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.)

That's too bad you had that experience with your RS person. The one we've dealt with has always been very helpful and seems to really know his electronics (Westdale). We were just in there today to get a new UHF antenna for our roof for the converter box reception and he said that we were the 12th customer this week complaining about the RCA box not pulling in Ch 9 (KCRG)...so this is definitely a manufacturer defective box sold by Wal-Mart and I still have yet to hear from the gov't coupon people on how this is going to be handled in regards to getting our coupon back or Wal-Mart selling more than 2 brands. Will most likely be calling them again.

glad you've had good luck, 2cheap...while I don't expect brain surgery from RS, I do expect the managers to have half a clue; when this one didn't, I felt I needed to share. - plus, figured you could all use the wincing laugh.

I'll be watching here, cuz I will be needing a box by next year - have a little set at work, just so I can watch the weather and radar on good ole KWWL - so whatever I get will have to work with channel 7. And hey - if I don't need a pesky antenna, so much the better.;)

well i dont have an rca box but i have a pvr1600 and a vbox 150 that do not see kcrg at all on vista or mce2005. Same antenna hooked to my huges sat box gets kcrg though fine. Its got to be their signal info or something is freaking my pcs out. I have deleted the channel and change the freq a couple time and still nothing. Sucks watching LOST in SD since its still not that good this season anyways. I dont mind watching crap in HD.

glad you've had good luck, 2cheap...while I don't expect brain surgery from RS, I do expect the managers to have half a clue; when this one didn't, I felt I needed to share. - plus, figured you could all use the wincing laugh.

I'll be watching here, cuz I will be needing a box by next year - have a little set at work, just so I can watch the weather and radar on good ole KWWL - so whatever I get will have to work with channel 7. And hey - if I don't need a pesky antenna, so much the better.;)

I know what you mean...we took a chance at Wal-Mart thinking that maybe, just maybe, the clerks had a clue as to what was going on and would be knowledgeable about the boxes they were selling (hey, they were younger than us -- those type usually know more about electronics these days, right?). Well, they didn't know anything and in fact one told us we could buy some sort of DVD player adaptor to hook to the tv/box then hook the box to the TV! Now, why would we go and spend another $17 out of our own pocket for an adaptor when we could return the defective box, get our out-of-pocket $ refunded, and then go to RS and get another box that we know would work the way it's supposed to? We walked out with the exchanged box in case the coupon program comes through and we can get our coupon back by returning the box with the receipt stating a coupon was used.

We did purchase a signal booster device when we thought it was our antenna problem in not pulling in KCRG. It helped somewhat with the clarity and a bit stronger signal meter, but didn't bring in the missing station. We are also going to install a new UHF antenna and take down the old antenna so there will be no interferring/conflicting reception signals between the two. Who knows, by the time we're all done with this...we probably should have just gone out and purchased an HD tv! But this gives my spouse something to do and tinker around with.:D

The 1st stop when I was shopping for a converter was to RS out by Lindale Mall since I was heading to the NW side. 1st Rat Shack, Best Buy, the Wamart. The salesman didn't have a clue. I played kinda dumber than I actually am on the D2A box. Got the same speil: maybe you should go to satellite dish. I mentioned to him i was acquainted with the big dish. He said oh no, I need a small dish. I didn't want to tell him, nor had the time to tell him able the c band, ku, and mpeg receivers I use to pick up lots of HD channels and pay a whole lot less than DISH or DIRECT. The RCA box I bought a Walmart would work fine for anything I want except it won't scan in KCRG. I bought the Indignia from Best Buy, I scanned lots faster and scanned in everything except 20.1 and I was able to enter it manually and it took and added it. 2 cheap: I wouldn't worry too much about switching your antenna unless other channels were borderline. I have the very large large CM 3228 (Ithink) with the CM 7777 pre amp and the RCA still doesn't scan KCRG in. on my 61" RCA HDTV Kcrg has the strongest signal if you can believe the strength meter on it. I think it is the station. Someone else might be able to answer this better than me, but I was thinking that I had heard discussed KCRG broadcasts their digital siganl in VHF rather than UHF (?), maybe that has something to do with it and if thats the case next year that may be more of a problem. I wish I could trade this RCA box for another Insignia.

Bear

The 1st stop when I was shopping for a converter was to RS out by Lindale Mall since I was heading to the NW side. 1st Rat Shack, Best Buy, the Wamart. The salesman didn't have a clue. I played kinda dumber than I actually am on the D2A box. Got the same speil: maybe you should go to satellite dish. I mentioned to him i was acquainted with the big dish. He said oh no, I need a small dish. I didn't want to tell him, nor had the time to tell him able the c band, ku, and mpeg receivers I use to pick up lots of HD channels and pay a whole lot less than DISH or DIRECT. The RCA box I bought a Walmart would work fine for anything I want except it won't scan in KCRG. I bought the Indignia from Best Buy, I scanned lots faster and scanned in everything except 20.1 and I was able to enter it manually and it took and added it. 2 cheap: I wouldn't worry too much about switching your antenna unless other channels were borderline. I have the very large large CM 3228 (Ithink) with the CM 7777 pre amp and the RCA still doesn't scan KCRG in. on my 61" RCA HDTV Kcrg has the strongest signal if you can believe the strength meter on it. I think it is the station. Someone else might be able to answer this better than me, but I was thinking that I had heard discussed KCRG broadcasts their digital siganl in VHF rather than UHF (?), maybe that has something to do with it and if thats the case next year that may be more of a problem. I wish I could trade this RCA box for another Insignia.

Bear

Is there anyone out there who wants to trade with Bear or me for our RCA DTA 800 converter boxes for either the DigitalSTREAM DTX9900 (me) or the Insignia NS-DXA1 (Bear)? My RCA is NEW IN BOX...never been opened/used! (But, I'm guessing no one will bite at this.:cool:)

What do you guys think of this? New job with different station?

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=72640468

What do you guys think of this? New job with different station?

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=72640468

Hopefully not one of the DSM's :eek:

Yes, Brian is back in Cedar Rapids, but his new job is NOT broadcast or weather related.


What do you guys think of this? New job with different station?

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=72640468

Well, in case you haven't noticed, IPTV has begun simulcasting its analog on a new -3 subchannel. Perhaps they heard from a few viewers who went digital and wondered where the regular IPTV schedule was.

Is there anyone out there who wants to trade with Bear or me for our RCA DTA 800 converter boxes for either the DigitalSTREAM DTX9900 (me) or the Insignia NS-DXA1 (Bear)? My RCA is NEW IN BOX...never been opened/used! (But, I'm guessing no one will bite at this.:cool:)


As A follow up, I took the RCA and Insignia units down to the old mans today to see if he is too far from Des Moines to get the digital channels. He has an old antique antenna on the roof that he can barely get the analogs from 65 miles away. He was able to scan all the digitals from Des Moines without a problem and it did it quickly with a non-peaked antenna. The signal level was about 30% and I left it on with him 3 or 4 hours for him to get aquainted and he never had a problem with any picture break up. I think the problem with the RCA must lie in the manner KCRG must distribute their signal. I didn't try the Insignia unit from there as the cheaper RCA worked fine. So I guess I will not need to trade mine. He was very suprised at the additional channels that are up there.

Bear

Well, in case you haven't noticed, IPTV has begun simulcasting its analog on a new -3 subchannel. Perhaps they heard from a few viewers who went digital and wondered where the regular IPTV schedule was.

I was one of those who wondered what had happened to the programming and emailed them. They said they were in the testing stages and it should be about a week before their station 12.3 would be broadcasting the analog shows. They also said we shouldn't have to reprogram/rescan our converter box...that it should be picked up automatically. We'll see... This is good news! Thanks for the update!:)

As A follow up, I took the RCA and Insignia units down to the old mans today to see if he is too far from Des Moines to get the digital channels. He has an old antique antenna on the roof that he can barely get the analogs from 65 miles away. He was able to scan all the digitals from Des Moines without a problem and it did it quickly with a non-peaked antenna. The signal level was about 30% and I left it on with him 3 or 4 hours for him to get aquainted and he never had a problem with any picture break up. I think the problem with the RCA must lie in the manner KCRG must distribute their signal. I didn't try the Insignia unit from there as the cheaper RCA worked fine. So I guess I will not need to trade mine. He was very suprised at the additional channels that are up there.

Bear

Thanks for the update on this. Maybe some of our family in the Des Moines area would want our box! Unless KCRG is following this and/or have had complaints and are working on tweaking their system.

Thanks for the update on this. Maybe some of our family in the Des Moines area would want our box! Unless KCRG is following this and/or have had complaints and are working on tweaking their system.

KCRG hasn't been showing up on my Dish 612 or 722 for the last 24 hours, ayone else notice this?

KCRG hasn't been showing up on my Dish 612 or 722 for the last 24 hours, ayone else notice this?

Working fine on my 622

Well, in case you haven't noticed, IPTV has begun simulcasting its analog on a new -3 subchannel.

It's about time. But they told me it's just a test for the weekend and may go away :(

KCRG hasn't been showing up on my Dish 612 or 722 for the last 24 hours, ayone else notice this?

Are you talking about OTA? If so, just do a rescan of your the locals.

Are you talking about OTA? If so, just do a rescan of your the locals.

I've rescanned 3 times, it shows up when it scans, but then when I tune to it starts at 95 signal, drops to 0 and gives me an error. Happening on both my boxes, so maybe my antenna got blown around with the wind on Friday.

It's about time. But they told me it's [IPTV's simulcast of analog on subchannel -3] just a test for the weekend and may go away :(Well, as TooCheap2BuyHDTV posted, it does appear to be a test, although they appear to be succeeding -- the guide is populated and everything.

In my opinion, getting rid of a regular IPTV schedule simulcast of some type is kind of dangerous at this point. Well, maybe dangerous is too strong a word. But we are hoping for a lot of new DT/HD adopters between now and 2-17-09, and while they will love PBS-HD and may like some of the shows on Create, many of them are also going to want to watch Iowa Press, Market to Market, Lawrence Welk, Are You Being Served? and all the other programs from IPTV's regular schedule in digital clarity. Forcing viewers to go back to analog for these shows kind of defeats the purpose of pushing them to adopt DT.

Plus, the "analog subchannel" method IPTV currently uses will only work for less than 11 months.

I've rescanned 3 times, it shows up when it scans, but then when I tune to [KCRG] it starts at 95 signal, drops to 0 and gives me an error. Happening on both my boxes, so maybe my antenna got blown around with the wind on Friday.That depends. Are you getting KRIN, KGAN or the other stations in that direction?

I wouldn't think you'd get an error message if you're not getting a signal (other than the obvious "no signal").

In my opinion, getting rid of a regular IPTV schedule simulcast of some type is kind of dangerous at this point.
Plus, the "analog subchannel" method IPTV currently uses will only work for less than 11 months.

I agree. But from what I'm told the .3 channel is only a test through the weekend. After that I don't know exactly what they are going to do.

I know that they are trying out some different encoders at the studio, and that is what prompted the test of the .3 subchannel. It sounded like .3 might go away, but will be back in a few weeks. What they didn't say is if the .3 would be a simulcast of the analog. I hope that it is!

Hi gang. Anybody else enjoy the free HBO this weekend courtesy of M*com. I was/am also receiving in the clear Discovery HDTheater and Universal HD. All this is coming through my Insignia via QAM, I do not have digital cable. What's weird though, I am only getting the Standard Def HBO's on my Insignia. My Visio in the bedroom is bringing in the HD HBO, but nothing else. Unfortunately I didn't discover that I had them until Sunday, so I didn't really get the full monty, oh well. Just wondering if anybody else noticed, hadn't seen it mentioned yet.

measuredrums - no, din't see that, but I was out of town. on the other hand, discovered that direct had opened up 3 channels of Cinemax for free over the weekend. Bad timing on their part - I saw nothing that would entice me into spending another 10 bucks a month.

back to your MCom Easter present - too bad CFU doesn't do that. :( (hint, hint) :D

That depends. Are you getting KRIN, KGAN or the other stations in that direction?

I wouldn't think you'd get an error message if you're not getting a signal (other than the obvious "no signal").

Yes I was, and KCRG 9.1 and 9.2 are back working on the 722 still no dice on the 612, but that thing has been junk since day one with crashing and other problems, so I dont know what the deal was with the 722... but like I said, false alarm is back to normal now.

PS: Loving 32.3 also, really am going to hate to see it go...

I really think its something in the signal with KCRG. Im still not getting it on my media center pcs, but my HD sat box isnt getting it now either. It has been even when my media center pcs werent.

KCRG is working properly on my Directv HR20-700 and my MyHD pc cards.


I looked at the PSIP data being sent and the only difference I see is that KCRG is showing a value of "697250000" for a carrier frequency and all the other locals show a value of "0", which is recommended in the "Broadcasters Guide To PSIP" (http://www.psip.org/documents/PSIP_guide.pdf).

I sent an email to the programming dept. and will let you know if/what I hear back......

Anyone have any information on when SS is getting HD? I have e-mailed and called them at least every other month since early 2007 asking when they will, and they give me the same standard reply "We have ordered the equipment and if you sign up on our list, we can let you know when it is up and running"

Didn't know if anyone had any inside info?
Thanks in advance

And its out again. When I tune to it, I get a picture for a split second, then the no signal error. Sometimes the signal bar is sitting at the mid 70s / low 80s at the time when it does this...

RF in to my TV gets it fine without issue.

Hmm...

Shawn

measuredrums - no, din't see that, but I was out of town. on the other hand, discovered that direct had opened up 3 channels of Cinemax for free over the weekend. Bad timing on their part - I saw nothing that would entice me into spending another 10 bucks a month.

back to your MCom Easter present - too bad CFU doesn't do that. :( (hint, hint) :D


HBO and Cinemax were running a free weekend this past weekend - I was able to catch John Adams for the first time on DirecTV.

I have a friend at work who lives in Solon and was wondering if anybody has had any luck with attic antennas. I know roofing materials and surroundings can play a lot into whether you have a good signal or not, just wondering if anybody has had any luck. He was thinking about getting the DB4.

I have a friend at work who lives in Solon and was wondering if anybody has had any luck with attic antennas. I know roofing materials and surroundings can play a lot into whether you have a good signal or not, just wondering if anybody has had any luck. He was thinking about getting the DB4.

No experience in Solon, but I have friends in North Liberty who have attic antennas and even set-top "rabbit ear" antennas who pull in 17 digital channels (primary and sub-channels) without a problem.

Check out www.antennaweb.org and see what it says. Keep in mind that it is pretty conservative about what signals can be received. So just becasuse they don't show up as receiviable doesn't mean they won't be.

I recently installed an attic mounted antenna for a friend who lives just north of the Coralville strip and south of the mall (sits down in a bit of a hole). Even though antennaweb.org did not list all of the digital signals as available to the location, I had no problelm at all pulling in every one of them and receiving them through her DishNetwork DVR (just a little effort, decent RS antenna and RG6 did the trick).

Every location/installation is unique... so YMMV.

I agree. But from what I'm told the .3 channel is only a test through the weekend. After that I don't know exactly what they are going to do.

I know that they are trying out some different encoders at the studio, and that is what prompted the test of the .3 subchannel. It sounded like .3 might go away, but will be back in a few weeks. What they didn't say is if the .3 would be a simulcast of the analog. I hope that it is!

This has been working great at our place and spouse is very happy about it. It had better not go away! I'm emailing them on their forum to tell them it is working for us. (https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6520009027219836832&postID=2451184630337836672&pli=1)

Update on RCA 800 converter box: We called the RCA company in regards to the RCA 800 converter box not working. They said there was a misprint in the setup instructions. The instructions currently say on Step 4, #3, "Select INPUT". It should say "Select MENU". Also, DO NOT PUSH 3-4 times...just push MENU one time... The menu will come up and continue on from there. It took only about 90 SECONDS (instead of 45-60 MINS) to go through the channels (and NO STALLING around 73%) and BEHOLD... ALL WERE THERE!!!! (including KCRG!) :D We now have 19 stations on the RCA box!!!! :D The main difference with this box (for us) is the tv guide only tells what is coming up next rather than the whole evening (like on the DigitalSTREAM). So, guess this box is now a keeper!!! (for a lesser-used tv) Hope this helps the rest of you who have this box and experiencing problems.

We did purchase a new UHF antenna for the roof for the living room tv and this could have helped, too, and we're getting the same signal as on the DigitalSTREAM box. But, it still may be worth a try with the above instructions before one goes out to purchase a new antenna (we needed a new one anyway!) :D

No experience in Solon, but I have friends in North Liberty who have attic antennas and even set-top "rabbit ear" antennas who pull in 17 digital channels (primary and sub-channels) without a problem.

Check out www.antennaweb.org and see what it says. Keep in mind that it is pretty conservative about what signals can be received. So just becasuse they don't show up as receiviable doesn't mean they won't be.

I recently installed an attic mounted antenna for a friend who lives just north of the Coralville strip and south of the mall (sits down in a bit of a hole). Even though antennaweb.org did not list all of the digital signals as available to the location, I had no problelm at all pulling in every one of them and receiving them through her DishNetwork DVR (just a little effort, decent RS antenna and RG6 did the trick).

Every location/installation is unique... so YMMV.

Thanks for the reply. That's what I figured. He was also thinking of splicing it 4 times so most of his tv's could have the antenna feed. With that number of splices off of an antenna would he need a powered splitter? I would assume so, but I'm sure somebody here has some more experience with that than I do.

I really think its something in the signal with KCRG. Im still not getting it on my media center pcs, but my HD sat box isnt getting it now either. It has been even when my media center pcs werent.
I have NOT heard back from KCRG. HOWEVER, I looked today at their PSIP info and that carrier frequency is now set to "0" like everyone other local station.

Did this make a difference to any of you that was having problems with tuning in KCRG?????

Ill know tonight. I post back when i get home to check. I need to move my antenna to a better place in the attic this weekend anyways since it seems to lose 7 now too and i havent changed it direction in a week.

FYI.... Here is the reply from Kirk at KCRG. He used to lurk around the message boards here but haven't heard from him in a while.......


Thank you for your email. We too have been noticing some issues with the RCA DTA800 converter box, and maybe others, not being able to see KCRG DT when it scans for channels. We purchased a converter box to do some testing and to see what may be causing the issue. We have made some changes to our PSIP stream and everything seems to be working fine on our test converter box. I would recommend if you are still having the problem that you rescan for digital channels again and see if the issue has been resolved. As far as the carrier frequency goes, that was one of the tests we performed but we have already reset that back to zero, which was its previous setting. Please let us know if you are still having issues not seeing KCRG DT when you scan for channels, and we can try to get to the bottom of it. If you are still having issues it would be beneficial if you could email me your converter box or receiver’s make and model number, what type of antenna you have (rabbit ears, UHF / VHF outdoor or an indoor antenna) how it is installed (on the roof, in the attic, on top of the TV) and what city you live in. All these things will help us determine what may be causing the problem.

Thanks again for the email and please let me know if you or anyone you know are still having issues!

I still dont get kcrg. I have a pvr1600 and vbox 150 with antenna in the attic. My hughes sat box does get it with the same antenna though. Not sure why mce isnt getting it in anymore.

IPTV update: no official announcement on the website, but I noticed today that the analog simulcast has moved to the -2 subchannel and the Create/Kids preview ("IPTV Plus") is now on -3. Probably still tweaking.

IPTV update: no official announcement on the website, but I noticed today that the analog simulcast has moved to the -2 subchannel and the Create/Kids preview ("IPTV Plus") is now on -3. Probably still tweaking.

We noticed that last night when we were playing around with the RCA 800 converter box and thought it had something to do with that. Glad to hear we weren't the only ones. We're still getting all the stations on this box! The only things we don't like about it: (1) the "tv guide" only says what is presently on and the next show; not the entire evening nor description (like on the DigitalSTREAM); and (2) no "previous" button on the remote to quickly switch between 2 stations. We do like the larger buttons on the RCA remote. We are going to see how this box does on the smaller 13" tv in the kitchen. Will keep you posted.

Well i found out that mce is putting KCRG as 9 and not 52 and kwwl as 7 and not 55. I edited the astc channel list and set it to read only. Now i have all the channels back.

IPTV update: no official announcement on the website, but I noticed today that the analog simulcast has moved to the -2 subchannel and the Create/Kids preview ("IPTV Plus") is now on -3.

It is now official. I've been informed by the general manage of IPTV that the analog channel will henceforth be simulcast on the .2 subchannel, with Create moving to .3

Last I checked the guide data from Dish Network (and I assume others) is still showing create on .2 with no data for .3. Eventually they will catch up with the change, hopefully in the next few days to a week or so.

I wouldn't count on it, it took several months when Create started to get the correct listings. I contacted IPTV several times and finally gave up on having the correct listings through DirecTV.

We signed 7.3 back on the air at 10:00 A.M. this morning on KWWL-DT. It is the Retro Television Network (RTN) and will be broadcasting a variety of old classic TV shows, including Happy Days, Perry Mason, Frasier, Rockford Files, A-Team, Gunsmoke... etc. You get the idea! I stole a bunch of the bandwidth from 7.2 and repurposed it to 7.3 to help that out and minimize the amount we had to reclaim from 7.1 to air three channels. 7.1 shouldn't be impacted too much, but we'll keep an eye on it. It should be better than it was the last time we aired three channels (when we had the Tube on 7.3), since I took more from the .2 channel to compensate. You may have to do a channel scan so that your receiver sees it, so I wanted to give you a heads up! Let me know if you have any questions... Jarrett (4lids)

Looks better than The Tube did.

Then again, RTN hasn't had to keep up with Tina and the Ikettes dancing to the fast version of "Proud Mary" like The Tube did. Now THAT was a test for ANY encoder!

Now if we could get 7.3 back on Mediacom and get DirectTv to update their channels to include it, I'd be in good shape!

We signed 7.3 back on the air at 10:00 A.M. this morning on KWWL-DT. It is the Retro Television Network (RTN) and will be broadcasting a variety of old classic TV shows, including Happy Days, Perry Mason, Frasier, Rockford Files, A-Team, Gunsmoke... etc. You get the idea! I stole a bunch of the bandwidth from 7.2 and repurposed it to 7.3 to help that out and minimize the amount we had to reclaim from 7.1 to air three channels. 7.1 shouldn't be impacted too much, but we'll keep an eye on it. It should be better than it was the last time we aired three channels (when we had the Tube on 7.3), since I took more from the .2 channel to compensate. You may have to do a channel scan so that your receiver sees it, so I wanted to give you a heads up! Let me know if you have any questions... Jarrett (4lids)

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU, KWWL!!!!! This is a wonderful addition to the free DT community! We did have to rescan our converter box, but 7.3 came in very clearly! I've been waiting a long time to have these types of programs available (without having to buy into the cable companies -- hence "too cheap" for that too!). I do believe I know the feeling my dad had when we got our first TV (back in the 50's)! (oldies but goodies -- here we come! -- We're not going out...we're staying in to watch TV!!!) :D

Now if we could get 7.3 back on Mediacom and get DirectTv to update their channels to include it, I'd be in good shape!Prior to 7.3 the RTN affiliate was available on Mediacom cable 16 in Cedar Rapids. Since I don't have cable at home I don't know for sure if that's changed since 7.3 took it on. Also, its over-the-air channel (analog 22) has never reached me in C.R., so I don't know whether anything has changed on it.

Prior to 7.3 the RTN affiliate was available on Mediacom cable 16 in Cedar Rapids. Since I don't have cable at home I don't know for sure if that's changed since 7.3 took it on. Also, its over-the-air channel (analog 22) has never reached me in C.R., so I don't know whether anything has changed on it.
The affiliate agreement moved to KWWL. KWWF (channel 22) will have other programming on (various syndication and paid informercials). They still have legal ID's with RTN logos on them, but hopefully those will be gone soon as well. I've spoken with CFU and Mediacom about 7.3 and its relaunch... and my hope is that they will put it back on where they formerly aired our 7.3 channel back when it was the Tube. Once the Tube went off the air (ceased operations nationally), they simply turned that channel off on the respective cable dials, until we provided something else. I believe both were available in the digital (expanded basic) channels. Hopefully, they'll be back soon!

From The Gazette Wed 4/2/2008 page E2 http://www.gazetteonline.com/

To me, this reads like he was fired/asked/told to leave.

Longtime anchor Scott Sanborn leaves KCRG-TV9

The Gazette
CEDAR RAPIDS — Scott Sanborn, co-anchor of KCRGTV9’s weekday morning and midday newscasts, has resigned.
Sanborn, who had been with the station for 16 years, resigned Thursday, KCRG managing editor Mike Wagner said Tuesday.
Wagner would not say why Sanborn resigned. He also would not say if Sanborn was asked to resign.
Wagner said KCRG news director Becky Lutgen Gardner released the following statement to the station’s newsroom on Thursday: “We’ve accepted Scott Sanborn’s resignation from KCRG-TV9 effective at noon today. We wish Scott and his family all the best in the future.” “I can’t say anything other than what’s in the statement,” Wagner said.
Sanborn most recently coanchored with Ashley Hinson. Wagner said the station plans to fill Sanborn’s position but does not know how long it will take to do so.
Sanborn moved to Eastern Iowa in 1992 to work for KCRG. He previously had worked for TV stations in St. Louis and West Palm Beach, Fla. At KCRG, he provided local coverage for both the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the 2001 terrorist attacks.
The Iowa Broadcast News Association awarded Sanborn its top honor for In Depth/Series Reporting in 2002 for his “Heart to Heart” specials, and he has been an active volunteer for the American Heart Association in Cedar Rapids.
Sanborn also was part of the KCRG news teams that won awards for their coverage of two Iowa City stories — the 2001 Old Capitol Building fire and the 2006 tornado.

I have heard that Scott Sanborn has quite a temper and he may have just pushed the wrong person too far. Specifically, I was told he and the weather guy Lance Ryan did not get along, although that alone would not appear to be a sufficient reason to fire him.

This has been discussed in extent on boards (Redandnader specifically) and on KCJJ 1630. There is a fine line between stating a rumor and stating libel, so I'll leave it to you the informed internet reader to search out the discussion I refer to. It has some 'inside information' about the working conditions he made at KCRG.

The posts from "KoolAidGuy" and "Spackle" explain it pretty well.

For what it's worth, RTN is expanding into three new markets thanks to a deal between Equity Media and Citadel Communications Co. WOI-DT in Des Moines and WHBF-DT in the Quad Cities will add RTN as a subchannel soon, along with KLKN-DT in Lincoln, NE.

Northpine.com's Upper Midwest Broadcasting blog reported it here (http://www.northpine.com/broadcast/index.html), and Equity's press release is here (http://ir.emdaholdings.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=302847).

Not sure about the rest of you, but I've lost all MediaCom QAM channels as of about 8:45PM.

Hopefully, just a maintenance issue..... :(

They're back as of later last night....

I heard from a very reliable source that works at KCRG that Mr. Sanborn was harassing (not sexually) Ashley Hinsen. I was told that he threw cups at her, etc...This person doesn't know what his beef with her was, but it was ongoing for sometime...She finally got sick of it and turned it in..

I heard from a very reliable source that Scott Sanborn's demise at KCRG was due to his non-sexual harassment of Ashley Hinsen...He allegedly threw cups at her, etc... It's been ongoing for sometime...She finally got sick of it and turned it in... This person doesn't know hat his beef with her was...

It had been a couple weeks since I looked, but I see now (in Waterloo) Mediacom moved KGAN-DT to (QAM) 117.4, from 21.4.

Watched Cold Case Sunday 4/13. About 50 min in , kgan flips the switch from hd to sd and runs the "analog ending in 2/09 drag".......then kgan DOES NOT flip the switch back! Even the first 10 min of Dexter was sd, and I don't know when/if kgan ever went back to HD. And another thing: Why would you even need to run that info/drag on your HD feed? Doesn't it only effect ota analog?

Cause KGAN is a bunch of duma**es........ :mad:

FCC rules that went into effect on March 31st state the crawl must run both on the analog and primary digital channel. However, I believe we (CBS affiliates) aren't allowed to run the crawl over CBS programming.

Well CBS needs to take KGAN behind the woodshed then cause they do this stuff all of the time.

I literally often see them kick to SD just to run their KGAN call sign graphic and then kick back to HD (most of the time).

I've given up on them. Anyone could run the station better than that.

Well CBS needs to take KGAN behind the woodshed then cause they do this stuff all of the time.

I literally often see them kick to SD just to run their KGAN call sign graphic and then kick back to HD (most of the time).

I've given up on them. Anyone could run the station better than that.The station ID near the top of the hour is also a requirement, and especially with live sports it pretty much has to be supered as there's no set time for the station breaks which usually take care of these. I seem to remember KGAN used to be able to do a super over the HD, but that was several years ago. (KCRG and KWWL can do these supers without switching out of HD.)

As far as doing the "end is near for analog" crawl on the DT side: We AVS members may see it as preaching to the choir. But a lot of the folks who bought an HD set for the living room probably have a second or third set in the bedroom, study, or garage, and they may not be in the "choir." They, too, need to know that they may have a set in their house which won't work in about 10 months without some help.

Watched Cold Case Sunday 4/13. About 50 min in , kgan flips the switch from hd to sd and runs the "analog ending in 2/09 drag".......then kgan DOES NOT flip the switch back! Even the first 10 min of Dexter was sd, and I don't know when/if kgan ever went back to HD.
They went back to HD, then went back to SD for the rest of the show. I hope this switching back and forth becomes automatic soon as I'm getting tired of watching shows that are supposed to be in HD but wind up running in SD because of human error.

The station ID near the top of the hour is also a requirement, and especially with live sports it pretty much has to be supered as there's no set time for the station breaks which usually take care of these.

I'd have to double check the exact wording, but I think it says something to the effect of "at the top of the hour, or at a natural break in programming"

I'd have to double check the exact wording, but I think it says something to the effect of "at the top of the hour, or at a natural break in programming"That's what I've always been told. Sometimes a paid program has aired from :45-:15 so I'd just use my end break of the program @ :15 for my legal ID.

Did anyone else notice that ImOn recently put Fox Business HD on channel 888? It wouldn't have been my first choice for the next HD channel that they put up, but it's nice to see that they may be expanding the service offering. I have no audio yet, and it looks like its basically just SD programming with a lot of stock market and other financial information being presented in the "FOX HD WING" graphics off the the right-hand side (an extremely busy screen with everything constantly changing on the right and below the SD content). The elecctronic program guide is still empty (and no audio!), so I don't think it's fully implemented yet.

KWWL is not flipped to HD during Law & Order SVU, again. This is the second time in three weeks. Flip the damn switch already.

KWWL is not flipped to HD during Law & Order SVU, again. This is the second time in three weeks. Flip the damn switch already.

I was unaware of any issue last week, but last night was operator error. Usually the HD feed is automatically triggered, but a button was turned off on the master control switcher, and the operator didn't catch it until 9:30 PM. I talked with him, and hopefully it won't happen again. It will get easier next year when we won't have to worry about the analog feed!
-Jarrett

why is imon not showing nbc over qam if anyone knows. I have all the other local channels but nbc. Id like to qam record some shows because my antenna needs to be moved alot to get either nbc or abc and i hate doing it.

why is imon not showing nbc over qam if anyone knows. I have all the other local channels but nbc. Id like to qam record some shows because my antenna needs to be moved alot to get either nbc or abc and i hate doing it.

ImOn channel line-up guides (both printed and on line - http://www.imon.net/cabletv/channels.php) have always listed channels 2 and 12 (CBS and PBS) as being "available free to any subscriber with an HD set". When 7 and 9 were brought on as HD, that never happened. I suspect that early McLeod management either interrupted the FCC rules to where they felt they had to carry HD versions of local channels or they simply wanted to, and now ImOn may have either learned that they don't have to (I don't know this as a fact) or they feel that it may take away some business (discourage some from subscribing to the HD package).

ImOn is still the best service in town, in my opinion. I just hope that they stay competitive and continue to add HD channels or this may not always stay true.

I've been taking calls and emails daily about KWWL-DT reception... even more now that the converter boxes are on the scene. The majority are about the same... "I can pick up everyone but channel 7". I usually walk through their setup, give a few pointers, and explain our current situation.

The bottom line is that the previous ownership never maximized the power of the existing DT channel 55 to match the analog channel 7. Next year though, after we move back to channel 7, we will gain in height (about 150 feet) and power 21 to 22 KW ERP VHF, so we will be in much better shape. Heck, even at 3.2 KW (which we will start at for a month or two until the big rig gets installed), we will be in better shape just with the height. Antennaweb lists our post-transition DT higher than the current (and I'm fairly certain that is only at 3.2KW).

None of that helps the viewers now though... and I'm suspicious of some of these new boxes and if they scan anything besides channels 2 through 51 (future DTV band).

If you have any issues with a particular model please pass it on. Also, the predominant boxes out there at the moment appear to be the Insignia/Zenith unit and the RCA DTA800. I seem to get calls a lot with people using the RCA unit (the walmart box). Anyone had any issues with them and KWWL-DT? Please pass them on! Thanks,
Jarrett

I don't use one of the new converter boxes out here, but I have an RCA box from Wal-Mart for an upstairs set at a relative's house in Ames. There are two out-of-core stations on 56 (KDMI My 56.1, with two subchannels) and 59 (WOI ABC 5) out there, and this box picks up both of them. Well, actually it picks up 59 and gets an intermittent signal from 56, but I hear there are quite a few folks having trouble with 56, including the Samsung HDTV in the living room.

In any event, I kind of doubt the RCA box stops after 51.

In any event, I kind of doubt the RCA box stops after 51.

I doubt it too... but the RCA seems to be the box where I get the majority of the complaints. Some of them have no issues, while others get nothing. Thought there may be a firmware issue. Who knows... going to be a fun year!

ImOn justed recently added QVCHD now in addition to Fox Business HD. In the few minutes I've tolerated watching them, all they are is standard definition in 4.3 format with graphics around that to fill the 16.9 screen format. Because it really isn't true HD quality, I suspect it consumes less bandwidth also. Now ImOn can say that they have two new HD channels - even though they don't. I suspect this to be a trend with cable and dish providers in order to compete in saying how many HD channels they carry. :(

What a waste in adding these two channels. Let's hope for something with good content!

I'm suspicious of some of these new boxes and if they scan anything besides channels 2 through 51 (future DTV band).


Thats specifically against the rule that allows receivers to qualify for the coupon:

f. Tuning Capability to All Television Channels 2-69

65. There was no opposition to the NPRM proposal that the converter box tune to all television channels, 2-69. This proposed rule reaffirmed the FCC Rules that “TV broadcast receivers shall be capable of adequately receiving all channels allocated by the Commission to the television broadcast service.”[ 118 ] NTIA clarifies that the CECB is required to receive signals for those television channels that will be “out of core” (channels 52-69) once the digital transition is complete.

http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/frnotices/2007/DTVFinalRule_2e.htm

Shawn

I'm having a problem with KCRG's OTA digital feed. At some point this week, it started breaking up - I get the "weak or no signal" black screen constantly. I have no problems with any of the other OTA digital stations; not even with KRIN.

I have a good (not sure what) antenna on my roof and, as I say, no problems with any others.

Any ideas? Really sucks having to watch Indy analog... Thanks.

What's up with the Cubs game on Fox today? It's not in HD.

@mr_hat ; no issues with KCRG for me, rock solid signal and no break ups. Might be an echo or a problem with ghosting?

Thought I'd share a photo of my "new" (30 year old used) tower and CM antenna.

http://gallery.planetcr.com/gallery2/d/35430-4/P5101757.JPG

I'd be interested to see other peoples OTA antennas, since the conversation on here has died down a bit (until Feb 09 I'm sure) maybe this would fill some time.

More photos http://gallery.planetcr.com/gallery2/v/shawn/things/radiotower/?g2_highlightId=35428

Thanks or the reply - cool rig!

I just can't get my head around why KCRG would break up and KRIN be fine, off the same tower. Ack!

Thats specifically against the rule that allows receivers to qualify for the coupon:

f. Tuning Capability to All Television Channels 2-69

65. There was no opposition to the NPRM proposal that the converter box tune to all television channels, 2-69. This proposed rule reaffirmed the FCC Rules that “TV broadcast receivers shall be capable of adequately receiving all channels allocated by the Commission to the television broadcast service.”[ 118 ] NTIA clarifies that the CECB is required to receive signals for those television channels that will be “out of core” (channels 52-69) once the digital transition is complete.

http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/frnotices/2007/DTVFinalRule_2e.htm

Shawn

That doesn't mean there aren't bugs or firmware issues with these new boxes that can develop, as they were rushed out to the consumers. I would hope that they all comply to the rules, but I'm certain there will be issues with these things. That's what I was getting at. I don't think this is an issue, but I just wanted to be on top of things.
-Jarrett

That doesn't mean there aren't bugs or firmware issues with these new boxes that can develop, as they were rushed out to the consumers. I would hope that they all comply to the rules, but I'm certain there will be issues with these things. That's what I was getting at. I don't think this is an issue, but I just wanted to be on top of things.
-Jarrett

Lets hope they included the provision to upgrade the boxes over the air, or we're going to have a real nightmare 10 to 20 years from now with boxes having half-implemented things, and compatibility issues... :rolleyes:

Thanks or the reply - cool rig!

I just can't get my head around why KCRG would break up and KRIN be fine, off the same tower. Ack!


Mine's been the same way, seems to happen mostly in late afternoon, but near 7PM it clears up.

I doubt it too... but the RCA seems to be the box where I get the majority of the complaints. Some of them have no issues, while others get nothing. Thought there may be a firmware issue. Who knows... going to be a fun year!

I have yet to hear anything good about the RCA boxes. I picked up a Digital Stream at Radio Shack and it seems to work great.

I just got a TIVAX STB-T9 DTV converter today and hooked it up with the same RCA indoor, powered antenna I use to get the OTA channels in on my TiVo S3. It took a very long time to auto-scan, but it found all of the DTV channels my TiVo can find and seems to work well, for you know, a tuner that downgrades everything to 480i and connects to my TV with composite cables. I just wanted one to have on hand and after reading a lot of the CECB posts on this site and the wikipedia CECB comparison page, I decided to pay a little extra above my $40 coupon card and get this one from solidsignal.com.

My boss just bought a brand new HDTV and I went out to his house to try to help him get things setup. He lives just outside of Amana in the country, he lives on a hill and the hillside rises to the north of his house about 50 feet and is surrounded in that direction by trees. So naturally there would seem to be signal loss as a result. He has a large antenna sitting on about a 10 foot pole on top of his roof. He receives the following channels:

Analog
2
7
9
12
15
20
28
32

Digital
12
20
28
32

We cannot get 2, 7, or 9 digital channels in. 7 and 9 come in very clear on analog, 2 is not great, but decent. Is the digital signal from 2, 7, and 9 that much weaker than the analog signal? In February will the digital signals be increased by local stations, since they will no longer be sending analog signals?

What other things could he try to get his locals in digital? He doesn't have dish and no access to cable, so antenna is his only choice right now. He has about a 20 foot cable running from the antenna into his attic. From there it is hooked up to an old Winegard 4 way splitter (but only is using 2 tv's). From there he has 2 lines running to his 2 tv's. He has a preamp, but it only boosts analog signals. Would buying a digital preamp be helpful? Should he get a new splitter? Upgrade his cables to RG6? I presume they are currently RG59, because the cables don't say RG6. Without spending a fortune is there anything he can do to get those digital signals? He's willing to buy a new preamp if that will help, but doesn't want this to cost him too much. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Digital
12
20
28
32

We cannot get 2, 7, or 9 digital channels in. 7 and 9 come in very clear on analog, 2 is not great, but decent. Is the digital signal from 2, 7, and 9 that much weaker than the analog signal? In February will the digital signals be increased by local stations, since they will no longer be sending analog signals?

What other things could he try to get his locals in digital? He doesn't have dish and no access to cable, so antenna is his only choice right now. He has about a 20 foot cable running from the antenna into his attic. From there it is hooked up to an old Winegard 4 way splitter (but only is using 2 tv's). From there he has 2 lines running to his 2 tv's. He has a preamp, but it only boosts analog signals. Would buying a digital preamp be helpful? Should he get a new splitter? Upgrade his cables to RG6? I presume they are currently RG59, because the cables don't say RG6. Without spending a fortune is there anything he can do to get those digital signals? He's willing to buy a new preamp if that will help, but doesn't want this to cost him too much. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
What direction is the rooftop antenna pointing? The digital signals currently are in the uhf band so just because a channel is coming ni clearly on analog doesn't necessarily mean it will on digital. The fact that he is receiving 12 & 20 (which originate over by the Iowa City area) makes me think that the antenna is not aimed properly. The digital signals are VERY directional.

The more a signal is split, the more loss of signal there is. Eliminate any unnecessary splitters. RG6 is also preferred and a good UF preamp would certainly help, but of course in Feb, some of the stations will be returning to their vhf assigments.

I am sure this isn't new news but thought I would share an Email response concerning KCRG and DTV

Jeff thanks for your email regarding Direct TV and the KCRG digital signal. We have told Direct TV what the amount we would accept for granting them Retransmission rights to our Digital Signal. We are asking them for the same amount they pay to others. We believe this is fair. You need to ask them why. I will tell you that we faced this same situation with our Analog signal a few years ago with them. Finally after about 6 months they accepted our offer. Let me know if you have any further questions.


Subj: Direct TV
Good Morning John,

I was wondering why you are not offering the KCRG HD signal to direct TV? As you know all the other local affiliates have. I thought you may be interested in hearing that there is not one TV set in our household the receives KCRG (SD or HD). I understand that I can get the HD signal OTA and did so for many years. However the launch of the new DirectTV satellite and equipment needed for reception doesn't allow for OTA and Sat on the same cable, hence good bye KCRG. I am sure one could argue that our situation is unique and it is only a very small percent of viewership, but there has been a number of unhappy discussions about this all over the internet forums.

I am more interested in your position and why you elected not to provide this feed to DirectTv and is the door shut for a future offering?

Thanks Jeff

What direction is the rooftop antenna pointing? The digital signals currently are in the uhf band so just because a channel is coming ni clearly on analog doesn't necessarily mean it will on digital. The fact that he is receiving 12 & 20 (which originate over by the Iowa City area) makes me think that the antenna is not aimed properly. The digital signals are VERY directional.

The more a signal is split, the more loss of signal there is. Eliminate any unnecessary splitters. RG6 is also preferred and a good UF preamp would certainly help, but of course in Feb, some of the stations will be returning to their vhf assigments.

We believe the antenna is facing north. Maybe that is the problem though. I'm not familiar with how to properly point these giant antenna's, but we did move it around in several directions to try to improve our signal, but didn't have any luck. When pointing the antenna, which ends is it that you want to point toward the source? I can't find an antenna online that looks exactly like the one he has, but it looks fairly similar to this one. http://www.dennysantennaservice.com/2040007.html

However, his antenna has V shaped poles sticking out on the longer piece of the antenna. They almost look like oversized bunny ears, but he has probably 10-12 of them. The ends of those were facing north, so I assume that means we were pointing the antenna to the north, but maybe we were actually pointing it south?? I'm not sure. Perhaps we should just try moving it an inch at a time until we get something.

anyone on Imon lost kcrg qam now? They moved some of the channels but i seem to have lost kcrg.

When pointing the antenna, hich ends is it that you want to point toward the source?

Looking at the site you posted, in the second picture from the top, that antenna is pointed to the left.

I often see these pointed the wrong way, as it looks a bit like an arrow pointing to the right, but that "arrow" is pointing to the backside of the antenna. The "arrow" looking part of the antenna is the UHF section, so if it's going the wrong way it is likely you will not get UHF reception but may get VHF just fine, even thought it's backwards.

Hope that helps.

Jeff thanks for your email regarding Direct TV and the KCRG digital signal. We have told Direct TV what the amount we would accept for granting them Retransmission rights to our Digital Signal. We are asking them for the same amount they pay to others. We believe this is fair. You need to ask them why. I will tell you that we faced this same situation with our Analog signal a few years ago with them. Finally after about 6 months they accepted our offer. Let me know if you have any further questions.



To rephrase, they're telling you to bug off, and go complain to DirecTV and try to persuade them to pay the 'extortion fee' for something that is provided free over the air anyway. Yeah, that makes sense. Maybe they should, you know, be happy with the advertising revenue they get, and not try to bilk the content providers out of extra money. First it was $inclair, once they got what they wanted from Mediacom now all these little rinky-dink stations are trying to do the same thing. Disgusting, just disgusting.

I still refuse to watch KGAN to this day because of what they did to Mediacom, I'm a E* subscriber, but I think I'll be getting any ABC programming I wish to watch off the internet and NOT from KCRG in the future. Pretty soon I'm only going to be watching PBS and cable networks! :rolleyes:

I've been taking calls and emails daily about KWWL-DT reception... even more now that the converter boxes are on the scene. The majority are about the same... "I can pick up everyone but channel 7". I usually walk through their setup, give a few pointers, and explain our current situation.

The bottom line is that the previous ownership never maximized the power of the existing DT channel 55 to match the analog channel 7. Next year though, after we move back to channel 7, we will gain in height (about 150 feet) and power 21 to 22 KW ERP VHF, so we will be in much better shape. Heck, even at 3.2 KW (which we will start at for a month or two until the big rig gets installed), we will be in better shape just with the height. Antennaweb lists our post-transition DT higher than the current (and I'm fairly certain that is only at 3.2KW).

None of that helps the viewers now though... and I'm suspicious of some of these new boxes and if they scan anything besides channels 2 through 51 (future DTV band).

If you have any issues with a particular model please pass it on. Also, the predominant boxes out there at the moment appear to be the Insignia/Zenith unit and the RCA DTA800. I seem to get calls a lot with people using the RCA unit (the walmart box). Anyone had any issues with them and KWWL-DT? Please pass them on! Thanks,
Jarrett


We had issues previously not with KWWL, but with KCRG -- here's what I said earlier for how we got the problem corrected -- maybe it will help to get KWWL (we are in Swisher, nestled between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City):

Update on RCA 800 converter box: We called the RCA company in regards to the RCA 800 converter box not working. They said there was a misprint in the setup instructions. The instructions currently say on Step 4, #3, "Select INPUT". It should say "Select MENU". Also, DO NOT PUSH 3-4 times...just push MENU one time... The menu will come up and continue on from there. It took only about 90 SECONDS (instead of 45-60 MINS) to go through the channels (and NO STALLING around 73%) and BEHOLD... ALL WERE THERE!!!! (including KCRG!) We now have 19 stations on the RCA box!!!! The main difference with this box (for us) is the tv guide only tells what is coming up next rather than the whole evening (like on the DigitalSTREAM). So, guess this box is now a keeper!!! (for a lesser-used tv) Hope this helps the rest of you who have this box and experiencing problems.

We did purchase a new UHF antenna for the roof for the living room tv and this could have helped, too, and we're getting the same signal as on the DigitalSTREAM box. But, it still may be worth a try with the above instructions before one goes out to purchase a new antenna (we needed a new one anyway!)

Well, it looks like the most colorful program in HD at this moment is on 2-1. It's called "New York TX HD," it's got all the colors of the rainbow on it, and it's been airing since at least 5:25 pm. I only have stereo, though, so I don't know if the audio on this show is 5.1 or not.:rolleyes:

Anybody here have DirecTv? Was wondering if your KCRG was all messed up or if it's just my dish. When I flip to QAM through Mediacom it's fine, but all of my DirecTv receivers are getting a fuzzy picture for KCRG.

as of 9:11 AM, KCRG is still messed up. Had to watch via antenna. Luckily, I still have one TV on an antenna

As I understand it, the sat services pick up local TV stations over-the-air with an antenna and beam them up to the satellite for retransmission. I don't know where that equipment is for the C.R. market, but it's always possible something got messed up in yesterday's storms and that may be causing them to receive or uplink a bad analog signal (which is apparently all they have the rights to at this time for KCRG). If you have DirecTV's number I'd go ahead and give them a ring if you're still having trouble.

Anybody here have DirecTv? Was wondering if your KCRG was all messed up or if it's just my dish. When I flip to QAM through Mediacom it's fine, but all of my DirecTv receivers are getting a fuzzy picture for KCRG.
KCRG doesn't have a retrans agreement with Direct yet for there HD do they?

My boss just bought a brand new HDTV and I went out to his house to try to help him get things setup. He lives just outside of Amana in the country, he lives on a hill and the hillside rises to the north of his house about 50 feet and is surrounded in that direction by trees. So naturally there would seem to be signal loss as a result. He has a large antenna sitting on about a 10 foot pole on top of his roof. He receives the following channels:

Analog
2
7
9
12
15
20
28
32

Digital
12
20
28
32

We cannot get 2, 7, or 9 digital channels in. 7 and 9 come in very clear on analog, 2 is not great, but decent. Is the digital signal from 2, 7, and 9 that much weaker than the analog signal? In February will the digital signals be increased by local stations, since they will no longer be sending analog signals?

What other things could he try to get his locals in digital? He doesn't have dish and no access to cable, so antenna is his only choice right now. He has about a 20 foot cable running from the antenna into his attic. From there it is hooked up to an old Winegard 4 way splitter (but only is using 2 tv's). From there he has 2 lines running to his 2 tv's. He has a preamp, but it only boosts analog signals. Would buying a digital preamp be helpful? Should he get a new splitter? Upgrade his cables to RG6? I presume they are currently RG59, because the cables don't say RG6. Without spending a fortune is there anything he can do to get those digital signals? He's willing to buy a new preamp if that will help, but doesn't want this to cost him too much. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Are you sure that he has a UHF antenna? The next thing I would do is bypass the amplifier and splitter to see if that helps.

Yeah, also checked my antenna and it's fine through there. Just seems to be a DirecTv issue.

KCRG doesn't have a retrans agreement with Direct yet for there HD do they?

Nope. The last time I emailed the station about it they didn't sound like they were interested in playing ball with D* either.

No matter what I do I can't pull in their HD signal on the SW side of Iowa City.

The Directv SD feed for Channel 9 is still messed up as of 7:30pm.

KCRG doesn't have a retrans agreement with Direct yet for there HD do they?
I haven't checked today, but last I knew you are correct that there is no KCRG retrans with Directv.

I too had a crappy picture thru my Directv receiver, but it was using the OTA signal. I did not check Mediacom, but I can believe that it may have been alright there since they have a direct fiber feed from KCRG as I understand it.

My OTA signal is looking good tonight on my MyHD card. I'll check Directv receiver later.

Got an email back from KCRG's engineer and there is a problem with the uplink to DirecTv. DirecTv is supposed to replace a part tonight and they hope it's back to normal tomorrow.

Ahhhh.... You mus tbe referring to the SD uplink for Directtv....

yeah - top post. flame me. :o

but seriously, I keep losing your (KWWL-HD) over CFU-HD cable; it eventually comes back, but the presence of your signal at any given time is nothing to bet the farm on...

I've called CFU, and they said it was a problem on your end, and you were aware of it. Just wondered if CFU is being lazy, and the problem is really theirs - I can always switch over to my OTA HD signal, and you are there. Likewise, on the CFU signal strength graph, your signal is good. So is there a timing issue, or maybe something in PSIP?

just curious - pretty soon I'm gonna want a reliable source of NBC-HD.

thanks,

yeah - top post. flame me. :o

but seriously, I keep losing your (KWWL-HD) over CFU-HD cable; it eventually comes back, but the presence of your signal at any given time is nothing to bet the farm on...

I've called CFU, and they said it was a problem on your end, and you were aware of it. Just wondered if CFU is being lazy, and the problem is really theirs - I can always switch over to my OTA HD signal, and you are there. Likewise, on the CFU signal strength graph, your signal is good. So is there a timing issue, or maybe something in PSIP?

just curious - pretty soon I'm gonna want a reliable source of NBC-HD.

thanks,

I've spoke with Pat a few times on this and we haven't made any headway. There is something screwy going on though. They get our signal via fiber. It gets to them, it is then fed into their system and either modulated on channel 407 or picked up via digital QAM tuners in consumer sets (pass-through). Being that we are on the air, we are indeed broadcasting PSIP data (otherwise no one would get us), and the signal is getting to them fine (no interruptions with their set-top boxes, so I'm not sure how that is a KWWL problem. He claims it is the same problem whether they take us from over the air or via fiber. I have no idea if they are even still looking into this... I just know there is nothing to do here! We have nothing to do with the QAM setup that CFU uses.

To add to that, Mediacom also gets us over fiber, and they pass through for free as well. Although they've been a nightmare this past week with outages with us (all on their end), they have no issues doing the same thing that CFU is trying to do. In fact on Sunday, they had an outage on their own set-top boxes, but the "free" QAM cablefeed was still coming through just fine.

Out of curiousity, do these channels so up as 7-1, 7-2 and 7-3 or something else. That would tell me if they are even passing the PSIP through. Also, does anyone have any idea if it is a problem isolated to certain television models. Jsut curious. I live in Cedar Falls, but I use a box (and have an off-air antenna as well), I'll try the QAM tuner in my set to see if I have issues tonight if I have time. Let me know if you have any other intel, but for now, this is a CFU problem (no matter what they say!)
-Jarrett

Jarrett - right now it is a problem on both my sets. I'm using their cablecard on my Sony 960 crt unit, and their set top box in the home theater - which is fed either to my Vizio LCD panel, or a DVDO VP50 processor, into my projector. fwiw, when I lose the signal, I lose it on both.

but you have inspired me to do more looking on my end; I have another set, connected via an LG stb of my own, to watch the free qam pass-thru. next time I have an outage, I'll go check that one, and let you know.

Sorry to hear that you've not made any headway - if Pat can't get it sorted out, it doesn't sound good. but I'll check the free qam feed, and see if that has the same problems.

thanks

Watching KWWL-DT tonight (NHL Hockey) via mediacom motorola 64** dvr, kwwl's drag is so low that I can only see the very top edge of the font/characters, and the dvr box setup has the screen "centered"
Same problem with kwwl-dt on my 19" via mediacom "qam"

I might be moving to the Dubuque area in the next few months, and just checked AntennaWeb out of curiosity...it was ugly. :p

I suppose a lot depends on how high up you are, but how much luck have you Dubuque folks had pulling in HD locals OTA (Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, or even Madison)?

And is the ABC station ever going to be on DirecTV in HD?

aktick: I live on the westside of Dubuque a few blocks from Kennedy Mall. I have a channel master 4228 uhf antenna on a decktable with a 4 foot mast pointing west and pick up kgan 2-1, kwwl 7-1, kcrg 9-1 and pbs 32-1 solid all the time. Sometimes kwkb 20-1 and kiin pbs 12-1. Can only recive kfxa fox 28-1 occasionlly. Pretty much out of luck if not at a high point in Dubuque or with a tower... I'm blocked to the north and east so can't tell you more...

Hey kids, just registered to say thanks for all the good info on the converter boxes. I stopped into RS at Westdale, handed over my coupons and a couple of $20s and change and had two DigitalSTREAM DTX9900s sent to my doorstep. Transition from ImOn couldn't have been easier!

Switched from cable to amplified attic antenna at my splitter, put the box between my power strip cable in/or and my TV, ran the quickie setup and VOILA, I get all the currently published channels for the CR area except for 15/UPN (?) And grooved on the little DigitalSTREAM extras as well. Thanks to you no pesky Wally World returns for me!

For the person asking about attic antennas a few pages back, I had an older TV3000 21" dish Recoton antenna hanging from the rafters using some clothesline. I already had it lined up for the best 2/7/9 analog reception possible so the switch over was totally painless. (Antenna adjustment is made by winding the clothesline around the mounting post and tying it to the floor joists -- am I technological or what?)

And to the person commenting on the RS manager who said converter boxes didn't need antenna support, I can one-up you. The ImOn cable installer who came to work on my internet service told me I could go ahead and throw my attic antenna away since "signals wouldn't be coming over the air anymore". Alrighty then, glad I listened to you guys instead of him. : - )

Sandy

I have my antenna mounted in my attic. I get good signals except on windy days. Yesterday When the the wind blew I lost signal a lot. The wind should not effect my antenna in the attic. Could the winds be effecting the transmission site? Anyone else have this problem?

I have an antenna in the attic as well and have never had issues on windy days.

I do know that there was a power outage for quite sometime yesterday afternoon into the evening (not sure when it came back up) that affected the digital signals of 2,9,32 (and possibly 7 as well). Maybe that is what you were experiencing?

Looks like several lost power at 3pm yesterday for 1-2 hours. http://www.cfu.net/CyberNet/HD/

... and it looks like the same happened today, too. The analogs for 7, 9 and several other stations were down quite a while (analog 7, 9 and 28 are back now, along with digital 28), and the DTs for the Walker-Rowley area stations are still out at this hour.

This has been a bad couple of weeks in Iowa, both on- and off-screen.

REC lost power on Friday, and again today. Looks like the generator at KCRG that powers their analog failed to come up today. I believe they are looking into replacing it soon as it's started to have reliability issues. Not sure why KWWL doesn't have a generator, I could have sworn they had one when Raycom owned the station. IPTV is working on getting generators for all their transmitters, but I haven't been given a time frame on when they will be installed.

What's the scoop for CFU cable today? My mother left me a phone message saying her CFU cable went out I guess around 4pm. Apparently, now, as of 6pm, only channels 2, 7, 9 are coming in, which is at least the news, but none of the rest? My Mediacom cable is just fine.

CFU main offices including the cable headend are under 4-5' of water. They hope to restore other channels in the next day or so.

http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2008/06/10/news/top_story/doc484f01746d1a6466568846.txt

http://www.kwwl.com/Global/story.asp?S=8462519

It appears they had a power outage at the studio or something. I was actually getting a level but a blank screen around 10:30 a.m. They came back around 11 a.m. but RTN wasn't working right and Weather Plus wasn't displaying local graphics. Right now, their subs are all simulcasting 7-1.

is mediacom's hd kcrg working for anyone tonight in iowa city? i don't expect for them to have the game but....

KCRG is working on generator issues at their studio tonight. I'm not getting anything off-air from the digital, and they aren't in the studio right now as there is no power in there while they do whatever it is they have to do.

Hey guys,

Our prayers and thoughts are with you and those in Wisconsin being affected by these awful, record floods out there. The video from KCRG, KGAN, and KWWL is stunning---in a bad way.

Hello Everyone,

my mother is having issues with the off air channels not working through her Direct tv receiver in Marshalltown. They were working in early may, but something happended and now they are all black. If she moves the coax to the back of the tv the channels come in but they are not as good when they go through the receiver before they black out.

Does anyone know what is going on?

Thanks for the help.

Troy

Which model of receiver is it? Hd? If it's HD, Directv's newer receivers/DVR's won't pass OTA locals anymore unlessd you subscribe to HD. This is something recent and only with the newest generation of hardware.

Otherwise, I'm not sure to tell you what to check. Could be a faulty receiver I suppose.

Which model of receiver is it? Hd? If it's HD, Directv's newer receivers/DVR's won't pass OTA locals anymore unlessd you subscribe to HD. This is something recent and only with the newest

I think that's partially correct... However I'm pretty sure there is an external USB ATSC tuner available for the HR21/H21 for over the air reception. So both the 20 and newer 21 series can be configured for local OTA HD reception.

Not sure the original post mentioned she isn't getting HD locals.... (Just locals)

From the description of getting some reception by hooking the coax directly to the TV and getting some local signal - I'm guessing the receiver was getting locals OTA and the coax was the lead from the antenna (I doubt she'd get much hooking the coax from an LNB directly to the TV.

Try going into setup in the menu and rescanning the local antenna signals.

Some of my older receivers would display black on a local channel assignment since I didn't subscribe to locals over the satellite, but as I recall I had multiple instances of the channel in the guide.

Hopefully rescanning for local channels does it for you.

KWWL is apparently off air due to an electrical fire.
According to KCRG.com the KWWL signal went off the air around 9:15pm Monday night.
Still no word on the extent of the damage or it's location.

Updates are being posted on the KWWL website.
http://www.kwwl.com/Global/story.asp?S=8500816

KWWL is apparently off air due to an electrical fire.
According to KCRG.com the KWWL signal went off the air around 9:15pm Monday night.
Still no word on the extent of the damage or it's location.

Updates are being posted on the KWWL website.
http://www.kwwl.com/Global/story.asp?S=8500816

Greetings all... I at last have some time to shed some light on all of the fun these past few weeks and our current situation at KWWL. Over the past few weeks, we been battling tornadoes, floods, and random power outages (last night with a brown out that started an electrical fire). When the locusts arrive next week, I'm calling in sick :eek:

A couple weeks ago, we had some outages in Rowley. Our visual PA tube failed on the analog rig, forcing us to go to the backup. Additionally, our generator wouldn't start due to a battery issue. We have that resolved now, but still do not have a functional transfer switch... meaning that I need to physically go out to the site and turn us over to generator power and back. That only powers the analog side of the building though, so the digital stays dark until commercial power is restored. Our hope is to put a whole new system in next year for the whole building, since it won't need to be nearly as large once the analog goes dark.

Even with commercial power though, the analog side was still suffering, since the another item burned up about a week later. We are still trying to get that obsolete part repaired. Hopefully by weeks end we will be back to normal in Rowley.

In Waterloo at the studios, the flood waters pushed the sanitary sewer up to absurd levels and began backing up in every location possible in our basement. Combine that with the normal river seepage and you get a huge mess that we were fighting to keep control over this past week. We've been cleaning stuff out of the basement and moving people around since last Tuesday. Things have been going relatively well, aside for the power outage last week and then last night's brown-out (where one of three power phases goes down). Brown-outs are much worse than blackouts... I'd rather have no power than the wrong amount!

The outage began at 7:55PM and we lost portions of the building that depended on that leg as a supply... and the 3 phase motors really didn't like the outage. One big one in particular that handled chiller for our lower levels, began to cook due to the increased current draw trying to make up for the lack of voltage. It started on fire and smoked out the entire building. We had the fire department on site to check out everything and get things ventilated. Mid-American had to pump a few feet of water out of many of their manholes to get at their transformer to look over things and find the problem. They at last found the cause of the blown fuse/leg a couple blocks away at midnight and got power back to us at 12:45 AM. It then took us another 15-30 minutes to get everything back up and running appropriately.

Needless to say things have been nuts around here... I think everyone needs a nap!

Hey, but on the plus side, at least Waterloo doesn't have alternate-side showering!:D

Seriously, the way things have been going the past few weeks -- and with KWWL and KCRG both located fairly close to the Cedar -- it's a wonder we aren't having more problems with TV than we are.

With all that's been going on lately, I think you've certainly earned a free pass! ;)

Brown-outs are much worse than blackouts... I'd rather have no power than the wrong amount!

I agree. Losing a phase is hell on motors. I would recommend that you install phase monitors on all three-phase motors. After burning out a 5hp motor on a brand new pump (and to replace the motor you end up tearing up the seal on the pump!) a couple years back I decided to add a phase monitor to my heat exchanger system. Of course, we never had a lost phase again after that until the time we decommissioned the entire transmitter. All of our air conditioners and our newer transmitters have the three phase monitors on them. Cheap insurance.

Now if only I could get generators for my sites, but that's coming soon.

Yay!

The bridges in downtown CR and the left lane of I-380 are now open! I can now drive home at a speed above 1 MPH!

(Sorry, I realize this has nothing to do with DTV, but I just had to shout it out somewhere.)

Mike

In a non-flood-related note: The FCC has granted KGAN's petition to be the exclusive CBS affiliate in Iowa City as far as cable and satellite are concerned.

As you probably know, Mediacom added WHBF -- the Quad Cities' CBS 4 -- to its cable lineup in the I.C. area after Sinclair pulled KGAN during its retransmission dispute. Mediacom claimed it was entitled to do so because the FCC had listed CBS 4 as "significantly viewed" in Johnson County. KGAN claims that is no longer the case.

Source: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-08-1438A1.pdf

In a non-flood-related note: The FCC has granted KGAN's petition to be the exclusive CBS affiliate in Iowa City as far as cable and satellite are concerned.

As you probably know, Mediacom added WHBF -- the Quad Cities' CBS 4 -- to its cable lineup in the I.C. area after Sinclair pulled KGAN during its retransmission dispute. Mediacom claimed it was entitled to do so because the FCC had listed CBS 4 as "significantly viewed" in Johnson County. KGAN claims that is no longer the case.

Source: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-08-1438A1.pdf AT&T/@Home, if I remember took the Quad City channels off the Iowa City cable tv years ago to add more junk channels. So basically when Mediacom bought the system from AT&T, Mediacom didn't added them back on, so Mediacom basically shot it's own foot off. But it was nice to have WHBF, as I watched it most of the time....instead of KGAN/$inclair.

ADDED: Interesting to note that the surveys used were 2 periods when WHBF was not on the Iowa City cable system.
From Page #4
"The first year’s survey audience estimates were derived from July 2005 and November 2005 audience sweep data, combined, and the second year’s estimates from the July 2006 and November 2006 audience sweep data, combined."

Now, a couple of notes which ARE flood-related:

- Mediacom plans to give credits for viewers in areas which lost service or electricity for extended periods due to the flooding, reports Gazette Online (http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080620/NEWS/958756832/1001/NEWS).

- The FCC has granted ImOn's request to waive a rule banning set-top cable boxes with integrated security, according to the commission's web site (http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-08-1453A1.pdf). The rule was intended to make the set-top box market more competitive, but ImOn claims its vendors face a backlog of orders for boxes which comply with the new rules, even as ImOn must replace an estimated 2,000 boxes destroyed by the flood.

Quad City locals were removed from the Iowa City/Coralville cable lineup before 1993, which probably makes it a Heritage decision, outside possibility of early TCI which took over 3rd quarter of '92.
Hawkeye begat Heritage which begat TCI which begat AT&T (@Home was an entirely separate entity, actually launched in the tail end of TCI's ownership) which begat Mediacom

I remember it as TCI, and it was a big deal for folks in places like Tama who straddle two media markets. Some folks lost stations they liked, and you'd hear people say that especially during severe weather they liked being able to watch stations in the more western market.

Of course, back then, cable bandwidth was much more limited than it is today. Channels only went up to something like 36 or 38 back then. By the time FX came into being sometime in '94 a lot of systems -- even in places located firmly in ONE broadcast market -- were maxed out and remained that way until they were rebuilt years later. When new channels came knocking, they couldn't come in unless old channels went.

anybody know who is erecting a field of satellite dishes off Hwy 13 east of Marion?

A little bit better news from at least one station:

KYOU (Fox 15, Ottumwa) has filed an application (http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1251109&Service=DT&Form_id=301&Facility_id=53820) for a construction permit in which it seeks to put out 360 kW on channel 15. The transmitter would remain near Rubio, just a few miles north of the Jefferson County line, and its proposed service area should reach not just Ottumwa but also Washington and even the Iowa City metro area. Some Cedar Rapidians could conceivably get it as well, if they're lucky.

That is, if the appication is approved. Right now, it's just "accepted for filing."

Plus, there's the issue of whether their studio facilities are far enough along to provide Fox in HD.

Just joined and trying to find help on a Samsung plasma screen problem. I can't find out how to post a question. Anyone help??
Thanks,
Shell

Even more applications:

- KWWL has filed a maximization application (http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1249899&Service=DT&Form_id=301&Facility_id=593), seeking 30 kW on its post-transition channel 7. They currently have a construction permit for 21.8 kW on that channel.

- KIIN has done likewise (http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1248723&Service=DT&Form_id=340&Facility_id=29095), seeking 57 kW on its post-transition channel 12. Their current CP is for 17.8 kW.

- KFXB (Christian Television Network affiliate) is seeking (http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1249134&Service=DT&Form_id=301&Facility_id=17625) approval for a 1 MW directional antenna at its site across the river from Dubuque. That's a boost from their 800 kW CP, although their proposed antenna height will be lower than that CP by about 26 feet. A submitted coverage map suggests the signal may reach viewers in northeastern Linn and far eastern Buchanan counties, but not most of Cedar Rapids or any of Waterloo.

- KWKB's appication (http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1251484&Service=DT&Form_id=301&Facility_id=35096) seeks to raise their antenna 20.1 m (67 feet) from where it is now. They are already licenced for 1 MW directional from just north of West Branch.

Just joined and trying to find help on a Samsung plasma screen problem. I can't find out how to post a question. Anyone help??
Thanks,
ShellDepends on the problem. If your problem is receiving our digital stations, this is it. If it's something else about the TV itself, try looking up a forum in the plasma flat-panel display area, which you should find at:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=167

I live up here in Wadena and bought a Zenith D/A converter box from Radio Shack and hooked it up to my rooftop antenna that also runs through a signal amp. I was amazed at what I found. For analog, KCRG has the best signal and KGAN comes in really poor. (We get interference from Channel 3 in Mason City up here.) KWWL is second best and 32 comes in fairly well. I get the old Pax station really fuzzy and absolutely no Fox 28. With digital, KCRG has the worst digital signal and cuts out a lot as the signal is too weak. KWWL is marginally better, but ocassionally will give you a digital freeze frame here and there. It's worse in a thunderstorm because the lightning flashes seem to affect the signal. Believe it or not (I barely could) but KGAN has got the best signal on digital up here followed by 32 out of Waterloo. My antenna is pointed right at the towers in the Rowley/Walker area and I've tried running through the amp and without it and the signal is actually better with the amp. I've tried moving the antenna to no avail. KCRG just seems to have a faint digital signal here and KWWL's is only a bit better. Who would have thought KGAN would have the best signal here? Not me. I've written e-mails to KCRG asking them if they are broadcasting on limited power with their digital signal and haven't gotten any response. Does anyone know if I can expect better signals from KCRG and KWWL after the switch to all digital, and will Fox or the old Pax boost their signals so that we can get them up here? Thanks for any help or advice.

Anybody care to speculate when KCRG & KGAN & KFXA are going to buy/install the equiptment needed to run a drag on their HD feed, like KWWL? Would be nice B4 the start of the fall season, provided the actors don't go out on strike.

I live up here in Wadena and bought a Zenith D/A converter box from Radio Shack and hooked it up to my rooftop antenna that also runs through a signal amp. I was amazed at what I found. For analog, KCRG has the best signal and KGAN comes in really poor. (We get interference from Channel 3 in Mason City up here.) KWWL is second best and 32 comes in fairly well. I get the old Pax station really fuzzy and absolutely no Fox 28. With digital, KCRG has the worst digital signal and cuts out a lot as the signal is too weak. KWWL is marginally better, but ocassionally will give you a digital freeze frame here and there. It's worse in a thunderstorm because the lightning flashes seem to affect the signal. Believe it or not (I barely could) but KGAN has got the best signal on digital up here followed by 32 out of Waterloo. My antenna is pointed right at the towers in the Rowley/Walker area and I've tried running through the amp and without it and the signal is actually better with the amp. I've tried moving the antenna to no avail. KCRG just seems to have a faint digital signal here and KWWL's is only a bit better. Who would have thought KGAN would have the best signal here? Not me. I've written e-mails to KCRG asking them if they are broadcasting on limited power with their digital signal and haven't gotten any response. Does anyone know if I can expect better signals from KCRG and KWWL after the switch to all digital, and will Fox or the old Pax boost their signals so that we can get them up here? Thanks for any help or advice.

I would look at what kind of antenna you have. Most of the rooftop antennas used by folks out in the boonies to receive analog broadcasts are poor at receiving the high-uhf channels currently broadcast by KCRG, KGAN and KWWL.

(An antenna which is good at getting channels 2, 7, 9 won't be good at getting 50, 51 and 55 and vice versa)

Mike

Did KWWL have technical difficulties with the DBQ fireworks coverage?

It looked like an abortion from a production standpoint.
No offense, I just hoped there was a technical explanation...

Did KWWL have technical difficulties with the DBQ fireworks coverage?

It looked like an abortion from a production standpoint.
No offense, I just hoped there was a technical explanation...

We had some issues... but nothing too far out of the ordinary for a live remote. The big issue was actually at the studio end (no audio for the first 6 minutes of the 9PM show). Someone had a patch in which cut the audio leaving the booth and then forgot about it. Additionally, someone also played with the audio board and the mix-minus feed (talent listening system), which caused issues. Those are mistakes that we will be "addressing" today.

Overall though, I thought the rest of the show was OK. We can certainly improve, but abortion is pretty harsh! The only other thing I knew of were a few operator errors in the five o'clock cast with the video switcher in our satellite truck. We worked those out shortly after that though. Was there something I missed that you noticed? -Jarrett

Didn't watch it......

Flip it off after seeing that Fear Itself was not on.... :mad:

Didn't watch it......

Flip it off after seeing that Fear Itself was not on.... :mad:

I know that stinks... my wife wasn't happy either. You can watch it on NBC.com though. Hope that helps!

didn't watch either, Jarret - but probably just referring to local sd quality broadcast, vs. NBC's multi-cam HD Macy's show. I know that last year's CR fireworks, on KGAN, looked quite bad - but what can you expect? Either IPTV or the Macy's show on NBC pretty much define fireworks, imho. (and the IPTV show has too many "entertainers" and not enough things that go boom)

on the bright side, the Macy's fireworks "spectacular" was just that. not like the real thing, but a lot more convenient, and a touch safer.

What's up with the KWWL audio tonight? We're watching America's Got Talent (Directv feed) and the audio sounds like it's from a coffee can. I checked all the TV's and it sounds the same. The other locals sound OK.

What's up with the KWWL audio tonight? We're watching America's Got Talent (Directv feed) and the audio sounds like it's from a coffee can. I checked all the TV's and it sounds the same. The other locals sound OK.

Was that on the SD or HD stream that DirecTV has of KWWL? I know that we have a problem with a piece of NBC gear right now that embeds the audio for the HD path (we are waiting for a loaner piece of gear), but the SD should be fine. Right now it sounds OK with HD on the Today Show. I'll keep an ear on it... it could be in the DirecTV path as well.

Was that on the SD or HD stream that DirecTV has of KWWL? I know that we have a problem with a piece of NBC gear right now that embeds the audio for the HD path (we are waiting for a loaner piece of gear), but the SD should be fine. Right now it sounds OK with HD on the Today Show. I'll keep an ear on it... it could be in the DirecTV path as well.

It was the HD stream. I'm not sure I noticed it later though and the rest of the locals seemed OK. I didn't notice it this morning either.

For what it's worth, the Des Moines Register (http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080709/BUSINESS/80709050/1001/NEWS) is reporting that WHO-TV in Des Moines will take over production of KDSM's 9 o'clock newscast starting this fall. Up to now, the newscasts on KGAN, KFXA and KDSM had all been anchored from Broadcast Park. As of sometime this September, it looks like it'll just be 2 and 28 there.

You may recall that we purchased both the DigitalStream converter box from RS and an RCA 800 box from WalMart using our gov't coupons. We loved the DigitalStream, but were annoyed with the RCA (but eventually got it to work). Well, now we are having problems with the DigitalStream. Yesterday after the TV had been on for about an hour, there was an annoying hum sound to it. Today, again after the TV was on for about an hour, it started to hum again. We know it's the box because we disconnected it from the TV and with the TV still on, there was no hum. But, when we reconnected the TV to the box, there was the hum again. We'll be calling RS tomorrow to see what can be done since this appears to now be a defective box -- it had been working great until yesterday! Anyone else have a problem like this?

I have the Zenith model that Radio Shack carries and I get "hum bars" from mine. Mine is coming from the city cable feed though. I have my box hooked up via the RCA jacks while the city cable is connected via the normal coax connection. When I disconnect the city cable source from the back of my television, the hum bars go away. I think there is a DC blocking filter that I can get to put on the town cable feed that should cure the problem. Not sure where your source of interference is coming from. Your problem could very well be with the box, but I wonder if you're not also picking up some outside interference.

What's up Jarrett???? First we had to watch silly fireworks, and now a crappy SD version.

Someone fall asleep at the switch last night????

UPDATE: KCRG, KFXB file transition updates

KCRG-TV9 filed an updated transition plan (http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1256858&Service=TV&Form_id=387&Facility_id=9719) with the FCC Thursday. The station is no longer planning to cut off its analog signal early, but since it needs to re-tool part of its existing Channel 9 transmitter to digital, it will reduce its analog power output from its current 316 kW sometime this October. The size of the power cut was not specified, but they will file a request for Special Temporary Authority.

(How refreshing ... An STA for reduced power ANALOG. Never thought we'd see the day, did we?)

KCRG has also applied (http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1257355&Service=DT&Form_id=301&Facility_id=9719) for a post-transition power boost, from 18.8 kW to 30.4 kW. KWWL filed for a similar power boost earlier.

Meanwhile, over at KFXB-CTN 40 in Dubuque, the station says it is still awaiting action on the request (http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1235610&Service=TV&Form_id=911&Facility_id=17625) it made back in February for a "phased transition" so it can gradually increase its power. KFXB says it cannot go full-power digital until its analog antenna is removed due to wind load issues on its tower across the river in Grant County, WI.

I have the Zenith model that Radio Shack carries and I get "hum bars" from mine. Mine is coming from the city cable feed though. I have my box hooked up via the RCA jacks while the city cable is connected via the normal coax connection. When I disconnect the city cable source from the back of my television, the hum bars go away. I think there is a DC blocking filter that I can get to put on the town cable feed that should cure the problem. Not sure where your source of interference is coming from. Your problem could very well be with the box, but I wonder if you're not also picking up some outside interference.

Well, it appears it may not have been the box at all. We took it back to RS and explained the situation. Of course they had not heard about this, but since this is all new to everyone, they were very willing to replace the box with a new one -- however, they didn't have any in stock, so we must wait for one to be directly shipped to us -- which is fine with us. But after a couple of hours of watching "regular" TV (don't have cable) with crappy reception for the non-VHF/UHF stations, the hum sound came and there was a bit of a distortion (lines) at the top of the screen. So, now we're thinking maybe it was the TV afterall (we've been racking our brains to try to remember when we got it and how old it may be -- so it's probably about 10 years old). It may be going out on us and we'll be forced to buy a newer TV -- but we'll see what the new box will do. We were wondering now if maybe the box connection to the TV shorted out something. Most likely not...but who knows?

What's up Jarrett???? First we had to watch silly fireworks, and now a crappy SD version.

Someone fall asleep at the switch last night????

No one asleep at the wheel...
If you recall one of my last posts... we had a piece of NBC gear that embeds the audio for our HD stream that failed a couple weeks ago and were awaiting a loaner. Well, we are still awaiting that box! We have stayed with the SD stream since that point, since most people prefer to have some audio with the video on TV. ;)
We have notified NBC and they went after the vender. We expect it today, so hopefully NBC HD programming will resume tonight. No promises though, since we haven't received it yet! :mad:

UPDATE: KWWL, KWKB, KYOU file updated transition reports with FCC

... but there's not much new on any of them.

KWKB (CW/My Iowa City) and KYOU (Fox 15 Ottumwa), though, both note that they've filed requests to maximize their digital signals, as reported earlier in this thread.

KWWL still says it may not be able to go full-blast digital on Channel 7 immediately after 2-17-09 because it's relying on another QNI station's VHF transmitter for additional components, and that VHF station -- WAOW in Wausau, WI -- is also expected to keep analog on the air until 2-17-09.

I'm having problems getting KGAN-DT in HD(89.4). It's always choppy and breaks in and out. This is the only station that I have this problem with! Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I'm still having problems with KGAN-DT. They seem to be the only channel that has this issue constantly.

Has anyone noticed any pixelation or audio dropouts on 2-1 this morning? My signal strength shows 85-90 and I am still having troubles.

John

Mediacom Iowa City, IA - QAM channel mappings:
(as of 07/22/08)
72.3 CSNCH
89.4 KGANDT
111.256 CSPAN
113.4 WHBFDT
114.1 KWWLDT
114.2 KWWLDT2
114.4 KRINDT
115.2 KCRGDT
115.4 KFXADT
115.6 KCRGDT2
117.11 TVGUIDE
117.13 TVGUIDE
117.15 TVGUIDE
117.17 TVGUIDE
117.19 TVGUIDE
117.21 TVGUIDE

Mediacom in CR maps the same way, with the exception of 113.4. What is the idea behind repeating that idiotic TV Guide channel?

I'm having problems getting KGAN-DT in HD(89.4). It's always choppy and breaks in and out. This is the only station that I have this problem with! Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Sounds like signal quality issues. Try removing splitters, etc or perhaps use an amplifier. Worst case scenario, have MC come check your levels.

Haven't been able to pick up KCRG DT off air since yesterday.
other locals are fine.
doesn't seem to be coming in on 115-2 on Mediacom either?
some unplanned maintenance?

KCRG on both OTA & Mediacom look fine as of 8:00am.

What is the idea behind repeating that idiotic TV Guide channel?
Probably because Mediacom feeds several cities off the headend with slightly different channel listings. N Liberty, Coralville's lineup are slightly different, mainly local city channels.

I haven't had any issues picking up KCRG-DT on Mediacom 115.2 lately in Iowa City.

Weaselfest, where are you located?

Haven't been able to pick up KCRG DT off air since yesterday.
other locals are fine.
doesn't seem to be coming in on 115-2 on Mediacom either?
some unplanned maintenance?

Mediacom in Waterloo is also close, except:

113.4 - CSNCHD
117.4 - KGANDT
128.8 - KWKB (not digital, just channel 20 again)

Anyone know why the national news in no longer in HD on Kwwl?

Anyone know why the national news in no longer in HD on Kwwl?

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we have had problems with a piece of NBC gear that prevented us from utilizing our HD stream. We finally got the replacement box on Wednesday of last week and have had HD programming since that point. -Jarrett

Is KWKB off-air? I was also missing KCRG 9.1 and 9.2 but they came back, KWKB not so far. Nothing on their website -- just me?

Works for me.... Crappy weather conditions for signals.

I saw an ad on tv yesterday that offered cnn in hd from mediacom along w/ a variety of other channels. I know they have had the cnnhd logo on their site but have not had the channel. http://www.mediacomcc.com/cable_hdtv.html

anyone know if they are going to add it to the lineup in iowa city?

KWKB-DT was back today last I checked. They've been off a few days.

I saw an ad on tv yesterday that offered cnn in hd from mediacom along w/ a variety of other channels. I know they have had the cnnhd logo on their site but have not had the channel. http://www.mediacomcc.com/cable_hdtv.html

anyone know if they are going to add it to the lineup in iowa city?
From your link. "Not all channels available in all areas. Channels subject to change. Channels must originate in HD - Format to be displayed in HD." Don't know about cnn, but I can tell you that WGN-HD & USA-HD were added to the Iowa City headend yesterday afternoon.

So what happened to KWWL-HD this morning? I turned my TV on this morning, it was still on 7-1 from last night, and Today looked like the HD was "scrunched" horizontally into a 4:3 area.

EDIT: Looks like it's fixed now for men's beach volleyball.

Is poor PQ of the Olympic broadcast NBC wide, or is it just KWWL? The motion artifacts are getting ridulous.

So what happened to KWWL-HD this morning? I turned my TV on this morning, it was still on 7-1 from last night, and Today looked like the HD was "scrunched" horizontally into a 4:3 area.

EDIT: Looks like it's fixed now for men's beach volleyball.

We changed some wiring so that we would utilize some different gear to clean up our switching between HD and SD programming (and also to prevent a piece of NBC gear from disabling our HD stream again like it did last month). We also were installing some of our replacement NBC gear from our problems last week (we were on backup units this weekend). Unfortunately, one of the switchers had some issues and then our formatting got goofed up while we were working on it. It looks fine now. We are keeping on top of it!

That's great, Jarret. You got the HD up and running (in whatever form) by the opening ceremonies. I have to believe any of the artifacting is coming from the feed, not KWWL - after all, it is just 1080i. It looks fine on my fp, with the high buck video processor; I only have real problems with my Vizio lcd panel - and much of that has to be blamed on the panels internal processors, rather than KWWL. (much as I would like to blame someone else, one often gets what one pays for.)

That's great, Jarret. You got the HD up and running (in whatever form) by the opening ceremonies. I have to believe any of the artifacting is coming from the feed, not KWWL - after all, it is just 1080i. It looks fine on my fp, with the high buck video processor; I only have real problems with my Vizio lcd panel - and much of that has to be blamed on the panels internal processors, rather than KWWL. (much as I would like to blame someone else, one often gets what one pays for.)

It's not my tv because I can watch other channels and not see the artifacts to the extent that I see them on KWWL. How much bandwidth is being choked out of 7.1 for the sub channels?

It's not my tv because I can watch other channels and not see the artifacts to the extent that I see them on KWWL. How much bandwidth is being choked out of 7.1 for the sub channels?

We have about 3 MB for the 7.3 and 1.75 MB for 7.2 on average... there is some adaptive software that will actually squeeze those more if required for the 1080i stream on 7.1. I see the artifacts too when the olympic rings fly in. 1080i just stinks for sports (in my opinion). I'm not sure if it would make too big of a difference to go to full 19MB for the 7.1 stream. I'll try to watch the NBC downlink to see how much better it looks (if it looks better at all).

I remember seeing some of that artifacting on the Athens telecast, before KWWL had any subchannels.

I remember seeing some of that artifacting on the Athens telecast, before KWWL had any subchannels.

or, really, on dang near any fast moving event on a 1080i network...isn't that why some networks went the other way, with 720p?:cool:

After all - if all you're going to broadcast is a talking head in a studio - 1080i has more lines, and should look better. (say, the highly rated show, Opening Suitcases with Money) - but should your network have a contract to do actual sports (say, NFL? ) - its going to look better in 720p.

Tho I'll still stand by what I said before, tsduke - with better processing, NBC's feed looks better. Proved it again last night - hooked up my folks with a cheapo 32" panel, until they get moved back into their house. Watched HD Olympics, then went home and watched the same thing on my 960. Same size screen, same CFU feed, but no comparison in the display. - but then again, my sony only cost 4 times what their lcd cost. :eek:

Is poor PQ of the Olympic broadcast NBC wide, or is it just KWWL? The motion artifacts are getting ridulous.

KWWL's Olympics look horrid.

But, I've been watching WHO-HD for about the past hour. It looks horrid as well. :(

I must be easily impressed -- I'm in NE CR watching KWWL OTA 7.1 on my Sony A2000 50" set (never mind my screen name -- that purchase was a big mistake and that set is long gone) and the PQ is breathtaking.

KWWL's Olympics look horrid.

But, I've been watching WHO-HD for about the past hour. It looks horrid as well. :(It should be noted that WHO added the Weather Plus subchannel this year. (Oddly enough, they could have added it long before their competitor launched Weather Now and actually gotten a leg up on KCCI, but that's neither here nor there.)

But I do seem to remember flipping around the channels in Ames one weekend afternoon and seeing similar artifacting on 13-1 during an NBC auto race, and it was sometime between the time when they got rid of their "radar-only" subchannel and the time they added Weather Plus.

I have KWWL and still/slow frames look like one expects HD to look like, but camera panning (which, you know, happens a lot when covering sporting events!) results in simply awful (disgusting) MPEG artifacts. This is nothing new with 1080i, though, which just isn't ideal for watching sports. That's why I prefer watching NFL football on KFXA in 720p rather than on KGAN or KWWL (although KGAN's NFL games still look better to me than KWWL).

Is there anything new on KCRG and DirecTV reaching a retrans agreement for HD ? I'd sure like to have that for football season (although I get it on antenna fine)

Can anyone give me some advice or help on this. For the last couple of years, I got KWWL HD and KGAN HD, plus KCRG HD OTA just great. Now, for the last 4 or 5 months, I still get KCRG HD OTA great, but can rarely get KWWL and KGAN. I can still get the analog signals, but even they are fuzzy and not very good. I dont' understand it...my roof antenna hasn't been moved or anything...any ideas what's going on? Have KWWL and KGAN lowered their signal power or something. I'm about halfway between CR and Iowa City. Thanks!

Starting Wednesday, my customers also began complaining that KWWL 7-1 became erratic for them. I don't know if it's related or not, but the CFU site:

cfu.net/CyberNet/HD/index.php

also showed a change on 7-1 on Wednesday.

Ian

Starting Wednesday, my customers also began complaining that KWWL 7-1 became erratic for them. I don't know if it's related or not, but the CFU site:

cfu.net/CyberNet/HD/index.php

also showed a change on 7-1 on Wednesday.

Ian

What is odd about that, is that we heard the same thing... I checked out at the transmitter and nothing was any different. No carrier leakage issues and we were at full power. Additionally, we were not seeing any issues at the studio (on Insingia and RCA boxes in our shop) or at my place in Cedar Falls where I'm just using an indoor antenna behind my TV. It is barely on the rigth side of the "cliff" and I'd see issues there pretty quickly I'd imagine. We are still monitoring it, but nothing seems amiss here at KWWL.
-Jarrett

Jarrett - your signal was just about useless during the rain last nite - probably 7-8:30pm. Is that something that will get better after the switchover? (I hope)

and Ian - fwiw, the signal via CFU is still flaky - works at my house, but not at my folk's just down the road...I suppose the flood derailed the plans to give us fiber this summer.:(

Tho Jarrett - last nite CFU was more stable than the OTA...is this part of a nefarious plot on your part? Make the signal so unstable that we're happy to even get it, instead of complaining about the quality of the NBC feed? ;)

Is there anything new on KCRG and DirecTV reaching a retrans agreement for HD ? I'd sure like to have that for football season (although I get it on antenna fine)

Yes I would like an answer to this as well. I'm really growing tired of watching ABC in SD when the other locals have been HD for a long time now. I'm more than ready to just quit watching KCRG all together until they reach an agreement. Given that the other locals have reached agreements a long time ago, I don't buy the argument that this is D*'s fault.

Yes I would like an answer to this as well. I'm really growing tired of watching ABC in SD when the other locals have been HD for a long time now. I'm more than ready to just quit watching KCRG all together until they reach an agreement. Given that the other locals have reached agreements a long time ago, I don't buy the argument that this is D*'s fault.

I agree with you 100%. I find it very hard to believe this is D*'s fault when all the other local have been up and running for awhile now. I wonder what kind of an answer I would get if I emailed KCRG.........

I agree with you 100%. I find it very hard to believe this is D*'s fault when all the other local have been up and running for awhile now. I wonder what kind of an answer I would get if I emailed KCRG.........

Well, I sent an email to KCRG's general manager. Here's his reply:

No progress to report on. Frankly, the ball is in their court. What we have asked them for is the same financial consideration that they are giving to many other broadcasters, no more no less. KCRG will not accept anything less.


I would encourage you to contact someone at DirecTV and ask them why they don’t carry our signal and I would love to know what their response is.



Please let me know if you have any other questions.



Regards,

John Phelan


Maybe I'll try contacting Directv next..........

Well, I sent an email to KCRG's general manager. Here's his reply:

No progress to report on. Frankly, the ball is in their court. What we have asked them for is the same financial consideration that they are giving to many other broadcasters, no more no less. KCRG will not accept anything less.


I would encourage you to contact someone at DirecTV and ask them why they don’t carry our signal and I would love to know what their response is.



Please let me know if you have any other questions.



Regards,

John Phelan


Maybe I'll try contacting Directv next..........

Obviously that's total BS. Why would D* demand to pay them less than they pay the other locals? KCRG is demanding more is what the REAL problem is. Starting tonight I'm done with them until this is resolved.

Obviously that's total BS. Why would D* demand to pay them less than they pay the other locals? KCRG is demanding more is what the REAL problem is. Starting tonight I'm done with them until this is resolved.

How about this, KCRG is a single small market station. The other 3 stations are all members of a large group of stations - Sinclair KGAN/KFXA and Quincy or whatever it is KWWL. Why wouldn't DirecTV the large national corporation try and save a few pennies and stick it to the small local station??? So they don't have an agreement with one station in one market. That sure isn't going to hurt them as much as not having an agreement with Sinclair or Quincy and not being able to carry their 50, 60 or whatever stations in that many markets.

I have emailed Directv several times about this and they basically don't even bother to answer the question, just give back some crap about satellite capacity. If you are not present at the discussions that may or may not be taking place, you cannot have a clue as to who is telling the truth.

How about this, KCRG is a single small market station. The other 3 stations are all members of a large group of stations - Sinclair KGAN/KFXA and Quincy or whatever it is KWWL. Why wouldn't DirecTV the large national corporation try and save a few pennies and stick it to the small local station??? So they don't have an agreement with one station in one market. That sure isn't going to hurt them as much as not having an agreement with Sinclair or Quincy and not being able to carry their 50, 60 or whatever stations in that many markets.

I have emailed Directv several times about this and they basically don't even bother to answer the question, just give back some crap about satellite capacity. If you are not present at the discussions that may or may not be taking place, you cannot have a clue as to who is telling the truth.

Does D* have a several other markets where they don't have agreements with one local smaller station? I don't really know, but I'd be more willing to accept that as the possible truth if there were several markets out there where this same situation presents itself. Clearly capacity is not an issue for D* now, so that excuse won't hold water. Maybe I'll fire off an email and see what they have to say.

Yes, from what I have read there are many markets with 1 or 2 stations missing. dbstalk and satelliteguys.us are good places to see this info. DirecTV and Dish Network would much rather have agreements with the large station group owners as this covers more of their cities. If they are missing a station here or there it doesn't really seem to bother them.

Even if they have agreements it sometimes takes forever to see the station. DirecTV announced last fall that they would be carrying local PBS stations, yet they still don't.

Yes, from what I have read there are many markets with 1 or 2 stations missing. dbstalk and satelliteguys.us are good places to see this info. DirecTV and Dish Network would much rather have agreements with the large station group owners as this covers more of their cities. If they are missing a station here or there it doesn't really seem to bother them.

Even if they have agreements it sometimes takes forever to see the station. DirecTV announced last fall that they would be carrying local PBS stations, yet they still don't.

True. I think I'm able to get the distant HD ABC feed since KCRG isn't available in HD. I'm going to try anyway.

True. I think I'm able to get the distant HD ABC feed since KCRG isn't available in HD. I'm going to try anyway.

I highly doubt you can. KCRG would have to sign the waiver for you. Not gonna happen.

TRANSITION UPDATE: KWWL

The FCC has granted KWWL's request (http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1249899&Service=DT&Form_id=301&Facility_id=593) for a construction permit which will let them use up to 30 kW on Channel 7. The commission had approved them for 21.8 kW. (This actually happened Wednesday according to online records, but I had other things to do and didn't get around to checking.)

A similar application (http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1258668&Service=DT&Form_id=301&Facility_id=9719) from KCRG remains "accepted for filing," as does that fairly sizable boost request (http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1258668&Service=DT&Form_id=301&Facility_id=9719) from KYOU in Ottumwa.

I highly doubt you can. KCRG would have to sign the waiver for you. Not gonna happen.

I'm seeing over at DBStalk a couple guys that were allowed to have it along with the SD version of their local since their local wasn't in HD. It's worth a shot playing CSR roulette and seeing what happens.

TRANSITION UPDATE: KWWL

The FCC has granted KWWL's request (http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1249899&Service=DT&Form_id=301&Facility_id=593) for a construction permit which will let them use up to 30 kW on Channel 7. The commission had approved them for 21.8 kW. (This actually happened Wednesday according to online records, but I had other things to do and didn't get around to checking.)

A similar application (http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1258668&Service=DT&Form_id=301&Facility_id=9719) from KCRG remains "accepted for filing," as does that fairly sizable boost request (http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1258668&Service=DT&Form_id=301&Facility_id=9719) from KYOU in Ottumwa.

I just got that notice emailed to me this morning... very good news. We still need to get the transmitter for this 30 KW ERP grant, but will hopefully have that in and installed within a month or two after the analog cutoff. We have the 3.2 KW rig in place for now, which was our initial grant. I'd love to have it in earlier, but there is a serious backlog with installation across the country with everyone trying to get done before Feb 17, 2009. We may get the new rig in time, but I figure it will be March or April before we officially maximize on channel 7. I'll keep you all posted!
-Jarrett

I highly doubt you can. KCRG would have to sign the waiver for you. Not gonna happen.


Can and does and did happen.

And I did not even need a waiver - living in Dubuque means I get no OTA coverage of any channel whatsoever - so D* has a blanket waiver - got the NY HD ABC as soon as I called - no problems whatsoever. And still get KCRG in SD as well.

Can and does and did happen.

And I did not even need a waiver - living in Dubuque means I get no OTA coverage of any channel whatsoever - so D* has a blanket waiver - got the NY HD ABC as soon as I called - no problems whatsoever. And still get KCRG in SD as well.


Fantastic. This is exactly my situation living in a valley so hoping for the same result.

Can and does and did happen.

And I did not even need a waiver - living in Dubuque means I get no OTA coverage of any channel whatsoever - so D* has a blanket waiver - got the NY HD ABC as soon as I called - no problems whatsoever. And still get KCRG in SD as well.The "blanket waiver" may not apply after local-into-local is introduced in the Cedar Rapids market, which claims Dubuque. From the FCC SHVERA fact sheet:

"In general, the SHVERA statute prevents a satellite carrier from offering distant digital signals if it makes local-into-local digital signals available to you unless you were receiving distant digital signals as of December 8, 2004."

They could bring in stations from the "significantly-viewed" list, of course, but that list only includes Cedar Rapids-Waterloo stations plus KFXB for Dubuque County.

In general, if a satellite carrier offers local-into-local digital signals in your area, it is not allowed to offer you distant digital signals, unless you were receiving distant digital signals as of December 8, 2004. At this time, local into local digital signals are offered in a limited number of areas.

Subscribers who are "unserved" with respect to analog service are eligible for distant digital signals. Satellite companies are not required to offer distant digital signals.

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/shvera.html

In general, if a satellite carrier offers local-into-local digital signals in your area, it is not allowed to offer you distant digital signals, unless you were receiving distant digital signals as of December 8, 2004. At this time, local into local digital signals are offered in a limited number of areas.

Subscribers who are "unserved" with respect to analog service are eligible for distant digital signals. Satellite companies are not required to offer distant digital signals.

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/shvera.html... but if it offers local digital signals, it cannot offer distant digital ones, according to the same sheet. The way I read it, it doesn't seem to matter if you're unserved on the analog side.

The "blanket waiver" may not apply after local-into-local is introduced in the Cedar Rapids market, which claims Dubuque. From the FCC SHVERA fact sheet:

"In general, the SHVERA statute prevents a satellite carrier from offering distant digital signals if it makes local-into-local digital signals available to you unless you were receiving distant digital signals as of December 8, 2004."

They could bring in stations from the "significantly-viewed" list, of course, but that list only includes Cedar Rapids-Waterloo stations plus KFXB for Dubuque County.


Understood.

However I got the waiver (Blanket) well after locals were offered in HD from Cedar Rapids.

Now - I am sure this is because living where I do in Dubuque is considered an unserved area ( No possible way to get OTA signals) therefore I got the waiver - no questions asked. And as of this post I still have the ABC feed from NY and I expect to keep it right up til when KCRG begins offering a HD signal on dIRECTV.

Hey all, I don't have anything to add to the current discussion, but thought I would report some new digital recepition info.

My Dish 622 receiver updated last night, and woke up to a loss of local channels (not the first time for this, thanks Dish). I get my local HD OTA. I did a rescan and fortunately got all of them back. I live in Waterloo, and so I was surprised to see that a few new (for me) channels showed up. I got both KLJB and KWQC and their subchannels out of the quad cities. I did a little looking and saw that their digital tower is in Orion, IL vs. Bettendorf where the analog tower is. Just wondering if anyone else in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area has seen them, too. I use an old school UHF/VHF rooftop antenna.

I highly doubt you can. KCRG would have to sign the waiver for you. Not gonna happen.

Just got off the phone with D* and I'm eligible for both distant ABC HD channels since I can't get KCRG via OTA. Great news. Should have both channels in 24 hrs.

A couple of notes from Iowa newspapers:

Gazette Online (http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080822/SPORTS/27671286/1001/NEWS) reports Mediacom has reached a deal with the Big Ten Network, though the story so far is only a brief piece with few specifics and is based on unnamed sources.

Also, the Des Moines Register (http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080822/NEWS/80822002/1001/NEWS) reports that Sens. Chuck Grassley and Tom Harkin are asking the National Telecommunications Information Administration to let flood victims have a second crack at DTV converter box coupons. Each household is currently entitled to only two coupons, but the senators say some flood victims may have lost either coupons or converters in the rubble.

Is it me or does KCRG fall asleep every other morning and forget to flip the HD switch when GMA starts at 7am?

Is it me or does KCRG fall asleep every other morning and forget to flip the HD switch when GMA starts at 7am?

Noticed that this morning too.

As I understand it, it's usually an ABC Television Network issue. Evidently ABC doesn't have the ability to make last minute edits and then broadcast the edited content in HD. While sometimes there is a technical issue locally it's quite often an issue nationally. I read where they are re-doing their control rooms (World News Tonight and other news programming will soon be in HD all the time (except for upconverted footage from the field). Hopefully the edited HD issue goes away with the upgrades...

MORE BIG TEN NET INFO:

Obviously there's been no "official" announcement yet on BTN/Mediacom, but Cedar Rapids Gazette sportswriter Scott Dochterman still thinks we'll get it by the Maine game, according to his blog on www.gazetteonline.com.

BTN Mediacom http://www.woi-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8912439&nav=1LFX

ADDED: It's official http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6591173.html

And here's the press release from Mediacom:

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=98270&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1191808&highlight=

According to Mediacom's announcement, the channel will launch in phases, and will ultimately include the HD version and on-demand content. Whether the HD will launch in time for Iowa's season opener against Maine this weekend is unclear. "Mediacom customers will be notified when the network becomes available in their community," the company says in its press release.

But Gazette Online's homepage suggests -- at least in eastern Iowa -- that this weekend's game will air on the Connections Channel, which as far as I know has no HD equivalent. The Des Moines Register's website doesn't really say anything as far as placement.

Here's some of the fine points of this deal (BTN/Mediacom)

"Peters said the channel is on expanded basic, and there was no agreement to possibly move to it to a different tier after a set period of time, as there was with cable giant Comcast."
http://www.press-citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080828/HAWKS/80828006/1079

Here's some of the fine points of this deal (BTN/Mediacom)

"Peters said the channel is on expanded basic, and there was no agreement to possibly move to it to a different tier after a set period of time, as there was with cable giant Comcast."
http://www.press-citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080828/HAWKS/80828006/1079Unfortunately that article also suggests that the first game will be on Connections.

If they can't give the network its own analog channel in time for Saturday I doubt they can get the HD up and running by then.

Is BTN likely to remain in the expanded analog tier, or will it soon require a digital box for access to it? I assume it will once they begin offering the HD version?

Here's some of the fine points of this deal (BTN/Mediacom)

"Peters said the channel is on expanded basic, and there was no agreement to possibly move to it to a different tier after a set period of time, as there was with cable giant Comcast."
http://www.press-citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080828/HAWKS/80828006/1079

Has anyone noticed in the Cedar Rapids market they took off the TV Guide channels and Comcast Sportsnet for clear QAM?

I noticed CSN-Chi is no long clear in Waterloo.

Yeah it's weird, it was coming and going yesterday, some of the times I could pick it up other times I can't. I wonder if this has anything to do with the BTN announcement.

Yep. I noticed the same thing in Iowa City also.

Current QAM Channels I get are...

89.4 KGAN-DT (CBS)
114.1 KWWL-DT (NBC)
114.2 KWWL-DT2 (WX Plus)
114.6 KIIN-DT (IPTV/PBS)
115.2 KCRG-DT (ABC)
115.4 KFXA-DT (FOX)
115.6 KCRG-DT (Local 9.2)

Is that what everyone else is seeing as well?

Has anyone noticed in the Cedar Rapids market they took off the TV Guide channels and Comcast Sportsnet for clear QAM?

i build a new 8 bowtie antenna to get ready for this season. I checked antennaweb and i see 2 7 9 are all the same direction now. I pointed the antenna and i get 2, 9, 28, 32, 48 OTA HD but no 7. Anyone else seeing that? This antenna is nice compared to my other one as i dont even drop signal and 2 and 9 come in together. Last year i had to move it to get 2 or 9 or 7.

Yep. I noticed the same thing in Iowa City also.

Current QAM Channels I get are...

89.4 KGAN-DT (CBS)
114.1 KWWL-DT (NBC)
114.2 KWWL-DT2 (WX Plus)
114.6 KIIN-DT (IPTV/PBS)
115.2 KCRG-DT (ABC)
115.4 KFXA-DT (FOX)
115.6 KCRG-DT (Local 9.2)

Is that what everyone else is seeing as well?

Yep that's all I get now. Sadly I don't own a HD TV yet (working on that part) so the only way I watch HD is through my laptop using either OTA or clear QAM. If there was a way to watch HD through my laptop using either a hd box or a cable card I would be happy, but so far you can't do that.

NFL game on NBC HD looks like crap as usual.

I don't know how they can even call this crap HD!

Apparently, there is a free HBO weekend starting today (9/5/08) that I hadn't know about, until I did a channel scan this morning.

NAB: FCC Should Deny Quiet-Period Request

Trade group comes out against extended retransmission-consent 'quiet period' surrounding DTV transition in February.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6594586.html

is anyone else having major issues w/ mediacom in iowa city today and yesterday in terms of hd picture quality. we are seeing major delay/lag, stuttering etc. it is only seen w/ the hd channels. thoughts?

Maybe sunspots? ;) I'm in CF, on CFU cable, and had pretty continuous minor problems on HD/ Kill Bill looked awesome on TBS (TNT?) HD, but had signal dropouts manifest in the pretty little digital blocks...Football and NASCAR also were less than perfect. Oh well.

If you don't like it - you can always hit the analog channels - always a good baseline, and enough to make me, at least, willing to put up with digital noise, lockups, and brief loss of audio (Sunday nite football.)

Well, I'm back (to this thread), and looking for a little local help advice. Quite frankly, I'm fed up. /rant I'm all for going digital, but how can they expect to convert when digital is so flaky/touchy/unreliable, my OTA signal is less reliable than my Dish Network signal and I'm in one of the higher parts of Marion :@ /rant

So, rant over, here's my history so far:

I started with a 120" Radioshack VHF/UHF antenna I "borrowed" from my parents, it was mounted in the rafters in the garage and got good signal strength/quality but unreliable reception.
Replaced it with a DB4 in the same location, no appreciable change
Move the DB4 outside to the north end of the roof on a J mount, no appreciable change, KCRG, KGAN, KRIN, KFXA, all in the 80-90s according to my various tuners, KWWL more like 70-75. Even with the high strength (which I realize isn't exactly strength but it's the best measure I have), most every channel will randomly breakup for no apparent reason.
Moved the DB4 to the south end of the roof, a bit farther from any power lines (which run about 50-100ft N of the orignal mount and probably 50-100ft E also), now it's worse, my PC tuners read 100% strength but are basically in continuous breakup tonight, and my Dish box won't pick anything up at all.

I'm just north of Marion High School (couple blocks). I'm really well past my patience threshold with this. What really burns me is a friend at work lives just a few blocks SE, almost directly in line with me and the transmitters, and (so he tells me) gets basically perfect reception with a Silver Sensor pointed out his window.

I do have a splitter in the loop, but I've tried without it to no avail. I've got probably 75ft of RG6 between the antenna and the tuner(s). I've played with aiming to get the best strength, but the meters are worthless to me as I get breakups with even "perfect signal strength".

Am I doing something really dumb?
Am I missing something?
Is there something I can get to actually measure strength (DIGIAIR)?
Do I live in a TV black hole?
Do I have crappy tuners?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Do you have a vhf/uhf mast pre-amp? If not, I'd bet that would clear up most of your issues. Also, make sure if you install a pre-amp that your splits are after the power unit. Good rg6 coax, new rf connectors etc also help.

Lastly, do you have a rotor on it? I swear by them...chances are since you're in town, that trees/power lines etc are causing some of your issues also where just a little aim tweaking would help resolve the issue. I live near Kirkwood in a small valley type place, have trees and power lines in direct line of the towers...I followed the above advise, and now get perfect reception of all the CR towers, very very few dropouts...and have to aim generally about 20 degrees west of what antennaweb.org states I have to. The amp would be maybe $50, the rotor would be an additional $100...and I literally have not had an issue for 2 years since setting up the system.

The best place to get both the pre-amp and rotor are Warren Electronics in Moline, they have a web site.

Do you have a vhf/uhf mast pre-amp? If not, I'd bet that would clear up most of your issues. Also, make sure if you install a pre-amp that your splits are after the power unit. Good rg6 coax, new rf connectors etc also help.

I do have new/good RG6 run to the antenna, but don't have a preamp (though I did try an "amp" once mounted in the garage near the antenna before the splits and it didn't help.

Lastly, do you have a rotor on it? I swear by them...chances are since you're in town, that trees/power lines etc are causing some of your issues also where just a little aim tweaking would help resolve the issue.

A rotor is really a non-starter for me because I run a DVR and almost never watch TV live, so a requirement to aim the antenna before watching is unacceptable to me.

I live near Kirkwood in a small valley type place, have trees and power lines in direct line of the towers...I followed the above advise, and now get perfect reception of all the CR towers, very very few dropouts...and have to aim generally about 20 degrees west of what antennaweb.org states I have to.

Would you care to tell me which antenna and amp you have, that might help?

Thanks for the advice :)

Well, I'm back (to this thread), and looking for a little local help advice. Quite frankly, I'm fed up. /rant I'm all for going digital, but how can they expect to convert when digital is so flaky/touchy/unreliable, my OTA signal is less reliable than my Dish Network signal and I'm in one of the higher parts of Marion :@ /rant

Am I doing something really dumb?
Am I missing something?
Is there something I can get to actually measure strength (DIGIAIR)?
Do I live in a TV black hole?
Do I have crappy tuners?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I checked out your approximate location in tvfool.com, and you are about 25-30 miles from the Waterloo/Cedar Rapids towers and most are around 325 degrees (KWWL is actually a bit to the North at 334 while KFXA is a bit South at 280). But with a outdoor setup, you should get a good lock for all while pointed between them. I do agree with "bagdropper" that a rotor is quite helpful in these situations. Many times, they only get adjusted a couple times a year as the seasons change. As trees get leaves or as snow cover arrives, signals travel a bit differently and can vary 10-20 degrees... especially if you are using a very directional antenna.

How many splits are you doing? Every time you split the signal, you cut the power in half, and that can add up. I just got off the phone with someone yesterday complaining that he was having issues and found he was splitting his antenna to 12 TV's with no amplification... down near Iowa City too!!!
You can try a distribution amplifier to compensate for it (about $15 to $30 normally) or you could just use a preamp as suggested. Keep in mind that you don't want to over do it though, as too much signal causes receivers to freak as well. Think of it like the volume on your TV... there is a limit to how loud you want the audio to be before it becomes undesirable to your ears.

Lastly, what are you using for tuners? The RCA converter box seems to be the most touchy of the units out there right now. So far of these latest boxes, I found that the digital stream and insignia/zenith boxes have worked pretty well and much better than the RCA. If anyone else has positive or negative comments on these boxes, I'd love to here them!

The only other thing to check would be your connections. Perhaps one of the RG-6 connectors isn't on quite right. You have the right cable at least as line loss shouldn't be a big issue at your length. If you have any more questions, let me know!

-Jarrett

I checked out your approximate location in tvfool.com, and you are about 25-30 miles from the Waterloo/Cedar Rapids towers and most are around 325 degrees (KWWL is actually a bit to the North at 334 while KFXA is a bit South at 280). But with a outdoor setup, you should get a good lock for all while pointed between them. I do agree with "bagdropper" that a rotor is quite helpful in these situations. Many times, they only get adjusted a couple times a year as the seasons change. As trees get leaves or as snow cover arrives, signals travel a bit differently and can vary 10-20 degrees... especially if you are using a very directional antenna.

Yeah, if we're just talking about adjustments, I can see how it would be handy, but my roof is easy enough to get on so it's probably not worth it for that.

How many splits are you doing? Every time you split the signal, you cut the power in half, and that can add up. I just got off the phone with someone yesterday complaining that he was having issues and found he was splitting his antenna to 12 TV's with no amplification... down near Iowa City too!!!

If memory serves, I've got it running through a 4-way, so a 7.5-8dB loss at each "TV" total.

You can try a distribution amplifier to compensate for it (about $15 to $30 normally) or you could just use a preamp as suggested. Keep in mind that you don't want to over do it though, as too much signal causes receivers to freak as well.

Yeah, that's half my problem I don't know if I've got too much, too little, bad multipath, I've got a old RS line amp (with variable gain) mounted in the rafters in the garage, as close to the antenna as I can get it (before the splits as well). At best it does nothing, at worst it makes things worse. Would a true mast-mount preamp be significantly better than a line amp?

The other thing that sorta confuses me is my friend, couple blocks south and gets great reception with a Silver Sensor inside, my DB4 is outside so "theoretically" the extra gain, plus being outside should outweigh the loss in the splitter I'd think.

Lastly, what are you using for tuners? The RCA converter box seems to be the most touchy of the units out there right now. So far of these latest boxes, I found that the digital stream and insignia/zenith boxes have worked pretty well and much better than the RCA. If anyone else has positive or negative comments on these boxes, I'd love to here them!

I've got a Dish VIP211, a Vbox DTA-150 and an Avermedia A180.

Mediacom note:

According to a display ad in page 2A of Tuesday's Cedar Rapids Gazette, HBO will become digital-only on Mediacom in the greater Cedar Rapids area in about a month.

I understand past efforts to require a digital converter box for premium channels haven't gone over well with the general public. Wonder how this will go ...

OK, more info, did some more experimenting. Revaluated my connections/use and I can get away with a single two-way splitter feeding my PC tuners, so that's the setup now, antenna, 2-way, tuners.

Went up on the roof and basically confirmed that it doesn't matter where on my roof I put the antenna, and to a large degree, it doesn't matter where I point it. On the slightly positive side, I finally, while up on the roof and able to watch the strength meter, duplicated the effects I've seen before:

The problem I've been consistenly having is that I'll have great-to-perfect (75-100%) signal strength probably 75% of the time, and then out of nowhere, the signal will drop off the face of the earth.

To me that indicates multipath, any thoughts?

Yeah, that's half my problem I don't know if I've got too much, too little, bad multipath, I've got a old RS line amp (with variable gain) mounted in the rafters in the garage, as close to the antenna as I can get it (before the splits as well). At best it does nothing, at worst it makes things worse. Would a true mast-mount preamp be significantly better than a line amp?

I've got a Dish VIP211, a Vbox DTA-150 and an Avermedia A180.

Ditch the RS line amp. My experience with them is that they are crap. I've had pretty poor results with most el-cheapo amps. Channel Plus (now Linear) makes some good ones, I have the DA-500A which made a huge difference compared to a RS model.

My Dish Vip622 is pretty rock-solid as far as off air reception is concerned, so I don't think that's an issue for you. There were problems with the Dish OTA tuners early on, but those were resolved long ago with software upgrades.

Your issue is likely one of two things. Multipath could certainly be an issue, I have trouble receiving KRIN-DT, but only when the leaves are on the trees. All other stations work perfectly. The other thing it could be is some type of locally generated interference.

I'm not at all familiar with the location, is it possible that there is a two-way radio tower close by? Police, fire, etc? That might explain why the signal would just suddenly disappear. The cheap amplifiers will easily overload if this is the case, so I'd still recommend eliminating the RS amp and trying a DA-500A.

Good luck.

Ditch the RS line amp. My experience with them is that they are crap.

Yeah, it's not in the path, I just have it, and had tried it in the past.

I've had pretty poor results with most el-cheapo amps. Channel Plus (now Linear) makes some good ones, I have the DA-500A which made a huge difference compared to a RS model.

My Dish Vip622 is pretty rock-solid as far as off air reception is concerned, so I don't think that's an issue for you. There were problems with the Dish OTA tuners early on, but those were resolved long ago with software upgrades.

Oh, guess I didn't say it, the problem was after I moved my VIP211 I'd not hooked it back up to the antenna :o I never use it for OTA anyway so I'd forgotten about that.

Your issue is likely one of two things. Multipath could certainly be an issue, I have trouble receiving KRIN-DT, but only when the leaves are on the trees. All other stations work perfectly. The other thing it could be is some type of locally generated interference.

I'm not at all familiar with the location, is it possible that there is a two-way radio tower close by? Police, fire, etc? That might explain why the signal would just suddenly disappear. The cheap amplifiers will easily overload if this is the case, so I'd still recommend eliminating the RS amp and trying a DA-500A.

Good luck.

Is an amp really necessary with a DB4 ~25miles away from the towers? Antennaweb claims I only need a "small multidirectional" antenna.

And, FWIW, I'll probably be putting the 120" monster back up, I'll need a VHF antenna in Feb anyway so I might as well do it before it gets cold and snowy.

Is an amp really necessary with a DB4 ~25miles away from the towers?
depends on how many times you split the line, but quite likely not.

Can you go higher with your antenna, like 5 feet? I remember when I first started my setup in late 2004/early 2005...I went about a year with big time issues just like you described. Tried everything I could think of.

Then I went 5 feet higher, and every issue with every channel I had disappeared. If possible, its a cheap way to try and diagnose issues.

BTW, I now use an older (about 4 years) Radio Shack VHF/UHF...what I'd call a mid-level combo antenna with the Channel Master (IIRC) 7777 VHF-UHF, split 3 ways after the DC power unit - a two way splitter after the amp output - run one end to my DTV receiver, and the 2nd line is then also split into 2, one for my Pinnacle ATSC USB tuner (for Windows Media Center 2005) and one to my bedroom TV. The Pinnacle gets a little jittery now and then, but the Olevia and the DTV receiver (H20) are always rock solid.

Well, now I can cover two birds with one stone, advice and sharing happiness.

I moved recently from Coralville over by the mall to Coralville North of I-80. The big difference for reception was that I moved from 690 feet of elevtation to just over 800.

I've got an 8 bay CM that got knocked over in the ice storm so it lost 2 and a half bowties broken off and a CM 7777 preamp.

At the old house(2 story) it was on a CM 9521A rotor and a 6 foot mast and I could get CR on a good day and the Quad Cities all the time.

Now I have it in the attic, hung with 2 nails in a rafter, pointed to the same orientation the house is and I get 100% on ABC/NBC/CBS in the evenings and 75-80% on Fox. My run is 50' to the basement where I have a spliter after the preamp power unit that feed the HD-DVR downstairs and the gets combined with the channel 60/62 output from the DVR to the rest of the house via a splitter in the garage. I get OTA CR on the new upstairs HDTV with 6 bars on all but fox which bounces between 4 and 5 bars. I am so glad to not have that thing outside in the elements.

BTW, if anyone needs a 9521A I've got 1 for sale now :).

I have two friends with Mediacom. One says he is getting HD on five receivers with no receiver box. The other one says he has a receiver for one set and Mediacom will not let him have another for the other sets. They both have HD sets with HD tuners. Could the only think he is getting HD?

You should be able to get Mediacom local HD stations on any QAM tuner, I do here in Dubuque.:)

I have two friends with Mediacom. One says he is getting HD on five receivers with no receiver box. The other one says he has a receiver for one set and Mediacom will not let him have another for the other sets. They both have HD sets with HD tuners. Could the only think he is getting HD?

I have no MC recevier boxes and only the extremely basic package.

If one has a tv or other type of receiver that is QAM capable, then that is all that is needed to get the local HD station broadcast.

I am using a Sony built-in tuner, MyHD pc card, Fusion pc card, & HdHomerun network tuner and they all work just fine with MCs HD........

Only channels are 2, 7, 9, 28, & 32.

I am sorry I should have more clear. I was asking about cable programing not locals.