I see WBXX is back to a stretched SD picture. I don't know what their problem is. I wish they'd get it together.

I couldn't even pick 'em up except for the ghousty analog till last spring....if I tuned in the digital and left it on a frozen frame of video might pop up occasionally, never got sound. except for a few seconds once. Now, they actually in fact, come-in, it's great to have the right not to watch 'em! :D

I stumbled on this site while shopping for an antenna. I have a magi in the attic and sometimes get a very stong signal on all stations. Then on other days - nothing. I was beginning to look for a stronger antenna when I noticed page after page of your blogging here (signal is good - signal is bad, etc)

Maybe it isn't my antenna!!!!

I stumbled on this site while shopping for an antenna. I have a magi in the attic and sometimes get a very stong signal on all stations. Then on other days - nothing. I was beginning to look for a stronger antenna when I noticed page after page of your blogging here (signal is good - signal is bad, etc)

Maybe it isn't my antenna!!!!

I think you're on the right track! I hope the transmitter work is over for awhile. It's nice to have 43 & especially 10 back, I like to Tivo SNL. My little SquareShooter works great when everybody is at full power. Sometime, I might replace it with a bigger or better one and hope for better reception when power levels sink some.

Something I haven't mentioned that's happened as of late are several outages by 6, one I recall for a couple hours, and one on a recent football saturday that must'a been 5 hours or more....? For me, they have the most little glitches lately. So, I watch 6 less.

Our locals have a long way to go collectively, IMO. Welcome tu zee for-um! :)

Interesting....DirecTV has been dropping strong hints that my TiVo box won't work on the new HD stations so yesterday I switched out both my dish and the recevier to the DirecTV DVR.

And amazingly I pick up all stations at 70% now.:) Either this tuner is better or I had a cable loose that got tightened with the switch (or they've been fiddlin' with power again)

Anybody else seeing problems with WTNZ digital's signal?

It's out for me with only a blip on the meter.

I've not had problems up to now even with the transmission line work.

Checked for analog co-channel interference but only see snow on analog 34 (as it should be).

Hi,

I purchased a new LCD-TV with a QAM tuner this weekend, set it to autoprogram and picked up a few local HD stations (WBIR 10.1, WATE 6.1, WB20 20.1, and 2 PBS stations 15.1 and 15.2). Missing from this list are WVLT (CBS) and Fox 43 :( Why am I missing these? Does anyone else have similar issues? Is there something wrong with my cable that would prevent me from receiving these stations?

I've tried contacting Comcast but can't find anyone to talk to about this - any idea how to proceed?

Thanks,
Mark

The ones you are missing is because Comcast isn't airing them in ClearQAM as they probably should be. Good luck asking someone who works there about it. Most of them are clueless, they'll, instead of listening, just try to upsell you on the HD package or tell you you need a cable box, which is BS.

I already got the attempted upsell to the HD package and was told I need a cable box. I have been in touch with a technical person from Comcast who agrees I should be receiving the channels (and even told me what channel they should be received at). Hopefully, I'll have some luck in getting these stations.

Thanks for the reply,
Mark

I live in Oak Ridge also, I checked last night on comcast input, Missing Fox and CBS also.
With kid in football, had not had time to really play with my TV, I installed a outdoor antenna, I have all the knoxville channels and Fox channel 39.1 from Bristol, I was wondering if I was going to get it or not, The tower for fox 39.1 is located on a mountain in Greenville, From my location, thats directly behind sharp ridges.

I live in Oak Ridge also, I checked last night on comcast input, Missing Fox and CBS also.
With kid in football, had not had time to really play with my TV, I installed a outdoor antenna, I have all the knoxville channels and Fox channel 39.1 from Bristol, I was wondering if I was going to get it or not, The tower for fox 39.1 is located on a mountain in Greenville, From my location, thats directly behind sharp ridges.

I believe 39's class A signal goes into Knox County. When I lived in North Knoxville (near the Merchant's Road exit) I was always able to get 39, even without an antenna.

Here is their current digital service area....
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DT1056879.html

When 39 analog first came on the air, back in the 80's, I lived in Shelbourne Towers Apartments ajacent to U.T. The building was on a hill and I was on the 7th floor facing northeast. I picked up 39 purr-fectly, well, way better than Fox 43. Now, I live off Alcoa highway on a smaller hill with the big hills along the river blocking me. I've never picked up 39 here. I bet you could easily pick 'em up at say Cherokee Bluff. That's one of the big hills in the way. My parents lived at Cherokee Bluff when Big John Tate's fight was blacked out in Knoxville. We watched it with only a little snow on Asheville's 12.

I already got the attempted upsell to the HD package and was told I need a cable box. I have been in touch with a technical person from Comcast who agrees I should be receiving the channels (and even told me what channel they should be received at). Hopefully, I'll have some luck in getting these stations.
Mark

My technical contact at Comcast said the same thing. You should be able to get the local broadcast channels in the clear with a QAM tuner. There was no qualification of subscribing to any digital tier. He also said that if you didn't receive these channels then you could call for service and explain the problem to the service technician. This bypasses the sometimes not well informed customer service representatives.

The only down side to this might be if the service technician tried to bill you for an unwarranted service call. You would hope that the service guys are well informed.

The QAM digital channels require a reasonably good cable drop and signal levels to work. At home I lose the HD channels (even with a cable box) before I lose the internet and well before the analog SD channels get unwatchable.

I believe 39's class A signal goes into Knox County. When I lived in North Knoxville (near the Merchant's Road exit) I was always able to get 39, even without an antenna.
Still can. :D [disclaimer: w/ an antenna]

I live off Cedar Lane in North Knox a few miles north of Sharps Ridge. Using an attic double bow tie Channel Master 4220 UHF antenna, I get a stronger (& more reliable) signal from Fox 39.1 than I do from Fox 43.1.

At this point though, I'm probably moving said antenna to an outside chimney mount in order to get a stronger signal & alleviate far too frequent droputs from NBC Channel 10.1. :o

Still can. :D [disclaimer: w/ an antenna]

I live off Cedar Lane in North Knox a few miles north of Sharps Ridge. Using an attic double bow tie Channel Master 4220 UHF antenna, I get a stronger (& more reliable) signal from Fox 39.1 than I do from Fox 43.1.

At this point though, I'm probably moving said antenna to an outside chimney mount in order to get a stronger signal & alleviate far too frequent droputs from NBC Channel 10.1. :o
I have a Channel Master 4221 mounted outside, Works great, but in the last couple of weeks my father has not been able to pickup channel 10 or 6, and channel 8 "8 has always been a issue". He is located in Morristown using channel Master 4228. will go up there this weekend, make sure the Antenna is aimed correctly. The Bristol stations still coming in and they are directly behind him, so the antenna should be pointed correctly. will see what I find out. Previous post has stated that they have dropped the power for the HD towers due to work on Sharp Ridge, wondering if thats still going on.

There will be more antenna work done at the 6, 10, 43 DTV site. I'm not sure of the time frame but I expect within one to two weeks. A problem with the transmitted antenna pattern has been identified that probably is causing the trouble you are having.

I live in Oak Ridge also, I checked last night on comcast input, Missing Fox and CBS also.
With kid in football, had not had time to really play with my TV, I installed a outdoor antenna, I have all the knoxville channels and Fox channel 39.1 from Bristol, I was wondering if I was going to get it or not, The tower for fox 39.1 is located on a mountain in Greenville, From my location, thats directly behind sharp ridges.
Hi,

Can anyone else in Oak Ridge confirm that they don't have WVLT or WTNZ through the QAM tuner with Comcast but WBIR/WATE are OK? The Comcast tech came in today and checked all my signals saying that everything was OK and the problem probably lies with my tuner. I find this hard to believe and was looking for more evidence for a problem with WVLT/WTNZ. For reference, WBIR/WATE are on channel 103 (remapped to 10.1/6.1) while WVLT/WTNZ are on channel 104 (remapped to 8.1/43.1). I find it hard to accept that my tuner gets the channels on 103 but not 104. The TV is new and I could probably return it but don't want to do so unless I'm sure there's a problem.

Thanks,
Mark

Hi,

Can anyone else in Oak Ridge confirm that they don't have WVLT or WTNZ through the QAM tuner with Comcast but WBIR/WATE are OK? The Comcast tech came in today and checked all my signals saying that everything was OK and the problem probably lies with my tuner. I find this hard to believe and was looking for more evidence for a problem with WVLT/WTNZ. For reference, WBIR/WATE are on channel 103 (remapped to 10.1/6.1) while WVLT/WTNZ are on channel 104 (remapped to 8.1/43.1). I find it hard to accept that my tuner gets the channels on 103 but not 104. The TV is new and I could probably return it but don't want to do so unless I'm sure there's a problem.

Thanks,
Mark
Here is what I get:
I'm near the secret evacuation road, "Oak Ridgers will get it" LOL
Have Mitsubishi 57" 734

Directly connected to Cable "Comcast", Ant 1: Set for cable
6-1 -103
10-1 - 103
15-1 - 112
15-2 - 112
20-1 - 112
Looks like they are grouping the channels to same digital stream of 103 and 112, My guess is there should be another digital stream with the missing channels.


Outdoor Antenna, Ant 2: Set for Outdoor Antenna Channel Master 4221
6-1 WATE ABC
7-1 WMAK - HD
7-2 WMAK - DT
8-1 WVLT - DT CBS
8-2 MYVLT1
10-1 WBIR - HD NBC
10-2 Weather Plus
15-1 WKOP - HD PBS
15-2 WKOP - SD
39 Was getting the Digital feed, but have lost it in the last couple of days.
43-1 WTNZ - HD Fox
43-2 TUBE

Here is what I get:
I'm near the secret evacuation road, "Oak Ridgers will get it" LOL
Have Mitsubishi 57" 734

Directly connected to Cable "Comcast", Ant 1: Set for cable
6-1 -103
10-1 - 103
15-1 - 112
15-2 - 112
20-1 - 112
Looks like they are grouping the channels to same digital stream of 103 and 112, My guess is there should be another digital stream with the missing channels.


Outdoor Antenna, Ant 2: Set for Outdoor Antenna Channel Master 4221
6-1 WATE ABC
7-1 WMAK - HD
7-2 WMAK - DT
8-1 WVLT - DT CBS
8-2 MYVLT1
10-1 WBIR - HD NBC
10-2 Weather Plus
15-1 WKOP - HD PBS
15-2 WKOP - SD
39 Was getting the Digital feed, but have lost it in the last couple of days.
43-1 WTNZ - HD Fox
43-2 TUBE
Hi,

Thanks for the reply - that's exactly what I get from Comcast. The "missing" channels are on 104 (WVLT/WTNZ according to the Comcast tech). If you manually tune to 104-1 you'll likely see good signal strength but no picture (that's what I see). Something's clearly wrong with Comcast's feed on 104 in Oak Ridge.

Hi,

Thanks for the reply - that's exactly what I get from Comcast. The "missing" channels are on 104 (WVLT/WTNZ according to the Comcast tech). If you manually tune to 104-1 you'll likely see good signal strength but no picture (that's what I see). Something's clearly wrong with Comcast's feed on 104 in Oak Ridge.
Yes I have the 104 channels also, just did not look that high when I rescanned the channels, and they are the missing stations,

Channel 10 is back to havin' problems for me. My Tivo recording of My Name Is Earl from this evening was simply unwatchable.....freezing, much lost data. On and on....

weekend at TN - Georgia game. I have a Vizio LCD HDTV with digital tuner. I do not have Dish or DTV. Can you please suggest an antennae which will pick up HDTV. I am especially interested in the CBS affiliate.

Thanks so much for your advice.

Retro Television will debut in October as a multicast channel. WATE's parent, Young Broadcasting has a agreement to air RETRO on several of it's stations. WATE claims that they do not have the equipment to multicast. Which is absurd since they were multicasting their 24/7 Weather Channel for a couple of years. It sounds interesting in that it will have Hawaii Five 0, Magnum PI, Happy Days, Gomer Pyle, Hogans Heroes, Mission Impossible, Laverne and Shirley, Matlock, Little House on the Prairie, etc. I hope they will choose to add Retro. WATE's GM is also the GM of two other stations in Young Broadcasting so who can be certain of where these decisions come from.

weekend at TN - Georgia game. I have a Vizio LCD HDTV with digital tuner. I do not have Dish or DTV. Can you please suggest an antennae which will pick up HDTV. I am especially interested in the CBS affiliate.

Thanks so much for your advice.
Where are you located, and what kind of terrain do you live in.

....just curious guyz, when 10 is havin' OTA problems like this weeks episode of My Name Is Earl. Did cable users have any problems? My OTA HD Tivo recording was about 5 minutes long it had so much missing data. It might have had a minute of soundbits. Watchin' it was like pixelation art...;) I hope my SNL recording works out 2-night. Maybe I can see the season premier of Earl come rerun season? ....if 10 ever gets it's act together by then? :rolleyes:

Sometimes I wish I lived on a high ridge and could pick up another city's NBC & CBS stations!-!-! They can't be this bad can they?

Anyway, did 10 have problems on cable this past thursday? ...on, Earl specifically, anybody?

Where are you located, and what kind of terrain do you live in.

I will be tailgating in lot 9 outside Gate 21 at Neyland stadium. Again, I have Vizio HDTV and looking for suggestions for HD antennae to pick up CBS affiliate.

Thanks

Since the Tube is going off the air, will WTNZ put everything into the "main" channel or will they find something else to multicast instead.

I hope they don't do like 39 in the Tri-Cities and put up an SD subchannel of the station.

...weekend at TN - Georgia game. I have a Vizio LCD HDTV with digital tuner. I do not have Dish or DTV. Can you please suggest an antennae which will pick up HDTV? I am especially interested in the CBS affiliate. I will be in Lot 9, which is directly opposite Gate 21 at Neyland Stadium.

Thanks so much for your advice.

From the Gate 21, "thats the north part of the stadium", Your about 1.5 miles from the tower. A good indoor antenna should be more then enough. I have a preference for channel master 4221 in the knoxville area. Small compact and really good DB and not as directional. You will just have to watch out and not get to strong of a signal.

Has there been a change in WBIR's transmission in the last few weeks? I used to get great signal with my Channel Master 4228. I still get good reception on 6-1 and 8-1 and 43-1 but 10-1 is off and on. I live in Dandridge so about 35 miles away. I can usually see upwards of 80% in the morning, as the day goes on it dwindles. By primetime I am 40 to 50% then by 11pm I am not getting a signal. Any reason this is all of the sudden happening? I have DTV with a HR20

Has there been a change in WBIR's transmission in the last few weeks? I used to get great signal with my Channel Master 4228. I still get good reception on 6-1 and 8-1 and 43-1 but 10-1 is off and on. I live in Dandridge so about 35 miles away. I can usually see upwards of 80% in the morning, as the day goes on it dwindles. By primetime I am 40 to 50% then by 11pm I am not getting a signal. Any reason this is all of the sudden happening? I have DTV with a HR20
My Dad has Channel Master 4228 and H20 also, a little further up the interstate, Near exit 12 Morristown. He having the same issue as you, We have basically given up on 8-1, but 10-1 always been a strong signal, Looks like Rachael having the same issue. PatrickT mentioned they are doing some antenna work at the towers. Hopefully that will be ending soon.

Has there been a change in WBIR's transmission in the last few weeks? ... Any reason this is all of the sudden happening? I have DTV with a HR20

All three stations that share the same antenna at American Tower are having trouble in one or more directions. Repairs are scheduled for early morning this Thursday.

Anyway, did 10 have problems on cable this past thursday? ...on, Earl specifically, anybody?

We recorded it too, no problems at all. Rachael, you may have to bite the bullet and get cable or one of the dish providers. With all the problems you've been having, I'd try something else. The aggravation isn't worth it, at least not to me.

Anyone talked to anyone at Comcast recently about new HD channels to the area? In reading a thread in another section, Comcast was adding TBS HD and some other possible channels to their lineup in other areas of the country. As usual, we are left out in Knoxville.

Anyone talked to anyone at Comcast recently about new HD channels to the area? In reading a thread in another section, Comcast was adding TBS HD and some other possible channels to their lineup in other areas of the country. As usual, we are left out in Knoxville.
I meant to check my DVR for Rachael, but wife deleted it before I could get to it, "sorry Rachael :)", I was wondering the same if comcast was going to be adding TBS, Wife a die hard Cubs fan. I checked the comcast listing and they do not show TBS, but they are showing FOXHDSO which I believe is Fox sports channel. Listed as channel 401. No programing is listed just the foxhdso slot.

All they show on that channel is night and weekend programming, some in HD and some is not.

Never had noticed it before. Now that I have a good HD TV, I'm never home to watch it. Comcast has been making a big push to update their system in this area. Would hope they add more soon. The standard channels look terrible on a HD tv. "Not comcast fault". It's the TV. The Digital channels still look fine. I have not heard anybody say anything about Knology. Wonder how they are doing on the HD, They have a new network built from scratch.

My Dad has Channel Master 4228 and H20 also, a little further up the interstate, Near exit 12 Morristown. He having the same issue as you, We have basically given up on 8-1, but 10-1 always been a strong signal, Looks like Rachael having the same issue. PatrickT mentioned they are doing some antenna work at the towers. Hopefully that will be ending soon.

It is strange that he is doing fine with 10-1 and I am not. My 8-1 signal is around 80% all the time. Righ now at 5:30 10-1 is 80%. By 11pm tonight it will be gone. However, 6-1 will be at 100%, 8-1 at 80% and 43-1 at 95%. I hope it really is the tower work and I hope it is fixed soon.

All three stations that share the same antenna at American Tower are having trouble in one or more directions. Repairs are scheduled for early morning this Thursday. How long have the problems been going on that you know of?

It is strange that he is doing fine with 10-1 and I am not. My 8-1 signal is around 80% all the time. Righ now at 5:30 10-1 is 80%. By 11pm tonight it will be gone. However, 6-1 will be at 100%, 8-1 at 80% and 43-1 at 95%. I hope it really is the tower work and I hope it is fixed soon.
My dad has lost 10-1 also, I missed typed,

Never had noticed it before. Now that I have a good HD TV, I'm never home to watch it. Comcast has been making a big push to update their system in this area. Would hope they add more soon. The standard channels look terrible on a HD tv. "Not comcast fault". It's the TV. The Digital channels still look fine. I have not heard anybody say anything about Knology. Wonder how they are doing on the HD, They have a new network built from scratch.

The last time I looked Knology trailed Comcast in the number of HD channels. If you prefer cable to a dish, Comcast is still the way to go. It's unfortunate we get most things after other areas of the country get them. We did manage to get A&E HD and National Geograhic HD before other places did.

All they show on that channel is night and weekend programming, some in HD and some is not.

I have noticed they have alot of stuff showing on the Fox Sports HD channel that is not in the guide. for example, last saturday they were showing the Big Ten HD channel. This was better than the game that was in the quide.

I would suggest looking at the channel instead of the guide for the near future.

I live in oak ridge, I have not seen FOX Sports Turned on. Will look for it this weekend, I will go to it directly. thanks

I would think Knology would be ahead of the game with a totally knew network.

I meant to check my DVR for Rachael, but wife deleted it before I could get to it, "sorry Rachael :)",

Thanks for thinkin' 'bout me! :) I think your lovey would said somethin' about the show if it had been as messed up as my Tivo recording, well "Tivo scrambled show"... ;)

I have noticed they have alot of stuff showing on the Fox Sports HD channel that is not in the guide. for example, last saturday they were showing the Big Ten HD channel. This was better than the game that was in the quide.

I would suggest looking at the channel instead of the guide for the near future.

I don't get what they are doing there. One week, they have the Big Ten Network in HD on there. The next week, they don't show that and have some high school game on from the Midwest. Then last week, they have the Big Ten Network back on there again. There is no rhyme or reason.

Thanks for thinkin' 'bout me! :) I think your lovey would said somethin' about the show if it had been as messed up as my Tivo recording, well "Tivo scrambled show"... ;)
Checked with my family in Morristown, Channel 10 seems to be coming clear again, Hows your reception rachael. Did you get to watch earl :)

I don't get what they are doing there. One week, they have the Big Ten Network in HD on there. The next week, they don't show that and have some high school game on from the Midwest. Then last week, they have the Big Ten Network back on there again. There is no rhyme or reason.
I tried selecting 401 on the comcast box, does not let me select it. Wondering if it's a Knoxville option, I will try it out tomorrow with all the ballgames on.

Checked with my family in Morristown, Channel 10 seems to be coming clear again, Hows your reception rachael. Did you get to watch earl :)


Late last night after ER I checked signal and it was coming in at 100%. I haven't had that in weeks. I guess they fixed it? I will keep my fingers crossed.

Late last night after ER I checked signal and it was coming in at 100%. I haven't had that in weeks. I guess they fixed it? I will keep my fingers crossed.
My TV does not give me signal strength, wished it did. I rescanned the channels on my antenna input, everything looked fine. Even picked up Fox 39-1 "Greenville" Have not picked them up in a couple of weeks, Only differents was raining last night, cloud cover may have helped.

Checked with my family in Morristown, Channel 10 seems to be coming clear again, Hows your reception rachael. Did you get to watch earl :)

My reception on 10 has picked up. Saturday, SNL was flawless. I havn't watched last night's Earl yet but a spot check looked good. I hope 10 is over all their fartz. I'll have to see Eearl's opener in repeat season. :)

I don't think I've ever posted in this area before. However, I have 2 quick questions that I was hoping someone might have some insight about.

1. I have 2 HD sets, both with comcast boxes. I have a direct line from the splitter outside my house going to the basement. It runs to another 2ghz splitter in the basement. Off this splitter, I have one line going back upstairs, one going to my cable modem, and one going to the basement cablebox. Downstairs, all works fine. Upstairs though, it's a different story. A few of the HD channels rarely work (ESPN and those right around it seem to be dead the most. 'channel should be available soon'). OnDemand rarely works upstairs, but works fine downstairs. Cable modem speeds are rocking right along with no noticable hit. I'd swap boxes first but it's full of the wife's crap right now. Anyone got any ideas of what I can do here? The inside splitter is a 5 way, with 3 used. I did not cap the other line outputs. Would that help? (I suppose a quick swap of my 2 boxes in the house would give me some more info)

2. Is it me, or is the CBS football HD coverage just as pitiful on other people's sets? It's freaking awful. You might see 1 second in focus for every 5 seconds it's out of focus. Constantly. Been doing this for years now. Don't notice it at all on regular primetime CBS programming. Crappy football picture is on both the DLP and Plasma, so I don't think it's a display problem. I haven't searched this thread, so forgive me if I'm just repeating old complaints here. Seems to mainly be during live events like March Madness and football.

Thanks.

I don't think I've ever posted in this area before. However, I have 2 quick questions that I was hoping someone might have some insight about.

1. I have 2 HD sets, both with comcast boxes. I have a direct line from the splitter outside my house going to the basement. It runs to another 2ghz splitter in the basement. Off this splitter, I have one line going back upstairs, one going to my cable modem, and one going to the basement cablebox. Downstairs, all works fine. Upstairs though, it's a different story. A few of the HD channels rarely work (ESPN and those right around it seem to be dead the most. 'channel should be available soon'). OnDemand rarely works upstairs, but works fine downstairs. Cable modem speeds are rocking right along with no noticable hit. I'd swap boxes first but it's full of the wife's crap right now. Anyone got any ideas of what I can do here? The inside splitter is a 5 way, with 3 used. I did not cap the other line outputs. Would that help? (I suppose a quick swap of my 2 boxes in the house would give me some more info)

You should check the signal strength on the cable box diagnostics. Use the following link for instructions.
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Configuration#How_To_Check_Your_Incoming_Signal_Strength

rdank, channel 8 has and continues to have a problem. I've been watching their OTA for 4+ years. It's gotten WORSE over that time. My brother bought the same TV set as me, Elite 630 CRT RP. When I visited him in Dallas last fall his OTA for a CBS Football game was hunky dory. What you're calling out out of focus is marcroblocking. Blocks of info don't fit smoothly with their neighboring blocks.....in this case with fast movement by the players or swings of the camera....motion initiated blocking. Four years ago the macroblocking was rarer and of less quantity.

CBS does the games in 1080i which is supposed to be more prone to blocking during vigorous motion than 720p. I never saw any blocking in Dallas. WVLT has the problem and does'nt seem to care one iota about fixing it.

I think 720p is a better broadcast standard than 1080i given that all these channels want to have subchannels that grab bandwidth. I feel sure that 720p is best for sports if nothing else, for sure. Fox, ABC, and their brethern ESPN all use 720p. I think their sports look better than the 1080i networks, NBC & CBS. I think 720p stations have more bandwidth to lend to subchannels too, without degrading the main channel.

Join the crowd and call WVLT and complain....450-8888 . They don't seem to care but it makes me feel better to complain every so often. I've e-mailed CBS a couple of times about 'em....no response.

rdank, you may need to replace your lines inside your house. A few years ago, we were having some issues and called Comcast out to our house. After checking the lines going to the house and inside the house, he said our lines in the house were sub-standard. They were adequate for analog cable. But since we were using HD and internet, he upgraded our lines. He went ahead and upgraded our line going from the pole to the house. We've had no issues since then.

Rachael, I wonder if both WVLT and WBIR aren't up to snuff with their macroblocking problem. We know WVLT isn't, but WBIR must be in the same boat. Both TNT HD and Versus HD are also 1080i pictures and the marcoblocking is minimal.

Rachael, I wonder if both WVLT and WBIR aren't up to snuff with their macroblocking problem. We know WVLT isn't, but WBIR must be in the same boat. Both TNT HD and Versus HD are also 1080i pictures and the marcoblocking is minimal.

Like WVLT, WBIR has gradually gotten worse looking for me. Atleast 10's blocking isn't as overwhelmingly perssitant. I got some glitches on my SNL recording this weekend. 10 is clearly struggling. It's a 1080i station carrying a subchannel that surely is dragging it down...?Those cable/sat 1080i stations don't have to drag around subchannels that suck on their bandwidth.

On paper, 720p OTA stations ought to be able to carry subchannels easier. 6 and 43's performance for me seem to bear this out. Look who's strggling. Two 1080i stations carrying busy sub's.

I wonder if they can or will start carrying a 1080p picture when that becomes available.

I wonder if they can or will start carrying a 1080p picture when that becomes available.
They will not be 1080P broadcasts in the forseable future, Current HDTV is broadcast using ATSC using MPEG2. Each station transmit a data stream of 19 megs, To send a good 1080i signal takes up most of the 17 to 19 megs digital stream, 1080P I have heard would take around 28 meg data stream. The Bandwidth is not there for that much data. Here where the numbers get fuzzy. CBS broadcast in 1080i, This give you more pixels but you are only seeing every other line per refresh. This is great for scenery where there not allot of movement, ultra clear. If you step down to 720P, If you call it stepping down. The P means you see every image as a whole, This is great for sports, this is why Fox, ABC, and espn chose 720P. Now this is where the Consumer gets screwed. When a station runs a sub channel, they are taking bandwidth away from the Main channel. CBS is trying to force 1080i worth of data into 16 to 17 meg datastream, Something has to break and gets dropped. Thats just ariel transmission, Cable and satellite must compress the signal even more to fit into their system, that is why the best picture will be with a simple home antenna

Thanks for the responses. Wasn't exactly sure what the out-of-focus picture meant, but all this makes sense.

I'll look at re-doing my interior cables sometime soon. I'm guessing that might be the problem. The run upstairs is a bit longer than I normally run cable. Plus, I wasn't exactly using top of the line stuff, just old cables I've had for years.

If that fails, I'll look at having Comcast coming to replace the line to my house. I think they just did that a house or two down the street. Saw them pull up with a ditch digger and run it from the box near the street to my neighbors house.

Over the past couple of weeks, but more so over the last 4-5 days, Comcast HDTV has been dropping audio and freezing video a lot for me. It happens mostly on 413-NatGeoHD, but some on the other HD channels as well. There's been 4-6 shows on NatGeoHD over the past 2 weeks that I wasn't able to watch. Each time, there was no audio and no video. It was as if the feed was missing. Except for the first 2 times, Comcast has claimed everything is fine on their end.

Comcast wants to come out and check my line, but they won't do it unless I'm here, requiring me to take time off of work. I wouldn't mind that, except that I've been told that if they don't find the problem, I'll have to pay a service charge. I know that it's not my equipment, but if the problem is happening when the tech person is here, it sounds as if they plan on charging me. I'll be darned if I take time off to give them the chance to charge me for their equipment failing.

NatGeoHD is my most-watched channel, so I'm really beginning to think about sat TV.

Is anyone else with Comcast HD having these problems?

if the problem is happening when the tech person is here, it sounds as if they plan on charging me.

I was have problems w/ my Comcast internet and requested a tech to come out to my house. I was given the same warning mentioned above ^^, but I was so frustrated with my spotty connection I said "bring it on".

So the repair appointment was for the following day, and as Murphy would tell you, my internet was solid the next morning before anyone arrived. When the tech called to let me know he was coming, I told him things seemed to be better and not to come... but he wanted to come anyone just to check a few things. :cool: I mentioned the charge if no Comcast fault could be identified, and he implied they don't actually charge a customer for a tech visit.

I'm not saying this is in all cases, or maybe just with certain repair crews...? But I would get someone to my house no matter what. And if they want to charge you... charge them your day rate for having to take off work to be at home to babysit the tech. ;)

Of course that last bit was facetious... or was it...? :D

It is strange that he is doing fine with 10-1 and I am not. My 8-1 signal is around 80% all the time. Righ now at 5:30 10-1 is 80%. By 11pm tonight it will be gone. However, 6-1 will be at 100%, 8-1 at 80% and 43-1 at 95%. I hope it really is the tower work and I hope it is fixed soon.
It may be outdoor temperature causing your problem. Check out "fading" and other antenna/transmission problems at http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/siting.html

It may be outdoor temperature causing your problem. Check out "fading" and other antenna/transmission problems at http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/siting.html

FYI this wasn't weather related but related to problems at the tower site. As of the morning of 10/4 it was corrected.

Charter finally added Movie Channel HD, Golf Channel HD, History Channel HD and AE HD. I assume Comcast has had these already.

Good news from DirecTV......We're getting local HD here in Knoxville, although the exact date isn't set. I found out the hard way. I bout the HD21 a while back and it has a connection for SAT and local antenna. Then this weekend I bought another one to replace an old receiver and there was no local antenna connection. I knew you can't diplex them so I called DirecTV and the guy I talked to couldn't believe it. He placed me on hold for a long time and then he said he talked to the boss and Knoxville will be getting HDTV local so they remove the local tuner costs on the boxes (not needed).

But, he said I'll have to put up with no HD in the mean time.

They'll make sure and call me back - they have me on an escalated priority!!!

Good news from DirecTV......We're getting local HD here in Knoxville, priority!!!

I'm not sure if I can get rid of my Charter. I have High speed Internet 5Meg, Showtime, HBO, Cinemax,Movie Channel, HD Tier etc all for 95.00/month with tax. I'm locked in for another 11 months at that rate too, and the 10Meg internet comes out soon for 10.00/mo more for 59.99/month you can get 16meg/2Meg.

Good news from DirecTV......We're getting local HD here in Knoxville, although the exact date isn't set.

Thanks for the update! Please let us know if you find any additional info.

Charter finally added Movie Channel HD, Golf Channel HD, History Channel HD and AE HD. I assume Comcast has had these already.

No, yes, no, and no.

Count me not enthused about Direc leaving antenna inputs off their equipment. They could lose me as a customer over that on down the line.

Count me not enthused about Direc leaving antenna inputs off their equipment. They could lose me as a customer over that on down the line.
They only omitted it on the low end receiver. It's still on the DVR model.

Originally Posted by hotshot
Charter finally added Movie Channel HD, Golf Channel HD, History Channel HD and AE HD. I assume Comcast has had these already.

No, yes, no, and no.

Comcast in Knoxville does have A&E HD. We've had it since earlier in the year.

Count me not enthused about Direc leaving antenna inputs off their equipment. They could lose me as a customer over that on down the line.

They only omitted it on the low end receiver. It's still on the DVR model.

The new HR21-700 doesn't have an OTA antenna input either.

Comcast in Knoxville does have A&E HD. We've had it since earlier in the year.

Whoops - my mistake!

If the new HR21-700 doesn't have an OTA input how are you suppose to record HD local network channels is there a catch??

If the new HR21-700 doesn't have an OTA input how are you suppose to record HD local network channels is there a catch??

The catch must be they're gonna start offering HD locals soon....? I know I don't wanna pay for what's free.

Well the installer came out today with an HR21, he called the "warehouse" and they are completely out of the HR20's (I also called Bestbuy and they can no longer sell HR20's)and don't expect any more in, but when he told me and my wife we couldn't record any TV shows in HD we cancelled the order immediately. I find it silly of DirectTV to sell the HR21 exclusively in a market/demo where they don't have dedicated HD network channels.

If the new HR21-700 doesn't have an OTA input how are you suppose to record HD local network channels is there a catch??

The catch is you:mad: don't record them because you can't receive them anymore.

I have the DirecTivo HR10-250, but I'm eying the new series 3 HD-Tivo. It can record OTA digital and analog, in addition to analog cable and digital w/ cablecard.

I'm already paying $12 to Comcast for the lowest tier channels to get the price reduction on high-speed internet, but I'm not watching them. So if I switched to Comcast (and still record locals OTA for best PQ), this would put that money to good use.

Anyone on this board have the HD Tivo w/ Comcast? :confused:

I have the DirecTivo HR10-250, but I'm eying the new series 3 HD-Tivo. It can record OTA digital and analog, in addition to analog cable and digital w/ cablecard.

I'm already paying $12 to Comcast for the lowest tier channels to get the price reduction on high-speed internet, but I'm not watching them. So if I switched to Comcast (and still record locals OTA for best PQ), this would put that money to good use.

Anyone on this board have the HD Tivo w/ Comcast? :confused:
I had the HD TiVo w/dIRECtv but it doesn't work on the new HD channels, so I got rid of it. I have two Series 2 TiVos both with lifetime subscriptions and I just got an offer from TiVo to upgrade them both to the Series 3 HD for $200 plus the cost of the receiver.

I'm still debating.

Well,that's not exactly true.What you can't record is local HD shows(what is also avail.OTA).You can record all the national HD channels.

DirecTV is a pain to deal with,but may have the best product out there(the HR20 and all the HD channels).But this latest HR21 fiasco makes no sense(even after we get locals in HD,whenever that will be).Why not leave the OTA tuners in place.The HR21 certainly adds nothing I need.

The HR20 with an eSATA HD is amazing.I have a 750GB HD that allows over 100 hours of HD recording-and it was plug-n-play.....But the company stinks with some of it's decisions.

Well,that's not exactly true.What you can't record is local HD shows(what is also avail.OTA).You can record all the national HD channels.

DirecTV is a pain to deal with,but may have the best product out there(the HR20 and all the HD channels).But this latest HR21 fiasco makes no sense(even after we get locals in HD,whenever that will be).Why not leave the OTA tuners in place.The HR21 certainly adds nothing I need.

The HR20 with an eSATA HD is amazing.I have a 750GB HD that allows over 100 hours of HD recording-and it was plug-n-play.....But the company stinks with some of it's decisions.

Which eSATA are you using? I am wanting to add an external also.

I got the Seagate Free Agent pro 750GB at CCity(was on sale for $199).Then got an eSataII cable(Tripplite) online.Check out the DBStalk.com forums for tons of info.

Channel 10 is back to so much pixelating that it's useless for me to watch them....:rolleyes: How hard can it be to broadcast? They used to do better. I'm ditching my season passes for their shows till they get it together. I've not seen a glitch-free SNL this year and most of my Tivo recordings of My Name Is Eearl have been unwatchable, like tonight's was.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=932285&page=16

Hey guys, don't want to crash the thread too much but just wanted to ask if you guys are tuning into the Toshiba A2 firesale at Wal-Mart. I've been following the thread and didn't see any entries from Knoxville. Okay, I'll go back to sleep.

I already got one....

Channel 10 is back to so much pixelating that it's useless for me to watch them....:rolleyes: How hard can it be to broadcast? They used to do better. I'm ditching my season passes for their shows till they get it together. I've not seen a glitch-free SNL this year and most of my Tivo recordings of My Name Is Eearl have been unwatchable, like tonight's was.

Channel 8 has been much better in recent days. Virtually no problems during the LSU-Alabama game or the Patriots-Colts game.

It looks like WBXX is back to having their HD programming back in SD again. :rolleyes:

On a brighter note, we got a notice in the mail yesterday that Comcast is adding more HD channels effective Dec. 12. They are adding USA HD, TBS HD, HGTV HD, Food Network HD, and NFL Network HD. The only thing is I wish they'd add NFLN HD starting next week when they start showing live games. By waiting until Dec. 12, they will miss 4 live games. Oh well.

It looks like WBXX is back to having their HD programming back in SD again. :rolleyes:

For the past two weeks I haven't been able to recieve them at all. If I stay tuned in, I might get a frozen image here or there... that's about it. I've never seen an HD image on their channel. I turned to them several times this summer just to see. Everytime that I did, either it was SD or technical difficulties.

Now, they're back to their longterm norm, for me, black air, invisable TV.... :rolleyes:

I just tried getting off the air reception here in Maryville near Wilkenson Pike and Grandview Dr. I could get channel 15.1 sometimes but that's all. I bought a new Winegard S-2000 with the latest technology and an amplifier (looks great, by the way) set it up outside and used a compass to aim the antenna, etc. I couldn't get anything. I took it indoors next to the TV and found I could get channel 15.1 very well but nothing else. I then climbed up a 20 ft ladder against the house and tried again with my wife reporting on the TV reception. Still nothing. Tried pointing in other directions, hoping to get a usable reflection - still nothing. This antenna is for uhf and rated up to 40 miles for channels 7 to 13, and 50 miles for ch 14-69. My house must be down too low. I paid $103 with shipping and would like to warn others in Maryville of this difficulty.

Or does anyone have any suggestions?

Try a non-direction. You can "test" an antenna from Radio Shack and bring it back if it doesn't work. There's a pizza-pie sized http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062075&cp=2032057.2032187.2032189.2032205&parentPage=familynon-direction (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062075&cp=2032057.2032187.2032189.2032205&parentPage=family)I recently tried from Radio Shack (my atic antenna is fine, but there's one room not wired). I put the "pie" indoors next to the set and it pulls in all stations at 100% - better than my big antenna in the attic !!!

Has WVLT cut their power again? The picture the last few days is back to being kind of crappy after being pretty good for a few weeks.

Has WVLT cut their power again? The picture the last few days is back to being kind of crappy after being pretty good for a few weeks.

I never saw any difference lately. No up's or downs for me. They do have their ever-lovin' macroblocking on those HD football games, that's a constant. Then, news, 60 Minutes, and football games is about all I watch on WVLT.

Try a non-direction. You can "test" an antenna from Radio Shack and bring it back if it doesn't work. There's a pizza-pie sized http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062075&cp=2032057.2032187.2032189.2032205&parentPage=familynon-direction (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062075&cp=2032057.2032187.2032189.2032205&parentPage=family)I recently tried from Radio Shack (my atic antenna is fine, but there's one room not wired). I put the "pie" indoors next to the set and it pulls in all stations at 100% - better than my big antenna in the attic !!!

What is your location. I live on East Wolf Valley rd. I am at the base of a 900ft hill (on the wrong side of course from Sharps Ridge.) I Have tried my pr8800 (worked great on the right side of the hill) and the big radio shack antenna, But I get almost no locks, just wb at about 60% at its best. Any help from anyone on getting a signal at the base of a hill would be greatly appriciated.

Anyone notice that the Fox OTA channel http://thetubetv.com/ is gone now? See attached photo from 43-2

Wonder if they are working on a replacement channel.

The Tube went off the air on Oct. 1 due to money reasons.

As for a replacement, wasn't there an article in the paper recently about one station in town picking up RTN? That network is pretty cool.

What's RTN stand for? ....Rotten Television Network, perhaps? ;) ....n'ver heard of 'em.

What's RTN stand for? ....Rotten Television Network, perhaps? ;) ....n'ver heard of 'em.

Think of TVLand with good shows.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retro_Television_Network

The article I was looking for was in the News-Sentinel and it mentioned WATE looking to start airing RTN on 6.2

Think of TVLand with good shows.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retro_Television_Network

The article I was looking for was in the News-Sentinel and it mentioned WATE looking to start airing RTN on 6.2

Thanks! I hadn't heard of it. I missed the Sentinel article. I doubt I'd watch it much but I'd like to see somethin' on these local, vacant sub's. :)

What's going on with channel 20, the WB? I haven't been able to recieve for atleast a month now.

I'm getting 20 just fine,but 10-1(with an 80% steady signal) keeps pixelating.OTA is just nuts!

Channel 20's HD is back.

FYI, the new HD channels on Comcast are up today. USA HD, TBS HS, NFL Network HD, Food Channel HD, and HGTV HD are now added. Sweet!

I'm stille not getting channel 20. I've tried several different tuners. I'd never consistently recieved them till about 6 months ago. I recieved them just fine till about a month ago. Now.....gone again.

Has anyone on here ever received a Chattanooga station OTA? If so, what type of setup do you have? Just wondering.

I live in Oak Ridge, I have not tried to see if I can get Chattanooga, My antenna is on the wrong side of the house, There is a good tool for Google earth. It has all the TV antennas and will color code the area that you should get reception based on terrain. Chattanooga Towers are up on Lookout mountain, they are extremely high, so chances are good. From Oak Ridge I'm able to pick up FOX 39 from Greeneville or use too. Cannot keep the digital signal lately, but the regular channel still works, little snowy, but watchable.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=821480

I'll check into that. I have an indoor antenna, so I doubt I could get those. But it would be interesting to see if anyone can with a big antenna. I'll check the Google Earth info.

I see WATE is back to their old tricks of not throwing the swtich from SD during HD programming. :rolleyes:

Hello,

I just moved to the area (Farragut) and had my DTV installed only to find out i dont get the locals in HD through DTV.

2 questions -

any one know of any plans to add them to DTV?
would an inside antenna work to recive them (ex.Terk - Indoor Amplified HDTV Antenna)?

Hello,

I just moved to the area (Farragut) and had my DTV installed only to find out i dont get the locals in HD through DTV.

2 questions -

any one know of any plans to add them to DTV?
would an inside antenna work to recive them (ex.Terk - Indoor Amplified HDTV Antenna)?



I have a radio shack indoor amplified antenna in my attic in Canton Hollow /Woody Rd area. It is VERY PICKY and has a sweet spot. Buy one save your receipt and try it out. I literally bought like 5 antennas and kept the one that worked well.

funny thats where i am :) (i think its called westbury subdivision, just moved here from florida)

ill try that and see what happens..

Thanks !

What is your location. I live on East Wolf Valley rd. I am at the base of a 900ft hill (on the wrong side of course from Sharps Ridge.) I Have tried my pr8800 (worked great on the right side of the hill) and the big radio shack antenna, But I get almost no locks, just wb at about 60% at its best. Any help from anyone on getting a signal at the base of a hill would be greatly appriciated.
My previous house was at the base of a hill and I tried every antenna in the store with no luck. You'll need to erect a tower oe get cable.

Hello all

I'm I'm north of Spring City on Watts Bar . I'm about halfway between Knoxville and Chattanooga.I can recieve one Crossvill station and CBS ch.12 from Chattanooga. I use to live on Signal Mountain within 5 miles of all the towers.
Ch.12 is the furtherst south.
Any Ideas? any one in Rockwood,Harrimond or Spring City?

John

I am new to the HDTV world. I own an HDTV and have tried to pick up free HD channels with multiple indoor antennas from Radioshack to no avail. I live in South Knoxville, about three miles from Henley St. Bridge down Chapman Highway. Anyone live in the same area? Any tips on what kind of setup I need? Any recommendations on an outdoor antenna? Any input you might have would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Dave

I would go to Shield's Electronics over on Middlebrook Pike and purchase a fringe or deep fringe UHF antenna and mount it rooftop or attic pointed North toward Sharp's Ridge. You will probably get something. (CBS, NBC,ABC,PBS, and FOX).

Larry

I would consider an "all-channel" antenna instead of just UHF only. After February 2009 there will two local DTV stations on VHF. WMAK is now on RF channel 7 and after 2/2009 WBIR will return to RF channel 10. There is usually though a fair amount of gain from a UHF antenna on the upper VHF channels so a UHF antenna will probably work, it's just not ideal.

A deep fringe antenna won't hurt but that kind of gain should not be needed just south of the river. The larger antennas will help with ghosting if that's a problem. You can still use analog reception to judge whether you site is ghosty. If an outside antenna is possible, that's the better choice.

One of my current TV antennas came from Shield's and is UHF only. It gets ch7 okay but my older all channel Yagi is a better performer. Not counting mast and coax I spent $20 for the UHF antenna.

Thanks. Ill give it a shot.

Hello,
I just moved to the area (Farragut) and had my DTV installed only to find out i dont get the locals in HD through DTV.
2 questions -
any one know of any plans to add them to DTV?
would an inside antenna work to recive them (ex.Terk - Indoor Amplified HDTV Antenna)?
1- Directv will start adding more HD locals (like Knoxville) after the next satellite (Directv11) is launched. It will probably be June or later before they start rolling out the new HD locals.

2- I'm getting good signals from West Knoxville using a non-amplified Silver Sensor indoor UHF antenna.

:)

Thanks!

1- Directv will start adding more HD locals (like Knoxville) after the next satellite (Directv11) is launched. It will probably be June or later before they start rolling out the new HD locals.
:)

The first reply in the thread below has more encouraging news about Knoxville HD locals, but will it really happen?
http://www.satelliteguys.us/directv-hd-discussions/118434-hd-lil-capacity-left-d10.html

http://televisionbroadcast.com/TMD/two-minutedrill.mp3

More Direc news....they'll carry PBS.

Hello all

I'm I'm north of Spring City on Watts Bar . I'm about halfway between Knoxville and Chattanooga.I can recieve one Crossvill station and CBS ch.12 from Chattanooga. I use to live on Signal Mountain within 5 miles of all the towers.
Ch.12 is the furtherst south.
Any Ideas? any one in Rockwood,Harrimond or Spring City?

John


Spring City here (in town) So FAR I can only get that one CW station 20/50?? as far as digital goes and since its in DTV ( no HD)its pretty worthless to me as I got a chattanooga locals pack for dish. Like you I am perfectly halfway tween knox and chatt. I just learned today dish has plans to make knoxville locals in HD in like feb or march YET they will not let me switch from chat............ Now all I been using is a small inside antenna BUT I might go get an old school IF I knew for a fact it would get HD However I am wondering if maybe spring city is incapable of receiving like 3 or 12 HDTV because SC is kinda in a hole. You got these big ass mountains back here tween us and chat and looking toward K town is not much better as the lay of the land just bobbles up and down and isnt DTV all line of sight?? Well philips has an odd shaped antenna for 40 bucks for HD/DTV and I might try that soon........ Sounds like you in ten mile just over the damn and if so a friend of mine can only get that CW channel.....

I hear you. I figure if I can get ch12 I should be able to get 9 & 3.All 3 towers are withen a mile io each other. I'm going to try agin with a vhf and uhf antenna tied together. If I get anything, I'll let you know.

John

Spring City here (in town) So FAR I can only get that one CW station 20/50?? as far as digital goes and since its in DTV ( no HD)its pretty worthless to me as I got a chattanooga locals pack for dish. Like you I am perfectly halfway tween knox and chatt. I just learned today dish has plans to make knoxville locals in HD in like feb or march YET they will not let me switch from chat............ Now all I been using is a small inside antenna BUT I might go get an old school IF I knew for a fact it would get HD However I am wondering if maybe spring city is incapable of receiving like 3 or 12 HDTV because SC is kinda in a hole. You got these big ass mountains back here tween us and chat and looking toward K town is not much better as the lay of the land just bobbles up and down and isnt DTV all line of sight?? Well philips has an odd shaped antenna for 40 bucks for HD/DTV and I might try that soon........ Sounds like you in ten mile just over the damn and if so a friend of mine can only get that CW channel.....

Get a channel master 4228 UHF Multi bay. I can pick up VHF down to Knoxville's Channel 7 and all of the uhf channels great. I am about 40 miles north of Knoxville.

Can any one tell me where the Knoxville tv towers are located? As in....NE area S area. I don't know the names of the areas arround there.
John

Can any one tell me where the Knoxville tv towers are located? As in....NE area S area. I don't know the names of the areas arround there.
John

Except for the WB, channel 20, they're all on Sharp's Ridge in the northeast part of town. The WB is on Buffalo Mountain north of Oak Ridge.

There is a web site that will give you stations, distance, and bearing from your residence. http://www.antennaweb.org

They will also give a recommendation for antenna type. All they require is your zip code. It's a good start.

Can any one tell me where the Knoxville tv towers are located? As in....NE area S area. I don't know the names of the areas arround there.
John

See attached image for an overview of the main digital transmitters in the area.

Best regards,
Andy

Bad news for me. I live nearly 50 miles sw of Knox.

John

I put up a cheep outdoor antenna on the roof. I get Knox. ch 6,10 &43 ok and Chat. ch12,45,9 ok.Cant get any decent dtv signals. except 20.1 but that dosen't have any shows I watch.

The first reply in the thread below has more encouraging news about Knoxville HD locals, but will it really happen?
http://www.satelliteguys.us/directv-hd-discussions/118434-hd-lil-capacity-left-d10.html
I don't know why these guys thought Knoxville would get HD locals so soon. The Directv satellite that will carry them is not going to be launched until mid-March and will not be operational until June at the earliest.
:)

Here's the list

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=111753

Knoxville isn't there

I feel like a kid on Christmas Day! I woke up this morning to find the local channels not in my DirecTV guide. When I added them back they came in at 720P, and will have to wait till 7:00AM, but the Today show is listed with an "HD" next to it. Looks like the rumors were true. Happy Day!!!

FYI: GMA on WATE ABC is coming in loud and clear in 720p.

whaaaa? Are we saying Knoxville locals are currently in HD on DirecTV? :confused:

whaaaa? Are we saying Knoxville locals are currently in HD on DirecTV? :confused:
That is what this thread is saying. I won't believe it until I get home and check!

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=117106

:)

Here's the press release from D*:

Congrats Knoxville.:)

http://phoenix.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=127160&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1099245&highlight=

Wonder why no WBXX or WMAK?

Wonder why no WBXX or WMAK?
For now, Directv is trying to get the main 4 networks added. It could be worse...Tyler, TX HD locals were added yesterday, and they only got 2 channels (CBS/ABC)! :eek:

Yep,we have ABC(6),CBS(8),NBC(10),and Fox(43) in HD off satellite 103b.Hope they will add PBS.

Hope they will add PBS.

...and CW. I guess for now I'll stick with my antenna.

For those of us in the TDS service area, they plan to start offering TV in the next couple of months. If you already have TDS internet via fiber optics (I just got it) the cost should be lower than Charter. My concern is that the DVR STB they plan to use is a SA 430 (http://www.tdstelecom.com/tdstv/IPN430MC.pdf) Maybe it has some redeeming features but the lack of a display to tell you what channel you're watching seem to be a major drawback.

Charter apparently uses a Moto BMC-9012. Does anybody have any comments about that box? or any other comments about Charter?
I'm ready to finally pull the trigger for a HDTV and trying to decide whether to wait on TDS or go ahead with Charter now.

Off topic, but how fast is that TDS fiber you have? I see no info on there site about fiber to the home.

I'm ready to finally pull the trigger for a HDTV and trying to decide whether to wait on TDS or go ahead with Charter now.

If either has cablecard service, what about an HD-Tivo? I have yet to hear of a better DVR than the good ol' Tivo.

Off topic, but how fast is that TDS fiber you have? I see no info on there site about fiber to the home.

good question - I signed up for 15 MBS at $40/mo - cheaper than Charter 4 MPS at $44. I then found that there was a 6 month promotion for $20/mo for 4 MBS, so that's what I have now. I will go to 15 when the 6 mo is up.

They run the fiber from the pole to a hub at the house, then tie in the telephone system and an ethernet cable to a DSL modem which is also a wireless router.

It may not be on their web site because they only offer it where they have put fiber on your street.

If either has cablecard service, what about an HD-Tivo? I have yet to hear of a better DVR than the good ol' Tivo.

Doesn't it still require a STB plus the ~$300? I'd rather pay just the extra few bucks/mo for a DVR STB.

I don't know why these guys thought Knoxville would get HD locals so soon. The Directv satellite that will carry them is not going to be launched until mid-March and will not be operational until June at the earliest.
:)


We got lucky! :D

...and CW. I guess for now I'll stick with my antenna.

I'm keepin' my antenna,too.Can't have too many backups with rain-fade,etc.

Yep,we have ABC(6),CBS(8),NBC(10),and Fox(43) in HD off satellite 103b.Hope they will add PBS.

How do they compare to OTA? I've heard that with MPEG4 the quality is comparable.

Has anyone noticed a change in the comcast lineup? Comcast published a new lineup effect 1/1/08. The fine print said local channels in HD would be available with the limited basic package. I eagerly rescanned my TV and picked up ESPNHD and HD Theatre, but no local channels in HD. I called Comcast and they say I need their HD box (although the fine print says "may" require additional equipment.....I'm assuming this would be the case if your TV doesn't have a QAM tuner). I picked up their HD box (Motorola) anyway and still no local channels in HD (I still get ESPNHD and HD Theatre). When I tune a specific channel, I get a blue screen that says "channel should be available shortly." I'm assuming whatever is preventing my TV from picking up the local HD channels is also preventing the HD box....just the HD box provides a very informative message.

Anyone experience the same thing or is anyone receiving local HD with only a limited basic subscription?

Thanks,

Channel 8 did the stupidest thing today. They moved a CBS hi-def basketball game to 8.2 in SD and put a crapp-ie lookin' Raycom SEC game on 8.1 . It could of looked just as bad on 8.2 ! :mad:

Those Raycom games look TERRIBLE even for SD. Why is the SEC so behind? There's an awesome-looking HD game right now on The Big Ten Network (Penn St. vs. Iowa).

The clue here is that the box says "this channel should be available shortly". It did not say you are not authorized. It probably means too low a signal on these particular channels. If you have other devices connected you may want to try only the HD box directly connected to cable by itself. In any case, you are not receiving services that you are paying for. It's time for a service call.

The locals should be in the clear in QAM format but that is a separate issue.

Greetings fellow Knoxvillians!

I have recently purchased an HDTV and am looking to add OTA HD. I am very new to the HDTV wave and not very tech savvy (special thanks to DaverJ for helping me out with some technical questions).

I would like to just add a simple, indoor antenna. We live in the Karns area and antennaweb says we are less than 10 miles from the major networks (all yellow). I had looked into the Terk models (HDTVi and HDTVa) but have read that they are pretty much junk.

I was hoping some of you familiar with the area (or in the Karns area) would be more knowledgeable. Can you recommend an antenna for me? Since I live so close, I assume I wouldn't need the HDTVa since it is amplified. I have heard some good things about the RadioShack 15-1892 (the mushroom looking one with remote) as well as some the Wineguard SS-3000 (but, again this is amplified).

If your only ten miles out a simple set of rabbits ears should work, Check in Big lots they usually have pretty good ones in the back of the store. Currently all the HD is being broadcast on the UHF spectrum.

You might try rabbit ears because they are simple and inexpensive so you don't have much to lose, but performance could be poor with picture freezes etc as people move around in the room. The next step up from rabbit ears is an antenna in the attic. These can work well depending on the construction of your attic. Outside is almost always best.

There is one VHF DTV station on channel 7 and channel 10 (now RF 31 UHF) returns to channel 10 VHF 2/17/09.

If you have other devices connected you may want to try only the HD box directly connected to cable by itself. In any case, you are not receiving services that you are paying for. It's time for a service call.

The locals should be in the clear in QAM format but that is a separate issue.

I do split the signal before the HD box, but I am using an splitter/amplifier. Before my splitter, there is a split with one lead going to my cable modem and the other coming to my splitter. Could this be a problem?

Thanks

I do split the signal before the HD box, but I am using an splitter/amplifier. Before my splitter, there is a split with one lead going to my cable modem and the other coming to my splitter. Could this be a problem?

I'm no X-pert fore shore....I've heard folks in essentially similar situations say that the spitting was the problem. I'm so happy that I've been Crumcast-free for nearly 5 years now.... ;)

As to what Crumcast might do about it, if anything....??? My mom had a moderately, long run, 6-700 feet, from the road to her house and consistently poor service. They wanted a bunch of money just to fix their own botched installation. I hope they don't throw somethin' like that up at ya! Good luck! :)

I do split the signal before the HD box, but I am using an splitter/amplifier. Before my splitter, there is a split with one lead going to my cable modem and the other coming to my splitter. Could this be a problem?

Thanks

The quality of the amplifier really matters and so does the quality of the coax and connectors. Good amplifiers are not inexpensive and the digital signals are usually located near the upper frequencies that attenuate first.

I'd try going directly to the cable box just to see if that works. If that works, I'd then try hooking the box up to the first splitter. The further away from the cable entrance into your home the lower the signal level. BTW, the cable box also needs to talk back to the cable headend so you can use the on demand features. Some amps made to use with cable modems will work in both directions but simpler amps won't.

I had a signal strength/quality problem at my home that was not fully resolved until Comcast replaced several hundred feet of coax at the street. That took about three service calls. It probably helped that I send them a large check each month for DVR's and cable internet.

Makes OTA and my antennas look like a bargain! ;)

Any reports from D* customers in the Knoxville area regarding the PQ of the HD locals? I'd be especially interested in anyone who has both OTA and HD LIL from D*.

I can't tell much of a difference on WATE and WTNZ. WVLT actually looks a bit better on D* but that might be that D* could be getting the signal through a hardwired connection so no multicasting there to degrade the signal. WBIR looks a little bit "blockier" than they do OTA, but I can get WCYB out of Bristol OTA and their PQ makes WBIR look very bad by comparison.

Just my opinion of course.

watching the pregame super bowl on wtnz and im getting tons of digital artifacts and sound popping....anyone else getting this...its pretty unwatchable....

i get my fox hd via charter....

WTNZ is comin' in close enough to purr-fect for me OTA.

Its great to see Comcast adding even more HD channels in the Knoxville market. Hopefully they continue to keep adding channels every other month, if they keep this us I will be happy, on Feb 4th they added Animal Planet HD, Discovery HD, History Channel HD, and best of all Sci-Fi HD :D

One channel I'm wanting is Speed TV HD. At least they'll show more HD programming than some of the ones we have now.

Does anybody know why channel 6 is showing Inside Edition instead of 12, noon news this week? Are they working on their set to go HD soon perhaps?

Does anybody know why channel 6 is showing Inside Edition instead of 12, noon news this week? Are they working on their set to go HD soon perhaps?

Nope. They dropped the noon newscast. It was in last Friday's news-sentinel and they mentioned it at the end of the final noon newscast last Friday.

Guess they firgured they weren't going to get out of third place so they would use the money elsewhere. Channel 6's owners have cut jobs/newscasts in all of the stations they own.

I'd say if any Knoxville station starts up HD news it will be WVLT because their closest sister station (WKYT in Lecington) has HD news and they made a big deal out of being first in their market to go HD. But once one does they all will go HD for fear of losing viewers. Be careful what you wish for... I used to work at WATE and the world is NOT ready for Lori Tucker (or Gene Patterson's hair) in HD. :D

I was so busy last friday, I never stopped to look at the Sentinel. I hate to see local programming cease for the likes of Inside Edition! :rolleyes: It doesn't sound in the public intrest to reduce local programming when one of the promises of DTV was gonna be more local stuff.

I've seen Gene Patterson in person many times. Lori Tucker I've never seen. I heard she has 50 kinds of shampoo in her bathroom from an ex Merry Maid. I imagine she might be right entertaining to see put her hand on that machine from the Bob Brown Science Circus that made your hair stand up...? ;)

Thanks for reading the paper for me! :)

It was mentioned on th forum previously that WATE was going to air RTN (Retro TV). I can't find any evidence that it is going to happen. Also, WTNZ is still running a message on 43-2 about the Tube going off when they were supposed to put on an alternate channel.

looking to meet old enginnering staff. 1970 +

Heya. I have an LST-3100a that I've been using w/an outside antenna for the past few years. My problem is, I no longer get program guides for any channels I receive. Has something happen to my receiver or have program guides been dropped? I still get all the local channels fine, except channel 10 has been missing the last 3 evenings.

I've had contant problems with 10 since last summer. I can't depend on watching anything on that channel. They're the worst channel in town as far as I'm concerned. They have problems because I got them just fine for years. Everybody else is improving and they're going the other direction.

They come, they go, they pixelate, they freez, poof....and so does their weather sub....:mad:

10, clean it up!

I've got valid program guide information on 6, 8, and 10. Time to power cycle and rescan?

I've had contant problems with 10 since last summer.


Check antenna orientation. Check the F connectors for tightness (and dryness). Be sure to also check at any splitters you may be using. Remove any cables from splitters that are unterminated i.e. open on one end.

In the presence of multipath, you may only need a very small antenna adjustment to improve signal quality. If the signal level is bouncing around, that's a pretty good sign that you have ghosting problems.

Check antenna orientation. Check the F connectors for tightness (and dryness). Be sure to also check at any splitters you may be using. Remove any cables from splitters that are unterminated i.e. open on one end.

In the presence of multipath, you may only need a very small antenna adjustment to improve signal quality. If the signal level is bouncing around, that's a pretty good sign that you have ghosting problems.

I can't reach my antenna. I don't have a tall enough ladder. East Ttennessee Satelite installed it on the side of my house about 15 feet high. I can check my spitters but I don't think I have any unterminated ones, maybe one? I have an outlet with no TV in my kitchen. I have a little plug thing-y closing that wall outlet. Somebody told me that was a good idea, so I did so.

I got 10 just fine before they did, whatever they did, last summer. Now, it can be just fine and then an hour or two later the pic is in and out or gone. Is that what happens from ghousting? Does weather play a factor?

My antenna is a Squareshooter. I have a distribution amp that must work properly or I'd have problems with all the channels, I'd think...? Thanks for your help! :)

My antenna is a Squareshooter. I have a distribution amp that must work properly or I'd have problems with all the channels, I'd think...? Thanks for your help! :)

The squareshooter comes in two models. If you have the amplified model you will have a small box that has a connection for your TV on one connector and the cable going to the squareshooter on the other. This box supplies power to the amplifier in the antenna if you have that model. You will need to leave that box in place; however, you don't really need an amplifier when you are close to the transmitters.

Assuming you have an additional amplifier inside the house, you may want to try reception without the distribution amp. When any amp is hit with too high a signal level they distort and actually impair reception.

Always try the easy stuff first even if it has only a low probability of success.

FYI...Last summer there was a major problem with the transmitting antenna that is common to channels 6, 10, and 43. That problem has long since been remedied.

Patrick, my Squareshooter is the first one out, without an amp. My line comes in and I split it. My big RP set gets the unamplified line. It was my first set to get digital OTA. When I bought some tuner boxes for the other sets and hooked them up, I needed an amp. So, that's how the spitter and amp came about. I really don't watch channel 10 much on the big TV but I have had trouble getting their weather sub on that set when I wanted to see it.

Thursday evening after watching My Name Is Earl on 10 and it coming in hunky dory, I decided to watch their 11 o'clock news and all I got was a grey screen. So, I switched to a reliable channel.

I'll check my amp and see if it can be turned down. It's been awhile since I eye-balled it. However, due to my experience with the big TV, I'm doubting that's it. I'm gonna set up some Tivo recording on the big TV and see if I get more than partials. I've had episodes of Earl on the other Tivo than lost more than 50% of the show.

My 10 reception has never fully recovered from last summer's fix. The fix has not all-together worked for me yet. Thanks for your help. I'm gonna sort through your suggestions. I wish Ii understood this stuff as well as you! Merci! :)

Anyone else in Knoxville with this?

I have the HD package and Comcast confirms that I should be receiving channels 422 HISTD; 424 DISHD; 426 APHD; and 427 SCIFI.

When I select one of these channels, I get a "Not Authorized" pop-up. I spent over an hour using the online tech support last weekend (2 Saturdays ago) and they sent signals to my box and had me doing a lot of tests. I removed all splitters and ran the direct signal to the DVR 6412, and nothing. If I go into the service menu, it show not auth and not purchasable, but a good signal.

They wanted to send a tech out between x and y, which i am not excited about. I have had to fix everything a tech has done in my house. I believe this is a head end issue and not my box. My box receives all the VOD and firmware updates, It sees the new channel listings.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance

When I select one of these channels, I get a "Not Authorized" pop-up. I spent over an hour using the online tech support last weekend (2 Saturdays ago) and they sent signals to my box and had me doing a lot of tests. I removed all splitters and ran the direct signal to the DVR 6412, and nothing. If I go into the service menu, it show not auth and not purchasable, but a good signal.

Def on the head end at Comcast, but from what I hear that's how our local Comcast works. The phone tech support doesn't deal with issues from their head end... they send a tech to the house, which means an afternoon of waiting between the hours of x and x. :rolleyes: I think that's your only solution.

Just a hunch, but I'll bet the tech will come to the house, look at the wire, turn on the box, make a phone call, and all will be fixed. I've heard people say their issues were fixed without the tech even walking through the door.

Try a power cycle first (pulling the power cord from the wall outlet). If that doesn't work, look up how to reset your Motorola 6412 (somewhere as a wikihow and probably on AVS). That causes a complete download from the headend. If that doesn't work, take the box back for exchange as defective.

Thanks Guys.

I may let a tech come by, but as a last resort.

I have done the power off and re download, but I have not and don't want to do a "hard" reset. I have some recordings that I haven't watched and want to. I don't think it's the box. I saw all those channels 3 weeks ago, then the pop-up.

I am trying to find the phone number of a tech and fellow AVSer that has helped me in the past after a home visit left me in worse shape that before the visit. So far I haven't found his number.

Thanks

I guess my box is just messed up. *shrugs* I get all the local channels fine, even 10 (now), but i have no program guide information from any channel. I did try unplugging it and plugging it back in and redoing the channel scans. Didn't help. *sigh*

Is it the Comcast DVR? 6412?
What connection to your set? DVI/HDMI and component have the guide in HD. Firewire dosn't.

Best resource: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR

I guess my box is just messed up. *shrugs* I get all the local channels fine, even 10 (now), but i have no program guide information from any channel. I did try unplugging it and plugging it back in and redoing the channel scans. Didn't help. *sigh*

I've got a similar receiver from LG. I have the version with the upconverting dvd player (that was a big deal 3 years ago) and off-air DTV tuner. I checked 10 just now, says Live at Five, etc. I would have thought a channel rescan would have fixed it.:(

For a long time, the "L bar" on WBIR's Weatherplus channel has not been positioned correctly. I does not conform to the left side of the screen on any 4x3 TV screen. This results in anything on the right side of weather maps being cut off like the state of Maine or Greene County depending on the map. Apparently, this is being done to allow the "10" to be placed on the left side of the words "Weather Plus", rather than above the words "Weather Plus" like most NBC affiliates do. Patrick T, could WBIR work on correcting this?
I have noticed WBIR using an "L bar" for school closings and it perfectly adjoins the left side of the screen. I have received the WJHL DT -Johnson City-weather channel and it is positioned correctly.

My ESPN HD has been out for a week. Getting the "should be available shortly" message. They've hit my box twice and NADA. Anyone else?

I have written to WVLT, WBIR and WATE. The only one that says it even has plans to broadcast HD local programming is WVLT, but that isn't until Summer 2009. It is at least something to look forward to.


Welcome to the Knoxville area and thank you for watching WVLT and offering the kind words. WVLT is in the process of putting together its proposal to broadcast all programming in HD. It looks as though we will not be broadcasting in HD until the summer of 2009. While this is not in the near future it will actually be here before you know it.

Sincerely,

Doug Stallard

Vice President/Chief Engineer WVLT-TV

Chairman Society of Broadcast Engineers Chapter 113

WVLT doesn't broadcast in HD. The compression rate, mutli-casting, and accompanying artifacts lowers the effective resolution so much its is pretty much a worthless station.

Does anyone know if the local CBS affiliate will use their extra digital signals to show multiple games during the NCAA Tournament?

For instance, have one game on 8-1 and another feed on 8-2?

Just wondering if I need to order March Madness from DirecTv or not.

Thanks.

Any reports from D* customers in the Knoxville area regarding the PQ of the HD locals? I'd be especially interested in anyone who has both OTA and HD LIL from D*.


I've been pleasantly suprised with the quality of the new HD Locals. Now, I can do without the bunny ears most times...as stuff on the other channels not offered by DirecTv isn't stuff I watch.

My ESPN HD has been out for a week. Getting the "should be available shortly" message. They've hit my box twice and NADA. Anyone else?

I get this for several of the HD channels. In fact, I do not get any of the local channels in HD, but I do get the "should be available shortly" message. However, I get several channels that I don't think I should get. I only have basic cable (2-13) and an HD box for the local channels in HD. However, I get most channels in the 100 range and several HD channels (ESPNHD, ESPN2HD, HGTVHD, A&EHD. Therefore, I'm reluctant to call service.

Has anyone noticed WBXX-DT on channel 50 drop output power?

My test readings from our site in Knoxville around Jan 15th were +5dbmv with a small antenna. The new +12dbi gain antenna for channel 50 on Feb 22nd is at -2dbmv. Just curious if anyone else as noticed this.

--
Tim

Has anyone noticed WBXX-DT on channel 50 drop output power?

My test readings from our site in Knoxville around Jan 15th were +5dbmv with a small antenna. The new +12dbi gain antenna for channel 50 on Feb 22nd is at -2dbmv. Just curious if anyone else as noticed this.

--
Tim


The way my reception of them comes and goes, it seems that way to me but I haven't bothered to check their signal strength.

Patrick, I have been observing what my signal strength does when channel 10 goes awry. The signal strength bounces up and down. Sometimes it goes all the way down to zero and then bounces up to the high 70's, which is about as high as it gets. When 10 is coming in well, the meter will generally be between 77-79.

Is it possible I could be getting interference with 10's signal? Across a ravine and a creek, about 40-50 yards from my house is a Pilot gas station with one of those big, industrial satelite dishes. Could that cause interference with 10? I have 2 identical, atomic clocks that display the outside temperature, which is beamed from an outdoor sensor. The one downstairs, closer to the sensor always displays the outside temp. The upstairs one, sometimes does not. I've long suspected interference from Pilot for that....???

The thing is, 10 is just fine sometimes and then these events happen where the signal just goes up and down for awhile. Then, it's back to normal. I just don't know what to make of all of this or if it's anything.

When the receiver loses a signal lock it will often show zero strength or bounce around so the signal level metering is in some ways confusing. It still sounds like multipath to me. Multipath can cause changing signal strength as the signals add and subtract. Did you ever comment on how channel 43 analog looks? (ghost and snow free?)

The sat dish is probably not a problem. The frequencies used are well away from the OTA broadcast frequencies.

The temperature sensors typically operate around 433 MHz and are very low power so positioning is critical.

It's a shame you can't nudge your antenna a little one direction or the other... and I'm sorry I don't have any good suggestions.

It's a shame you can't nudge your antenna a little one direction or the other... and I'm sorry I don't have any good suggestions.

I'll find a way to nudge the antenna. I have a friend who has a fair sized ladder and I'll get him over some weekend or call East Tn Sat out. Actually, you're full of good advice and suggestions! Don't count yourself short, I don't. :)

Did you ever take a look at channel 43's analog signal? You can use the analogs to notice ghosting and signal strength easier than studying the digitals.

Patrick, I get 43's analog with a very snowy pic.

Does anyone know if the local CBS affiliate will use their extra digital signals to show multiple games during the NCAA Tournament?
For instance, have one game on 8-1 and another feed on 8-2?
Just wondering if I need to order March Madness from DirecTv or not.
Thanks.
I doubt they will do this, since they have not done it in the past. Best bet is to get the March Madness package.

:)

Patrick, I get 43's analog with a very snowy pic.

That's maybe a clue. Channel 43 shares the same antenna with channel 6's digital (RF channel 26) and channel 10's digital (RF channel 31) and 43's digital (RF channel 34). Channel 43's analog should not be snowy anywhere in Knox county.

If you wanted to do some checking on your own, you could use the signal from channel 43's analog to investigate why the signal is weak. Some for instances, the power supply (wall wart) for your pre-amp has failed so the pre-amp isn't working. Does removing power from the pre-amp make a big difference for the worst?

Another common problem with F connectors is the center pin shorting to the outer conductor. It's sometimes too easy to fold the center pin over when you are making up the connector to your TV shorting out most of the signal.

Patrick, I think I used to get 43's analog better but I'm not positive. It's been a long, long time since I paid any attention to it since I got their digital. My antenna needs adjusting for whatever they changed from the repairs last year. Previous to that, it was hunky dory.

I'm sure my preamp is working. My local reception vanished when it's breaker flipped off about 6 weeks ago. So, I'm sure it's working.

It's muddy out back where the antenna is. When it drys up, I'll see about wiggling it about some. THAnks for all your suggestions! :)

Has anyone else had any problems with WBIR's digital signal this week? All of a sudden I get nothing on the signal strength meter in Vista Media Center...ATE, VLT, and TNZ are all 90+ strength. My antenna (channelmaster) is in my attic and hasn't moved in years...all of a sudden 10.1 isn't coming in. Anyone else?

.all of a sudden 10.1 isn't coming in. Anyone else?

Well, much to my dismay, I don't receive 10-1 in Vista Media Center either, although it has worked well for months and 10-2 is okay. I rebooted into XP and using the Hauppauge wintv application 10-1 is fine. Back into Vista Media Center and 10-1 is gone.

Did you update to Vista SP1 a few days ago like I did?

I figured it out. Whoever provides MS with their guide data (zap2it) has the frequency wrong. WBIR is currently broadcasting on freq. 31 but they have updated the atscchannels.xml for MCE to reflect frequency 10 (which is what they'll be switching to in 2009, apparently).

Edit C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\eHome\EPG\prefs\atscchannels.xml

Change WBIRs line from Physical="10" to "31", save and reboot.

Go in and add a new DTV channel in MCE, it doesn't matter what channel, even one that does not exist. Save it, then go back and delete it, and save again. When you save these changes, MCE will reload the atscchannels.xml file and they start showing up in the guide and with he correct channel information.

(Ref: http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/permalink/35727/35726/ShowThread.aspx#35726)

I figured it out. Whoever provides MS with their guide data (zap2it) has the frequency wrong.


Good find! Thank you! I'll try this went I get home.

I still haven't tried this fix but I found a post on AVS that references the same problem in another geographic location.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13425796

The post is by danhvos. He suggests editing the atscprefs.xml file because the atscchannels.xml file is updated daily.

For what it's worth, I requested Zap2it to correct their listing. I expect to be ignored.

or call East Tn Sat out

I noticed this mention of East TN Satellite. Do you have experience dealing with them? I've been wondering if they could come to my place and lend their expertise (and ladders) to improve the reliability of my antenna setup.

Any advise about with whom to speak at East TN Satellite? Thanks!

It's been about 5 years since they put up my antenna and I don't recall anybody by name. They were really nice and did good work. They did good work installing my mom's Direc also. They were only gonna charge me $50 if I wasn't pleased with the antenna and they took it down, which I thought was very reasonable. I think you should call or go by there. BTW, they're located in Fountain City, on Broadway, on the right, on the way up the big hill, going north out of town. I'm thinking about calling them out to solve my problem. I'm scared of heights.

I noticed this mention of East TN Satellite. Do you have experience dealing with them? I've been wondering if they could come to my place and lend their expertise (and ladders) to improve the reliability of my antenna setup.

Any advise about with whom to speak at East TN Satellite? Thanks!

I've had a really bad experience with ETS around 8 year ago. I don't know if things have changed, but they had quite possibly the worst service and customer relations I've ever experienced. :mad:

I'm easy to please and very forgiving, but even thinking of that company makes me cringe. I don't know who else there is to go to for antenna installation though.

Okay, I need some help. I am at the end of my rope. I don't have cable and don't want it. Up until this winter I have been happy with my OTA HDTV. I have always noticed weak signal strength during the winter with channel 10.1 and 10.2, but this year it has moved to 8.1, 8.2, and 6.1.

I live in the Claxton area and I receive (under best conditions): 6.1, 7.1, 7.2, 8.1, 8.2, 10.1, 10.2, 15.1, 15.2, 20.1, and 43.1. I have used the Antenna Web website to locate the towers and have used a compass to point my Terk HDTVs antenna. I get 15.1 and 43.1 solid as a rock. I have adjusted the antenna again and again to locate better signal but all to not avail. I still get pixelation with signal strength in the 20-30%.

I am thinking of getting a Channel Master 7777 pre-amp. Does anyone have experience with these. Should I need one only being 13 miles from the towers?

Any suggestions?

Sounds like something has changed. I'd check the coax to see if water has gotten into the connections. Were they taped up watertight?

I have checked and they seem okay. But just curious, if it was water contamination related wouldn't it effect all channels?

Water would normally effect all channels but noticing that from the signal strength display might be difficult.

The actual gain an antenna has also varies from channel to channel while the loss in the coax increases with frequency. Of the stations you mention, WBXX is the highest in frequency (RF channel 50) followed by 43-1 on RF channel 34. 15-1 is RF channel 17. 8-1, 10-1 and 6-1 are channels 30, 31, and 26. So you are getting the lower frequency channels and the higher frequency channels but not the in-between. 6-1 and 10-1 also operate at higher power levels than either 43-1 or 15-1. So it's a bit odd.

I've seen a few people put up antennas and satellite dishs that didn't know to wrap the coax connector with tape for weatherproofing so after a few months or years the system doesn't perform as well as new. Water has wicked itself through the coax and blackened the braid and increased the loss through the line. The baluns that some antennas use often don't age well and get wet or crack from exposure to sunlight and cause trouble.

I've also seen otherwise smart people point the back side of an antenna at the towers.

FYI, if the end you checked at the antenna is dry and still bright copper you probably don't have a water problem. But it's was one of the things to check.

A preamp might help but I would have thought that it would not be needed that close to the towers.

I just checked the DirecTV web site and it reports back that we should have local High Def. for ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, PBS

My wife is watching the TV so I can't check !!!

Yep - sure enough - there is HD Directv on the locals - but not PBS. I also don't get the secondary channels (weather for instance on 10.2)

Went to Radio Shack and got their 32-element outdoor antenna to replace my Terk HDTVs. I casually aimed the new antenna in the general direction of Sharp's Ridge and I am now getting 50% signal from every channel plus I am picking up new channels. No more pixelation. Problem solved.

Long story short, My Terk HDTVs antenna was junk.

I just checked the DirecTV web site and it reports back that we should have local High Def. for ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, PBS

My wife is watching the TV so I can't check !!!

Those have been available here for a couple of months. I'm wanting to switch, but can't get my wife to go along. She's "too used" to the Comcast channel lineup and box. :(

Anyone know what Comcast is up to? They have some Speed Channel HD programs OnDemand, but not the actual channel. The have replaced Fox Sports Net HD on 401 with FX HD. I'm sure that's temporary.

Does anyone know if Charter's basic cable service allows receiving of the major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, etc) in HD using just a QAM tuner?

Does anyone know if Charter's basic cable service allows receiving of the major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, etc) in HD using just a QAM tuner?
I receive the HD versions of NBC, CBS, ABC, PBS and FOX with my TVs digital tuner with basic service. I have not had much luck tuning it with any PC QAM tuner. I have not tried an HD Homerun though, which would probably have the best luck of working.

I have called WPXK asking about their very low broadcast power and they said an engineer would call, but that never happened. WPXK is at 4.9 million watts analog and only 18,000 watts digital. There is nothing on the FCC website to indicate that they are going up on power after the DTV transition. Can anyone get WPXK DT full time? I only get it occasionally. They certainly cannot replicate their analog coverage.

If that's channel 20.....I only recieve it on rare occasions.

I have called WPXK asking about their very low broadcast power and they said an engineer would call, but that never happened. WPXK is at 4.9 million watts analog and only 18,000 watts digital. There is nothing on the FCC website to indicate that they are going up on power after the DTV transition. Can anyone get WPXK DT full time? I only get it occasionally. They certainly cannot replicate their analog coverage.

I don't have any problem with them here. Their digital coverage looks similar to their analog according to the coverage maps:http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?call=WPXK

I think WPXK has imaginary coverage. I have two friends here in the 'hood that can't regularly recieve them either.

Anyone watching the Heartland Series special on right now (June 7, at 7 pm)? I've never seen locally produced HD on 10 before. Looks awesome!

Hey, I flipped over and took some glimpses at it. I saw the guy trout fishing and when I went back they were fishin' for Buffalo Carp. I was impressed by the underwater shots.

I wonder if they've been shooting Heartland in HD for some while and just now unleased it? It is encouraging to see somebody besides channel 7 do local HD.

OK. There was a message on my cable box about a month ago promising that Comcast in Knoxville would have ABC Family and Disney in HD last week. Where the heck are they? Does anyone have those channels? They were supposed to be in the 440s.

I have not seen them. And we have no further word. They were supposed to be here on the 16th.

Who really knows with Comcast? Those were supposed to be on there last week, but never came. I finally dumped them for DirecTV as of Saturday. I was tired of waiting on the channels I wanted in HD.

Anyone watching the Heartland Series special on right now (June 7, at 7 pm)? I've never seen locally produced HD on 10 before. Looks awesome!

They showed one episode last year in HD. I wonder if that was the same one or they made a second one? I didn't see the one from a couple of weeks ago.

This isn't strictly a DTV issue, well, maybe it is...? It does show the way TV stations will be diversifying in the digital age, so, I suppose it is.

"WTNZ Lauches The Fox 43 Traffic Tracker Mobile Service"

http://televisionbroadcast.com/tmd/two-minutedrill.mp3

If you don't listen to this today, you'll have to fish it out of their archives.

Is channel 20 finally up to full-power? Anybody Know...? I've never reliably recieved them till the last few days...maybe longer as I hardly ever look at the channel. I've repeatedly turned to it yesterday and today and always recieved it.

Is channel 20 finally up to full-power? Anybody Know...? I've never reliably recieved them till the last few days...maybe longer as I hardly ever look at the channel. I've repeatedly turned to it yesterday and today and always recieved it.

I just checked on my DirecTivo* via ANT and no real improvement here in Fountain City. Signal strength for frequency #50 bobbles in the 40-50% range -- nothing really watchable at this house.

---

*Speaking of DirecTV -- they are putting the final nail in the coffin for all HD Tivo receivers by finalizing the HD switch to MPEG4 very soon. Tivo only does MPEG2 HD. So my only options are 1) stick with DirecTV and have DirecTV replace my HD DVR with a non-Tivo for free, or 2) buy a new HD Tivo and hook it up with Comcast.

Because #1 is free, I'm going to try that route. Installers come out on Tuesday. Word on the dbs forums is the HR20 or 21 replacement is pretty decent, so we'll see.

Daver, I'm stille getting channel 20 today. They must of made some strides.

As far as Direc goes, they're not gonna pull the original HD package off the MPEG2 equipment are they? I'm stille using 2 DirecTivos and don't want any part of their current equipment. I'd like to just hang on till somethin' better comes along. ....U-verse or FIOS possibly...? I'm not obligating myself to Direc when I despise their new equipment which is definitely a step backwards from the DirecTivos.

If they pull my HD package, I'll file complaints and get a new provider that isn't Crumcast for sure. Otherwise I'll just coast along.

As far as Direc goes, they're not gonna pull the original HD package off the MPEG2 equipment are they?

Yeah, they've been saying they are going to switch to all MPEG4 for HD for a while. Now they're notifying all customers on record with HD-MPEG2 units for a free switch, including HD DirecTivos. I'll find out this afternoon what I think of the HR-21. I'm assuming channels 70 through 79 (the old HD package) will be replaced by the end of the year. They've already pulled the channel 99 HD-PPV.

From what I hear, the main things lost on the new DVR are Tivo's suggestions (no problem on my end) and no dual live buffers... the new HD-DVRs only buffers one of the tuners.

SD equipment will remain unaffected.

Daver, I scheduled the new equipment upgrade once some months ago. Then I heard that some of their new DVR's had no local, OTA tuners. I called 'em back and they told me they had no more DVR's with OTA tuners and I canceled. I scheduled the upgrade once again and was told I'd get OTA tuners and they showed up with boxes without the OTA tuners and I refused to let them proceed.

I'm not paying Direc or anybody else for the local channels and I'd like to have a DVR that integrates my locals with the rest, like the DirecTivo does. My elderly mom who is vision-impaired has DirecTivo too and she'd have a hard transition to ANY new equipment. She doesn't want to change either.

I spent $1600 on my 2 DirecTivos and they're not worn out. I simply don't wanna change my service for equipment I don't like. When I joined Direc, the customer service was fairly good. Now it's a 3 ring comic circus of errors and misrepresentations. When Ii joined there was a broad selection of equipment and you could find something you liked. Now it's close to one size fits nobody well.

I'm disenchanted with Direc....I think I'll stroll by a Dish Network place and check out their wares. If Direc pulls the HD off my HD equipment I'll file complaints and they'll have zero chance of retaining me as a customer.

Daver, I scheduled the new equipment upgrade once some months ago. Then I heard that some of their new DVR's had no local, OTA tuners. I called 'em back and they told me they had no more DVR's with OTA tuners and I canceled.

Yeah, I found out about this over at the dbsforums. Last year DirecTV's HR-20 had an ANT input for OTA locals, but recently they switched the HR-21 without that input.

The good news is there's an AM-21 add-on that sits on top of the HR-21 that will give back the ANT input. I am told DirecTV will ship one of these for free to anyone who lost local OTA from the switch from Tivo... if we ask nicely. :D

If you are into HD, DirecTV is a much better choice than Dish. But if you demand Tivo, your only option is your favorite company Comcast. ;)

I am curious about channel 401 on Comcast. I recently got their full HD service and they have Atlanta Braves games in HD in the guide, but they never come through. Most of the time it is SD generic FSN stuff. Tonight I received the full broadcast of a St. Louis Cardinals game in HD. They really don't know what they are doing with that channel... At least 402 works when a game is on Peachtree/CSS (though it is never in the guide). I'll settle for the Cardinals over nothing though. lol. Did the Nashville Predators games come through in HD on 401 last season?

Daver, I got an e-mail from Direc yesterday announcing they were screwing us over. They didn't give a cut-off date for MPEG2 HD but said the equipment replacement offer went only till 30 September.

They'll have to give me two local tuners, one for each of my outlets, and everything I ask for or I'll bolt. I think I'll ask for 6 months of free HBO and anything else I can think of! I feel like I should be filing greviences against them rather than considering staying with them. I'd really just like to tell 'em to kiss my posterior.

With no U-verse or FIOS yet, I'm feeling Direc is my best option but I'm gonna look at Dish's equipment before I make up my mind. I'm peeved that Tivo has been pushed out. One of the things that brought me to Direc was the broad selection of equipment....now..... :rolleyes:

Happie thirstday! :)

Daver, I got an e-mail from Direc yesterday announcing they were screwing us over. They didn't give a cut-off date for MPEG2 HD but said the equipment replacement offer went only till 30 September.

Yeah, my install was on Tuesday... the new dish is a monster and required 2 additional supports to hold it up! :eek:

The HR-21... is no Tivo. :rolleyes: Clunky/ugly interface, only one of the two tuners has a buffer. And the remote is a far cry from the TivoPeanut. But the buffer gives 90 minutes, and On-Demand is pretty cool, so its give and take.

The HR-21 does not record from ANT, so if you set up to swap it for your HR-10, demand the AM-21 to be brought with the installer (http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/09/directv-intros-two-atsc-tuner-am21-to-piggyback-hr21/). My installer, nor the DirecTV CSR I just spoke to, had any idea what this was -- so be prepared to explain.

Over the last few days I have lost the digital signals from 10, 43 and tonight 6. Anyone know if they are doing anything to the transmitters?

Brom, they're all coming in for me. I just checked.

Daver, thanks for the help. I'll be thinkin' things over for a week or two. If I stay with Direc, I'd be inclined to get installed about 28 September. There's a chance I'll go to Dish Network.

My mom is in the same boat as us. She's elderly and will have trouble learning something new after 5 years of DirecTivo. When I mentioned Dish Nnetwork to her, her first response was, can I get one with this same remote! I told her I'd take her along when I go look at Dish equipment. I can't send her back to Crumcast, she calls 'em that too... ;) That's the only way she can get Tivo besides OTA as far as I know. She may decide to keep Direc and lose HD....? She's not very adaptable at this point.

Thanks again, especially, for the AM-21 bit! :)

Just got here from Denver and we are in a Charter neighborhood in Maryville (about 7 miles south of the airport). Does anyone have advice on Charter vs. DirecTV for mainly HD viewing (nationals and locals)? We had DirecTV in Denver and I have a couple of HR10-250s so I'm faced with the same decision that was discussed above - change over to the new HR21s or go with a TivoHD and a cable subscription. Has anyone been sucessful in getting Charter to install cable cards in a TivoHD? Lastly, I haven't unpacked my OTA antenna yet, but are there any other Maryville residents on the forum that can reliably receive the HD locals from Knoxville?

I appreciate any thoughts and advice as our DirecTV service is currently suspended while we make a decision.

Thanks - JP

Reception always depends on local terrain; however, with only a modest amount of luck you should be able to get the digital counterparts to channels 6, 7, 8, 10, 15, and 43. Channel 20 is less likely as is channel 54 but not impossible. After February, there will be two VHF DTV stations with the remainder on UHF.

Try www.antennaweb.org with your new zip code for a second opinion.

Maybe I'll have more luck getting this answer after the forum restore.

Does anyone have any experience with TDS TV and the local HD channels? Specially, I'm interested in whether they're being sent via Clear QAM.

Thanks!

DVDivo Tim, couldn't you just put up an antenna? I think cable companies have disavowed QAM at this point mostly. You might not get all the subchannels on Quam? Folks seemed to complain a rather lot about Crumcast's QAM on his thread over time.... I think you're the first to mention TDS as far as I can recall.

Antenna reception has improved for me the past few months. I highly recommend it if ya can't jitterbug with QAM.

I have an email into TDS on my questions, and I'll update this when I hear something. I actually got a flyer in the mail from them with a free bag of microwave popcorn.

But the more I read over TurboHD from Dish, the more tempted I am by it. Now that they have Knoxville locals, you can get their basic HD, plus locals and a DVR for $35/month (plus taxes I assume). Anyone have the Knoxville HD locals with Dish? How are they in terms of compression (taking into account that WVLT and WBIR are crap even over an antenna)?

you can get their basic HD, plus locals and a DVR for $35/month (plus taxes I assume).

A great deal, which I'm thinking is a limited offer... for 6 months maybe? :confused:

Not sure on how long it's available for, but I guess it's a great deal if you're like me and don't want the SD channels, which aren't included.

I'd still like to know if anyone on here has it, and how's the picture quality. I've read about HD Lite, and how Dish shaves 1080i down to 1440x1080. That might be a deal breaker.

The F.C.C. has given small cable companies carte blanche to down-rez HD to their suiting. TDS could be shaving off pixels just as much or more than the big dawgs...?

True Rachael. So what kind of antenna are you using? My indoor silver sensor is hit or miss, especially when I'm wanting to watch NFL on Sundays. Hence my preference for QAM.

But the more I read over TurboHD from Dish, the more tempted I am by it. Now that they have Knoxville locals, you can get their basic HD, plus locals and a DVR for $35/month (plus taxes I assume). Anyone have the Knoxville HD locals with Dish? How are they in terms of compression (taking into account that WVLT and WBIR are crap even over an antenna)?

Are you saying that E* (DishNetwork) has Knoxville locals in HD? That's news to me.

True Rachael. So what kind of antenna are you using? My indoor silver sensor is hit or miss, especially when I'm wanting to watch NFL on Sundays. Hence my preference for QAM.

I have a Wineguard Squareshooter outdoor antenna. I get everything but that religious channel 54. I live along Alcoa Highway, not too far from the Blount County line. The NFL on 8 & 43 come in fine. I doubt any of the currently available providers can deliver them as well. I like getting all the subchannels that providers don't wanna carry too.

I'm at a crossroads as wheather to stay with Direc and their crummy new equipment or go Dish Turbo HD. The locals are not an issue for me. I'm not gonna pay anybody for them.

Cable companies wanna move away from QAM. It may not be much of a long-term solution....?