always ask a neighbor to stop by and monitor the signal strength on the TV as I'm fine tuning the antenna, once I move it up in the attic (i.e. 2 floors up). My Mitsubishi DLP TV shows the signal strength when I press "Info" on the remote, but it only displays that info. for a few seconds, before it vanishes. So I have to keep on pressing Info to hold the signal strength there.

Also, I swapped the RG-59 (thinner) coaxial cable with one that says 18 AWG on it (thicker), which I assume is RG-6. It's about a foot longer and I didn't see any difference in signal strength on the UHF channels and ABC (8-1) was still very unreliable.

Thanks again for the input.

I was out on www.mavs.com and it looks like they have finalized the mavs TV schedule for 2007-2008. You can find it here:

http://www.nba.com//media/mavericks/Schedule100907-.pdf

A whole lot of games are in HD. I don't know if the ABC games are all in HD (most were last year), all the TNT games were in HD, and it seems that every TXA21 game is either in HD on TXA21 or on HDNet. So, it looks like 20+ games on FSN that will only be in SD, maybe some of the ESPN games as well (but doubt it). That's roughly 75% of the games that will be available in HD somewhere.

Way to step up to the plate TXA21! Can you please bid to show the Rangers or Stars!?!?!?

Get a CM7777 preamp - although preamps are usually used to overcome the losses in the cable it might be enough to push your signal strength up to the point where WFAA is stable, without causing you a noise problem. .
But I would guess you might probably find the signal is OK once you put the antenna in the attic. FYI I am just east of Allen at 41 miles from Cedar Hill and my CM4228/CM7777 combo in the attic give great results even on WFAA.

So what do you need to get over the air HD signals? Do antennas plug right into the TVwith HDMI ? Or do I have to buy some kind of receiver? I currently have a HD DVR from my cable company.

Also, I have a really big TV antenna up in the attic, even though it's about 15+ years old, can that pick up HD signals if I run it through a receiver?

So what do you need to get over the air HD signals? Do antennas plug right into the TVwith HDMI ? Or do I have to buy some kind of receiver? I currently have a HD DVR from my cable company.

Also, I have a really big TV antenna up in the attic, even though it's about 15+ years old, can that pick up HD signals if I run it through a receiver?

Your TV probably has an HD tuner built right in. Connect the coax plug on the back to the old antenna and tell it to scan for stations. Check your owners manual for specifics. You may need to put in new coax if the old is deteriorated, but try what you have first.

I've now enjoyed my CM 4228 antenna to get OTA HD for 2 days. I have a few comments. I noticed the same problem many here have been having w/ Channel 8-1 (ABC). Since it's VHF, it goes in and out for me on my UHF antenna. :( The signal strength on my Mitsubishi DLP TV indicates it often dips below 50%. This is frustrating and I don't know what else one can do short of getting a VHF antenna. (And even then, how to combine the 2 antennas? Use a diplexer?)

The local news on 4-1, 5-1, and 11-1 looked very good. (Again, 8-1 was very pixelated for me, given the low signal strength.) While showing the newscasters in the studio, the PQ was excellent. But when running stories, such as interviewing others out on the field, PQ was much worse. I agree w/ my coworker that NBC 5-1 looked great, at least while in the studio.

Leno vs. Letterman

I watched both shows last night (flipping back and forth). Both had great PQ - about the same. However, Leno's (Channel 5-1) audio was only 2.0 (maybe 2.1). There was no sound coming out from the center or surround speakers. However, Letterman's (Channel 11-1) audio was true 5.1. The sound was noticeably better. Why is Leno not broadcasting 5.1 sound? Is that a fault of NBC or the local affiliate?

The signal strength, other than Channel 8, was excellent. My DLP TV was routinely very strong. It doesn't have a digital # readout, but rather, a line that tells you the signal strength. I'd say it was 80-90%. Remember, I live in FW about 35 mi. from Cedar Hill and only approximately pointed the CM 4228 antenna southeast rather than getting a compass and fine tuning it to the exact average degree. Maybe if I play around w/ the angling, I'll get Channel 8-1 (ABC) better.


I'm now having the exact same problem with WFAA. One day it will work fine, and another day it will be right at the 50% borderline where it just won't tune no matter what I do. I guess I'll be spending the weekend in the attic trying to fine tune my CM4228. I also have it amplified with a Motorola signal booster, which helps, but I still have the problem. I'm in Saginaw, by the way.

What's weird is that it worked fine for months (since April actually) up until about a week ago. Since then I've had reception problems like crazy. I don't know much about how the stations broadcast but it really seems like they shifted their broadcast direction just a little bit, causing my problems all of a sudden. I have nothing to prove this other than the fact that it was working perfectly for months and suddenly doesn't. There are no new buildings or homes going in around me either. :confused:

What's weird is that it worked fine for months (since April actually) up until about a week ago. Since then I've had reception problems like crazy. . :confused:

The structure causing the problem may be futher away from you, but still in the signal path. You might try switching out your coax cable/ amp/ and or moving your antenna.

The structure causing the problem may be futher away from you, but still in the signal path. You might try switching out your coax cable/ amp/ and or moving your antenna.

Yeah I've never fine tuned my antenna using a compass and antennaweb so I plan to do that this weekend. Have any of you guys mounted your antennas on your roof? I moved in to the house and there is an old DishNetwork satellite mounted already. I figure with the right parts I could mount my antenna in the same spot. I'm worried about it a) looking ugly and b) not making much of a difference because it would be located on the north side of my house, and it needs to point south east.

Guess I will try that as a last resort but will hopefully find a way to be able to keep it in the attic.

I wondered if anybody had problems with Dirty Sexy Money on ABC last night. The recording started dropping, oh, about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way in, and it didn't come back until the final seconds before the closing credits. About 20 minutes.
Trying to determine if it's "me or them".

EDIT: I think it must have been them. Pushing Daisies was recording on the second computer and it did the same thing. Oh well, guess I'd better check my signal strength to make sure.

I'm now having the exact same problem with WFAA. One day it will work fine, and another day it will be right at the 50% borderline where it just won't tune no matter what I do. I guess I'll be spending the weekend in the attic trying to fine tune my CM4228. I also have it amplified with a Motorola signal booster, which helps, but I still have the problem. I'm in Saginaw, by the way.

:confused:

I live north of you, by 170 and 35. I use an 8' attic mounted boom antenna but I really think the difference is the amp. I have the Channel Master 7777. Without it I have the same problems of intermittency. It has terrific gain for both VHF and UHF with low noise.

VHF gain: 23 dB, VHF noise: 2.8 dB
UHF gain: 26 dB, UHF noise: 2.0 dB


http://www.solidsignal.com/tech_help_CM777X.asp

I live north of you, by 170 and 35. I use an 8' attic mounted boom antenna but I really think the difference is the amp. I have the Channel Master 7777. Without it I have the same problems of intermittency. It has terrific gain for both VHF and UHF with low noise.

VHF gain: 23 dB, VHF noise: 2.8 dB
UHF gain: 26 dB, UHF noise: 2.0 dB


http://www.solidsignal.com/tech_help_CM777X.asp

Thanks for the info, here is my current setup, tell me what you think.

CM 4228 antenna in attic to Motorola signal booster in attic about 6 ft from antenna: http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/products/signal_booster/

Through about 20 ft of cable in to living room, no splices yet. In living room I have this CM 3044 distribution amp http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?g=315750&i=6593044&search=channel+master&tp=6341

I need the amp because I have an HTPC and have 3 HD tuners in it, and each needs its own cable. I don't think that's causing the problem though, because if I run a cable directly from my living room wall to my TV, it still can't find WFAA reliably lately. From the research I've done on the CM 3044, it seems that the powered feature basically counteracts its own loss of signal. In other words, it makes up for having a splitter. That appears to be true from what I've experienced.

Do you think the amp you mentioned is that much different than the Moto one?

CM 4228 antenna in attic to Motorola signal booster in attic about 6 ft from antenna: http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/products/signal_booster/

Through about 20 ft of cable in to living room, no splices yet. In living room I have this CM 3044 distribution amp http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?g=315750&i=6593044&search=channel+master&tp=6341

I need the amp because I have an HTPC and have 3 HD tuners in it, and each needs its own cable. I don't think that's causing the problem though, because if I run a cable directly from my living room wall to my TV, it still can't find WFAA reliably lately. From the research I've done on the CM 3044, it seems that the powered feature basically counteracts its own loss of signal. In other words, it makes up for having a splitter. That appears to be true from what I've experienced.

Do you think the amp you mentioned is that much different than the Moto one?


IMHO

I am curious as to why this Motorola 'booster' does not state its gain at VHF and UHF frequencies. It states a flat gain of 15 db and implies that his is accross the spectrum from 50 to 1000 MHz. Unlikely.

I would not put TWO preamps in the same line. You are amplifying the noise twice as well. You cannot amplify the desired signal only, the noise is also boosted. The noise on the 3044 is 3.5 db. Yikes. Do you really need it's bi-directional capability?

Splitting the signal 3 times is not good. You lose 3 db of gain for each split. To test whether this is the problem you cannot just disconnect the TVs. You MUST remove the splitters completely. You seem to have done that by running a separate cable to a TV without any splitters as a test but were both preamps on the same line then?

When I aligned my attic attenna I knew which way Cedar Hill was. However I ignored that and just rotated the antenna until the signal strength was maximized for OTA. Luckily for me, the direction my antenna is pointed seems to be optimal (or very close) for 4-1, 5-1, 8-1, 11-1, 13-1, and 21-1.

You might want to try a single preamp like the 7777 to a single TV, make sure that works well, and then start splitting and adding distribution amps until you lose stability.

IMHO

I am curious as to why this Motorola 'booster' does not state its gain at VHF and UHF frequencies. It states a flat gain of 15 db and implies that his is accross the spectrum from 50 to 1000 MHz. Unlikely.

I would not put TWO preamps in the same line. You are amplifying the noise twice as well. You cannot amplify the desired signal only, the noise is also boosted. The noise on the 3044 is 3.5 db. Yikes. Do you really need it's bi-directional capability?

Splitting the signal 3 times is not good. You lose 3 db of gain for each split. To test whether this is the problem you cannot just disconnect the TVs. You MUST remove the splitters completely. You seem to have done that by running a separate cable to a TV without any splitters as a test but were both preamps on the same line then?

When I aligned my attic attenna I knew which way Cedar Hill was. However I ignored that and just rotated the antenna until the signal strength was maximized for OTA. Luckily for me, the direction my antenna is pointed seems to be optimal (or very close) for 4-1, 5-1, 8-1, 11-1, 13-1, and 21-1.

You might want to try a single preamp like the 7777 to a single TV, make sure that works well, and then start splitting and adding distribution amps until you lose stability.

When I disconnected the 3044, I still had the preamp in the attic installed. I have experimented by removing the one in the attic but that seems to really hurt reception on all channels, not just WFAA. So, I think I do need a preamp up there....whether it's the one I have or the 7777 (wish I could rent one for the weekend before dropping $70 on it!)

Like I said I need the 3044 in order to distribute to my HTPC....but even if I remove it and run the line directly to the TV from the first preamp, it's not much better or worse (WFAA still goes in/out and other channels are fine). I don't need the bi-directional capability though (wasn't even aware that it was bi-directional actually) so is there a cheap splitter you'd recommend where I won't lose much signal?

I guess my main options are a) spending a few hours really mounting the antenna up there at the best location with the equipment I already have. Or, b) taking a chance on the 7777 amp to replace my Moto amp in the attic, and trying that. Hate to waste the money if I don't have to so I guess I'll try plan A first. My wife is getting pissed about missing Private Practice last night and Grey's Anatomy possibly tonight though.

Get a CM7777 preamp - although preamps are usually used to overcome the losses in the cable it might be enough to push your signal strength up to the point where WFAA is stable, without causing you a noise problem. .
But I would guess you might probably find the signal is OK once you put the antenna in the attic. FYI I am just east of Allen at 41 miles from Cedar Hill and my CM4228/CM7777 combo in the attic give great results even on WFAA.

Thanks, I thought I'd be OK w/o CM 7777, but apparently not. UHF is consistently clocking in at a very high signal strength. But perhaps the pre-amp will help me just enough w/ ABC like it did yours. BTW, were you able to pull in WFAA w/o the 7777.

I noticed that AntennaWeb.org finally recognizes my address (relatively new house - 11 mos. old). It says WFAA 8.1 is 32 mi. away from me.

I'm now having the exact same problem with WFAA. One day it will work fine, and another day it will be right at the 50% borderline where it just won't tune no matter what I do. I guess I'll be spending the weekend in the attic trying to fine tune my CM4228. I also have it amplified with a Motorola signal booster, which helps, but I still have the problem. I'm in Saginaw, by the way.

What's weird is that it worked fine for months (since April actually) up until about a week ago. Since then I've had reception problems like crazy. I don't know much about how the stations broadcast but it really seems like they shifted their broadcast direction just a little bit, causing my problems all of a sudden. I have nothing to prove this other than the fact that it was working perfectly for months and suddenly doesn't. There are no new buildings or homes going in around me either. :confused:

I also live very close to Saginaw. That's odd how it was working fine for you all this time and then WFAA stopped coming in. That is one concern I have if I ever got rid of satellite TV and just did the OTA HD thing. I'd be paranoid that I could randomly lose a signal and not know why and wouldn't be able to call up tech support to have them figure it out.

For now, I'll keep local the service plan ($5/mo.) from Dish and use it to watch Channel 8 (ABC). I'll also look into getting a CM 7777, but will probably hold off until I move my antenna to the attic and get a compass to point it in the precise direction instead of guestimating it as I currently am.

I also live very close to Saginaw. That's odd how it was working fine for you all this time and then WFAA stopped coming in. That is one concern I have if I ever got rid of satellite TV and just did the OTA HD thing. I'd be paranoid that I could randomly lose a signal and not know why and wouldn't be able to call up tech support to have them figure it out.

For now, I'll keep local the service plan ($5/mo.) from Dish and use it to watch Channel 8 (ABC). I'll also look into getting a CM 7777, but will probably hold off until I move my antenna to the attic and get a compass to point it in the precise direction instead of guestimating it as I currently am.

I ordered a CM 7777 next day air, so hoping to get it before the weekend. Will post updates on Monday. What's weird is that this morning WFAA was not working and just a few minutes ago it now is. It will probably go off during Grey's Anatomy just to piss my wife off and get me in trouble!

I ordered a CM 7777 next day air, so hoping to get it before the weekend. Will post updates on Monday. What's weird is that this morning WFAA was not working and just a few minutes ago it now is. It will probably go off during Grey's Anatomy just to piss my wife off and get me in trouble!

I'll be interested to learn of your exp. Did you order it from Crutchfield?

I have some time before I really need ABC in HD. "Lost" doesn't start until early Feb., so that's my ultimate deadline. It would be a crime to not see Kate in HD now that I finally have an HD-capable display. :o

I'll be interested to learn of your exp. Did you order it from Crutchfield?

I have some time before I really need ABC in HD. "Lost" doesn't start until early Feb., so that's my ultimate deadline. It would be a crime to not see Kate in HD now that I finally have an HD-capable display. :o


Kate looks fantastic in HD!

I ordered from solidsignal.com....that's where I got my antenna so I trust them and they're a bit cheaper.

Anyone here been having problems with their HD channels on TWC lately? All the HD channels are basically unwatchable as the sound cuts out every few seconds and the picture starts to macroblock. This only started happening this week. Gonna call TWC here in a few to report it.

Anyone here been having problems with their HD channels on TWC lately? All the HD channels are basically unwatchable as the sound cuts out every few seconds and the picture starts to macroblock. This only started happening this week. Gonna call TWC here in a few to report it.

No problem for us here in Richardson.

Kate looks fantastic in HD!

I ordered from solidsignal.com....that's where I got my antenna so I trust them and they're a bit cheaper.

Warren Electronics is also a good place to buy from....when I wanted a CM4228 Fry's did not have in stock and so I bought CM4228/CM7777 from Warren...
and for beowolf; my reception on the CM4228 for WFAA without the CM7777was very "iffy", when I connected the CM7777 not only did my signal strength increase significantly but it became almost completely stable. It is an excellent preamp.

I'll be interested to learn of your exp. Did you order it from Crutchfield?

I have some time before I really need ABC in HD. "Lost" doesn't start until early Feb., so that's my ultimate deadline. It would be a crime to not see Kate in HD now that I finally have an HD-capable display. :o


beowulf....I got the CM 7777 preamp in Friday. So far the results are mixed. It really isn't much better than my Moto amp, however, it does have the option to combine signals from a UHF and a VHF antenna to one signal. So first I tried just replacing my Moto amp with the CM 7777, no difference at all. WFAA (VHF) was not reliable but the other channels were fine.

So, on to plan B. I bought a compass and pointed the antenna exactly where I should have according to antennaweb.org. Suddenly WFAA came in fine but none of my other UHF ones came in at that point. So, I decided to head down to radio shack and buy a UHF only antenna, http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103088&cp=2032057.2032187.2032189.2032205&parentPage=family
and mount it in my attic also. I am now using it for all of my UHF stations and the CM antenna for WFAA (VHF). They're being combined at the CM 7777 preamp. The initial results are a lot better, but I'll be interested to see how it goes over the next week or so.

Either way, in your case I would suggest the CM 7777 or another high quality preamp. I think it will give you the boost you need, because if I unplug the power for the amp I immediately lose most of my channels. It definitely makes a big difference.

I have an extra Motorola amp that seems to work just as well as the CM 7777 if you're interested. I'd be willing to sell it for $25, and you can even try it out before paying for it to see if it helps.

KERA must have some new hardware. They've had a lot of pblms the past week or two. They seemed gr8 from when I started watching 9/1/07 but lately.. wow http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v170/xx5xx/wow.gif

beowulf....I got the CM 7777 preamp in Friday. So far the results are mixed. It really isn't much better than my Moto amp, however, it does have the option to combine signals from a UHF and a VHF antenna to one signal. So first I tried just replacing my Moto amp with the CM 7777, no difference at all. WFAA (VHF) was not reliable but the other channels were fine.

So, on to plan B. I bought a compass and pointed the antenna exactly where I should have according to antennaweb.org. Suddenly WFAA came in fine but none of my other UHF ones came in at that point. So, I decided to head down to radio shack and buy a UHF only antenna, http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103088&cp=2032057.2032187.2032189.2032205&parentPage=family
and mount it in my attic also. I am now using it for all of my UHF stations and the CM antenna for WFAA (VHF). They're being combined at the CM 7777 preamp. The initial results are a lot better, but I'll be interested to see how it goes over the next week or so.

Either way, in your case I would suggest the CM 7777 or another high quality preamp. I think it will give you the boost you need, because if I unplug the power for the amp I immediately lose most of my channels. It definitely makes a big difference.

I have an extra Motorola amp that seems to work just as well as the CM 7777 if you're interested. I'd be willing to sell it for $25, and you can even try it out before paying for it to see if it helps.

That is very strange, since the CM4228 is one of the best UHF antennas you can buy. Did you have the CM7777 set to the "combined" setting, for VHF and UHF over a single coax? What direction is the new UHF antenna pointed, is it the same as the CM4228?

I tried searching this thread for an answer, so I'm sorry if this has been discussed previously. How do the MPEG 4 HD locals look for y'all on D*? Thanks in advance for any info!

That is very strange, since the CM4228 is one of the best UHF antennas you can buy. Did you have the CM7777 set to the "combined" setting, for VHF and UHF over a single coax? What direction is the new UHF antenna pointed, is it the same as the CM4228?

I didn't have the CM7777 set for combined until I gave up on the single antenna and decided to buy the extra antenna. The new UHF antenna is pointed quite a bit differently than what antennaweb.org says. It's pointed SE at probably 100 degrees. Whereas the CM antenna is positioned to pick up the VHF station WFAA at 130 degrees or so. I'm in Saginaw, so north of Fort Worth.

I now have the CM7777 set for combined, but when I tried with just the 4228 I did not have it set to combined. I've watched an entire day of nascar and NFL and so far have had great results.

Kate looks fantastic in HD!

I ordered from solidsignal.com....that's where I got my antenna so I trust them and they're a bit cheaper.

Thanks, I checked out that site. So it comes out to $62 for the 7777. which is $15 less than Crutchfield. Please do report back if that pre-amp helps you get ABC with your 4228.

As an aside, after watching HD via the CM 4228 antenna, I'm having a hard time watching SD via the Dish Network. :o

Warren Electronics is also a good place to buy from....when I wanted a CM4228 Fry's did not have in stock and so I bought CM4228/CM7777 from Warren...
and for beowolf; my reception on the CM4228 for WFAA without the CM7777was very "iffy", when I connected the CM7777 not only did my signal strength increase significantly but it became almost completely stable. It is an excellent preamp.
Thanks for the review, texasbrit. Glad to hear the pre-amp working so well for you. :)

beowulf....I got the CM 7777 preamp in Friday. So far the results are mixed. It really isn't much better than my Moto amp, however, it does have the option to combine signals from a UHF and a VHF antenna to one signal. So first I tried just replacing my Moto amp with the CM 7777, no difference at all. WFAA (VHF) was not reliable but the other channels were fine.

So, on to plan B. I bought a compass and pointed the antenna exactly where I should have according to antennaweb.org. Suddenly WFAA came in fine but none of my other UHF ones came in at that point. So, I decided to head down to radio shack and buy a UHF only antenna, http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103088&cp=2032057.2032187.2032189.2032205&parentPage=family
and mount it in my attic also. I am now using it for all of my UHF stations and the CM antenna for WFAA (VHF). They're being combined at the CM 7777 preamp. The initial results are a lot better, but I'll be interested to see how it goes over the next week or so.

Either way, in your case I would suggest the CM 7777 or another high quality preamp. I think it will give you the boost you need, because if I unplug the power for the amp I immediately lose most of my channels. It definitely makes a big difference.

I have an extra Motorola amp that seems to work just as well as the CM 7777 if you're interested. I'd be willing to sell it for $25, and you can even try it out before paying for it to see if it helps.
I appreciate your reporting the trials and tribulations you went through in trying to get the VHF and UHF channels. If I recall, did you also say you live in FW? If so, I might take you up on trying out your pre-amp. But before I get a pre-amp, I'm probably best off getting a compass, moving the CM 4228 to the attic, and getting a diplexer to combine the Dish SD and OTA HD coax lines.

Thanks for the review, texasbrit. Glad to hear the pre-amp working so well for you. :)


I appreciate your reporting the trials and tribulations you went through in trying to get the VHF and UHF channels. If I recall, did you also say you live in FW? If so, I might take you up on trying out your pre-amp. But before I get a pre-amp, I'm probably best off getting a compass, moving the CM 4228 to the attic, and getting a diplexer to combine the Dish SD and OTA HD coax lines.

Yeah I live in Saginaw, if you want to stop by and pick it up just let me know.

Definitely buy a compass because I was amazed at how direction turned I got once I was in my attic. I watched it all day yesterday and so far so good....I'll know more by the end of the week.

I didn't have the CM7777 set for combined until I gave up on the single antenna and decided to buy the extra antenna. The new UHF antenna is pointed quite a bit differently than what antennaweb.org says. It's pointed SE at probably 100 degrees. Whereas the CM antenna is positioned to pick up the VHF station WFAA at 130 degrees or so. I'm in Saginaw, so north of Fort Worth.

I now have the CM7777 set for combined, but when I tried with just the 4228 I did not have it set to combined. I've watched an entire day of nascar and NFL and so far have had great results.

When I said "combined" I meant set for vhf and UHF from a single antenna.
Since all the transmitters are in the same location, your different directions for the stations do not seem to make a lot of sense. Everything should be on the same heading from you (around 125 degrees or so)..
Do you have any obstructions in the attic that could be blocking the UHF signals?

Yeah I live in Saginaw, if you want to stop by and pick it up just let me know.

Definitely buy a compass because I was amazed at how direction turned I got once I was in my attic. I watched it all day yesterday and so far so good....I'll know more by the end of the week.
Cool, I'm not far Saginaw at all. In fact, I live between it and Lake Worth. Good to hear you're having good success w/ it so far.

One question I did have was why are you using the 7777 w/ 4228 as your VHF antenna and the Radio Shack one as a UHF one? Couldn't you use the 4228 as UHF and get a VHF specific antenna to get ABC? And then use the 7777 to combine and amplify them? :confused:

When I said "combined" I meant set for vhf and UHF from a single antenna.
Since all the transmitters are in the same location, your different directions for the stations do not seem to make a lot of sense. Everything should be on the same heading from you (around 125 degrees or so)..
Do you have any obstructions in the attic that could be blocking the UHF signals?
I was also surprised by that; Antenna Web tells me I'm facing 120-123 deg. to the transmitters (at least the important ones, i.e. the ones in Cedar Hill). I just need to invest in a compass to better approximate it rather than using the sun as a gauge. :D

Remarkably. FOX and NBC (the 2 stations I'm watching a lot) both have signal strength of 9-10 out of 10 using my ballpark estimation from over 30 mi. away. CBS is also strong, probably 9. ABC is the only one that stinks (VHF).

When I said "combined" I meant set for vhf and UHF from a single antenna.
Since all the transmitters are in the same location, your different directions for the stations do not seem to make a lot of sense. Everything should be on the same heading from you (around 125 degrees or so)..
Do you have any obstructions in the attic that could be blocking the UHF signals?

Antennaweb says 124 degrees for me for all of the main networks....but when I aim it there the only one I get reliably is WFAA. The others I need to be aiming it more toward 100 degrees.

I don't see any obstructions....besides the pitch of the roof. It's on the southeast side of the attic so it's not going through my furnace or anything. Seemed weird to me too.

Cool, I'm not far Saginaw at all. In fact, I live between it and Lake Worth. Good to hear you're having good success w/ it so far.

One question I did have was why are you using the 7777 w/ 4228 as your VHF antenna and the Radio Shack one as a UHF one? Couldn't you use the 4228 as UHF and get a VHF specific antenna to get ABC? And then use the 7777 to combine and amplify them? :confused:

I probably should have gotten a VHF specific antenna. To be honest I glanced through Ratshack's website and didn't see any. They're probably there and I just missed them. But I knew that WFAA was coming in just fine with the CM antenna so I just figured it would be just as easy to buy a UHF antenna for the other channels.


Just shoot me a PM if you're interested in stopping by for the amp sometime this week.

Antennaweb says 124 degrees for me for all of the main networks....but when I aim it there the only one I get reliably is WFAA. The others I need to be aiming it more toward 100 degrees.

I don't see any obstructions....besides the pitch of the roof. It's on the southeast side of the attic so it's not going through my furnace or anything. Seemed weird to me too.

Are the Saginaw mountains (grain silos) between you and cedar hill? If so, they could definitely be a factor.

Are the Saginaw mountains (grain silos) between you and cedar hill? If so, they could definitely be a factor.


Well, I'm basically due west of them. That's a good point though, they could be affecting the signal. Never heard of them as the Saginaw Mountains though...nice.

Who knows, I'm just happy it seems to be working fine now. Thanks for all the help guys...will let you know if something changes.

I probably should have gotten a VHF specific antenna. To be honest I glanced through Ratshack's website and didn't see any. They're probably there and I just missed them. But I knew that WFAA was coming in just fine with the CM antenna so I just figured it would be just as easy to buy a UHF antenna for the other channels.


Just shoot me a PM if you're interested in stopping by for the amp sometime this week.

Thanks, I'll PM you when I'm ready to try out that amp. I might be able to come on Sun., but I'll PM you once I know my schedule better.

LOL @ Saginaw Mountains, FTWMike. Those silos by the railroad tracks are an eyesore. :( Luckily, they're not in my way between my house and Cedar Hill. :)

Thanks, I'll PM you when I'm ready to try out that amp. I might be able to come on Sun., but I'll PM you once I know my schedule better.

LOL @ Saginaw Mountains, FTWMike. Those silos by the railroad tracks are an eyesore. :( Luckily, they're not in my way between my house and Cedar Hill. :)

No biggie, I think I'll be home all weekend but if not I'll leave it by the door or something.

I tried searching this thread for an answer, so I'm sorry if this has been discussed previously. How do the MPEG 4 HD locals look for y'all on D*? Thanks in advance for any info!

Fox is probably the best, with ABC a close 2nd. NBC can be ok to great. CBS is very nice.

Does anyone use a Samsung SIR-T451 for TW's QAM channels?

No biggie, I think I'll be home all weekend but if not I'll leave it by the door or something.

Sounds good. I'll PM you my ph. # and if you could the same, that'd be great. Thanks.

Attic mount & direction to the stations.

Way back (decades) ago when I first put a 'real' antenna in my low headroom attic most of the stations came in gr8 when aimed at Cedar Hill. But ch 4 did not - mostly snow & noise. I had to turn the antenna almost 60 degrees to the right to get a strong clear signal on 4. Of course then the other chs did not have a decent signal.

Many things can act as directors & reflectors in the attic. House wiring, metal vent pipes & duct work, etc.

I got a small discarded antenna frm a nabr & pointed it off to the right to get 4. I connected the two antennas together, one aimed at Cedar Hill the other way off to the right to get ch 4.

*added tv & radio stations - bottom of this page:
http://www.city-data.com/city/Cedar-Hill-Texas.html

Explain me this, I have a roof mounted smallish Rat-Shack (rake) antenna. I think it is only rated for like 25 or 30 miles. It points due south to roughly a little southwest from McKinney. I haven't moved it recently and it doesn't look like the wind has moved it either. In the past I have been able to get all the Dallas locals at one time or another. About a month ago I put on a 10db gain in-line amp and immediately WFAA (8/9.1) drop out (I couldn't pick it up). I then changed to a 45db amp and KERA (13/14.1) drops out. Now for some reason no matter, which amp I use or whether I go without amps at all I can no longer get KERA. The analog signal is good and strong. In fact it is the strongest analog signal that I have all other analog signals have lots of noise but KERA analog is fairly watchable. But everytime I try to tune to either 13.1 or 14.1 I get a weak/no signal indicator. All other HD and digital SD stations are coming in pretty well. Signal strengths in the upper 60s and lower 70s. But KERA HD is a no show. What could be wrong? Why can I get the analog just fine but not the digital. I have performed several full channel scans but each time KERA HD is excluded. TV is an RCA HD52W140 with built in ATSC. TV instructions say to toggle digital TV info acquisition to try and clear the problem. Have done so numerous times with no effect. Any other advice? Is KERA having problems?

I, too, am having problems receiving KERA HD. It shows a signal strength of 34-60, with lots of dropouts. This is an abrupt change. Does anyone have insight into what may be going on with this signal?

KERA must have some new hardware. They've had a lot of pblms the past week or two. They seemed gr8 from when I started watching 9/1/07 but lately.. wow http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v170/xx5xx/wow.gif

For the past several days at least they're again in full HiDef.

I did notice some drop outs last nite. Didn't chk the sig level, I'll do that now.. dang instead of sig strength meter I hit auto search.. waiting.. It's 67 to 69 this morn. Also bck to the tiny bit of the bar at the top w/ changing blk&white pixels. Hope they get it all bck to a good as it was last month!

Anyone here been having problems with their HD channels on TWC lately? All the HD channels are basically unwatchable as the sound cuts out every few seconds and the picture starts to macroblock. This only started happening this week. Gonna call TWC here in a few to report it.

All fixed. Apparently, there was something wrong with the line coming into our apartment complex. TWC had about 20 calls on the issue and a tech was out yesterday to fix it. Apparently, the amplifier was jacked up really high to about 33 dB or something. It was causing the HD channels to be crap and the internet to be about the speed of dial up.

Can anyone confirm that TNT HD is gone from QAM? I'm not getting it on scan anymore. It looks like I'm getting HDNET now though.

Can anyone confirm that TNT HD is gone from QAM? I'm not getting it on scan anymore. It looks like I'm getting HDNET now though.

+1 on both counts, noticed that a few days ago. Wonder how long it will stay like that? If I had known I would have checked out the shuttle launch.

I had some problem on getting 13 (KERA) and 27 (KDFI) on the OTA for the last few days and it seems to have corrected y'day. I was getting it fine y'day. I did not do any adjustments.

I took a closer look at all the OTA channels I got. There must be at least 2 dozen digital channels I get (for free)! Granted, most of them are weather, Spanish, or religion channels. :( In cases where I get both analog and digital, I deleted the analog counterpart from my TV's channel setup.

I obviously didn't do this with ABC since 8-1 rarely works for me, but its analog version, 8, works pretty decent. There's also another channel, I think 21, where 21-1 had some weird and annoying audio artifacts (sounded like a high-freq. beep every so often), so I kept it as well since its picture wasn't bad.

When I'm not using Dish SD (which is becoming more often the case), I'm mainly watching CBS, FOX, and NBC in HD. :cool:

Is TXA 21.1 not active anymore? I hooked up just a set of rabbit ears(they are more advanced though, with a knob that does something and a flat panel that stands upright along with the regular antenna, not sure what it is called), I got all of the other additional channels but couldn't get 21.1 to come up. 21.1 is the only channel I even want

Is TXA 21.1 not active anymore? I hooked up just a set of rabbit ears(they are more advanced though, with a knob that does something and a flat panel that stands upright along with the regular antenna, not sure what it is called), I got all of the other additional channels but couldn't get 21.1 to come up. 21.1 is the only channel I even want

I'm pegging 98% on 21.1

I'm pegging 98% on 21.1

Guess I just need to finally get up in my attic and hook up my really big antenna, thanks for the help

Anyone know why I don't get any sound on Mojo on Time Warner with a QAM tuner?

Anyone know why I don't get any sound on Mojo on Time Warner with a QAM tuner?

Yes. It is part of the HD Tier. You must subscribe to the HD Tier and you need a cablecard or a box from TWC to get it.

Bernie

Can someone post the TWC Unencrypted/Qam lineup please? I seem to not be able to get any channels anymore. 75228 area. Im missing things like fox, nbc cbs etc.

Can someone post the TWC Unencrypted/Qam lineup please? I seem to not be able to get any channels anymore. 75228 area. Im missing things like fox, nbc cbs etc.


new qam listings

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

Qam listings dallas 1ghz cable plant/750mhz cable plant (pre dual line areas only)
78.2 jewelry tv
78.7 cspan 3 (maps to 78.10)
79.1 vod preview
79.9 shop nbc
79.11 new channel (but encrypted)
80.4 metro sports
80.5 - 80.51 music choice
80.104 music choice
82.8 lifetime real women
83-86 vod (unencrypted)
92.1 nba preview
92.2 -92.10 nba leauge pass (only in preview mode this week)
101.1 history channel espanol (no sound)
101.6 we
104.8 or 104.9 fox business channel
105.5 vh1 soul
106.3 hd theater
107.1 ktvt hd
107.3 ktxa hd
108.1 kera hd
108.2 wfaa hd
108.3 kdaf hd
109.11 boomerang (no sound)
110.1 kdfw hd
110.2 kxas hd
110.3 xpress 8.2
110.4 nbc weather plus
112.1 mojo (no sound)
112.3 hdnet (note: might get encrypted soon)
113.1 kdfw sd
113.2 kxas sd
113.3 wfaa sd
113.4 ktvt sd
113.5 kdtn sd (not mapped to cable box)
113.6 kera sd
113.7 ktxa sd
113.8 kdaf sd
114.1 tbn
114.2 ion
114.3 ewtn
114.4 txcn
114.5 kuvn (univision)
114.6 qvc
114.7 cspan
114.8 cspan 2
114.9 disney
114.10 hsn
114.11 abc family (not mapped to cable box)
115.2 kdfi hd

this is for dallas area rebuilds only or outlying areas single line.

have fun with it
also no more tnt hd on 107.2

I'm moving from McKinney, where I currently tune my HD from TW QAM, out to Melissa where the cable offerings are pitiful. There will be an antenna in my future. My address is 53 miles from the towers according to antennaweb. I have had a hard time finding the range on the well regarded CM4228. Will it work that far out, or will I need to go with something bigger, and if so what. Thanks for your input.

Anyone able to get the Mavs HD broadcast on Dish Network? They have the game listed... but when you select it, it just shows the DishHD Slate.

Anyone else having problems getting 13.1, 33.1 and 33.2 OTA?

I get the analog 13 and 33 but nothing else. 33.2 was a good music channel called the Tube. Hope it hasn't gone away.

...33.2 was a good music channel called the Tube. Hope it hasn't gone away.

The Tube has been gone since October 1. (http://www.thetubetv.com/)

that figures. That channel reminded me of MYV when it first came out.

I'm moving from McKinney, where I currently tune my HD from TW QAM, out to Melissa where the cable offerings are pitiful. There will be an antenna in my future. My address is 53 miles from the towers according to antennaweb. I have had a hard time finding the range on the well regarded CM4228. Will it work that far out, or will I need to go with something bigger, and if so what. Thanks for your input.

Without doing something really extreme (stacking multiple UHF antennas etc) your best bet is to go with the best UHF antenna you can find - that means either the CM4228 or the Antennas Direct 91XG - coupled through a CM7777 preamp with a VHF-hi antenna like the YA1713, for WFAA-DT, and for KTVT-DT after it moves back to VHF-hi in 2009. The 91XG might be the better choice just because it has less wind loading and you will have two antennas on the same mast. For performance there is probably nothing to choose between them. The CM4228 has some VHF-hi capability but probably not at 53 miles. You could try a CM4228/CM7777 combination to see if you can get WFAA with decent signal strength but it is unlikely.
This two-antenna setup will give you better performance than any combination VHF/UHF antenna, assuming you are only interested in digital stations. .

Kevin,
dumb question from an uninformed.
What exactly do you do with this data? I have two Samsung HD TV's with NTSC/ATSC tuners and a large Channel Master for my OTA reception. DirecTV SD for all others. I'm only 30 miles from Cedar Hill with straight LOS to the antenna farm. All I have done is let the TV autoprogram. It does ask the question of whether I want QAM or not. I always select yes. Shoulld I be doing somehting further?

Kevin,
dumb question from an uninformed.
What exactly do you do with this data? I have two Samsung HD TV's with NTSC/ATSC tuners and a large Channel Master for my OTA reception. DirecTV SD for all others. I'm only 30 miles from Cedar Hill with straight LOS to the antenna farm. All I have done is let the TV autoprogram. It does ask the question of whether I want QAM or not. I always select yes. Shoulld I be doing somehting further?

I Believe Direct TV encrypts all channels, you need a STB to receive anything HD.

Question for those with DirecTV....do they offer CW in HD or is an OTA antenna needed? Thanks

33.2 was back last nite & today also.

Question for those with DirecTV....do they offer CW in HD or is an OTA antenna needed? Thanks

Still OTA for CW Hd.

Anyone else lose 27.1? It dropped out for me a week or two ago. I have tried rescanning and even trying to add the channel manually but it appears to be gone. No issue with any other digital channels. 27.1 has dropped off a few times for me but would always come back in a day or two with a new scan.

Thanks in advance.

when that happens, you can normally find it at 36.1

Has the signal weakened for NBC (5.1)? I used to be at signal strength 9 (out of 10). Now it's showing 7-8 with occasional drop outs in audio. FOX and CBS are still consistently at strength 9.

I can't remember the last time I watched SD (via Dish) on my big TV. HD has spoiled me! :o

Anyone in Denton on Charter having issues with analog shutoff?

Kevin,
dumb question from an uninformed.
What exactly do you do with this data? I have two Samsung HD TV's with NTSC/ATSC tuners and a large Channel Master for my OTA reception. DirecTV SD for all others. I'm only 30 miles from Cedar Hill with straight LOS to the antenna farm. All I have done is let the TV autoprogram. It does ask the question of whether I want QAM or not. I always select yes. Shoulld I be doing somehting further?

QAM is the digital used by cable. If you are OTA then no need to do a QAM search.
JohnnyS

Has the signal weakened for NBC (5.1)? I used to be at signal strength 9 (out of 10). Now it's showing 7-8 with occasional drop outs in audio. FOX and CBS are still consistently at strength 9.

I can't remember the last time I watched SD (via Dish) on my big TV. HD has spoiled me! :o

I've been having spotty coverage of NBC5 as well. Good thing the Cowboys are done playing Sunday night football games...

I've been having spotty coverage of NBC5 as well. Good thing the Cowboys are done playing Sunday night football games...

That's the great thing about the Dish 622. If my OTA signal messes up, I can switch to Dish HD locals, and their pic quality is excellent on my
55" Mits. So seamless!

Tom in TX

Anybody know if the Cowboys/Packers (Nov 29) and Cowboys/Panthers (Dec 22) games will be broadcast locally in HD?

The local station will be KDFI.

I have Time Warner Cable and there seems to be a KDFI HD channel.

Thanks.

That's the great thing about the Dish 622. If my OTA signal messes up, I can switch to Dish HD locals, and their pic quality is excellent on my
55" Mits. So seamless!

Tom in TX

Tom, I completely agree with you on the 622... Its nice having that Satellite back. However, my 942 and my office TV both work off of OTA so its mildly annoying when NBC5 goes pixelated / won't lock for me.

Is anyone else having an issue with the information coming from channel 5. I dont think they set their time back. All of the other channels show program information, Ch5 is one show off. Who can we email to let them know about the mistake. This is digital OTA BTW.

Is anyone else having an issue with the information coming from channel 5. I dont think they set their time back. All of the other channels show program information, Ch5 is one show off. Who can we email to let them know about the mistake. This is digital OTA BTW.

Try this email: engineering@nbc5i.com

That's the great thing about the Dish 622. If my OTA signal messes up, I can switch to Dish HD locals, and their pic quality is excellent on my
55" Mits. So seamless!

Tom in TX

That is very convenient to have that seamlessness. When OTA is working for you, does its HD picture and sound quality seem noticeably better than Dish HD?

While I don't get ABC HD b/c it's VHF, the SD (analog) version through the antenna comes in OK. It's not as "good" as Dish SD, but still (somewhat) watchable.

...When OTA is working for you, does its HD picture and sound quality seem noticeably better than Dish HD?...

I know the question wasn't directed at me, but I cannot tell the difference between Dish HD LiL and OTA. (This is using HDMI and a 1080p 61" DLP).

That is very convenient to have that seamlessness. When OTA is working for you, does its HD picture and sound quality seem noticeably better than Dish HD?

While I don't get ABC HD b/c it's VHF, the SD (analog) version through the antenna comes in OK. It's not as "good" as Dish SD, but still (somewhat) watchable.

I honestly, cannot tell the difference between OTA HD locals, and Dish HD locals. And you should be able to get ABC with your CM 4228. I know I do!
Tom in TX

Is anyone else having an issue with the information coming from channel 5. I dont think they set their time back. All of the other channels show program information, Ch5 is one show off. Who can we email to let them know about the mistake. This is digital OTA BTW.Last nite ch 5 was showing 5:15 at 6:15 & ch 27 was 7:15! :p

Anyone in Denton on Charter having issues with analog shutoff?

I've been waiting to reply until my situation stabilized (which will make sense shortly). Rest assured that a lot of folks here in town have been all over the map regarding this digital transition. I've posted multiple times previously in this thread (you can do a search, if you're feeling masochistic) regarding my HDTV travails with Charter. It looks like I'm finally just about settled.

The original announcement for the "100% Digital system" talked about a rollout in "stages", which I took to mean that Charter would first convert the entire city's Expanded Basic to Digital, then add more channels to the Digital lineup, then finally add the HD channels. In fact, they were running two entirely parallel systems for around a month: the old/original Analog system, and the new Digital system with everything already in place. The "stages" they were talking about turned out to be making this switch in specific parts of the city on certain days - some folks in my office got switched on one day, and others got switched the next day or week, depending on where they lived.

On Friday, October 26, my service was switched from the Analog system to the new Digital system (but my DVR didn't get the new lineup until Saturday). So I had the new system - until Monday, October 29, when Charter switched me *back* to the Analog system! I had to go into the local office, where at first they didn't believe me ("Are you sure you got switched back?"). They finally tracked down someone who figured out that I had been accidentally included in a test group that was turned on for three days, so they re-programmed my DVR back to the Analog system until my "official" switch to the Digital system - on Thursday, November 8.

So I'm finally all 100% up-to-date, and seem to have everything I should. Here's the lineup info and QAM details that I can extract.

>>Denton, TX - Charter Top-Level HD Lineup<<
HDNet 770
HDNet Movies 771
ESPN 2 HD 772
ESPN HD 773
Fox Sports Net SW HD 774**
Discovery HD Theater 775
Cinemax HD East 776
HBO HD East 777
Showtime HD East 778
KXAS-DT (NBC-HD) 780
KTVT-DT (CBS-HD) 781
KDAF-DT (CW-HD) 782
KTXA-DT (27-HD) 783
KDFW-DT (FOX-HD) 784
KERA-DT (PBS-HD) 785
Starz HD 790
TMC HD 791
TNT HD 792
NBC Universal HD 793
PPV HD 794
Mojo 795
MHD 799

** FSN SW HD is active in the HD View package, but the channel only
has color bars as of November 12. I've reported this, but we'll see
how long it takes for anything to happen.

>>Denton, TX - Charter Open QAM (from my TV's tuner)<<
NBC Weather Plus 37.104
KXAS-DT (NBC-HD) 51.124
KTVT-DT (CBS-HD) 52.125
KDAF-DT (CW-HD) 52.126
KTXA-DT (27-HD) 55.127
KDFW-DT (FOX-HD) 55.128
KERA-DT (PBS-HD) 56.129

The following channels are currently Open, but may go away at some point:
TNT-HD 57.132
Hallmark 61.4
ShopNBC 61.5
MusicChoice 61.9-61.54
Fox Sports Atlantic 65.3
National Geographic Channel 65.7
Lifetime Movie Channel 71.12
Latele Novela 72.15
MusicChoice [add'l] 73.21-73.25

I've had two instances where my HDTV's Digital-Cable-Ready QAM Tuner would all of a sudden report "Not Authorized" on one of the local HD channels, after switching back and forth several times. I don't know if that's an indication of a problem with my tuner, or a possible authorization quirk with the Denton Charter system. One extra note: there's an analog channel (79) that shows a Cable TV Analyzer. I don't know exactly what it's doing, but it's interesting.

I've been waiting to reply until my situation stabilized (which will make sense shortly). Rest assured that a lot of folks here in town have been all over the map regarding this digital transition. I've posted multiple times previously in this thread (you can do a search, if you're feeling masochistic) regarding my HDTV travails with Charter. It looks like I'm finally just about settled.

The original announcement for the "100% Digital system" talked about a rollout in "stages", which I took to mean that Charter would first convert the entire city's Expanded Basic to Digital, then add more channels to the Digital lineup, then finally add the HD channels. In fact, they were running two entirely parallel systems for around a month: the old/original Analog system, and the new Digital system with everything already in place. The "stages" they were talking about turned out to be making this switch in specific parts of the city on certain days - some folks in my office got switched on one day, and others got switched the next day or week, depending on where they lived.

On Friday, October 26, my service was switched from the Analog system to the new Digital system (but my DVR didn't get the new lineup until Saturday). So I had the new system - until Monday, October 29, when Charter switched me *back* to the Analog system! I had to go into the local office, where at first they didn't believe me ("Are you sure you got switched back?"). They finally tracked down someone who figured out that I had been accidentally included in a test group that was turned on for three days, so they re-programmed my DVR back to the Analog system until my "official" switch to the Digital system - on Thursday, November 8.

So I'm finally all 100% up-to-date, and seem to have everything I should. Here's the lineup info and QAM details that I can extract.

[Lineup List]

I've had two instances where my HDTV's Digital-Cable-Ready QAM Tuner would all of a sudden report "Not Authorized" on one of the local HD channels, after switching back and forth several times. I don't know if that's an indication of a problem with my tuner, or a possible authorization quirk with the Denton Charter system. One extra note: there's an analog channel (79) that shows a Cable TV Analyzer. I don't know exactly what it's doing, but it's interesting.
Thanks, I wasn't sure what exactly was going on, a lot of my friends were confused about the missing channels went. What weird is that a lot of these apartments have contracts with charter to provide basic cable with the rent , now it seems they must sign up for regular priced service and rent/purchase a STB.

I am still having an issue with KERA DT, 13.1. (Broadcast on channel 14?) I have 2 Dish DVRs which share an OTA CM 4228 through a signal splitter: my 622 gets this channel at signal of 60, which works, but my 924 gets signal of only 30, which will not connect. Almost all the other OTA channels come it at 100.

Is there a problem with KERA-DT? Or is it in my equipment? Since PBS is not carried by Dish, OTA is my only source.

I am still having an issue with KERA DT, 13.1. (Broadcast on channel 14?) I have 2 Dish DVRs which share an OTA CM 4228 through a signal splitter: my 622 gets this channel at signal of 60, which works, but my 924 gets signal of only 30, which will not connect. Almost all the other OTA channels come it at 100.

Is there a problem with KERA-DT? Or is it in my equipment? Since PBS is not carried by Dish, OTA is my only source.
I get a reading of 66-68 for 13.1 with no splitters from my location and an outside antenna.

Dish channel 8406 carries KERA.

I've been getting a lot of pixelation from KERA the past few weeks. I recevie OTA in far North Dallas

Thanks, I wasn't sure what exactly was going on, a lot of my friends were confused about the missing channels went. What weird is that a lot of these apartments have contracts with charter to provide basic cable with the rent , now it seems they must sign up for regular priced service and rent/purchase a STB.

For folks who live in apartment complexes or have leases in houses/condos where "bulk" Extended Basic service was purchased for the residents, the owners/managers of those units/buildings need to get in touch with Charter-Denton. They will arrange for the service to be individually extended to the residents/renters, who will then go in to the local Charter office in Denton to get a digital box.

They should only be out the monthly rental cost for the box, not any programming fees (unless they add on any digital packages on top of the Extended Basic service). There are several folks in my office in this exact situation, and their owners & managers had to get "caught up" since Charter had not been communicating with their "bulk" customers. If Charter tries to bill your friends for Basic and/or Extended Basic, have them talk with their apartment manager and get them to contact Charter.

I finally bit the bullet and got a Visio GV42LF on Sunday, and I've been playing with it ever since. I have Dish Network, and tried to get the HD upgrade, but canceled it after going through hell with them. They couldn't even tell me what stations were in HD, charged my card $169 but said their records said $119, and a few other problems that I won't even go into now.

For grins, I hooked up the rabbit ears from another tv to see what I could get OTA, and what a surprise! I was able to get about half the stations in Dallas on the first try. I finally found a spot where I was able to get most of them.

I should mention that I'm located off of US 380 halfway between Denton and Decatur, about 52 miles from Cedar Hill. I also sit at 850ft amsl, so I'm pretty high with no trees around to block the signal. I'm even picking up all 3 Ch 12 DTV channels in Sherman, 62 miles away!

I read the reviews about Radio Shack's small DA-5200 ampified antenna, so I got one and hooked it up. I now get every DTV station in DFW except WFAA (Channel 8). It's not a bad analog picture. Far better than some of the other analog versions of other stations, but I can't pickup the digital no matter what I do.

I noticed on antennaweb.org that WFAA Digital is the only station in the area that is doing digital on VHF (Channel 9). Everyone else is UHF.

Is WFAA-HD actually on the air right now? I hate to mess with a bunch of stuff only to find out they're having technical problems at the moment. Any other ideas or suggestions would be good too. I can't wait to tell Dish to stuff their local channels up their rectifier. :cool:

TIA, Jeff in the Greater Krum Metro area

I just checked and I'm getting them OTA right now.

Thanks. I did some more searching in this thread and found where others are having problems with WFAA-DT also. Probably because it's on VHF. Just wanted to make sure before I started mounting poles, routing cables and everything. I'm getting everything except 8 and (sometimes) 27 with it just sitting on the shelf indoors.

Jeff

I am still having an issue with KERA DT, 13.1. (Broadcast on channel 14?) I have 2 Dish DVRs which share an OTA CM 4228 through a signal splitter: my 622 gets this channel at signal of 60, which works, but my 924 gets signal of only 30, which will not connect. Almost all the other OTA channels come it at 100.

Is there a problem with KERA-DT? Or is it in my equipment? Since PBS is not carried by Dish, OTA is my only source.

Channel 8 & 13 are the most commonly difficult signals to pick up. It seems that if you get one of them well, the other has problems. You may need to boost your OTA antenna signal. I pickup my boosted OTA 13 on my TV tunner, but the 622 tuner won't hold it (I'm talking HD not SD).

Watched the Mavericks last night on Fox Sports Net Southwest, channel 774 (Charter Hi-Def Lifeline) for about 45 minutes and then the signal stopped. I switched over to MOJO, channel 797 (Charter - Hi-Def View) to watch the Spurs. Same deal - no signal. Are these games blacked out for local viewing? It's odd that they were on for awhile and then went off.

I am in Plano (Custer/Mcdermott), am trying a hand at OTA.
I bought the TERK HDTVA antenna and am only getting a couple of channels and that too are not clear at all..
Do i need a better/bigger/external antenna instead to pull the HD locals?
See below of what channels I could possibly get (from antennaweb).
What am i doing wrong?
I have tried moving the antenna every which way, no luck....

KG

yellow - uhf KUVN-DT 23.1 UNI GARLAND TX 195° 38.2 24
yellow - uhf KERA-DT 13.1 PBS DALLAS TX 194° 38.6 14
yellow - uhf KXAS-DT 5.1 NBC FORT WORTH 195° 38.4 41
yellow - uhf KXTX-DT 40.1 TEL DALLAS TX 195° 38.4 40
yellow - uhf KTVT-DT 11.1 CBS FORT WORTH 194° 38.6 19
yellow - uhf KTXA-DT 21.1 IND FORT WORTH 193° 41.0 18
yellow - uhf KFWD-DT 52.1 IND FORT WORTH 195° 38.2 51
yellow - uhf KDAF-DT 33.1 CW DALLAS TX 193° 41.0 32
yellow - uhf KDTN-DT 2.1 DAY DENTON TX 193° 41.0 43
green - uhf KSTR-DT 49.1 UNI IRVING TX 193° 41.0 48
red - vhf WFAA-DT 8.1 ABC DALLAS TX 196° 38.6 9
blue - uhf KDFI-DT 27.1 MNT DALLAS TX 193° 41.0 36
blue - uhf KMPX-DT 30.1 DAY DECATUR TX 208° 19.4 30
blue - uhf KPXD-DT 68.1 ION ARLINGTON 196° 38.2 42
violet - uhf KXII-DT 12.1 CBS SHERMAN TX 352° 64.0 20
violet - uhf KLDT-DT 55.1 IND LAKE DALLAS 238° 15.7 54

I'm even picking up all 3 Ch 12 DTV channels in Sherman, 62 miles away!

How does their multicast HD look? I'm guessing that the pixillation and break up should be pretty bad on the CBS and Fox HD that they offer, but I've never had the chance to see it for myself.

I am in Plano (Custer/Mcdermott), am trying a hand at OTA.
I bought the TERK HDTVA antenna and am only getting a couple of channels and that too are not clear at all..
Do i need a better/bigger/external antenna instead to pull the HD locals?
See below of what channels I could possibly get (from antennaweb).
What am i doing wrong?
I have tried moving the antenna every which way, no luck....


The biggest issue for you may be antenna height. I'm not too far from you (Parker & Alma in Plano), and am able to get most of the local DTV channels on an Insignia portable TV with an old Radio Shack 2-bay bowtie connected to it. The only stations that doesn't pull in are WFAA-DT and KLDT-DT. But it's also on the second floor of a 2-story home.

an outdoor antenna mounted on the chimney of my house works nicely and brings in all the channels on both a five year old Toshiba digital box and a Sony HDTV that is less than two years old.

Assuming that you're in a house, a decent outdoor antenna from Radio Shack, mounted in the attic, is likely to be sufficient. If you're in an apartment, you may need to experiment with placement of your indoor antenna. If you're in an apartment on the first floor and your apartment faces north or east, you just may not be able to receive much.

How does their multicast HD look? I'm guessing that the pixillation and break up should be pretty bad on the CBS and Fox HD that they offer, but I've never had the chance to see it for myself.

All three look pretty darn good to me. I work evenings, so I miss all the really good wide-screen hdtv. No pixelation if I aim my antenna right. I have it sitting inside, on a shelf, at about 100-120 degrees now, and I'm getting Sherman and Dallas/Fort Worth, a total of 29 digital stations, (all except for 8, 30, 40 and 55) and they are all artifact free.

My set shows the transmission type, and I'm not sure if that changes from show to show or not, but right now, at 1:30am, it's showing:
12-1 (CBS)1080i HD (Crosswords)
12-2 (MYTV) 480i SD (Living Single)
12-3 (Fox) 720p HD. (Two and a half Men)

I am in Plano (Custer/Mcdermott), am trying a hand at OTA.
I bought the TERK HDTVA antenna and am only getting a couple of channels and that too are not clear at all..
Do i need a better/bigger/external antenna instead to pull the HD locals?
See below of what channels I could possibly get (from antennaweb).
What am i doing wrong?
I have tried moving the antenna every which way, no luck....


I live in the same area as you do. I am able to get everything except WFAA (Ch8) using my RCA antenna (although ch 13 and 27 have some issues once in a while) - see my earlier posts for more details about the antenna. I have it in the room (not attic). Other users have mentioned better luck with the CM4228 in the attic. I had tried the TERK and did not get more than a couple of channels and had to return it.

http://images1.hdpi.com/product_enlarged/philipsMANT902.jpg

My old attic ant looks like this one only with less elements & works very well.

edit: I'm in East Garland almost into Rowlett.

http://images1.hdpi.com/product_enlarged/philipsMANT902.jpg

My old attic ant looks like this one only with less elements & works very well.

edit: I'm in East Garland almost into Rowlett.

I live in the same area and I can pick up everything with a Terk HDTVi.

http://s7d1.scene7.com/is/image/vanns/750885119?$medium_item$

Can anyone reccomend a good Satelite or Cable package for someone living in Fort Worth near TCU? I am not looking for anything really expensive. Should I also pick up an antenna to pick up OTA?

Any and all advice is appreciated.

Can anyone reccomend a good Satelite or Cable package for someone living in Fort Worth near TCU? I am not looking for anything really expensive. Should I also pick up an antenna to pick up OTA?

Any and all advice is appreciated.

I, personally, reccommend the Dish Network HD DVR (622/722). It allows you to integrate yopur OTA signal into your receiver, to allow recording up to three shows at once. I've had mine (two of them), for quite awhile, and have really been pleased.

Tom in TX

Please tell me if this is the wrong area to post guys. I recieve OTA from an old, big on the roof antenna. Currently I have a SDTV. I'm getting an HDTV on Black Friday. I was at CC this past sunday and this guy said that I need fiber optic cable from my antenna to get HD? I've never heard of this before. Thanks for the help guys. Oh, I live in Grand Prairie by six flags

Please tell me if this is the wrong area to post guys. I recieve OTA from an old, big on the roof antenna. Currently I have a SDTV. I'm getting an HDTV on Black Friday. I was at CC this past sunday and this guy said that I need fiber optic cable from my antenna to get HD? I've never heard of this before. Thanks for the help guys. Oh, I live in Grand Prairie by six flags

Uh, no. Standard RG6 is the norm.

That's a new one for me. Never heard of an outside antenna with fiber optic connections!

Please tell me if this is the wrong area to post guys. I recieve OTA from an old, big on the roof antenna. Currently I have a SDTV. I'm getting an HDTV on Black Friday. I was at CC this past sunday and this guy said that I need fiber optic cable from my antenna to get HD? I've never heard of this before. Thanks for the help guys. Oh, I live in Grand Prairie by six flags

Let me guess...he was willing to sell you the fiber optic cable? It's nonsense. If your regular old antenna can pick up SD broadcasts, it will work just fine for OTA HDTV too.

Jeff in Texas

I'm still using the old 300ohm flat twin lead on my antenna.

Thaks guys! I was a little confused. But I definately was not going to buy ANYTHING without checking it out. Thanks again.

:D:Dtime warner cable is now digital simulcasting on channels below 100:D:D

2 kdtn 729 mhz
12 ktxa 729 mhz
13 kera 729 mhz
17 kdtx 735 mhz
23 kuvn 735 mhz
26 ion 735 mhz

go into the diagnostics menu by turning the power of the the hitting ok within two seconds

and scroll down to d06 current channel status hit ok and there is the info.:D:D

Can anyone confirm that TNT HD is gone from QAM? I'm not getting it on scan anymore. It looks like I'm getting HDNET now though.

And now HDNET is gone for me too, think it happened in the last week or two?

Is WFAA-HD actually on the air right now? I hate to mess with a bunch of stuff only to find out they're having technical problems at the moment. Any other ideas or suggestions would be good too. I can't wait to tell Dish to stuff their local channels up their rectifier. :cool:

TIA, Jeff in the Greater Krum Metro area

WFAA-DT is my strongest signal in Plano.....so they are on the air.

Watched the Mavericks last night on Fox Sports Net Southwest, channel 774 (Charter Hi-Def Lifeline) for about 45 minutes and then the signal stopped. I switched over to MOJO, channel 797 (Charter - Hi-Def View) to watch the Spurs. Same deal - no signal. Are these games blacked out for local viewing? It's odd that they were on for awhile and then went off.

I believe that the Mojo broadcast will be blacked out if the game is being carried by FSN-SW. I can't help you with what might be happening specifically with FSN-SW-HD, as they *still* haven't turned it on here in Denton (all we get are color bars).

And now HDNET is gone for me too, think it happened in the last week or two?

Happened a few days ago here.

its on channel 796 next hdnet and its on 741mhz encrypted

Hey, we got a new channel!! Everytime TWC sends me the monthly news email, I reply with a request for more HD chnls. Keep asking folks. Maybe we're being heard.

Originally Posted by K5ING

Is WFAA-HD actually on the air right now? I hate to mess with a bunch of stuff only to find out they're having technical problems at the moment. Any other ideas or suggestions would be good too. I can't wait to tell Dish to stuff their local channels up their rectifier.



WFAA-DT is my strongest signal in Plano.....so they are on the air.

WFAA is a very low power DTV station, broadcasting with a power of only 18.6 kW, where everyone else is using from 200 kW to 1000 kW of power. I've been exchanging emails with Walt Zwirko, WFAA's tech guy, and he told me it's because of another station in central Texas that also uses Ch. 9, and they can't interfere with each other. When analog goes away, WFAA will move back down to Ch. 8 for their DTV and increase their signal strength to where it should be.

Jeff in Krum

WFAA is a very low power DTV station, broadcasting with a power of only 18.6 kW, where everyone else is using from 200 kW to 1000 kW of power. I've been exchanging emails with Walt Zwirko, WFAA's tech guy, and he told me it's because of another station in central Texas that also uses Ch. 9, and they can't interfere with each other. When analog goes away, WFAA will move back down to Ch. 8 for their DTV and increase their signal strength to where it should be.

Jeff in Krum

WFAA's power levels will always be lower than everone else's because they are VHF. VHF wavelengths are longer than UHF wavelengths so less power is needed. So, WFAA's electric bill is MUCH, MUCH, lower $$$ than everyone else's because of this. Fortunately their DTV channel's radiated footprint is identical to their analog one.

WFAA's power levels will always be lower than everone else's because they are VHF. VHF wavelengths are longer than UHF wavelengths so less power is needed. So, WFAA's electric bill is MUCH, MUCH, lower $$$ than everyone else's because of this. Fortunately their DTV channel's radiated footprint is identical to their analog one.

Funny, they've always been my strongest!?!?

WFAA's power levels will always be lower than everone else's because they are VHF.
Regardless, I'm surprised that Disney/ABC wouldn't place more importance on the #5 Nielsen market area.

ABC doesn't own WFAA-TV -- it's owned by Belo Corporation, and is affiliated with ABC. That's one reason why WFAA is about the only station in the area that identifies itself with call letters and channel number instead of network and channel number (ie, "WFAA-8" instead of "ABC-8"). Aside from that, WFAA has always been a very strong performer for ABC, so I don't think that ABC would quibble with Belo over the transmitted power of their digital channel.

Finally, I think that there is a recognition within the industry that some channels are being forced to temporarily operate with inferior digital facilities until the digital transition is complete.