I say we share some info, and I'll start.

Reciever: Zenith HD-SAT520
Antenna: Channel Master Stealth (Model 3010)
Amp: None
Area: South Arlington
Channels Recieved:
4-1 Fox
5-1 NBC
8-1 ABC
8-2 Weather Map
11-1 CBS
13-1 KERA
21-1 UPN/HDNET
21-2 Weather Map
27-1 KDFI
33-1 WB
39-1 Don't Watch
48-1 Don't Watch
51-2 Don't Watch
68-1 PAX

All channels come in with good signal strength and no dropouts since I went to using the Stealth Antenna.

E4B

I'm up in Plano with a roof-mounted Winegard antenna and a Zenith HDR-230. Before that, I was using a Toshiba DST-3000 -- but the change hasn't affected what I can receive.

I'm getting everything that you list, plus 24-1 and 58-1. I did manage to receive 2-1 on one occasion, but it was generally too weak, and now seems to be off the air.

I receive 14 DTV stations here in Plano. This includes KXII in Sherman, TX at a distance of just under 70 miles!

Here is some information I obtained with my HiDTV PC tuner card...

KDTN-DT (2) 43 Cannot receive weak signal most of the time.

KDFW-DT (4) 35-1 FOX
704x480P, 16:9, 17.700 Mbps video, 59.94 frames/sec, 384 Kbps audio

KXAS-DT (5) 41-1 NBC
1920x1088I, 16:9, 18.170 Mbps video, 29.97 frames/sec, 256 Kbps audio

WFAA-DT (8) 9-1 ABC
1920x1080I, 16:9, 16.190 Mbps video, 29.97 frames/sec, 384 Kbps audio
WFAA-DT (8) 9-2 Weather
704x480I, 4:3, 2.398 Mbps video, 29.97 frames/sec, 384 Kbps audio

KTVT-DT (11) 19-1 CBS
1920x1080I, 16:9, 19.100 Mbps video, 29.97 frames/sec, 384 Kbps audio

KXII-DT (12) 20-1 CBS
1920x1080I, 16:9, 19.190 Mbps video, 29.97 frames/sec, 384 Kbps audio

KERA-DT (13) 14-1 PBS
1920x1080I, 16:9, 14.000 Mbps video, 29.97 frames/sec, 384 Kbps audio

KTXA-DT (21) 18-1 UPN & HDNet
1920x1080I, 16:9, 16.690 Mbps video, 29.97 frames/sec, 384 Kbps audio
KTXA-DT (21) 18-2 Weather
704x480I, 4:3, 2.500 Mbps video, 29.97 frames/sec, 384 Kbps audio

KUVN-DT (23) 24-1
704x480I, 4:3, 9.200 Mbps video, 29.97 frames/sec, 384 Kbps audio

KDFI-DT (27) 36-1 I do not cosistently receive this weak signal.
704x480P, 4:3, 45.000 Mbps video, 59.94 frames/sec, 192 Kbps audio

KDAF-DT (33) 32-1 WB
720x480P, 16:9, 7.920 Mbps video, 59.94 frames/sec, 384 Kbps audio
1920x1080I, 16:9, 13.990 Mbps video, 29.97 frames/sec, 384 Kbps audio

KXTX-DT (39) 40-1
704x480I, 4:3, 15.000 Mbps video, 29.97 frames/sec, 192 Kbps audio

KSTR-DT (49) 48-1
704x480I, 4:3, 15.000 Mbps video, 29.97 frames/sec, 192 Kbps audio

KFWD-DT (52) 51-1
704x480I, 4:3, 15.000 Mbps video, 29.97 frames/sec, 192 Kbps audio


KPXD-DT (68) 42-1 PAX
704x480I, 4:3, 15.000 Mbps video, 29.97 frames/sec, 192 Kbps audio

A few comments and questions...

Note for KERA-DT 14-1 and KXAS-DT 41-1-- 1088I is not a typo. Is 1088I really possible?

KDAF-DT 32-1 actually uses 480P most of the time but switches to 1080I for the WB HTDV programs.

Note for KDFI-DT 36-1 -- they were showing a video bit rate of 45 Mbps. That is impossible but that is what is my tuner displayed.

Can anyone explain how a tuner obtains all this information? Is this part of the PSIP data or is it actually extracted from the video and audio data? If the info is obtained from the PSIP data, than station operator error could explain the bogus numbers.

Thanks.
DonP

Okay - here goes - received the Samsung 165 STB yesterday and couldn't wait - so I ran out to BestBuy on 635 and picked up a Silver Sensor. Plugged it in, scanned , and here's what I get......

4-1 Fox
5-1 NBC
8-1 ABC
8-2 Weather Map
11-1 CBS
13-1 KERA
21-1 UPN/HDNET
21-2 Weather Map
24-1 Univision
27-1 KDFI
33-1 WB
39-1 Telemundo
48-1 No idea (spanish)
51-1 No idea
68-1 PAX

Basically - the UPN / HDNET is absolutely incredible. The rest of the major networks are great, but for some reason I get black bars on the sides - is this normal? TV is 16:9 and I thought all HD content was 16:9 no?

Silver Sensor pulls in the channel 8 ABC NO PROBS but I do have to get up and move it in a different direction to the rest of the reception. But I do get black bars on the left and right as well which may not be fun during Monday Night Football.

I wish I had time to read the Samsung instruction book - no patience!


VSapra

Using a Terk 55 with no power booster mounter to my second story chimney I get all of the same channels and PBS out of Denton. I noticed someone listed UPN/ HDnet what is the story with that? I hadn't heard about them sharing a channel. Is is showing all the same programing as HDnet via Direct TV?

I spoke too soon - flipped on today to watch the Stanley Cup and blammo - no WFAA-DT (8-1)... :(

damn silver sensor - any idea's how I can get the VHF channel that has all the good stuff (i.e sports)?

VSapra

Vsapra

what part of the metroplex in? i have found ABC to be the strongest signal so far. in fact it is to strong for one of my antennas. if you have satelite you can use the terk that attaches directly to it and di-plexes with the RG-6. I had good luck with that antenna on every channel except NBC which was a little to weak to come in steady.

LB - I live at Trinity Mills/Tollway in an apt. so I am limited to indoor options - now here's the weird part - on Sunday I got ABC no problemo but last night - not a sausage.

Hope tomorrow is a better day with the hoops and all that.

VSapra

VSapra - I will flip it on during the next game and post during the game if it is coming in. I have on rare occassion seen where the station is down for a short period. Got love that bleeding edge techonology.

I know people have knocked them but I have had VERY good luck with the Terk TV55 and i live about 10 miles north of you. It can be set in a window or mounted just outside the window. It even comes with a short flat piece of RG-6 so you can run it thru the window without drilling any holes in your apartment. Just a thought, you could always return it if it didn't work.

Lunchbox

Vsapra - The NBA finals are coming in strong and clear up in The Colony. if you still can't tune it in your definately need to go another route with your antenna.

lunchbox

well I tried to plug in a rat-shack in-line amplifier and this has definitely improved it a bit, but I am still getting lots of drop-outs.

Here's another question - I am now getting a stronger, but fluctuating signal. The signal meter shows 45-50% for 2 seconds, then 0% and then 45-50% again.

I played around with the Silver Sensor and strangely enough pointing it 180 degrees AWAY from the usual 4-1, 5-1, 11-1, 21-1 signals also gives it a little improvement.

Anyone? Idea's? Help?!? I Need ABC sports..........

VSapra

VSapra - Sounds like your getting a signal reflection problem. It is bouncing off of something and hitting your antenna causing it to go out of phase and drop. That's why turning it improved the problem. Unfortunately the only way to correct it is to re-point the antenna as you did or move it to another location.

Have you tried putting the Silver Sensor away from the window for ABC, like on top of the TV? This may help as there won't be as much bounced signal from the side of the building near the window.

good luck

lunchbox

Going back to the question of 21-1, you have listed this as UPN/HDNET. Titan-TV only lists it as UPN. Where did you get the HDNET listing? Have you seen any HDNET programing on this channel?

Mike

Mike191 - I am an HDTV newbie here - when I turned on my receiver on Sunday (pretty much all day) I got 21-1 - basketball from San Fran with an HDNet Logo at times - I think it was the CableCar Classic.

I did some more research to try and figure out what feeds HDNET is providing and someone else stuck a .pdf with the UPN schedule for the next week on the Dallas Home Theatre Group website.

To answer your question - I am not sure if it is really the real HDNET, maybe just parts of the feed at certain non-primetime hours.

VSapraUPN Schedule (http://www.krweb.net/dhtg/KTXADTJune2.pdf )

Lunchbox -

<QUOTE> Have you tried putting the Silver Sensor away from the window for ABC, like on top of the TV? This may help as there won't be as much bounced signal from the side of the building near the window. </QUOTE>

Right now , the silver sensor is not close to the window at all - it is about 9 feet high, up on top of my entertainment center, in the middle of my living / dining room (the entertainment shelves seperate the two rooms).

Other questions/thoughts:
Could the ceiling fan be bouncing signals around?
Does 2.4 Ghz Wireless networking impact the signal?
Does a commercial panny plasma put out enough RF interference near the VHF band?

At a loss for idea's on ABC Sports........WFAA-DT , especially since people up in the Colony (20 miles north of me) are having no probs!

I also run a 2.4 Ghz home network and don't have any interface.

I strongly believe the problem you are having with WFAA is that they are soooo strong it is bouncing and they only way around it is to find a spot where the antenna doesn't pick up the bounce or try a less sensitive antenna.

I actually have two antenna's and have to switch to my less sensitive one to keep WFAA from droping due to bouncing signals.


Lunchbox

Skimming through the schedule I see maybe four shows which are in HD. The Basketball and Hockey Finals, Jag and CSI. Is that all there is to HD right now in Dallas and beyond? Doesn't seem worth the trouble to get OTA tuner and antenna. Have I missed anything?

Mike

Mike191 - Also Law and Order, CSI and all sorts of stuff on KERA, UPN etc.

Too bad I missed 24...that would have been nice.

OK Lunchbox - the saga continues.......

my silver sensor fell over on its side due to the added weight of the in-line radio shack amplifier and guess what - rock solid WFAA-DT.

So now I have the Stanley Cup on, but it doesn't look like HD, but an upconverted signal, still in 4:3.

VSapra

nix that - its just switched to HD.....

boooooooo yaaaaaaah

Vsapra

Vsapra - good deal i see you have figured out the antenna mojo. Just screw with till you figure it out or get lucky.

The last NHL game there were a couple of times they forgot to flip the switch to widescreen. As well when they switch to a SD cam we suffer with 4:3.

Originally posted by Mike191
Going back to the question of 21-1, you have listed this as UPN/HDNET. Titan-TV only lists it as UPN. Where did you get the HDNET listing? Have you seen any HDNET programing on this channel?

Mike

KTXA-DT has been broadcasting HD Net for a year now. In the beginning we were bradcasting the same HDNet that airs on ch. 199 of DirecTV. Currently we are airing HDNet OTA.

We do switch away for UPN Primetime (Upconvert) on a daily basis.

Originally posted by Mike191
Skimming through the schedule I see maybe four shows which are in HD. The Basketball and Hockey Finals, Jag and CSI. Is that all there is to HD right now in Dallas and beyond? Doesn't seem worth the trouble to get OTA tuner and antenna. Have I missed anything?

Mike

Mike,

Nearly all of the CBS Primetime schedule on KTVT-DT is true 1080i. CBS does not produce any News, News Magazine or reality programming in HD.

Technobil:

When I overlay the Titan Direct TV 199 schedule with the UPN schedule I do not see the same programs. Where can I view the schedule you say is HDNet? I want to be able to get HDNet but don't really want the hassle of Direct or Dish.

Thanks
Mike

Technobill - hats off to the quality of the broadcast - I got a nice strong signal and fabulous picture .....now if only I liked college hoops that much!!!

Vsapra

Lunchbox - still some drop-outs during the stanley cup - especially when i walk around the room or am I imagining things? Also seems to only drop when HDTV content is on....not the SD upconverted commercial breaks.....

the antenna is about 3 feet above my head level though.....

the search for ABC DT continues.......

VSapra

Technobill,
I noticed lots of A/V dropouts last night (picture goes black and no sound for about a second) watching the Mardi Gras documentary on 21-1. This recurred every few minutes. I had a decent signal -- around 77, which is pretty much what I get across the board for ATSC channels.

I didn't see any dropouts during the hockey game on ABC or while watching ER on NBC. And this is the first time I've noticed any dropouts on 21-1 in the last couple of weeks... was this a temporary glitch in the source or broadcast?

BTW- kudos to KTXA for providing a different HDNet feed from the one on DirecTV 199... two channels for the price of one :-).

-Corey

Lunchbox - just when I thought I was out [radio shack] brings me back in..........no dice with the silver sensor sitting on its side - I was still getting drop outs etc.

so I unplugged the inline amp and frankly - all the other channels are still fine without the "minor" amplification.

after more research, and a wild idea of plugging in the STB to the apartment antenna feed , I am now getting WFAA-DT no problem, and I managed to catch the end of the SA/NJ game.

Tomorrow - I return the inline amp, and pick something to combine the Silver Sensor (UHF) and Apartment Complex (VHF) antenna signals.

Any idea's, other than an A/ B Switch?

VSapra

VSapra - Are you sure you need the Silver Sensor? Double check the Apartment antenna for all the DT signals. Most complex antennas now are dual VHF and UHF. Your problems are probably due to the large buildings and the wiring and other electronic interference in the complex.

Remember that the $3.00 signal splitter is also a signal combiner. If you really do need to combine the two sources, ask about the best splitter/combiner. Remember Radio Shack uses a thinner cable and I would recommend you use the larger better shielded grade of cable.

Remember to ask about the digital signal frequency and any equipments ability to pass these signals. Some frequencies are not passed by all amplifiers and all splitter/combiners. You may need to get a higher grade. You might consider going to Fry's. Some of the people there do understand these things. You are probably closer to the Garland location. The newest location at LBJ and MacArthur is really a nice store. If you go be careful to leave enough time because you will want to roam for a while.

Good Luck,
Mike

Vsapra - The signal spliter/ combiner is my next trick to try. I have read that when you combine two antenna signals it will cause a timing issue and cause dropouts. I don't want to use an A/B switch. I will let you know what i find.

I agree about the building antenna as you should be able to get everything with it and not need the Silver Sensor.

Lunchbox

I tried getting other HD signals with the building master antenna , but no dice......no worries - I now get everything with a silver sensor and the WFAA on the building antenna.

Let me know how the signal combiner works out - until then, I will be putting the building antenna input into the "cable" input of my sammy and the ss into the "ant" input and switching via the remote when I need to get my Stanley Cup / Hoops fix.

VSapra

I'm in Addison Circle, in a 4th floor loft apartment with a large window facing due West. I have a Samsung SIR-T150 and a Winegard GS-1000 indoor antenna mounted near the window facing Southwest. Here's what I get:

4-1 Fox (weaker than average signal)
5-1 NBC
8-1 ABC
[8-2 24hr Weather Map]
11-1 CBS
13-1 KERA
21-1 UPN/HDNET
[21-2 24hr Weather Map]
24-1
27-1 KDFI
33-1 WB
39-1 Telemundo
48-1
51-2
68-1 PAX

Reception is fairly good overall. Fox signal is weaker than others (sometimes affected by my movements inside the apartment) but it does come in.

From a OTA perspective, I'm dreading a coming move to Virginia Beach. Here at least we get a few channels. From what I hear in the Southeast VA/Northeast NC thread, reception there is much less fruitful.

To add to the list; I live at Frankford and the Tollway; with a MITS 55909 and a Radio Shack 15-1890 amplified indoor VHF/UHF antenna. Here's what I get or don't get

2-1 Can't get
4-1 Fox (comes in as 35-1)
5-1 NBC
8-1 ABC
[8-2 24hr Weather Map]
11-1 CBS
13-1 KERA
21-1 UPN/HDNET
[21-2 24hr Weather Map]
24-1 UNI
27-1 Can't get
29-1 Can't get
33-1 WB
39-1 Telemundo
48-1 Can't get
51-2 KFWD
54-1 Can't get
68-1 PAX

The one I would really like to lock in is 27. Anyone have to do anything unusual or different to bring that one in? It took so long to get the rest clear, I'm almost afraid to start messing with the antenna and lose some other stations.

Where can I view the schedule you say is HDNet?
Check the HDTV Programming forum on DHTG (http://www.dhtg.org) - Technobill sends me the schedule and I post a link to it there.

Roddie

Originally posted by coreymd
Technobill,
I noticed lots of A/V dropouts last night (picture goes black and no sound for about a second) watching the Mardi Gras documentary on 21-1. This recurred every few minutes. I had a decent signal -- around 77, which is pretty much what I get across the board for ATSC channels.


BTW- kudos to KTXA for providing a different HDNet feed from the one on DirecTV 199... two channels for the price of one :-).

-Corey

We were having some sat issues and have corrected them. Have you been having any problems since?

Anybody here live in the Whiterock Lake area and get a decent number of channels? The downtown buildings block a lot of the signal strength. I only get Fox, CBS and UPN (weak).

I use the giant 160" Long Dual Boom, 57 Element Antenna Radio Shack antenna, though I just put it up and haven't really played with moving it around a lot.

I'm thinking of getting a pre-amp (Winegard AP-8275?) to try and pull in ABC and NBC. They have a ton of HD stuff, so I really want to get them.

bump

Well, I was glad to finally find our spot here on AVS, however unfortunate that it has had little recent attention. I am currently a D* subscriber along with Charter High Speed Internet, however disgruntled with the price I pay for both. Enter Charter HD offerings....Great but no ESPNHD...I can get my locals via OTA, but would really like the ESPNHD..talked to Charter today and guy had no info for me...

Enter Voom...Wow, could this be the answer....Well this will put me right back into the same spot as having Charter and D* as far as monthly cost...ANyone in the same boat or have advice for me? Also, who in DFW is using Charter HD?

rtrott

I think the reason this thread hasn't been active is because those of us in Comcast areas still have no HD and no ETA for HD. Seems to me if you're going to go D* you may want to swicth to DSL and cut the cord with cable. For me, I'm still holding out to see if Comcast comes through, since in other markets they seem to have decent offerings.

By the way, have you been able to pick up channel 27/36 - that's the only one I can't seem to get on my end of the metroplex.

Good advice, but my area cant get DSL. SO I am stuck with paying Charter for Basic and Internet and D* as video source....If a cool STB were available (OTA + PVR) such as LG 3410A, I would love to go with Charter for everything and get once nice neat bill.

rtrott

I actually called Comcast today and followed their phone menu to existing customer change service. When the person answered the phone I simply said "Hi I would like to order Comcast HD" To my surprise the person said I am sorry sir but that will not be available until NOVEMBER 1ST!!! I asked about a waiting list and she said I would just have to call back in November. This also fits with information from two Comcast service people who were at my house recently that mentioned that Comcast would be rolling out HD next month (November). Of course this is while we were watching a college b-ball game on HDNet/UPN 21 :)

Laters,

eq_shadimar - I know who you are. You're nick can't protect you.

Anybody know what the costs are for getting Comcast HD? I believe you have to get their Digital package then pay an additional fee for the HD box or service, but that's based on how they do it in KC.

The reason I ask is I just ordered the Dish 6000 receiver. They are now selling that for $200 with the OTA receiver module, and their service is only $10 a month on top of your normal Dish service. They provide ESPN HD, Discovery HD, and HD Net and HD Net Movies. Plus if you want the second dish installed you can get HBO, SHO and CBS HD. I think you get HBO and SHO in HD if you already have those packages.

Can anyone tell me if it's possible to get HD with an apt. friendly antenna near Frankford/Trinity Mills off Dallas North Tollway (between Addison and Plano). I'm currently getting standard def. from DirecTv and always had trouble receiving analog OTA with an indoor Terk.

I think the question that anyone who is considering Comcast cable should be asking is, "will the motorolla STB that they use allow you to hook up an antenna to recieve ALL OTA stations in the Dallas area?" It is my understanding that Comcast does not carry one of the major networks (CBS) due to a bandwidth argreement issue or something of that nature. Maybe Technobill can shed some light on this issue....
Please do your homework before you make your decision! Cable HD is known for major compression issues as well as lack of content. And remember channels 1 thru 99 are analog even if you pay for the digital package.

Your HD Cable is only as good as the cable, connectors and installer that you get! Demand perfection before you let the installer leave your house!

Goodluck!

SC:D

It's been reported elsewhere (in the Dallas Home Theater Group forum) that it may be the case that only two OTA signals will be offered by Comcast at the outset -- KDFW-DT and KXA-DT. They'll also have Showtime and HBO HD for subscribers to those services. So that's something to consider before dumping your satellite service...

Regarding the question about off-air reception around Frankford & the Tollway -- if your off-air UHF reception is snowy, you stand a good chance of getting off-air HD reception. If it is ghost-ridden, you will probably have problems. But you might want to experiment with some different antennas; I can tell you that an old Radio Shack two-bay bowtie antenna pulls in several HD channels at my home in Plano, and might work where you are. The Zenith Silver Sensor also has a good reputation.

I live in a house in Frankford/Tollway area. I am using a different RS indoor antenna (the one that looks like a desktop lamp) and can pull in everything but 2 and 27's digital signals.

As for Comcast's plans - there are threads both at the DHTG http://dhtg.napurano.com/dhtgweb/dhtgubb/Forum11/HTML/000917.html
and BroadbandReports http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/remark,8161587~root=catv~mode=flat

Both are worth watching, since it appears as though Comcast should be bringing HD and VoD up some time around Nov. 1

stewlevine
Which Radio Shack antenna? Is 27 just hard to get in the Dallas area? I don't care as much about 2.

I have the 15-1890
Others have had success pulling in all of the stations, I would pose your question on DHTG - more people there who have solved your problem there than here.

One more thing - I think reasons we aren't seeing KTVT and WFAA might not be bandwidth, but ownership; I don't know about Belo, but I know that Comcast and CBS O&O have not come to an agreement yet anywhere about digital transmission. ESPN being out is surprising, since they signed their agreement with lots of fanfare earlier this year.

I'm a HD newbie - bought my zenith HD receiver, and have a large outdoor antenna mounted in the attic. From the Keller area, will this be sufficient for HD reception? I'm waiting on the Optoma H76 - so no projector yet.

One of the issues that WFAA and Comcast are haggeling over is the bandwidth that comast will allocate for their HD transmission. (Just what I have heard through the grapevine) This is not a Dallas only issue, as is evident in many other cities that have Comcast as the cable supplier and no local ABC. (By the way I'm not sure if its ABC or CBS but I do know it is one of the two)....

ashatcher - your attic antenna should be sufficient but there is only going to be one way to find out....hook it up and hopefully enjoy!
Good luck!

SC

Bump, Great Thread.

Does anyone with the DISH 811 notice that CBS changed from 11-01 to 19-01 on the last firmware update? I checked at attenaweb.com and they have CBS at 19-01, so i am not sure if this is a bug with the new firmware or if it was with the old firmware.

When I first started playing with OTA additions, the firmware revision 2.62 showed Digital channel 11 at 19-01. Earlier this week, version 2.63 arrived and channel 111 is now at 11-01. Who knows?

Anyone here out near Sanger or even Denton? My Dad lives in Sanger and is wondering if he has a decent chance to get in the digital signals from Dallas. I tell him with a good antenna and preamp he should be fine, but want to hear people with real experiences! I am coming down next week to help him get it set up.

I live in Denton county near lake Lewisville and pick up all of the digital channels from Dallas great as well as PBS from Denton. I have a Terk 55 (un-amped) runing to a Dish 6000 OTA. The amp caused problems for me and it works great without it. The antenna is mounted on my chimmney about 2 stories high with clear line of site. Hope that info helps.

This is a little off-topic, but since this is the DFW thread I thought I'd ask it here...

I am in need of the Pioneer 530HD diode/IC fix for the red/green lines. I had someone show up today who I will not let touch my set - "useless" is not too harsh a word. Can anyone recommend a service company in North Dallas? I obviously would like one that has experience with the fix and/or comes highly regarded.

According to Pioneer, here's the list of authorized service centers within 25 miles of me. Anyone have comments either way?

MJ Electronics, Carrollton
Fast Trak Electronics, Carrollton
Har-West Sound & Video, Garland
Intech, Dallas
C&R Television, Dallas

TXCanuck,

In answer to your question regarding Pioneer service in the Dallas area, there is only one choice, as far as I'm concerned. Call Mike with C&R. He is absolutely the best, and far more knowledgeable than anyone else when it comes to Pioneer TV's. He works exclusively on Pioneer sets and has for years. I had him service my 50" Pioneer on 2 separate occasions after the set got zapped by nearby lightning strikes. He did component testing and replacement right in my home, and he usually carries complete circuit board assemblies if he needs to replace an entire assembly. I can highly recommend Mike.

I can't get ch 27-1 KDFI to show up on my sammy 160. I'm in Frisco. U-75R UHF antenna with amp. All other stations show up fine. Anybody get 27-1?

I can't get ch 27-1 either on my sammy 160 or MitsHD5. I'm in Arlngton with a CM 3018 in the attic. All the other channels come in strong.

I also wonder who else is getting ch 27.

Did anyone else lose NBC (5-1)? I'm picking up 5-2 now, which is showing weather radar, but 5-1 is gone.

I get 27-1 here in McKinney but when I treid an AMP I got slightly better reception on all other channels and lost 27. Go figure???

Originally posted by redline65
Did anyone else lose NBC (5-1)? I'm picking up 5-2 now, which is showing weather radar, but 5-1 is gone.

Same here, pretty pi$$ed last night we didn't get to watch WW and L&O in HD.

I'm going to call them today and will post their comments when done.

Steve

Glad to hear I'm not the only one missing 5-1. Anyways, I'm in Little Elm and I get channel 27-1 with a constant 70% signal strength, no dropouts or anything. I'm using a Radio Shack 15-2185 antenna mounted in the attic.

yea! I lost 5-1 last night too, it was just after the news. At the same time I was messing around with my antenna.... I thought that I messed something up and lost the signal. Glad to here that it wasn't something I did.

Any news yet on what happened to 5-1? My wife was particularly annoyed to lose Law and Order, even more so to lose it to a replacement weather radar!!!

My wife told me 5-1 is back on the air. Don't know what happened.

I noticed a number of you are in North Dallas. I just picked an HDTV and am trying to figure out how to get OTA HDTV. I am in McKinney and thinking of getting a CM 4228. Can this be mounted in an attic with good results. Also, any recommendations for a good installer in the area if I decide not to tackle myself?

TIA

Originally posted by Illni_Fan 1
I noticed a number of you are in North Dallas. I just picked an HDTV and am trying to figure out how to get OTA HDTV. I am in McKinney and thinking of getting a CM 4228. Can this be mounted in an attic with good results. Also, any recommendations for a good installer in the area if I decide not to tackle myself?

TIA
Tia
I'm in McKinney also, Stonebridge Ranch, and have no trouble recieving all the HD OTA with my in attic antenna. 27 is the weakest channel.

Originally posted by DSBall
Tia
I'm in McKinney also, Stonebridge Ranch, and have no trouble recieving all the HD OTA with my in attic antenna. 27 is the weakest channel.

I'm in SBR as well. What antenna / OTA receiver are you using? Do you have the antenna amplified?

Originally posted by Illni_Fan 1
I'm in SBR as well. What antenna / OTA receiver are you using? Do you have the antenna amplified?
Not sure what model it is but did find a Radio Shack emblem on it. It's an 8' and an amp has helped improve some of the signals but even without it I was getting everything. One oddity it that I lost 27 after adding the amp???
I'm using the LG LST-3100a and had a Samy SIR-T351 before with the same results although the Samy showed a stronger signal on it's meter.

Here's a D/FW forum you should check in addition to this one:
dhtg.napurano.com

Is anyone in Plano or north Dallas using Comcast HD cable?
How is the signal? How is the picture quality on SD? What STB do you get from Comcast? Any information would be most helpful.

I have HD with Comcast. I am in McKinney, was one of the early adopters and had my install last November. I would have to rate the service as very good from a quality view point. I did have some initial problems that were resolved when a Comcast tech changed a bunch of connectors, splitters in my cable wiring. HDTV seems to require that you have very good lines and connectors, especially if you have multiple TVs and hence splitters. Service has been great since then.

We get ABC, CBS, NBC FOX (480p widescreen), ESPNHD. Premium movie chanels available are SHO, HBO, STZ and MAX.

The audio for a lot of programming is 2 channel dolby surround. Do get full Dobly 5.1 on many ABC programs, some CBS and some movies.

Bottom line is I would recommend the service. Lack of HD channels is about the only downside right now.

The stb is the Mot DCT5100. They are adding DVR at the end February, which will be the Mot DCT 6204 (I think).

You may also want to check this forum which has some active topics for Comcast in dallas:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/catv

regards pask

I noticed the picture on 8-1 was worse last night and then discovered that 8-2 is doing a lot more than just RADAR. I'll have to check exactly how much bandwidth is being wasted by that crap, but it's definitely affecting the quality of the main broadcast. It's bad enough that they convert ABC's 720p to 1080i. But don't they realize that 1080i takes more bandwidth to compress?

Just say "no" to simulcasting.

Xesdeeni

Originally posted by taz6649
Is anyone in Plano or north Dallas using Comcast HD cable?
How is the signal? How is the picture quality on SD? What STB do you get from Comcast? Any information would be most helpful.

I have a 6200 box in Frisco and it's made me really love my Samsung. I actually watch a few shows now in HD just because of HD. I did have to get the first box replaced but that wasn't a big deal.

I should say that Comcast appears to be really bending over backwards to make it work. They may be clueless when you call, and the techs may not know everything, but they will send someone out any day and any time.

If you want it to work perfectly right away and all the time then you may not like it. If you're willing to live with some tweaking then it's great if you have a HD set. I suppose all HD programming is going to require tweaking so maybe it's not fair to blame Comcast.

Im located in Aubrey, right now im using Zenith silver sensor indoor antenna and picking up NBC, CBS, UPN, FOX, PBS and HDNET (HDNET only on weekends for whatever reason). Getting VOOM installed this weekend.

Originally posted by Xesdeeni
I noticed the picture on 8-1 was worse last night and then discovered that 8-2 is doing a lot more than just RADAR. I'll have to check exactly how much bandwidth is being wasted by that crap, but it's definitely affecting the quality of the main broadcast. It's bad enough that they convert ABC's 720p to 1080i. But don't they realize that 1080i takes more bandwidth to compress?

Just say "no" to simulcasting.

Xesdeeni

I posted this same issue on the DHTG forum, but since the new radar has been put up, my SOny HD300 is having problems with channel 8.1 and 8.2. The picture keeps breaking up and the audio is cracking. The signal reads well above "good" and hasn't changed. It is working fine on my HD200 downstairs. Does anyone have any thoughts? Thanks.

I have a built-in HDTV tuner in my HDTV (Mistubishi WS-65511) and a MyHD. Neither seems to have problems with the two channels (other than the poorer quality).

Xesdeeni

Greetings all. I'm new to the HDTV world, but I finally got a new TV (16:9 Samsung) and a STB (T351). I'm using an old Radio Shack antenna in my attic that I've had for over 12 years. I'm located in Watauga (NE Tarrant county) and I get good reception on all the DTV channels.

I've noticed that most of the stations will show black bars on the side when showing non-widescreen broadcasts, and others will use grey bars. Now, I assume grey bars are better for screen burn-in, and on my TV the only way I can get rid of them is to zoom the picture (and crop the top/bottom.) I guess this is something I'll have to live with until more wide screen programming becomes available? If I watch a lot of 4:3 stuff will my diurect-view CRT eventually burn in?

The other question is that on my T351 some 4:3 broadcasts that are not listed as being in HD (e.g. local news on Ch. 5, etc.) are being listed as "HD" when I hit the info button on the T351. Is there such a thing as HD that is in 4:3? The PQ looks good, but I'm not sure it is true HD..

Matt

Hi.

I really want to get a HDTV sometime this year. I live in an apartment.. I can't do DirecTV (no southern view), and the cable system is basic, analog cable. (repackaged by the apartment complex). This means my only source for HD programming would be OTA stuff. But that's fine, as I actually watch a lot of broadcast network stuff.

So, will a good *indoor* antenna work for me? I live in North Dallas, on Preston Rd. between Spring Valley and Belt Line.

@jsmeeker

Try the Silver Sensor. You will probably be able to get all but ABC with that. ABC is on VHS, but the SS is only for UHF. I'm not sure what to do about that.

Some general DFW DTV questions:

1. Why doesn't WB convert from physical 32 to virtual 33?
2. Why doesn't WB have a 3x-1? I see 3x-2, 3x-3, and 3x-4.
3. Why does WB's upconvert have checkerboard patterns in it?
4. Why doesn't KFWD convert from physical 51 to virtual 52?
5. Why doesn't KFWD have a 5x-1?
6. Could there be a worse MPEG encoder than KFWD uses?
7. Why can't I receive KDFI at all? I have no problems with the other channels, except KFWD, which is borderline.
8. What's up with the spanish channel (I think it's 48) that has major analog interference (I believe it's called "herringbone") on the DIGITAL signal?

Xesdeeni

Originally posted by Xesdeeni
@jsmeeker

Try the Silver Sensor. You will probably be able to get all but ABC with that. ABC is on VHS, but the SS is only for UHF. I'm not sure what to do about that.



Hmmm... ABC is VHF? I didn't know that. Could I get a indoor VHF antenna and use it in conjunction with a UHF antenna?

I really want to be 100% positive I can get all the major stations (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, WB, UPN) with an indoor antenna before I actually buy the TV and the STB.

I believe indoor VHF antennas are just rabbit ears :). If you can get a relatively static-free analog ABC (8) with that type of antenna, then I think it is very likely that you'll get the digital well too. But if there is lots of ghosting, which is caused by reflections of the signal off of buildings (no mountains in DFW), or if the picture is snowy, then you'll have problems. With my attic antenna east of Plano, analog 4 and 5 are very snowy and barely have color. 8 is watchable, and 11 and up are pretty decent (except all the religious and shopping stations, which obviously use a much lower power). I get all the digital channels on the same antenna very well. Only 52 is borderline, and I don't get 27 at all (I understand they use an extremely low power).

Also note, it is likely that most stations will move the digital signals from their current frequency to the analog frequencies once the changeover is complete. So more than just ABC may be VHF in a few years. They are probably going to increase their power by then as well.

Xesdeeni

hmmm... Didn't think of that. I could try getting an antenna and try to pick up analog, NTSC stuff.

Has anyone else been watching Channel 21-1 lately. Lots of programming in Hi-Def that is different then what is showing on HD-Net. Are these two channels affiliated. I have no idea what station it is but it sure looks good.

Unless I'm mistaken, it is HD-Net from last year. I had an email address where you could get the weekly listing. I'll look an see if I can locate it for you.

Dan
Corinth

I was curious how much bandwidth is wasted by the simulcasting of the weather radar on several of our local affiliates, so I checked. Here is what I found (on the channels I can receive) as of April 2, 2004:

4 KDFW-DT FOX
_1 - 1280x720p 16:9 14.94 Mb/s

5 KXAS-DT NBC
_1 - 1920x1088i 16:9 14.9 Mb/s
_2 - 720x480i 4:3 2.44 Mb/s

8 WFAA-DT ABC
_1 - 1920x1080i 16:9 15.8 Mb/s
_2 - 704x480i 4:3 2.4 Mb/s

11 KTVT-DT CBS
_1 - 1920x1080i 16:9 18.9 Mb/s

13 KERA-HD PBS
_1 - 1920x1080i 16:9 14.5 Mb/s

21 KTXA-DT UPN
_1 - 1920x1080i 16:9 16.69 Mb/s
_2 - 704x480i 4:3 2.5 Mb/s

33 KDAF-DT WB
_1 - 1920x1088i 16:9 17 Mb/s
_2 - SAP ?? Mb/s

52 KFWD-DT IND
_1 - 704x480i 4:3 15 Mb/s

68 KPXD-DT PAX
_1 - 704x480i 4:3 15 Mb/s

So some notes:

1. About 2.5 Mb/s is the going rate for the weather radar.
1. FOX 4 is not using all of their bandwidth for their upconverted HD channel. What is in the other 4.46 Mb/s?
2. NBC 5 is using a very bad MPEG encoder to get such a crappy weather radar from 2.5 Mb/s.
3. What is in NBC 5's other 2.06 Mb/s?
4. ABC 8 could switch to 720p and fit comfortably in 15.8 Mb/s, although 1080i definitely suffers from the missing bandwidth.
5. It's good to know that ABC 8 isn't using more bandwidth than the other channels for that overadorned simulcast.
6. What is in ABC 8's other 1.2 Mb/s?
7. CBS 11 is using almost all of the 19.4 Mb/s. HOORAY FOR CBS 11!!!
8. What is in PBS 13's other 4.9 Mb/s?
9. UPN 21 is using almost all of their bandwidth for picture!
10. WB 33 has an SAP channel that is probably using up more bandwidth for the second audio channel. But even at 384 Kb/s, there is still 2 Mb/s missing.
11. 52 has extremely poor video quality for using 150% the bandwidth available to DVDs (and 300% of what a typical movie actually uses).
12. What is on 52 and 68's other 4.4 Mb/s?

Xesdeeni

I saw over on HDTV pub that WFAA is only using 18.6 kW right now for DTV...is that still the case? If so, does anyone know when they are planning on cranking it up a little?

I'm up in McKinney and that is the only channel I'm missing...everything else shows 85-90% with a pre amp one my sylvania tuner.

WFAA comes in about the same strength east of Plano as the others, for me. But remember that WFAA is VHF, while the others are UHF. If your antenna is UHF-only, then you won't get a signal from WFAA.

Xesdeeni

8. What is in PBS 13's other 4.9 Mb/s?


Not sure if this is relevant, but the couple of times I have recorded HD programs off of KERA, they did have a secondary stream, it looked like SD. Guess when there is actually something on in HD, there would magically appear a 14-2 (or 13-2), they don't seem to be real consistent.

I'm in a rental townhome apt that won't let me install ANYTHING outside (don't get me started...). In uptown Dallas, where there should be anywhere from 5-10 great channels, I can get one (Ch. 11) sometimes, if the wind is right & I stand in careful alignment, using a Silver Sensor. I tried one of the bar-shaped indoor Terks & it was worse. I'm now tempted to try the Winegard ss-1000. Anyone want to offer suggestions? Better than Silver Sensor, or should I just move?

Maybe there's some sort of metal wire I can just run all over my house to create a giant loop? Any ideas, anyone?

Sigh.

Thanks!

Chris

Do you have access to an attic? I have my antenna in my attic and I get very good reception east of Plano. I'm sure I'd get better reception with an outside antenna, but just like you have your landlord, I have my wife....

Xesdeeni

Alas, no attic access (and similar wife issues, but hoping SS-1000 is more presentable/concealable than some...)

Hello everyone,

I am new to HDTV and I am enjoying the 1080i picture on my Mitsubishi 55613 set. I hooked up the digital audio cable that came with the TV to my Yamaha receiver, but all I ever get is 2 channel stereo. Both Mitsubishi and Yamaha tech support assure me that there are no special settings on my equipment. They both told me if the sound is broadcast in 5.1 Dolby Digital, I should get 5.1 passed through to the A/V receiver. Am I wishing for something that is not there yet? Or, is it just in very short supply?

Are there any shows that are definitely broadcasting in DD 5.1 so I can check to be sure?

Thanks for the help,
Mike
:confused:

Mike...not many OTA shows broadcast in DD 5.1. NYPD Blue is one that does for sure. Most OTA shows are in Dolby Pro Logic.

Do you have cable or dbs satellite? Anything on HDNET or HD HBO is normally in 5.1

OFF TOPIC

corinthbandit:

I have a friend who is antenna shopping in your neck of the woods. What antenna are you using? I have a UHF only CM 4228, but get WFAA-DT CH 9 fine. I am unsure if that would be the case that far from the transmitters. What's your setup and signal strength?

corinthbandit,

I have SD DirecTV now but I plan on getting the new HDTiVo box soon. Right now I am getting HD from my OTA antenna. My Mitsi set has a built-in HD tuner.

Does NBC, CBS or ABC broadcast DD 5.1 when they show Hollywood movies? Last weekend NBC was showing "The Patriot" in HD. I remember the DVD has awesome 5.1 sound and I thought for sure it would be 5.1, but no it was 2.0.

Thanks for the info. I will check out NYPD Blue to see if I get the full 5.1 sound.

Mike

I'm having a difficult time recalling NBC broadcasting in 5.1. ABC more frequently broadcasts in 5.1. CBS has recently begun to broadcast more in 5.1. The Masters was great in 5.1! Of course, it just depends on the particular program. NYPD Blue is a 5.1 staple. Major movies on ABC are usually 5.1.

Originally posted by Joey_R
OFF TOPIC

corinthbandit:

I have a friend who is antenna shopping in your neck of the woods. What antenna are you using? I have a UHF only CM 4228, but get WFAA-DT CH 9 fine. I am unsure if that would be the case that far from the transmitters. What's your setup and signal strength?


I have a Channel Master mounted in my attic. I wouldn't buy anything else but that's just me. I have had it for around 10 years now.

I get all locals in DFW including 21, 27, 33, 52 and so on. My signal strength always reads as very good.

Channel Master Page (http://www.channelmaster.com/pages/TVS/CrossfireAnts.htm)

http://home.centurytel.net/the-franklins/channelmaster

Now that's what I call a reply!

A large CM Combo antenna in the attic. It looks like the UHF corner reflectors aren't even deployed. Thanks for the full service photo.

Any idea which CM model number? I hate to be picky, but we are probably going to purchase on-line, sight unseen.

Sorry....don't know the model number.

Originally posted by Joey_R
I'm having a difficult time recalling NBC broadcasting in 5.1. ABC more frequently broadcasts in 5.1. CBS has recently begun to broadcast more in 5.1. The Masters was great in 5.1! Of course, it just depends on the particular program. NYPD Blue is a 5.1 staple. Major movies on ABC are usually 5.1.

Joey_R,

I usually try catching CSI and CSI:Miami on CBS. Do you think they are broadcast in 5.1?

Also, do you think it would make any difference using a higher quality coaxial digital cable instead of the one that came with my TV?

Thanks,
Mike

I do not recall them being broadcast in 5.1. However, I would defer to the answers of the dwellers of the HDTV Programming Forum here on AVS.

Assuming the cable that came with your television has not been compromised in some way, I'm sure it's more than adequate to provide you with an excellent 5.1 signal. Cable Talk is a topic of spirited discussion on these forums, especially in the Audio area. Proponents argue they can tell a difference, while others argue that high dollar cables are all puffery and fluff. Admittedly, I lean towards the later category. I think all would agree the differences are subtle. If your cable is not defective, it is NOT the reason for your failure to get 5.1 reception.

Let's assume you are tuned into a program that is broadcast in 5.1, yet you only see stereo on your receiver. This is indicative of a setup problem on either your audio receiver or digital tuner, in this case, your television. I suspect you need to review your input setup on the receiver and audio output setup on your television. Since I have no experience with either specific (Mits TV and Yamaha Rec) device, I'm afraid I'm of little help beyond that.

bump

Thought I'd pass this along for DFW users from WFAA channel 8.

----------- Quote from WFAA -------------
I doubt we will ever switch. VHF uses a lot less power to cover the same
area. The power bills for a VHF transmitter are close to 20k per month less
than a UHF transmitter.

David Johnson
Director of Engineering
WFAA TV
Dallas, TX

-----Original Message-----
From: joegarrett
Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 2004 3:51 PM
To: Johnson, David - WFAA
Subject: Re: WFAA DTV

David, thanks for the reply. Would you have any ETA on when you would be
switching to UHF?

Thanks again,

Joe

I think it's interesting that all other broadcasters can afford to broadcast in UHF except for WFAA. :rolleyes:

The other broadcasters are on UHF because that's what the FCC provided. Once the analog broadcasts are discontinued, the stations are free to move their digital broadcasts back to their VHF allocations. It is my understanding that most stations will do this for exactly the reasons cited above, as well as the superior coverage. Many on this forum have warned people not to get UHF-only antennas for their OTA reception (even in markets where all digital broadcasts are currently UHF) because of this.

A bigger question is when WFAA will switch to 720p, so the 2.5 Mbps wasted on their radar simulcast will have less effect on the quality of their HD broadcast.

Xesdeeni

On a completely different note, channel 68 is now simulcasting four SD channels. They have two PAX feeds plus two religious feeds.

Xesdeeni

Originally posted by Xesdeeni
The other broadcasters are on UHF because that's what the FCC provided. Once the analog broadcasts are discontinued, the stations are free to move their digital broadcasts back to their VHF allocations. It is my understanding that most stations will do this for exactly the reasons cited above, as well as the superior coverage. Many on this forum have warned people not to get UHF-only antennas for their OTA reception (even in markets where all digital broadcasts are currently UHF) because of this.

A bigger question is when WFAA will switch to 720p, so the 2.5 Mbps wasted on their radar simulcast will have less effect on the quality of their HD broadcast.

Xesdeeni

I have a couple of questions maybe you can answer, :D

Does KDFI 27 broadcast in digital? They're not in the antennaweb.org site.
Where can I find info about each channel's broadcast format?

Thanks :D

KDFI shows up on antennaweb.org for me.uhf KDFI-DT 27.1 IND DALLAS TX ... 36But as I understand it, they use such a low power that almost no-one can pick them up. I don't get a peep on channel 36, where their digital channel is supposed to be, with either of my two receivers. I have a 9' antenna in my attic, which gets most of the other channels with ease. I suppose that if I put the antenna outside the house, I might get it, but the wife won't let me :-| When I e-mailed them about this, I didn't get a response, and I haven't tried calling.

I posted a message last month at the DHTG site (http://dhtg.napurano.com/dhtgweb/dhtgubb/Forum11/HTML/001126.html) that showed the format and bitrate for the channels at that time (at least the ones I was interested in). Obviously channel 68 has changed, and others may have as well, but it might give you an idea.

Xesdeeni

Thanks for the feedback. I checked again and only 27 analog shows up for my address. Lewisville area. :confused:

I have a Samsung T351 (my first) and a Sony WS 51". I'm seeing most of the programming coming from 4,5,8, etc as 4:3. I thought maybe that I had something set incorrectly but then when some of the prime time shows came on I got them in 16:9 and they looked fine. So, is it normal that most programming will come in 4:3 format?

Thanks :D

Originally posted by joegarrett
Thanks for the feedback. I checked again and only 27 analog shows up for my address. Lewisville area. :confused:

I have a Samsung T351 (my first) and a Sony WS 51". I'm seeing most of the programming coming from 4,5,8, etc as 4:3. I thought maybe that I had something set incorrectly but then when some of the prime time shows came on I got them in 16:9 and they looked fine. So, is it normal that most programming will come in 4:3 format?

Thanks :D


I stopped getting 27 digital a couple of months ago. I can only pick up the analog channel here in Corinth. All other channels are fine.

Joe:

The only time programming is 16:9, is if the station is broadcasting it that way. All SD broadcasts are 4:3, even if they are upconverted or "digitized". None of the stations broadcast HD during the day except CBS (Young & Restless) and possible 21 if they are doing an HDNet rebroadcast, which they sometimes do. With these exceptions HD is only broadcast in the evenings (weekdays and weekends) and sometimes during the day on weekends (sports primarily). Keep in mind that this is still cutting edge, and FWIW sometimes unreliable. Welcome to the board.

Steve

Thanks for the feedback guys! :D

Anyone having trouble with UPN 21 KTXA digital signal? I am only getting the analog signal as I post this message at 7:03pm on 05/19.

Originally posted by corinthbandit
Anyone having trouble with UPN 21 KTXA digital signal? I am only getting the analog signal as I post this message at 7:03pm on 05/19.


Update....the digital signal seems to have returned.

I got my Voom installed on Friday (in Allen), and all the locals work great with the installed Winegard except KERA. Most of the time I just get a black screen or the "No signal" message box. Sometimes I get audio only.

From reading the boards, I assumed that 27 would be the hard one to get.

Anyone else have trouble with KERA lately?

Originally posted by Superstar555
I got my Voom installed on Friday (in Allen), and all the locals work great with the installed Winegard except KERA. Most of the time I just get a black screen or the "No signal" message box. Sometimes I get audio only.

From reading the boards, I assumed that 27 would be the hard one to get.

Anyone else have trouble with KERA lately?



Yes...I'm not getting the digital signal from KERA either. Started this past Saturday night....

Thanks for the reply. I have left a message at the KERA engineering department, but no reply as of yet. I'll update this thread if it comes back online, or if I get a response.

Oh well, guess I'll have to wait for PBS-HD a little longer.

Hello,

Glad to find this forum. I am a pre-newbie to Digital TV and HDTV. I have my HDTivo on order, and I am in the process of buying the display/cables/antenna/switches. . . while I wait for the Tivo to arrive.

I'm trying to determine what antenna I need to buy, I also have a general question regarding who is broadcastng a digital feed. When I go to Antennaweb, and do a search I get a huge list of channels, but most of them seem to be analog only. Here's the list:

blue - vhf WFAA 8 ABC DALLAS TX 197° 38.5 8
blue - vhf KXAS 5 NBC FORT WORTH TX 196° 38.2 5
blue - uhf KXTX 39 TEL DALLAS TX 197° 38.3 39
blue - vhf KTVT 11 CBS FORT WORTH TX 195° 38.4 11
blue - uhf KPXD 68 PAX ARLINGTON TX 197° 38.1 68
blue - uhf KMPX 29 DAY DECATUR TX 211° 19.6 29
blue - uhf KUVN 23 UNI GARLAND TX 197° 38.1 23
blue - uhf KTXA 21 UPN FORT WORTH TX 197° 38.1 21
blue - uhf KSTR 49 UNI IRVING TX 194° 40.8 49
blue - vhf KERA 13 PBS DALLAS TX 195° 38.4 13
blue - uhf KDAF 33 WB DALLAS TX 194° 40.8 33
blue - uhf KDFI 27 IND DALLAS TX 197° 38.1 27
blue - uhf KFWD 52 IND FORT WORTH TX 197° 38.1 52
violet - uhf KHPK-LP 28 UAT De Soto TX 197° 38.1 28
violet - uhf KLEG-LP 19 SPA DALLAS TX 184° 17.9 19
violet - vhf KDFW 4 FOX DALLAS TX 197° 38.5 4
violet - uhf KSEX-LP 57 IND DALLAS TX 197° 38.1 57
* violet - uhf KERA-DT 13.1 PBS Dallas TX 195° 38.5 14
violet - uhf KLDT 55 IND LAKE DALLAS TX 241° 16.4 55
violet - vhf KTEN 10 NBC ADA OK 1° 87.5 10
violet - vhf KDTN 2 PBS DENTON TX 197° 38.1 2
violet - uhf KJJM-LP 46 FMN DALLAS TX 162° 23.9 46
violet - uhf KATA-LP 60 FMN MESQUITE TX 162° 23.9 60
violet - uhf KDTX 58 TBN DALLAS TX 197° 38.1 58
* violet - uhf KTVT-DT 11.1 CBS Fort Worth TX 195° 38.4 19
* violet - uhf KXTX-DT 40.1 TEL DALLAS TX 197° 38.3 40
* violet - uhf KXAS-DT 5.1 NBC Fort Worth TX 197° 38.3 41
violet - vhf KXII 12 CBS SHERMAN TX 351° 64.6 12
* violet - vhf WFAA-DT 8.1 ABC Dallas TX 197° 38.5 9

The left-hand dots indicate DTV. When I sort to show digital stations I get:

* violet - uhf KERA-DT 13.1 PBS Dallas TX 195° 38.5 14
* violet - uhf KTVT-DT 11.1 CBS Fort Worth TX 195° 38.4 19
* violet - uhf KXTX-DT 40.1 TEL DALLAS TX 197° 38.3 40
* violet - uhf KXAS-DT 5.1 NBC Fort Worth TX 197° 38.3 41
* violet - vhf WFAA-DT 8.1 ABC Dallas TX 197° 38.5 9

Fox is the only major network missing on the digital list, but it seems that the list MUST be wrong. For example, there are a lot of posts talking about upn 21's feed of HDNET. Does antennaweb think I'm too far away to pick up the digital signal from some of these towers? Any insight would be appreciated.

As far as my antenna needs, I am hoping that an attic mounted UHF Antenna will do the trick (probably a CM 4228). I know that ABC is on channel 9, but I like the relatively small size of the UHF antennas and was hoping it would get the job done. I know Joey R says he gets ABC just fine with a similar attic/UHF set-up. If he reads this, I'd love to know whether he is using a separate VHF or if the low end of the UHF is picking it up.

If need be, I was thinking of getting a pre-amp that supports separate uhf and vhf antennas and trying directing an old set of rabbit ears towards the tower for the vhf feed.

Any thoughts or recommendations will be greatly appreciated.

I've noticed that AntennaWeb loses channels for some reason when you can actually see them. When I checked for a friend, who actually lives a bit closer to the antennas than I do, he had fewer channels. You look like you are only a couple of miles further away than I am. When I type in my zip code and look only at digital channels, I get:

* yellow - uhf KDAF-DT 33.1 WB Dallas TX 206° 38.2 32
* green - uhf KDFW-DT 4.1 FOX Dallas TX 210° 36.4 35
* green - uhf KDTN-DT 2.1 PBS Denton TX 206° 38.2 43
* red - uhf KFWD-DT 51.1 IND FORT WORTH TX 210° 35.9 51
* red - uhf KUVN-DT 23.1 UNI GARLAND TX 210° 35.9 24
* red - uhf KSTR-DT 49.1 UNI IRVING TX 206° 38.2 48
* red - uhf KPXD-DT 68.1 PAX Arlington TX 210° 35.9 42
* red - uhf KTXA-DT 21.1 UPN Fort Worth TX 206° 38.2 18
* red - vhf WFAA-DT 8.1 ABC Dallas TX 210° 36.4 9
* violet - uhf KDFI-DT 27.1 IND DALLAS TX 206° 38.2 36
* violet - uhf KERA-DT 13.1 PBS Dallas TX 208° 36.0 14
* violet - uhf KMPX-DT 30.1 DAY DECATUR TX 236° 20.4 30
* violet - uhf KXTX-DT 40.1 TEL DALLAS TX 209° 36.0 40
* violet - uhf KTVT-DT 11.1 CBS Fort Worth TX 208° 36.0 19
* violet - uhf KXAS-DT 5.1 NBC Fort Worth TX 209° 36.0 41

I get all of these channels with my TV's built-in tuner and with a MyHD card (MDP-100), except channel 27. 51 and sometimes 68 are a bit weak in the MyHD card, and now and then I have trouble with 51 on the TV. All of this is with a Channel Master antenna ($35 at Fry's) in the attic of my new house. I'm sure there is interference from the roofing, but the wife won't let me put the antenna outside :-|

(Note that channel 2 is no longer a PBS station.)

Xesdeeni

Thanks for your input Xesdeeni. That's a big help.

Now, If anyone could comment on the reception of ABC (channel 9) with a UHF only main antenna I'd appreciate it. Once again, I'm in Allen near Custer and Mcdermott. Spousal pressure dictates that I'll be placing my antenna in the attic, and I am hoping to get away with a UHF-only antenna like the ChannelMaster 4228. I guess I can go with a UHF/VHF antenna, but I don't want to wrestle with an 8 foot antenna if I can get the only VHF channel without the hassle.

BTW- I'm aware that hypothetically stations may switch the DTV signals back to their old VHF frequencies once the FCC allows them to ditch the analog feed. I'm willing to cross that bridge when the time comes.

Thanks,
Andy

VOD coming soon!!!! I was on the phone ordering the Mot. HD DVR (install to be Friday am.) and the rep was telling me that VOD would be available this summer! He also said that approx. 40% of the programing would be free! Even better..... if true.... Does anyone have the inside scoop on this?

For those of you who don't receive KDFI 27-DT.

I talk to KDFI's engineer Guy Partridge today explaining that in Lewisville I'm unable to get 27-DT. I also told him that many others are in the same boat. He explained that KDFI was only trying to fulfill the FCC requirement of digital to Dallas, so they are using a very small antenna located on the same tower that 33 broadcasts from on a vary narrow beam and only transmitting at 11.2KW of power. He said he understood about the reception problems and those concerns had been passed to management, but management wasn't yet ready to sink a lot of money into the digital side of 27.

So, If all you can receive is digital, like me, then there will be a long wait to receive 27-DT.

One other thing, Guy said that 27 was all up converted from 480i to 480p.

OK, now I'm bummed..................:(

Why so bummed? What could you possibly be missing on 27?

I live in an apartment near Frankford Rd. and the Tollway just north of Addison and just ordered the Channel Master CM4228. I'm hoping I can use this indoors and still get all the other channels. I can live without 27 and the religious channel.

Originally posted by rtype
Why so bummed? What could you possibly be missing on 27?




Ranger games.....

Originally posted by corinthbandit
Ranger games.....

Like he said, What could you possibly be missing on 27? :D

Originally posted by tomr
Like he said, What could you possibly be missing on 27? :D

Missing your attempt at humor? I guess you don't follow baseball but the Rangers are currently in first place in their division. Yea, it would be nice to catch a game in DT.

VOD coming soon!!!! I was on the phone ordering the Mot. HD DVR (install to be Friday am.) and the rep was telling me that VOD would be available this summer! He also said that approx. 40% of the programing would be free! Even better..... if true.... Does anyone have the inside scoop on this?

I would check out http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/remark,8161587~mode=flat
kcharg (who works for Comcast) contributes there much more frequently than on AVS, he has said that VOD is being held up by a large number of non-responding boxes in the Metroplex, but that it was coming, but was not sure which cities would go 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc... Comcast's local print ads have been saying that VOD is coming for a while now, it will be interesting to see when we get it.

> on a vary narrow beam and only transmitting at 11.2KW of power.

That must be a very narrow beam indeed that KDFI(DT) uses to cause you to get no signal in Lewisville while I get a perfectly solid signal here in Plano! But I guess that makes sense if they are beaming at Dallas from Cedar Hill, I'd be in the same direction even for a very tight beam.

KXAS-DT has had a week signal all weekend (Friday night was fine, started Saturday). Normal signal strengh on my reciever is 88, now it is down in the 40's and pixelating. Anyone else noticed weekness/problems with KXAS?

They also have PSIP problem that prevents some recievers from tuning them properly. The DirecTV 10-250 HD TiVo won't find 5-2 on a scan and it can only be accessed by tuning 41-3 (you get 5-1 if you tune to 41-2).

Originally posted by rtype
Why so bummed? What could you possibly be missing on 27?

I live in an apartment near Frankford Rd. and the Tollway just north of Addison and just ordered the Channel Master CM4228. I'm hoping I can use this indoors and still get all the other channels. I can live without 27 and the religious channel.

Stars hockey and sitcoms :D

Cheezmo,

Noticed the weak signal on NBC-5 as well over the last few days. My Dish 811 has had trouble locking in the signal's been so low. A similar thing happened a couple of months ago (it was mentioned in this thread) but I don't know if anyone found out what the problem was then.

Hope they sort it out soon.

Originally posted by corinthbandit
Ranger games.....

Do the Rangers have games broadcast in HD? Curious as I cannot pull in 27 DT channel.

I've never seen any true HD on 27. Definitely not the Rangers games.

Thanks, Cheezmo, making sure I wasn't missing anything wit not pulling in the digital side of the station.

Tonedeaf,
The Rangers will be in HD on July 11 @ 1:00pm. Rangers vs. Red Sox (I think). It will be on Comcast INHD 1 or 2, can't remember which. I know you are probably a Sat user but maybe one of the local sports bars will be showing it in HD...... It will be on at my house! :)

Scotty

I swapped out my DTC-100 for a HD-Tivo just a couple of weeks ago. At first, all seemed good on OTA. Early tests showed signals varying between 80's and 90's, picking up everything but channel 27 (gave up on that one some time ago).

After a couple of botched "Drew Carey" recordings from WFAA, I am now getting near nada on signal strength. Tests on frequency 9 are bouncing from the 30's to zero. All other stations are still ok, but strength is generally down from the early tests, ranging 70's to 80's.

I'm not sure what could have changed after initial setup. I've been using a generic Rat Shack VHF/UHF combo in the attic for several years without problem (with the DTC-100). I am quite close to Cedar Hill, being in SE Arlington, with clear line of sight.

I have heard that the HD-Tivo tuners could be more sensitive than my previous receiver. Should I try an attenuator first? Being this close, is it possible I am getting too much signal, despite the attic installation?

I'm trying to update a master list of OTA HD stations. Dallas has not yet been updated. Can somebody that knows what networks are broadcasting in HD or HD/DD5.1 go to the following link and post the info?

National List of Stations Broadcasting HD / DD5.1 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=422073)

Thanks....

I did end up trying the attenuator here in SE Arlington with the HD-Tivo. Seems to working great so far, I went from a wildly bouncing signal ranging from 0 to 30's to a steady signal in the 90's. All other stations are a bit stronger and steadier too, high 80's to low 90's. I think I was just getting overloaded with signal on these new tuners.

In addition, thanks to Johnny Stigler at WFAA for assisting me via email.

So I ordered my HD-TiVo this week and I want to take the next month getting my place ready to receive it.

I am in East Dallas by White Rock and I want to use an indoor antenna. So what would you suggest I use? I really don't want to have to move the antenna at all.

hi all.. just an FYI here. I was looking for an indoor antenna I could use to pick up my OTA digitals in an apartment complex in north central plano off legacy dr.

I tried the silver sensor and a couple others with no luck at all. today I went to radio shack and bought an amplified vhf/uhf hdtv antenna, and it's working great. I'm getting everything except 27-1.

here is a link to it:

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F003%5F001%5F001%5F000&product%5Fid=15%2D1880

hope that helps someone who was in the same situation I was!

Originally posted by still-asleep
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F003%5F001%5F001%5F000&product%5Fid=15%2D1880

hope that helps someone who was in the same situation I was!
You're getting everything off of THAT? I have a big outdoor antenna that I haven't mounted outside yet near Frankford and the Tollway and I'm not able to get 27 (I don't care), ABC or WB (I actually do care). Maybe I should have tried this indoor antenna first.

yeah, I couldn't believe it either.. LOL.... I was just bored and thought "what the hell, I'll try another antenna", so I went to radio shack to find something to try, and decided on this one. it was pixelated at first, just had to do some moving the of the straight antenna extendable pieces, and adjusted the gain knob, and wow... got lucky!

the biggest thing I wanted was ABC, so that when football season comes up, I'll be able to get Monday night football in HD.

I should also mention, it's going into a hughes HTL-HD receiver :) some receivers pick up OTA better than others, so for what that's worth, that's what I'm using.

Hi guys:

Just found this forum and there's a lot of great info.

I'm curious if there is a master list of the DFW-area digital/HD stations that I can reference. I'm located in China Spring which is about 15 miles NW of Waco. The Waco/Temple stations are all located about 30 miles away at 175 degrees and come in fine in analog. The DFW stations appear to be about 65 miles away at 5 degrees. The problem is that when I go to antennaweb with my address it doesn't show the DFW stations even though I can get analog broadcasts from DFW and I know my neighbors get the digitals. I want to know I need to be aiming at.

I just bought a DirecTV HD Tivo machine and the installer is coming out to day so I haven't yet had a chance to see what I can get OTA from my location using this tuner.

Also, I'm curious if any of you antenna gurus have any advice on what might be the ideal antenna setup from my location. I'm in a heavily wooded subdivision on a bluff overlooking the Brazos River so once I clear the trees I have perfect view over the valley to the north towards Dallas. What I have done so far is the following:

Bought a 30' telescoping steel channel master antenna mast and a channel master 3018 UHF/VHF antenna from Lowes. This is the 2nd largest antenna in the channel master line. I mounted the antenna mast on my roof against my chimney which is a wood-frame chimney with a steel stovepipe inside like all the new chimneys so I could screw attachment bolts right into it. So the base of my mast is at about 15' and with it extended to 25' it appears that I can clear all the trees and have a direct line-of-sight in 360 degrees. I don't have an antenna motor so I have to climb up to the roof and rotate the antenna by hand.

What I am thinking is that I should keep this channelmaster antenna pointed at Temple to bring in the Waco NBC, CBS, and PBS HD broadcasts and then take a 2nd UFH antenna (perhaps a 4228) and install it on my mast above the 3018 to point towards Dallas. Then use as channelmaster 7777 amp and split the feeds between the two antennas.

However what I don't have is a reference list of the DFW-area HD stations so that I can determine what sort frequency range I am trying to pull in and what sort of antenna is going to be most ideal. Unfortunately in Waco we have NBC on VHF and the rest on UHF so I need a combo antenna. If the same is true of DFW then I'll probably need to put up another big combo antenna pointed at DFW.

Any comments or suggestions? This is all totally new to me so I'm just struggling through a steep learning curve.

quick follow-up.

Looking at some of the antennaweb station listings up-thread it appears that ABC is the only DFW affiliate that is broadcasting digital on VHF. Is this true? Because my neighbors tell me it is impossible to pull that station in from my area because it is stepped on by a weather radar broadcast by a Waco station on the same frequency. If that is indeed the case then perhaps I only need a UHF antenna to pull in all that is available in DFW area.

I'm in the plano area, near 75 & Legacy...

This is what antenna web spits back at me:

* blue - uhf KXTX-DT 40.1 TEL DALLAS TX 200° 36.8 40
* blue - uhf KTVT-DT 11.1 CBS Fort Worth TX 198° 36.8 19
* blue - uhf KERA-DT 13.1 PBS Dallas TX 198° 36.8 14
* blue - uhf KDAF-DT 33.1 WB Dallas TX 197° 39.2 32
* violet - uhf KDFW-DT 4.1 FOX Dallas TX 200° 37.0 35
* violet - uhf KFWD-DT 51.2 IND FORT WORTH TX 200° 36.5 51
* violet - uhf KUVN-DT 24.1 UNI GARLAND TX 200° 36.5 24
* violet - uhf KDTN-DT 2.1 PBS Denton TX 197° 39.2 43
* violet - uhf KPXD-DT 68.1 PAX Arlington TX 200° 36.6 42
* violet - uhf KSTR-DT 49.1 UNI IRVING TX 197° 39.2 48
* violet - uhf KTXA-DT 21.1 UPN Fort Worth TX 197° 39.2 18
* violet - uhf KXAS-DT 5.1 NBC Fort Worth TX 200° 36.8 41
* violet - vhf WFAA-DT 8.1 ABC Dallas TX 200° 37.0 9

It appears to me that the direction is nearly the same for all stations that support DTV.

One of my main issues is I live in an apartment so a rooftop antenna is not going to happen, so I'm restricted to an indoor antenna, or possibly the outdoor antenna that looks like dish-sized box. (mounted on my patio, of course)

I purchased a phillips antenna (box says good for HDTV) from walmart, and while the antenna not near any windows, could get at most a 30% signal, average around 15-20%. With the antenna near the window I was getting 30-40%, With a metal object behind the antenna I can actually get a barely watchable signal on some channels. The type of antenna is a small UHF loop.

After reading a post on here about the radio shack indoor antenna (bow-tie+reflector), I'm considering stopping by on my way home and picking that one up, returnning the other one.

What do you think, given the antennaweb listing and my results last night (during a bit of a storm, too... if that makes much difference)?

The good news was the signals seemed to be fairly steady, so I assume no ghosting... Suprisingly Univision was nearly flawless with the antenna near the window.

It's a bit frustrating ;) I recently purchased an HDTV card for my computer, the cable connection in that room appears to be crossed, signals come in weak, no color on analog channels, same signal on both A and B.

Stick with the Silver Sensor for indoor reception. There are some bar-type antennas that might work on your patio, if you are pointing in the right direction.

Xesdeeni

OK, I must be loosing my mind. I live in Rockwall and have a TERK 55 hanging outside. I am able to pull in 4, 8, 11, 13, 21, and 33 OTA but I can't get Channel 5. I am using an E* 811 as my tuner. I have deleted the channel list several times and performed a rescan. No 5. I have tried to manually input the channel but the tuner just doesn't see it. I have repostioned the antenna and still nothing. Rest of the OTA channels are coming in around 87% - 89%. Any suggestions? Thanks - Art:confused:

A few months ago (check up-thread for the related comments) channel 5's power dropped dramatically. I get over 90% for most channels, but 5 regularly hovers around 50% and sometimes drops below. When that happens, I get breakups. I e-mailed them and asked if this would be fixed before the Olympics, but they didn't answer. You might want to follow suit and maybe we can help them realize how many people are watching (or in your case, NOT watching).

Xesdeeni

Thanks for the info. I will shoot off an e-mail today. Interesting. - Art

Originally posted by bavaria72
OK, I must be loosing my mind. I live in Rockwall and have a TERK 55 hanging outside. I am able to pull in 4, 8, 11, 13, 21, and 33 OTA but I can't get Channel 5. I am using an E* 811 as my tuner. I have deleted the channel list several times and performed a rescan. No 5. I have tried to manually input the channel but the tuner just doesn't see it. I have repostioned the antenna and still nothing. Rest of the OTA channels are coming in around 87% - 89%. Any suggestions? Thanks - Art:confused:

I was having a similar problem with my Terk 55. After hearing so many negative comments here I went and got the Channel Master Stealth Antenna. That did the trick. I was having problems with UPN and WB. If I tuned them in I would lose 5 or 11 I can't remember. With the new CM I have no problems at all.

It seems the negative comments about the Terk were warranted. At least for me! The Stealth was only $40.00. Didn't come with a pole I used the one I had with the Terk.

I've been having exactly the same problems with Channel 5 over the last couple of months. What email address are you sending to Xesdeeni, and I will shoot them an email right away and ask them to turn up the power a bit. It drives my wife crazy because she loves Law and Order!

At the nbc5i.com server (I don't want to bombard them with SPAM), you could try TVReception. I've also used engineering. On the nbc.com server, I've received responses from John.Sanderford and Jim.Borden (although not about their power drop).

Xesdeeni

Looks like the Channel Master Stealth Antenna (with amplifier) is about the same price as TERK 55 but it certainly is not nearly as stealthy looking as the TERK 55. Hum, going to have to think about how I can convince the wife (I know, PW-ed but that is why I have been marrried for 20 years);)

Originally posted by bavaria72
Looks like the Channel Master Stealth Antenna (with amplifier) is about the same price as TERK 55 but it certainly is not nearly as stealthy looking as the TERK 55. Hum, going to have to think about how I can convince the wife (I know, PW-ed but that is why I have been marrried for 20 years);)

I think its kuhl looking, just like the bomber! Works much better also. No amplifier needed for me, only 8 miles from Cedar Hill

Just wanted to let everyone know that I just got this reply to my email to NBC5i.com from yesterday commenting on the low signal strength some of us have been seeing:


I will check on the transmitter plant tomorrow as I will be at that site.
According to the control equipment, I am not seeing anything that would cause a drop in signal strength.
But I am doing my rounds at that site tomorrow and will make sure.
Thank you for contacting us.

John Sanderford
Transmitter Supervisor



At least they responded and are aware of the issue, which is something good.

Interesting. Maybe he will find something. Tonight I'll play with my tuner and see if I can get 5.

Count me among those who are puzzled by the loss of 5-1 signal strength. Since moving to HD in February I have consistently had good picture on 5-1 but since late July I'm unable to get a picture (the dreaded 'Searching for Signal' message on my Sammy HD-Directv receiver). FWIW, 4-1 has been very sporadic since before the MLB All Star game. Hope these problems clear up before the Olympics/football season.

I just counterposted essentially the same message at http://dhtg.napurano.com/ (http://http://dhtg.napurano.com/) (Dallas Home Theatre Group) so if any news come from there I will redirect to this site.

I wonder if Mr. John Sanderford (Transmitter Supervisor) found anything wrong when he checked things out yesterday. Tried once again unsuccessfully to get NBC last night. Guess I'm going to have to breakdown and buy another antenna. The bummer part is I'm going to have to mount it in the back of the house next to my dishes because I don't want it showing in the front and make another 100' run of cable. That is why the Terk 55 was so perfect, very low profile. Oh well, if that is the worse thing that happens to me today, I'll survive somehow.:rolleyes:

There is an interesting article in the August 2004 issue of Home Theater Magazine that I wanted to mention here. The title is called:

Terrestrial HDTV: Is it plug and play yet? (Page 42)

Here is his article on his webpage, but geared more toward the Square Shooter:

http://www.hdtvexpert.com/Pages/squareshot.htm

The writer, Peter Putnam,CTS, ISF, does an outdoor and indoor antenna test with antennas such as:

Winegard's Square Shooter-1000
Terk's TV55
Zenith's Silver Sensor
Channel Master's 3000A
Radio Shack's 15-1880
and homemade bow-tie antenna

Using the LG LST-3100A tuner

Test's included:

Indoors - Conducted in the writers studio in Doylestown, Pennsylvania about 22 miles from the Philadelphia transmitting towers over a partially obstructed path.

Outdoors - Moved out front to the parking lot and put them on a 5 foot tall mast at ground level

Results:

Indoors (DTV channels picked up) -

Winegard's Square Shooter-1000 (9 channels)
Terk's TV55 (6 stations)
Zenith's Silver Sensor (7 stations)
Channel Master's 3000A (7 stations)
Radio Shack's 15-1880 (10 channels)
Homemade and scrappile yagi antennas (9 stations)

Outdoors (DTV channels picked up) -

Winegard's Square Shooter-1000 (9 channels)
Terk's TV55 (8 stations)
Zenith's Silver Sensor (7 stations)
Channel Master's 3000A (not mentioned)
Radio Shack's 15-1880 (not mentioned)
Homemade and scrappile yagi antennas (not mentioned)


For more information on the tests, check out Peter's Website:

http://www.hdtvexpert.com

Here is more detail on the Wineguard SS-1000 (listed above):

http://www.hdtvexpert.com/Pages/squareshot.htm

Thanks for the links. Interesting. Obviously the Winegard's Square Shooter-1000 is a superior antenna. Very boxy looking. Plus $150 for it. He was not too kind to the Terk55. Oh well, live and learn.

Originally posted by Xesdeeni
Stick with the Silver Sensor for indoor reception. There are some bar-type antennas that might work on your patio, if you are pointing in the right direction.

Xesdeeni

Well, This is what I have done...

I went ahead and picked up the Radio Shack DTV antenna. This antenna plus a second amplifier I'm able to pull in:

D02(43): KDTN-SD {54%, 15.9dB}
D04(35,36): KDFW-DT (Must reorient antenna element to receive viewable signal)
D05(41): KXAS-DT {91%, 24.8dB}
D09(9): WFAA-DT? {22%} Very poor signal, probably due to VHF
D11(19): KTVT-DT {98%,26.5dB}
D13(14): KERA-HD {74%,20.2dB}
D20(20): ? {23%,6.4dB} +
D21(18): UPN 21 {80%,21.8dB}
D23(24): KUVN-DT {81%,22.1dB}
D30(30): ? {42%,11.5}+
D33(32): KDAF-DT {100%,27.8dB}
D39(40): KXTX-DT {94%,25.6dB}
D45(45): ? {31%,8.5dB}+
D46(46): ? {65%, 17.6dB}
D48(48): ? {87%,23.5dB}
D51(51): KFWD {79%, 21.4dB}*
D68: KPXD-DT{85%, 23.0dB}

+ Station is too weak to get a video lock, sometime audio comes through, but rarely.

* Station does not seem to send an ID packet with signal, Call letters determined by on-screen station id overlay

>> Oddities: My receiver seems to pick up 2 D04's one with decent signal strength (35), one with very poor signal strength (36).

Not too bad for a piddly indoor antenna.

I set up the antenna to point out a window. The window is actually facing east, but according to antennaweb, all of the stations are SW of here, so I must be picking up the signal bounced from adjacent buildings. One of the challenges to using an indoor antenna in this complex is the fact that the buildings are artificial stucco.

On the cable end, it appears my tuner card (Fusion HDTV QAM) does not receive cable signals, due to the frequencies used by the channels. I now have the DVR receiver from Comcast, and can view HD programming, but the STB has to downconvert to 480i to get a picture on my SD TV...

One of these days I'll get the real deal ;)

I'm trying to find a way to record an ESPN-HD football game next month (and save it if my team pulls out a victory ;-) ). Obviously I can't record from satellite (which is what I have now), so cable is my only hope. However, they don't offer HD cable in my area yet.

I will be buying an additional ATSC tuner card for my HTPC (I already have a MyHD) to allow me to record two OTA programs at the same time. I'm most likely going with the QAM FusionHDTV card to give me the option of recording from cable, if they ever get it in my neighborhood. For the specific game next month, I was hoping that I might be able to find someone in the area with HD cable and tote my HTPC to their place just for the day (if all goes well, I'll actually be at the game myself).

But that may all be for naught....

Why do you think the cable frequencies are the issue? There are a number of other potential problems, including scrambling and QAM compatiblities. Did you get some error that indicated this? Can you access any HD channels on cable?

Xesdeeni

Originally posted by Xesdeeni
Why do you think the cable frequencies are the issue? There are a number of other potential problems, including scrambling and QAM compatiblities. Did you get some error that indicated this? Can you access any HD channels on cable?

Xesdeeni

Based on information I've read on this forum, I have deduced that this is the issue. Apparently Comcast in my area uses HRC for their channels. This is usually indicated by the presence of both channels 5 and 6. Which, Comcast in plano uses. The fusion card's software only tunes normal CATV and OTA. These are also the only channels I can get over the cable wire (and poorly at best) no analog, no digital. I realised that QAM would be another issue, but there have been some positive reports, at least with QAM256. I've tried GotAllMedia, but it's very unstable and I can't seem to tune anything w/o crashing. GotAllMedia, if I can get it working might enable me to pick up cable signals, then I can do battle with QAM modulation.

I also realise that I cannot get the channels that are encrypted, but ESPNHD isn't supposed to be and the local channels shouldn't be.

I'm watching Monday Night Football OTA and I am wondering if anybody else is having an issue with the Dolby sound? When Michaels and Madden are speaking it is only being broadcast thru my front middle speaker. The crowd noise and refs on the field are coming thru left and right front speakers and sound great. As soon as ABC goes to commercial the sound returns to normal. Because of this I really can't adjust the sound. I hope this is just a "dress rehearsal" issue that ABC will correct (and I really hope it is not an issue with my receiver!) Other than that, the picture is wonderful. Thanks - Art

@mraiford - I'm sorry, I must be dense. I still don't quite get what you are meaning. You mention the analog cable channel modulation scheme, but how does that relate to (H)DTV content on the cable? I'm not concerned with recording analog, only HD. Have you been able to record QAM with the Fusion? It looks like you are trying to use the Got All Media (http://www.gottvpvr.com/) application to control the card. Does the Fusion software not support QAM, so you must use a 3rd party's s/w?

Xesdeeni

Originally posted by Xesdeeni
@mraiford - I'm sorry, I must be dense. I still don't quite get what you are meaning. You mention the analog cable channel modulation scheme, but how does that relate to (H)DTV content on the cable? I'm not concerned with recording analog, only HD. Have you been able to record QAM with the Fusion? It looks like you are trying to use the Got All Media (http://www.gottvpvr.com/) application to control the card. Does the Fusion software not support QAM, so you must use a 3rd party's s/w?

Xesdeeni

Hmmm... Now I'm beginning to wonder. The fusion software natively supports QAM(256 and 64). I thought the channel frequencies w/ QAM were the same as the analog channel frequencies, but used a different modulation than analog?

I believe that QAM allows pairs of channels to fit into the 6 MHz slots used by one analog or ATSC signal. That's pretty much all I am aware of, and I don't know what the QAM 64/256 numbers mean, except that there is a difference that must be supported by the tuner.

Xesdeeni

Two completely unrelated notes....

Quite by accident, I noticed that KDFI-DT (27-1 on physical channel 36) is now at a power which I can actually receive!!! I get about 58% on my MyHD card, which is about the same as I get with KXAS-DT (the other channels are usually better than 85%). My Mitsubishi 65511 (which has a bit more sensitive tuner) also has no trouble with the channel now. Just in time to watch the Rangers plummet out of the division race :-(

And it looks like KXAS has removed the radar loop on 5-2. I'm not exactly sure what they are doing. It looks like 5-2 is actually gone right now. I didn't have time to look closely last night, including checking the bitrates. But I'm wondering if they are preparing for the Olympics. My understanding is that the HD broadcast will be delayed one day, and for the duration of the Olympics will be an 8-hour repeating loop that does not include their analog broadcast. So I'm guessing they may intend to put their analog broadcast on 5-2 for the duration.

Xesdeeni

Glad to look thru this thread, I have constant problems locking into NBC, it seems the signal is strong till about 10 PM and then drops out. Im located in Providence Village (about 6 miles South of Aubrey) and have a Winegard installed on my roof. I am at wits end on what to do next, I will tune NBC so Im receiving a 90 signal and then on occasion it flucuated from 30-80 with the dreaded Signal not Found showing. Has anybody figured out what is going on, have you upgraded your antenna to elimate this problem and if so please share. Im just glad VOOM added 3 stations (1-HD 2-SD) on their satellite so I can watch the Olympics, but Id like to get this problem fixed before the fall season starts. Im tired of having to watch NBC on my other tv via crappy cable SD. Thanks.

Hey SMT, well good luck! I live in Rockwall and I can't get NBC HD period. Every one else of the HD channels come in like champs but not NBC. I assume their tower is located in Cedar Hill so what is the deal? Don't know. I wish NBC would think a little out of the box and realize there is an issue they need to investigate or come out and be honest if they are doing something like directional antennas. There is no reason why "peripheral" cities (like Rockwall or Providence Village) can't get the signal but the Plano's and Richardson's can. Oh well, fortunately there not much on NBC anyway so I guess I really won’t miss out on much. :p

Originally posted by bavaria72
Hey SMT, well good luck! I live in Rockwall and I can't get NBC HD period. Every one else of the HD channels come in like champs but not NBC. :p

I live in Rockwall and get OTA HD NBC fine..... Im watching the olympics right now.....

Really?! What antenna are you using? What is your orientation? Are you south of 30 or north? Thanks - Art

Originally posted by Xesdeeni
Quite by accident, I noticed that KDFI-DT (27-1 on physical channel 36) is now at a power which I can actually receive!!!

Xesdeeni

I couldn't tune KDFI-DT (27-1) at all last night. But a couple of nights ago I could swear that it was coming in pretty strong. I can receive most OTA via my attic antenna with signal strengths in the 80's. KDFI-DT has always been the exception, with a stength as low as the 30's at times.

Does anyone know if they are indeed preparing to increase their power (and are going thru growing pains in the process) ?? I can't record the analog channel with my PVR, so I need the digital broadcasts by October - if hockey season arrives anyway...

BTW- did anybody catch Star Trek IV in HD on UPN (21-1) last night? This must be the deal with Paramount (one movie aired twice a month in HD). But the listsings in titantv and the Tivo guide did not show it as being in HD. I'll have to find some way to remind myself about The Godfather I+II in November.

-Corey

No, I missed ST-IV last night, because there was no information that it would be shown. However I have discovered that it will apparently be shown again on Sunday August 29, at 10:30 PM.

Xesdeeni

I've had problems getting NBC in, for the last week Ive been getting a signal of 90+ with no dropouts, anybody else notice the improvement?

As a matter of fact I was able to get NBC 5.1 for the first time on Sunday afternoon (8-22-04). I have been meaning to post my pleasant surprise. Now it is a bit flaky and I usually have to up/down channel several times with my E* 811 until it locks in (usually settles around 74%). I wonder if NBC made any changes? Now if they could boost the power just a tad bit more and revamp their "content"....;) Regardless, good move NBC.

I just wish they'd upgrade their MPEG encoder. It's horrible. I haven't verified the bitrate, but they removed the radar sub-channel just before the Olympics, and I assume this was done to increase the bitrate for the HD feed. But the quality of the encoding is still horrible. Some of the electronics stores are running the NBC HD Olympics on all their HD sets. I wonder how many sales that crappy macro-blocking is costing them. :rolleyes:

Xesdeeni

I completely agree about the MPEG encoder. It was probably one they bought off of EBay. My wave of enthusiasm took a bit of a hit last night. It took me about 15 tries before I was able to lock 5.1 in (looked like around 73%). About 10 minutes later it lost lock and I could not get it back. I finally gave up and went to 148 and watched it thru E*. Very disheartening. Perhaps the new software upload from E* (for my 811) might help the situation (though it seems that the latest upgrade is not intended to do anything for OTA issues.) Dang it!:mad:

I had no problems last night with NBC, was locked in all night....

Hey SNT, is Provenience Village located north of Denton? That is quite a distance from Cedar Hill if that is the case. Did anyone ever determine if NBC was using a directional antenna instead of an omni to broadcast the HD signal? I'm trying to figure out why I'm having heck of a time getting NBC. Thanks - Art

Im not North of Denton, Im located 10 miles East of City of Denton right off 380.
I think Im about 48 miles from the station. Just rotating my antenna and
1" or 2 will loose the station.

I'm just south of Denton, and I've never had a problem getting Ch. 5-1 since I got my HD-Tivo in April. I'm using a Radio Shack antenna mounted in the attic. I checked a few weeks ago when people first started complaining, and I was still getting a signal in the low 90's.

Admittedly I am using a directional antenna (Terk 55) but regardless, rest of the OTA channels come in fine, not 5.1. Played with my 811 last night and I was never able to lock in 5.1. I t never went over 49%. Why would rest of the OTA channels broadcasting from Cedar Hill come fine but NBC won’t? Very puzzling.

Originally posted by bavaria72
Really?! What antenna are you using? What is your orientation? Are you south of 30 or north? Thanks - Art Is NBC the channel that is in the UHF band? I'm getting all the locals (I live in North Fort Worth), but a friend who lives further was lamenting over the fact that his [Terk] VHF band antenna does not pull in a particular channel. Maybe It's NBC?

Heading over to antennaweb.org to check it out (maybe I should have done that first).

Eric

UPDATE: I had my UHF and VHF backwards. Fixed it now.

ABC 8.1 VHF 09
FOX 4.1 UHF 35
NBC 5.1 UHF 41
CBS 11.1 UHF 19
UPN 21.1 UHF 18

So of the above 5, only ABC is in the VHF band...

Looks like Cheezmo posted close to the same as my update! Thanks Cheezmo

Nope. KXAS-DT (NBC) is on channel 41. WFAA-DT (ABC) is on 9, that is the only VHF one in our area.

ABC comes in fine (both 8.1 and 8.2) for me but that dang 5.1 (at 41) does not. Because of the number of complaints that have been posted here (and other forums) there is an issue here. I’m wondering if folks like in Saginaw (sort of the mirror image directionally of Rockwall), or Waxahachie, or even Gun Barrel City receive 5.1? Of course type of antenna has a huge impact. I’m sure if I put up one of those big honking, multi-element antennas I would pull in 5.1. But I really like the “stealth” look of the Terk 55. No complaints from the neighbors, homeowners associations (I know they can’t do anything legally but yell), or my wife. If I can make some time this weekend, I may move my antenna temporarily and see if a change in direction helps any. Right now it is pointing squarely at an azimuth of 255 degrees. I wonder if I’m in some dead zone or edge of a lobe? Should be interesting.

Does anyone remember that "soda pop survey" where someone plotted what we call our drinks on a map? Wow, that was an easy search. Check out http://www.popvssoda.com/.

It would be cool instead of some long meandering thread of a topic of who gets which station, if we could post our coordinates and give each station a rating (0 to 5). It would be nice to get the transmit antennas on the map too. Topo info would be nice as well, but I digress...

Then we could see if a pattern developed for who gets which station.

Eric

anyone know anything for maybe helping me with my VHF reception (ABC channel 8-1)?

I have the radio shack 15-1880 amplified antenna, and it gets most all the channels well, but abc pixelates and the audio stutters at times and it annoys me. the signal strength just isn't good enough.

I live in an apartment in north plano... patio faces south...

can I add anything to boost the signal level for vhf? I've tried manipulating the 15-1880 every which way, but can't get abc's signal enough to where it will not break up occasionally.

thanks for any help!

You could add a preamplifier (I just use whatever Radio Shack had a couple of years ago). Usually takes a the form of a small "bullet" amplifier installed up by the antenna and then a power injector inside the home where it plugs in. It can be helpful to have one with adjustable gain so you can adjust the strength since sometimes the amplifier is too much, I had to turn it down a bit for best reception on my HD Tivo.

Originally posted by Cheezmo
You could add a preamplifier (I just use whatever Radio Shack had a couple of years ago). Usually takes a the form of a small "bullet" amplifier installed up by the antenna and then a power injector inside the home where it plugs in. It can be helpful to have one with adjustable gain so you can adjust the strength since sometimes the amplifier is too much, I had to turn it down a bit for best reception on my HD Tivo.

so even though the radio shack 15-1880 already has a built in adjustable amplifier, I could add another? or would that introduce too much noise perhaps also? I will try it if you think it will help.

Sorry, I didn't know that the antenna you have has a built in amp. I assume you tried adjusting it. Max gain isn't always the best.

yeah, thanks.. I sure did. I spent about 4 hours trying to tune it in to get rid of the pixelization.... tweaking on the rabbit ears and everything every which direction, and tweaking the amp. on this one, the max gain actually is the best, but still just not quite. today I grabbed one of the jensen 920's, and it's basically doing the same, so I'm probably just screwed until maybe directv starts broadcasting the locals in high def or I buy a house.. haha

I returned my RadioShack antenna with the built in amp and rabit ears in back. (screen between the uhf and vhf). Same model I think, $40 on sale.

Am now using a Silver Sensor, which works much better for me, but still not good enough. Only getting Fox35 and NBC41! My goal is to get PBS14, WB32, and FOX35, even if that takes switching between 2 antennas.

The RadioShack double bow tie was worst of three for me.

Am planning to buy a Channel Master 4221 and the 7777 preamp to see if they help. But the 4221 may not be great for multipath.

Some of the local Fry's sell the bigger Channel Master 8 bay bow tie for $50. Maybe not practical for an apartment.

I'm located in the worst possible corner of my apt building, opposite from Cedar Hill :( May need to spend more time instead aiming out the window, looking for a good reflection. (Am 26 miles from the towers, in Dallas a few blocks NE of the Galleria Towers.)

Hi everyone. I am a brand new HD viewer and trying to figure all of this out. The salesman I bought the tv from told me to buy any ol set of rabbit ears and I would get HD. He did not tell me it was a get some channels and not others kind of thing. So before the tv was delivered I bought some RCA amplified ears at Home Depot. When the TV was delivered I immediately hooked up the rabbit ears and turned on the Olympics and boom there it was on 5.1 and 5.2. (I still do not understand all of these channels or the DT and such) After a couple of days I realized I was getting nothing on any of the 8's. Being confused since I was told I would get everything I called my salesman and asked why I was not getting Monday Night Football or channel 4. He said to play with the rabbit ears and see if that helped. So I did that and I finally got 8 in. But then some of the others were not coming in at all or not strong and chopping up. Still no 4. I am in Midlothian, (about 12 miles from Cedar Hill) so I figured I would get everything pretty easy. I get regular channels on my son's tv very clear with a set of $10 non amplified rabbit ears.

I guess I need to know should I be getting 4 and is there something I need to do to get everything without having to play with the ears all the time?

Another thing is tonight 8 was showing up, but not very clear. Anyone else have that? Is it possible to receive it but not strong enough to be high def? I need to do some learning about high def I guess. I didn't realize how much there was to it.

which hdtv is the best?

I have the new sony

which antenna are you guys using?

Originally posted by MEYJR
Hi everyone. I am a brand new HD viewer and trying to figure all of this out. The salesman I bought the tv from told me to buy any ol set of rabbit ears and I would get HD. He did not tell me it was a get some channels and not others kind of thing. So before the tv was delivered I bought some RCA amplified ears at Home Depot. When the TV was delivered I immediately hooked up the rabbit ears and turned on the Olympics and boom there it was on 5.1 and 5.2. (I still do not understand all of these channels or the DT and such) After a couple of days I realized I was getting nothing on any of the 8's. Being confused since I was told I would get everything I called my salesman and asked why I was not getting Monday Night Football or channel 4. He said to play with the rabbit ears and see if that helped. So I did that and I finally got 8 in. But then some of the others were not coming in at all or not strong and chopping up. Still no 4. I am in Midlothian, (about 12 miles from Cedar Hill) so I figured I would get everything pretty easy. I get regular channels on my son's tv very clear with a set of $10 non amplified rabbit ears.

I guess I need to know should I be getting 4 and is there something I need to do to get everything without having to play with the ears all the time?

Another thing is tonight 8 was showing up, but not very clear. Anyone else have that? Is it possible to receive it but not strong enough to be high def? I need to do some learning about high def I guess. I didn't realize how much there was to it.



HD/Digital signals are an all or nothing animal. If the signal isn't strong enough you won't get anything unlike analog signals where you will see static and ghosting.

What type of tv did you buy? Try channel 35 which is the local Fox frequency assignment per antennaweb.org Do you get Channel 8.2

Right now I seem to be getting everything except 4.1. I tried 35 but it said it was renamed 4.01. But I get nothing on it.

I have a Mitsubishi 65813.

BTW, what does "SD" and "DT" after the channel stand for?

Originally posted by MEYJR
Right now I seem to be getting everything except 4.1. I tried 35 but it said it was renamed 4.01. But I get nothing on it.

I have a Mitsubishi 65813.

BTW, what does "SD" and "DT" after the channel stand for?


Most television stations place their HD signal on the main channel, for example WFAA-DT main channel is 8-1. WFAA-DT places ABC News Now on channel 8-2. The sub channel is a SD or Standard Definition picture as is transmitted in the 4 x 3 format. Some stations have up to 4 sub-channels

Did anyone else have trouble with the audio portion of NBC's Hawaii last night? I could hear sounds (music, background, etc.), but no voices.

Hope this is the right place to post. Not sure if this was a regional or national issue, so I'll start here.

Thanks,

Eric

Yes, it sounds like it WAS a problem. Just found this...

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=4289913

Originally posted by MEYJR
Right now I seem to be getting everything except 4.1. I tried 35 but it said it was renamed 4.01. But I get nothing on it.

I have a Mitsubishi 65813.I now have three tuners. One in a Mitsubishi 65513 (which recently replaced a 65511), a MyHD and a FusionHDTV. Only the latter two give signal strength. But based on these two, it seems KPXD (68.1 on 42), KFWD (51.2 on 51), and KXAS (5.1 on 41) are the weakest, from worst to best. The MyHD cannot get KPXD at all sometimes, and KFWD breaks up a lot. KXAS's signal dropped a couple of months ago. Some say it didn't for them, but for me it dropped from the mid 80%s to the mid 50%s on the MyHD (I didn't have the FusionHDTV until recently). This was enough to get occasional glitches that I wasn't seeing before. The TV's tuner is better, so I didn't see as big a problem.

But KDFW (4.1 on 35) seems to be very strong. In fact, when I set up the FusionHDTV, it found KDFW on 35 and 36. But when it tried to tune 4.1 via 36, it couldn't. I had to manually delete 36 so that it would use 35, and all was well, including 100% power. I suspect the signal was so strong it was bleeding over. I did not have the same problem with either the MyHD or Mitsubishi 65511/65513. But if you are closer than I am (east of Plano), maybe your TV is having a similar problem?BTW, what does "SD" and "DT" after the channel stand for?Originally posted by corinthbandit
Most television stations place their HD signal on the main channel, for example WFAA-DT main channel is 8-1. WFAA-DT places ABC News Now on channel 8-2. The sub channel is a SD or Standard Definition picture as is transmitted in the 4 x 3 format. Some stations have up to 4 sub-channels I wonder if there are actually any regulations about this. A few months ago, KERA-DT did something (I'm assuming it was maintenance) and the channel 13.1 name became something generic (I'm sorry, I can't remember what it was). After a couple of weeks, I couldn't resist sending them feedback via their web page (which is why I don't have a local copy of what I sent to tell you what it said). But when they fixed it, they put up KERA-HD instead of KERA-DT. Also, UPN21 has "Radar" for their second channel, and KPXD has "PaxWest," "Worship," and "Faith" for channels 68.2-68.4.

I'm also curious why 51 doesn't remap to virtual 52, and why they use 51.2 and not 51.1. And my various tuners all do different things with KDAF (33.x on 32), so I suspect their stream isn't quite right either.

Xesdeeni

So all of you are getting our local channel 4 (fox)on 35? Is that what I am understanding? When I put the channel on 35 I had a on screen message that said "35 was renamed 4.1" I never got either to come in. Although I did not try moving the ears any. I will work on that this evening.

KTVT has a nice color bars test pattern running tonight on 11-2. Better than the HDNet one for setting color/tint. But there doesn't appear to be blacker than black in the pluge.

You should be able to set your STB to upconvert 11-2 to 1080i (since is is an SD broadcast) and use your Avia or Video Essentials blue filter to set your color/tint.

If you have a DirecTiVO or DVHS VCR, record it so you can use it later if you get a new display or hook things up differently.

Well I finally got 4.1 to come in. To do this I had to tun the control on my ears all the way down to point it was about to click off. Not only did 4.1 appear, but all the channels are there and has the best reception I have seen. I guess I am too close to Cedar Hill and had too much amplification. I am a happy HD viewer now! Can't wait for real Monday Night Football.

Ok, I've been lazy finding out what the cause of this is but now that new seasons are upon us I want my NBC in HD! I have a MyHD card in my pc hooked upto a 38" monivision hdtv monitor. I have reinstalled the card with the newest drivers and software but during searches it still can not find NBC HD. Does anyone know the true number for the channel. Perhaps I can enter it manually. I used to get 80% or so for this channel but no more! All other channels are working great.

KXAS-DT is at 41.

Anyone in the Wylie area using any indoor antenna?? I use to live in Dallas around Preston and Beltline and had a horrible time picking up stations. Now that I'm further out away from the buildings, I'm wondering if I would have better luck???

I want local HDTV, but Starpower(whi sucks) tells me I need all sorts of expensive work to move my dish from my attic outside. I had a metal roof installed and it screws up the old signal.

They tell me I am 30+ miles from the HDTV antenna, need a powered antenna, specially insalled, blah blah.

Any suggestions?


BTW, Starpower sucks.

Originally posted by BradShaw75
BTW, Starpower sucks.
You got that right!

Spent over $100k with Starpower a couple years ago. I regret about $75k of that. They tell me I needed to spend about $1000 to get my HDTV back up again. They send over one decent guy and one total idiot. They charge $135+ an hour.

> They tell me I am 30+ miles from the HDTV antenna, need a powered antenna, specially insalled

They're full of it...the stations that are transmitting HD content are all running at reasonably high power from tall towers, and are not difficult to receive unless you are in a problem reception area (surrounded by tall buildings).

While I normally use an outdoor antenna for HD reception, I tried connecting my tuner to an indoor antenna to see what I could get, and was able to receive almost all of the local DTV stations. And that's in Plano, about 35 miles from the Cedar Hill transmitter sites.

I'm about 35 or so miles from Cedar Hill (in Rockwall) and I am using a Terk55 outdoor antenna. Nice low profile and was able to hang it under the eve of my roof. Power boosted (10db) and I am able to get all of the HD channels with the exception of 13. Sometimes it come in, sometimes it doesn't. As another person in a diferent forum said, there is an art to tuning an OTA HD Antenna. I hear good things about the indoor Silver Sensor but I have had no personal experience with it.

I have a metal roof, seems to cause problems.

Could but it would seem if you hang it under your eve outside and not place it in the attic, that might work.

I live in North Arlington and there seems to be a sound level difference between the analog and digital signals. Has anyone else experienced this?

Howdy, I'm in Allen about 40 miles away from the transmitters...I purchased a DB4 antenna from antennasdirect-dot-com(supposed to be a +13.8db). I have not mounted it yet, but I would like to see if I should even bother trying it in the attic or head straight for the roof. I have a 2 story house and the attic is above the 2nd floor, so it would be pretty high...roof is standard shingles, plywood.

My HDTV will not be here until Sat. so I have a few days....does anyone have experience with this antenna or in this area to say "don't bother with the attic, it won't work!"...or... "yeah it should work fine..." Thanks for any info or suggestions.

Im not too far from you, and have no experience with that particular antenna. But I did want to say if you have the foil backed roof sheeting as a lot do in TX then the attic location is not a good option. I am about 45 miles out and I had to mount a larger antenna outside.

Originally posted by SMT
Im not too far from you, and have no experience with that particular antenna. But I did want to say if you have the foil backed roof sheeting as a lot do in TX then the attic location is not a good option. I am about 45 miles out and I had to mount a larger antenna outside.
Ah, ha...not sure if I have foil backed roof sheeting or not. I've decided to go ahead and mount it outside anyway. Thanks, I'll report what channels I get (and signal strength) when I get it set up....can't wait!!!

I live in Euless roughly 20 miles from the DFW towers and have a LG LST4200A tuner. My house has aluminum siding which I think is responsible for most of my reception problems for both TV and cell phone. Before going the outdoor antenna route I wanted to try all the major possibilities for indoor antennas. My testing only involved the 4 major networks ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX.

The Radio Shack 15-1880 only allowed me to pick up one of the major networks. When I took it back the clerk said his customers were having better luck with the lower priced 15-1838 so I gave it a try. It did no better! Then I tried the famous Zenith Silver Sensor and could sometimes pickup a 2nd major network but still not good enough. I finally received the Radio shack 930-0998 which is only available on their website and can now pick up all major networks. I do have to move it around slightly to pick up some of the stations but will soon see if an amplifier corrects this. Still I will probably evenutally try an outdoor antenna for the best reception.

I realize the right anenna is a craps shoot but would highly suggest those seeking an indoor antenna look first at the Radio Shack 930-0998.

I live near Frankford and the Tollway in North Dallas near Plano/Addison. I'm in a second floor apartment and I hung a large Channel Master antenna from hanging plant hooks (the ones that look like upside down question marks) on my apartment balcony. There are trees in the way so someone else may have better luck than me with the same antenna and area.

This is the antenna:
4228 8-Bay Bowtie UHF Antenna (CM4228)

I am not using any kind of signal booster.

I'm using it with a Hughes HD DirecTivo box.

I am able to receive the Fox, NBC, ABC, CBS, UPN and WB HD channels, so it did what I needed. I am also able to receive most of the religious channels, which I don't really care about. I am not able to receive the 27 (independent) and I believe one of the foreign channels. I don't know that I need 27 but wanted to share my result for those of you who do.

I would like to add that I am finally a new HDTV viewer with the following equipment:

MIT MyHD MDP-120 HDTV tuner

Wineguard Square Shooter SS-1000 Antenna

And I can pick up all of the following stations from Irving, Texas. The furthest broadcasting tower is 20.8 miles:

* yellow - uhf KDAF-DT 33.1 WB Dallas TX 172° 20.8 32
* yellow - uhf KDFW-DT 4.1 FOX Dallas TX 175° 17.9 35
* yellow - uhf KFWD-DT 51.2 IND FORT WORTH TX 173° 17.6 51
* yellow - vhf WFAA-DT 8.1 ABC Dallas TX 175° 17.9 9
* yellow - uhf KXAS-DT 5.1 NBC Fort Worth TX 173° 17.9 41
* yellow - uhf KXTX-DT 40.1 TEL DALLAS TX 173° 17.9 40
* yellow - uhf KTVT-DT 11.1 CBS Fort Worth TX 171° 18.4 19
* yellow - uhf KTXA-DT 21.1 UPN Fort Worth TX 172° 20.8 18
* yellow - uhf KSTR-DT 49.1 UNI IRVING TX 172° 20.8 48
* yellow - uhf KPXD-DT 68.1 PAX Arlington TX 174° 17.5 42
* yellow - uhf KUVN-DT 23.1 UNI GARLAND TX 174° 17.6 24
* yellow - uhf KDTN-DT 2.1 PBS Denton TX 172° 20.8 43
* yellow - uhf KERA-DT 13.1 PBS Dallas TX 171° 18.4 14
* green - uhf KDTX-DT 58.1 TBN DALLAS TX 174° 17.6 45
* red - uhf KDFI-DT 27.1 IND DALLAS TX 172° 20.8 36

I have ran into some instances where the stations are not broadcasting anything during the day, and I just get a no signal on the screen. I love the HDTV picture when it is broadcasting in HDTV. I was able to successfully record also, and everything is good.

I enjoy that early in the morning on KTXA-DT 21.1 you see some HDNet programming when you feel like seeing some HDTV after waking up. This is also great for recording some demo loops they play also to impress your family and friends later.

The only digital station that I get alot of breakups is KUVN-DT 23.1 even though the signal strength meter is switching between 93% - 100%!

You won't be seeing that morning HD programming on KTXA-DT after tomorrow. Apparently, HDNet is pulling the plug on their broadcast feed to KTXA and a few other stations nationally, effective November 1. KTXA has elected to drop the service a month early, so it will disappear here on October 1.

RScottyL, You did not mention if you are receiving 8.2. There used to be 5.2 and 11.2 but they disappeared. Does anyone know why they are no longer available? They both showed radar weather.

Because they decided to allocate all their bandwidth to the main HD channel to provide better picture quality. I'm all for that!

AMEN BROTHA!

Xesdeeni

Anyone know if that Winegard Square Shooter would be effective in Frisco?

So, is there anyone in the Lake Dallas, Hickory Creek, Corinth, and far south Denton area (close to the hospital) that gets HD?

What equipment do you have, where is it installed and what can you get?

I'd like to think that in the coming months I won't be the guinea pig for this particular area. Mostly b/c I'm a Noob and haven't had enough ramp up time to know what equipment is the best for me to get as far as OTA STB's and antenna's.

I looked at antannaweb.org and the color patterns don't mean anything to me. I must be overlooking some explanation for it though. Right?

Originally posted by Chad0429
So, is there anyone in the Lake Dallas, Hickory Creek, Corinth, and far south Denton area (close to the hospital) that gets HD?

What equipment do you have, where is it installed and what can you get?

I'd like to think that in the coming months I won't be the guinea pig for this particular area. Mostly b/c I'm a Noob and haven't had enough ramp up time to know what equipment is the best for me to get as far as OTA STB's and antenna's.

I looked at antannaweb.org and the color patterns don't mean anything to me. I must be overlooking some explanation for it though. Right?
I'm in Corinth. I have an HD Tivo, with a Radio Shack anntena in the attic. I get all of the locals except for 27-1.

Originally posted by bdjncox
Anyone know if that Winegard Square Shooter would be effective in Frisco?

According to this:

http://www.solidsignal.com/manuals/www-solidsignal-com_Winegard_SS-1000.pdf

Analog Range is 40 - 50 miles
Digital Range is 50 - 60 miles

Originally posted by Thomas Desmond
You won't be seeing that morning HD programming on KTXA-DT after tomorrow. Apparently, HDNet is pulling the plug on their broadcast feed to KTXA and a few other stations nationally, effective November 1. KTXA has elected to drop the service a month early, so it will disappear here on October 1.

Darn! I was really starting to enjoy it. I wish another channel would show alot of demo loops or something during the day. I need to have my HD fix!

The problem is that the novelty passes for most folks after some time -- which means that sort of programming really doesn't make any sort of sustainable business. I've had HD reception for several years now, and have long ago gotten tired of "demo loop" style programs.

Allen, TX - Just got my TV....my antenna is a DB4 from antennas-direct-dot-com. I mounted it on the roof (2 story house). So far, I can only get the following channels...
2-1
4-1
5-1
11-1
13-1
21-1
21-2
23-1
33-1
33-2
39-1
46-1
49-1
68-1
68-2
68-3
68-4

So, no channel 8 or 27. This bugs me (i.e. no channel 8 means no MNF). I know channel 8 is VHF, and my antenna is UHF but I thought it would get it anyway. I've tried both the tuner in my TV (Mits 62725) and the tuner in the Sammy 360 HD sat. rcvr. and neither one seems to get 8.

I'm going to try re-positioning my antenna, and possible adding some sort of "booster"...my cable-run is around 75'

Any other suggestions? Thanks.

Why don't you try getting a separate VHF antenna to receive WFAA-DT (8.1, on channel 9)? Heck, you might try hooking a pair of rabbit ears to your tuner and tweaking those to see if they'll bring in WFAA-DT. I live just south of you (in Plano) and when I experimented with an indoor antenna upstairs in my home, I was surprised with how much I could receive.

OK, need some advice from you guys with experience.

I live in Frisco and need to choose a good UHF/VHF antenna.

Would a simple 80" UHF/VHF from Radio Shack do the job? Something better?

I have an antenna in my attic now that the previous homeowner had installed, but I seem to remember getting marginal SD reception the one or two times I tried it out so I'm not confident it will do the job for the digital signal either.

My DirecTV installer comes Monday to install the new Dish so I'm hoping to offer him some money to install the new antenna while he's here.

Any advice from you guys?

Can anyone tell me if an amplifier might help me and if so, which ones I should look at?

I have a Channel Master 4228 8-Bay Bowtie UHF Antenna (CM4228) with a Hughes HD-DVR250 receiver (DirecTV + OTA and Tivo). It is mounted from the ceiling on the balcony of my second floor apartment. I receive all of the channels I care about (usually around 80%) but they sometimes break up and the performance isn't as good in bad weather.

Hello..

New to HDTV. I'm up in the Frisco area...far east side near Allen/McKinney.

I have an HTL-HD box. I'm using a Radio Shack 80" VHF/UHF antenna.

I receive all the major local's digital feeds no problem with the exception of ABC channel 8 (wfaa)..

I get a picture, but no sound. The picture has artifacts that come and go about every 2 seconds. About every 10 seconds I'll get 2 seconds of sound.

Now then, I'm curious: According to my HD box, I'm getting a 92 signal on this channel.

Other locals the same distance away have lesser signal and I have perfect pictures and sound.

Any ideas? Can a multi-switch cause problems with the OTA signal?

Thanks in advance,

David

David,
I can't get WFAA Ch. 8 in West Allen at all (not even a picture)!! I've tried several antennas on the roof, upstairs, in the attic...nothing! I have 2 OTA tuners (Samsung 369 HD Sat. and builtin to my Mits TV). I'm really bummed about this.

Maybe someone can answer this....one of the things I've tried is adding one of those VHF/UHF/FM "amplifiers" to my antenna cable in the attic. To do this, I had to cut the cable, add connectors and put the "amp" inline with the cable. After I did this, I could not get ANY of the channels I could previously get...ZERO. So, I took the amp back out and reconnected the cables with a "double male" joiner thing....still NOTHING, worse than before! Could this cause major antenna signal loss? I used these "screw-on" connectors....is there some magic to using these to where I've just really messed up the cable shielding or something?

Please, any suggestions would help.

Went to the State Fair and somewhere was showing a channel named XPress 8.2 with WFAA's name on it so I came home to see what it was all about. Pulled up my deleted local channels and added back into my list and switched to it. Shows temp's, forecasts, rolling news ticker and some programming.

This has probably been mentioned before. I just didn't go through the other pages in the thread.

Yea, WFAA switched to that format about a month ago (from pure radar channel).

Actually WFAA is testing a new encoder now and is running 3 channels.

8-1 is the HD feed
8-2 is Access Now
8-3 is radar

The 8-1 bitrate has not been reduced (based on averages I've been monitoring) and statistical multiplexing is being used between the 3.

This is a test configuration until Friday according to a WFAA engineer.

Any word on when they will switch to 720p? They are the only ABC affiliate that transmits 1080i (converted from ABC's 720p feed). 720p would be a lot less susceptible to the reduced bit rate necessary for these additional sub channels.

Xesdeeni

I myself lost 8.1 and 8.2 starting last Monday. I thought the Amp went out, but I bought a new amp today and I still can't get these channels.
Also the signal isn't as strong is it was before on other OTA stations.

I have a HD-TIVO unit and I can't figure out if something is wrong with the unit now OR something else. It's 3 months old...

Anybody just start losing 8.1 this week OR know of a reason why I would have starting losing it this week.

Thanks in advance

Originally posted by Xesdeeni
Any word on when they will switch to 720p? They are the only ABC affiliate that transmits 1080i (converted from ABC's 720p feed). 720p would be a lot less susceptible to the reduced bit rate necessary for these additional sub channels.

Xesdeeni

I doubt they will. They are owned by Belo who also owns a CBS affliliate in Houston. They made the decision to go 1080i with all their stations.

Originally posted by david(dallas)
I myself lost 8.1 and 8.2 starting last Monday. I thought the Amp went out, but I bought a new amp today and I still can't get these channels.
Also the signal isn't as strong is it was before on other OTA stations.

I have a HD-TIVO unit and I can't figure out if something is wrong with the unit now OR something else. It's 3 months old...

Anybody just start losing 8.1 this week OR know of a reason why I would have starting losing it this week.

Thanks in advance

I just got my HD setup last Friady and have NEVER got 8.1. I'm still trying...must have MNF. I originally had a UHF only antenna (DB4), so I guess I'm not surprised I didn't get WFAA (which is VHF). I've got a new VHF/UHF combo antenna from Radio Shack that I'm going to try. If that doesn't work....I give up.

Originally posted by boristhedog
I just got my HD setup last Friady and have NEVER got 8.1. I'm still trying...must have MNF. I originally had a UHF only antenna (DB4), so I guess I'm not surprised I didn't get WFAA (which is VHF). I've got a new VHF/UHF combo antenna from Radio Shack that I'm going to try. If that doesn't work....I give up.

Please post your results. I am using an antenna that installed years ago. Maybe it needs to be updated.
Would you know if ABC might have recently changed from UHF or VHF?
Thing I will search on that...

FYI - I'm in North Plano, I have a friend in Allen that states he gets all channels, but I also read a posting from others in Allen that couldn't get ABC.

Same here on MNF!!!

Good luck in your setup...

Originally posted by Cheezmo
Actually WFAA is testing a new encoder now and is running 3 channels.

8-1 is the HD feed
8-2 is Access Now
8-3 is radar

The 8-1 bitrate has not been reduced (based on averages I've been monitoring) and statistical multiplexing is being used between the 3.

This is a test configuration until Friday according to a WFAA engineer.

Could this explain why I have lost 8-1 and 8-2 starting this week???

I so, any suggessed solutions?

In plano with old Attic Antenna. I have read about the VHF issue, maybe that is my problem also, but would explain lossing it this week I don't think..

Originally posted by david(dallas)
Could this explain why I have lost 8-1 and 8-2 starting this week???

I so, any suggessed solutions?

In plano with old Attic Antenna. I have read about the VHF issue, maybe that is my problem also, but would explain lossing it this week I don't think..

Maybe. Try having your receiver rescan.

Originally posted by david(dallas)
Please post your results. I am using an antenna that installed years ago. Maybe it needs to be updated.
Would you know if ABC might have recently changed from UHF or VHF?
Thing I will search on that...

FYI - I'm in North Plano, I have a friend in Allen that states he gets all channels, but I also read a posting from others in Allen that couldn't get ABC.

Same here on MNF!!!

Good luck in your setup...

I was at a home in McKinney with a standard Radio Shack 100 mile antenna in the attic with no amplification and it pulled in everything. It can be done.

WFAA has not moved. It is still on channel 9 (VHF).

Originally posted by Cheezmo
Maybe. Try having your receiver rescan.

Thanks for the suggestion, but it didn't help :(

Still getting only about 15-20 % on the signal meter on 8.1 and no signal message on display :(

Still no 8.1 with Radio shack antenna. However, I was just propping it up on the upstairs landing for now. My other UHF antenna (outside) gets 16 channels (including 27.1), but no ABC. I did not try the Radio Shack VHF/UHF outside yet since its rainnig, but that will be my last attempt. I'm going to try mounting it on the same pole as my UHF antenna...and if that doesn't work, then I guess nothing will.

I understand WFAA is VHF channel 9, but it still shows up as 8.1 when "scanned" right?