They are rebroadcasting this weekend - sometime Sat nite, Sun morn I think. They told us on the news last nite, but since I haven't watched it for 8 years,.....

Ron did make a big deal on it - be sure to have our tivos, dvrs, and vcrs ready. Like it was a bigger deal than the caucus in his world.

ER is going to be on Sun morn around 1:30 AM

Got a reply from KWWL, they will rebroadcast it at 1:05am Sat (late Friday night) To bad they don't just go ahead and show ER in HD on KWWL-DT and do their special broadcast on KWWL/analog like their tv listings show.
ADDED: The www.zap2it.com website does show the correct time Sat 1:05AM. while KWWL's link to their tv listings does not. It would be interesting starting 3/09 if they would carry the network feed on the main channel and sub channel their special programming.

No ER in HD then.

what happened to KWWL tonight?. No 7-1 on my guide. A 7-3 has appeared just like 2-3 has appeared on my HR-20. This would really gppf up the season passes

just did a rescan and 7-1 came back. Don't know what happened. Was watching Apprentice, changed channels and 7-1 was gone. Still have 2-3 on both the Hr-10 and the HR-20. Anybody know why and what happened to 2-2?

Still have 2-3 on both the Hr-10 and the HR-20. Anybody know why and what happened to 2-2?

I also am confused. On 12/29, my TiVo S3 had a message telling me my channel lineup had changed and channel 2.3 KGAN-DT2 was added.

However, while KGAN-DT2 still actually tunes in on 2.2, it now has no guide data and as far as TiVo is concerned it is an unknown channel. Meanwhile, 2.3 has the KGAN-DT2 guide data, but no actual signal is tuned in.

Nice.

Got a reply from KWWL, they will rebroadcast it at 1:05am Sat (late Friday night) To bad they don't just go ahead and show ER in HD on KWWL-DT and do their special broadcast on KWWL/analog like their tv listings show.Depending on the network contract, they may not be allowed to do that. Or there's the possibility that airing the show "live" off the network in any form could affect their ability to air a delayed broadcast on their analog service.

In any event, it's only one episode, and if NBC had any brains it was probably a re-run due to the absolute certainty of breaking news. Next week should be business as usual.

Depending on the network contract, they may not be allowed to do that. Or there's the possibility that airing the show "live" off the network in any form could affect their ability to air a delayed broadcast on their analog service.

In any event, it's only one episode, and if NBC had any brains it was probably a re-run due to the absolute certainty of breaking news. Next week should be business as usual.

You are absolutely right on with this... combined with the fact that we are required to replicate programming of our analog on our primary digital channel. It must be 100% replication on the primary channel (7 to 7.1). Also once it airs live, it can't air again. Overall, it was one night, and the Caucuses were a pretty big deal here in Iowa last night. I was with our crew in Des Moines and there were over 30 satellite trucks and I heard people saying there were over 2300 media credentials handed out... that is an insane amount! Thankfully, we have a breather now until the primaries this summer.

What a shame the playoffs are on NBC. They take the "H" out "HD". Sport look like crap on NBC!

Ah, it's not so bad... as long as all the players stand still (oh, and the camera, too). :p

What a shame the playoffs are on NBC. They take the "H" out "HD". Sport look like crap on NBC!

To be honest, personally, I thought of the NFL games in HD this weekend, the one that looked the worse was on KGAN. Anytime there were graphics that zooming in or out or fast camera pans, I could plainly see (and still pause on) disgusting macro blocking. :(
As always, the game on KXFA looked great. I'm sure the BCS game tonight will look great, as well.

What a shame the playoffs are on NBC. They take the "H" out "HD". Sport look like crap on NBC!

now be nice - it doesn't look that bad. remember, 1080i is higher resolution than 720p; and it looks fine on a 1080i native crt. Get a good scaler/vp, and it can look good on anything.

I've seen many of the same artifacts on KGAN's broadcasts; admittedly, I rarely see them on Fox or ESPN, but wth - I have to pay to even get ESPN...at least NBC is free (and they only have a game a week anyway.)

I wouldn't want NBC football to look any clearer - Madden looks pretty scary in the closeups as it is.:p

I flipped over after seeing tsdukes post. It was during the Wash-Seatle game and my initial reaction was ughhh.....

Then after a little bit, I noticed that the HD quality was pretty darn good, but the colors were just awful! Those Seahawk grays along with a cloudy drury day and the turf looked murky just made everything look crappy. The bright yellows, whites, and maroons of Wash REALLY jumped out at you.

Anyone know why my antenna isnt getting kcrg anymore? I havent changed anything and i get all the other OTA stations great. I was recording shows all season with my pvr150 in my pc and now i have no signal to 9.1 or 9.2. I just spent 45 mins moving the antenna and no change.

9.1 is working great here in Independence. Not sure what to tell you.

So, is Mediacom QAM channel 115.4 in Waterloo really KFXA-DT2 (SD), instead of KFXA-DT (HD 720p)?

Anyone know why my antenna isnt getting kcrg anymore? I havent changed anything and i get all the other OTA stations great. I was recording shows all season with my pvr150 in my pc and now i have no signal to 9.1 or 9.2. I just spent 45 mins moving the antenna and no change.

I've had degraded reception the past few nights myself. In particular, I'm seeing a lot of dropouts. Not just on channel 9, but essentially all channels.

Not sure about your distance to the tower, nor what type of antenna you have -- but for me, I can't help but wonder if the heavy fog has been the problem. I'm within about 10 miles of the towers, using a small indoor antenna (in my basement, no less).

Ivory, 115.4 in Iowa City is KFXA-DT. I've read on dslreports that there were issues with KFXA/Mediacom in the Waterloo area last night during the BCS Championship game.

I have been getting OTA locals for almost 4 years. Most of the time it works great, but some times it does not come in. I have not been able to figure out why. Some times it helps to tweak the antenna. Some times I think it is weather related.

Ivory, 115.4 in Iowa City is KFXA-DT. I've read on dslreports that there were issues with KFXA/Mediacom in the Waterloo area last night during the BCS Championship game.

Well... not sure what the problem is in Mediacom-land, but tonight Bones is clearly in SD on 115.4, even though OTA Fox is clearly showing this episode in HD. :(

Same problem in Dubuque with mediacom, No BCS championship game and Bones in high def.. Fox hasn't been hd the last 2 days here...

Call the KFXA station and ask for the engineer. (319) 393-2800

Probably easier than calling Mediacom.

KFXA has an HD-when-available channel on 28-1 and an always-SD subchannel on 28-2.

I have had times when they've had mapping problems and the two channels got switched around -- the SD channel was 27-1 and the HD-when-available was on 27-2. I just checked and today is not one of those times, but do you think it could have happened to Mediacom at some point, and that their receivers may have just been tricked into switching to KFXA-SD?

Luckily, all my locals are coming up properly via CFU; after all of the grief and such a couple years ago, KFXA has been a pleasant surprise around here.

slightly OT - watched Iowa bb game on Big Ten HD last night - if there are any Hawk fans who have this available, and haven't sprung for it - I'll give it a hearty thumbs up. Games look superb; the network must be using its "A" team of techs to broadcast the HD games. Likewise, CFU must not be skimping on bandwidth - the broadcast looks a lot better than the team.

dline - re your sig. (the end of analog is near)

its gonna be a real clusterflock, isn't it? My wife has been around all of my gear for 3 years now, we've talked, discussed various things, etc. So she should be at least semi-cognizant of what is going on, right?

Nope - all it took was one confusing statement about HD and rabbit ears on KWWL, by some moron at BB, and we spent an entire meal, trying to explain the end of analog, and who it was going to effect. Still not sure if I got it thru her head....

Reckon some salespeople are salivating, waiting for the shills to come into their clutches...

slightly OT - watched Iowa bb game on Big Ten HD last night - if there are any Hawk fans who have this available, and haven't sprung for it - I'll give it a hearty thumbs up. Games look superb; the network must be using its "A" team of techs to broadcast the HD games. Likewise, CFU must not be skimping on bandwidth - the broadcast looks a lot better than the team.Look on the bright side ... I'll bet a lot of folks from AMES are clamoring for BTN right now!!!:D

Seriously, though, the timing of this BTN PR problem couldn't be worse for the Hawks. It would have stung a lot less if the rights to the basketball games which used to air on channel 2 were divided with at least some games still broadcast. You'd still need the BTN for all of them.

But as it stands, this whole thing is giving the Hawks some bad PR at a time when they have a new coach who's trying to rebuild a struggling men's basketball team at a football school where the football is also suffering (at least compared with the past several years).

The Hawks need fan support much more than they need BTN.

For Coaches Ferentz and Lickliter, the timing stinks.

The BTN has also created another problem at Iowa, alot of 8pm starts on their home floor doesn't help sales of tickets at CHA. If you live 25 miles from IC, you wouldn't be getting home until almost 11pm.

Well i got 9 working again. I rolled back the drivers and it worked.

Anyone on Imon lose their Big ten HD and NG HD or the movie channels on 89.1-2-4?

I have had times when they've had mapping problems and the two channels got switched around -- the SD channel was 27-1 and the HD-when-available was on 27-2. I just checked and today is not one of those times, but do you think it could have happened to Mediacom at some point, and that their receivers may have just been tricked into switching to KFXA-SD?

I just turned on the Sea @ GB game and it is back to being the proper HD on Mediacom QAM channel 115.4. (Oh, great, just in time to see the Grant fumble the ball and Seattle to score a quick TD. :()

A friend of mine in North Liberty is wondering if he can get any local HD channels with an indoor antenna. Antennaweb says small omnidirection outdoor antenna to get Fox, CBS, and ABC. Anyone tried an indoor antenna in the area? He wants to just buy something and plug it in to get a channel or 3, but isn't interested in messing with an outdoor setup.

A friend of mine in North Liberty is wondering if he can get any local HD channels with an indoor antenna. Antennaweb says small omnidirection outdoor antenna to get Fox, CBS, and ABC. Anyone tried an indoor antenna in the area? He wants to just buy something and plug it in to get a channel or 3, but isn't interested in messing with an outdoor setup.
It will be hit or miss. Everybody's location is different. Your friend can always return the indoor antenna if it doesn't work.

I have been having some trouble getting 2-1 lately. I just figured out it depends on the temp. When it warms up the signal gets better. Anyone else have this?

Fireburster Quote:

<Anyone on Imon lose their Big ten HD and NG HD or the movie channels on 89.1-2-4?>


Lost mine too, bummer

Hey fellas i haven't participated in this thread lately but was one of the originals that were stressing over if KGAN would get the HD up before the Superbowl many years ago. Which they didn't

Anyway the reason I popped in, we have started a "Iowa meet" thread that I thought some of you might be interested in

Here is the link
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=871474

Cheers
Jeff

Hey fellas i haven't participated in this thread lately but was one of the originals that were stressing over if KGAN would get the HD up before the Superbowl many years ago. Which they didn't

Anyway the reason I popped in, we have started a "Iowa meet" thread that I thought some of you might be interested in

Cheers
Jeff

Link?

updated post hope to see you there

Can someone please help me here? I live in Iowa City, I have just got an HDTV. I have directtv, but they say that I cannot get any local network channels on any of their HD packages. Does anyone know if an indoor HD antenna will allow us to get network channels in HD? ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CW? Thanks if anyone can help, as I'm pretty new to having HDTV.

Welcome EES22-

See my message earlier in the thread about Iowa City OTA reception:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=12111055#post12111055

-Nate

thanks! I just couldn't understand why the directtv people kept telling me that there was no way that I would be able to watch network channels in HD in this area. I knew that I had heard something about using an antenna, but I am still new to all this.

Welcome EES22........

I might add that DirectTv has annouced that by mid 2008 we should be able to receive our locals in HD thru DirectTv.......

http://www.tvpredictions.com/dlocal120507.htm

Welcome EES22........

I might add that DirectTv has annouced that by mid 2008 we should be able to receive our locals in HD thru DirectTv.......

http://www.tvpredictions.com/dlocal120507.htm

I wouldn't be surprised to see this happen sooner either. Although they have to sign a deal with each station, which isn't easy anymore. Especially with Sinclair(KGAN). Direct should have the sat capacity now, but if they don't they have another sat going up any day now.

Unless you want both OTA an Sat HD locals in the future I wouldn't spend a ton on an elaborate antenna now. With the writers strike there won't be much on networks anyway.

Same problem in Dubuque with mediacom, No BCS championship game and Bones in high def.. Fox hasn't been hd the last 2 days here...

Yeah this crap is getting old. KCRG has been broadcasting in HD for how long now? Why aren't we getting KCRG DT here? They run their commercials that we get all the locals in HD and it's complete BS.

I wouldn't be surprised to see this happen sooner either. Although they have to sign a deal with each station, which isn't easy anymore. Especially with Sinclair(KGAN). Direct should have the sat capacity now, but if they don't they have another sat going up any day now.

Unless you want both OTA an Sat HD locals in the future I wouldn't spend a ton on an elaborate antenna now. With the writers strike there won't be much on networks anyway.

thanks, I just got an email response from directtv and they said that theey plan on adding the local channels for the Cedar Rapids/Waterloo area in early February of this year. So, I guess we'll have to see.

I talked with a CSR today because I was upset that I don't even get my locals in HD and I have the HD box. She said they only shows one local available in my area ( I'm getting two ), and there are no plans on them adding ABC or Fox to my HD lineup anytime soon due to headend issues. She also said there might be two new HD channels coming soon, didn't know which ones though. Nice! I'm so frustrated with this company. I'm about as close as you can get to switching to sat.

I talked with a CSR today because I was upset that I don't even get my locals in HD and I have the HD box. She said they only shows one local available in my area ( I'm getting two ), and there are no plans on them adding ABC or Fox to my HD lineup anytime soon due to headend issues. She also said there might be two new HD channels coming soon, didn't know which ones though. Nice! I'm so frustrated with this company. I'm about as close as you can get to switching to sat.Your post doesn't say where you are, so if I may ask, where are you not getting KCRG or KFXA?

If your cable headend is in Dubuque, I might be able to understand trouble with KFXA since their digital is on the same channel as an analog signal out of Madison (an issue which will end after 2-17-09), plus their tower is a little farther west than the others. But KCRG?

Your post doesn't say where you are, so if I may ask, where are you not getting KCRG or KFXA?

If your cable headend is in Dubuque, I might be able to understand trouble with KFXA since their digital is on the same channel as an analog signal out of Madison (an issue which will end after 2-17-09), plus their tower is a little farther west than the others. But KCRG?

I'm up in McGregor. No idea where my headend is located. My local Fox out of LaCrosse doesn't broadcast HD yet, but obviously KCRG has been for quite some time, but not here.

I know Direct is going to put up the HD locals in our area. Does anyone know the date?

I know Direct is going to put up the HD locals in our area. Does anyone know the date?

Look 4 posts above yours.........

I wish they would get their story straight. Here's a reply I received from Directv today. I had asked if they had a date for the Cedar Rapids DMA locals yet:

Cedar Rapids Iowa Locals

Discussion Thread
Response (Noel B) 01/24/2008 02:47 PM
Dear XXXXXXXX,

Thanks for writing about your HD programming preferences. First of all, I would like to acknowledge you for being with us since 1994 and we recognize you as a valued and loyal customer. We want you to know we appreciate it. I'm more than happy to check if HD locals are already available in your area.

We had hoped to be able to offer HD local channels in your area by now and I’m sorry that we haven’t been able to. We would love to provide HD locals for all DIRECTV customers but satellite capacity doesn’t allow us to do that yet. However, we continue to expand our HD capacity and hope to offer them in your area in the near future.

Meanwhile, you may be able to get your local channels in HD by installing an off-air antenna. While we do not offer these, an electronics retailer should be able to recommend one for you.

I know how important HD programming is to you and I assure you that we are doing our best to bring more of it to you as soon as possible. We hope to be able to announce a new start date for HD local channels in Cedar Rapids-Waterloo, IA soon.

Thanks again for writing and stay tuned to directv.com for the latest news and information about our services.

Sincerely,

Noel B.
Employee ID 100135478
DIRECTV Customer Service

Brad

That looks like a standard copy & paste reply....

I wouldn't hold my breath on either answer though..... :(

That looks like a standard copy & paste reply....

I wouldn't hold my breath on either answer though..... :(

Ditto that! who really knows. I sent an Email as well but have not heard back yet

I'm up in McGregor. No idea where my headend is located. My local Fox out of LaCrosse doesn't broadcast HD yet, but obviously KCRG has been for quite some time, but not here.I'm tempted to say Prairie du Chien since that was the city displayed on The Weather Channel in Marquette the last time I stopped by a local watering hole/eatery there, but don't quote me on that. If that's where it is, I'd think they should be able to get KCRG, KGAN and KWWL. The edge of their contours on the FCC map is just a few miles beyond PdC (as a sample, here (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?n=DT600988.html) is the estimated 41 dB contour for KWWL-DT), but you'd think a cable company should be able to pick them up.

Unfortunately KFXA-DT's contour (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?n=DT1070801.html) appears to extend only into the southwestern half of Clayton County, and again, the fact that KFXA-DT transmits on channel 27 -- the same channel as analog WKOW-TV in Madison -- probably doesn't help matters. I'm guessing you're probably stuck with WLAX on that, and I've heard they are behind the curve HD-wise.

The return of 7.3?

http://www.northpine.com/broadcast/index.html

(just FYI and FWIW; this particular entry lists no sources, and the websites for QNI and KWWL turned up nothing early Friday morning.)

Equity Media Holding's website lists the release at: http://ir.emdaholdings.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=289368

I can't find it right now, but Direct maid a public announcement of about 11 markets that would get added 1st qtr 08. Our market was specifically mentioned.

Here's a message I got back from Direct this morning. I wonder what early February means:
--------------------
Dear Mr. XXXX,

Thanks for writing. I’m excited that you’re interested in joining DIRECTV, we have some exciting new offers that make it one of the best times to sign up.

We will begin broadcasting local channels in HD in Cedar Rapids-Waterloo IA early February 2008. As of this time, we are unable to provide you with the exact date. HD locals can include up to 4 major locals in your area (FOX, ABC, NBC, and CBS).

I realize that you may have some other questions, so we have set up two ways for you to get fast answers to all of your questions and begin enjoying DIRECTV:

For information about the offer I mentioned earlier and everything you'll need to get started at our web site, just go to directv.com/getdirectv for more information or to place your order online in just minutes.

You can also call us at 1-800-DIRECTV from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. ET daily to get answers to your questions. Our call center is staffed with knowledgeable Customer Service Representatives who are ready to help.

Thanks again for writing and stay tuned to DIRECTV.com for the latest news and information about our services.

Sincerely,

Karen A
Employee ID 100134984
DIRECTV Customer Service

I'm tempted to say Prairie du Chien since that was the city displayed on The Weather Channel in Marquette the last time I stopped by a local watering hole/eatery there, but don't quote me on that. If that's where it is, I'd think they should be able to get KCRG, KGAN and KWWL. The edge of their contours on the FCC map is just a few miles beyond PdC (as a sample, here (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?n=DT600988.html) is the estimated 41 dB contour for KWWL-DT), but you'd think a cable company should be able to pick them up.

Unfortunately KFXA-DT's contour (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?n=DT1070801.html) appears to extend only into the southwestern half of Clayton County, and again, the fact that KFXA-DT transmits on channel 27 -- the same channel as analog WKOW-TV in Madison -- probably doesn't help matters. I'm guessing you're probably stuck with WLAX on that, and I've heard they are behind the curve HD-wise.

The word is WLAX is a month or two away from making the switch to HD, but again that doesn't help me much when my headend can't even pick up the KCRG HD signal. If they don't carry that what makes me think they would pick up WLAX's signal? Being that KWWL is available and broadcasted here in HD, I'm sure they could pick up KCRG if they wanted to, but for whatever reason they don't. My local office is in Prairie, so maybe that is where the headend is.

Subject
HD Locals

Discussion Thread
Response (Reyniel S) 01/25/2008 07:26 AM
Dear Jeffl,

Thanks for writing. I understand that you would like to know if your HD locals will be available in Cedar Rapids-Waterloo IA on February 8, 2008. I'm happy to assist you with this.

After careful review, I've checked that your HD locals will be available in Cedar Rapids-Waterloo IA area on February 8, 2008.

I hope you find this information helpful and thank you again for writing.

Sincerely,

John S.
Employee ID 100216533
DIRECTV Customer Service

The return of 7.3?

http://www.northpine.com/broadcast/index.html

(just FYI and FWIW; this particular entry lists no sources, and the websites for QNI and KWWL turned up nothing early Friday morning.)

We got the announcement here as well, but I don't know when the contract officially begins. We have no official recievers here yet either. But it does appear that 7.3 will be getting re-lit sometime in the near future.

I will probably steal more bandwidth off the 7.2 channel to accomodate 7.3 again and try to adjust 7.1 a little as possible. The dymanic adjustments in the encoders should help a little (7.1 gets highest priority and will utilize extra bandwidth from 7.2 and 7.3 if required). I'll keep you all posted when I get the green light.
-Jarrett

The word is WLAX is a month or two away from making the switch to HD, but again that doesn't help me much when my headend can't even pick up the KCRG HD signal. If they don't carry that what makes me think they would pick up WLAX's signal? Being that KWWL is available and broadcasted here in HD, I'm sure they could pick up KCRG if they wanted to, but for whatever reason they don't. My local office is in Prairie, so maybe that is where the headend is.

Being that I worked in the La Crosse market before coming down here to KWWL, I can tell you that at this point, even if WLAX gets their HD stuff sorted out, the power out of their transmitter is not even close to being strong enough to be picked up that far South. I'm not sure what their timeline was to get everything upgraded, but I wouldn't hold your breath.

You may be able to pick up my old station WXOW (channel 14 for DTV, remapped to 19.1 ABC and 19.2 CW and eventually 19.3 RTN) instead of KCRG. They will be tripling power in early 2009 after some tower and transmitter work gets complete. The analog 19 comes off the air, and then a new channel 14 antenna gets mounted on the top. Right now, they are still 50 KW and may be visable though.

Being that I worked in the La Crosse market before coming down here to KWWL, I can tell you that at this point, even if WLAX gets their HD stuff sorted out, the power out of their transmitter is not even close to being strong enough to be picked up that far South. I'm not sure what their timeline was to get everything upgraded, but I wouldn't hold your breath.

You may be able to pick up my old station WXOW (channel 14 for DTV, remapped to 19.1 ABC and 19.2 CW and eventually 19.3 RTN) instead of KCRG. They will be tripling power in early 2009 after some tower and transmitter work gets complete. The analog 19 comes off the air, and then a new channel 14 antenna gets mounted on the top. Right now, they are still 50 KW and may be visable though.

Unfortunately OTA is not available for me as I live in the valley. :( I'm stuck with whatever Mediacom gives me. I don't get KWWL's sub channels either. Right now all I get is KWWL DT and WKBT DT for locals.

Being that I worked in the La Crosse market before coming down here to KWWL, I can tell you that at this point, even if WLAX gets their HD stuff sorted out, the power out of their transmitter is not even close to being strong enough to be picked up that far South. I'm not sure what their timeline was to get everything upgraded, but I wouldn't hold your breath.

You may be able to pick up my old station WXOW (channel 14 for DTV, remapped to 19.1 ABC and 19.2 CW and eventually 19.3 RTN) instead of KCRG. They will be tripling power in early 2009 after some tower and transmitter work gets complete. The analog 19 comes off the air, and then a new channel 14 antenna gets mounted on the top. Right now, they are still 50 KW and may be visable though.

Why does the station feel compelled to put content on 7.3? Doing so should not compromise 7.1 quality at all, IMHO.

What kind of viewership will it actually have anyway?

Does KWWL have any plans to go HD locally? I know were a small market, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

Subject
HD Locals

Discussion Thread
Response (Reyniel S) 01/25/2008 07:26 AM
Dear Jeffl,

Thanks for writing. I understand that you would like to know if your HD locals will be available in Cedar Rapids-Waterloo IA on February 8, 2008. I'm happy to assist you with this.

After careful review, I've checked that your HD locals will be available in Cedar Rapids-Waterloo IA area on February 8, 2008.

I hope you find this information helpful and thank you again for writing.

Sincerely,

John S.
Employee ID 100216533
DIRECTV Customer Service


That's typical Directv custimer service. One CSR tells me one thing, another tells you a date for the locals. I like your reply better!

Things like this make me glad that there's so many things you can do with Directv that don't need the help of a CSR.

Bring on thoses HD Locals!

Has anyone gotten the new HD channels yet?

Has anyone gotten the new HD channels yet?
That's a pretty vague question.... What "new HD channels" are you referring to????

That's a pretty vague question.... What "new HD channels" are you referring to????

Sorry, thought everyone knew about the supposed channels Mediacom was going to add. TNT, USA, a sports channel and a couple others. Suppose to by the end of the month or so they say.

Came home from germany and all my channels 7.1 shows didnt tape because i have no signal. I didnt change anything either. Weather related maybe?

That's a pretty vague question.... What "new HD channels" are you referring to????

There has been reports of Mediacom running commercials about there new HD channels that aren't even live anywhere yet. Typical Mediacom.

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r19528519-MO-New-HD-Channels-Excited-for-nothin~start=50#end

Sorry, thought everyone knew about the supposed channels Mediacom was going to add. TNT, USA, a sports channel and a couple others. Suppose to by the end of the month or so they say.

-wonder if that is some sort of national thing - driven by the networks, rather than Mediacom? only asking cuz local cable co (CFU) is also promising a new tier of hds "around February." If it is network driven, that would explain this new round of generousity. (and here I thought it was just altruism, rewarding all of their early-adopters :p)

Why does the station feel compelled to put content on 7.3? Doing so should not compromise 7.1 quality at all, IMHO.

What kind of viewership will it actually have anyway?

Does KWWL have any plans to go HD locally? I know were a small market, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

The station and corporate group feels compelled since more channels equals more commercial avails to sell. Plus, many would argue that it is nicer to have more programming options via multiple channels instead of just one.
We will take measures to maintain the integrity of the HD channel as much as possible... the SD will be the channel with the artifacts normally.

I have no idea what kind of viewership it will have, but I do think more channels will help us "sell" the DTV idea to those that haven't converted yet. If you convert to digital reception, not only will the quality jump dramatically, but you'll also get more to watch... and this is still for free over the air!

We do have plans to do HD locally, and hopefully in the somewhat near future, but it is expensive to do, so it may take us a year or two to get there! For now, we are working on improving our building first and the infrastructure. If things are going well corporately later this year, then we hope to begin rebuilding our technical core as well. We'll see!

I know there were some Tube fans, but I for one was happy to see it go.

OTOH, I've heard good things about RTN programming. Just goes to show that you can't please everyone.

I do NOT want to see HD quality go, but seems KWWL has done pretty good at keeping it in check as much as possible.

Well see how it goes this go around....

I know there were some Tube fans, but I for one was happy to see it go.

OTOH, I've heard good things about RTN programming. Just goes to show that you can't please everyone.



well - it isn't a plus to me, since it is on our cable co already (is also on DTV, obviously) - what little I've watched is extremely variable, as to both content and production quality. There have been "concert" shows that looked to be a couple Hi-8 camcorders on tripods in a bar; with sound quality to match. Most of what I've seen can be squashed as much as the early TUBE without losing a lot.

That said, it may have an appeal to those in the country (hence the R(ural)) who only have an outside antenna and the welfare stbs. When you're stuck with 3 or 4 networks only, another channel, any channel, would be an improvement.

otoh, and this ties in with what 4lids said, the RTN content I've seen also tends to be pretty commercial heavy; almost as bad as the last 15 minutes of a TBS movie.

For you eastern IA 'Clone fans. More TV stations should do this.

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r19911556-IA-ISU-Vs-Texas-AM-Basketball-Game
http://www.woi-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4089736

AMES, Iowa – Because Tuesday’s Iowa State-Texas A&M basketball game directly conflicts with ABC network Super Tuesday primary election night coverage, WOI-TV channel 5 in Central Iowa will split its schedule to accommodate viewers who want to watch either the game or election coverage.

The game will only be shown on the analog WOI signal. ABC’s Super Tuesday coverage will air on WOI’s digital/HD signal. All Central Iowa Mediacom cable subscribers will be able to watch the game on WOI channel 5. Other cable company subscribers who receive WOI’s analog signal will also be able to see the ISU-Texas A&M game on WOI.

Dish Network and DirecTV subscribers will not be able to watch the game because WOI provides those networks with its digital/HD signal. Satellite dish subscribers would have to shut down their satellite or use a separate television with a “rabbit ears” antenna to watch the game on channel 5.

KFXA-Fox in Cedar Rapids/Waterloo will also carry the game and will be broadcasted on both its analog and digital/HD channels. The game is also offered on the ESPN Full Court package

Any Mediacom customers in the CR area get the new HD channels. Many are reporting in Des Moines and Minnesota that TNT, CNN, and TBS are live with another one on the way. No signs of anything here in NE Iowa/SW Wis yet.

I checked tonight and didn't see any new HD channels (835,836,837) yet. I have a TivoHD with a cable card. Hopefully, tomorrow?

Not that I care since I do not have MC's HD package, but theres just not much of a reason to get excited or be in a hurry about TBS, TNT, or CNN in HD.

The ONLY thing I've seen in HD on TBS was the MLB playoffs. Theres very little HD content on TNT, but they are getting a little better and used to carry a couple of NASCAR races. A lot of CNN studio shows are in HD, but big deal... If the news feeds were HD, that would be cool but I couldn't care less about seeing Larry King in HD.

Not that I care since I do not have MC's HD package, but theres just not much of a reason to get excited or be in a hurry about TBS, TNT, or CNN in HD.



yeah - too bad if that's all they get - with CFU, we're also promised HGTV-HD and Food HD. :p -- almost enough to make you move to CF, isn't it?

Not that I care since I do not have MC's HD package, but theres just not much of a reason to get excited or be in a hurry about TBS, TNT, or CNN in HD.

The ONLY thing I've seen in HD on TBS was the MLB playoffs. Theres very little HD content on TNT, but they are getting a little better and used to carry a couple of NASCAR races. A lot of CNN studio shows are in HD, but big deal... If the news feeds were HD, that would be cool but I couldn't care less about seeing Larry King in HD.

You don't need their HD tier. I don't have that either. They're putting these new channels on the expanded basic tier along with the ESPN's AFAIK.

Is the ESPNs there yet????? Even with the "expanded basic tiers", won'tcha still have to have their box???

I am getting the locals thru the QAM tuner without a box, but the last time I checked there was no ESPNs so I assumed that you will still need the box no matter what "basic tier" you're on. Of course I should know better than assume.....

My previuos point though was that you're not missing much on those 3 channels that you folks are waiting desperately for.....

Is the ESPNs there yet????? Even with the "expanded basic tiers", won'tcha still have to have their box???

I am getting the locals thru the QAM tuner without a box, but the last time I checked there was no ESPNs so I assumed that you will still need the box no matter what "basic tier" you're on. Of course I should know better than assume.....

My previuos point though was that you're not missing much on those 3 channels that you folks are waiting desperately for.....

Yes you need the HD DCT from them to receive the encrypted channels. You don't get these in the clear. I know the 3-4 new channels aren't much, but with Mediacom anytime they add something new you can't help but get excited. It doesn't happen very often.

Is the ESPNs there yet????? Even with the "expanded basic tiers", won'tcha still have to have their box???

I am getting the locals thru the QAM tuner without a box, but the last time I checked there was no ESPNs so I assumed that you will still need the box no matter what "basic tier" you're on. Of course I should know better than assume.....



Yup - at least that is how CFU is doing it. They are moving half their "premium" HD content to be free with expanded basic. But as you say, it's only "free" with a cablecard or their stb, which is still a lot of money when divided over 4 channels. :( OTOH - Big Ten network in HD is absolutely spectacular - at least they (B10) are putting some of their ridiculously high rates to good use, with cameras, production, and equipment. I actually find myself watching women's bb. It is that pretty.

Hope there's a few years left on the current retransmission agreement...if your a Mediacom customer.

http://www.press-citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080201/NEWS01/80201010/1079

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080201/BUSINESS/80201038

For you eastern IA 'Clone fans. More TV stations should do this.

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r19911556-IA-ISU-Vs-Texas-AM-Basketball-Game
http://www.woi-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4089736

AMES, Iowa – Because Tuesday’s Iowa State-Texas A&M basketball game directly conflicts with ABC network Super Tuesday primary election night coverage, WOI-TV channel 5 in Central Iowa will split its schedule to accommodate viewers who want to watch either the game or election coverage.

The game will only be shown on the analog WOI signal. ABC’s Super Tuesday coverage will air on WOI’s digital/HD signal. All Central Iowa Mediacom cable subscribers will be able to watch the game on WOI channel 5. Other cable company subscribers who receive WOI’s analog signal will also be able to see the ISU-Texas A&M game on WOI.

Dish Network and DirecTV subscribers will not be able to watch the game because WOI provides those networks with its digital/HD signal. Satellite dish subscribers would have to shut down their satellite or use a separate television with a “rabbit ears” antenna to watch the game on channel 5.

KFXA-Fox in Cedar Rapids/Waterloo will also carry the game and will be broadcasted on both its analog and digital/HD channels. The game is also offered on the ESPN Full Court package

Other stations don't normally do this because technically it is against FCC regulations. You are supposed to have 100% replication of you analog signal on your primary digital channel. You can't pick one thing for the analog and air something completely different on your primary digital. You can, however, utilize a subchannel to show alternate programming. If we were in the same situation, we would probably be forced to show the NBC network coverage on the analog and primary digital (since NBC wouldn't allow it any other way), and put the game on a subchannel.

I'm curious if that is actually what WOI ended up doing, or if they actually split things.

Anybody see the new channels in Cedar rapids area? I called Mediacom and they said I should have the channels (which i don't). The CSR had them resend the signal (I did lose my signal for 30 seconds) and said I should have them in 5 mintues (which I still don't). I'm using a TivoHD with a cable card. Before I call back I wanted to know if anybody was getting them.

It seems to me that most posters on this site have Mediacom. After reading consumer report mags. that rate Mediacom the worst in the nation, I wonder why so many people stay with it. I know some people can not get a dish due to retrictions and trees etc. I know some people who can get a dish, but would rather bitch about it than change. I switched to Dish ten years age when Mediacom would not put ESPN 2 on in my town. At that time there were some Hawk games on ESPN 2. Dish is not perfect, but is much better than Mediacom. I sure enjoyed the Hawk wrestling meet last night. I am not dissing Mediacom cutomers, just curious.

It seems to me that most posters on this site have Mediacom. After reading consumer report mags. that rate Mediacom the worst in the nation, I wonder why so many people stay with it. I know some people can not get a dish due to retrictions and trees etc. I know some people who can get a dish, but would rather bitch about it than change. I switched to Dish ten years age when Mediacom would not put ESPN 2 on in my town. At that time there were some Hawk games on ESPN 2. Dish is not perfect, but is much better than Mediacom. I sure enjoyed the Hawk wrestling meet last night. I am not dissing Mediacom cutomers, just curious.

There are several factors. I'm a Mediacom customer right now and hate it. But if I switch I face possible start up costs, loss of RSN I need, and no locals in HD. ( I currently only get two anyway). HD on satellite doesn't sound like it's as sharp as cable either, commonly referred to "HD Lite". For these reasons I guess I keep holding out hope that Mediacom will get off the schnide and get us some new content. Now the new HD only package that E* is offering is a step in the right direction. I can add this to my cable package while dropping the HD DCT from Mediacom. This would add 40 HD channels to my lineup that I don't have now.

There are several factors. I'm a Mediacom customer right now and hate it. But if I switch I face possible start up costs, loss of RSN I need, and no locals in HD. ( I currently only get two anyway). HD on satellite doesn't sound like it's as sharp as cable either, commonly referred to "HD Lite". For these reasons I guess I keep holding out hope that Mediacom will get off the schnide and get us some new content. Now the new HD only package that E* is offering is a step in the right direction. I can add this to my cable package while dropping the HD DCT from Mediacom. This would add 40 HD channels to my lineup that I don't have now.

I've seen you mention the loss of an RSN by going to dish in multiple forums. What RSN will you lose?

I've seen you mention the loss of an RSN by going to dish in multiple forums. What RSN will you lose?

FSN North/Wisconsin and my local Fox for Packer games. D* and E* want to give me Fox Cedar Rapids which would give me Bear games. I've heard the FSN may be on an alternate station, but I hate to take the chance and it not be there. Sports are HUGE for me and it's a dealbreaker if I can't get the teams I want. I'm in a unique situation where I'm right on the Wisconsin/Iowa border. Cable gives me a Wisconsin (LaCrosse) Fox, but I'm just outside the spot beam to receive this channel through satellite. Same thing with my RSN. FSN Wisconsin (cable). Comcast Chicago (satellite).

hate to say it (as a guy) but Food HD is actually a decent channel. Please don't revoke my "Man Card" for saying that though.:D

FSN North/Wisconsin and my local Fox for Packer games. D* and E* want to give me Fox Cedar Rapids which would give me Bear games. I've heard the FSN may be on an alternate station, but I hate to take the chance and it not be there. Sports are HUGE for me and it's a dealbreaker if I can't get the teams I want. I'm in a unique situation where I'm right on the Wisconsin/Iowa border. Cable gives me a Wisconsin (LaCrosse) Fox, but I'm just outside the spot beam to receive this channel through satellite. Same thing with my RSN. FSN Wisconsin (cable). Comcast Chicago (satellite).

Do you get every Packer game on your local Fox? CR will have most all of them.

As for the RSN. All the Brewer games are on an alternate, but for $6.99 you can get FSN-North, CSN-Chicago and FSN-Midwest in sd and hd with Dish. On the locals page, what RSN does dish say you will get for your address.

Other stations don't normally do this because technically it is against FCC regulations. You are supposed to have 100% replication of you analog signal on your primary digital channel. You can't pick one thing for the analog and air something completely different on your primary digital. You can, however, utilize a subchannel to show alternate programming. If we were in the same situation, we would probably be forced to show the NBC network coverage on the analog and primary digital (since NBC wouldn't allow it any other way), and put the game on a subchannel.


too bad you couldn't be sneaky (or just have a blonde moment, if that's what it took) - and accidentally show the network feed on 7-2 (or as others have the mirrors - 2-2 and 28-2) - with the local game just happening to be on 7-1. Heck - the digital tower is down enough, there are enough "mistakes" anyway, why not have a couple intentional boo-boos at just the right time?;)

I wish Imon would make all their Local hd channels able to work with Qam. I cant get 7 and they took the other ones away again. They seem to move the hd channels around every couple of weeks.

I know i can get them with mediacom but i dont want to switch back. I would like to free up a tv connection though with my stb just for channel 7 in HD.

Do you get every Packer game on your local Fox? CR will have most all of them.

As for the RSN. All the Brewer games are on an alternate, but for $6.99 you can get FSN-North, CSN-Chicago and FSN-Midwest in sd and hd with Dish. On the locals page, what RSN does dish say you will get for your address.

Dish wants to give me Comcast Chicago. You think I'd get Packer games on Cedar Rapids Fox? I guess I just assumed I'd get Bear games. Yes I get all Pack games on Fox LaCrosse.

Dish wants to give me Comcast Chicago. You think I'd get Packer games on Cedar Rapids Fox? I guess I just assumed I'd get Bear games. Yes I get all Pack games on Fox LaCrosse.

I don't know how many, but I'm sure you'd get most of them. I know there are far more than I care for.(Vikings fan) I didn't keep track, but I can't remember any NFC games not showing on KFXA.

Well just looked on my HD-DVR through DirecTv and I see I have KWWL, KGAN, and KFXA in HD now. Not sure why KCRG isn't on there yet, but it looks like Direct is rolling them out.

Cool.... A little earlier than the Feb 8th date they mentioned.

Yeah, not sure why KCRG isn't included though. Maybe it will go up on the 8th. That's the one I really want with Lost tomorrow night.

Well just looked on my HD-DVR through DirecTv and I see I have KWWL, KGAN, and KFXA in HD now. Not sure why KCRG isn't on there yet, but it looks like Direct is rolling them out.

Sweet. Time to make a switch.

I have the HR20-700 without the locals in my plan cause I didn't want their second dish....

I'm assuming I should be able to get the HD channels now. Where & how are they showing up in your guide, cause I don't see them yet.....

They are showing up as duplicates of the SD channels. So I have two channels for 2, 7 and 28. The second one in the guide is the HD channel. It looks like DirecTv and Gazette Communications haven't come to an agreement for the HD signal. Hope this gets worked out soon.
I do subscribe to the locals though, so that might be the issue.

They should be showing up as 2, 7 & 28 in your "all channels" guide. If you are getting a package without locals, you may have to add them to it.

I'm sure that's it because I tried the "All Channels" and did not see dupes.

The funny thing is with my recent email from them about raising my bill, it said that local HD channels was included in the base packages. So why I would have to subscribe for locals I can't figure out.

I am grandfathered in on one of the old Total Choice packages wo/locals, but the email mentions the older "Total Choice" and referes to that as a "base package". So, I assumed locals would then be included......

Edit: Actually after re=reading your last post, I do recall seeing a plain 2,7,28 and it gave me the your not subcribed message.... :( anyways, I don't mind subscribing I just did NOT want a second dish...

FYI... The attached screenshot is from DirectTvs web page after enquiring about local channels......

Do you think 9, 12 and 20 will be avaliable soon?

I would say 9 pretty soon but probably not the other two. The CW doesn't even pass their signal to Mediacom. I read that Direct is looking to add a national PBS HD channel instead of the local one, so I don't know about that.

Yeah, not sure why KCRG isn't included though. Maybe it will go up on the 8th. That's the one I really want with Lost tomorrow night.
Hope it will for you direct guys. I will say this: A couple of years ago it took mediacom/kcrg some time to work out a retransmission agreement. Hope thats not your problem.

I would say 9 pretty soon but probably not the other two. The CW doesn't even pass their signal to Mediacom. I read that Direct is looking to add a national PBS HD channel instead of the local one, so I don't know about that.There's a thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=957956) on that in this section; the press release quoted seems to indicate they're carrying the local PBSHD's. It would be a shame if they didn't given some of the local productions IPTV has carried and hopefully will carry in the future.

As for the local CW, KWKB doesn't do HD at this time (they broadcast only upconverted analog), so there's no HD to pass along to Mediacom, DirecTV or anyone else. I hope that changes eventually, but right now that's the way it is.

By Tuesday, Feb. 19, all U.S. full-power TV stations will have to file a DTV transition status report with the FCC.

On Wednesday, KFXA (Fox, Cedar Rapids) became the first Iowa station to file their form.

Their path to DT-only operation is a rather simple one, though: They say they're already operating on their post-transition channel at the power they need to use. So they plan to keep their analog going until 2-17-09, when they absolutely have to shut it off.

Most other Cedar Rapids/Waterloo stations are more than likely in a position similar to KFXA's, since they're not changing channels. The only exceptions are KWWL, KCRG and KIIN -- which are moving back to channels 7, 9 and 12 respectively -- and a small, analog-only RTN affiliate in Waterloo which will have to flash-cut their channel 22 to digital if they want to stay on the air.

Stay tuned ...

Another update:

KWWF -- that small, analog-only RTN affiliate mentioned in my last post -- filed its transition status report with the FCC Thursday, becoming the second Iowa station to do so.

At this point, KWWF's owner admits it "has not yet filed" a construction permit "for the digital Channel 22 facilities, but intends to do so soon."

"Once the CP is awarded," the filing continues, "EBC Waterloo, Inc., will order the necessary equipment, and coordinate with a tower crew to ensure the digital facilities can be constructed and completed in advance of the February 17, 2009 deadline. EBC Waterloo, Inc. estimates that the entire process, from ordering the equipment, hanging the antenna line, and testing the signal, should take no more than 3 months, subject to weather and availability of equipment and tower crews."

They believe Channel 22 will remain analog until 2-17-09, but you'd think they'd have to at least test the digital before then if they want to avoid a lengthy outage after that date.

Seems like DirecTv and KCRG haven't reached an agreement on the HD signal. Hopefully they are at least talking and trying to work through it. I wouldn't think KCRG (Gazette) would be a tough negotiator since it's local, but maybe they are.

Seems like DirecTv and KCRG haven't reached an agreement on the HD signal. Hopefully they are at least talking and trying to work through it. I wouldn't think KCRG (Gazette) would be a tough negotiator since it's local, but maybe they are.

Do you have a link to this info. I just made the switch to D* and would like to follow the progress of this.

No link, I've just been emailing both Direct and KCRG. Both have said the same thing. The PR guy at Direct did say they were working on an agreement, whatever that means. I just got the impression from the GM at KCRG that they weren't talking, but Direct makes it sound like they are.

Mediacom had an add in the Iowa City Press-Citizen today. On or around March 10 they will add Comcast Sports HD, and TNT HD for the Iowa City, Coralville and Johnson County area.

No link, I've just been emailing both Direct and KCRG. Both have said the same thing. The PR guy at Direct did say they were working on an agreement, whatever that means. I just got the impression from the GM at KCRG that they weren't talking, but Direct makes it sound like they are.

Thanks. Hopefully they get it figured out quick. Knowing Sinclair though I have my doubts.

Thanks. Hopefully they get it figured out quick. Knowing Sinclair though I have my doubts.

KCRG isn't owned by Sinclair.

KGAN channel 2 is owned by them. It looks like KFXA will be owned by them soon also.

It is a little troubling that they didn't come to an agreement last summer when all of the other stations did, even Sinclair owned KGAN came to an agreement.

KCRG isn't owned by Sinclair.

KGAN channel 2 is owned by them. It looks like KFXA will be owned by them soon also.

My bad, was thinking KGAN.

Watching 9-1 KCRG the last few days I've noticed my television will occasionally pop up the station identification window and it will say 53-2 with no call letters, then back to 9-1 with call letters, then back to 53-2, back to 9-1 and then it goes away and stays on 9-1 like it should.

During this time the image is fine it's just like the station is changing the name of the channel. I suppose not all TVs will show this when it changes. My TV seems to treat it like a channel change and will display the new channel info whenever it happens.

Not a big deal, just a little odd and annoying to have the channel display pop up while you're watching TV. I just started noticing this within the last week and only on channel 9-1. Just saw it happen again a few minutes ago while watching the Lakers game.

I haven't seen this on any of my equipment, but not all equipment handles every signal the same. What kind of TV/DT tuner are you seeing this on?
Watching 9-1 KCRG the last few days I've noticed my television will occasionally pop up the station identification window and it will say 53-2 with no call letters, then back to 9-1 with call letters, then back to 53-2, back to 9-1 and then it goes away and stays on 9-1 like it should.

During this time the image is fine it's just like the station is changing the name of the channel. I suppose not all TVs will show this when it changes. My TV seems to treat it like a channel change and will display the new channel info whenever it happens.

Does anyone know if Dish has the HD locals up in this area and if not when this might happen?

They don't as far as I know and Cedar Rapids hasn't been mentioned in any of the HD Local releases I've seen. That's why I went with DirecTv.

Seems like DirecTv and KCRG haven't reached an agreement on the HD signal. Hopefully they are at least talking and trying to work through it. I wouldn't think KCRG (Gazette) would be a tough negotiator since it's local, but maybe they are.

It took quite awhile to get KCRG on Dish Network years ago. They were the only one in the market not on. In other words, don't hold your breath. I'm not a big fan of "retransmission consent", but then what do I know, I'm not a station owner/manager.

That's what I'm worried about. I always have faith in local companies though, so hopefully KCRG/Gazette can step up and make this happen with Direct.

KCRG has shown there colors. They took Mediacom to court recently, but lost.

I remember reading about KCRG taking Mediacom to court. I do hope that it doesn't end up like that or get to that point. I still hold out the hope that they will act like a local company should in the best interests of the customers first and maybe their best interests should be second. It's not like they aren't getting paid. I would think that it would help advertising b/c more subscribers. We'll see I guess.

I saw this coming when Sinclair opened this can of worms!!!!!!!!!

I haven't seen this on any of my equipment, but not all equipment handles every signal the same. What kind of TV/DT tuner are you seeing this on?

I'm seeing this on the OTA 9-1 channel using the built-in ATSC tuner in my Samsung 4665 LCD TV. This doesn't happen often. Over the last week or two I've seen it probably 3 times and only on 9-1 (maybe it happens on 9-2 too, but I don't usually watch the *-2 channels). I watch all of the 4 networks and PBS about the same amount (actually, I probably watch PBS more than the others) and have not seen it on the other channels. That doesn't conclusively mean only 9-1 does it on this TV, but I've noticed it multiple times and only on this channel.

I remember reading about KCRG taking Mediacom to court. I do hope that it doesn't end up like that or get to that point. I still hold out the hope that they will act like a local company should in the best interests of the customers first and maybe their best interests should be second. It's not like they aren't getting paid. I would think that it would help advertising b/c more subscribers. We'll see I guess.

You still get their SD version on D* so they probably figure you'll watch that anyway. Gotta love greedy stations. Why can't they be happy with the same deal the other 3 locals got?

You still get their SD version on D* so they probably figure you'll watch that anyway. Gotta love greedy stations. Why can't they be happy with the same deal the other 3 locals got?

Do you have some inside information??? How do you know they were offered the same deal as the other 3??? Maybe DirecTV is trying to stick it to them since it is only a single station and not a group like the owners of the other 3 are. Maybe DirecTV is being the "greedy" one.

A lot of times both companies are being "greedy". I don't have any inside information, maybe DirecTv is to blame or maybe KCRG is to blame. Or maybe both. Hopefully we won't be blaming anyone and they get this deal done.

Just in today:

KRIN (Waterloo-Cedar Rapids IPTV) just filed its transition form today, saying that they're already operating their full, post-transition facilities and will keep their analog going until the transition date. Last week, KFXA (C.R. Fox) filed a form saying the same thing about its station.

So far, nobody's switching off analog early, but there's still a few days to go before the forms are due.

EDIT: Sometime after this post was originally made, KPXR (Ion and its three subchannels) filed its status report with the FCC. Same deal -- they're already running full-steam digital and will keep analog 'til the bitter end.

Do you have some inside information??? How do you know they were offered the same deal as the other 3??? Maybe DirecTV is trying to stick it to them since it is only a single station and not a group like the owners of the other 3 are. Maybe DirecTV is being the "greedy" one.

No inside info, but given KCRG's history with Mediacom and taking them to court I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt to D* here on this one.

KCRG could also have this problem, if they were last inline with an agreement with D* http://www.tvpredictions.com/dcapacity021208.htm

KCRG could also have this problem, if they were last inline with an agreement with D* http://www.tvpredictions.com/dcapacity021208.htm

I find it hard to believe that if they were having capicity issues that they would have put 2, 7, & 28 out at all..........

I was up this evening, and I couldn't resist. KCRG reports on their newly-filed transition form that they WILL go off the air early, but no hard date set yet, to re-tune their transmitter from channel 52 analog to channel 9 digital. Their analog 9 antenna will be used for their digital signal. They have announced that they will give the FCC at least a few months notice before they do this, and over-the-air viewers 30 days notice of their early analog shutdown.

I was up this evening, and I couldn't resist. KCRG reports on their newly-filed transition form that they WILL go off the air early, but no hard date set yet, to re-tune their transmitter from channel 52 analog to channel 9 digital. Their analog 9 antenna will be used for their digital signal. They have announced that they will give the FCC at least a few months notice before they do this, and over-the-air viewers 30 days notice of their early analog shutdown.No need to apologize ... between work and "vinyl night" at the local bar I knew I was probably going to be beaten to the punch if anybody filed late this afternoon. (For the record, "vinyl night" is when a D.J. from the local jazz station comes in and plays music on records. It's not that we're expected to wear vinyl to get in the door.)

Anyway, we'll have to watch and see what KWWL and KIIN, who are also moving back to their analogs, do.

No need to apologize ... between work and "vinyl night" at the local bar I knew I was probably going to be beaten to the punch if anybody filed late this afternoon. (For the record, "vinyl night" is when a D.J. from the local jazz station comes in and plays music on records. It's not that we're expected to wear vinyl to get in the door.)

Anyway, we'll have to watch and see what KWWL and KIIN, who are also moving back to their analogs, do.

I can tell you what KWWL is doing at least. We already have our new channel 7 digital transmitter in place and almost all of the transmission line hung. We are down to the last six feet, which I will connect as soon as I'm allowed to turn off the channel 7 analog and replace that connection to the tower.

There are two flies in the ointment for us. One is the age and condition of our analog rig, which most likely will have something major fail sometime before the final cutoff. If that failure happens in December or January, we will probably elect to just leave it be and go to our low power backup until we want to make the final change. Being we have the superbowl next year, I probably won't get the go ahead to make the final transition until after that.

The other issue is that we are desperately trying to maximize our power, which our previous owners elected not to do. Our existing digital (on channel 55) is at about 90% of our analog coverage area, so when the table of allotments came out, our new channel 7 digital was set to match that by the FCC (3.25 KW ERP). Being it's VHF, you don't need anywhere near the power to match a UHF, but we still think that we may struggle in the distant fringes. We have applied to up that power to around 12KW (which probably gets us about another 5-10 miles on the coverage map) and we hope to hear back from the FCC this summer. Even if we get permission though, we need to wait until an analog rig at a sister station to come off line, which can be converted to a channel 7 digital. That would give us two transmitters then and make things very reliable out in Rowley (still at the mercy of the rural power company though!). In an event, it will be nice to have a lot cheaper power bill out there!

Any other questions? Let me know! -Jarrett

No inside info, but given KCRG's history with Mediacom and taking them to court I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt to D* here on this one.

I''m beginning to get that idea as well. I've been exchanging some emails with KCRG on this and they seem more interested in knowing why I won't put up an OTA antenna rather than relying on satellite. I don't look for this to get solved anytime soon.

That would give us two transmitters then and make things very reliable out in Rowley (still at the mercy of the rural power company though!). In an event, it will be nice to have a lot cheaper power bill out there!

-Jarrett

whaddya mean? I've seen the tv commercials - don't you have an Energizer lithium battery backup? :D when the doofus spills coffee and shuts off the entire city, all it takes is one E lithium to get the everything back on line...Surely you have one of those. :rolleyes:

Seriously - that is a pretty big weak point - do digital rigs use more power than a generator can provide? Or are backup generators more of a luxury than a necessity?

thanks for the heads up either way. Hope they give you the extra watts.

whaddya mean? I've seen the tv commercials - don't you have an Energizer lithium battery backup? :D when the doofus spills coffee and shuts off the entire city, all it takes is one E lithium to get the everything back on line...Surely you have one of those. :rolleyes:

Seriously - that is a pretty big weak point - do digital rigs use more power than a generator can provide? Or are backup generators more of a luxury than a necessity?

thanks for the heads up either way. Hope they give you the extra watts.

We do have a backup generator out there (very old one) and it does work... but the transfer switch does not automatically transfer when power drops or returns. That means we have to go out to the site to go to backup and then sit there until normal power returns. And this is currently just on the analog side. Instead of investing $7000 on a new switch and labor, we will probably wait until we can turn off the old beast and use a much smaller generator and switch just the new transmitter. I believe this IS a necessity and it will get done... just not sure when! Until that happens, it remains the weak point.

I''m beginning to get that idea as well. I've been exchanging some emails with KCRG on this and they seem more interested in knowing why I won't put up an OTA antenna rather than relying on satellite. I don't look for this to get solved anytime soon.

KCRG is probably not aware that D*'s HR20 HD-DVR has the capability to record OTA. The only reason that I can think of that they would want for someone to receive OTA they hope that someone wouldn't record programming and avoid commercials.

The result is many people with D* will not watch any programming on KCRG because D* has so many options of programs available they would rather watch another HD channel rather than the SD feed of KCRG that they get from D*. This means everyone is a loser here. It appears the biggest loser is KCRG because they miss out on a little revenue from D* and viewership drops.

The biggest mistake that a local station can make is deterring a viewer from being tuned in to them prior to the late local news. And that looks like to me what KCRG is doing.

If you are recording and watching programs via the DVR, then you are not going to be tuned into KCRG prior to the late local news to watch them anyway. Also if I am not mistaken, the local news is not in HD so why would it make any difference? You are going to be seeing it in SD wherever you watch it.

I think you can be pretty sure that KCRG knows that every DirecTV HD receiver has had a built in off air tuner since the very first RCA DTC100 almost ten years ago and that the DVRs have also been able to tune and record off air programs. The latest DVR from DirecTV does not have an off air tuner, and apparently DirecTV has caught enough flack about it, that they are about to come out with an add on air tuner for it also. That is more then likely the response about being available via an antenna.

As far as negotiations go, I would much rather side with the local company in this as opposed to the multi billion dollar, multi national Newscorp, operator of DirecTV. As for Mediacon, they deserve anything that is thrown at them!

But not every DirectTV DVR has had the capability to record OTA even though they could recieve OTA. I don't watch everything recorded just as much live.

I live on the fringe of the Cedar Rapids market but am considered in the QC market. WHBF has not had full power on the tower for almost a month and a half and I have not been able to recieve a signal OTA. I could watch programing on the analog signal but other than a football playoff game during that time period I have not watched one single program. Why because I prefer to watch a program thats in HD rather than one thats not. Would I have watched some programs? Yes. Advertisers on this channel have missed out. And I believe that KCRG advertisers will miss out also.

I have no idea how many dollars the struggle is about. Yes DirecTV is a multibillion dollar corporation as is Mediacomm. It just seems to me that they would do what they could to get their signal to as many viewers as possible.

KCRG is probably not aware that D*'s HR20 HD-DVR has the capability to record OTA. The only reason that I can think of that they would want for someone to receive OTA they hope that someone wouldn't record programming and avoid commercials.

The result is many people with D* will not watch any programming on KCRG because D* has so many options of programs available they would rather watch another HD channel rather than the SD feed of KCRG that they get from D*. This means everyone is a loser here. It appears the biggest loser is KCRG because they miss out on a little revenue from D* and viewership drops.

The biggest mistake that a local station can make is deterring a viewer from being tuned in to them prior to the late local news. And that looks like to me what KCRG is doing.

Exactly right. I won't watch KCRG in SD when I can watch the other locals in HD. It's their loss not mine.

Howdy folks! Well, I'm back in the OTA HD game after buying a house and then suffering and finally dropping Mediacom for Dish HD. I wanted DirecTV but because I can't run second lines to some of my TVs it ended up having to be E*.

Anyway, my question. I live at Stratford Ln SW. I ordered a ChannelMaster 4221 from Crutchfield that should be here next week. My plan is to throw it up on top of my shed about a total of 13 feet off the ground. I have an old 15dBi line amp from Mediacom that I am going to feed it into right at the shed. There will be about 50 feet of RG-6 line from there to the house, with nice snap-and-seal fittings...

Do you think that will be enough to pull in the locals from Cedar Rapids if I aim it according to Antennaweb? Anyone around here (SW side back by Edgewood Rd and Highway 30) getting OTA HD and are you having much issues?

Just curious...

Shawn

I am near Jones park and very occasionally get a few break ups from my attic antenna, but I have a hill full of trees between me and the Walker antennas. If you have a fairly decent line of sight, you should be plenty fine.

Howdy folks! Well, I'm back in the OTA HD game after buying a house and then suffering and finally dropping Mediacom for Dish HD. I wanted DirecTV but because I can't run second lines to some of my TVs it ended up having to be E*.

Anyway, my question. I live at Stratford Ln SW. I ordered a ChannelMaster 4221 from Crutchfield that should be here next week. My plan is to throw it up on top of my shed about a total of 13 feet off the ground. I have an old 15dBi line amp from Mediacom that I am going to feed it into right at the shed. There will be about 50 feet of RG-6 line from there to the house, with nice snap-and-seal fittings...

Do you think that will be enough to pull in the locals from Cedar Rapids if I aim it according to Antennaweb? Anyone around here (SW side back by Edgewood Rd and Highway 30) getting OTA HD and are you having much issues?

Just curious...

Shawn

Keep Directv in mind for the future. The SWM (Single Wire Multiswitch) is slowly starting to be deployed and while it's chief purpose is for MDU (Multiple Dwelling Units) it will make it's way to the residential market as well.

The one time I really want to watch Weather Plus it seems to be locked up. It says it's 1:09am and is frozen on the same image. Some one needs to reboot the weather :D

The one time I really want to watch Weather Plus it seems to be locked up. It says it's 1:09am and is frozen on the same image. Some one needs to reboot the weather :D

Someone just needs to boot this friggin weather period! :mad:

Someone just needs to boot this friggin weather period! :mad:

It feels like this winter will never end.

It feels like this winter will never end.

You can say that again. I was sick all weekend so now I have a new layer of ice on my drive and walk.:mad:

KIIN's (IPTV Iowa City) transition status report form is now in.

They claim that the antenna and transmission line are already done and that all they need to do is convert the channel 12 transmitter to digital. However, they don't plan to shut off analog early to do this. In fact, they plan to ask permission to temporarily stay on 45 after the transition date while they do their final transmitter work so that "no viewers are disenfranchised by the change," but they do say the final conversion process should be "brief." (Source is here (http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getattachment_exh.cgi?exhibit_id=618296).)

KIIN's (IPTV Iowa City) transition status report form is now in.

they do say the final conversion process should be "brief."

That is a fairly modern transmitter, although parts of it are too old to support DTV. It's all modular, so those parts are in "drawers" that slide out, and the new ones in. Then change the modulator, which isn't a big deal either. I would guess the entire project could be done in a week or less. Biggest stumbling block is when Harris can do it.

That is a fairly modern transmitter, although parts of it are too old to support DTV. It's all modular, so those parts are in "drawers" that slide out, and the new ones in. Then change the modulator, which isn't a big deal either. I would guess the entire project could be done in a week or less. Biggest stumbling block is when Harris can do it.

then lets hope they do it on a week when Madonna is on Soundstage and Eminem is on Austin City Limits. :p

seriously - Soundstage has been having some incredible concerts - about the only stuff currently on that I'd hate to miss. Can't wait to catch Dan Fogleberg this Thursday. :D

now please - no ice storms, no power outages, no upgrades......

Where are you located, Jon? KRIN shouldn't be going anywhere. Only change they need to make there is switching out a 4" transmission line to route the "new" digital transmitter into the existing antenna. I'm sure that will be done on an overnight. After that happens, the transmitter will be mostly redundant (dual IOT amplifiers, but only one needed to make full DT power), and the "old" 2002 vintage solid state DTV transmitter will become the standby, ready to go at the press of a button.

After the ice storms knocked out most of IPTV's network last spring the idea of getting generators for the towers has been kicked around quite a bit. It would have already happened but of course finding the money to pay for it is a stumbling block. I'm sure in time it will happen, the question being how much time.

The FCC just posted KWWL's transition form (http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1233464&Service=TV&Form_id=387&Facility_id=593) today.

It pretty much goes as 4lids mentioned earlier (thanks, by the way!): they have a transmitter capable of transmitting digital on channel 7 at their allotted 3.2 kW but are asking the FCC to up their authorized power to 18.1 kW. They do not plan to shut off analog on channel 7 early.

Jarrett's comin' out to a disco ball, folks...and here's why!:

http://ir.emdaholdings.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=289368

I don't know if this had already been mentioned, but RTN is pretty good, from what people say on other boards who have it.

Where are you located, Jon? KRIN shouldn't be going anywhere. Only change they need to make there is switching out a 4" transmission line to route the "new" digital transmitter into the existing antenna. I'm sure that will be done on an overnight. After that happens, the transmitter will be mostly redundant (dual IOT amplifiers, but only one needed to make full DT power), and the "old" 2002 vintage solid state DTV transmitter will become the standby, ready to go at the press of a button.



good - I'm in CF; read your post above, where you said it was all modular, and it sounded easy. but then at the end, you stated it could be done in a week or so - that's what was throwing me. if its all running changes, taking a cumulative week - great. I just figured that the "powers that be" would decree pulling the plug, doing everything, and then putting the system back on line.

btw, I can still be cynical. would be just my luck to have the one hour long switchover done just as IPTV is broadcasting the Led Zep reunion concert. :p

KWWL is currently experiencing transmitter problems. We are operating on low power and hope to return to full power soon. Mediacom and CFU customers should be receiving the KWWL signal without interruption.

http://www.kwwl.com/News/index.php?ID=21857

The news story doesn't specify which signal, but I guess they must mean analog. Digital KWWL OTA is normal for me.

would be just my luck to have the one hour long switchover done just as IPTV is broadcasting the Led Zep reunion concert. :p

I doubt that, the director of engineering is a huge music fan himself. I could care less about Led Zep, it's a bit before my time. Most off air times are scheduled during "low impact" times, usually late night, or sometimes during the kids stuff when it has to be done during daylight hours (tower work, etc).

As to the post above about KWWL, I did hear a bunch of crackling in the audio last night on analog, the digital was fine.

There was a power outage yesterday that caused low volts on two of the three phases of incoming AC at the KCRG/KGAN/KRIN digital transmitter farm (and KRIN and KCRG analog). KCRG has big generator for their analog, but I guess it gave up the ghost about 10 minutes into the power outage. I'm not sure if this affected KWWL or not since they are on a different substation, but it seems like too much of a coincidence that they started having problems at around the same time.

The news story doesn't specify which signal, but I guess they must mean analog. Digital KWWL OTA is normal for me.

It is the analog... there was a commercial power outage in the cornfields of Rowley / Walker and that took us down. When we tried to go to generator, we experienced a brown-out (dropped phase), which is not a good thing for any motor or power supply. That blew a transient suppresor in our analog rig so we are stuck with our low power rig on that side until parts come in. We may actually get on in a little while thanks to a work around, but there may be other issues too. The digital was fine after power returned (no generator backup on that side... yet!). Once we get down to one transmitter (the new one for channel 7 digital), we will put in a new generator and transfer switch for that, since it won't need to be nearly as big.

RTN update: KWWL will be the first in the group to add this to our digital lineup. It will happen as soon as the RTN people get a hold of us and go through the technical guildlines. We're still waiting on them though. I'll let you know when it gets lit up!
-Jarrett

just being nosy, Jarrett - but does that mean the local RTN will cease, once you start broadcasting on your sub?

and congrats on not blowing the digital trans. :) - if we're gonna lose one or the other, much rather see analog side go. (so says the owner of 5 HD sets :D) - tho you still have enough power to light up my antique set at work, running off rabbit ears. So it can't be that bad.

Well, it looks like every station in Eastern Iowa has now filed its transition status report with the FCC, so here's a summary based on FCC online records. This includes new information from KFXB, KGAN and KWKB:


KCRG (ABC): will re-tune its transmitter over several days in late '08 or early '09 and will likely end analog service at that time. Exact date unknown but they promise to notify the FCC and the public at least 30 days in advance.

KFXA (Fox): analog continues until deadline; already operating its authorized DT facilities.

KFXB (now a Christian Television Network affiliate, Dubuque): They've purchased a DT transmitter, but DT construction has been hampered by "wind load" and icing issues on tower. They're asking for permission to keep operating at reduced power until mid-August of 2009 while they work through those issues. Analog stays on air until 2-17-09.

KGAN (CBS): analog continues until deadline; already operating its authorized DT facilities.

KIIN (IPTV, Iowa City): needs to convert channel 12 transmitter to digital but won't shut off analog early to do this; may ask for permission to stay temporarily on channel 45 past 2-17-09.

KPXR (Ion): analog continues until deadline; already operating its authorized DT facilities.

KRIN (IPTV, Waterloo): analog continues until deadline; already operating its authorized DT facilities.

KWKB (CW/MyNetwork): analog continues until deadline; already operating its authorized DT facilities. (Yeah, I know they're not HD, but the government isn't interested in that.)

KWWF (RTN): "flash-cutting" channel 22 to digital, but says it will keep analog going until deadline.

KWWL (NBC): analog continues until deadline. Still awaiting an FCC decision on its request to boost its post-transition power on channel 7 from 3.2 kW to 18.1 kW, but they have a transmitter capable of DT on 7 after 2-17-09 and will use parts from a sister station's transmitter to boost power if they get the OK.

I have a strange problem. I just switched to OTA HDTV last weekend. I received all of the local HD channels fine except KWWL. On Thursday I unplugged my antenna to try a different one, just to see if for some reason it would pick up KWWL HD. It didn't so I reconnected the original antenna. After I turned th TV on again, I received only the Iowa City PBS and the Channel 10 digital channel, and none of the other HD or regular channels. The weird thing is that I never moved the antenna I only unscrewed it from the tv. Now, no matter what I do I can't pick up the other HD channels. Sometimes I'll get a fuzzy SD KCRG or Fox but neither HD channel. Has something like this happened to anyone else?

Check the connectors on the antenna wire. Something may have happened here.

Does anyone with Dish network notice that OTA HD program listings are wrong for 28-1 and 28-2 ?? They appear to be mirroring the listings from KPXR (48-1 and 48-2). I submitted this as an issue to Dish but they didn't understand what I was trying to explain...

Shawn

I finally solved it! I'm using a Terk HDTVa antenna. The only thing that I hadn't check was the antenna signal booster. Fortunately I had another one and switched it. Now everything is back to the way it was. The only channel I don't get (neither sd (barely comes in fuzzy) nor hd) is KWWL. I saw that a previous post said that they has some issues a while back and provided a link. The link still goes to the KWWL site but the article isn't posted anymore. Was their issue resolved, meaning that I can't pick up that channel, or is there hope that I may be able to receive KWWL too once their problem is fixed.

Does anyone with Dish network notice that OTA HD program listings are wrong for 28-1 and 28-2 ?? They appear to be mirroring the listings from KPXR (48-1 and 48-2). I submitted this as an issue to Dish but they didn't understand what I was trying to explain...

Shawn

It's correct for me.

It's correct for me.

Really? What sort of receiver do you have? I have both 722 and 612 (I think) and get it on both of them...

/Edit

Here is what I mean:

http://gallery.planetcr.com/gallery2/d/34882-2/P2241625.JPG
http://gallery.planetcr.com/gallery2/d/34885-1/P2241626.JPG

Really? What sort of receiver do you have? I have both 722 and 612 (I think) and get it on both of them...

722 and 222 and both show Nascar race on the guide right now.

It's correct for me.

Working fine on my 622 as well. Reboot your receiver and see if that helps.

I'm rebooting it today, I unplugged it at 7am before I went to work, going to plug it back in at 7 when I get home. We'll see if that fixes it up. I'd really like to get this resolved, because FOX has the most programming I want to record :)

I finally solved it! I'm using a Terk HDTVa antenna. The only thing that I hadn't check was the antenna signal booster. Fortunately I had another one and switched it. Now everything is back to the way it was. The only channel I don't get (neither sd (barely comes in fuzzy) nor hd) is KWWL. I saw that a previous post said that they has some issues a while back and provided a link. The link still goes to the KWWL site but the article isn't posted anymore. Was their issue resolved, meaning that I can't pick up that channel, or is there hope that I may be able to receive KWWL too once their problem is fixed.

Where are you located? If you're only using an indoor antenna with an amplifier, I'd say your range is about 35-40 miles on most signals depending on terrian and weather. KWWL-DT is on the air full power on UHF channel 55 for the next 358 days (but who's counting, right?!) and then will be moving to channel 7 and be getting a little height as well. I'm noticing that on antennaweb.org, even at our current low ERP of 3.2 KW that we are alloted, that our VHF DT signal is registering and better levels than the UHF counterpart (one less antenna grade). That is encouraging at least, and we will continue to try to maximize things as well (just waiting on the FCC approval). But until we can get that done, all you can do is try to use the appropriate antenna for the job and make certain it's pointed the right way.

The analog signal is back on the air and somewhat full power (we are kind of nursing it along to get it through this last year), so that is what it is!

-Jarrett

I left the receiver off for about 12 hours, and its still showing the wrong listings... :(

I left the receiver off for about 12 hours, and its still showing the wrong listings... :(

I'm having the same problem. I have the 722 receiver. I rebooted my receiver 2 times and I rescanned my locals 3 times and it still shows 48-1 and 48-2 programming on the guide for 28-1 and 28-2. I've given up hope.

I'm having the same problem. I have the 722 receiver. I rebooted my receiver 2 times and I rescanned my locals 3 times and it still shows 48-1 and 48-2 programming on the guide for 28-1 and 28-2. I've given up hope.

At least I know its not just me now. I'm going to try to call Dish again and see if I can make any headway getting them to straighten it out. I didn't think it was my receiver...

4lids - Thanks for the info. I'm on the Northeast side of Iowa City. I am using only an indoor amplified antenna (Terk HDTVa). Like I said previously, I do get all of the local channels except KWWL. Looking on the antennaweb site I saw that the KWWL antenna is ~55 miles away from my location. So it may be just out of range (although KCRG antenna is 49 and comes in fine (signal usually >90) and antenna direction is similar, KCRG = 337deg, KWWL = 340deg). The only reason I asked if there was a problem with the KWWL signal is that I just switched to the HD antenna about 2 weeks ago (when the alleged problem with the KWWL signal was supposed to have happened) and prior to that I was receiving the KWWL SD signal fine with a regular antenna.

Anybody having problems with KWWL-DT in Iowa City via Mediacom channel 807 tonight (Deal or no Deal & Law & Order)? It's breaking up & freezing. Analog channel 7 OK.

Anybody having problems with KWWL-DT in Iowa City via Mediacom channel 807 tonight (Deal or no Deal & Law & Order)? It's breaking up & freezing. Analog channel 7 OK.

We had a power outage during the noon news and it caused some big issues with some things. We thought we had taken care of everything, but as soon as we went to our NBC HD feed we noticed the audio issues. We have a piece of gear from NBC used for graphics and it embedds the audio on that path. It was freaked out and needed to be reset... unfortunately, it was one of the last things we tried. We simply upconverted the analog NBC feed until we got everything reset. Everything should be full strength now. -Jarrett

that reminds me - was gone last night, and didn't watch anything after the NBC Evening News - but gotta say, that was an impressive effect you had going on the audio. It made Brian whatsisname sound a lot like Darth Vader.

Is that what you've fixed? Hope so - couldn't stand watching the news on the other channels, but couldn't stand the sound on yours.

thanks

Well, I'm sure you know, but it ain't fixed yet, Jarret. I'm getting your HD feed via cfu's direct link, and watched you switch from a dying HD signal to SD during the Office. And then watched you try again on Leno.

Equipment, or weather?

Well, I'm sure you know, but it ain't fixed yet, Jarret. I'm getting your HD feed via cfu's direct link, and watched you switch from a dying HD signal to SD during the Office. And then watched you try again on Leno.

Equipment, or weather?

We have something different going on now... most likely due to the weather. We actually broke down and switched feeds from our satellite dishes since the primary (which is KU band) was so unreliable. Unfortunately, that effectively kills the HD path. I'm waiting until 11AM (once we are out of network) to swtich things back and troubleshoot. When it rains it pours I guess!

I'm getting nothing at all on 7-1 and 7-2. Receiver thinks a signal is there, just a blank screen, like its broadcasting...nothing :(

I agree, something is strange with 7.1. It comes in, but my Samsung T351 tuner (purchased in 2004) takes about 5-6 seconds before showing any audio or video. During that time, the signal light burns steady but the screen says "no signal." Once I get a picture, though, it's stable and looks fine.

This is during locally upconverted programming.

I'm getting nothing at all on 7-1 and 7-2. Receiver thinks a signal is there, just a blank screen, like its broadcasting...nothing :(

7-1 and 7-2 aren't down. The channels are at 55-3 and 55-4. Don't ask me why.

Looks like trouble with the PSIP data, eh.....

Looks like trouble with the PSIP data, eh.....

Sure sounds like a PSIP issue. I'm not getting anything on 7-1 either.

7-1 and 7-2 aren't down. The channels are at 55-3 and 55-4. Don't ask me why.55 is the channel where they're actually transmitting DT, at least until after 2-17-09 when they will begin transmitting DT on channel 7. Until then, a portion of the data stream called PSIP is supposed to tell your receiver to treat the channel 55 signal as 7-1 and 7-2, but it's apparently not functioning correctly.

There have occasionally been similar issues with KCRG and KFXA, so KWWL is not alone. It's probably just "their turn."

Until they get it fixed, just try punching in "55" and see if you get it.

55 is the channel where they're actually transmitting DT, at least until after 2-17-09 when they will begin transmitting DT on channel 7. Until then, a portion of the data stream called PSIP is supposed to tell your receiver to treat the channel 55 signal as 7-1 and 7-2, but it's apparently not functioning correctly.

There have occasionally been similar issues with KCRG and KFXA, so KWWL is not alone. It's probably just "their turn."

Until they get it fixed, just try punching in "55" and see if you get it.

It was our turn... I reset the data stream processor that inserts the PSIP data into the path and everything was happy after that. A problem we have is that we only use old Zenith tuners in our control room, which could care less about PSIP. They never errored out, so I didn't have any idea that some tuners were unhappy until I was getting multiple calls. Everything should be good now (back on 7-1 and 7-2).
-Jarrett

I'm having the same problem. I have the 722 receiver. I rebooted my receiver 2 times and I rescanned my locals 3 times and it still shows 48-1 and 48-2 programming on the guide for 28-1 and 28-2. I've given up hope.

Now its my turn for this problem, just noticed it last night (3/3/08). Any luck getting this issue resolved? Thanks for any help.

Now its my turn for this problem, just noticed it last night (3/3/08). Any luck getting this issue resolved? Thanks for any help.

Nope, I've given up. Its easier just to record the SD versions of the programs. I've rebooted the boxes numerous times with no luck.

For those of you having issue with your Dish 722 and channel 28, have you tired re-scanning for your locals?

Yes, many times. I'm starting to wonder if it has to do with your zipcode, someone else with a 722 in my Zipcode has the same issue... I'm at 52404.

try email dishquality@echostar.com

I emailed Tribune Media Services (who supplies the listings) and they claim their info is correct. I had a tech chat with Dish Tech support, and I posted that below--not too helpful (big shock). I'm thinking it might be a PSIP probelm with either KXFA or KPXR, because it seems to be a local problem only. I'm in 50701.

(05-03) Paul S: That is a issue of the provider, you can block those channels.. the receiver is getting the signal that way.
Brad: The receiver is getting the signal and the channels are showing properly. The problem is the guide info is incorrectly mapped.
(05-03) Paul S: The receiver see's the over the air channels and tries to match it with the Programming guide, some times the provider send a strange code that the receiver cannot understand.
(05-03) Paul S: yes the map down .
Brad: So, is their anything I can do?
(05-03) Paul S: I am checking on it.
Brad: FYI (in my example) 028-00 displays proper EPG info, but 028-01 and 028-02 are not displaying properly. Instead, it's giving me EPG info for 048-01 and 048-02.
(05-03) Paul S: I am sorry There is no way we can get this to work until the signal is corrected at the source.
(05-03) Paul S: [Dish portal troubleshooting url]
(05-03) Paul S: This link is for the trouble shooting in this area.
Brad: Do you mean I need to call the stations?
(05-03) Paul S: but it has no mention of this issue .
(05-03) Paul S: that might be a good thing to try let them be made aware of the issue.
(05-03) Paul S: the receiver like all computer takes the data and tries to make something of it.
(05-03) Paul S: Is there anything else I can do for you?
Brad: I guess not.
(05-03) Paul S: ok.
(05-03) Paul S: Thank you for using Dish Network Live Chat. Have a great day.
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i cant get 7.1 or 7.2 and 9.1 but 9.2 works on my mce 2005 pcs. My sat reciever gets them fine. This was working fine when i taped LOST last week but now its broke again. Nothing changes in my setup but lost signal when i really want to tape something in HD.

Not sure why i get 9.2 though perfect but not the others.

I've been noticing that when I try to go directly from guide to 9.1 and 9.2, it doesn't happen, but then when I just use channel up/down, it tunes in fine.

On my DTV H20, 9.1 and 9.2 have been a little touchy...seems to pixilate every, say, 60 seconds or so in various small pixelation spots of the screen for a moment or two, then corrects.

7.1 and 2...had issues as 4lids pointed out in various posts prior, haven't had issues since. Last Sunday, I bought my mom a Olevia 37" HDTV with internal tuner, with a cheapo Philips amped indoor antenna ($20), all scanned in except KWWL (might have been issues as 4lids posted about), have not had chance to go over there and re-scan for her (she's 80, would never figure it out).

Mom is in east Marion, I am near Kirkwood south CR.


Anyway, for MCE 2005 recordings, a trick I've learned with it is whenever scheduling a recording you must have, might not be a bad idea to leave MCE up and running before the show airs tuned to channel you've scheduled, minimize it though (assuming its tuned in to channel you're recording just fine) - seems to do the trick for me...its quirky that way sometimes.

Well i moved my antenna for a bit and now im just missing 9.1 but 9.2 is perfect. No clue as to why but its happened before. This is with two different pcs, one mce 2005 and one vista.

both of my recording boxed are headless in the basement. So i have to go down and put monitor on then run to the attic to moved the antenna and then run down to check the signal strength. its a pita.

Looks like there's good news for those in the fringes: the "final final" DTV table of allotments is out, and it appears KWWL got its request to expand its coverage area. They'll be able to put out 22.6 kW effective radiated power on channel 7 rather than the 3.2 kW they were initially allotted.

Source: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-08-72A2.pdf (page 15)

Just curious for my Mom's new Olevia.

I'm currently using for her Atsc tuner a Recotan unamplified indoor antenna - about a 5-6 year old relic of sorts - it actually tunes in everything fairly solidly except Ion (no biggie), and 7-1 and 7-2 - absolutely nothing. I tried a Philips $20 amplified cheapo last week, I even used a Monster coax to hook it up straight to the antenna...same thing and honestly a less forgiving antenna. The Recotan works much better ?!?

I'm stunned I haven't been able to get anything 7-1 and 2 and no other outdoor type antenna is possible. Even get 20-1 fairly consistent and 12-1 off/on - not bad for the backside and 2-1, 9-1, 28-1, 32-1 rock solid.

So I'm curious as to what indoor solutions others use - this will sit somewhere on her rotating shelf that the Olevia sits on - the antenna will rest behind on the shelf as it is now (must be small, and I'd think VHF/UHF for next year).

It seems the TV stops in the autoscan at 55-1 and thinks about it for roughly 30 seconds, and then finishes out - no KWWL - like the TV doesn't know what to do with it (the signal meter is all lit up and the scan itself pauses from progessing as normal, like it has a strong signal just like the ones it does pull in), say like it can't translate it to 7-1 maybe. Heck, for all I can figure out, the set itself may be at fault - it just will not accept through manually entering 7-1 or any channel it does not scan in. I almost think I should bring the set over to my place and hook it up to the 4228 and see if it grabs what my bedroom PC monitor/TV, a 26" Olevia I use here for this, is receiving everything including 7-1. Tnes them all in here, then take it back over, hook it back up as before, and see if it tunes 7-1.

The way I figure it, all the other stations come in solid from that direction at her place...what is up with this location and/or antenna type. She lives in far eastern Marion near 13/151 intersection.

Thanks for any help/suggestions. If there's a successful indoor set top antenna that works for anybody, I need suggestions!

I have a Winegard roof top antenna and I still have on/off issues with KWWL. My antenna is pointed pretty much directly at the KWWL tower and all other stations come in strong. I'll have days where KWWL signal is in the 70's and cutting out. It's the only channel I experience this with.

bagdropper - I live in Iowa City and also don't receive 7-1 or 7-2 (at all). I use a Terk HDTVa indoor antenna and receive all other area HD channels very well. KCRG 9-1 and 9-2 sometimes are choppy during bad weather, but everything else is fine. If you go to antennaweb.org it shows, that from my location anyway, the KWWL antenna and KCRG antenna are about the same direction. The only difference is the KWWL antenna is 5 miles further away. At Marion I would expect that distance shouldn't be too much of an issue. I would say that if you pick up the other channels fine I don't think a different indoor antenna will make much difference.

I live in Center Point, and have not been able to get KWWL in at all for a while now. I use a root-top style antennae in the attic. I used to get everything fine until probably December time frame when 7-1 had problems. Adjusted the antennae and things were decent for a while. Then 7-1 had problems again. Fortunately, I now get 2, 7 and 28 in HD through Directv, so I haven't even tried to get 7 OTA working again.

4lids,

Will we not see the increased power until the 2009 switch over?

Im in NE CR and 7.1 is working for me but 9.1 isnt. Its weird because they are all pretty much the same direction.

I have a homemade antenna in the attic that has be working fine and not moved. I get 9 with qam atleast but its nicer OTA and i cant record qam.

Now what happened at kgan? www.kgan.com
Looks like the news gal and the weather guy are gone?
Linsey Grames did the kgan news last night at 10pm.

What KGAN needs to do is clean out their owners (Sinclair). I know it's not going to happen, but Sinclair doesn't seem to care about quality, just money.

KGAN TV fires the talent & everyone else

"In two weeks KGAN TV fired 17 employees. They have openings for almost every possible position at a TV station. We stopped watching KGAN because they not only fired the talent, they also fired nearly everyone else. We enjoyed Cary J. Hahn, who just got fired."

After you click the link below, click "show origional post"

http://mypc.press-citizen.com/blogs/reply.php?type_blogs=Varsity&id_blogs=7&id_blogposts=4517

Now what happened at kgan? www.kgan.com
Looks like the news gal and the weather guy are gone?
Linsey Grames did the kgan news last night at 10pm.

Other than the fact the people at KGAN lost there job, I don't see any problem here.:)

4lids,

Will we not see the increased power until the 2009 switch over?

The increased power is for the future channel 7 DT... hence, there can be no boosting it until the analog is signed off. We are stuck with the channel 55 power levels until February of 2009, and then we will turn that off and switch to our (now) temporary channel 7 digital with 3.2 KW ERP. We then will be getting a transmitter from one of our sister stations that is capable of putting out the necessary power for 22.6 KW ERP.

I believe that even the 3.2 KW (VHF channel 7) will do a better job at covering things than the 194 KW on our channel 55 does, just with the additional height. Once the power goes to 22.6 KW, things should be great and we will then have a backup rig as well.

There is a chance that we may try to boost the power on our little VHF DT, but the parts I'd use to do that are currently in use as the analog backup right now. We would send the solid state amplifier into Harris so that it can be reconfigured for digital broadcasts and that will get us to around 6.4 KW then. I'll keep you posted as we get closer in the next year!
-Jarrett (4lids)

What is the difference in height between the towers?

KGAN-from what Ive heard, the weather guy got canned cause of a 2nd drunk driving recently

So anyone one with MCE PC getting 9.1? both my vista and xp machines dont get 9.1 but do get 9.2 and every other OTA channel in CR.

bagdropper - I live in Iowa City and also don't receive 7-1 or 7-2 (at all). I use a Terk HDTVa indoor antenna and receive all other area HD channels very well. KCRG 9-1 and 9-2 sometimes are choppy during bad weather, but everything else is fine. If you go to antennaweb.org it shows, that from my location anyway, the KWWL antenna and KCRG antenna are about the same direction. The only difference is the KWWL antenna is 5 miles further away. At Marion I would expect that distance shouldn't be too much of an issue. I would say that if you pick up the other channels fine I don't think a different indoor antenna will make much difference.

Curious what part of Iowa City you are in.
I live on the SW side and have trouble pulling in much. I don't have a rooftop antenna but even using a Terk hasn't yielded much.

Other than the fact the people at KGAN lost there job, I don't see any problem here.:)Your right, I don't see any problems either, and I noticed tonight she's now on the kgan homepage.

I live in North Liberty and I have bunny ears on my roof, and I have no issues whatsoever with reception on any local channel. I get 2, 7, 9, 12, 15, 17 (comes in like crap though; I think this is UITV), 20, 28, 32, and 48 (plus all the sub-channels). Anyone know is Fox 15 out of Ottumwa not broadcasting in digital yet? If they are then for some reason I get the analog signal, but not the digital signal.
Also, i put up one of those clip on antenna's to my dish...didn't work. I got 28, that was it. It actually worked better indoors laying on the ground when i first tested to it make sure it actually works. I was very disappointed. So I put up the bunny ears to test them out and they work great. I'm just going to leave that up.

What is the difference in height between the towers?

Both antennas are on the same tower right now... but the DT stick is sidemounted about 240 feet below the top-mounted channel 7 antenna. That channel 7 antenna has been swept and can handle the future DT. It will have the benefit of not only the extra 240 feet but also the lack of nulls (dead spots) thanks to tower legs... more omnidirectional. -4lids

Both antennas are on the same tower right now... but the DT stick is sidemounted about 240 feet below the top-mounted channel 7 antenna. That channel 7 antenna has been swept and can handle the future DT. It will have the benefit of not only the extra 240 feet but also the lack of nulls (dead spots) thanks to tower legs... more omnidirectional. -4lids

Cool! Thanks for the update.

I wish it was Feb 2009. I'm sure these changes will alleviate any issue I currently have with KWWL.

I live in North Liberty and I have bunny ears on my roof, and I have no issues whatsoever with reception on any local channel. I get 2, 7, 9, 12, 15, 17 (comes in like crap though; I think this is UITV), 20, 28, 32, and 48 (plus all the sub-channels). Anyone know is Fox 15 out of Ottumwa not broadcasting in digital yet? If they are then for some reason I get the analog signal, but not the digital signal.
Also, i put up one of those clip on antenna's to my dish...didn't work. I got 28, that was it. It actually worked better indoors laying on the ground when i first tested to it make sure it actually works. I was very disappointed. So I put up the bunny ears to test them out and they work great. I'm just going to leave that up.

If you are trying to just use "bunny ears" to pick up channels, you'll have a tough time picking up anything UHF (14-69) since bunny ears only are VHF antennas (2-13). If you are close enough or have the ears pulled out to about the length of a 1/4 wavelength of the signal, than you may be able to pick up some UHF. Right now, KWWL DT is way up at channel 55 right now and will be there until next year when we can move back to channel 7. Let me know if you have more questions.
-Jarrett (4lids)

If you are trying to just use "bunny ears" to pick up channels, you'll have a tough time picking up anything UHF (14-69) since bunny ears only are VHF antennas (2-13). If you are close enough or have the ears pulled out to about the length of a 1/4 wavelength of the signal, than you may be able to pick up some UHF. Right now, KWWL DT is way up at channel 55 right now and will be there until next year when we can move back to channel 7. Let me know if you have more questions.
-Jarrett (4lids)

I'm not having any problem picking up UHF channels on my bunny ears. It's working great. I just can't get 15-1 digital signal. I get 15 analog, but not the digital. Channel 7, 9, 28, 32, 48 all come in crystal clear.

15 digital (KYOU Fox Ottumwa), if it is in fact on the air, isn't very strong, and the FCC documents I've seen from them online so far seem to indicate they're not interested in putting out much more than they are now. I used to get a snowy-but-watchable analog picture from them. (It was like vacationing in southern Iowa without leaving home.:)) But their DT -- which uses channel 14 for the time being -- doesn't even move the signal meter.

I get 2, 7, 9, 12, 15, 17 (comes in like crap though; I think this is UITV), 20, 28, 32, and 48 (plus all the sub-channels). There's a 17 in Cedar Rapids, but it's a low-power analog translator for Trinity Broadcasting Network.

What KGAN needs to do is clean out their owners (Sinclair). I know it's not going to happen, but Sinclair doesn't seem to care about quality, just money.
That can be said for ANY radio or TV station owned by a corporation.

Definitely true. Sinclair is just one example and they have killed KGAN.

Considering the market we're in, local ad revenue from KGAN is pretty small. Sinclair were looking to save money. It's business as usual.

Didn't KWWL do this a several years ago when they got rid of Gary Sarnoff, Bryan Lesley and some upper management?

This will be the 3rd or 4th chief meteorologist for KGAN in the past year though. This is plain ridiculous. Why do you think so many people watch KWWL and KCRG over KGAN?? Reliable names and faces. Maybe Sinclair should learn from this. I actually liked Brian Hughes, and he was the only reason I ever tuned into channel 2. The rest of their broadcast team isn't worth watching.

I get frustrated with KGAN for other things too. Like Jericho not being in HD last night. They probably fired the guy that flips the switch. At least they did get it flipped in the middle of the show. That's something.

<Im in NE CR and 7.1 is working for me but 9.1 isnt. Its weird because they are all pretty much the same direction.>

I live on the NW side of cedar Rapids. I am trying out the RCA D2A boxes and it will scan in evrything except KCRQ digitals. Neither with rabbit ears or Channel Master on the roof. My 61" RCA HDTV receives it fine. I hope but the time the stations switch I will be able to receive them. Bear

For those with Fox 28/Dish listings problems: the issue has finally been resolved. I posted the problem on DBSTalk.com forums and emailed chief engineer at KFXA several times and they got it worked out. Turns out, KFXA has been broadcasting TSIP information incorrectly for awhile now, but DISH just started using this information in their receivers/listings. I don't really understand it all, but, bottom line is it's fixed. However, you may have to delete KFXA local then re-add it to correct the listing.

Considering the market we're in, local ad revenue from KGAN is pretty small. Sinclair were looking to save money. It's business as usual.

Didn't KWWL do this a several years ago when they got rid of Gary Sarnoff, Bryan Lesley and some upper management?Yes, that's true, and to be fair to KWWL it should be noted that their departure was under previous owner Raycom and not QNI. But it's a bit of a stretch to compare that situation with that of channel 2, where even the anchor teams have gone through complete turnover several times over since the year 2000. They just don't have the continuity that KWWL and KCRG have been able to achieve. Even WOI in Des Moines, which has historically struggled, still has the same chief meteorologist and sports director it had in 1996.

Yes, that's true, and to be fair to KWWL it should be noted that their departure was under previous owner Raycom and not QNI. But it's a bit of a stretch to compare that situation with that of channel 2, where even the anchor teams have gone through complete turnover several times over since the year 2000. They just don't have the continuity that KWWL and KCRG have been able to achieve. Even WOI in Des Moines, which has historically struggled, still has the same chief meteorologist and sports director it had in 1996.
It's a money thing. I would guess that KGAN doesn't have the same profit stream like KWWL and KCRG. Sinclair probably figures that they can't compete, so they clean house and hopefully see more profits. KGAN is only good for one thing and that is network content coming from CBS.

It's a money thing. I would guess that KGAN doesn't have the same profit stream like KWWL and KCRG. Sinclair probably figures that they can't compete, so they clean house and hopefully see more profits. KGAN is only good for one thing and that is network content coming from CBS.

They aren't all that great at doing that.

For those with Fox 28/Dish listings problems: the issue has finally been resolved. I posted the problem on DBSTalk.com forums and emailed chief engineer at KFXA several times and they got it worked out. Turns out, KFXA has been broadcasting TSIP information incorrectly for awhile now, but DISH just started using this information in their receivers/listings. I don't really understand it all, but, bottom line is it's fixed. However, you may have to delete KFXA local then re-add it to correct the listing.

Sweet! Thanks Brajo. Finally, I have 28-1 back on my guide. I can record things in HD again!

diggerg56 - Curious what part of Iowa City you are in.
I live on the SW side and have trouble pulling in much. I don't have a rooftop antenna but even using a Terk hasn't yielded much.

I live on the NE side of Iowa City. It's pretty close to the edge of town so it may be that I have less interference? Was the Terk that you tried amplified? Without the amplifier turned on I only pick up some of the SD channels; quite fuzzy. But with the amplifier I get all of the local SD and HD channels except KWWL; even their SD, channel 7, is fuzzy.

The Terk indoor antennas really aren't that great. You can buy several cheap antennas that will do better.

TvGuide OnScreen in Cedar Rapids with Mediacom. Does anyone else use this? I have a LG 50pc1dr with built in HD recorder. I have had the TV for a year and the TVGOS worked perfectly until last week. Did Mediacom drop the TVGOS signal from Gemstar? What channels is it broadcast on in Cedar Rapids? Would an OTA HD antenna pull in info?

Any help would be SOOO appreciated. My channels are listed correctly but there is no programming info any more. The info is essential for the use of the built in DVR. I will be calling Mediacom tomorrow. Thanks for the help.

TvGuide OnScreen in Cedar Rapids with Mediacom. Does anyone else use this? I have a LG 50pc1dr with built in HD recorder. I have had the TV for a year and the TVGOS worked perfectly until last week. Did Mediacom drop the TVGOS signal from Gemstar? What channels is it broadcast on in Cedar Rapids? Would an OTA HD antenna pull in info?

Any help would be SOOO appreciated. My channels are listed correctly but there is no programming info any more. The info is essential for the use of the built in DVR. I will be calling Mediacom tomorrow. Thanks for the help.

Mediacom dropped the TGGOS signal, this was discussed on dslreports.com, apparently its still available OTA from channel 12 in Cedar Rapids, but its filtered out on Mediacom for some reason.

Can you give me a link to where you found that information? Mediacom apparently has their heads in their a$$. Tech support has "never heard" of Tv Guide On Screen.

Thanks.

Heres the discussion, Anonymous is a field tech for Mediacom:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r20142296-Re-IA-Wish-Mediacom-has-more-HD-channels

Also, Brajo thank you so much for the info on Dish. Deleted 28 (rescan was not enough) readded and voila listings worked like a charm!

I have been following these converter boxes forums since we have tried 3 different models -- after using our 2 coupons. One coupon went towards the Radio Shack DigitalSTREAM DTX9900 converter box and it has been the best and we want to get another one. The other coupon has been used on the Wal-Mart RCA DTA800B, which could pull in all stations but 1 and took about 45 mins to scan/set up (versus ~10 mins of scanning/setting up with the DigitalSTREAM). (Yes, we did get on the roof and monkey around with the antenna -- and that made reception worse for a couple other stations, so left it alone.) We concluded the box was defective when we couldn't pull in the missing station on 2 different TVs so returned it and exchanged it for the Magnavox TB100MW9 (since that's the only other option at Wal-Mart). That one didn't work at all on our older TV (13 inch) -- there was no button to select Ch 3 or 4 (unlike the 2 previous boxes we used), so it is definitely geared toward a "newer" TV. So, we took it back and since we used a coupon, the only thing we can get back is our out-of-pocket expense. So, we exchanged it for another RCA model since we had somewhat good luck with that one and we then wouldn't be out of anything. I called the coupon hotline and told them the situation and they referred me to the retail hotline and I explained to them our situation. They have had numerous complaints about Wal-Mart's method of handling this type of situation. I'm waiting for a callback from the hotline people on how they might handle this. Lesson here was we should have done our research BEFORE going out and buying the cheapest thing available -- you do get what you paid for. (BTW -- the station that couldn't be pulled in was a local station - Ch 9 [KCRG], first one in the area to become digital about 2(?) years ago, and the rooftop antenna was pointed in the direction of the tower. Something's wrong when we could get this with the box from Radio Shack, but not the RCA box.) Now that I've found a local forum here... Channel 2 [KGAN] is THE BEST WE'VE EVER HAD IT!!! Finally!!!!

Same problem with my RCA box, it won't scan in KCRG. It is the strongest signal on my RCA 61" HDTV. I have tweeked the antenna pointing right at the tower (27 mi. away) but nothing else. I have also tried the Insignia from Best Buy and it quickly scanned and found all the channels. Wish I could trade my RCAs to someone for the Insignia. Also the RCA hang up at 73% scan, I found if I disconnect the coax from antenna for just a second, it will resume, but not KCRG.

Bear

I totally forgot about that! Yes, we had the "hangup"/"lockup" issue also at the 73% scanning process. I'm so glad we weren't the only ones with these issues. Thanks for posting that you had problems too and it wasn't just us who live ~20 miles south of Cedar Rapids. Go figure that we could get KWWL stations just fine which are further north of CR, but not get the CR station?!?!? (until we monkeyed around with the antenna on the roof -- then we lost KWWL *AND* KCRG! So went back to just missing KCRG). We don't have a box connected at all right now to the older 13" TV, but are enjoying the Radio Shack one on our living room set. Something is definitely wrong with the RCA box. And now we're screwed out of the coupon because Wal-Mart won't give us our coupon back in exchange for the defective box.

I've noticed weird issues with KCRGs PSIP info, and its at the higher end of the UHF band which would lead me to believe thats why your box freezes at 73% perhaps... Its funny to see the "late adopters" encounter the similar issues us early adopters dealt with 3 or so years ago. It's also sad, in a way, that ATSC hasn't come further. I have two tvs that just get their signal OTA, but I'm not sure if I'm going to bother with the converters coupons or not, I'm morally against government handouts, and I can afford to go buy two $40 converters.

Mediacom activated TNT-HD and Concast Sports Net HD today in Coralville.

I just noticed this, and I'm currently enjoying watching some HD basketball on TNT-HD.

Not that I don't appreciate the two new channels, but has anyone heard of Mediacom adding any more HD channels to the lineup anytime soon?

I'd love to see The History Channel HD and Versus HD (for some hockey) sometime soon!

Only slightly OT, but boy, we're in for a delightful changeover - based on what I ran into today, there should be a lot of digital convertors for sale OPEN BOX. - was in RS for something else, asked about the HD box just out of curiousity, and learned something very interesting from the manager. Did you guys know, you don't need rabbit ears, or an antenna, to get HD with those boxes? That's great - all you do is plug them into your tv, and "It looks like a dvd." When I tried to suggest that you needed some way to get the signal in (i.e., antenna) - he looked at me like I was challenged.

Oh well. But don't you think a few people will heed his advice, and then bring the box back because they aren't getting a picture? (btw, he also told me that I'd be better off to skip the box, and just go with Direct or dish.)

Only slightly OT, but boy, we're in for a delightful changeover - based on what I ran into today, there should be a lot of digital convertors for sale OPEN BOX. - was in RS for something else, asked about the HD box just out of curiousity, and learned something very interesting from the manager. Did you guys know, you don't need rabbit ears, or an antenna, to get HD with those boxes? That's great - all you do is plug them into your tv, and "It looks like a dvd." When I tried to suggest that you needed some way to get the signal in (i.e., antenna) - he looked at me like I was challenged.

Oh well. But don't you think a few people will heed his advice, and then bring the box back because they aren't getting a picture? (btw, he also told me that I'd be better off to skip the box, and just go with Direct or dish.)

Wow. :rolleyes: This is pretty sad because those stores don't train people to know about the technology. It's easier and cheaper to hire monkeys.

Only slightly OT, but boy, we're in for a delightful changeover - based on what I ran into today, there should be a lot of digital convertors for sale OPEN BOX. - was in RS for something else, asked about the HD box just out of curiousity, and learned something very interesting from the manager. Did you guys know, you don't need rabbit ears, or an antenna, to get HD with those boxes? That's great - all you do is plug them into your tv, and "It looks like a dvd." When I tried to suggest that you needed some way to get the signal in (i.e., antenna) - he looked at me like I was challenged.

Oh well. But don't you think a few people will heed his advice, and then bring the box back because they aren't getting a picture? (btw, he also told me that I'd be better off to skip the box, and just go with Direct or dish.)

Oh boy, that's just dandy! Education is going to be fun this next year... remind me to unplug my phone on Febuary 17th next year! I guess the only silver lining from your radio shack experience is that he didn't try to sell you a special "digital" antenna! Please try to educate these fools anytime you get a chance... hopefully through osmosis some of the DT-challenged who work at these establishments will figure this stuff out! At least we hold DTV seminars on a regular basis to help out the public so that those guys aren't the only source of information. Good story though... thanks!