Welcome to the new thread for eastern Iowa HDTV. This thread covers KWWL-DT, KCRG-DT, KGAN-DT, KFXA-DT, KFPX-DT, KIIN-DT, KWKB-DT, and KRIN-DT. This is a split from the original Eastern Iowa/Quad Cities (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=365282) thread. If you have questions and are new to AVS Forum, please search that thread as your question may have been asked before. Or, feel free to ask it anyway. ;)

Enjoy your stay and welcome to the thread.

Helpful Links:
Cedar Falls Utilities' DT Signal Quality Graphs (http://www.cfu.net/CyberNet/HD/) (http://www.cfu.net/CyberNet/HD/)
Local Mediacom QAM mappings for cable & digital "in the clear" QAM (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8493859&&#post8493859) (As seen in Cedar Rapids)

For those of you just joining us, here's a recap of Eastern Iowa HD/DTV issues:

KGAN (2-1, CBS):

Their job of "throwing the switch" to HD has greatly improved. Still some complaints about "stretching" 2-1 during SD upconverted programming. Also, as the Hawkeye basketball station, it often has to tape-delay network programming, but can't do it in HD. The DT station is not currently carried on many cable systems because its owner, Sinclair Broadcast Group, wants payment for HD carriage.


KWWL (7-1, 2 and 3, NBC):

Recently added two subchannels, NBC Weather Plus and Raycom's music channel "The Tube," but they don't seem to get a lot of complaints about the quality of 7-1, which they've vowed to keep up. Their tower is a few miles north of most of the other stations, which occasionally causes issues with some viewers in the southern reaches of the market. For most, it comes in loud and clear.

Although it's been a great performer, Raycom recently announced plans to sell KWWL and several other stations so it can concentrate on its core geographic area, the South.


KCRG (9-1, 2 ABC):

As with KGAN, they often delay network programming for basketball games -- in their case, it's the Cyclone men and Hawkeye women -- but can't timeshift those shows in HD yet. Occasionally the stream has an issue with a few stray pixels, though not so much lately.

(Edit 8-23-06) 9-2 now displays "KCRG Local 9.2".


KIIN (12-1, Iowa Public Television):

Currently broadcasting at low power on a special temporary authority from just north of West Branch. That will change, but for now most of us use KRIN (32-1), which is broadcasting the same thing at higher power from Walker.


KWKB (20-1, The WB):

Their analog is full-power, but their digital is running on a special temporary authority and isn't required to go full power until this summer. (As a WB affiliate they're on a more generous FCC deadline.) As far as I know they're not doing HD at this time. A major issue for KWKB is that they transmit from a tower just north of West Branch in Cedar County, which is southeast of Cedar Rapids and east of Iowa city -- a completely different direction from most other stations.

There's still no official word as to whether KWKB or KWWF will become The CW when UPN and The WB cease operations this fall.


KWWF (22, UPN):

Analog only, and for most viewers outside Waterloo, it's cable-only. If it survives the loss of UPN, it will probably have to "flash-cut" to digital when the transition ends.


KFXA (28-1, Fox):

Like KWKB, their biggest issue for them is location. Their tower is in central Benton County, which is a completely different line of sight from Cedar Rapids than the others. You may have to re-orient your antenna or find a "compromise" location if you're having trouble with them.

KFXA also had some recent PSIP trouble and had been coming up on some receivers as 27-1 or even 27-3 in recent days, but as of today they seem to have fixed those problems. Check your receivers.


KRIN (32-1 and 32-2, Iowa Public Television):

32-1 is currently a full-time HD service, while 32-2 is a full-time SD upconvert of IPTV's analog service. They rarely simulcast each other. They're on the same tower as KCRG and KGAN near Walker, so if you can get any one of those stations, you should be able to get the others.


KPXR (48-1, 2, 3 and 4):

An affiliate of "i" (formerly Pax). Not carrying HD. 48-1 is a simulcast of their analog. 48-2 is like 48-1 but occasionally carries actual programming during times when 48-1 is running infomercials. 48-3 is the "Worship" network, and 48-4 is Faith Television.


_______________________


One other note: All Eastern Iowa digitals are on UHF for now. When the transition ends, hopefully in early 2009, three of our stations -- KCRG, KWWL and KIIN -- plan to switch back to their VHF channels to broadcast digital. Keep that in mind if you're selecting an antenna for the long term.




Looking for the Quad Cities (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=651277) thread? It's right here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=651277).

This thread includes the cities of: Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Iowa City, and Waterloo, Iowa.

I was just pointed to this board from the Mediacom forum on dslreports. I was told there is an engineer here from KWWL.

Im up here in Dubuque, Ia. It seems that EVERY night at 9:01-ish or so sharp NBC (KWWL) HD freezes for about a minute, then changes to "no signal" and then "not authorized". This is the only station that has problems.
I have a cable card, and I am kind of wondering if this happens to people with DVR's or normal cable box's. Last night it was freezing every couple of minutes.

Im doubting this is a KWWL issue, more of mediacom's fault, but who knows. Just wondering if the cablecard is at fault


Thanks

I was just pointed to this board from the Mediacom forum on dslreports. I was told there is an engineer here from KWWL.

Im up here in Dubuque, Ia. It seems that EVERY night at 9:01-ish or so sharp NBC (KWWL) HD freezes for about a minute, then changes to "no signal" and then "not authorized". This is the only station that has problems.
I have a cable card, and I am kind of wondering if this happens to people with DVR's or normal cable box's. Last night it was freezing every couple of minutes.

Im doubting this is a KWWL issue, more of mediacom's fault, but who knows. Just wondering if the cablecard is at fault


Thanks
First of all, welcome to the thread!

I am not aware of any problems on the Dubuque Mediacom system but I am contacting them today to see what is going on.

By the way, Jerry Rector is no longer at KWWL. He has left for personal reasons. He was always "Johnny on the Spot" in keeping the AVS folks up to date and I will attempt to do the same.

Dick Owens, CE
KWWL/KWWL-DT

Watching KWWL through Mediacom and Las Vegas isn't in HD. Did someone forget to flip the switch?
-dornitram

[i]For those of you just joining us, here's a recap...

Great recap, dline. I just want to add that KIIN and KWKB are right across the road from each other, so if you aim your antenna towards one, the other will be right there also.

I sure hope the CW goes to KWKB. The folks that own KWWF don't seem to have a clue. They swore to me that they are running 5,000,000W from 2000' when I asked them why I can't get them from 20 miles away. This is certainly not the case at all.

kc0bsn :

Can you keep the info in the first post updated for newbies to the thread?

Added thread to the master index.

And here I was going to ask dline for permission to quote him in the first post, but I see CPanther already did it. :) If anybody has suggestings to helpful links, or additions/changes to the master info, reply to the thread or PM me. I don't exactly plan on going anywhere for a while. ;)

Better to ask for forgiveness, than permission. ;)

And here I was going to ask dline for permission to quote him in the first post, but I see CPanther already did it. :) If anybody has suggestings to helpful links, or additions/changes to the master info, reply to the thread or PM me. I don't exactly plan on going anywhere for a while. ;)
That's OK. In fact, it's good to have it at or near the top. :) I went ahead and deleted my original post to avoid redundancy.
I sure hope the CW goes to KWKB. The folks that own KWWF don't seem to have a clue. They swore to me that they are running 5,000,000W from 2000' when I asked them why I can't get them from 20 miles away. This is certainly not the case at all.
It's interesting they should say that, considering the FCC has them (KWWF) with a construction permit for only 3,000,000W and a height above average terrain of only 198 meters -- which if I remember my metrics correctly is only 660 feet. And that's their construction permit. They're obviously not broadcasting with those parameters yet.

(Of course they could save on the electric bill and get better results with just 1,000,000W by going to digital-only now.) :D

It's interesting they should say that, considering the FCC has them (KWWF) with a construction permit for only 3,000,000W and a height above average terrain of only 198 meters

Like I said, management doesn't even know what the heck they bought when they bought that station from the prior owner. What are they running, something like 100kw from a couple hundred feet in downtown Waterloo? (I'm to lazy to go look it up). I've been hearing for the past 8 years that Ch22 was building a 2000' tower, but it never happens. I would think now that they have a new owner something probably will happen. With the demise of the UPN I wonder what they have planned for programming. Hopefully not more crap like "Confessions Live". Boy, was that a waste of 15 minutes of my life when I decided to see what that was about.

Can anyone recommend a CR business for an OTA purchase/install?
Thanks much.

Like I said, management doesn't even know what the heck they bought when they bought that station from the prior owner. What are they running, something like 100kw from a couple hundred feet in downtown Waterloo? (I'm to lazy to go look it up). I've been hearing for the past 8 years that Ch22 was building a 2000' tower, but it never happens. I would think now that they have a new owner something probably will happen. With the demise of the UPN I wonder what they have planned for programming. Hopefully not more crap like "Confessions Live". Boy, was that a waste of 15 minutes of my life when I decided to see what that was about.


Their transmitter is on the roof of the Black's Building in downtown Waterloo. We (CFU in Cedar Falls) were having problems picking them up due to interference from building skips and such and eventually went to picking them up off of the Sat feed from Arkansas.

Their transmitter is on the roof of the Black's Building in downtown Waterloo. We (CFU in Cedar Falls) were having problems picking them up due to interference from building skips and such and eventually went to picking them up off of the Sat feed from Arkansas.

They have an app to go 3 mw at 600'ish, with their current power at 500 kw
at 150'(!). I say go 500 kw at 600' with a flash-cut to digital and be done with it...

With the demise of the UPN I wonder what they [KWWF] have planned for programming. Hopefully not more crap like "Confessions Live". Boy, was that a waste of 15 minutes of my life when I decided to see what that was about.
There was talk in this thread in "HDTV Programming" (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7007314&&#post7007314) that RTN Television, with which KWWF owner Equity Broadcasting is involved, would expand its program offerings beginning Sept. 1. If correct, at least they have something of a backup plan. Another option is to affiliate with My Network TV, which Fox plans to launch for its own "orphaned" stations (they own several Fox/UPN duopolies in major cities such as Minneapolis and L.A.) and other stations searching for a network.

There was talk in this thread in "HDTV Programming" (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7007314&&#post7007314) that RTN Television, with which KWWF owner Equity Broadcasting is involved, would expand its program offerings beginning Sept. 1.

Thanks for that link, the only thread I ever look at on avsforum is this one so I missed that.

Hopefully KWKB will get The CW, at least I can receive them where I'm at (although not real well) and they are a must carry station on Dish Network so I can get them there. KWWF couldn't request Must Carry status on Dish since their signal doesn't reach the Cedar Rapids POP. (I wonder though if they could have if they would have supplied the satellite receiver to get the signal into there?) Come to think of it, we really don't watch anything on KWKB anyway... My wife watches 7th Heaven but that will be over soon.

Watching KWWL through Mediacom and Las Vegas isn't in HD. Did someone forget to flip the switch?
-dornitram

A Master Control operator slipped up this time.

Sorry!

First of all, welcome to the thread!

I am not aware of any problems on the Dubuque Mediacom system but I am contacting them today to see what is going on.

By the way, Jerry Rector is no longer at KWWL. He has left for personal reasons. He was always "Johnny on the Spot" in keeping the AVS folks up to date and I will attempt to do the same.

Dick Owens, CE
KWWL/KWWL-DT

Thanks for looking into this for me. It seems Im not the only one having problems, and it does not seem to be linked to the cable card.
Please let us know when you find something out.

Dick,

I'm in Waterloo and I'm still experiencing the same problem. We traded emails on this a couple times in February.

Mediacom did admit to me that there is a problem, but they said they didn't know if it was a KWWL problem of Mediacom problem. The also mentioned something about contacting a regional manager with Mediacom to get some equipment to diagnose the problem.

Any help if fixing this issue would be greatly appreciated by us!

Thanks,
Todd

Anyone getting a new subcarrier on 9-2? It just started showing up for me today, no video yet, just surprised to see channel 9 adding something.

-shawn

The data for 9.2 is in the PSIP stream, but no video yet.

Just a guess, but I would say KCRG, channel 9, total pinpoint, super-duper, nothing else better, doppler, weather radar.......

The data for 9.2 is in the PSIP stream, but no video yet.

Just a guess, but I would say KCRG, channel 9, total pinpoint, super-duper, nothing else better, doppler, weather radar.......

I think you meant Mega Pinpoint, super-duper, we can see at hair on a knat's butt, nothing else better, tornado chasing, Captain Bobby directing, doppler, weather radar.

Sorry I coudn't resist.
Having the radar image available 24X7 would be nice.

[
Having the radar image available 24X7 would be nice.[/QUOTE]


Well, yes and no -- how many radar images can we watch at one time? We have 7-2, and the Weather Channel, and with an internet connection dozens of weather radars are only a click away. If this is all anyone is going to do with digital broadcastiong, its going to be a tough sell on the uninitiated.

beg to differ - having just a nice radar feed, 24-7 would be great. local cable used to provide one - a very useful tool. now we have WeatherPlus instead - tool could still be used in a description, but useful would not. with Weather Plus one is lucky to get 1 minute of local radar feed out of 10. Weather Channel isn't much better - ok for trends, but not worth a crap for actual real-time weather info. I'm to the point of subscribing to an online service, just for realtime radar. If you know of where it can be found free, PLEASE let me know.

In case no one picked up, I feel WEATHER PLUS is a joke, and waste of bandwidth. HLM is right about that - it is a pale copy of Weather Channel. Only upside is that they don't do "stories" yet. But give them time.

In case no one picked up, I feel WEATHER PLUS is a joke, and waste of bandwidth.I am very disappointed in Weather Plus also.

I don't mind a radar feed if it's done correctly and doesn't interfere with the network HD feed.

I'm to the point of subscribing to an online service, just for realtime radar. If you know of where it can be found free, PLEASE let me know.
It's not exactly a "live" stream, but www.kcrg.com (Cedar Rapids), www.kwwl.com (Waterloo), and www.whotv.com and www.kcci.com (Des Moines), all have images from their live radars which are updated every two to three minutes as long as their radars are working.

KCCI also offers something called "livestreaming radar," but my connection isn't fast enough for me to really check it out.

Just be warned that so many things can go wrong with the internet and weather sites tend to get a lot of hits when weather is actually happening. If there's an acute severe weather situation in your area you're better off watching or listening to a TV or radio station which is providing live coverage.

Welcome to the new thread for eastern Iowa HDTV. This thread covers KWWL-DT, KCRG-DT, KGAN-DT, KFXA-DT, KFPX-DT, KIIN-DT, KWKB-DT, and KRIN-DT.
I respectfully request that the title of this thread be changed to Cedar Rapids-Waterloo-Iowa City-Dubuque, IA, as that is our official TV market area name per Nielsen Media. http://www.nielsenmedia.com/DMAs.html (http://http://www.nielsenmedia.com/DMAs.html)

Let's not exculde posters who don't live inside the BIG city in our market :)

Thanks.

KC
Cedar Falls

beg to differ - having just a nice radar feed, 24-7 would be great. local cable used to provide one - a very useful tool. now we have WeatherPlus instead - tool could still be used in a description, but useful would not. with Weather Plus one is lucky to get 1 minute of local radar feed out of 10. Weather Channel isn't much better - ok for trends, but not worth a crap for actual real-time weather info. I'm to the point of subscribing to an online service, just for realtime radar. If you know of where it can be found free, PLEASE let me know.

In case no one picked up, I feel WEATHER PLUS is a joke, and waste of bandwidth. HLM is right about that - it is a pale copy of Weather Channel. Only upside is that they don't do "stories" yet. But give them time.

First of all the Weather Plus was designed by NBC to offer Local forecasts and local radar through out the day WITHOUT the "Stories". The only exception to this is the children's programming that the FCC requires us to air during the week at 12PM and 2PM Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. We do have both local radar and NEXRAD on the air about every 7 minutes, or so. If the weather is really bad we go live on WeatherPlus to make sure everyone knows what's happening.

The issue of "bandwidth" is erroneous and appears on every HDTV forum through out the country sooner or later. The fact is that the equipment we use at KWWL is designed to accomodate the channels we are broadcasting without compromising the HD (7.1) service. We use a STAT MUX (statistical multiplexer) to accomplish this. It constantly apportions the needed bandwith to the different services as needed with a priority to the 7.1 HD channel. I think the worth of this equipment has been demonstrated by the excellent results we have had during NASCAR and the Olympics with our two subchannels in operation. That said, I understand that the possibility exists that some adjustments may have to be made to insure the PQ on the HD service from time to time.

As always, if you do see a problem with the HD let me know about it either on the forum or email.

Hmmm... originally the thread was titled with three cities... I'll change it back and PM CPanther to let him to know this market is kinda funky. :)

I've also added a tag at the end of the first post with the main cities to hopefully catch anyone that may be searching for this local thread.

Here's a copy of my response via PM:

If they search the thread Index, it will come up for all cities listed by Nielsen. For the AVS Thread titles, only the primary city for each DMA is listed to avoid confusion and extremely long thread titles.

Very few newbies can successfully locate their specific thread by simply scanning the thread titles. Most threads do not remain on the front page very long. The Index is setup so all cities are listed, then a link to their appropriate thread.

The old thread this split from was titled "Cedar Rapids / Davenport, IA - HDTV ". Two cities were listed, but only because the thread covered two separate DMAs (Primary city of each - largest to smallest)

Not to mention that each station lists our cities in a different order. :) The only requirement is that you list your city of license first in your legal ID (i.e.: KGAN and KCRG have to start with Cedar Rapids, KWWL with Waterloo). Sometimes you'll notice the other three get shifted around a little every so often.

There were some hurt feelings regarding the thread title when Myrtle Beach's population surpassed Florence, SC's population and Nielsen swapped the order within the DMA.

Don't know how the populations of Cedar Rapids-Waterloo-Iowa City-Dubuque compare, but it's fairly rare to have the primary city change like it did with the DMA formally known as the Florence, SC DMA.

I'm pretty much indifferent to the whole deal. As long as people find the correct thread and get the help they need, that's all that should matter. And this is coming from someone who's last name starts with "W"... so I know all about being called last. ;)

There were some hurt feelings regarding the thread title when Myrtle Beach's population surpassed Florence, SC's population and Nielsen swapped the order within the DMA.

Don't know how the populations of Cedar Rapids-Waterloo-Iowa City-Dubuque compare, but it's fairly rare to have the primary city change like it did with the DMA formally known as the Florence, SC DMA.
No need to worry about that anytime soon:

- Cedar Rapids: 120,758
- Waterloo: 68,747
- Iowa City: 62,380
- Dubuque: 57,686

(No offense intended to Waterloo, Iowa City or Dubuque, all fine places.) :)

Speaking of Iowa City (and trying to get back on topic):

It looks like the Hawkeye game this Friday will be coming from an HD site, Auburn Hills.

Unfortunately the UNI game after it will not, and it looks like the Panthers will have to get to at least the semifinals to be in HD.

All the more reason to root for 'em.

Source: http://cbs.sportsline.com/cbssports/schedules/page/collegebasketball

Mr Owens - didn't mean to misstate. As I used to tell Jerry, I find your HD signal fine; in fact, on the national board, when others across the country complain about NBC picture quality, I always speak up and defend KWWL-DT - I think you are doing an excellent job.

I just don't get enough radar out of Weather Plus; likewise, for me, there is too much national weather - which I have been getting from Weather Channel since day 1. I would have to sit down and watch, and time it to get hard numbers, which I'm sure you have - it is after all, your station - but the percentage of time when live doppler radar is on seems small to me. Wasn't trying to get personal or anything, I just watched CFU channel 11 a LOT more back when it was KWWL weather; now that it is a national feed - Weather Plus - with bits of your weather personell dropped in, it isn't as compelling. So when I said "waste of bandwidth" I could have as easily said waste of effort, or energy. Not to say that it noticeably degraded 7-1, but that I don't find WeatherPlus nearly as useful as your old, original offering.

Still appreciate your time and effort. Thanks.

Ok - was sitting at computer, nothing on the box, so just finished watching Weather Plus from 7:40 pm CST to 8:00 pm CST. 59 seconds of radar, of which only 20 seconds was actual real-time local radar (SKYtracker 7@) with, as you know, the other 40 seconds being a 12 hour NWS regional loop. That tends to support my main premise - Weather Plus only gives radar 5% of the time, with realtime radar on only 1.5% of the time. Sorry, but again, IMHO, Weather Plus does not deliver what I want or need.

Dick,

KWWL is still freezing starting between 9-9:01pm each night.

Here's a copy of my response via PM:

If they search the thread Index, it will come up for all cities listed by Nielsen. For the AVS Thread titles, only the primary city for each DMA is listed to avoid confusion and extremely long thread titles.

Obviously exceptions to the above are being made in this forum. For example:
Dayton / Lima, OH
Mobile, AL / Panama City, FL
Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD
Jackson / Meridian, MS
Springfield / Joplin, MO
Omaha / Lincoln, NE
Harrisonburg / Charlottesville, VA
Indianapolis / Terre Haute / Lafayette, IN
Waco / Bryan, TX
Lafayette, LA / Beaumont, TX / Lake Charles, LA

It's not that big of a deal, but it appears like someone just doesn't want to be bothered making the change. So be it.

KC, CFU
Cedar Falls, IA

You only quoted the first part of my post, and conveniently left out:

Two cities were listed, but only because the thread covered two separate DMAs (Primary city of each - largest to smallest)
:rolleyes:

If all Nielsen cities were listed, Mobile, AL / Panama City, FL - HDTV would become
Mobile, AL ; Pensacola, Ft. Walton Beach, FL / Panama City, FL - HDTV

Can anyone recommend a CR business for an OTA purchase/install?
Thanks much.

EM -

Since you mention installation, I assume you're talking about an outdoor antenna. Depending on your location, you might do okay with an indoor model.

I've tried a couple different outdoor antennas from Radio Shack and have had pretty good luck with them. I'm just using a 16' mast mounted on a tripod (Menard's), so I did the install myself. I don't know of any installers though. You might try some of the small TV/Radio shops like Darrel's or Valenta's. Good luck.

They can't even get the right feed to eastern Iowa........then Iowa losess and cbs/kgan cuts away while the broadcast crew is still talking about the ending for only 10 sec and KGAN/CBS cuts away to Bucknell/Ark. WOW talk about piss poor KGAN/CBS coverage....... :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

They can't even get the right feed to eastern Iowa........then Iowa losess and cbs/kgan cuts away while the broadcast crew is still talking about the ending for only 10 sec and KGAN/CBS cuts away to Bucknell/Ark. WOW talk about piss poor KGAN/CBS coverage....... :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
Geez, and I thought they were safe when I turned off 2-1 and left the house at around a quarter to 1 to watch the SaPaDaPaSo parade downtown. I thought, ten or twelve points up -- I'll watch the parade today. I can catch the Hawks in HD in the second round.

Sheez!

As for the switching, I missed it, so I can't hazard a guess as to who's at fault between KGAN and CBS. It's possible that they may have had to go through Bucknell/Arkansas to get to UNI/Georgetown and that CBS might not have had a convenient way to get between the two. They've got eight games to juggle this afternoon alone -- four HD/SD, four SD only. I don't pretend to know how they do it, but I'm sure some combinations are easier to program than others.

What probably happened was that KGAN didn't get signed up for the straight feed for the game. CBS usually handles games two different ways, there's a constant feed and flex feed. It sounds that KGAN somehow got on the flex feed, so when CBS saw that game was essentially over, they took that feed over to a different game. There is an insane amount of juggling to get stations to the games they've signed up for... if I was working master control at the network level this month, well, I probably wouldn't be here for several months, I'd need that much of a vacation!

//edit//

BTW, here's the wording from the CBS wire as to how they handle flex feeds:
IN ADDITION, SHOULD THE OUTCOME OF ANY GAME BECOME OBVIOUS, SPORTS MAY ELECT TO SWITCH CERTAIN STATIONS TO ANOTHER MORE COMPETITIVE GAME. IN THIS EVENT, APPROPRIATE ANNOUNCEMENTS WILL BE MADE ALERTING VIEWERS TO THE UPCOMING CHANGE AND AUDIENCES WILL BE KEPT INFORMED OF THE ACTION AND FINAL OUTCOMES OF ALL OTHER GAMES.

Rather than editing again, I'll just reply. According to the regionalizations chart, KGAN should have been assigned the constant feed for the game. It comes down to two likely circumstances: CBS messed up and incorrectly programmed KGAN for a flex feed, or KGAN was using their second receiver to get to the second game. I honestly believe the first occurance is more likely since it's been known to happen before.

Hey look, I'll reply to myself again. :) Apparently the same happened at KCCI in Des Moines, so it was definitely a CBS screw up. By the sounds of it, it even sounds as though it was some kind of technical problem, but either way, I'm sure CBS will have tons of emails to sift through come Monday. I know we forwarded every message we received on to CBS.

Hey look, I'll reply to myself again. :) Apparently the same happened at KCCI in Des Moines, so it was definitely a CBS screw up. By the sounds of it, it even sounds as though it was some kind of technical problem, but either way, I'm sure CBS will have tons of emails to sift through come Monday. I know we forwarded every message we received on to CBS. Thanks for the reply.

This makes no sense.

Mediacom has a free HBO preview from the 17th to the 20th or 21st, but they didn't include the HD channel in the preview. I called Mediacom and he reset my box. When that didn't help he told that HBO must not have included it in the preview.

If they want to lure me in they better include the HD channel or I won't even bother checking it out.

This makes no sense.

Mediacom has a free HBO preview from the 17th to the 20th or 21st, but they didn't include the HD channel in the preview. I called Mediacom and he reset my box. When that didn't help he told that HBO must not have included it in the preview.

If they want to lure me in they better include the HD channel or I won't even bother checking it out.Mediacom pulled the same stunt today also with the Iowa women's game. Mediacom switched the espn2 feed to carry the game, but didn't switch the espn2 HD channel.

I didn't even think to look on the analog espn2 for the Iowa game. We wondered what the deal was.

Is anybody else not getting KCRG in HD through Mediacom? I noticed the Sixth Sense was not in HD last night, and Desperate Housewives is not in HD tonight. I tried both the Mediacom HD box (channel 809), and the QAM tuner in my tv (channel 115-2) and both give a 480i resolution. KWWL and IPT HD channels are coming in fine.

Kevin

I noticed Sixth Sense last night, but hadn't looked tonight. I'll check it out.

May have to see if I can pick up Moline if there HD is down... :(

DH is a rerun tonight, however Grey's Anatomy is a new episode. If it isn't in HD, then there's a problem someplace. I called Mediacom and as usual they had no idea of a problem.

OTA also.. KCRG's problem.

Their HD encoder broke Friday afternoon and will be down until parts come in, possibly on Monday. They only have SD capability until then.

DH is a rerun tonight, however Grey's Anatomy is a new episode. If it isn't in HD, then there's a problem someplace. I called Mediacom and as usual they had no idea of a problem.

Grey's Anatomy is in HD from Quad Cities station but SD from KCRG.

I can now adjust the aspect ratio again on KCRG-DT, so they've obviously been doing some work this morning. (On my setup, they were "full only" while they were on their backup.)

BTW, if anybody's home at this hour, KFXA is running that NASCAR race -- IN HD -- which was postponed yesterday. 76 laps to go at this time.

Thanks for everyone's patience. Our HD MPEG encoder went toes up on Friday afternoon so we had to go into bypass mode and use our SD MPEG encoder to keep 9-1 digital on the air. Luckily they were able to ship the part quickly and the HD MPEG encoder was back online on Monday afternoon. Although it just wasn't the same watching Grey's in SD digital. :-)

Thanks,

KCRG Engineering

Kirk.... You able to spill the beans on 9.2?????

Kirk.... You able to spill the beans on 9.2?????
I can't really give you any specific information on the 9-2 subchannel. We are looking at a few really good options. We are in the testing phase and you will probably see content pop up occasionally, so we can make sure the encoder and PSIP information is working correctly etc..

What kind of content do you think local viewers would like to see on a local station's subchannel? I would love to hear from anyone who has ideas or opinions and I would be happy to pass that information along to others at KCRG involved in the design phase.

Enjoy your HDTV,

KirkTV

I can't really give you any specific information on the 9-2 subchannel. We are looking at a few really good options. We are in the testing phase and you will probably see content pop up occasionally, so we can make sure the encoder and PSIP information is working correctly etc..

What kind of content do you think local viewers would like to see on a local station's subchannel? I would love to hear from anyone who has ideas or opinions and I would be happy to pass that information along to others at KCRG involved in the design phase.

Enjoy your HDTV,

KirkTV


I would love to see a radar loop with no national content.

What kind of content do you think local viewers would like to see on a local station's subchannel? I would love to hear from anyone who has ideas or opinions and I would be happy to pass that information along to others at KCRG involved in the design phase.

Don't put Iowa State basketball on over "Lost". Put Basketball on the sub since it is in SD anyway

Gosh, you'll probably get ALL kinds of ideas from us! I think, most importantly though you will hear that we would prefer nothing if it interferes with the quality of HD.

Maybe, if you could give us an idea of what options there are to choose from??? I personally don't mind your local weather radar as long as quality is not compromised.

Don't put Iowa State basketball on over "Lost". Put Basketball on the sub since it is in SD anyway
Ultimately that could happen. However, as long as there's analog, and as long as most viewers can't get 9-2, it won't.

There's immense pressure from the large Cyclone contingent out here (it is HUGE in Linn County) to broadcast the basketball games, and pressure from fans of "Lost" and other ABC shows to air those shows even if it means delaying them to alternate times. Problem is, there are rights issues involved if you try to air a show on, say, DT 9-1 and then try to re-air at a later time it for the analog viewers who missed it. If I recall correctly, KCRG used to air Cyclone games and local specials only on analog and regular ABC programming on digital -- and tape-delaying that regular programming for analog-only viewers -- but ABC told them they can't do that anymore. So the sub solution will only work when analog is over and done with, and only until the Cyclone Network succumbs to the pressure to go HD, if that ever happens.

The same issue applies to KGAN, the Hawkeye network station.

Assuming KCRG and KGAN keep Cyclone and Hawkeye basketball on the air next season, we can only hope they get HD delay equipment betweek now and tip-off.

I would love to see a radar loop with no national content.
I'll second that.

Anyone else notice choppy video on KWWL HD. I'm watching through Mediacom and been seeing it all night. Audio is fine though.

Also still seeing the picture freeze starting at 9pm every night. Is anyone ever going to fix this??

Anyone else notice choppy video on KWWL HD. I'm watching through Mediacom and been seeing it all night. Audio is fine though.

Also still seeing the picture freeze starting at 9pm every night. Is anyone ever going to fix this??

Yea, still happening here in Dubuque, Its only the 9pm show on KWWL. Everything else is fine on the station.
Pretty much gotten to the point where I cant watch any 9pm show on HD

Duke... It would be helpful to know where you are. It may be the same problem as nalek if you are in Dubuque, but who knows????

I'm in Waterloo. It is the same problem as discussed earlier in this thread. I hooked up to HD in early February and this has been happening the entire time.

Mediacom knows of the issue with line between KWWL and them but said they don't know if it's them or KWWL.

Here's what I would like to see on a 9-2 subchannel:

1. Nothing, if it degrades the pristine HD signal on 9-1.
2. If #1 doesn't apply, how about a a 24/7 split screen with the left half showing dodecatuple-doppler radar and the right half being a live SkyCam?
3. Replays of the most recent local newscast, for folks who have lives at 12, 6 and 10.

Mike

3. Replays of the most recent local newscast, for folks who have lives at 12, 6 and 10.
Great idea.

For those interested... KCRG has a skycam going on 9-2 right now. I personally could care less for skycams, but that's just me.

Here's what the stream stats show:
9-1 = 13.37 Mbps
9-2 = 3.81 Mbps

For what it's worth, I have a sample reference file that I saved from back in August and at that time they were showing about 12 Mbps on 9-1, and about 6.5 Mbps of NULL packets.

So, unless there are some drastic changes made we've probably already been used to a lower bitrate for a while.

I'm in Waterloo. It is the same problem as discussed earlier in this thread. I hooked up to HD in early February and this has been happening the entire time.

Mediacom knows of the issue with line between KWWL and them but said they don't know if it's them or KWWL.
One way to answer this is to find out if any over-the-air viewers are having a similar problem with KWWL at 9 p.m., or whether it's just Mediacom subs.

(I'd check myself, but I'm not usually able to watch KWWL-DT at that hour. I rarely, if ever, have trouble with them at the times I do watch..)

For those interested... KCRG has a skycam going on 9-2 right now. I personally could care less for skycams, but that's just me.

Here's what the stream stats show:
9-1 = 13.37 Mbps
9-2 = 3.81 Mbps

For what it's worth, I have a sample reference file that I saved from back in August and at that time they were showing about 12 Mbps on 9-1, and about 6.5 Mbps of NULL packets.

So, unless there are some drastic changes made we've probably already been used to a lower bitrate for a while.
hdtvincr,

You are correct that at certain points KCRG had the video portion of their 9-1 stream down to 12Mbs. We have been testing different bit rates for video from 12Mbs - 18Mbs to see if there was a drastic change in picture quality. For example the Super Bowl was ramped to a higher bit rate and Monday night footbal was tested at different levels. Most people were not even aware or noticed any changes in our testing. Currently we are using about 14Mbs for the video on 9-1.

KirkTV

tsduke - exactly when are you seeing the problem with KWWL-DT? I'm in CF, viewing OTA - I rarely watch, cuz there is nothing on at that time I want to watch. Leno is usually fine - gimme a specific time to watch for, and I'll see if there is anything there.

ok - WTH are they doing now? Witchita was HD, looked great. Then switched to Villanova, stretchomatic SD. OK - I'll buy that, CBS can't afford two HD cameras. But then, for the last minute of OT, miraculously CBS has transported and hooked up the HD cameras at Minneapolis, and the final minute of Nova is in HD.

WHO forgot to hit what switch where? Whoever it was, you may have been better off letting us watch crap, and we could be happy blaming the network.

flyingvee

It freezes, just like hitting pause on the dvd player. Lasts anywhere from a few seconds to several seconds. It also happens several time during the 9pm hour. I do believe it's only an issue between KWWL and Mediacom. I haven't come across any CFU or OTA people with the problem.

KWWL engineer, Dick Owens said both the General Manager and News director have CFU and don't see the problem.

and the final minute of Nova is in HD.

WHO forgot to hit what switch where? Whoever it was, you may have been better off letting us watch crap, and we could be happy blaming the network.
I called KGAN last nite during the Nova game and asked why it wasn't in HD. The response-" we haven't gotten around to switching it yet". That was about 20 minutes into the SD stretch-o-vision. Unbelievable! :(

Here's what I would like to see on a 9-2 subchannel:

1. Nothing, if it degrades the pristine HD signal on 9-1.
2. If #1 doesn't apply, how about a a 24/7 split screen with the left half showing dodecatuple-doppler radar and the right half being a live SkyCam?
3. Replays of the most recent local newscast, for folks who have lives at 12, 6 and 10.

Mike

Careful, if you come up with too many good ideas, you may get them all. ;)

Careful, if you come up with too many good ideas, you may get them all. ;)

oh - just checked your location. for a sec I figured you were local, and had just viewed the PAX digital channel (4 subs, no main that I can discern.)

I've heard of digitals in larger markets with up to 8 subs - do you have any over where you live? (maybe someone extra scummy aroung Raliegh-Durham?)

Not to get off topic here, but as an FYI - Charlotte's NBC and CBS both multicast and the PQ is horrendous. NBC has Weather+ and about 14 Mbs for their HD channel while CBS has an SD simulcast, radar and only 12 Mbs for HD. Not even close to adequate for a 1080i station.

In contrast, ABC has only a full time Doppler and offers a pristine picture. Even FOX with an SD simulcast and weather radar yields a superior picture to CBS and NBC.

As far as DTV ideas, one interesting thing that our local FOX station does with their Doppler radar channel is offer 3 different audio tracks so you can select the National Weather Service audio that applies to your specific part of the viewing area. The Charlotte DMA is pretty spread out geographically, so that may not necessarily be of benefit within your DMA if it is more narrowly defined.

The big difference is that ABC and Fox affiliates, at 720p, have a little more breathing room.

But when our NBC announced it was adding Weather Plus and a third sub, their engineer at the time assured us that KWWL's encoder can juggle bandwidth among the three services, with NBC HD getting the highest priority. So far they've tended to do pretty well on 7-1.

The Charlotte DMA is pretty spread out geographically, so that may not necessarily be of benefit within your DMA if it is more narrowly defined.If only it were. :D See this map (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?n=DT983286.html).

Just lost KCRG. KWWl and KGAN OK.

KCRG fine for me at 9:30PM...... (OTA & Mediacom)

I don't have KCRG at this time either, on both my OTA receivers - been down all morning.

Yea... I noticed around 10:00PM last night they were indeed down. Must have some big problems.

tried finding info on their web site, nothing...

We had a major power supply failure and are in the process of trying to secure parts to repair the digital transmitter. We are trying to talk our transmitter manufacturer into coming in on Sunday and driving to pick up the needed parts. We will try to keep our website updated with additional information when we know more.

KirkTV

From the schedule page on KCRG's web site:


Subject: KCRG-DT Signal - Currently Off The Air


KCRG's Digital Television signal is currently off the air due to transmitter issues which developed on Saturday evening 3/25.

KCRG's Engineers are working to correct the problem and restore our digital signal as soon as possible. We'll provide additional updates here as we learn more.

Thanks for your patience and your interest in our digital television signal.

Two weekends in a row with no KCRG-DT! My wife isn't going to like hearing Desperate Housewives won't be in HD again.

KCRG-DT is back on the air as of 7:15pm

Here's an update from their web site:



KCRG's Digital Television signal has been restored as of 7:15pm Sunday evening.

It appears that a major power fault issue with our digital transmitter on Saturday evening knocked us off the air. KCRG's Engineers worked through the day Sunday, including driving 8 hours to get replacement parts from our transmitter manufacturer in Illinois before resolving the problem.

We're hopeful that the replacement parts will fix the power fault issue. As of 7:15pm tonight the digital signal is back on the air.

Again, thanks for your understanding as we worked to fix this problem as quickly as possible.

Sounds like they went above and beyond to make sure the signal was back on for prime-time. Thanks Kirk-TV and KCRG!

Yup, a lot of extra work just for Desperate Housewives....;)

KWWL-DT was freezing up during Deal or No Deal last night. It's not even in HD. I wish KWWL and Mediacom would take this seriously and fix it.

With Mediacom all I can get a hold of is a customer service rep, which is a waste of time. I've had email contact with the engineer at KWWL and all he ever says that it's fine on CFU cable and that he's forwarded my email to the head end tech at Mediacom.

KWWL-DT was freezing up during Deal or No Deal last night. It's not even in HD....The network does not broadcast that show in HD.

The network does not broadcast that show in HD.

I know it's not an HD program. I'm just pointing out that the issue some of us are having with KWWL-DT is happening with SD programs as well as HD programs.

For what it is worth, KWWL was screwed up big time last night in CR as well.

On another note, as of 7:25am, KWWL & KRIN are not showing any signals on Mediacom. KCRG & KFXA are strong but apparently encrypted. I haven't re-scanned to see if perhaps they change channel assignments.

I hope they are just working on things and this is not permanent.

It's probably not an KWWL issue. i was watching Deal last night in Cedar Rapids via OTA and saw no problems with the show, so it is probably Mediacom.

For what it is worth, KWWL was screwed up big time last night in CR as well.

On another note, as of 7:25am, KWWL & KRIN are not showing any signals on Mediacom. KCRG & KFXA are strong but apparently encrypted. I haven't re-scanned to see if perhaps they change channel assignments.

I hope they are just working on things and this is not permanent.


In IC this morning my digital channels from PBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox are all missing. This is through Mediacom, does anyone know if they've moved the channels around or something?

Missing?

Are the channels not there or are they there and nothing is on it?

I'm not home or I would look also.

I rescanned and found none of them, at all. Let's hope they are chasing down the gremlins that's been causing them problems and it will be back up for primetime.

I believe on 115(QAM), it said signal could not be decoded. TsReader shows no PSIP information. On 114(QAM), it showed no signal.

Looks like KCRG (OTA) is down again as of 2:15 anyways.

28.1, 7.2, 7.3, & 32.1 appear to be back to normal on Mediacom. Still no 7.1 or 9.1, but it is down so that probably explains that.

FYI:

According to the Raycom Media website (http://www.raycommedia.com), Raycom has reached a deal to sell 12 of its stations to Barrington Broadcasting Corp. of Hoffman Estates, IL.

KWWL is not among the stations listed, but KTVO (Kirksville/Ottumwa) is.

Barrington already reaches part of Iowa through CBS affiliate KHQA, Hannibal-Quincy-Keokuk. Other stations they own nearby include WHOI in Peoria and KRCG (not a typo) in the Columbia-Jefferson City, MO market.

Not sure where this leaves KWWL. Hopefully they end up with someone who respects them.

I'm getting KCRG-DT again.

Could not watch Boston Legal tonight in HD as the video was very choppy. I am receiving OTA. Anybody else having the same problem? I did not watch earlier tonight so don't know if the problem occured all night, but also had the same problem Sunday with Desperate Housewives. Is there a problem with KCRG video these days? (The audio has been fine)

Thanks,

smokinjoe

Could not watch Boston Legal tonight in HD as the video was very choppy. I am receiving OTA. Anybody else having the same problem? I did not watch earlier tonight so don't know if the problem occured all night, but also had the same problem Sunday with Desperate Housewives. Is there a problem with KCRG video these days? (The audio has been fine)

Thanks,

smokinjoe
Unfortunately "BL" is one of those shows my schedule doesn't allow me to watch live, which is the only way I can watch it in true HD at home since I don't have an HD recorder. However, I recorded BL from KCRG-DT (downconverted for my SD recorder) last night, watched most of it this afternoon, and didn't see any problem.

Don't know about "DH". I left to see a live band before KCRG-DT returned to air, so I recorded that from analog as a precaution.

As you probably know, KCRG changed its signal last week by adding a subchannel, currently 24-hour radar. Depending on your receiver you might want to try a rescan and see if you're still having trouble. My Samsung SIR-T351 OTA receiver handled KCRG, KWWL, KRIN and KFXA fine when they added subchannels or otherwise changed their signals, but I've heard some boxes and receivers don't handle changes very well.

Deal is freezing again tonight on KWWL through Mediacom in Waterloo. I wish I could figure out how to get in direct contact with engineers or techs at Mediacom in Waterloo.

Could not watch Boston Legal tonight in HD as the video was very choppy. I am receiving OTA. Anybody else having the same problem? I did not watch earlier tonight so don't know if the problem occured all night, but also had the same problem Sunday with Desperate Housewives. Is there a problem with KCRG video these days? (The audio has been fine)

Thanks,

smokinjoeIt was fine on OTA from WQAD in the Quad-Cities, so I gotta figure it was your local station.

Could not watch Boston Legal tonight in HD as the video was very choppy. I am receiving OTA. Anybody else having the same problem? I did not watch earlier tonight so don't know if the problem occured all night, but also had the same problem Sunday with Desperate Housewives. Is there a problem with KCRG video these days? (The audio has been fine)

I haven't noticed any choppy video from KCRG (OTA) over the last few days from either of my receivers (HD-Tivo, Samsung TS-160).

I had someone mention to me that they noticed the same sort of problems last night during Lost and The Evidence.

Might be helpful (to other forum members and Station Engineers) for us to always mention our receiver brand/model when discusing reception issues so it's easier to pinpoint if it might be a problem with the way certain receivers are processing the signal or wide spread with the signal itself.

Is anyone else experiencing OTA reception issues? If so, what are you seeing? When? What equipment are you using?

Tuesday night I had failed recordings for "Sons & Daughters" on MyHD card. I assumed it was due to KCRG's problems. Last nights "Lost" was just fine recording with no glitches seen.

FYI:

KWWL just announced on its noon news that they are being sold to Quincy Newspapers, Inc. (http://www.qni.biz), of Quincy, IL.

The company owns NBC affiliates in the Quincy-Hannibal-Keokuk, Sioux City, and Rochester, MN markets, as well as ABC affiliates in the Wisconsin cities of Madison, La Crosse, Eau Claire, Wausau and Eagle River.

A link to the press release from QNI is here (http://www.qni.biz/newsite/Press%20Release.pdf).

For those of you wondering how they're doing on the HD front, here's a list of QNI's existing stations. The cities listed will link you to the local discussion thread for that market, as listed in the AVS index. (Note: some markets are combined with other nearby ones, and Quincy, IL didn't have a thread when I compiled this.)

- #85 Madison, WI (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=405999&goto=newpost): WKOW (ABC)

- #87 South Bend, IN (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=318679&goto=newpost): WSJV (Fox)

- #123 La Crosse-Eau Claire, WI (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=448653&goto=newpost): WXOW (ABC La Crosse), WQOW (ABC Eau Claire)

- #133 Rockford, IL (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=201211&goto=newpost): WREX (NBC)

- #134 Wausau, WI (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=448653&goto=newpost): WAOW (ABC Wausau), WYOW (ABC Eagle River)

- #143 Sioux City, IA (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=209848&goto=newpost): KTIV (NBC)

- #149 Bluefield-Beckley-Oak Hill, WV (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=463793&goto=newpost): WVVA (NBC) (Note: there are only two posts in the thread, including the one CPanther95 used to open it. CPanther notes in that post that there's no HD in the market, but according to the TitanTV listing on wvva.com, they are doing HD.)

- #152 Rochester-Mason City-Austin (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=392947&goto=newpost): KTTC (NBC), KXLT (Fox, operated under a local marketing agreement).

- #169 Quincy-Hannibal-Keokuk (no local thread): WGEM (NBC), CGEM (Fox, originally cable-only, now a WGEM subchannel as well.)


We're Nielsen market #88, so we'd be their third biggest market.

thanks for the list dline; if we're their #3 market, maybe they'll treat us with a little respect (what's the correct sign for I hope?)

on a different topic - just a note to Jerry, and whoever replaced him - happened upon the TUBE on my 30" HD Crt tonight - kudos to you. I am amazed at how good the Tube looks on a small screen - immenintly watchable and enjoyable. Sorry, but all previous comments on the marginal quality were based on how poor it looked on the big setup - the lack of bits is much more apparent when the picture is trying to be 10' wide. Now I'll just have to connect a better sound system to the small tube. :)

My Zenith HDV420 tuner exhibits unwatchable choppy video on KCRG for all HD programs. It works fine on all other HD stations. It has been in my system working great on KCRG for a couple years. It seems to have gone south since the 9-2 sub-channel started.

My HDTV Wonder card in my PC does NOT exhibit this problem.

I was just wondering if anybody else with a HDV420 is seeing this problem? I did rescan the channels in the 420, but that did not help.

Any ideas out there?

Thanks,

Smokinjoe

I have an Mitsubishi WS55511 big screen TV. My receiver is a Sony STR-DA5000ES.
I receive HD over the air broadcasts.
My question is why does my audio portion of the broadcast cut out every minute? (yes, I have timed it, it happens about every minute)

This ONLY happens with KGAN-HD, channel 2.
KCRG (ABC), IPTV(Public TV), KWWL(NBC) and KFXB(FOX) all broadcast locally in HD and I DO NOT have this audio issue with them?!

I have purchased a channel master device to boost my signal, but I still have the same issue with KGAN - channel 2!?

Any ideas what is going on?

(I have viewed the reception in my local Best Buy store and noticed that the audio is NOT cutting out on their TV sets. I know that Mediacom, our local cable company, has NOT offered CBS on their HD receivers - BUT they might be using satellite to get their CBS reception)

Thanks for the help - I can not get answers from any of the local dealers - they are baffled too!

My Zenith HDV420 tuner exhibits unwatchable choppy video on KCRG for all HD programs. It works fine on all other HD stations. It has been in my system working great on KCRG for a couple years. It seems to have gone south since the 9-2 sub-channel started.

My HDTV Wonder card in my PC does NOT exhibit this problem.

I was just wondering if anybody else with a HDV420 is seeing this problem? I did rescan the channels in the 420, but that did not help.

Any ideas out there?

Thanks,

SmokinjoeHousewives was a little choppy at times, but there were storms around. Grey's was just fine. That was thru the MyHD card, though.

Housewives had choppy video and audio on KCRG through Mediacom with STB. Grey's seemed ok.

My Zeinth HD420 has been picking up KCRG-DT just fine. The only recent change is that there has been a significant deterioration of the signal in the last few days. Still get a good picture, but signal strength has been about 60% (normally 90-95%). KRIN-DT comes in at almost 100% all of the time. And KGAN-DT is all over the map. During the first semi final game on Saturday, it was 30-60% (cut out several times), but 80-90% during the second game. All three are on the same tower! Go figure.

Incidentally, I have been experiencing sever lip sync problems with KGAN-DT ever since it came on the air. Don't have it with any of the other digital channels.

I am using a CM attic mounted antenna and am about 23 miles from the Walker transmitter. Hope this helps.

fwiw, KGAN has had lipsynch issues since day one. Should they ever FIX the problem, that will be something to post about. :)

had some pixelization during the game, but figured it was because of the rain. pretty much stopped raining by 2nd game = better picture.

Don't hold your breath. I've given up on KGAN. BY FAR they are at the bottom of the list when it comes to satisfying the customer.

- The ONLY local that thinks stretching is a good thing
- On-going lip-sync issues
- PSIP guide data sucks. I've shown NFL football every Sunday for a while.
- PSIP guide system time wrong
- Gotta put stupid crawls up all the time

etc, etc, etc.... I suppose every market has to have a two-bit operation.

I spoke to the CE many times a while back and understood some of the issues and even started defending them. Well, it's been a LONG time now with these issues that I know he's been told about and nothing happens. So... welcome to the bottom of the heap KGAN.

I have an Mitsubishi WS55511 big screen TV. My receiver is a Sony STR-DA5000ES.
I receive HD over the air broadcasts.
My question is why does my audio portion of the broadcast cut out every minute?

Haven't noticed the aduio drop out issue every minute, but it does seem to happen regularly (while watching KGAN live or recorded HD with my HD-Tivo) about a minute after every commercial break (sometimes more frequently then that).


RE: KCRG Sunday Evening observations

I watched both Desperate and Grey's last night (via the HD-Tivo) and had only one instance of pixelization and one of dropped audio... otherwise both looked great.

Was 24 in HD last night?

Was 24 in HD last night?
It was for me, OTA, I didn't watch it all, just looked in during breaks in the basketball game.

It was in SD for me I'm sure. All the commercial were stretched as well, which isn't normal.

24 was in HD on Mediacom. I would be surprised if it wasn't OTA....

Don't hold your breath. I've given up on KGAN. BY FAR they are at the bottom of the list when it comes to satisfying the customer.

- Gotta put stupid crawls up all the time

So... welcome to the bottom of the heap KGAN. True. But one thing about KGAN, with little money and few toys, I'd rather see a cheap drag across the bottom of the screen, because I get real tired of the "dueling weather/radars" of KCRG/KWWL. But yes KGAN IS at the bottom of my list also.

But, at least KWWL is capable of putting their own bug on the HD feed (even if they keep it on the screen WAY too long). KGAN goes to stretch-o-vision at around 9:40 Central every night to put their KGAN/Local News bug on the screen. 9 times out of 10, they remember to "flip the switch" to go back to HD, but that 10% when they don't switch, bugs me to no end.

I will say, though, that I haven't seen as many audio sync issues on KGAN as I used to. I might have to fire up my old Sammy 26" to see if it's just my new TV that handles it better, or if it's actually less noticeable.

As someone else mentioned a few months ago, now that they've gotten the picture and sound quality up to decent levels on The Tube, it's gone commercial, too. I see commercials more often than music on The Tube nowadays (though I don't stick around and watch for hours at a time to know how long).

Not sure about KCRG, as I pretty much only watch the news and Friends on that channel; they don't have any PrimeTime programming that piques my interest, and they no longer have football.

I just hope that Fox finally fixes the audio issues on their HD baseball programming. Their NASCAR coverage is still quite excellent.

Okay, I'm done whining for now. :p

KFXA HD on channel 828 on Motorola 6412 Phase III in Waterloo is definitely not in HD for me. We just watched Idol and it was stretched SD. All commercials are also stretched. Last night was the same including 24. The audio also is not 5.1.

Is anyone else, especially Waterloo Mediacom customers having this problem?

Does anyone know if a STB can fail to properly tune 1 channel in HD?

Mediacom rep wanted to send someone to my house, but i finally convinced her to get a Waterloo tech manager to call me tomorrow instead. I highly doubt the problem is at my home.

Edit. The last time I saw FOX in HD was during the Nascar race on Sunday. Which looked great.

Must be a Waterloo thing. I just watched my recorded American Idol in brilliant HD recorded off of Mediacom in CR with the MyHD card.

Not getting HD on FOX-28, either. I have Mediacrap in Dubuque. So, it must be a KFXA problem!!!

Does Dubuque and Waterloo run off the same head-end?

I can't understand how CR can be fine, but Dubuque and Waterloo is not. Since it's ok in CR I would guess it's Mediacom's problem and not KFXA.

Even if Dubuque and Waterloo are on separate headends, it is very likely that they are importing some of the local channels from another headend where they get better reception. Last I knew the Waterloo headend was using KDIN from Des Moines instead of KRIN. They were picking it up at Iowa Falls and bringing it over on fiber. KFXA-HD on Dubuque Mediacom very well could be fed from Waterloo via fiber.

Not getting HD on FOX-28, either. I have Mediacrap in Dubuque. So, it must be a KFXA problem!!!Brilliant diagnosis! Did you see my post a couple before yours that said everything is fine on CRs Mediacom?

KFXA must do some magic to only mess Dubuque & Waterloo up!

BTW, "House" looked great in HD and I laughed my rear off!

I see so many complaints about medacom. I know it is not possible for some to have a dish, because of location etc. I know dish is not perfect, but is much better than Mediacom and cheaper. I read a consumer report that had Mediacom listed as the worst cable company in the nation. I am not saying a dish is best for everyone, but if you are unhappy with Mediacom it is worth alook.

I've looked into Dish and Direct TV, but fail to see where they are less expensive than Mediacom. Especially if you want HD and DVR. The the sat companies you have to add $399 up front expense to get the HD-DVR box.

There are pros and cons to both. I had Dish a couple of years ago and got tired of the storm outages as well.

Just need to figure out which system delivers the best overall package I guess.

I'm lucky enough to live in a town with a local cable system - I'm very happy. That said, I have a friend in town who just moved back from the west coast - after analyzing all the options, he went with Dish - with his numbers it came out cheaper than MC or the local.

ts - are you sure about the 4 bills up front - DTV tried to get my mother in law, who didn't even have an HD set, to get the dvr box when she added a second set, for free. same with hd box. I would hate storm outages, but I hated MC outages also, which is why I went to local cable as soon as they had wires in my neighborhood. Thanks, Joe. :D

I've looked into Dish and Direct TV, but fail to see where they are less expensive than Mediacom. Especially if you want HD and DVR. The the sat companies you have to add $399 up front expense to get the HD-DVR box.

Keep in mind that DirecTV has implemented a new equipment lease policy. I don't know all of the specifics, but if I understand correctly, you buy the receiver, pay a monthly "lease" fee, and you return the equipment when finished or get charged huge amounts for it.

That may not be entirely correct, but I think that's the general premise.

My Zenith HDV420 tuner exhibits unwatchable choppy video on KCRG for all HD programs. It works fine on all other HD stations. It has been in my system working great on KCRG for a couple years. It seems to have gone south since the 9-2 sub-channel started.

My HDTV Wonder card in my PC does NOT exhibit this problem.

I was just wondering if anybody else with a HDV420 is seeing this problem? I did rescan the channels in the 420, but that did not help.

Any ideas out there?

Thanks,

Smokinjoe



Smokinjoe,

I think the problem you were seeing should be fixed now. It was a strange issue and was tough to find. We had our multiplexer set to allow for the most efficient use of bandwidth for our signal which was supposed to help receivers to receive our signal better. What we found is that there were some receivers that did not like this setting and it would display the picture as a “strobing” or “jittery” picture. It had no effect on SD and only on certain HD content, so it was hard to catch. I am only aware of a couple of tuners which had this issue, one being the Zenith HDV420 and another being the Samsung TX-P2670WH. The Zenith HDTV’s with the built in tuner worked fine – go figure. I only knew of about 5 people who were having this issue but I assume there were more that just didn’t let us know. I am assuming the problem is fixed so let me know if you still see the strobing picture.


If there are any other people that saw this issue I would like to know what make and model equipment you are using so that I could document the problem better.

Thanks,

KirkTV

Following up on the KFXA problem on Mediacom, Dubuque & Waterloo. I talked with a few friends who have DirecTV. They say they have had the same problem: KFXA is in SD not HD!!
Could it be the Mediacomm--Dubuque & Waterloo are getting KFXA off DirecTV??? I know the Dubuque is OUTSIDE the contour for OTA reception. Hummmm. Oh, well I wish they would get this fixed either way. I tried to call Mediacom this aftrernoon, but had no luck getting to anybody who could help.

I talked to a Medicom tech supervisor in Waterloo yesterday about KFXA. He wasn't even aware there was a problem. I swear, everytime I call I get "not all programming is in HD". I get so tired of hearing that. I told them I'm not an idiot and am quite aware of what shows are HD and which are not. I was supposed to get a call from the head end tech engineer, but of course they had someone call that had no clue. He did say he would talk to the engineers.

He did also say they are trying to locate the problem with KWWL-Mediacom.

I'm getting close to calling the Waterloo Gen. Manager at home. I can understand there will be problems, but they don't even know when they have problems.

I talked with a few friends who have DirecTV. They say they have had the same problem: KFXA is in SD not HD!!Maybe it's because DirectTv does NOT carry our local stations in HD yet! Unless I haven't heard about some amazing break thru from DirectTv, I don't think we are suppose to have HD locals until at least the end of the year.

Your friends are probably talking about the regular locals feed from DirectTV. Don't have a thing to do with your MediaCrap problem.

I'll say again.... KFXA has been HD all week for me on Mediacom in CR (House, Bones, American Idol, Prison Break). There is A PROBLEM WITH THE MEDIACOM-KFXA LINK IN YOUR AREAS!. It is NOT an overall KFXA problem and I'll betcha it's a Mediacom problem.

I will see if the KFXA CE has any knowledge of the apparent problem with the Waterloo/Dubuque feeds.

Following up on the KFXA problem on Mediacom, Dubuque & Waterloo. I talked with a few friends who have DirecTV. They say they have had the same problem: KFXA is in SD not HD!!
Could it be the Mediacomm--Dubuque & Waterloo are getting KFXA off DirecTV??? I know the Dubuque is OUTSIDE the contour for OTA reception. Hummmm. Oh, well I wish they would get this fixed either way. I tried to call Mediacom this aftrernoon, but had no luck getting to anybody who could help.
As far as I know, DirecTV doesn't do HD locals in this market yet, so any D* subscriber who's watching KFXA in HD is getting it off air, just as I'm sure most cable headends are. Nothing would surprise me, though ... perhaps certain Mediacom systems are tuned to 28-2 instead of 28-1 by mistake?

As for the contour, I've been wondering about Dubuque myself, especially since KFXB Channel 40 stopped carrying Fox there. Not only does the FCC's estimated contour for KFXA-DT (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?n=DT1070801.html) not quite reach them, but they use channel 27 to broadcast their digital signal -- the same channel as WKOW's analog station in Madison. (That conflict will end when analog ends, since WKOW has filed to use its current digital channel 26 after the transition.) In fact, if you look at the map you can sense a little directionality in the signal which doesn't favor Dubuque.

Having said that, these maps are just estimates, and there are cases where you can get reception beyond that contour using the right antenna, which Mediacom certainly has. I remember spending a night in Fort Madison (the Super 8, not the prison) once and seeing KCRG analog on cable, even though the FCC's map has their contour stopping well short of there.

Smokinjoe,

I think the problem you were seeing should be fixed now. It was a strange issue and was tough to find. We had our multiplexer set to allow for the most efficient use of bandwidth for our signal which was supposed to help receivers to receive our signal better. What we found is that there were some receivers that did not like this setting and it would display the picture as a “strobing” or “jittery” picture. It had no effect on SD and only on certain HD content, so it was hard to catch. I am only aware of a couple of tuners which had this issue, one being the Zenith HDV420 and another being the Samsung TX-P2670WH. The Zenith HDTV’s with the built in tuner worked fine – go figure. I only knew of about 5 people who were having this issue but I assume there were more that just didn’t let us know. I am assuming the problem is fixed so let me know if you still see the strobing picture.


If there are any other people that saw this issue I would like to know what make and model equipment you are using so that I could document the problem better.

Thanks,

KirkTV


Thanks Kirk,

When I watch the next KCRG HD program, I will post the results.

Smokinjoe

Well, I just sent an email off to Doug Nix who I believe is the General Manager of Mediacom in Waterloo. I don't know that I have his email address correct, but I guessed it based on the format used be other emails I have received from Mediacom employees in the past.

I hope it actually works.

Boy, when I see you guys' problems in your market area, it makes the Quad-Cities look like a top 10 market ;) I feel for all of you.

Master control is asleep again!

Yep, I'm a DirecTV customer in Fairfax, and I have to get KFXA HD OTA. Have had no problems of late.

Yep, I'm a DirecTV customer in Fairfax, and I have to get KFXA HD OTA. Have had no problems of late.
Key word here... OTA (Over The Air)!

Unfortunately there seems to be some people who think because they are a DirectTv customer, that they are getting the locals in HD thru them, when in fact it is just plain 'ol OTA!

Nobody around here is getting our locals in HD thru DirectTvs satellite service and if they tell you they do, then they don't know what they are talking about.

Is anyone else haveing problem hearing the announcers speak on 2-1 for the Master's coverage? If I switch to 2-2 it seems to be fine.

Thanks,
John

The sound came back shortly after I sent the original message 8^)

John

Key word here... OTA (Over The Air)!

Unfortunately there seems to be some people who think because they are a DirectTv customer, that they are getting the locals in HD thru them, when in fact it is just plain 'ol OTA!

Nobody around here is getting our locals in HD thru DirectTvs satellite service and if they tell you they do, then they don't know what they are talking about.

Thank you, I'm aware. I was just trying to back up your point that if his friends are watching KFXA on DirecTV, that it won't be in HD. And if they are watching it, then it's OTA, and I haven't been having issues w/ OTA. Sheesh! Go grab a beer, settle in to watch the Masters and relax!

Thank you, I'm aware. I was just trying to back up your point that if his friends are watching KFXA on DirecTV, that it won't be in HD. And if they are watching it, then it's OTA, and I haven't been having issues w/ OTA.Yes I know. My comments were not intended for you, just those that don't understand the big picture.

Thanks for reiterating my point.

tsduke,

I also e-mailed a different tech with Waterloo Mediacom on Friday and he was also unaware of any problems with KXFA being in SD last week (for prime-time shows that obviously should have been in HD.) He said that they don't do anything to the signal, it comes over fiber straight from their facilities to Mediacom. Obviously, though, if CR and OTA is fine, still, there is a glitch somewhere in the path from KFXA to Mediacom Waterloo. So...

Now I'm definately PISSED!

The Nascar race is not in HD. A 7th straight day with no HD programming on KXFA-DT 828 on Mediacom.

I call Mediacom again but of course they had no clue. Isn' t that a surprise. It took me over 10 minutes to get lady to see that I actually was supposed to have a channel 828. At first she told me that FOX HD isn't offered in my area. She really pissed me off.

At my request, she sent a message to the Waterloo office to have the General Manager call me tomorrow. Anyone want to place a bet that the manager will not call, but again another tech that knows nothing will call, if anyone calls.

Even though I'm not a Mediacom customer, I'm going to look into this problem. I should be able to come up with some contacts at Mediacom that actually know the difference between HD and SD.

I'm checking now on if KFXA does have a fiber feed to W'loo Mediacom. If they do, maybe something went wrong at KFXA's end and KFXA is unaware of it.

If I find out anything helpful I'll post it here.

just a duh, maybe a fwiw - wasn't KFXA hd on 28-2 (or 27-2, I forget) as opposed to the usual 27-1. Watchin yesterday's NASCAR race, I got all excited and ticked, cuz it was in SD - so just for grins I changed channel to 28-1, and there it was, in HD. Could it be something as simple as not changing their inputs, and running what used to be HD, but is now SD?

Different topic - getting HD over QAM in cf, over CFU. Has anyone else been getting wholesale breakups? Has been virtually unwatchable - OTA is fine on other receiver, but getting freezes, breakups, and macroblocking, as well as "insufficient signal" thru what used to be perfectly good QAM cable.

Just talked to a engineer at KFXA. He was aware of the problem but also said that they are sending a HD signal to Mediacom Waterloo. He did seemed suprised though, when I told him we are getting 24/7 stretched SD. He also said he is working with the head end tech to resolve. I found it interesting though, because everytime I talk to Mediacom they don't even know there is a problem.

just a duh, maybe a fwiw - wasn't KFXA hd on 28-2 (or 27-2, I forget) as opposed to the usual 27-1. Watchin yesterday's NASCAR race, I got all excited and ticked, cuz it was in SD - so just for grins I changed channel to 28-1, and there it was, in HD. Could it be something as simple as not changing their inputs, and running what used to be HD, but is now SD?
It's "supposed" to come up as 28-1 HD (when available, pillarboxed SD when not) and 28-2 SD. When they had their recent PSIP troubles, it came up reversed (at least on my Samsung SIR-T351 box) as 27-1 SD and 27-2 HD.

So who knows? They may just have the wrong subchannel tuned in.

I found it interesting though, because everytime I talk to Mediacom they don't even know there is a problem.When you call their CS, you are getting a rep scattered all over the Midwest. Unless you can talk them into connecting you with the local headend tech, you are SOL.

When you call their CS, you are getting a rep scattered all over the Midwest. Unless you can talk them into connecting you with the local headend tech, you are SOL.

I'm talking about supervisors at the Waterloo office that don't even know of any problems.

Different topic - getting HD over QAM in cf, over CFU. Has anyone else been getting wholesale breakups? Has been virtually unwatchable - OTA is fine on other receiver, but getting freezes, breakups, and macroblocking, as well as "insufficient signal" thru what used to be perfectly good QAM cable.

We have not had any reports of this happening. Give our support desk a call and they will get a tech out to your home to check it out.

It's "supposed" to come up as 28-1 HD (when available, pillarboxed SD when not) and 28-2 SD. When they had their recent PSIP troubles, it came up reversed (at least on my Samsung SIR-T351 box) as 27-1 SD and 27-2 HD.

So who knows? They may just have the wrong subchannel tuned in.

That makes sense as anything I suppose. As of this evening, it is still in SD.

Oh, and my Moto 6412 decided to screw me and was in some sort of "funk" where it decided not to record Prison Break nor 24, until I came home and found it wouldn't respond to all of the remote control commands either. I unplugged it, plugged it back in and then it decided, oh yeah, I suppose I better record this show I skipped half of.

I can't wait until TiVo gets their OTA HD unit ready, I am so sick of this Motorola piece of garbage and Mediacom people who obviously don't even watch TV in the evening to realize something as simple as seeing one channel that should be in HD is not.

We have not had any reports of this happening. Give our support desk a call and they will get a tech out to your home to check it out.

my bad, Joe. with the incentive that no one else had any problems, looked a bit farther. Turns out I had a cable from splitter that wasn't connected to a set - had just removed the tv a couple days earlier. Did NOT know that an unconnected cable could cause problems. Sorry for the bother - as you say, picture is back to looking pretty good - definitely better than the seet I am feeding it into. :D

I received a voice mail from a supervisor at Mediacom that I talked to yesterday. He said they did have a problem with KFXA and that is should be fixed now. I will have to check it when I get home from work.

It's ridiculous that it took a week of calling them to actually get someone to look at the issue. I could tell from my conversation with this supervisor that he had no information of there being a problem. This is sad since I started calling a week ago including one conversation with a supervisor on Thursday who obviously took no action.

and what did you really expect? It's not like you were going to drop Mediacom or anything? Or are you in Cedar Falls (in which case you have no excuse for being with them in the first place :))

I guess I'd like to think that a company of that size would have a better system for reporting and fixing problems. Wishfull thinking.....

The supervisor gave me his direct phone and extension so he'll be hearing from me again if needed.

Thanks, tsduke!!! YOur persistance has paid off for me in Dubuque. Mediacrap has corrected the problem here also. Are the two tied together somehow?? Don't know, but thanks again.

Tom

Thanks tsduke, glad you were able to finally find someone who would actually do something!

...I can't wait until TiVo gets their OTA HD unit ready, I am so sick of this Motorola piece of garbage and Mediacom people who obviously don't even watch TV in the evening to realize something as simple as seeing one channel that should be in HD is not.I am with you! I putzed around with the Sony DHG unit until I couldn't stand it any more. When it worked, it was good, but TVGOS reeks, and I went through three defective units. TiVo will likely ask a premium price for it, but that's why I'm saving my pennies.

Thanks, tsduke!!! YOur persistance has paid off for me in Dubuque. Mediacrap has corrected the problem here also. Are the two tied together somehow?? Don't know, but thanks again.

Tom

I believe he did mention that they are tied together.

He also said that the old KWWL freezing issue should have been fixed as of 4/7/2006. Have you seen the freezin lately.

:) No, as a matter of fact, KWWL has been very good, now that you mention it. Now, if Mediacom could only talk KGAN into letting them use their HD signal, we'd have all the major nets. Of course, it would be nice to have PBS also.

Again, thanks for your help in getting Mediacomm's attention. I was frustrated after three tries, and never reaching anyone who cared at their 800 number.

Tom

Of course, it would be nice to have PBS also.Dubuque MC doesn't have PBS-HD?

Huh.. MC in CR does.

Smokinjoe,

I think the problem you were seeing should be fixed now. It was a strange issue and was tough to find. We had our multiplexer set to allow for the most efficient use of bandwidth for our signal which was supposed to help receivers to receive our signal better. What we found is that there were some receivers that did not like this setting and it would display the picture as a “strobing” or “jittery” picture. It had no effect on SD and only on certain HD content, so it was hard to catch. I am only aware of a couple of tuners which had this issue, one being the Zenith HDV420 and another being the Samsung TX-P2670WH. The Zenith HDTV’s with the built in tuner worked fine – go figure. I only knew of about 5 people who were having this issue but I assume there were more that just didn’t let us know. I am assuming the problem is fixed so let me know if you still see the strobing picture.


If there are any other people that saw this issue I would like to know what make and model equipment you are using so that I could document the problem better.

Thanks,

KirkTV

KirkTV,

The problem is solved! Thanks for your help.

Smokinjoe

Can someone tell me what free HD channels (if any) Mcleod provides? I am subscribed to Mcleod premium cable, but recieve all my HD OTA right now. My question is if I buy a HD TV with a QAM tuner, and connect it to my Mcleod cable, will I get any HD content?

Thanks,

Smokinjoe

KirkTV - Here's my vote against the live Hawkeyes on 9-2. I found a LOT more use out of the radar.

Anyone else getting dropouts on KCRG? I go from a 90% signal then down to 0, then back to 90 30 secs to a minute later. Not that I wouldn't expect some oddities given tonights weather, just thought I'd check if it's me or something else.

Anyone else getting dropouts on KCRG? I go from a 90% signal then down to 0, then back to 90 30 secs to a minute later. Not that I wouldn't expect some oddities given tonights weather, just thought I'd check if it's me or something else.

I would say that KCRG is having severe 'dropouts'. See graph of OTA SNR reception at CFU:

KCRG SNR at CFU (http://noc2.cfu.net/HD/mrtg.pl?log=kcrg-hd-snr)



BTW: KFXA has been off the air (at least on our OTA receivers) since 17:00 yesterday.

KGAN had a similar fault at 20:00 but came back up at 22:20.

Ha. That looks about right.

curious if lighning is the culprit -

BTW, don't know about whatever vote is referenced about 9-2, but last night I'd bet that channel with the radar saved lives. It's very nice in times of heavy storm activity that you have an updated less than 1 minute old radar image.

KCRG was having power fluctuation problems on Thursday evening and then went dead later that night. We drove to our supplier early Friday AM to expedite getting the part and hopefully we will be operational by tonight. The part that went bad needs quite a bit of set up time and many adjustments to get it calibrated properly, before we can come up to full power, so we will be off for most of the day.

I don't believe the failure was caused by the storm and may have been a coincidence.

Thanks,

KirkTV

and I see from Joe's chart (and my set) that you just pulled it out/off air for more adjustments. Is it a tower thing - just lost everything else off that tower. (fooled me for a minute - made some changes, to test my LG box, and when I turn it back on, KGAN and KCRG are gone. Thanks for the graphs, Joe, or I would have been worried.)

KFXA is still down - anybody know anything there?

I'm redoing my channel scan to get rid of the WHBF, WISC and WKOW signals that my box somehow received -- and still remembers -- after the storm. Around 3 a.m. Friday morning those two Madison stations came in loud and clear, as did WHBF in Rock Island, which keeps its transmitter on the air with its logo over color bars even though it doesn't run anything. (Hey, Coronet Communications, ever heard of CBS Up To The Minute?)

As for stations we "should" be getting:

- KGAN is up at the moment. It appeared that there was a period yesterday in which it wasn't mapping properly, though. If you're still not getting it, try punching in its "actual" channel (51-1) or do a rescan. After you do that, hopefully your tuner remembers where to find channel 2 and it will come up as 2 again.

- KCRG is also up, with its test subchannel 9-2 displaying radar.

- KFXA-DT is off. If you've rescanned, you'll need to check for them on their "actual" channel 27-1, as your box probably forgot where to find it. KFXA analog is on.

- It appears everyone else is normal.

(Information is current as of post time.)

_____

EDIT: If you're into looking for distant stations when the conditions are right, you can look for WKOW-DT on channel 26 and WISC-DT on channel 50. I think WMTV-DT was trying to come in on 19, but didn't quite make it. I've also gotten Rochester, MN NBC on channel 36 in the past.

The big three are back up (as you said.) Still no KFXA-DT; luckily no Nascar tommorrow, so I don't have to explain to my father why the race isn't in HD. :)

Will be looking for faraway stations after rotor is working; STILL haven't done that. - have a bad case of not fixing if it ain't broken. But for some reason my cable had become too long to get HD off CFU, so I rewired that, and now it is working fine. When things get to the point that I have to move the antenna to get either KWWL or Fox, then it will be time to get off the dime.

EDIT: If you're into looking for distant stations when the conditions are right, you can look for WKOW-DT on channel 26 and WISC-DT on channel 50. I think WMTV-DT was trying to come in on 19, but didn't quite make it. I've also gotten Rochester, MN NBC on channel 36 in the past.

All those are from Madison, WI...have you or anyone else ever get Des Moines?
And what is your farthest DTV catch?

Farthest from me (I am 60 miles west of Chicago) was Green Bay, WI and Indianapolis, IN.

Must still be adjusting KCRG...solid for 2-3 minutes, then drops for a minute. Tried rotating antenna to solidify, not the issue.

But, nothing for KFXA. Will re-scan shortly just to see if mapping issue.

KCRG will be off the air for most of the day Sunday, we will try to come back online by primetime in a temporary fashion, but the problem won't be repaired completely until later on Monday, at least that is what we are hopeful for. After we made the trip to get parts on Friday we were only able to get one piece of the necessary parts we needed to replace. We were able to make some adjustments to “patch” the problem and was hoping it would get us through until Monday without issue but unfortunately that wasn't the case.

Thanks for your patience,

KirkTV

Thanks for the headsup, Kirk - we realize (or at least we should) that you have bigger things on your mind than firing up the computer and talking to us. The time you take is appreciated. (Plus, it means we won't be bugging you or the station every 5 minutes - good for everyone.)

Thanks again,

Now, for KFXA.

All those are from Madison, WI...have you or anyone else ever get Des Moines?
And what is your farthest DTV catch?

Farthest from me (I am 60 miles west of Chicago) was Green Bay, WI and Indianapolis, IN.Well, one night I left my tuner on Iowa Public Television to tape a show Friday night. They use channel 35. When I woke up next morning, and before IPTV went on the air again (I have really odd hours), my tuner was displaying it as KARE-DT from Minneapolis which also uses channel 35. Too bad I didn't tune in in time to see an actual signal.

Unfortunately most of my building lies between my antenna and the Des Moines stations, but I know somebody who lives in a higher part of town who has gotten them. Most everything I get from skip is north, northeast and occasionally southeast. Pre-DT I got my Fox from Ottumwa (a little grainy, but watchable) because my own Fox analog suffered from severe multipath.

Back in 93, I watched coverage of the DSM flood on the Des Moines stations - 8 and 13, I believe. Snowy, but I was able to watch what happened as in unfolded, in realtime, as opposed to the news bites one gets on local (out of the area) stations. Kinda miss that - analog, you can get something - with digital, is all or nothing, and so far in my case, if it isn't what I am supposed to get, it tends to be nothing.

CFUJoe - hate to be a bother, but could you please post the link for all your HD graphs? - I know it is buried back in the original thread, but I have lost it. I can access all the individual stations from what you gave us above, but I can't figure out the extension to get all the graphs at once. Thanks - I'll be sure to bookmark it on all my computers, this time. :)

Cedar Falls Utilities' DT Signal Quality Graphs (http://www.cfu.net/CyberNet/HD/)

If anyone else knows of interesting or helpful links I've been trying to post them in the first message of this thread, too.

Thanks kc - I never thought of looking at the top of the thread for info - my duh. Also see where I went wrong in my extrapolation. Dang, but those graphs are nice - tho they are from CFU, they are pretty useful for anyone trying to get HD OTA in the market.

Is there anyone on this board who is remotely connected with KFXA? - would be nice to know when they are thinking of waking up the hamster. World Series is coming soon, not to mention NFL.

Just checked, it looks like KFXA is putting out digital signals again.

(edit: KCRG was up this morning, down now.)

Well we had a menagerie of problems and as soon as we corrected the original problem another smaller one would present itself. We have the replacement parts installed and adjusted to spec and so far it looks pretty stable. Cross your fingers and hopefully no more issues will creep up for awhile at the KCRG site! :-)

Thanks for your patience with all the disruptions,

KirkTV

Can someone tell me what free HD channels (if any) Mcleod provides? I am subscribed to Mcleod premium cable, but recieve all my HD OTA right now. My question is if I buy a HD TV with a QAM tuner, and connect it to my Mcleod cable, will I get any HD content?

Thanks,

Smokinjoe

Can a Mcleod customer answer this?

Thanks,

Smokinjoe

My parents are McCleod customers in CR and they don't get ANY free HD channels...I couldn't believe it, but I tried to find them myself and had no success.

Likewise, tried to show a Waterloo (Mediacom) tv dealer that his QAM tv would pickup cable HD channels - it wouldn't - evidently Mediacom also scrambles ota HD channels. One more reason not to live in Waterloo. (or subscribe to Mediacom)

Likewise, tried to show a Waterloo (Mediacom) tv dealer that his QAM tv would pickup cable HD channels - it wouldn't - evidently Mediacom also scrambles ota HD channels. One more reason not to live in Waterloo. (or subscribe to Mediacom)Then why was there a big discussion last week about Mediacom customers in Waterloo & Dubuque not getting KFXA in HD, then it was corrected?

Likewise, tried to show a Waterloo (Mediacom) tv dealer that his QAM tv would pickup cable HD channels - it wouldn't - evidently Mediacom also scrambles ota HD channels. One more reason not to live in Waterloo. (or subscribe to Mediacom)That's really odd, because MediaCrap in the Quad-Cities doesn't scramble them. During the short time I had the Sony DHG unit (with analog cable connected to it) I picked up all the local affiliates' HD offerings that MediaCrap piped through it's cable system...no scrambling at all.

dunno - but was told by the dealer that OTA HD was only available in the pay tier of HD offerings. I do know that a. - in the store, set didn't pick up the otas, and b. - once we got it home, I did a scan, and they all popped up. On cfu, not MC.

I do know that if I was paying Mediacom for HD, I'd be very unhappy if all I got was the SD feed.

HD signals from Mediacom are unscrambled in Iowa City.

Mediacomm in Dubuque offers: KWWL Tube, NBC WX, KCRG, KCRG Radar, and KFXA unscrambled. And, there is some talk about them offering ESPN HD unscrambled in the near future. I'll have to see that to believe it!!!

dunno - but was told by the dealer that OTA HD was only available in the pay tier of HD offerings. I do know that a. - in the store, set didn't pick up the otas, and b. - once we got it home, I did a scan, and they all popped up. On cfu, not MC. What condition is the physical cable from Mediacom in?

It's been my understanding that that if the cable itself is in poor condition, even though it may pass a watchable analog signal, it won't necessarily pass a digital one, regardless of whether or not it's encrypted.

In fact, I seem to remember that under the old TCI system in Ames in the late '90s, folks who added the digital cable option actually saw an improvement in their analog signals as well -- not because the analog stations became digital (they didn't), but because the installers had to improve the cable to the home in order for the digital channels to work.

Anyone else have any thoughts?

You could have me there - was typical store environment - probably one cable in, and then split 20 ways. If what you are saying is the case, they are missing a bet - being an HD set, it didn't look that hot with stretched SD. OTOH, it looks marvelous with HD feed.

Way OT - if anyone is looking for a large display set, and has room for an old school RPTV, they really should look at the Hitachi CRT units. Got one for the folks, 52", 16x9, point convergence, and a working QAM/cablecard tuner. For the price of a 23" Sony LCD moniter. Yes, they are bloody huge, but wow, Discover HD looks SOOOO good. (-all of you sat people know this already, but my point is, CRT still isn't totally dead. :))

...Way OT - if anyone is looking for a large display set, and has room for an old school RPTV, they really should look at the Hitachi CRT units. Got one for the folks, 52", 16x9, point convergence, and a working QAM/cablecard tuner. For the price of a 23" Sony LCD moniter. Yes, they are bloody huge, but wow, Discover HD looks SOOOO good. (-all of you sat people know this already, but my point is, CRT still isn't totally dead. :))Vee -- I can attest to the quality of the Hitachi RPTVs. I've had the 51UWX20B for three years now (got it as a refurb for under $1K), and it's been spectacular. I've calibrated it myself (not a professional calibration), but it's been great....DVDs in particular, but the OTA HD stuff continues to amaze me. My buddies always rave when they come over for HD sports. I'm a huge hockey fan, so I'm salivating at the playoffs that NBC will be broadcasting in HD. Last week's Saturday afternoon game was in HD on NBC, and it was exhilarating! Yes, they are big and bulky, but, boy do they get the job done.

Is anybody having any trouble getting HD from Mediacom. My dad has a Toshiba 42HP95 plasma and was getting the local HD channels through the QAM tuner. This past week he has been unable to get a video signal, but is getting audio. I have the same tv and live in Coralville and have had no problems. I'm assuming its his tv that is the problem.

Kevin

Kevin, I'm still picking up KWWL, KCRG, KFXA, and PBS through my LG with QAM.

-Rod

Is anybody having any trouble getting HD from Mediacom. My dad has a Toshiba 42HP95 plasma and was getting the local HD channels through the QAM tuner. This past week he has been unable to get a video signal, but is getting audio. I have the same tv and live in Coralville and have had no problems. I'm assuming its his tv that is the problem.

Kevin


My father-in-law, in Waterloo, has this set and hasn't reported any issues to me. Have you tried to get a cable card from mediacom for this set? They tried 3 or 4 of them on his set and couldn't get any of them to work. He has the latest firmware from Toshiba.

All is good with my dad's tv. I called the local Toshiba dealer and he said to unplug the set for a few minutes and let it reboot itself. I think my dad was messing around in one of the menus and must have hit a reset button by mistake. I think I need to put a parental lock on everyhting but the essential buttons. Thanks for your responses.

Kevin

Is anyone getting short audio cutouts on KCRG?

Yes, I am also getting the audio cutouts thru Mediacom digital. I haven't tried OTA lately to see if it's there also. Last night I counted 7 dropouts during a 1 minute period on the local news at 10pm.

Not only audio dropouts on Housewives and Grey's but also pixelization on both shows made me quit watching. Added to the fact they were both recap shows od the entire season made my decision easier

fwiw, I had one or two (only) OTA Sunday - wasn't sure if it was the station or new software for my VP. Sounds like you have confirmed it as the station. Thanks. (DVDO also says thanks. :))

Please help a totally confused newbie here.

I just hooked up a TH-42PX60U (latest Panasonic 42" HD plasma with QAM) to regular Mediacom cable (no STB of any kind) in Cedar Rapids. I did a channel scan (which by default scans analog and digital) and it found all kinds of stuff in addition to the normal analog channels. Music channels, etc, that I have no interest in.

What channels should I be watching to see KCRG, KWWL, KGAN and Fox in HD without a STB? Two Medicacom reps told me that although there was a "long" waiting list for HDTV STB and DVRs that I could get local channels with the regular cable through the QAM but we did not discuss further.

Looking through the channels that scanned in, it looks like NBC is coming in on 114.1 and KCRG was coming in on 115.2, FOX on 115.4, etc. Is this what I should be trying to get? Is this the HD signal?

Confused as Hell here, would be extremely grateful for any help! I will say that the regular feeds on the local channels look very good to me, I was very surprised.

Sounds like you found them - it depends on your tuner, and the actual cable system, what numbers you will see. But that is what you want. As long as they are giving you the HD channel, you are seeing HD when it is broadcast.

fwiw, with my LG tuner, thru local cable, locals are like 107.1, etc. But I get no music stations, even tho the provider said I probably would. OTOH, parents Hitachi picked up the locals on their "correct numbers" - 2-1,2-2,7-2, 7-1, etc.... Oddly enough, when they put in the cable card, they lost the 2-1, and now, instead get the HD of KGAN on 402. Go figure.

Looking through the channels that scanned in, it looks like NBC is coming in on 114.1 and KCRG was coming in on 115.2, FOX on 115.4, etc. Is this what I should be trying to get? Is this the HD signal?You got it. The locals are on 114 & 115 on MC (Minus KGAN, of course). I forget the exact sub channels, but you should have NBC, ABC, FOX, & PBS.

It is in HD when there is HD material being shown.

Thanks much appreciate the help.

Watched Medium on NBC in HD tonight, looked great.
What's the deal with the audio dropouts and picture glitches on KCRG? Is this a temporary problem?

And why isn't KGAN available on Mediacom?

What's the deal with the audio dropouts and picture glitches on KCRG? Is this a temporary problem?

And why isn't KGAN available on Mediacom?
KCRG has been having on & off glitches for a few weeks. Hopefully they can get them corrected soon.

KGAN is owned by Sinclair broadcasting. You should do a search on the other forums to read why they are being A**holes...

What's up the KFXA? Idol isn't in HD.

Nothing - just the usual level of competence we have come to expect of KFXA- it became HD around the 20 minute mark - it also began in HD, but immediately cut to SD. I SOOO wanted to see Paula do the fake crying thing in HD. But at least I got to hear the girl with the fake Southern accent sing virtually an entire song flat. Now THAT is hard to do. She should win for that alone.

btw, I left at that point, so have no idea if they went back to sd or not. HD didn't seem to help the Pickle girl's vocals, so I wouldn't count on it for the rest of them.

OTOH, parents Hitachi picked up the locals on their "correct numbers" - 2-1,2-2,7-2, 7-1, etc.... Oddly enough, when they put in the cable card, they lost the 2-1, and now, instead get the HD of KGAN on 402. Go figure.

402 is the re-map that we do for KGAN-D, and the other QAM stations. KWWL is 106.1 and KCRG is 106.2, but we remap them to 407 and 409 in the STBs (including the cable cards).

As usual, KGAN teenage weekend master control operators don't monitor the HD channel. The audio has been bad from at least Saterday evening and is still band Sunday AM. They really don't care.

Glad I'm not the only one seeing dropouts on KCRG the last week or so. ............

:( KCRG/ABC had about 15-20 dropouts, the split sec kind during Gray's Anatomy last night.

Somebody please tell me that KWKB is/will be working on upgrading their station to full HD compatibility, and going to at least 500MW, this summer.

It'll be the first - for any of us - to see either The WB or UPN in HD, starting this fall. Ok, technically, the combination of the 2 networks will be The CW, but they'll be taking the best of the 2 and making it 1 very good network. (If only Enterprise was still on UPN/would be going to The CW).


Wait a sec, I guess I should ask, is KWKB switching over from The WB to The CW? I know KWGB is, in the Quad Cities DMA.

The latest word I've seen is that KWKB will be the CW affiliate here. That's what the trade magazines are reporting. I would have been real shocked if it went to the current "UPN 22" since they're a Bic lighter compared to the 5 MW blowtorch KWKB analog is.

Checking the FCC's website, it appears that they're asking for an extension of their DT construction permit until the end of this year due to a number of issues, including a backlog in orders from its supplier and delays in getting funding for the upgrade. They think they'll get the equipment by August, but they're asking for a full extension until December 31 "to allow for any further unforseen circumstances that may arise." (The application is here (http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1127733&Service=DT&Form_id=337&Facility_id=35096).)

This is just to get the 1 MW DT signal on the air and has nothing to do with whether it will be HD or not.

Anyone here notice the underscan on KGAN-HD? I see a very thin 1/4" black bar at the top of my TV. Every other HD channel is fine, so I assume it's either KGAN or the feed they're getting from CBS.

Does anyone know if the weather feed on 9-2 is going to be permanent?

The dropouts on KCRG have been going on for several weeks now. ALthough maybe not as bad as usual, one commercial in particular was real bad on Lost last night. So It must not be a local thing. I do recall this same problem back when digital TV first started. I almost want to turn over to the analog station. IS anybody at KCRG aware of this?

There is a member in here that works for KCRG, but he hasn't posted in a few weeks. I keep hopin he will pop in and update us on the dropouts. They do seem a touch better, but it's still quite annoying.

The dropouts on KCRG have been going on for several weeks now. IS anybody at KCRG aware of this?

I don't work for KCRG, but I happen to know that they are aware of the problem and are trying to find the source of it so it can be fixed.

Have just learned it's highly likely (can never be 100% sure) that the CW will be offered in HD in the QC market. Don't have a time frame, but the source of the information is very reliable. CW will be connected to the Fox affiliate, KLJB, in Davenport. They're putting up a new, digital tower...not sure of the location, and not sure when it will be operational. More news to come later.

The FCC has a construction permit for KGWB (WB26 for Burlington, which wants to expand to include the Quad Cities) to build a 500kW transmitter on a 1,290-foot tower slightly southwest of Aledo, IL. Here's a link (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?n=DT423364.html) to an FCC map showing its estimated coverage area. Currently, they're on a special temporary authority for 2.73kW from Burlington proper.

The new tower should easily serve the QCA, Muscatine, most of Clinton and perhaps even Iowa City if the map is to be believed. KGWB-DT operates on channel 41.

(This is also posted in the Davenport thread, but there is some overlap so I figured I'd post it here as well.)

Please help a totally confused newbie here.

I just hooked up a TH-42PX60U (latest Panasonic 42" HD plasma with QAM) to regular Mediacom cable (no STB of any kind) in Cedar Rapids. I did a channel scan (which by default scans analog and digital) and it found all kinds of stuff in addition to the normal analog channels. Music channels, etc, that I have no interest in.

What channels should I be watching to see KCRG, KWWL, KGAN and Fox in HD without a STB? Two Medicacom reps told me that although there was a "long" waiting list for HDTV STB and DVRs that I could get local channels with the regular cable through the QAM but we did not discuss further.

Looking through the channels that scanned in, it looks like NBC is coming in on 114.1 and KCRG was coming in on 115.2, FOX on 115.4, etc. Is this what I should be trying to get? Is this the HD signal?

Confused as Hell here, would be extremely grateful for any help! I will say that the regular feeds on the local channels look very good to me, I was very surprised.

Hi iaHawkeye. How do you like the new panny? I am actually looking at getting the 50px600u (if it ever comes out). Hows the picture on yours??

Did anyone else notice a lot of pixelization problems on KWWL during Las Vegas and Conviction? It was really bad and pretty much un-watchable. I'm watching through Mediacom.
-Rod

Did anyone else notice a lot of pixelization problems on KWWL during Las Vegas and Conviction? It was really bad and pretty much un-watchable. I'm watching through Mediacom.
-RodYes. Me Too.... Seems like when the weather is down, so is the quality of KWWL on MC. OTA seemed much better, but unfortunately had a phone call that forced me to have to timeshift using the MC feed.

You out there Dick? This is getting old.

Somewhat off topic, some good news I noticed: I walked through Wal-Mart on Blairs Ferry today. Saw a few analog TVs on the shelves, but not many; SD sets available in the $200-300 range; an HD tube set with tuner for around $450; several widescreen LCD sets for three figures ... and perhaps best of all, the "monitor" sets which require an add-on tuner are disappearing from the shelves.

Again, I'm not endorsing the store, but I'm mentioning this because if it's on the shelves of Wally World, it goes a long way toward being mainstream.

Now if only the bars would feed their newfangled sets an HD signal rather than putting a stretched analog cable feed on them ...

Hi iaHawkeye. How do you like the new panny? I am actually looking at getting the 50px600u (if it ever comes out). Hows the picture on yours??

The TH-42PX60U it great, I love it and I consider myself fairly critical. But it's my first HDTV, so it's not like I'm an expert on the differences from one brand over another.

My biggest surprises so far:

1) That local HDTV signals have all of the issues mentioned in this thread. There have been several times when I have had to switch back to the analog channel because of audio dropouts or picture problems. These are the kind of early adopter problems I would have expected the first six months of DTV, not years into it. In spite of that, HDTV is really, really nice most of the time. Don't know who to blame, the local TV station or Mediacom.

2) I'm surprised how well the Panasonic stretches SD channels over the 16:9 screen. I really thought it would drive my crazy but the "Just" mode isn't that bad. On the 42" screen, a good quality signal from an SD cable channel isn't painful at all.

3) The most pleasant surprise was how great widescreen DVDs look on the Panasonic. It's really like seeing them for the first time. From my seating distance (10-12') standard DVDs look great and are plenty good enough for me. At this point I have no interest whatsoever in high-def DVDs. It's interesting how much better some DVDs look than others. If Hollywood can't even get decent prints or take the time to do the transfers well on standard DVDs I don't hold out much hope for HD-DVD formats being that great anyway.

So far no regrets. I signed up for Netflix to exercise the new Panny and was pleasantly surprised that Netflix has a distribution center in Cedar Rapids as the movies arrive overnight.

Yes. Me Too.... Seems like when the weather is down, so is the quality of KWWL on MC. OTA seemed much better, but unfortunately had a phone call that forced me to have to timeshift using the MC feed

Sorry to hear you folks are still having problems with the Mediacom feed. Do me a favor and send me your addresses so that I can give some specific info to Mediacom.

Email me at "dickw4rno@gmail.com " (the Raycom email is down).

Thanks,

Dick

There is a member in here that works for KCRG, but he hasn't posted in a few weeks. I keep hopin he will pop in and update us on the dropouts. They do seem a touch better, but it's still quite annoying.


I think we have solved the dropout issues. It has been good all last week and I have not noticed any issues so far this week.

Sorry for the late response but I did not recieve any email notification that something was being posted in my subscribed thread. My bad for not checking earlier since I was suprised nobody had posted in awhile.

KirkTV

[ I did not recieve any email notification that something was being posted in my subscribed thread. My bad for not checking earlier since I was suprised nobody had posted in awhile.

KirkTV[/QUOTE]

ive been de-subscribed several times from this and other lists myself -- I'm not sure why, however.

KCRG has been better lately. Hopefully whatever you did solved the issue. Thanks Kirk

Kirk-

Where did the problem end up being at?

Sorry to hear you folks are still having problems with the Mediacom feed. Do me a favor and send me your addresses so that I can give some specific info to Mediacom.

Email me at "dickw4rno@gmail.com " (the Raycom email is down).

Thanks,

Dick

Dick-

E-mail sent. I just provided my street name, since my street is only a block long, I'm sure the whole block is on the same link.

Keep us posted.

Thanks!

I'm still getting the audio dropouts on KCRG.

Dick-

E-mail sent. I just provided my street name, since my street is only a block long, I'm sure the whole block is on the same link.

Keep us posted.

Thanks!

Of course, since the weather hasn't been too terrible lately, I haven't had too many issues. Last night was clear over Mediacom until about 2 minutes befor ethe end of L&O when some monkey started fiddling with the feed to down-rez it for the news. That dun pissed me off, but otherwise, no big problems, since there was no bad weather.

Anyone else still getting the audio dropouts on KCRG HD?

I didn't notice them last weekend when I was home. Finally got my parents setup with my old Samsung Sir-T165 receiver. Did notice an odd behavior with KCRG, though. Whenever we tuned to it, the box would restart. Sort of reminded me of when IPTV was testing with 5 subchannels. Once it reboots it is fine...well, until you tune away and come back again. :) I just told them to tune into Desperate Housewives early. :p

EXACTLY - was just going to post the same behaviour as kcObsn - for me, was Sunday afternoon - when changing channels, got to 9-1, and 9-2, my 165 also did a reboot/restart. More changes in PSIP? Once I got it, didn't notice any dropouts, but wasn't paying that close of attention either.