Hey Antigua,

Just because they stretch their SD content, doesn't mean they won't be broadcasting their HD content correctly. In fact, OTA KGAN for me is always stretched until the HD programming comes on in Prime Time. Keep your eyes peeled. I bet at 7, you'll be happy.

btw, are you also seeing hiccups in the audio and video?

Ben
Okay, it's 8PM and I just checked it out again. You guys were right - the primetime WHBF-DT signal is HD. It's very nice. I can't wait to watch Letterman in HD for the first time tonight.

But why is the non-primetime signal so crappy? Their regular SD on Mediacom 19 is much snowier than KGAN on 2, and that stretched 4:3 on WHBF-DT gives me vertigo.

Okay, it's 8PM and I just checked it out again. You guys were right - the primetime WHBF-DT signal is HD. It's very nice. I can't wait to watch Letterman in HD for the first time tonight.

But why is the non-primetime signal so crappy? Their regular SD on Mediacom 19 is much snowier than KGAN on 2, and that stretched 4:3 on WHBF-DT gives me vertigo.kgan is fibered into the Cedar Rapids headend. WHBF is probably ota to Iowa City.

Well Letterman looks great in HD. It's nice to see it in HD on Mediacom (especially when it's not coming from Sinclair).

In fact, OTA KGAN for me is always stretched until the HD programming comes on in Prime Time.

Really? KGAN gave up Stretch-o-vision a month or two ago, when they started their "Switch to Dish" crawler, noted as far back as Oct 30, 2006: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8778299&&#post8778299

And, as noted by me on Nov 1: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8794605&&#post8794605

I haven't been home lately to check on KGAN during non-primetime programming... are they really back to stretch-o-vision again?

CR_Client...No, they're probably not anymore. Its been a long time since I've watched KGAN during the day. I just assumed it was still stretched...

Is ANYONE else having audio and visual hiccups on the digital WHBF? I'm getting video pauses every 5 seconds, usually accompanied by audio pauses too. Its pretty unwatchable...I'm assuming since no one else has mentioned it that I'm the only one seeing it, but that doesn't make any sense. All of my other digital channels are still coming in fine. I'm just using the built in QAM tuner on my tv. It would be pretty disappointing to finally have quality CBS HD, but to not have it work right.

Thanks guys,
Ben

I watched Letterman last night (in Iowa City) on Mediacom WHBF-DT. It was very nice to finally see the Late Show in HD. But whenever they went to local commercials, it was very low-resolution and stretched SD.

I don't think the other locals stations do their SD on HD that way. I'm pretty sure that KWWL and KCRG go back to a 4:3 on their Mediacom HD channel when the programming isn't HD. And KWWL, KCRG, and KGAN all have sharper signals on their SD channels on Mediacom than WHBF does. (here in Johnson County, anyway)

The snowy, stretched SD on WHBF-DT is disgusting, but having CBS in HD makes up for it. (sorta)

KIIN-DT is now broadcasting at high power. They are at about 75% of their licensed power at the moment from the new antenna on top of their tower in West Branch. This should greatly expand IPTV's digital signal in SE Iowa.

WHBF-DT looks fine for me now. Must have just been working out the glitches.

Does anyone know the frequency assignment for KIIN HD?

Does Mediacom have 5.1 sound on the local HD channels? My dad gets very little volume out of his rear speakers when watching a HD channel, but works great with his DVD player. He does not have a Cable box, gets them through the QAM tuner in his tv. I have a optical cable from the tv to his receiver.

Does anyone know the frequency assignment for KIIN HD? RF Channel 45


Does Mediacom have 5.1 sound on the local HD channels? My dad gets very little volume out of his rear speakers when watching a HD channel, but works great with his DVD player. He does not have a Cable box, gets them through the QAM tuner in his tv. I have a optical cable from the tv to his receiver.Yes. They pass on what you would receive OTA. Check your setup....

Does Mediacom have 5.1 sound on the local HD channels? My dad gets very little volume out of his rear speakers when watching a HD channel, but works great with his DVD player. He does not have a Cable box, gets them through the QAM tuner in his tv. I have a optical cable from the tv to his receiver.

Yes they do. Sounds great. I'm using the box, but that should not matter.

Some tv's have setting for the digital audio that might effect that.

I just tuned to 7.1 over the air HD channel and have no signal. I thought the weather might be affecting the signal but my signal meter is at 0.

Anyone know what the scoop is?

Dick, any idea what is happening?

KWWL OTA working for me at 8:30PM....

I just checked KWWL OTA and it is back up with a stronger signal and I have now gone 10 minutes without loosing lock.

Looks like KWWL did some work to their signal and improved things dramatically.

Dick/KWWL. thanks for the improvements. Now NBC programming in HD can be enjoyed without the audio problems and loosing video.

KIIN-DT is now broadcasting at high power. They are at about 75% of their licensed power at the moment from the new antenna on top of their tower in West Branch. This should greatly expand IPTV's digital signal in SE Iowa.
I'm getting 8 bars and my indoor Silver Sensor isn't even pointed toward them!

The IPTV folks should be happy.

Now, for KWKB ...

I guess I spoke too soon concerning the KWWL OTA signal. The signal strength is back down to where it was and unlocks causing audio and video problems. Bummer.

Awfully quiet around here.. Everything must be peachy keen in Hi Def land. :)
I guess I don't have any HD questions or problems so HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

I guess I spoke too soon concerning the KWWL OTA signal. The signal strength is back down to where it was and unlocks causing audio and video problems. Bummer.

I've been noticing intermitent reception problems of KWWL-DT OTA via my HD Tivo for some time... (near Iowa City). Signal breaks up big time... sometimes no signal at all. Anyone else experiencing similar?

I need to check my Samsung TS160 and MyHD PC card next time I notice it...

Everyone else is rock solid...

DLPDA

Awfully quiet around here.. Everything must be peachy keen in Hi Def land. :)
I guess I don't have any HD questions or problems so HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!


It has been quiet here lately, and it's likely to get even quieter on Mediacom's feed for KGAN if the Sinclair-Mediacom mess doesn't get resolved by Friday.

Does anyone know if Solon's Mediacom channel line-up will include WHBF, as has been promised for Iowa City? I spoke to Mediacom customer service about this last week, but they didn't have any idea.

Hope everyone has a Happy HD New Year!

SDL

I've been noticing intermitent reception problems of KWWL-DT OTA via my HD Tivo for some time... (near Iowa City). Signal breaks up big time... sometimes no signal at all. Anyone else experiencing similar?

I need to check my Samsung TS160 and MyHD PC card next time I notice it...

Everyone else is rock solid...

DLPDA

DLPDA

I have the same problem with the KWWL OTA signal. I am in Marion. I was in communication with Dick from KWWL who indicated they have a weaker signal for KWWL. This is not the real problem. The issue is the signal will drop intermitently and no longer lock on the signal. This happens enough that I will no longer watch the channel.

I also have a friend in Hiawatha that has the exact same issue with KWWL signal dropping out.

Dick, is there anything else you can do to prevent the intermitent signal drop from happening? I think it is safe to say that this is not an end-user equipment issue.

It has been quiet here lately, and it's likely to get even quieter on Mediacom's feed for KGAN if the Sinclair-Mediacom mess doesn't get resolved by Friday.

Does anyone know if Solon's Mediacom channel line-up will include WHBF, as has been promised for Iowa City? I spoke to Mediacom customer service about this last week, but they didn't have any idea.

Hope everyone has a Happy HD New Year!

SDL WHBF in Iowa City has been turned on for over 2 weeks on ch 19, and WHBF-HD is on 804. Also of note about mediacom/$inclair
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6403827.html?display=Breaking+News
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6403964.html?display=Breaking+News

WHBF in Iowa City has been turned on for over 2 weeks on ch 19, and WHBF-HD is on 804. Also of note about mediacom/$inclair
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6403827.html?display=Breaking+News
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6403964.html?display=Breaking+News


Thanks for the links. I was aware that WHBF had been promised to Iowa City viewers, but we have not seen those channels yet in Solon.

SDL

Hey guys, not to sound like a broken record....

But does anyone else have problems with WHBF DT over QAM in the Iowa City area (or specifically North Liberty) Originally, I was having audio/visual hiccups every 5 seconds, then for a few days it was fine. However, for at least the last week, the hiccups have resumed. The video screen freezes for about half a second or breaks up, and the audio is often broken up with it.

Is there anyone else on this board who is receiving it over QAM? I can't believe I'm the only one with the problem, but since no one else is mentioning it....

Ben

Thanks for the links. I was aware that WHBF had been promised to Iowa City viewers, but we have not seen those channels yet in Solon.

SDL

If you haven't seen those channels "yet" in Solon, you probably won't ever see them.

The only cities that I'm aware of that will be getting something other than KGAN are Iowa City and Dubuque. Solon is not close enough to the Quad Cities to qualify for the same market hop, and was never "promised" anything of the sort.

Hey guys, not to sound like a broken record....

But does anyone else have problems with WHBF DT over QAM in the Iowa City area (or specifically North Liberty) Originally, I was having audio/visual hiccups every 5 seconds, then for a few days it was fine. However, for at least the last week, the hiccups have resumed. The video screen freezes for about half a second or breaks up, and the audio is often broken up with it.

Is there anyone else on this board who is receiving it over QAM? I can't believe I'm the only one with the problem, but since no one else is mentioning it....

Ben

I don't watch it too much, but I haven't noticed any issues at all with my QAM reception of WHBF here in IC

If you haven't seen those channels "yet" in Solon, you probably won't ever see them.

The only cities that I'm aware of that will be getting something other than KGAN are Iowa City and Dubuque. Solon is not close enough to the Quad Cities to qualify for the same market hop, and was never "promised" anything of the sort.


The reason I asked was because the original news story about Mediacom bringing in WHBF referred to "Johnson County" being in between the Quad Cities and CR markets and thus qualifying for Channel 4 as an alternative. Given that Solon is on the east side of Johnson County (and in fact closer to Davenport than North Liberty), it didn't seem unreasonable to think that Solon might be included in Channel 4 access. As is typical for this fiasco, it doesn't seem likely at this point that Solon will have many good choices for CBS reception. My location has enough trees and hills that a dish or OTA option for either WHBF or KGAN isn't very practical. Needless to say, I'm not happy about this!

SDL

Anyone know if Mediacom has any plans to add more HD channels to their line-up, espicially with now with more bandwith open with the combination of INHD and INHD2?? Would love to see TNT HD added. :)

Also, does anyone have any idea IF/WHEN Mediacom and Sinclair reach an agreement if they will start carrying the KGAN HD feed. There is lots of information about the disagreement between the two but nothing regarding wether it will include the HD feeds.

I guess I'm gunna stick with Mediacom until they can get a DBS system in the area that can record two HD's programs at the same time.

Also, does anyone have any idea IF/WHEN Mediacom and Sinclair reach an agreement if they will start carrying the KGAN HD feed. There is lots of information about the disagreement between the two but nothing regarding wether it will include the HD feeds.
Would be 99.9% sure KGAN-HD would be added after an agreement is reached. And as for the the loss of INHD2, I would also like to see TNT-HD added, since mediacom is already paying for the rights to carry the SD signal, wouldn't cost Mediacom very much more. You really don't get much for $9.95/month in the HD package....plus you have to pay $7/month for the HD box also.

I guess I'm gunna stick with Mediacom until they can get a DBS system in the area that can record two HD's programs at the same time.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you mean here, but I have Direct and I have no problem recording two HD programs at the same time.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you mean here, but I have Direct and I have no problem recording two HD programs at the same time.

Sorry, I should have specified more what I meant when I said that. I meant two network programs at the same time. Since I would have to use an OTA to get the locals in HD I would be limited to just one source for network HD versus my ability to record two HD network shows at the same time (minus CBS of course) via Mediacom. I would be able to record two HD programs at the same time but only one would be network tv which is where I watch 90% of my shows.

Would be 99.9% sure KGAN-HD would be added after an agreement is reached.

I'll be the 0.01% downer, then. With all of the headaches that Sinclair has caused in MediaCom's life, and all the money they're demanding for out-of-area channels attached to in-area channels, I don't see them adding an HD feed out to MediaCom without a VERY hefty premium.

Sinclair has a poor history of being able to run the HD portion of KGAN in the first place; I don't see them adding it to the lineup on Mediacom any time soon, no matter how nice it would be to have.

Ironically, if they had actually had the HD feed on MediaCom to begin with, they would have had a LOT more leverage in their negotiations over KGAN.

I'm kinda thinking the same way. With everything they are going through Mediacom will probably NOT spend the extra money to carry the HD feed. I know someone earlier posted a link saying that Mediacom could have paid 50 cent per customer to carry a Sinclair HD feed. Personally I would have paid that extra 50 cent if they had offered it, and I'm sure a lot of other people would have too. I'm sure now with all this that price has SEVERELY increased. And us the customer are going to lose out, because of both Mediacom and Sinclairs greed.

Looks like kgan is history on mediacom for now. http://www.befairsinclair.com/

Looks like kgan is history on mediacom for now. http://www.befairsinclair.com/

Here's an interesting article:
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6404660.html?rssid=108

Excerpt:
During the call, Iowa State Sen. Jeff Angelo (R-District 48) complained about comments Sinclair officials have made about their willingness to sacrifice their stations in Mediacom markets to eventually secure $100 million in retransmission-consent fees.

“As a representative of a large area of Mediacom customers, this is basically economic terrorism and it’s not in the public interest,” Angelo said.

Sinclair couldn’t be reached for comment.

Mediacom extended three new proposals to Sinclair this week, according to Commisso, and each was rejected.

Those new proposals were that Mediacom would pay Sinclair: a weighted-average price that reflects what direct-broadcast satellite, cable and phone companies are paying for retransmission of the broadcaster’s stations; a weighted-average price based on the pacts Sinclair just reached with McLeodUSA and is finalizing with Time Warner Cable; and per-subscriber, per-month price that reflected an increase from Mediacom’s prior offers.



BTW, I sent a complaint about Sinclair to the FCC complaint e-mail address last weekend and I never did get a reply, not even a blow-me-off form reply. Nice. Gotta love the FCC, working hard for... well, not the public, we know that.

Sorry, I should have specified more what I meant when I said that. I meant two network programs at the same time. Since I would have to use an OTA to get the locals in HD I would be limited to just one source for network HD versus my ability to record two HD network shows at the same time (minus CBS of course) via Mediacom. I would be able to record two HD programs at the same time but only one would be network tv which is where I watch 90% of my shows.

You can get a TiVo Series 3 and if you are able to get OTA HD channels tuned in, which it sounds like you can, you will be able to record two broadcast channel HD programs at the same time. I had digital cable through Mediacom, with their Motorola 6412 DVR, but went back to expanded cable once I got my TiVo Series 3. I record all of my HD shows OTA, because I didn't want to mess with or pay for CableCARDs and I end up saving $25 per month off my cable bill (although it is going to take over two years to break even with the cost of the TiVo Series 3)

ivory, aren't you still limited to recording 1 HD OTA program at a time since the box only has 1 ATSC tuner? Also the $800 price tag is way too high for me.

Sorry, I should have specified more what I meant when I said that. I meant two network programs at the same time. Since I would have to use an OTA to get the locals in HD I would be limited to just one source for network HD versus my ability to record two HD network shows at the same time (minus CBS of course) via Mediacom. I would be able to record two HD programs at the same time but only one would be network tv which is where I watch 90% of my shows.

I can record 2 network shows at the same time with Direct. Not sure which other units do it, but the 10-250 receiver definitely has the capability. That unit has 2 satellite tuners, and 2 OTA tuners in it.

BTW, I sent a complaint about Sinclair to the FCC complaint e-mail address last weekend and I never did get a reply, not even a blow-me-off form reply. Nice. Gotta love the FCC, working hard for... well, not the public, we know that.Actually, you usually won't get an actual reply from anyone at the FCC, rather your message will be entered into a public file. Also, the FCC requires stations to keep any correspondence from the public in their public file as well. All of these correspondence can be reviewed and may be taken into consideration anytime FCC action is considered against a station or at the time of the stations' renewal process.

ivory, aren't you still limited to recording 1 HD OTA program at a time since the box only has 1 ATSC tuner? Also the $800 price tag is way too high for me.

The TiVo S3 has two independent tuner blocks, where each tuner is capable of tuning and recording its own ATSC, NTSC, analog cable, or digital cable channel (two CableCARDs are required for digital cable tuning and recording, however, which must be installed by the cable company and those CableCARDs are subject to monthly fees). Believe me, I wouldn't have bought it either if it had the limitation you are worried about it having.

The price, I can't really argue with you about, though, because then there was also the one time $200 lifetime service transfer cost I paid on top of the S3 price (although I paid for that by selling my three-year old Samsung ATSC tuner for $200!) The good news is that it blows away the Motorola 6412 I had with my digital cable service, so I keep reminding myself how much I hated that PoS DVR everytime I am reminded how much that S3 cost me. ;)

The TiVo S3 has two independent tuner blocks, where each tuner is capable of tuning and recording its own ATSC, NTSC, analog cable, or digital cable channel (two CableCARDs are required for digital cable tuning and recording, however, which must be installed by the cable company and those CableCARDs are subject to monthly fees). Believe me, I wouldn't have bought it either if it had the limitation you are worried about it having.

The price, I can't really argue with you about, though, because then there was also the one time $200 lifetime service transfer cost I paid on top of the S3 price (although I paid for that by selling my three-year old Samsung ATSC tuner for $200!) The good news is that it blows away the Motorola 6412 I had with my digital cable service, so I keep reminding myself how much I hated that PoS DVR everytime I am reminded how much that S3 cost me. ;)

I kinda figured that was the deal with the S3's but I wasn't positive.

I don't mind the 6412. Storage size kinda sucks but its still a decent machine. If Mediacom picks up the KGAN-HD feed or even more HD, I don't see myself switching anytime soon. In the next couple days I'm gunna run into Mediacom and upgrade to the 6416 or whichever one it is with the HDMI port. I've heard it has a bit better analog tuner which would probably help some. And another 40 gig storage. That should hold me over until I move and be forced to switch to something else.

Actually, you usually won't get an actual reply from anyone at the FCC, rather your message will be entered into a public file. Also, the FCC requires stations to keep any correspondence from the public in their public file as well. All of these correspondence can be reviewed and may be taken into consideration anytime FCC action is considered against a station or at the time of the stations' renewal process.

Mmm, ok. I was at least expecting one of those automated "thank you for your comments" replies to my e-mail, not really an actual personal reply.

I do see Mediacom has an e-mail address to a specific person at the FCC, on their "befairsinclair" web site, although one would expect he won't be replying either.

I guess my gripe is why the public isn't be protected from broadcast station management practices that go against the public interest, meanwhile cable companies are considered the most evil, money-sucking predators in our society that require all of these laws on the books to make sure they behave. Seems to me we should be protected from being hosed by BOTH of them.

If Sinclair doesn't care about Mediacom subscribers, because we are insignificant to their business, as they outright said we are, then why the laws giving them a monopoly for broadcast programming in a specific area? I understand having the laws there to protect the cable companies from hosing the broadcast stations, but there has to be exemptions for times like this where the broadcast station is the one doing the hosing to the cable company. Why the double standard? Let Mediacom contract with another network affiliate and re-broadcast CBS and FOX as they see fit, if Sinclair won't even agree to binding arbitration which the FCC even suggested.

I kinda figured that was the deal with the S3's but I wasn't positive.

I don't mind the 6412. Storage size kinda sucks but its still a decent machine. If Mediacom picks up the KGAN-HD feed or even more HD, I don't see myself switching anytime soon. In the next couple days I'm gunna run into Mediacom and upgrade to the 6416 or whichever one it is with the HDMI port. I've heard it has a bit better analog tuner which would probably help some. And another 40 gig storage. That should hold me over until I move and be forced to switch to something else.

FYI - You're looking for the 6412 Phase III or the 6416. Both have HDMI. Only the 6416 will add the 40gig.

Anyone having issues with KGAN today? It always worked fine for me, but for some reason today trying to watch the Purdue / Penn St. game, the signal goes from about 90% down to 10% every five seconds or so. Wondering if anyone else is having issues?

Curious, what 4:3 override setting in the Motorola 6412 Phase II do you find looks the best for you?

Anyone having issues with KGAN today? It always worked fine for me, but for some reason today trying to watch the Purdue / Penn St. game, the signal goes from about 90% down to 10% every five seconds or so. Wondering if anyone else is having issues?I'm having some issues here. My Samsung T351 tuner box is displaying a solid 8 bars as usual but that new Pinnacle Media Center tuner I just added to my computer is showing severe fluctuation. (A Silver Sensor feeds both.) Both receivers, though, are pixellating on occasion, with the Pinnacle getting the worst of it.

As of right now the Sammy is stabilizing somewhat. The Pinnacle is still freezing pretty bad. (It usually works even when I'm doing something else on the net.)

Darn, I was looking forward to claiming superiority over my Mediacom-viewing friends. I haven't had this feeling since I could get Dr. Phil from Fox 15 in Ottumwa three months before an Eastern Iowa station picked it up.

EDIT: Six minutes after I originally posted this, all seems well on KGAN-DT.

If Sinclair doesn't care about Mediacom subscribers, because we are insignificant to their business, as they outright said we are, then why the laws giving them a monopoly for broadcast programming in a specific area? I understand having the laws there to protect the cable companies from hosing the

A better question: if Mediacom subs are insignificant, then why does Sinclair even care if Mediacom pays them??

Hey guys,

An observation.... Twice now, I've complained about WHBF-DT hiccupping every 5 seconds or so on my QAM feed in North Liberty. In both cases, the problem was gone in around 24 hours. Could be a coincidence, but makes me suspect some Mediacom engineers may be checking us out occassionally. WHBF-DT looks great again!

If so, welcome guys! Thanks for tweaking your feed.

Ben

vale - dunno about yesterday, but today's Patriots - Jets game is almost unwatchable. I'm watching OTA, and they just pulled it down to SD (4x3.) And it is still breaking up hugely. Network feed problems? OK - now its back to 16x9; maybe they plugged the cord back into the transmitter :)

Nope - breakup again. Maybe I'll switch to CFUs QAM feed, see if its any better. If it isn't a problem for anyone else, I'll need to go on roof, check out antenna. (conspiracy theory follows:) - maybe Sinclair and KGAN are flooking with the ota signal, so no one can pick it up via the antennas MC passed out. Hmmm.

Anyone having issues with KGAN today? It always worked fine for me, but for some reason today trying to watch the Purdue / Penn St. game, the signal goes from about 90% down to 10% every five seconds or so. Wondering if anyone else is having issues?

Yep, I've seen it off and on since Friday. Football game today started off unwatchable, things seem ok at the moment though.

Yep, I've seen it off and on since Friday. Football game today started off unwatchable, things seem ok at the moment though.

Football game seemed fine to me until about halfway though the 3rd quarter...now it's VERY flaky.

I've also wondered if KGAN is doing something to their signal to mess with all those "new" people who went and picked up an antenna from Mediacom.

If you look at the signal graphs that Cfujoe graciously provided on the web site, it shows KGAN has been steady as a rock for quite some time.

KWWL on the other hand shows some drop in signal over the last few days.

CFU Signal Levels (http://www.cfu.net/CyberNet/HD/)

If you look at the signal graphs that Cfujoe graciously provided on the web site, it shows KGAN has been steady as a rock for quite some time.

KWWL on the other hand shows some drop in signal over the last few days.

CFU Signal Levels (http://www.cfu.net/CyberNet/HD/)

I've done signal checks through both my FusionHD5 PCI card and my TiVo Series3 and KGAN-DT's signal has been cutting out off and on since I started watching the football game around 12:30pm. I usually get a solid 92-94% signal, but today it has been doing like 92 for two seconds, drops to 0 for a second, 92 for two or three seconds, drops down to ~27 for a second, etc. It got better for a while, then got really bad during half time, then got a bit better when the game was on, but then got worse when the forth quarter started, etc. Fun times.

KGAN is my all-time favorite channel, really, they are just the BEST. :rolleyes:

A better question: if Mediacom subs are insignificant, then why does Sinclair even care if Mediacom pays them??

Well, I guess if you had the chance to make MILLIONS more money for doing absolutely nothing, if you have no morals, you'd do what Sinclair is doing, they have nothing to lose given that the FCC apparently can't lift a finger to do anything to them and only the possibility of a cash windfall to gain. I suppose if I were a greedy money whore, I'd think the way they are too?

I've done signal checks through both my FusionHD5 PCI card and my TiVo Series3 and KGAN-DT's signal has been cutting out off and on since I started watching the football game around 12:30pm. I usually get a solid 92-94% signal, but today it has been doing like 92 for two seconds, drops to 0 for a second, 92 for two or three seconds, drops down to ~27 for a second, etc. It got better for a while, then got really bad during half time, then got a bit better when the game was on, but then got worse when the forth quarter started, etc. Fun times.
I would assume that CFU being a cable operator that is passing that signal on to it's HD customers has a pretty nice antenna setup compared to yours. All of your signal flucuations only means that YOU are getting them and means nothing to noone else. Of course, neither does CFUs', but it should give a nice reference point and certainly should show if KGAN is "messing" with it's signals.

Sounds like multipath problems to me.

A better question: if Mediacom subs are insignificant, then why does Sinclair even care if Mediacom pays them??

Sinclair is picking their battle against a small fry first. If they get what they want they will move on to bigger fish.

Methinks you assume too much, hdvincr...maybe it is the network feed - I checked Joe's graphs before I posted; yup, they look ok - tho who knows exactly what degree of detail they have. All of a sudden I too am experiencing multipath that wasn't there before. We've had this discussion before - after a while, one gets tired of blaming it on the weather and such.

But just in case it was/is my cheap antenna (with rotor, on a 30' tower) I checked on CFU joe's QAM signal. Pretty much the same thing. Looks good, then signal almost goes away, then comes back. Similar to last summer (?) when KWWL-DT had a rock steady signal/carrier, but the actual program material was of very questionable quality. So I will go out on a limb, and once again say it is likely something on KGAN and/or CBS's part that gave us such stellar viewing today.

OTOH, the Fox game really does look amazing. I know, the tower is in a different location (that I'm not even oriented to pickup) so that would prove it is multipath. Yeah, right.

Methinks you assume too much, hdvincr...maybe it is the network feed - I checked Joe's graphs before I posted; yup, they look ok - tho who knows exactly what degree of detail they have. All of a sudden I too am experiencing multipath that wasn't there before. We've had this discussion before - after a while, one gets tired of blaming it on the weather and such.
Methinks you did not get the meaning of my post. :rolleyes:

My point was that using a Fusion tuner card with who knows what kind of setup, location, etc., doesn't mean there are network issue. There very well may be network or station issues, but those methods certainly do not tell us anything.

Sounds like multipath, doesn't mean it is.

Well, I guess if you had the chance to make MILLIONS more money for doing absolutely nothing, if you have no morals, you'd do what Sinclair is doing, they have nothing to lose given that the FCC apparently can't lift a finger to do anything to them and only the possibility of a cash windfall to gain. I suppose if I were a greedy money whore, I'd think the way they are too?

Congress created this mess when they granted stations re-transmission consent or must carry.
Sinclair is only doing this because they can. You can bet others will follow since DirectTV, Dish and others already pay for locals. It looks like its cables turn to start paying or risk losing stations.

TV is a business....it's all about the money.

Well, I guess if you had the chance to make MILLIONS more money for doing absolutely nothing, if you have no morals, you'd do what Sinclair is doing, they have nothing to lose given that the FCC apparently can't lift a finger to do anything to them and only the possibility of a cash windfall to gain. I suppose if I were a greedy money whore, I'd think the way they are too?

I can sort of see their argument that being on cable is of some value to Mediacom, and I am sure that Mediacom (and their subs) would agree with that. So I can see their side in wanting some money for their signal.

On the other hand, they've been given free OTA bandwidth in order to transmit their signal to viewers, who get it for FREE, so if cable had never come to be they would be giving away the signal anyway. Being on cable puts their signal in from of more eyeballs, so the ratings should be higher allowing them to make more money. They seem to fail to understand that.

If I were the manager of a TV station I would probably be inclined to select MUST CARRY status and get that signal out in front of viewers. Charging money for it makes me think that they have no other way to make money and that the programming can stand on its own.

All of the above is strictly my own opinion on the subject, and like my signature says, it is not necessarily the opinion of my employer. (In fact, I have no idea what my employers opinion on the subject is since I'm just a worker bee.)

I'll be recording/watching Cold Case on KGAN at 8:00 PM. Can others post here any issues they see....

vale - dunno about yesterday, but today's Patriots - Jets game is almost unwatchable.

I agree, something was wrong on their end. My signal meter was reading 88-90% and then drop to 0 for a second and then it was back up. It did this repeatedly and I had to watch analog instead... sheesh :(

I had had alot of breakup problems during the game yesterday also. Evening programs were fine.

Jets/Patriots game was very annoying to watch. Wonder if it was KGANs isse or CBS?

Sinclair is picking their battle against a small fry first. If they get what they want they will move on to bigger fish. The date with the BIG DOG is 2/5/07 http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6404747.html?display=Breaking+News

A Mediacom vp commented about the Sinclair dispute here...

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,17601670

The date with the BIG DOG is 2/5/07 http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6404747.html?display=Breaking+News

Wow... Just, wow... Pulled from MediaCom tihs past weekend, pulling from TWC this coming weekend, and trying to pull from Comcast?

I'm glad to see the cable companies standing up to the monopolistic bully. Unfortunately, because of the unfair anti-competitive regulations that were built by the FCC, market forces can't drive Sinclair out of business. Hopefully with cable companies such as Comcast taking a stand against Sinclair, we can put an end to this insanity.

A Mediacom vp commented about the Sinclair dispute here...

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,17601670
Heres an important quote from this, at least to me.

Most retransmission deals include both the standard definition and digital (HD) signals, so we hope that when we conclude an agreement with Sinclair, we will be able to bring their HD signals to our customers.

Lets hope they can come to an agreement soon. KGAN in HD would be worth an increase in price. :)

KGAN in HD would be worth an increase in price. :)

Speak for yourself. All of the other locals provide their digital feeds without extra cost. I only have the $13 package right now (which used to be $10) to supplement my antenna. If that ultra-basic package starts to approach $20 (~$1 per channel), it's not worth it.

Having ALL of the locals on QAM would certainly be nice, but that's a pretty short-sighted feeling to be willing to pay more for what everyone else give away for free.

I'm glad to see the cable companies standing up to the monopolistic bully. Unfortunately, because of the unfair anti-competitive regulations that were built by the FCC, market forces can't drive Sinclair out of business. Hopefully with cable companies such as Comcast taking a stand against Sinclair, we can put an end to this insanity.Of course, you could win the Powerball this Wednesday and offer to buy the station. :D

NEW KWKB (CW) INFO ... cross your fingers and hope for the best ...

As you may have noticed, KWKB-DT isn't at full power yet, and according to the FCC website, they've filed for another extension. Only this time, they're telling the FCC that they're almost there.

In a new filing, the station says engineering and DTV construction funding issues "had already been resolved by KM (KWKB's owner) when the Extension Request (to December 31, 2006) was filed." It goes on to say that:

"... all DTV transmission equipment has been delivered and installed as authorized in its DTV permit, ready for final testing by the transmitter manufacturer and the initiation of program test authority operations. However, due to scheduling issues with the transmitter manufacturer, the testing has not been nor will be completed by December 31, 2006 as hoped; instead, KM understands and anticipates that the transmitter manufacturer will be available to complete its testing, and KWKB should be able to begin program test operations with its permanent DTV facilities, in mid-January 2007."

KWKB is asking for an extension until February 28.

Source: http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getattachment_exh.cgi?exhibit_id=459723

Speak for yourself. All of the other locals provide their digital feeds without extra cost. I only have the $13 package right now (which used to be $10) to supplement my antenna. If that ultra-basic package starts to approach $20 (~$1 per channel), it's not worth it.

Having ALL of the locals on QAM would certainly be nice, but that's a pretty short-sighted feeling to be willing to pay more for what everyone else give away for free.

So I have a question for you. Do you think we are going to get out of this ordeal WITHOUT an increase in price? Somehow I don't think Mediacom is going to just eat whatever cost they end up paying Sinclair.

And I wasn't talking about a huge increase in price. I know one report was saying something like 40 cents a subscriber, so its nothing too big.

So I have a question for you. Do you think we are going to get out of this ordeal WITHOUT an increase in price? Somehow I don't think Mediacom is going to just eat whatever cost they end up paying Sinclair.

And I wasn't talking about a huge increase in price. I know one report was saying something like 40 cents a subscriber, so its nothing too big.
There WILL be a price increase with/without the $inclair flap, it seems to happen every year. As for the 40 cents/month per sub, don't forget to multiply that figure times 4 or 5, depending on the number of locals on your system. Over the course of a couple of years, they will all want their/or more money....it will never end. :(
The $inclair flap may delay the yearly mediacom price increase, until that's settled, since mediacom may not want to hit your/our rabbit ears with an increase. :)

So I have a question for you. Do you think we are going to get out of this ordeal WITHOUT an increase in price? Somehow I don't think Mediacom is going to just eat whatever cost they end up paying Sinclair.

And I wasn't talking about a huge increase in price. I know one report was saying something like 40 cents a subscriber, so its nothing too big.

You're making a false assumption that this will end with MediaCom paying Sinclair a vastly increased price. If MediaCom and TWC hold out against Sinclair, ComCast is more likely to hold out as well. With that much pressure and public outcry (ComCast has an even better PR department than MediaCom), Sinclair can't hold up ridiculous demands forever.

While I don't necessarily think that MediaCom holds the interests of its customers close to its heart, they seem willing to stay the course against the oppressively ridiculous demands of a monopolistic company.

And I wasn't talking about a huge increase in price. I know one report was saying something like 40 cents a subscriber, so its nothing too big.You also have to take in to account that Mediacom would want to recoup expenses incurred for having to pay Sinclair 40 cents. Your 40 cents to Sinclair could easily become 60 or 75 if not more.

I hope these aren't dumb questions, but:
1. how are you testing signal strength?
2. I assume weather can affect UHF signal, but can time of day or darkness? My signal seems much better at night than during the day. I don't know how to measure it to be sure. Thanks for any info.

many stbs have a SIGNAL button, or something similar - and then display a bar graph, or something similar to show signal strength. Different boxes by different companies have displays of differing usefulness - my Samsungs are slightly useful, but they have no numerical values, and the correspondence between the values shown and actual signal strength are subject to debate.

others have HD cards in their pcs; that is usually a lot better. Some hd tvs have signal meters, some don't.

Time of day can and does affect sd VHF signals; I'll defer to the experts on the forum re UHF, but one could assume it does - after all, at night, the sun and all of it's associated radiation is safely behind a big ball of dirt and water.

I am curious as to why more people don't change to a dish. I know for some it is not possible due to location and covenents. I got sick of Mediacom lying and making promises that they did not keep several years ago and went to Dish with no regrets. Dish is not perfect by any means but is cheaper and far better than Mediacom.

I am curious as to why more people don't change to a dish. I know for some it is not possible due to location and covenents. I got sick of Mediacom lying and making promises that they did not keep several years ago and went to Dish with no regrets. Dish is not perfect by any means but is cheaper and far better than Mediacom.

Because Dish doesn't have a package that gets me my locals in HD for only $13 a month after tax. I would spend that much per month just to rent boxes to watch Dish on my TVs, never mind the actual subscription to the service and the fees to cut all of the trees in my neighbors' yards down.

Also, as far as "covenants" go, there are plenty of posts in other forums on how to deal with homeowners' associations and the like. The myth of "I can't have a dish or antenna because of my neighborhood laws" is just that, a myth.

"Sinclair Decides Not to Submit Mediacom Negotiation to Binding Arbitration..."

http://www.sbgi.net/press/release_2007111_198.shtml

In effect, the failure of Mediacom to rebroadcast the signals of these
stations is no different than one store failing to carry a specific
product, requiring consumers to visit a different store if they care to
purchase that product.
Hmmm... I guess if Uncle Sam was providing these stores workspace for free, that may be a good analogy.... :rolleyes:

So, it's probably an antenna issue, but why is KWWL so hard to get on the South Side of CR?

"Sinclair Decides Not to Submit Mediacom Negotiation to Binding Arbitration..."

http://www.sbgi.net/press/release_2007111_198.shtml


I think this is the final nail. Looks like we won't see channel 2 on Mediacom anytime in the near future.

Mike

So, it's probably an antenna issue, but why is KWWL so hard to get on the South Side of CR?

That's a great question. One that I've struggled with for 3 years. I get every other station in the upper 90s. No amount of antenna tweaking will pull KWWL.

That's a great question. One that I've struggled with for 3 years. I get every other station in the upper 90s. No amount of antenna tweaking will pull KWWL.My Samsung was getting 8 bars at noon news time but still pixellating up a storm, so it was probably a problem at the station end.

They must have done something, because it looked good for the weather block.

My KWWL over QAM was flaking out pretty badly in the first 10 minutes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent this past Tuesday (8 PM CST). I switched to the analog cable feed until after the first commercial break (didn't check OTA, as my antenna is loaned out to someone else), at which point it seemed to have been cleared up.

If there are problems with the QAM signal at the same time as there are OTA problems, does that point to an issue at KWWL, or at NBC HQ?

For those with ota recption problems, if you didn't know about this site, here it is.
Remember these values are from CFU's building in Cedar Falls, but are a good indicator of overall signal strength, plus you can tell if a stations transmitter has lost power/strength. To me it looks like KWWL's power is down somewhat compared to a week ago or so (clic on the graph to see more)
http://www.cfu.net/CyberNet/HD/

Just wanted to corroborate problems pulling in KWWL during the last week. I'm on the south side of Iowa City, and have been getting KWWL in HD OTA all fall, but the signal was breaking up all over the place, both on last sunday night, and last night (thursday), ruining my scheduled recording of ER.

At almost 3pm, I'm only getting about 61% signal according to my Sony DHG-HDD250. My other stations are all around 77-85% and not exhibiting problems (other than the KGAN problems last sunday afternoon).

All this Mediascam talk sickens me.

To hell with those thieves. Sinclair is no better, of course, but who really cares?

I now receive every possible local digital channel with a cheap arse $10 cardboard/plastic antenna. Including Sinclair's crap stations.

In case some didn't know, if you get cable Internet through Mediascam, you can split it and grab the locals (with a QAM tuner, of course) without paying anything extra. Naturally they won't tell you this, but it is easily done.

Let us hope KWKB gets full power soon. That's the only one left.

Interesting article which appears to give a good overview for what is going on now with Sinclair and the cable companies:
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/16462786.htm

I still find faulty logic in the broadcaster position. I don't care if cable companies charged $100 just to watch one broadcast channel. These broadcasters were given licenses to put up and operate their towers and their business model was and is STILL based on advertising, to support freely letting the populace receive, when/where/if they are able, their broadcast.

Sure, cable came along and put in the infrastructure to deliver video which doesn't require each household to deal with their own hassles of trying to tune in their own pristine (hardly likely with analog) reception. It's not the cable industry's fault they were clever enough to build a mouse trap around the cheese the broadcasters freely put out in the middle of the room.

I mean, these broadcasters are sending out their programming out on electromagnetic waves without a care in the world, but now they decide to piss and moan that they don't have complete control of how those radio waves are received and used? Seems to me, the broadcasters woke up one day recently and had an epiphany about how stupid they have been since the dawn of their creation.

I'm in the process of moving to Cedar Rapids, and I'm starting to look at cable providers. My new house is in NE, just west of Hiawatha if that makes any sense. (These rotated compass directions in CR are so wierd...)

After reading dozens of news reports, I am fairly familiar with the whole Mediacom vs. $inclair affair, so I don't need any information about that.

It appears that there are only 2 cable options here: McLeod & Mediacom. Is that correct? I have not heard much about McLeod, so I'm not sure if they are worth considering or not.

My HD TV has a QAM filter, so I would like to choose a cable provider that sends unscrambled HD feeds that it can see. From an earlier post, it appears that Mediacom does this, but my quick browse thru this forum didn't turn up anything about this regarding McLeod.

If Mediacom is the only provider that does send stuff that QAM can receive, then I'll likely go with them. No CBS is a bit of a pain, but I guess I can use rabbit ears on the TV for the few shows there that I watch.

I'd prefer not to go the satellite route, but I suppose that could be another option to consider.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

No matter who wins the dispute between Mediacom & Sinclair, the service we love to hate that is Mediacom or the greedy right-wing corporate shark that is Sinclair, it is we, the consumer, that will ultimately be the losers. We will end up paying more and will have fewer choices as the corporations tangle over who controls what. The real villian of this conflict is your federal government and the business interests that currently control it. The powers of the FCC were gutted in the 1980's and then business was given free reign over the communications industry without public regulation in the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Nothing will really ever be resolved until the cable industry and media conglomerates that control it are once again placed under public regulation. We will continue to have more of the same until the industry is regulated in the public interest just as any other public utility. The history of the communications industry is rife with examples of the current dilemmas we face today. Excessive corporate control in media and entertainment has a long history and it took government interference to correct it each time. If you are really concerned about the Sinclair-Mediacom situation, write to your congressional representatives and demand that the Telecommunicationa Act of 1996 be re-written.

While I'm certainly no fan of Sinclair or Mediacom, I trust Sinclair more than Mediacom in this situation. Here's why:

-Sinclair provides the stations over the air for free and through satellite. You have options if you want to watch their shows, and Sinclair knows that. Sinclair has no obligations that require it to allow the cable companies to use their systems and are allowed to charge for the licensing of their channels. If Mediacom really thinks that the channels are important to consumers, then they should pay, otherwise, they should quit their whining.

-The befairsinclair web site is full of clever marketing and spin to make Sinclair seem like the evil corporation that consumers should hate, when in reality both companies (while certainly not the best corporations in the world, IMHO) are only in business to make money. Sinclair decided that since Mediacom (actually cable companies in general) are selling the basic service that the OTA signal provides for free anyways, they should get a cut. It's capitalism at its finest; if you don't like it, don't watch Sinclair stations - they'll lose in the end that way.

-When Sinclair didn't agree with Mediacom, Mediacom went to congress to complain, despite the fact that Sinclair was within its rights. Sinclair correctly advised congress to keep out of it - it's only a business transaction. If Sinclair was indeed breaking some part of their previous contract with Mediacom, it would be handled in the judicial branch, not the legislative branch. Mediacom involving the government, though, was purely a PR move.

Bottom Line: The consumers are stuck in the middle with only three realistic solutions:
1. Mediacom pays up.
2. Mediacom doesn't pay up, you get an OTA antenna.
3. You get a satellite dish and avoid Mediacom.
I could really care less if you side with Mediacom or Sinclair; either way, the best choice for consumers has always been to vote with your wallets.

ibuprofane
Since you trust Sinclair more, then will you pay my extra $3/month that this will add to our bills if Sinclair gets what they want? They also are not available OTA to every household. Especially not in the quality of picture that cable provides for them. Both KGAN and KDSM has benefited greatly from cable. They reach more households and with a PQ several times better than they can or ever have delivered OTA.

I'm not saying I'm a Mediacom fan, but I don't want to pay $20-30/month in just local network fees on my cable bill, which is what will happen if Sinclair gets what they want and other broadcasters follow suit.

-When Sinclair didn't agree with Mediacom, Mediacom went to congress to complain, despite the fact that Sinclair was within its rights. Sinclair correctly advised congress to keep out of it - it's only a business transaction. If Sinclair was indeed breaking some part of their previous contract with Mediacom, it would be handled in the judicial branch, not the legislative branch. Mediacom involving the government, though, was purely a PR move.
That is correct... Problem is that the laws are BS and gives Sinclair an unfair advantage since they have exclusive rights for those networks in these areas. If Mediacom was allowed to "shop around" for another CBS station to carry, I would agree 100% with you. But as it is, Sinclair has them over a barrel if we want CBS on cable and can ask for the moon.

This is why I wrote my representives and , yes, they should get involved. Change the laws so that either there are no exclusive station rights for network carraige in an area, or force binding arbitration if there is and there is a dispute. I don't care either way, but presently Sinclair has a HUGE unfair advantage IMO.

That is correct... Problem is that the laws are BS and gives Sinclair an unfair advantage since they have exclusive rights for those networks in these areas. If Mediacom was allowed to "shop around" for another CBS station to carry, I would agree 100% with you. But as it is, Sinclair has them over a barrel if we want CBS on cable and can ask for the moon.

This is why I wrote my representives and , yes, they should get involved. Change the laws so that either there are no exclusive station rights for network carraige in an area, or force binding arbitration if there is and there is a dispute. I don't care either way, but presently Sinclair has a HUGE unfair advantage IMO.

I wrote a letter to them as well using the same argument. If Mediacom were allowed to shop elsewhere my opinion on this matter whould completely different.

The other thing I question, is what does Sinclair have to hide or lose by come to meetings with legislators. If there practices are in good faith then what to they have to hide?

As you probably know the Big Ten is starting its own sports network this fall. Direct has already agreed to carry it. I have been trying to find out if Dish will be carrying it. I have sent several E-Mails to Dish telliing them I will go to Direct if Dish does not carry this Network. I have also called Dish and one rep told me she thought they were negotiating. I know it is still along way off, but the sooner I know I can look for a deal from Direct. I urge any Dish customer who is a Hawk fan to E-Mail Dish with there concerns.

The other thing I question, is what does Sinclair have to hide or lose by come to meetings with legislators. If there practices are in good faith then what to they have to hide?
State lawmakers have little, if any, jurisdiction over broadcasting, so it's hard to blame Sinclair for feeling that coming to Iowa would be a waste of time. Even at the federal level, Sinclair has so far prevailed in court and at the FCC Media Bureau, so they're probably feeling a little untouchable by now. They don't even think Congress should get involved, even though it wrote the laws in the first place.

Also, Mediacom is appealing the FCC MB decision to the full FCC, and Sinclair has until this Friday to file briefs with the commission in that case. That deadline is probably a higher priority than coming to Iowa.

Of course, if the attorney general gets involved over the business practices of Sinclair and DirecTV, it could be a whole new ballgame.

Also, Mediacom is appealing the FCC MB decision to the full FCC, and Sinclair has until this Friday to file briefs with the commission in that case. That deadline is probably a higher priority than coming to Iowa.

And $inclair is spending time with Time-Warner since their 2nd extension, this one for one week ends midnight 1/19.

ibuprofane
Since you trust Sinclair more, then will you pay my extra $3/month that this will add to our bills if Sinclair gets what they want?

...

I'm not saying I'm a Mediacom fan, but I don't want to pay $20-30/month in just local network fees on my cable bill, which is what will happen if Sinclair gets what they want and other broadcasters follow suit.


I don't want to burst your bubble, but it most likely will not be $3 / month. I have seen $0.40/month quoted in several places, but I am sure that it will actually be closer to $0.20 to $0.30. Worst case - this adds $3.60 to your cable bill PER YEAR (for this station).

There are some stations that would never elect retransmission consent over must carry. KWKB and KWWF need cable because of their transmission power and tower locations. KWWF has the worst multipath problems I have ever seen and KWKB is 5 to 10 db too low in the Cedar Falls for even our 80 foot ant. to get a PQ that is worth anything...

We at CFU have stated in the press that we feel the FCC needs to address retransmission laws and fix the problem. However, we realized that the broadcasters were going to start demanding money in exchange for retransmission and we approached them almost 18 months ago to start negotiations. Our retransmission contracts were signed and executed well in advance of the expiration and deadline for must-carry/retransmission...

$3 includes the up front cash Sinclair wants as well as the monthly per subcriber rate. Just what I was told by local office. Couldn't tell you how accurate the info really is though.

There are some stations that would never elect retransmission consent over must carry.

Something I've always wondered about, when a station elects must carry, is that for ALL providers, or do the select for each provider? I assume it must be all or nothing.

Something I've always wondered about, when a station elects must carry, is that for ALL providers, or do the select for each provider? I assume it must be all or nothing.

It is on a per-provider basis.

Happened to do a re-scan of my locals while fiddling with the DirecTV box today around 11AM and KWKB-DT 20-1 (along with 40-1 KFXB ???) showed up in the guide. Tuned to 20-1 and Voila! there is was with 96% signal. I don't really watch any of it, but it will be interesting to see how the CW and MyNetTV stuff looks in HD.

HDA

You beat me to it! They apparently have corrected their choppy a/v feed and cranked the juice up.

I'm able to pick them up on the back side of my attic antenna now in S CR.

I am getting KGAN HD via an OTA antenna with my DirecTV HD box, but I am experiencing audio dropouts of less then a second every 30-40 seconds during CBS HD programming...

Any suggestions?

KWWF has the worst multipath problems I have ever seen ...Multipath from KWWF? Geez, down here in Cedar Rapids I can't even get ONE path from them! :D

(sorry, couldn't resist!)

Happened to do a re-scan of my locals while fiddling with the DirecTV box today around 11AM and KWKB-DT 20-1 (along with 40-1 KFXB ???) showed up in the guide. Tuned to 20-1 and Voila! there is was with 96% signal. I don't really watch any of it, but it will be interesting to see how the CW and MyNetTV stuff looks in HD.

HDAI see KWKB (if you're looking for them without a rescan, try "actual" channel 25). They're coming in loud and clear after 9 p.m., but when I try to adjust the aspect ratio it says "full only" -- not a good sign for us HD fans. Still, having them is better than "not" having them, or just having them in analog.

Still not seeing KFXB, which is now a Dubuque-based religious station for those who are just tuning in. Their "actual" channel is 43 if you're looking for them without a rescan.

Sorry, I didn't give the "actual" channels. LOL :p

"...but when I try to adjust the aspect ratio it says "full only"..."

Not true for me - I am getting KWKB's SD in 4:3 and the HD in 16:9.

Although 40-1 (oh, sorry, I mean, CHANNEL 43) shows up in the guide, I dont get squat for signal.

Also: For the kids - Qubo is on the air on KPXR-DT2, 48-2, errr, 47-2, errr 47 subchannel 2, or...uh, ya know what I mean. :D

I think I have had one too many "pops" before football starts today....

HDA

I am getting KGAN HD via an OTA antenna with my DirecTV HD box, but I am experiencing audio dropouts of less then a second every 30-40 seconds during CBS HD programming...

Any suggestions?

Welcome to the wonderful world of $inclair/KGAN and their crappy signal.

HDA

"Welcome to the wonderful world of $inclair/KGAN and their crappy signal."

I didn't know if it is the signal, but maybe my equipment or my connections...?

fwiw, for all my whining, today's game on KGAN looked great - couple small macroblocks, but well withing what can be expected - looked like just two or three brief bouts of minor interference. No audio dropouts, good video. But will chime in to support my earlier theory - I watched on my crt, with a VP50 doing the scaling today. Picture was magnificent. Switched to my cheapo lcd panel to watch the postgame - immediate macroblocking on the confetti falling, right after commercial break. So eithe the broadcast quality immediately went down the tube, or, more likely, it is the mediocre scaler in my panel, converting CBS's 1080i to 720p.

On 20-1 tonight, even tho the SD content is 4:3, so were the "HD" shows....no HD streams, yet.

Right... No HD streams yet. I don't think anyone knows what KWKBs' plans are for HD.

The laws certainly do not require HD, so don't get your hopes too high....

Right... No HD streams yet. I don't think anyone knows what KWKBs' plans are for HD.

The laws certainly do not require HD, so don't get your hopes too high....

Here's the bizarre part: When watching on Saturday, one of the HD shows was 16:9 and showed in HD 1080i. Were they just testing or was I drinking too much on Saturday night, also?

HDA

Can anyone verify if KWKB-DT is broadcasting right now?

KWKB-dt is broadcasting right now..... 12:30PM

KWKB-dt is broadcasting right now..... 12:30PM

Do you know if they are full-power yet?

Don't know if they are full power, but strong enough to pick them up on the backside of my attic antenna here in S CR pretty reliably. So it is at a MUCH higher power than they were on the low power outfit.

Channel 20 is showing up for me too. I live in the SW CR area, near Fairfax. My antenna is pointing just about the opposite direction it needs to, so I'm pretty amazed how strong the signal is.

Gotta love that Rat Shack double bow tie!

Mike

Sorry, I didn't give the "actual" channels. LOL :p

"...but when I try to adjust the aspect ratio it says "full only"..."

Not true for me - I am getting KWKB's SD in 4:3 and the HD in 16:9.

Although 40-1 (oh, sorry, I mean, CHANNEL 43) shows up in the guide, I dont get squat for signal.

Also: For the kids - Qubo is on the air on KPXR-DT2, 48-2, errr, 47-2, errr 47 subchannel 2, or...uh, ya know what I mean. :D

I think I have had one too many "pops" before football starts today....

HDASorry, didn't mean to confuse anyone or enforce some kind of "political correctness" or anything. :)

I only gave the "actual" channels in case someone wanted to try and find them without doing a full scan, which some receivers will allow you to do. I usually call our channels 2-1, 7-1, 9-1, etc. just like everyone else.

Now, about KWKB ... I tuned in after 9 p.m. Saturday, when they were in syndicated programming, and that's when I got the "full only" thing. Up to now, the only stations I've ever seen that on are the SD-only stations and SD subchannels like Weather Plus and Local 9.2 Most of the HD stations I watch stay in their 720p or 1080i widescreen formats the entire time and upconvert their non-HD material to their HD format, either by adding pillarboxes or stretching. (My current monitor is 4:3 and my tuner selects an HD display mode based on that.) I haven't watched any of their primetime yet.

You mean they actually switch their format?

FYI, Sinclair officially announced (http://www.sbgi.net/press/release_2007122_201.shtml) its retransmission deal with Time Warner Cable today.

It expires at the end of 2009, and more importantly, it includes the stations' DT side.

"We are excited that this agreement not only ensures retransmission of our signals by Time Warner for the next three years, but also provides for the carriage of our digital signals for the first time to most of Time Warner's subscribers," said David Smith, CEO of Sinclair.

The Des Moines Register, Cedar Rapids Gazette and KCRG-TV9 are all reporting that Mediacom is willing to accept the same deal Sinclair reached with TWC. So far, though, there's nothing in the way of response to that offer on the Sinclair site.

Cross your fingers ...

Now, about KWKB ... I tuned in after 9 p.m. Saturday, when they were in syndicated programming, and that's when I got the "full only" thing. Up to now, the only stations I've ever seen that on are the SD-only stations and SD subchannels like Weather Plus and Local 9.2 Most of the HD stations I watch stay in their 720p or 1080i widescreen formats the entire time and upconvert their non-HD material to their HD format, either by adding pillarboxes or stretching. (My current monitor is 4:3 and my tuner selects an HD display mode based on that.) I haven't watched any of their primetime yet.
Every time I've tuned to KWKB (and the recorded stream I have to analyze), they are 4:3 SD.

I don't know what "full only" is suppose to mean, but if one is saying that is is stretched to fill a 16:9 display (stretch-o-vision), then that is not the case in my experiences. Sounds like folks need to fiddle with the zoom modes on their displays.

The same applies to all of the subs that you mentioned, i.e. weather subs, etc. They only stretch if that is what you have your monitor set to do.

At the expense of showing my ignorance, where is the channel 20 tower located? Like to point my antenna in their direction, give it a shot. tia.

At the expense of showing my ignorance, where is the channel 20 tower located? Like to point my antenna in their direction, give it a shot. tia.
West Branch.....

Don't know if they are full power, but strong enough to pick them up on the backside of my attic antenna here in S CR pretty reliably. So it is at a MUCH higher power than they were on the low power outfit.


Ok. I don't see it on our spectrum analyzer :( No KWKB-DT in Cedar Falls - Yet...

West Branch.....

bummer - so its of no real use to me (unless Joe's antenna can somehow get it.) Really doubt if I'm going to pick up someone south of Cedar Rapids when I'm on the north edge of CF. Darn.

OT, somewhat -

Anyone have, and is using, a Channel Master 9521 rotor? Or does anyone know if one can freeze up if not used for an extended period of time, "freeze up" as in snow/cold weather preventing any movement??

Long story, but got new ceiling, painted, and now waiting on new carpeting (been about 45 days altogether now), in the area where the rotor's control box/HDTV usually resides. Anyways, I just now plugged the box back in today - after (I'm not all that sure), but maybe 60+ days of non-use, 15+ before unplugging it and 45 since - and synched it back up and all that, but the antenna won't move. It really does look like it is trying to move somewhat - could have sworn I saw some slight movement after I figured out to re-sync it - but it doesn't rotate, not even a few degrees.


So, if it did/can freeze up, my only options are to eiter wait for a thaw - about only option currently - or risking life and limb and going up to work it loose again... right?

Sorry, didn't mean to confuse anyone or enforce some kind of "political correctness" or anything. :)

I only gave the "actual" channels in case someone wanted to try and find them without doing a full scan, which some receivers will allow you to do. I usually call our channels 2-1, 7-1, 9-1, etc. just like everyone else.


Just giving you a hard time! :D

I'm considering the plunge into HD, but I'm not sure if it's worth it yet. I have a basic expanded cable pkg from Mediacom here in I.C., which if I understand correctly isn't going to get me squat for HD. I contacted Mediacom, and they're willing to give me HD access for another $7-something /mo with a one-time $42 install fee. It was unclear to me what that entails other than a new box of some kind in my home. If I can avoid it, I'd rather not get an antenna for my attic; my wife isn't going to have any tolerance for my running up to the attic every time we want to pick up a different channel.

So, I guess my question is, is the Mediacom package probably the path of least resistance for someone who only ever watches primetime NBC and an occasional guilty pleasure on MTV?

If you get a TV with a QAM tuner you can get ABC, NBC, FOX and IPTV without adding anything from Mediacom. These channels are passed unencrypted. They will show up in the 113-115 channels. Mediacom tends not to mention this.

If you want ESPN, Discover HD, INHD, HDNET, HDNET Movies etc, you need the HD box and the $10 package from Mediacom.

I don't know what "full only" is suppose to mean, but if one is saying that is is stretched to fill a 16:9 display (stretch-o-vision), then that is not the case in my experiences. Sounds like folks need to fiddle with the zoom modes on their displays.

The same applies to all of the subs that you mentioned, i.e. weather subs, etc. They only stretch if that is what you have your monitor set to do.I probably should have mentioned that my current monitor is 4:3 and my Samsung tuner is set for that. This setup will let me vertically stretch, letterbox, or zoom a 16:9-format image (including pillarbox upconverted content on channels like KCRG or KWWL), but a 4:3 SD image such as KWKB or 7-2/7-3/9-2 cannot be adjusted. If the tuner is set for 16:9 there are several zoom modes for 4:3 SD -- pillarboxed, stretched, or a "zoom" in which case a little is cut off the top and bottom.

Anyway, that's how I suspected that KWKB wasn't carrying HD yet.

HDTVwannabe - yes, I have had my rotor freeze - but only after an ice storm. Course, you had one of those last week, so it is possible. More likey on an older rotor (like mine) where the seals are of questonable quality.

Could also be just a loose or disconnected wire. Mine was behaving in a similar fashion - would light up on control, and act like it was trying to do something, but nothing happened. Turned out one of the 5 wires was disconnected. Still had to climb up on roof to discover that, so won't be of any immediate help, but it is a possibility.

btw - no luck on a scan for channel 20. But I really am too far away, so not surprised.

Thanks Jon.

Thats actually the reason I came across the problem of the rotor not moving, I wanted to turn the antenna towards the KWKB tower, having seen that its increased power, and possibly nearing HD broadcasts.

Luckily I got the antenna pointed at the QC locals, so its stuck in a place that I can get optimal signal strength from those DTs. Only getting very weakly inconsistent signal stength readings, from KWKB-DT, off the back end of my CM 'tenna, in its current stuck position.

I have a basic expanded cable pkg from Mediacom here in I.C If you have the $48 or so Family cable and not the $12 Basic cable, you don't need anything else from mediacom to get WHBF,KWWL,KCRG, IPT,KFXA in HD, as long as your HDTV has a builtin qam atsc hd tuner. If you just have 2-23 Basic, then your in trouble, because mediacom uses a trap to block everything above ch23.

I may be misinformed -- not the first time for sure -- but I thought Mediacom in Iowa City only had interim rights to WHBF's SD signal -- is it available in HD as well in Iowa City on Mediacom?

I may be misinformed -- not the first time for sure -- but I thought Mediacom in Iowa City only had interim rights to WHBF's SD signal -- is it available in HD as well in Iowa City on Mediacom?
I thought I read that the retrans of WHBF would continue regardless of the of the outcome of the Sinclair deal.

If you have the $48 or so Family cable and not the $12 Basic cable, you don't need anything else from mediacom to get WHBF,KWWL,KCRG, IPT,KFXA in HD, as long as your HDTV has a builtin qam atsc hd tuner.

OK. Good. I have the family cable package. I'm also looking at the Olevia 532H, which supposedly has a QAM tuner in it. So I should be set. I only wish the Olevia had digital audio out....

If you have the $48 or so Family cable and not the $12 Basic cable, you don't need anything else from mediacom to get WHBF,KWWL,KCRG, IPT,KFXA in HD, as long as your HDTV has a builtin qam atsc hd tuner. If you just have 2-23 Basic, then your in trouble, because mediacom uses a trap to block everything above ch23.
This is NOT true, at least not here in CR and I don't believe they can filter those digital channels anyways, but I'm not sure.

I DO know that I have the el-cheapo ch2-23 basic package and QAM HD works just fine.

As I understand it, if the cable is connected to the pole/terminal, then the digital channels are sitting there on the line. Of course, most are encrypted. So, in theory, one could simply have the internet service, which obviously requires the cable connection and therefore should be able to receive the QAM channels. I Have never tested this, but that is my understanding.

niche - you may want to head over to Sam's Club, peek at the Vizio 32" lcd - it has digital out, plus more inputs. Looks pretty good - I have one. fwiw, my main rig is a fp crt, but I use the Vizio on my desktop - next to my computer moniter. Only catch is you may have a problem with QAM and Fox - some do, some don't. But its OTA tuner is also very good; it'll also accept BD playback from a PS3 at 1080p, even tho it is only a 768 set.

I'm sure build quality and pics are about the same on both - niether one is a Sony, but for the price of a Vizio, I figured I couldn't go wrong. And I love all the inputs - along with everything else, mine doubles as a second computer moniter!

but I thought Mediacom in Iowa City only had interim rights to WHBF's SD signal -- is it available in HD as well in Iowa City on Mediacom? 10-4 :) HD is on 804 in Iowa City. Even the www.zap2it.com website was changed a few days ago to show WHBF on channel 2 for 52240 zip code. 804 was added about 2 days after $inclair pulled the plug.

Thanks for the info!!

I'll echo hdtvincr, because I, too, have the 2-22 (but still get 23) package, and also get the HDs over QAM, Music channels, etc.

On another note, did anyone watch the SotU address last night? IMHO, ABC had the best picture and audio quality out of the 4 HD's for the address. Fox looked the worst, almost like an upconverted SD picture, and sounded very tinny. CBS and NBC looked okay, but also sounded very tinny. ABC had a great picture with good skin tones and great audio.

All channels except the obvious CBS, were pulled in over QAM. The OTA signals looked to be about the same and had the same poor audio for all but ABC.

Just an observation.

Is anyone besides me having trouble with KWWL DT? The signal is showing below 60.

Is anyone besides me having trouble with KWWL DT? The signal is showing below 60.

I've been having troubles with them for the last couple months, especially on my HD Tivo (only 1 of 2 tuners picks it up). Last night was worst than most, I missed all my shows on NBC. Not even my HDPC Tuner would lock on to a solid signal.

FYI:

Tonight Iowa Public Television began crawling a message announcing that they will be testing a digital multicast channel beginning on Feb. 1, which would be next Thursday. The crawl said that regular IPTV programming would air only on the analog channel during this time.

The crawl also told viewers to check IPTV.org for information, but so far I have yet to see any.

dline - actually saw the crawl last night, when I was trying to find the Peter Frampton concert. So, really, what does that mean? We already get something different on the HD channel than on the SD channel; I got thrown off with Soundstage, since they moved it from normal to HD, and the normal boring HD crap got moved to the sd channel. (you know what I mean - usually a bunch of talking heads, looking at still pictures and drawings. way cool.) So what is the digital multicast going to consist of - anyone have a clue?

Is anyone besides me having trouble with KWWL DT? The signal is showing below 60.

KWWL reception has been worse for me over the last month or so (I'm on the south side of Iowa City). Looking at the CFU graphs of signal strength, there looks like a definite decrease in at least their reception at the CFU tower, and probably transmitting power. It was 30 (db?) a year ago, and now it's running 18-20... :-(

I've been missing programs because of it too, and it kinda sucks...Not sure if the snow in the last two weeks has anything to do (water content blocks the signals?), but I'm pretty sure the problems started back in December.

So what is the digital multicast going to consist of - anyone have a clue?
Here's what I've been able to find: "Please note an exciting event happening on Thursday, February 1st – IPTV Plus – IPTV’s Multicast Sampler Channel Debuts!!"

Pretty vague. I guess we will all find out on Thursday.

dline - actually saw the crawl last night, when I was trying to find the Peter Frampton concert. So, really, what does that mean? We already get something different on the HD channel than on the SD channel ...
I know about as much about it as anyone here, which is very little. I do know that IPTV has been promoting the potential of both multicasting and HD for years, perhaps doing each during different parts of the day. Early on, they had much grander plans for multicasting than the HD/IPTV analog simulcast combo we get right now -- they could have a kids' channel, an adult learning channel, a channel devoted to Iowa programs, etc.

Obviously I hope HD is still part of the plan, at least in the evenings. They have some great productions of their own in the can and I hope it continues.

I do know that IPTV has been promoting the potential of both multicasting and HD for years,

IPTV does not have an HD master control facility operating at this time. Until that goes online the multicasting will be limited. The last plan I heard was to have 4 different multicasts going, at least during non-primetime hours, one a kids channel, a classroom resource channel, some college level telecourses, and possibly an adult (non college) learning service. For now they mostly push through the PBS-HD service off the satellite, which is really a temporary thing even though it's been that way since IPTV Digital signed on on August of 2004.

I'm not in the loop as to what is happening at the studio and master control so I don't know anymore than what I've posted here, the information I get mostly relates to transmitters.

I moved to the Greensboro, NC area and the local PBS does multicasting here, five channels during the day with no HD. In the evening at 8:30 the go to one SD (same as analog) and one HD. However, if you subscribe to Time Warner Cable you get all five PBS SD plus the one HD via clear QAM all day and all evening.

The IPTV Plus channel will be a pass through of Create (www.createtv.com) supplemented with samples of Iptv Kids, Iptv Learns, and Iptv World. There should be more info about this on IPTV's website some time tomorrow.

Thanks uhf - whatever you post here is more than 99% of us would know otherwise. I just hope they continue with at least a hd feed of "normal" pbs material. Soundstage was great the last couple of weeks. Made me really regret not grabbing an HD dvr while I still could, for a reasonable price.

flyingvee- as far as I know the IPTV HD channel will be unaffected but I will ask about that.

Beginning Thursday, February 1, Iowa Public Television will no longer simulcast our analog schedule on our second digital channel. Instead, IPTV will begin a demonstration of our multicasting options on a new channel, IPTV Plus. On this channel, you'll now see outstanding how-to programming every day and on weekends through IPTV Create. Weeknights during prime time, we'll showcase one of our future multicast programming streams each evening. On Mondays, viewers can enjoy IPTV Kids programming from 7 – 10 p.m. On Tuesdays, see Spanish-language programming on V-Me. On Wednesdays, IPTV Learns provides educational programming for learners of all ages. Thursday, you'll get a sneak peek at IPTV World, our channel devoted to programming about our state, our nation, and our world. And Friday nights, enjoy favorites from our traditional schedule.

If you’ve been watching regular IPTV programming on our second digital channel, please tune in to the primary analog channel in your area.

Beginning February 1, visit www.iptv.org/digital for schedules for IPTV Digital and IPTV Plus.

KWWL is pixellating like nobody's business on QAM as of about 8:53 PM CST tonight. It appears to have finally cleared up as of right now (9:03 PM).

Again, I pose the question: When QAM is pixellating and no other QAM channels are having problems, does that point to a local or national issue? I wouldn't be surprised if my issues tonight corresponded to similar OTA issues, but my antenna is optimized for KGAN and no other channels right now, so I couldn't check when it was happening.

Most likely a problem stemming at KWWL. Their power has been lower for a couple of months now with several complaints abou treception on OTA. I've also noticed quite a bit of pixelization on the QAM channel of theirs lately. I belive this occurred a few months ago and it was an equipment problem.

I sent an email earlier today to KWWL to try and get some answers but have heard nothing back from them yet.

Not to confuse the issues, but I'm in NE CR and KWWL 7.1 OTA has been fantastic. 7.2 and 7.3 (Weather Plus and Tube) have been almost unwatchable. However, watching KWWL HD on Mediacom has been pretty touch and go, so maybe it's a Mediacom issue???

watching KWWL HD on Mediacom has been pretty touch and go, so maybe it's a Mediacom issue???
Yes, I was wondering the same thing. Last Saturday nite portions of SNL were totally pixelated to where you could not watch any of it, and again on Monday nite during parts of Leno. What is strange was that during these breakups, the audio was fine but the video was messed badly. I tried to rewind the dvr back to where the video was good, but it wouldn't let me go back. I should have had a 1/2 hour in the buffer, but I couldn't rewind at all. Definitely something strange going on here with KWWL HD.

Monday night on mediacom just b4 8pm kwwl went to crap, as indicated by the arrow.

Monday night on mediacom just b4 8pm kwwl went to crap, as indicated by the arrow.That's not Mediacom -- it's over-the-air reception, as measured by the CFU cable system in Cedar Falls.

It does indicate a problem, though, especially since it's a cable system which should have fairly good antennas to work with.

Medium on KWWL was aboslutely unwatchable on Mediacom QAM tonight. :(

I was able to steer the rotor around good enough to get their now much weaker signal OTA. The A/V was fine on OTA, although very tough to pull in.

IIRC, there was some sort of equipment problem a couple of months ago on KWWLs end dealing with the fiber feed to Mediacom that caused the same type problems.

Only problem now is that Dick has not responded to the email I sent. Perhaps a check of their web site will yield a more generic email for the engineers. Who knows, Dick may be out of town or something.

All's I know is that KWWL is practically unusable at this time. :(

Does anyone know for sure whether or not Mediacom trap blocks the HD locals? I'm thinking about switching to Dish and keeping Mediacom HSI and wondered if I could get the locals still.

I'm not 100% sure, but my understanding is that they do not/can not block the digital QAM signals and even with HSI, they are still on the line.

I have the extreme basic cable and it works fine. I think it would also as long as the line is physically connected, which obviouslt it would be with HSI.

hdtvincr,

Sorry, I didn't know you had already sent something to him, so I sent one last night, and I did get a reply back from Dick this morning:

"We are having exciter problems with our Digital transmitter. The manufacturer rep will be in Friday to check out the exciter and, hopefully, get us back up in power.

Regards,
Dick Owens"

Lets keep our fingers crossed. :)

I finally did actually get a reply from when I submitted a complaint on the FCC web site, of course we now know nothing came about from their "encouragement" for binding arbitration, but at least someone there took the time to reply to me:

Dear Consumer,

Thank you for contacting the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding the
carriage of local broadcast television stations owned and operated by the Sinclair
Broadcast Group (Sinclair) on several cable television systems operated by Mediacom
Corporation (Mediacom). On January 4, 2007, the FCCs Media Bureau issued a Memorandum
Opinion and Order on this issue. In this Order, the FCC recognized the cost borne by
consumers who would lose their signal when Mediacom and Sinclair did not reach an
agreement. The FCC also strongly encouraged the two parties to engage in binding
arbitration to resolve the carriage issue.

Again, thank you for contacting us about this important issue. Your views and comments
are important to us.

The Federal Communications Commission

Does anyone know for sure whether or not Mediacom trap blocks the HD locals? I'm thinking about switching to Dish and keeping Mediacom HSI and wondered if I could get the locals still.

I don't think they can block the QAM, but they can probably still block 2-23.

I'm not sure what the deal is now, but I know that, at one time, you got a $10 discount on your HSI if you also had some form of video cable at any price point. The Basic-basic cable package used to be $10, so it was a wash one way or t'other. It's up to about 12 bucks a month now, but if the discount still applies, then I would keep 2-22 even if you got satellite, if for no other reason than it guarantees QAM and you can get a few local non-satellite things if you're still interested, such as UITV, etc.

Does anyone have an idea if KWKB-DT is full power yet? http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101169698&formid=2&fac_num=35096 seems to indicate that they are.

I got a reply back from Dick at KWWL today too! Hopefully their transmitter problems well be over soon!

Sorry for the late reply. I've been out of the office.

We are having problems with our digital transmitter and we are presently
running reduced power. A transmitter manufacturer rep will be on site
tomorrow to check out and repair the transmitter. Hopefully by tomorrow
our signal will be back to normal.

Thanks for you e-mail.

Regards,

Dick Owens
Chief Engineer
KWWL Television, Inc.
500 East Fourth Street
Waterloo, IA 50703
319-291-1200

Thanks... And to add to that, my reply from Dick stated that he was not aware of any issues with the Mediacom fiber feed, but would contact them about it.

I finally did actually get a reply from when I submitted a complaint on the FCC web site, of course we now know nothing came about from their "encouragement" for binding arbitration, but at least someone there took the time to reply to me:

Dear Consumer,

Thank you for contacting the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding the
carriage of local broadcast television stations owned and operated by the Sinclair
Broadcast Group (Sinclair) on several cable television systems operated by Mediacom
Corporation (Mediacom). On January 4, 2007, the FCCs Media Bureau issued a Memorandum
Opinion and Order on this issue. In this Order, the FCC recognized the cost borne by
consumers who would lose their signal when Mediacom and Sinclair did not reach an
agreement. The FCC also strongly encouraged the two parties to engage in binding
arbitration to resolve the carriage issue.

Again, thank you for contacting us about this important issue. Your views and comments
are important to us.

The Federal Communications Commission




Apparently, the Senate's Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation wrote a letter to the FCC on Wednesday about the dispute (see www.befairsinclair.com for the complete text). The committee believes that the FCC has the authority to require binding arbitration in this case. Whether the FCC will act to resolve this remains to be seen.

SDL

No Office tonight in HD. That ruins my week.

Hey guys, a couple of questions for CFU users out there....

I am sure this has been covered somewhere, but I looked through about 13 pages of this thread and couldn't find any solid information. Here goes...

I recently ordered my dad a Sony Bravia KDL-46S2010. I'm in Ames and cannot help him with setup, but I want him to be able to watch the game on Sunday in HD. Most of what I've read says the unit has a QAM capabilities....but what does he need, specifically, to get to the HD channels? He has done auto program on both analog and digital, and he claims that there are a bunch of music channels available, but no television in HD. All of the regular channels work fine. He does not have digital cable or anything, just basic plus and HBO.

Is there anything I can do to help him over the phone? Thanks for the help!

Hey guys, a couple of questions for CFU users out there....

I am sure this has been covered somewhere, but I looked through about 13 pages of this thread and couldn't find any solid information. Here goes...

I recently ordered my dad a Sony Bravia KDL-46S2010. I'm in Ames and cannot help him with setup, but I want him to be able to watch the game on Sunday in HD. Most of what I've read says the unit has a QAM capabilities....but what does he need, specifically, to get to the HD channels? He has done auto program on both analog and digital, and he claims that there are a bunch of music channels available, but no television in HD. All of the regular channels work fine. He does not have digital cable or anything, just basic plus and HBO.

Is there anything I can do to help him over the phone? Thanks for the help!


I'm a CFU user ;)

As long as the TV has a QAM tuner, then you should be able to get the HD programming. Look in the 100's for the programming - I'll try to put together a complete list of our in-the-clear QAM channels tomorrow and post it here.

Looks like KWWL DT is back to full power :) http://www.cfu.net/CyberNet/HD/index.php?station=kwwl

Looks like KWWL DT is back to full power :) http://www.cfu.net/CyberNet/HD/index.php?station=kwwl

Glad I could help out :cool:

Looks like KWWL DT is back to full power :) http://www.cfu.net/CyberNet/HD/index.php?station=kwwl

We are not quite up to full power yet. Presently we are running about 83%. The exciter modulator has been tweeked by the Thales service tech to lower the S/N so we should be more reliable OTA.
We have a bad oscillator unit which has been dying a slow death the past month or so. Parts are due in tomorrow. We will have the transmitter down during the afternoon to do the repairs.

About time:

Mediacom Reaches Retransmission Consent Agreement with Sinclair; Broadcast Stations Immediately Restored
MIDDLETOWN, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 2, 2007--MEDIACOM COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION (NASDAQ: MCCC) announced that it has reached a retransmission consent agreement with Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. The following stations will be immediately restored on the Mediacom cable systems in 12 states:

Des Moines/Ames (KDSM-FOX), Cedar Rapids (KGAN-CBS), Mobile-Pensacola (WEAR-ABC/WFGX-MNT), Peoria/Bloomington (WYZZ-FOX), Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville (WLOS-ABC/WMYA-MNT), Lexington (WDKY-FOX), Madison (WMSN-FOX), Nashville (WZTV-FOX/ WUXP-MNT/WNAB-CW), Minneapolis (WUCW-CW), Paducah/Cape Girardeau (KBSI-FOX/WDKA-MNT), Springfield/Champaign/Decatur (WICS-ABC/WICD-ABC), St. Louis (KDNL-ABC), Tallahassee (WTWC-NBC), Birmingham (WTTO-CW/WABM-MNT), Norfolk (WTVZ-MNT) and Milwaukee (WCGV-MNT/WVTV-CW).

Mediacom Communications is the nation's 8th largest cable television company and one of the leading cable operators focused on serving the smaller cities and towns in the United States. Mediacom Communications offers a wide array of broadband products and services, including traditional video services, digital television, video-on-demand, digital video recorders, high-definition television, high-speed Internet access and phone service.

CONTACT: Mediacom Communications Corporation
Media Relations:
Thomas Larsen
Vice President, Legal Affairs
845-695-2754
Or
Investor Relations:
Matt Derdeyn
Group Vice President, Corporate Finance and Treasurer
845-695-2612

SOURCE: Mediacom Communications Corporation

I can confirm that KGAN is back on in the Waterloo area on Mediacom.

Ditto for CR Mediacom!!!!!

I figured at a minimum that there would be a temporary agreement once that letter from Congress was sent to the FCC! Our letters to our reps helped!

I haven't checked yet, but do not expect that they have the HD feed yet... Who knows, maybe I'll be surprised.

Even better, KCRG.com is reporting that the hi-def signal will be on Mediacom in time for the superbowl.

I hope Sinclair will let them put it on QAM like the others for those of us without the HDTV converter.

If anybody finds it please post.

I don't think Sinclair has a choice. Most interpret the law as... If the HD signal is carried, it can NOT be encrypted....

BTW... Don't see it yet on QAM.

Putting the analog back on Mediacom was the easy part, since it was there before. They'll just unflip the switch they flipped, or unpatch the patch cord. The digital is going to require more work since KGAN-DT has no history on Mediacom. How much, I don't know. Hopefully they prepared for the day that they would reach a deal for KGAN-DT.

I'm also hoping that since KGAN & KFXA now share studios, and we know that the fiber is already in place and running for KFXA, that it will be an easy addition to get KGAN going....

KGAN-DT is now on Mediacom at channel 802, have yet to find it with my QAM tuner.

Is it listed in the guide then or what? What makes you say it's there, but it's not there?

802 is listed in the guide, but program listings are not up yet. I am watching Ghost Whisperer right now, and it is in HD.

I found KGAN HD on my daughters qam tuner about an hour ago in CR on ch. 89-4. Enjoy.

Thanks.. One would think they would put it near the other locals...

I think they were out of room on the 114 and 115 channels (114 has KWWL and PBS, 115 has KCRG and KFXA on .2, .4, and .6)

Has anyone found KGAN-DT (the SD simulcast) on QAM yet? I haven't found it in the 114, 115, or 89 neighborhoods.

Not that there's anything different about the SD simulcast, but I'd think they'd have it as another channel to pull. I don't have the time or patience to sit through a 2 hour re-scan and re-label all of my channels...

I wonder how much Best Buy and Radio Shack will try to hide the news, or how long the lines will be for people returning antennas tomorrow...

They do not have the KFXA SD simulcast, so I doubt they will bother the the KGAN SD...

I found KGAN-DT at 89-2 in Coralville on my QAM tuner.

Mediacom, in Waterloo, KGAN-DT (CBS) is now 256-QAM channel 21-4.

Checked Kwwl DT a couple of hours ago, and there wasn't a signal. Just checked it again and it's the best I've ever seen by them. 88 to 90% signal. Keep it Up!!

Does the 622 show the guide info for the OTA channels in the Waterloo/CR market? I've heard anything from yes, no to maybe in other forums.

I will be subscribing to locals because I will want them for SD tv's.

Does the 622 show the guide info for the OTA channels in the Waterloo/CR market? I've heard anything from yes, no to maybe in other forums.

The guide info was uplinked as of a week or two ago, so I would think they are. I don't have a Dish HD box so I can't confirm that. I'm actually thinking of switching from Dish to Mediacom since Dish quoted me a price of $32 a month more for HD when I called yesterday to ask. Seems like a rip off to me.

The VIP 622 has the program guide for all the local OTA channels. Mine at least has been rock steady. Enjoy..

As of 1:30pm its seems KGAN is having audio problems on their HD feed. For about 20 minutes it was just static and recently it has been cutting from static to silence and then back.

Hopefully they get it cleared up before the game.

1:40pm update: seems they have it fixed now....

I am just south of Shueyville with Mediacom and am getting KGAN-HD on 89-2. We did not get Quad Cities CBS during the Mediacom/Sinclair fracas.

KWWL-HD over the air has been a problem for the last month or so. It used to come in well. (40 ft mast with RS UHF Yagi and a Channel Master preamp.)

I wish KGAN would get their audio sync issues worked out on their HD feed, now i'm remembering why I don't watch any shows on KGAN in HD...

I'm not sure about audio sync, but the audio is dropping occasionally on the network feed.

Whats up with KGAN's OTA audio? It just died on 2-1, still OK on 2-2.

Its been way out of sync for the entire game...

I don't watch KGAN much, is this normal??

I wonder how much Best Buy and Radio Shack will try to hide the news, or how long the lines will be for people returning antennas tomorrow...Hopefully not very long. Even if you have cable or satellite, you never know when you might need that antenna.

You never know when a backhoe, a torrential rainstorm, or another Sinclair/Mediacom-style dispute will keep you from getting your network shows ...

Whats up with KGAN's OTA audio? It just died on 2-1, still OK on 2-2.

Its been way out of sync for the entire game...

I don't watch KGAN much, is this normal??

Unfortunately - yes... The audio sync is a common documented problem on these boards...

Unfortunately - yes... The audio sync is a common documented problem on these boards...

I'm sure the 3 CBS viewers who are under 60 are disappointed. :D

Whats up with KGAN's OTA audio? It just died on 2-1, still OK on 2-2.

Its been way out of sync for the entire game...

I don't watch KGAN much, is this normal??

Its always out of synch. Either live with it or - uh, I don't know. Live with it, I guess. :rolleyes:

Yeah, pretty suspicious, having the sound die for the GTA - Coke commercial. Makes me wonder what I missed. Just hope they rerun it. Looked pretty cool. Other than the couple glitches in the first half, sound and pic were fine for whole game on my end - KGAN via QAM, thanks to CFU. :D

Hi All,

I finally hit the tipping point with KGAN, so I fired off this email:


KGAN,



I have been patient in the past, but have finally reached the tipping point. I have put up with audio drops and sync issues on your primetime high-definition programs in the past, but your performance during the Super Bowl leads me to believe that you do not care about the quality of programming you put over the air.



I am receiving this signal through CFU cable. This same issue is happening with Mediacom. It is not an issue with the cable providers.



This is a station that cable companies pay GOOD MONEY for and we are not getting our value out your over the air signal. Please fix these issues as fast as you can. I await your reply and resolution – as do all of the other AVID KGAN/CBS HD VIEWERS.



Here is their response:

We have worked with lip sync problems as every other HD plant in the US.

Last tuesday we have install some firmware we beleived has corrected the wonder sync issue problem.

We do not see the audio dropouts you discribed in this email.

The transmitter is 22-miles away from broadcast park.

The superbowl aired great! The problems seems to me to be the cable front end or after.

Regards,
Randy Schildmeyer
CE KGAN-TV
319 395-9060 Ext 328



All I can do is laugh... Can someone tell me if this happened on the OTA signal as well?

The audio dropouts are exactly the same on Mediacom and OTA. Trust me, I have been flipping back and forth.

I can tell you that kgan's HD on mediacom 802 in Iowa City sucked during the superbowl, and at one point, the signal (picture) was lost....let alone the dozens of audio dropouts. But since kgan/mediacom patched it on this past weekend, I'll give them a week to fix it up....since I'll probably be paying for it in a couple of months. :(

By the way, I like the looks of "CFU Joes" graph of KWWL since Sat, with their new replacement parts on their transmitter. :)

The audio drop outs occured OTA on the HD signal. There were no drop outs on the non HD OTA signal. You are exactly right. An HD broadcast of the biggest sporting event of the year, with sync and drop out problems. Simply unbelievable.

Audio dropouts were happening in Milwaukee as well. Was this a national issue?

I pulled out my HDTV that I was storing in my parents basement to watch the superbowl last night in HD at my parents house. My tv has a qam tuner and the only HD local I was able to get was KGAN, I think it was channel 95-4. Anyways, I was wondering if mediacom encrypts their locals beause I was not able to pick up any of the other locals.

KGAN-TV CBS HD-feed had two audio dropouts yesterday that lasted several minutes. It happened during the pre-game show at 1:20 pm and again during a commercial break between the first and second quarters of the super bowl.

The problem is center with the dolby 5.1 audio encoder where CBS switches in and out of 5.1 program content. The metadata or the lack of it seems to lockup the encoder and the result is garble audio. The unit was reset, which took several minutes during a commercial and was back fine for game. No other audio or video dropouts were observed over the air at our facility.

We are working with CBS on this 5.1 issue as to why this is happening from time to time. In future we may try different configuration schemes to fix this problem.

Developmental issues are still felt with this new technology called HDTV. Stations across the country are reporting all kinds audio problems and do not have redundant equipment to patch around problems yet.

Please feel free to email me your receiver model number and the method of receiving your signal to help me isolate the problem.

Randy Schildmeyer
CE KGAN-TV

319 395-9060 Ext 328

Welcome to the forum Randy!

KGAN is finally in QAM clear on McLeod, as is KDIN. There is additionally Standard Def versions of both KGAN and KDIN (I couldn't tell if it was Create channel or KDIN, as I didn't have time).

Now, we can only hope that they carry a channel that I actually watch from time to time :eek:

Developmental issues are still felt with this new technology called HDTV. Stations across the country are reporting all kinds audio problems and do not have redundant equipment to patch around problems yet.

Please feel free to email me your receiver model number and the method of receiving your signal to help me isolate the problem.

Randy Schildmeyer
CE KGAN-TV

319 395-9060 Ext 328

Difficult to email you without an address, but I'll reply here in the hopes maybe you'll see it.

I have a TiVo Series 3 connected to both ATSC over the air, and now McLeod's QAM signals. Channel 2 is always about a 1/4 to 1/2 of a second behind with audio. None of the other channels in the area, even PAX on channel 48 or PBS on channel 32 have similar issues. Hope this helps you troubleshoot where the issue is occuring.

Tuesday of last week we installed new firmware on the 2.1 encoder. Please let me know, I believe this has improved the audio synchronization problem.

Regards,
Randy Schildmeyer
CE KGAN-TV

I'll let you know if I see it on NCIS Tuesday night.

Hi rschildmeyer,

I can report that '2 and a half men' have a 1/2 second audio delay. It is most noticeable when the characters walk, pat something, or talk. I don't watch this show - but tuned in to report that the audio problem is still present.

-breu

Joe - lipsynch is ota also. I'm using the OTA from my Vizio lcd panel; getting same problems with my Samsung 360 stb, thru a Tosh crt. And of course, via cfu QAM.

Two weeks ago the dialog was missing from "Ghost Whisperer" on Ch2 OTA DTV. The music was present but the dialog was mute. Is this part of their 5.1 sound difficulties? I still see small lags in the audio. Causes an echo in the house with another TV on ch 2. Also up until recently I couldn't get KWKB ota DTV now I can. Did they up their power? KWWL has been impossible if not difficult to get for the last two months. Now it seems to be back. Someone mentioned that they had transmitter problems. Any chance KWKB will be available on QAM band? I did find ch2 at 89.4. Qam picture is not as good as the OTA DTV. Are they sacrificing bandwidth and a quality picture for adding the other channels like 7.2 and 7.3?

Two weeks ago the dialog was missing from "Ghost Whisperer" on Ch2 OTA DTV. The music was present but the dialog was mute. Is this part of their 5.1 sound difficulties? I still see small lags in the audio. Causes an echo in the house with another TV on ch 2. Also up until recently I couldn't get KWKB ota DTV now I can. Did they up their power? KWWL has been impossible if not difficult to get for the last two months. Now it seems to be back. Someone mentioned that they had transmitter problems. Any chance KWKB will be available on QAM band? I did find ch2 at 89.4. Qam picture is not as good as the OTA DTV. Are they sacrificing bandwidth and a quality picture for adding the other channels like 7.2 and 7.3?
No dialog - Probably
KWKB power - Yes
KWWL tx probs - Yes
KWKB QAM - Who knows, probably eventually
89.4 - Comparing local SD program with OTA & QAM shows the same data rate. Should be a straight passthru so I do not know why you would see a difference unless it is between YOUR OTA & QAM decoder. 7.1 & 7.2 are on a completely different channel so theres no way they are "sacrificing" anything on 89.4 for those subs.

is mcleod going to show the other local channels over a qam tuner? I just got a 37 inch westinghouse and all i get is kgan which is ok for Survivor but i want channel 9 and 7. Im not happy with switching from cable to antenna and rescanning everytime i want to switch.

is mcleod going to show the other local channels over a qam tuner? I just got a 37 inch westinghouse and all i get is kgan which is ok for Survivor but i want channel 9 and 7. Im not happy with switching from cable to antenna and rescanning everytime i want to switch.

welcome to the world of being a McLeod subscriber. Up through about a week ago, we didn't have anything in QAM... so, you got started at the right time, I guess.

So many people saying so many things... How can I ever hope to answer?

kenewell - Unless the "other TV in the house" is also on HD, expect an echo. On some channels, the HD feed is lagged behind the SD feed, and on others, it's ahead. This goes for the audio as well as the video feed. If you really need to have 2 TVs on within earshot of each other, then you'll have this issue unless both are getting the same feed (both on analog, both on digital) HOWEVER, this is NOT the same as the audio-sync issue on KGAN. That is, in fact, an audio sync issue between the video feed and audio feed. FWIW, I've only ever seen ONE audio-sync test being performed, and it was on ABC-HD when they went to the local news late at night and KCRG forgot to switch the feed over to local.

Also, I have noticed on more than one occasion that the center channel is missing from the 5.1 feed on KGAN. It usually happens once a week or so. I recall one time was when I was watching CSI:. I thought that Grissom had "lost his hearing" again, because there was no sound from any of the characters as they spoke, just some residual sound on the other 4 high-freq. channels. Turned out to be the 5.1 feed.

fireburster - Why do you have to re-scan when you go from antenna to cable? Is there only one input on the TV? I'm not familiar with Westinghouse, but I was under the impression that most HDTVs nowadays had 2 inputs; one for cable and one for OTA.

The audio DID, in fact, die during the Superbowl, OTA and in stereo, at least. It went to a high screech, then finally out. By the time I called the newsroom, the person manning the phones was already answering "KGAN, we're aware of the problem and working on it". The GTA-Coke ad, however, wasn't anything new (it was a few weeks old, as I'd seen it a number of times already), so you weren't rechnically missing anything. However, there were almost no problems throughout the entire game with stereo audio dropout on the TV I was watching. We were watching OTA using a Dish 811 tuner, and the antenna was getting around 83-86% signal the whole game. I wasn't at home to see how my XBR handled the QAM or 5.1 audio during the game, though.

Randy- I'm glad to see you here. Good luck trying to keep up and putting up with the amount of grief you'll likely suffer as a result of being here. Unfortunately, I can't say that I wholly agree with the "this magical thing you call HDTV is really new, we're still trying to figure this stuff out" line, though. It seems like a cop-out, considering I've owned an HDTV for almost 2 years now, and the audio sync issues haven't really ever changed. Others have had HDTVs for a LOT longer than that, and are used to "early adopter" issues. But 3+ years is plenty of time for a technology to mature, and the recent holiday and Superbowl have seen record HDTV sales, so it's definitely more mainstream than ever. It's not going to get any less of a problem, the more people get into it.

I'll keep an eye on NCIS tonight on both of my TVs, OTA and QAM. I seem to recall that there were some sync issues with the new David Spade comedy last night, but I wasn't paying too close attention.

What is considered optimal signal on these CFU charts?

How are these measure compared to what we see for signal strengths on our tv's?

http://www.cfu.net/CyberNet/HD/index.php

Does anyone know where to find the new secondary digital PBS channel on QAM in Iowa City? I've got the one on 114.4 that hasn't changed, but isn't there supposed to be a second one now?

After watching both "The Units" last night, I lost count of the audio dropouts at around 10-12 for the 2 hour period. All I think were during the 2 episodes, and not during any commerical breaks. All lasted 1 sec or less.

A friend of mine get his new plasma set up yesterday. He ran a scan on Mediacom and picked up all kinds of channels. Not just the local HD networks, but music channels, movie channels and others.

Is this normal?

A friend of mine get his new plasma set up yesterday. He ran a scan on Mediacom and picked up all kinds of channels. Not just the local HD networks, but music channels, movie channels and others.

Is this normal?Yes...and a couple of them are PPV/on demand....and you might/may see what somebody in your area/node may be paying for....and could very well NOT be suitable for all family members. So make sure they are not in your "saved channels" on your TV remote...but you may want to "remember them." :cool:

Randy & Dick ---- Why is there no EPG guide data in your streams?????

Randy & Dick ---- Why is there no EPG guide data in your streams?????Last time I came home in December, I ran a test on KWWL's data stream because my parents had asked the same thing. The STT or the System Time Table was set to sometime in May 1996. Even if guide data is showing up on the correct dates, if your tuner or DVR relies on the EIT information from the station it ignores it because as far as the tuner is concerned, it's 9 years ago. I don't remember what the result was for KGAN, I believe then they still had 12 hours worth of EIT data.

What is considered optimal signal on these CFU charts?

How are these measure compared to what we see for signal strengths on our tv's?

http://www.cfu.net/CyberNet/HD/index.php

One of the engineers will hopefully give us the definitive answer, but from what I can find, the SNR listed on the charts would correspond to where you want at least 27dB to have good reception, although apparently it can be a little lower and still be fine, but definitely not below 16dB.
How this translates into tuners which just show a meter or percentage for signal strength, instead of a SNR reading, my Google searches only came up with a HDTV PC card linux driver source code file that has a comment saying that 35dB SNR would be considered 100%. My Fusion card running in Windows, however, will list anything 30dB and above as 100%, while my TiVo S3 shows all my channels are between 88% and 93%, which would make more sense if it were using 35dB to be 100% signal strength.
That's all I could find, that made any sense to me anyway.

Last time I came home in December, I ran a test on KWWL's data stream because my parents had asked the same thing. The STT or the System Time Table was set to sometime in May 1996. Even if guide data is showing up on the correct dates, if your tuner or DVR relies on the EIT information from the station it ignores it because as far as the tuner is concerned, it's 9 years ago. I don't remember what the result was for KGAN, I believe then they still had 12 hours worth of EIT data.
You are correct about the wrong STT date for KWWL, it shows 07/01/1996. However, there is no EIT information at all. Perhaps this incorrect system data is causing the stream encoder to not pick up the data and send???

KGAN has EIT data of :

Starts: 2/7/2007 9:00:00 AM
Length: 36:00:00
EIT Source: n/a
Name: DTV Program
Description: n/a

Since I said that I would try to find synch issues last night in NCIS, I figured I should make good on my promise.

Didn't see any synch problems at all on QAM. I didn't have a signal OTA, though. That might have just been a case of my antenna, but I was pulling 9.1 and 32.1 without any problems, and they're on the same tower as 2.1. I was too hungry to check my other TV for the OTA signal.

Since I said that I would try to find synch issues last night in NCIS, I figured I should make good on my promise.

Didn't see any synch problems at all on QAM. I didn't have a signal OTA, though. That might have just been a case of my antenna, but I was pulling 9.1 and 32.1 without any problems, and they're on the same tower as 2.1. I was too hungry to check my other TV for the OTA signal.


I'll add my ditto here. The audio was 'far better', but I still had a couple of autio dropouts on the CFU DCT6412. I need to swap that out with another one to make sure my issue isn't completely box related. I just walked next door and talked to the Headend Tech and he said that these audio dropouts happen with all of the DCT6412s. I wonder if there is some error int he bitstream that causes it...

kenewell - Unless the "other TV in the house" is also on HD, expect an echo. On some channels, the HD feed is lagged behind the SD feed, and on others, it's ahead. This goes for the audio as well as the video feed.

just as a final fwiw, even different tvs will handle the same signal differently. I have an older crt in living room, a cute little lcd panel in adjoining study. fed off same splitter, virtually same cable length (as if that would make a difference :)). Yet there is about a half to 3/4 second difference between the two. SD to both.

Just what we get from being spoiled, and having multiple tvs. and as CR says, factor in HD, possibly scalers and/or processors, and the difference just becomes greater. Perfectly normal. Completely different from KGAN's inability to lock sound with visuals.

Tho it does appear closer tonite. (OTA) still seems to be 20 ms off or so, but at least CSI - or whatever I have on - I don't really watch CBS - is now watchable. Will give it the acid test with Letterman tonite - Mellencamp is on, if that isn't in synch, it'll drive me crazy. ;)

Lipsynch followup - yes, there is a definite improvement on my KGAN-hd signal. Randy - since whatever you and your crew did got it almost all the way, can you turn the knob/dial just a touch more, and get it perfect? ;) I know - must be harder than that, or would have been done years ago. But seriously, if there are any increments of adjusting that you can or are doing, just tweak it a touch more. Letterman was almost there - without having scope traces of video and audio events, I really can't quantify how much it is off, but would still guess the 10-20 ms range. You have it good enough, that if I'm not looking for it, I can pretty much ignore it - which is a huge improvement. Good Job. :D

Hello again from KGAN-TV

Wed Feb 7th KGAN sent out four Samsung DTB-H260F digital HDTV receivers with TV-5 powered rabbit ears, which are available locally. All four locations reported back that the audio was in sync with a signal level of 80-units. The locations were Marion, Clarence, Cedar Rapids and Walker. No audio dropouts were report from our staff.

Swisher and a location south of Decorah reported no audio problems. I do not know what equipment was used at these locations.

There maybe issues with older digital receivers that I just don’t know at this point. I’ll visit the cable front ends to check if their equipment is having audio sync issues

We will continue to work on our encoder at KGAN-TV. We will be testing embedded audio sometime next week to see if this will help some of our viewers out there with sync issues.

The embedded audio means a slight station plant rewire with the equipment on loan. If it is better I hope to here from you so we can purchase it. We are currently waiting for two items from our vendor in Canada to proceed. I will let you know when it is in.

Regards,
Randy Schildmeyer
CE KGAN-TV

Added 5ms more of audio delay was added 2/8 5:17pm

Regards
Randy Schildmeyer
CE KGAN-TV

Hi Randy,

@ CFU, we use Wegener DTV700 and DTV701 (http://www.wegener.com/SUPPORT/pdf/archive/800015-01D.pdf) signal processors. KGAN is the only one that we have had any audio issues with. We are not rate-shaping the DTV 8VSB transport stream at all. We are passing .1 and .2 streams along with PSIP.

Some of our audio dropouts may be DCT related and we are working with Moto/HITS to see if there is a firmware upgrade available - however the audio lip sync issues are not a DCT issue.

I just checked .1 and to my untrained ear - the changes you made have made a measurable improvement in the audio quality! Thanks a bunch Randy...

KGAN audio this morning via mediacom dct 6208 box AND qam are both out this am. Audio has a high pitched buzz and what audio you can hear cuts in /out. There was also 5-7 dropouts during CSI last night. Don't know if this is a mediacom or kgan issue. Anybody else notice this? The lip-sinc issue is much improved.

The 5.1 Dolby surrond sound encorder went bazzurk again this morning. That what caused that high pitched buzz. Reset fixed the problem 8:15 am

Regards,
Randy Schildmeyer

KGAN audio this morning via mediacom dct 6208 box AND qam are both out this am. Audio has a high pitched buzz and what audio you can hear cuts in /out. There was also 5-7 dropouts during CSI last night. Don't know if this is a mediacom or kgan issue. Anybody else notice this? The lip-sinc issue is much improved.

CSI sounded fine last night with no audio dropouts here in Waterloo. This was through Mediacom on KGAN-DT channel 802. I have the Motorola 6412 DVR.

I gotta say it's really nice to finally have CBS in HD via Mediacom! I can now record my favorites in HD when I'm at work.

CSI sounded fine last night with no audio dropouts here in Waterloo. This was through Mediacom on KGAN-DT channel 802. I have the Motorola 6412 DVR.

Must be a feed problem (channel 802) to the Iowa City headend. I'll see what it's like this weekend.

The 5.1 Dolby surrond sound encorder went bazzurk again this morning. That what caused that high pitched buzz. Reset fixed the problem 8:15 am

Regards,
Randy Schildmeyer Thanks for the quick reply.

Must be a feed problem (channel 802) to the Iowa City headend. I'll see what it's like this weekend.

I'm in Solon, and I was getting brief (2-3 sec.) audio dropouts every few minutes watching Mediacom 802 this morning (Sunday).

SDL

Here we go again... Kwwl DT is unwatchable... Dick, What's up???

Randy Schildmeyer - my heartfelt congratulations and thanks. May you keep up the good work for as long as you wish to stay at KGAN. Watching the Grammys - afaic, you have the lip-synch nailed. Just finished watching John Mayer tear it up - I'm a guitarist - so while lips, etc may be difficult to tell if it is correct or not, I watched his fingers - between you, the cameras, and the CBS mixing people, it looked dead on. Now I can quit analyzing, and just enjoy it. :D

THANKS.