Yeah, huh....who is this Al guy, and who cares which bus he took to some hotel in 1974??

So many HD games....So many HD RSN's....What's a provider to do :D

Dish made it through their first 2 without any problems....work in progress??

I am trying to split the cable signal for PIP. The main cable feed comes into the living room & into a splitter. From the splitter, there is one cable feed going to the Moxi & the other into "ANT A" in the Pioneer Media box. My installer had me set up for PIP at my initial install but I undid it to get OTA.

Of course, I failed to note the iniitial configuration, but I thought it was done the way I am trying.

You won't get squat.

Ok, maybe you get squat. Digital (non hd) abc, thetube subchannel, ksdk weather subchannel, digital wgn, and that's about it. Oh, plus some vod from other people in your area.

type7's quote was not in response to mine but I found it searching the thread. Is that essentially all I can expect to get by running cable direct to my TV (with QAM tuner)? If so, it's not worth the aggravation.

There's an article today on STLTODAY.COM about the AT&T and rolling out there upcoming fiber optic TV and internet services. First off, if you can even get on stltoday.com - that's the worst website I've ever witnessed and unfortunately I keep trying to go there for local news..

Anyway, some law was passed giving AT&T clearance to roll out these new services. Apparently it will be a thorn in Charter's side. Except they gave no timetable - which means 2-5 years I suppose. I'm tired of waiting for better options here. Directv keeps promising - but it never happens. I'm left with basic Charter (it's free in my apartment) even though I'm willing to pay for more HD programming. But no timetable on the stuff. It's been too long for HD programming to step up.

I'll believe all this when I see it - which still doesn't look to be anytime soon. Anybody up for possible AT&T rollout predictions? More unsubstantiated gossip?

Frustrated in STL!!
Spencer

I work for AT&T, some of what I know is public knowledge, other is more "inside," but none of what follows is "secret" by any means.

AT&T will make a request for a statewide franchise later this year, should be early Q3 at the latest. Once approval is received (within a month or two?) AT&T will make their video services available almost immediately to the areas where the infrastructure already supports it. There are many urban/suburban areas ready to go as AT&T has been actively making the necessary changes in anticipation of the video rollout. If you run into one of AT&T's field service folk ask them if your neighborhood is ready, you might be surprised.

AT&T can't even get DSL to my apartment in Clayton by the Galleria; for some odd reason I don't think I'm going to be getting U-Verse any time soon either.

I work for AT&T, some of what I know is public knowledge, other is more "inside," but none of what follows is "secret" by any means.

AT&T will make a request for a statewide franchise later this year, should be early Q3 at the latest. Once approval is received (within a month or two?) AT&T will make their video services available almost immediately to the areas where the infrastructure already supports it. There are many urban/suburban areas ready to go as AT&T has been actively making the necessary changes in anticipation of the video rollout. If you run into one of AT&T's field service folk ask them if your neighborhood is ready, you might be surprised.


Thanks for the heads up on this! I live in South City (zip 63109) and I hope something gets rolled out later this year. I'd like to bundle phone, internet and cable. Any word on the Channel selections? Looking forward to more choices when it comes HD programming.

AT&T can't even get DSL to my apartment in Clayton by the Galleria; for some odd reason I don't think I'm going to be getting U-Verse any time soon either.

Are you talking about the apartments behind Linens and Things on the northwest corner of Clayton/Brentwood? If you are you should be able to get it. I had a buddy who lived over there and he had DSL. Check again with them.

Are you talking about the apartments behind Linens and Things on the northwest corner of Clayton/Brentwood? If you are you should be able to get it. I had a buddy who lived over there and he had DSL. Check again with them.

Send an email to dslqual@att.com

no subject
in the body put your phone and state like this

3142192699MO

It will automatically loopqual you and reply back yes or no.

A bit late as many others already confirmed it, but my Olevia 237's built in tuner now gets KDNL with no stutters or audio drops :D Thank you much for the fix.

Send an email to dslqual@att.com

no subject
in the body put your phone and state like this

3142192699MO

It will automatically loopqual you and reply back yes or no.
:cool: Rich. Still no ATT DSL here, but it beats the heck out of going to their site, and checking every week....thanks.

AT&T can't even get DSL to my apartment in Clayton by the Galleria; for some odd reason I don't think I'm going to be getting U-Verse any time soon either.

I bet you get it before us poor souls out in CenturyTel land.

Thanks for the heads up on this! I live in South City (zip 63109) and I hope something gets rolled out later this year. I'd like to bundle phone, internet and cable. Any word on the Channel selections? Looking forward to more choices when it comes HD programming.

You're welcome. Here's the current HD lineup, more programming to be added . . .

http://www.att.com/gen/sites/iptv?pid=8695

This should get you to more U-verse info. You can view a pdf channel lineup for cities currently served.

https://uverse1.att.com/launchAMSS.do

All kinds of offers being made as they roll IPTV out, free HD for the first year among them. Oh, and all receivers they provide are HD-capable.

Still without a 2 and 5 HD on E*. Called Tuesday night and went thru all their basic troubleshooting garbage to no avail. When I mentioned these channels are now on the new satellite, they of course have no knowledge of it. She said someone would call me back within 24 hours on it. Sooooo, 24 hours later I call back, the next person tries to make me go thru the troubleshooting crapola. I refused. No knowledge of sat change. She says it requires tech visit. Next available appointment-15 DAYS!!!! I tell her with this kind of service, I could have stayed with cable. Then I have to ask for a credit for this time without service. She has to "talk to a supervisor." She can credit me from today until the service call for my missing channels. But I called yesterday, I say, of which she has a record of. I can only credit you starting today she says. This goes on for another couple minutes. Finally she has to "talk to a supervisor" again and the credit comes through starting from my first call. So I have a few questions:

Has anyone who lost 2 and 5 HD on Monday got them back yet?

If you've scheduled a service call thru E*, what date did you get?

Is E* hiring away CS people from Charter?

I bet you get it before us poor souls out in CenturyTel land.

I'll second that! Between CenturyTel's old phone lines from GTE, and Charter's old cable lines from TCI, I think St. Charles County is the technological armpit of the world! Thank God for satellite dishes and OTA!

A bit late as many others already confirmed it, but my Olevia 237's built in tuner now gets KDNL with no stutters or audio drops :D Thank you much for the fix.

Hey Jim, Not sure this is related but Lost is studdering really bad on my Dish 622. Is it me, you or the weather? 30-1 OTA is usually rock-sold for me here in Creve Coeur with signal strngth in the mid-90s.

Not tonight, though.

Still without a 2 and 5 HD on E*. Called Tuesday night and went thru all their basic troubleshooting garbage to no avail. When I mentioned these channels are now on the new satellite, they of course have no knowledge of it. She said someone would call me back within 24 hours on it. Sooooo, 24 hours later I call back, the next person tries to make me go thru the troubleshooting crapola. I refused. No knowledge of sat change. She says it requires tech visit. Next available appointment-15 DAYS!!!! I tell her with this kind of service, I could have stayed with cable. Then I have to ask for a credit for this time without service. She has to "talk to a supervisor." She can credit me from today until the service call for my missing channels. But I called yesterday, I say, of which she has a record of. I can only credit you starting today she says. This goes on for another couple minutes. Finally she has to "talk to a supervisor" again and the credit comes through starting from my first call. So I have a few questions:

Has anyone who lost 2 and 5 HD on Monday got them back yet?

If you've scheduled a service call thru E*, what date did you get?

Is E* hiring away CS people from Charter?
I suggest you call AHDTS (Advanced HD Tech Support) directly. It is the E* US (Virginia) based Level 2+ HD tech support group.

The information has been posted here several times. Anyone who is a E* HD subscriber should only contact their Advanced HD support, and not their regular CS support group. :)
800-969-4388

The AHDTS group is capable of handling all other Dish related items, including upgrades, billing, etc., as well as, technical support.

Thanks for the advice (yep, I'm in Clayshire behind Linens & Things), but I don't have an AT&T landline - qualification by address shows no go at the AT&T site, and the distance on dslreports is marginal at best.

Kind of a moot point since I now know I'm moving out of STL in 3 months anyway, and my Charter discounted rate should last through then.

A bit late as many others already confirmed it, but my Olevia 237's built in tuner now gets KDNL with no stutters or audio drops :D Thank you much for the fix.

Yeah, I'm late back to the party as well - but my Vizio now gets KDNL with no problem! Thanks to everyone here who helped. Watching Lost in HD was great. :-)

Mark

There's an article today on STLTODAY.COM about the AT&T and rolling out there upcoming fiber optic TV and internet services. First off, if you can even get on stltoday.com - that's the worst website I've ever witnessed and unfortunately I keep trying to go there for local news..

Anyway, some law was passed giving AT&T clearance to roll out these new services. Apparently it will be a thorn in Charter's side. Except they gave no timetable - which means 2-5 years I suppose. I'm tired of waiting for better options here. Directv keeps promising - but it never happens. I'm left with basic Charter (it's free in my apartment) even though I'm willing to pay for more HD programming. But no timetable on the stuff. It's been too long for HD programming to step up.

I'll believe all this when I see it - which still doesn't look to be anytime soon. Anybody up for possible AT&T rollout predictions? More unsubstantiated gossip?

Frustrated in STL!!
Spencer

If you see the big boxes with power units hanging on the side of them next to your old street phone distribution boxes, you're more than likely waiting for the franchising. I know on the east side (Edwardsville) these puppies popped up big time. We only got DSL a year ago, but these big boxes and DSL speed upgrades followed within 6 months. Talking to the local tech, he said the big boxes were the VRADs (video distribution).

With that said, I'm not sure many of us on this forum will go for AT&T U-verse in its current form. Too many restrictions regarding performance and # of streams. They were giving just 1 HD stream at a time, but have started stepping it up to 2. But those with 2 complain of decreased picture quality, softening, and pixelation.

So its a great direction, but AT&Ts decision to go with copper to the premise may hurt them. Too little too late. The service they are rolling out would've been great 3-4 years ago - but today? Too many multi-HD houses, too many people used to watching 1 HD program while recording 2 or 3 more. And with the pending explosion of HD channels in the next 12-18 months, AT&T is going to be scrambling to keep up.

Too bad though - I really was hoping for another quality option without playing satellite roulette...

Chris

Off topic, but I need some help.

My wife and I use an iPod. I'd like to take the songs that we purchased and put them onto my phone. Does anyone know an easy way to convert iTunes format to mp3?

Thanks,
Tim

If there is no DRM, Itunes will do it. Just use the itunes app and select the songs you want and go to the preferences(sorry, don't remember where they are) and change from AAC to MP3. Then convert away.
Dug

Off topic, but I need some help.

My wife and I use an iPod. I'd like to take the songs that we purchased and put them onto my phone. Does anyone know an easy way to convert iTunes format to mp3?

Thanks,
Tim

Burn songs to a cd, then re-rip them ... most stuff from iTunes store is protected.

I'll second that! Between CenturyTel's old phone lines from GTE, and Charter's old cable lines from TCI, I think St. Charles County is the technological armpit of the world! Thank God for satellite dishes and OTA!

I don't know. All new homes Centurytel is wiring for are fiber optic. My Bro in Lake St. Louis is all fiber with them.

At my house, Centurytel has become a bright spot (knock on wood) as it is always on and always reliable. I just called them a couple days ago to add a third phone line and up my speed to 10 mbs, and the guy already installed the 3rd line yesterday. I must say even if I could get AT&T or something else, I probably would stay with Centurytel.

Scott

I don't know. All new homes Centurytel is wiring for is fiber optic. My Bro in Lake St. Louis is all fiber with them.

At my house, Centurytel has become a bright spot (knock on wood) as it is always on and always reliable. I just called them a couple days ago to add a third phone line and up my speed to 10 mbs, and the guy already installed the 3rd line yesterday. I must say even if I could get AT&T or something else, I probably would stay with Centurytel.

Scott


A agree with you here. They just rolled out ADSL2 in my neighborhood in St. Peters and upgraded me to 10meg down package for the same price I was paying for 3meg. service. I have had DSL with Centurytel for 4 years and have been very happy with them. When I moved here it was Verizon and DSL was not even available in our neighborhood. Within one year of Centurytel taking over we had DSL service.

Off topic, but I need some help.

My wife and I use an iPod. I'd like to take the songs that we purchased and put them onto my phone. Does anyone know an easy way to convert iTunes format to mp3?

Thanks,
Tim

All the iPod info you would ever want & more!:

http://www.ilounge.com/

They have a forum area also.

You talked to the wrong people at D*. Call the number and when the voice recognition system kicks in, say "Cancel Service" and that will hook you up lickity split with customer retention. I got 2 HR20s for a net cost of $13 (after instant and 6 months credits) that way. Not to mention I made $500 for selling my two older HR10-250s on Craigslist.

Ok - well it stinks (you'd think they'd do more with the up front reps) - but I called and got 1 HR20 for a net of $-20.00. I would've saved more with Dishnetwork, but I really didn't want to leave Direct.

I pushed them for a little more, but she dropped the "We already have been giving you a $10/mo credit for the past year" card... :) I got the hint and happily walked away with my "free" HR20.

Install is tomorrow 8-12! We'll see if they show!

Chris

P.S. Forgot to say thanks for the suggestion.

Hmmm... 91 posts until I get to 1000... maybe I should start doing what my wife does... Lots of "Sounds Good" "Glad to hear it" "Hope it works out" type posts... :D

Hey Jim, Not sure this is related but Lost is studdering really bad on my Dish 622. Is it me, you or the weather? 30-1 OTA is usually rock-sold for me here in Creve Coeur with signal strngth in the mid-90s.

Not tonight, though.

Must have been the weather...we were at full power. I couldn't get a signal at my house last night without the RF amp in line.
Jim

Must have been the weather...we were at full power. I couldn't get a signal at my house last night without the RF amp in line.
Jim

I agree

(Just trying out my wife's plan for getting my post count up... seems to be working :rolleyes: )

Hey folks... been a long time (new house/job/etc.) But my KMOV-HD OTA is really twitchy. The signal is up and down... I'm in Dogtown, have D*, one Tivo HD DVR and one D* HD DVR (the OTA is only on the Tivo). Anybody else seeing this?

Charter Reports Lower 1Q 2007 Loss, Misses Expectations

The following story on Charter's quarterly results is from the Forbes.com web site:
_________________________________________________________

Charter Communications Inc. on Thursday said it narrowed its loss in the first quarter, as revenue from high-speed Internet and telephone services increased and certain of its costs declined.

Charter narrowed its loss to $381 million, or $1.04 per share, from $459 million, or $1.45 per share. The year-ago period was saddled with a $99 million impairment charge and higher depreciation and amortization costs.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected a slimmer 89-cent loss per share.

Revenue grew 8 percent to $1.43 billion from $1.32 billion, led by a 21 percent jump in revenue from high-speed Internet services to $296 million and a tripling in revenue from telephone services to $63 million.

Charter's largest video segment posted a 1 percent rise in revenue to $838 million.

All categories saw increased growth in customer numbers.

Operating costs rose 7 percent to $929 million. Although depreciation, amortization and interest expenses were lower year over year, Charter's total expenses still offset revenue growth in the quarter, resulting in a loss.

Shares of Charter rose 18 cents, or 5.5 percent, to $3.45 in morning trading.
_________________________________________________________

You have a wife that posts? My wife just reads Gilmore Girls por-uhh...Fan Fiction. I have a long way to go to catch up....
dug

Hey folks... been a long time (new house/job/etc.) But my KMOV-HD OTA is really twitchy. The signal is up and down... I'm in Dogtown, have D*, one Tivo HD DVR and one D* HD DVR (the OTA is only on the Tivo). Anybody else seeing this?

When did it start? Last night I had no problems from the East Syy-ede with an HD Tivo...

Chris

Comcast Promotes Study Showing Its HD PQ Better than Satellite

Although no one is likely to ever win this war of words, the fact that it is happening is a very good thing. It seems that cable and satellite companies clearly understand that picture quality is valued by a growing number of its customers.

Strange to say, but this is a first...and should benefit everyone, regardless of the service they subscribe to, in the long run.

The following excerpt is from TV Week's High-Definition Newsletter:
_________________________________________________

Comcast this week launched a major ad campaign that opened a new battlefront in the HD service provider war: comparative picture quality.

Touting a study by Frank N. Magid Associates, Comcast took out full-page newspaper ads in 15 markets claiming its HD picture quality is superior to that of satellite competitors DirecTV and Dish.
_________________________________________________


To read the full story, click here (http://tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=11987)

You have a wife that posts? My wife just reads Gilmore Girls por-uhh...Fan Fiction. I have a long way to go to catch up....
dug

I didn't say where she posts...
scrapbooking, children sites, American idol... but I'll give her credit. She plays video games, handles her own technical support (sometimes I wish she wouldn't!), and likes big TVs... And luckily she has never gotten into Gilmore Girls, Desperate Housewives, or any of those shows...

Chris

When did it start? Last night I had no problems from the East Syy-ede with an HD Tivo...

Chris
Seemed like last night... definitely was a pixel parade at lunch time, this afternoon.

Thankfully Gilmore isn't too bad(and it's over in a few weeks, just announced). She also likes medium and all the other "I'm talk to floaty dead people that are hanging around here because there is nowhere else to go" shows.(THAT I HATE). But she is the one that convinced me to go get the 60" we have now and the 36" HD we bought 7-8years ago....She's not so bad.....

Seemed like last night... definitely was a pixel parade at lunch time, this afternoon.

I can check tonight...

Although - OTA reports of "pixel parades" as you called it during the spring or fall - especially when the weather has been less than ideal usually make me suspect the need to "optimize" the antenna pointing for the new season (i.e. more of less foliage)...

Chris

Thankfully Gilmore isn't too bad(and it's over in a few weeks, just announced). She also likes medium and all the other "I'm talk to floaty dead people that are hanging around here because there is nowhere else to go" shows.(THAT I HATE). But she is the one that convinced me to go get the 60" we have now and the 36" HD we bought 7-8years ago....She's not so bad.....

I tried to watch the Jennifer Love-Hewitt floaty dead people show for well - her (now I'm giving away my age)... but I just couldn't do it. Dead people should be laying on tables with CSI (the original) trying to figure out how they got there.

To keep it on target - I do appreciate that HD brought me to CSI when it first started and CBS was the only HD sitcom game in town... We complain about content today, but I remember the early nights on this board when we celebrated STL having 3 simultaneous HD shows to watch on network TV!

Chris

I can check tonight...

Although - OTA reports of "pixel parades" as you called it during the spring or fall - especially when the weather has been less than ideal usually make me suspect the need to "optimize" the antenna pointing for the new season (i.e. more of less foliage)...

Chris
It's worth looking into... I wonder if I'm referring to outdated information as far as the broadcasting towers.

It's worth looking into... I wonder if I'm referring to outdated information as far as the broadcasting towers.

I'm sure you aren't - they haven't moved... :D

No major repointing - it just seems that as the leaves change so doth the multi-pathing. Usually requires a slight bump this way or that - and a little nudge up or down...

Chris

Edit: But let me check tonight - KMOV may be having issues and I'm just making a rash assumption...

... We complain about content today, but I remember the early nights on this board when we celebrated STL having 3 simultaneous HD shows to watch on network TV!

Chris

I was here then too, I just didn't post much....My first problems were with OTA KDNL and NYPD Blue years ago. Since then, OTA/SAT KDNL has been rock solid thanks to Jim....

If there is no DRM, Itunes will do it. Just use the itunes app and select the songs you want and go to the preferences(sorry, don't remember where they are) and change from AAC to MP3. Then convert away.
Dug

They were all bought on iTunes, so I assume DRM is on all of them.

I was here then too, I just didn't post much....My first problems were with OTA KDNL and NYPD Blue years ago. Since then, OTA/SAT KDNL has been rock solid thanks to Jim....

Yeah - Jim is great :D .

I remember the call from my wife about her soap opera cutting over to a picture of the space shuttle taking off and some voice saying test left, test right over and over again... I asked her if the picture of the shuttle was clear and she said yes and I started jumping up and down that Jim had gotten his HD equipment installed... :)

Ahhh... the good old days when HD was for over grown kids in the candy store - every month there was something new!

Chris

Off topic, but I need some help.

My wife and I use an iPod. I'd like to take the songs that we purchased and put them onto my phone. Does anyone know an easy way to convert iTunes format to mp3?

Thanks,
Tim

Google software called jhymn. It will convert all of you iTunes tracks to MP3 format.

Well I contacted Schneiders regarding my parents TV (Hitachi HDTV w/ convergence issues) They don't do Hitachi, but they directed me to A1. A1 estimated $300-$400/ I found the parts online (it appears this is a common issue) for $15. I'm an electronic engineer, so I'm going to try to fix it myself. I found the service manual for $5 and I ordered 3 repair kits (I'll replace all 3 colors at the same time)

On a side note, I signed up for ATT Phone/Internet so charter will be out of my house by the end of the month!

Dave

It's worth looking into... I wonder if I'm referring to outdated information as far as the broadcasting towers.

No issues here with KMOV

No issues here with KMOV
My only problem is still KTVI/FOX. I think I've gotten used to the mess it is.


918 :D

I also have problems with kmov even though my signal strength is strong I still get break ups.That is the only station I have trouble with a ota antenna.

Man, I thought for sure I'd awake to Budshark's 1000th post. :)

Scott

:)
Nah - that would've been too cruel to ya'll... Besides I had to go to a baby naming ceremony last night. If I had come home and posted it would've been drunk ramblings... I wouldn't want to do something I'd regret in the morning! haha...

Chris

Besides I had to go to a baby naming ceremony last night.

I think you are gonna have to explain this.

:)
If I had come home and posted it would've been drunk ramblings... I wouldn't want to do something I'd regret in the morning! haha...

Chris

Why not? WmSchultz does, and he's ok. ;)

Scott

I only do that when I am on trips. But thanks.

I also have problems with kmov even though my signal strength is strong I still get break ups.That is the only station I have trouble with a ota antenna.

I have the same issue with KMOV sometimes when the weather is bad. Signal strength looks good, etc. It's a multipath problem. Have you tried tilting your antenna up?

I think you are gonna have to explain this.

Baby NAMING not baby MAKING! :p

I'm not entirely sure. Its apparently a Jewish custom - I equate to a Christening. I think it is related to the faith welcoming the baby into the family. All I know is we got to spend time with friends and their family and lots of food and beer. Any excuse for that is worth it!

Chris

Ah, okay. I figured it was a religious custom, I had just never heard of it.

Google software called jhymn. It will convert all of you iTunes tracks to MP3 format.

Unfortuneately, it doesn't work with iTunes 6.0

I'm not able to recall if regular D* subs like me can tune to channel 95 for the Cards games in HD or if I have to watch/record channel 647. :o

I have the same issue with KMOV sometimes when the weather is bad. Signal strength looks good, etc. It's a multipath problem. Have you tried tilting your antenna up?

Thanks I will give that a try.

Unfortuneately, it doesn't work with iTunes 6.0

Open up i tunes
edit
preferences
burning
change from mp3 to audio cd and it should burn

Baby NAMING not baby MAKING!
Chris
Sooo....What's The Name??

Geeze, this is worse than who shot JR :D

Open up i tunes
edit
preferences
burning
change from mp3 to audio cd and it should burn

Then you can take that audio cd and re-rip it into Itunes as an MP3*

* make sure you change your import settings to rip as MP3

Cinemax HD is now live on Dish, and available to subscribers.
It is located on channel 9458, and also mapped down to channel 310.

St. Louis HD Programming Guide Updated

The attached, in PDF format via sloth-like Adobe Acrobat 8.0, is an update to the St. Louis HD Programming Guide.

This update includes the addition of Cinemax HD on DISH Network. No other additions or changes were made.

Looks like another FSNMW game not in HD. :mad:

It's on HD via Charter tonight.

It's on HD via Charter tonight.

I have D*. This is the second time in a row.

Looks like another FSNMW game not in HD. :mad:


It's HD on "E" picture looks good.

I have D*. This is the second time in a row.
Mo,
Help me here, I don't understand....I know Direct has their regular FSNMW-SD channel, but do they also have a HD channel set up, that they (or, are supposed to) activate when a game is a HD production? Same as Dish is doing? Or, do you just go to the regular FSNMW-SD channel and it broadcasts in HD, when they do an HD game?

On Dish, it is basically a simulcast. The SD version is on their regular channel 4xx, and the HD version (when one is done), is on their HD channel 3xx. Is that the same way Direct handles it? When there is no HD broadcast, the game is on their regular FSNMW-SD channel 4xx.

Confused :confused:

Ken,

The only way for us D* subs to see FSNMW in HD is if they simulcast on channel 95. The normal SD channel is 647.

Scott

Mo,
Help me here, I don't understand....I know Direct has their regular FSNMW-SD channel, but do they also have a HD channel set up, that they (or, are supposed to) activate when a game is a HD production? Same as Dish is doing? Or, do you just go to the regular FSNMW-SD channel and it broadcasts in HD, when they do an HD game?
DirecTV does not currently carry FSNMW-HD and even if you have the MLB Extra Innings package with Superfan, they simply do not carry every baseball game offered in HD. What they have are two channels (94 and 95 or 730, 731) where they show HD baseball games. I do not have an MPEG4 receiver so there may be other MPEG4 channels I'm not aware of but on the MPEG2 side, these are the only channels D* reserves for MLB HD. So, whenever they carry a Cards game on one of those channels and if the originating broadcast is FSNMW (or KSDK), then you should be able to see it. For example, Sunday's game is in the guide for channel 95 but that's still no guarentee it won't be blacked out in the St Louis area. It all depends on whether they are carrying KSDK's HD broadcast or not. Could be they are carrying whatever broadcast is orignated for the Astros home market. If that's the case, channel 95 will be blacked out in the St Louis area.

Ken,

The only way for us D* subs to see FSNMW in HD is if they simulcast on channel 95. The normal SD channel is 647.

Scott

Actually it would be channel 96. 95 is the national feed if if they are broadcasting it via MLB EI.

To see it on 96 you need a new MPEG4 HD receiver.

I was away for a little bit and I must have missed this.

Why doesn't DirecTV have FSNMW-HD? Is this something that will happen or are we simply out of luck for the foreseeable future?

Ken, thanks for trying to figure it out rather than just piping up that it's on E* or Charter and looks good. :rolleyes:

Sandblaster, I realize that not every game is broadcast in HD. It's just frustrating to see the game scheduled being HD on the FSN Midwest web site.

I saw the game in the guide for ch. 95 on Sunday. I just don't understand why D* subs aren't able to see as many games in HD on FSNMW.

Actually it would be channel 96. 95 is the national feed if if they are broadcasting it via MLB EI.

To see it on 96 you need a new MPEG4 HD receiver.

So are you saying that you would be able (or did) watch the game in HD last night on 96 with the HR20?

Actually it would be channel 96. 95 is the national feed if if they are broadcasting it via MLB EI.

To see it on 96 you need a new MPEG4 HD receiver.
Not necessarily. Both channels (95 and 96) are national feeds but as you note, channel 96 is MPEG4. I do not have an MPEG4 receiver and I have watched games on 95 and I do not have the MLB EI package. The point is, when/if they do carry an FSNMW HD telecast on either channel 95 or 96, then folks in St Louis will be able to view it whether they are MLB EI subscribers or not and provided they have the appropriate receiver. Since tomorrow's game is being broadcast in HD by KSDK, it will be available on the the MPEG4 feed of channel 5 so it probably is not on channel 96. However, it is also being broadcast on channel 95. I get KSDK OTA so I'm not worried either way but since I do not get the MPEG4 feed of channel 5, I would expect the channel 95 broadcast would not be blacked out locally.

Not necessarily. Both channels (95 and 96) are national feeds but as you note, channel 96 is MPEG4. I do not have an MPEG4 receiver and I have watched games on 95 and I do not have the MLB EI package. The point is, when/if they do carry an FSNMW HD telecast on either channel 95 or 96, then folks in St Louis will be able to view it whether they are MLB EI subscribers or not and provided they have the appropriate receiver. Since tomorrow's game is being broadcast in HD by KSDK, it will be available on the the MPEG4 feed of channel 5 so it probably is not on channel 96. However, it is also being broadcast on channel 95. I get KSDK OTA so I'm not worried either way but since I do not get the MPEG4 feed of channel 5, I would expect the channel 95 broadcast would not be blacked out locally.

Thanks, I was getting more confused and chalked it off to needing more coffee. I have watched on 95 with no MLB EI and get HD OTA games as well. Since I don't see it in the guide for channel 95 today, I am guessing it's again in SD on channel 647.

http://msn.foxsports.com/id/6628342

Last season, when Dish had MLB EI and did not have FSNMW-HD, Dish would send through 1 random HD game per day, on their MLB EI channels. On the few occasions it was a game the Cards were playing in, it would be blacked out into the STL DMA, even if it was the simulcast of the FSNMW-SD game, in HD.

After much conversation about this issue, with Echostar, I finally figured out why.
Even though the STL DMA had the rights to receive any Cards games broadcast on FSNMW, be it HD or SD, Dish did not have the rights to rebroadcast any Cards game into the STL DMA through the MLB EI package. It didn't matter how, or where the game was produced, but how Dish fed it to its subscribers.

Does this sound similar to what is happening with the current DirecTV issue

For those either affected by or monitoring the recent DISH satellite 118 move and the loss of some local HD channels (mainly KTVI and KSDK) I find that today I have the two channels back without having a technician out. However, the signal level on Sat 118 transponder 18 is a mere 24. It WAS 0 since Monday 4/30. Transponder 11 is now 64 and WAS 57. So either they jacked up the signal or moved the satellite a little. With a signal level of 24 I'm probably on the edge and any sort of cloud cover will probably knock me out. Still, I do have all my local HD channels back. This makes a good case for me to get off my duff and install an OTA antenna.

A friend who also lost his local HD channels and has a visit scheduled for 5/8 was called by a DISH technician and asked a bunch of questions. The DISH guy said they had thousands of reports since the new 118 was moved and were trying to nail down whether they had thousands of misaligned dishes or some other problem. I'm guessing it's a little of both.

For those either affected by or monitoring the recent DISH satellite 118 move and the loss of some local HD channels (mainly KTVI and KSDK) I find that today I have the two channels back without having a technician out. However, the signal level on Sat 118 transponder 18 is a mere 24. It WAS 0 since Monday 4/30. Transponder 11 is now 64 and WAS 57. So either they jacked up the signal or moved the satellite a little. With a signal level of 24 I'm probably on the edge and any sort of cloud cover will probably knock me out. Still, I do have all my local HD channels back. This makes a good case for me to get off my duff and install an OTA antenna.

A friend who also lost his local HD channels and has a visit scheduled for 5/8 was called by a DISH technician and asked a bunch of questions. The DISH guy said they had thousands of reports since the new 118 was moved and were trying to nail down whether they had thousands of misaligned dishes or some other problem. I'm guessing it's a little of both.

When I first got my mpeg4 receiver I had some problems with Ch5 and Ch4. A lot of pixletion and blackouts. The tech. came out and realigned the dish still had a few problems but now with this new movement I have had no problems at all.

For those either affected by or monitoring the recent DISH satellite 118 move and the loss of some local HD channels (mainly KTVI and KSDK) I find that today I have the two channels back without having a technician out. However, the signal level on Sat 118 transponder 18 is a mere 24. It WAS 0 since Monday 4/30. Transponder 11 is now 64 and WAS 57. So either they jacked up the signal or moved the satellite a little. With a signal level of 24 I'm probably on the edge and any sort of cloud cover will probably knock me out. Still, I do have all my local HD channels back. This makes a good case for me to get off my duff and install an OTA antenna.

A friend who also lost his local HD channels and has a visit scheduled for 5/8 was called by a DISH technician and asked a bunch of questions. The DISH guy said they had thousands of reports since the new 118 was moved and were trying to nail down whether they had thousands of misaligned dishes or some other problem. I'm guessing it's a little of both.
I suppose it's quite possible an antenna aiming issue. When you consider the "book" on aiming the 118° FSB LNB on the 500+ or 1000+ is simply peaking the dish on to 119°, and the first time technicians did any sort of mass install of these units in STL was when the HD locals went up on 118°, it's certainly a consideration.

OTOH, it is a bit odd, when you consider how many subscribers lost the signal from Tp18 after the move, most did not lose any signal at all.
That, coupled with, I have to think the "Dish Installer" saying there were "thousands of reports" is somewhat embellished, when you consider the entire national subscriber base of Dish (what...13-14m?), reduced by their subscriber base here in St. Louis, and then further reduced by the St Louis subscribers who have a MPEG4 receiver, and subscribe to the HD locals. In my conversations with Dish Engineering, I don't think the issue is quite that widespread.

Personally, I believe it is some sort of transmission issue, on Dish's end, which they will identify and fix, without the need of individual service calls to subscribers.

EDIT: I posted a question about this issue on DBSTalk on the 3rd....no replies, and there are plenty of STL members who read DBS.

kdg454

Thanks for your continuing interest in this matter. I actually lost KTVI and KSDK again later this afternoon and haven't seen them since. I shall be interested in what happens with my friend's installation after his scheduled repair visit. Meanwhile I called in myself and was given a date of May 19 for my visit. Two full weeks! Even the service rep was surprised by how far out the first available slot was.

kdg454

Thanks for your continuing interest in this matter. I actually lost KTVI and KSDK again later this afternoon and haven't seen them since. I shall be interested in what happens with my friend's installation after his scheduled repair visit. Meanwhile I called in myself and was given a date of May 19 for my visit. Two full weeks! Even the service rep was surprised by how far out the first available slot was.
Goodness...one would sure hope they don't have to re-aim all the dish's...presuming the installers know how....it could still take months...ugh!

When the installer put my 1000+ in, he is the one who explained to me, the "book" method of peaking the dish. He also said he follows that guide, and then peaks that center dual-LNB a second time. Which I watched him do. Essentially, he moved it a bit closer to 118°, than 119°. Dunno if that had any effect, but it's working. :)

I never lost mine, but the signals did drop after the move.
Prior: Tp11@72; Tp18@68 (KDNL/KMOV)
After: Tp11@68; Tp18@52 (KSDK/KTVI)

Since the move, I am still having abnormal excessive break-ups on KTVI via SAT, that are not on OTA. Enough so, we've moved all the KTVI timers to OTA.

It's definitely a good idea you have to get OTA. Not only for this type of issue, but you also pick-up a 3rd timer on your 622, and the OTA PQ is a tad bit better. :)

Sorry to bore with off-topic chatter, but I just wanted to close the loop on my ill-fated adventures with Adobe Acrobat Professional 8.0.

After tiring of the long load times and huge memory drain, I uninstalled this beast this morning. For the record, it took 51 minutes for the uninstall process to complete. As it happens, a clean install of Windows XP can usually be done in just over 45 minutes. I think this is a good illustration of the unacceptable bloat Acrobat carries around with it.

Rather than fall back to Adobe Reader 7.0, which was also slow (though nowhere near as slow as Acrobat Pro), I did some research and found a freeware application called FoxItReader, which basically does one simple thing -- view PDF files -- and so far it seems to do it quickly and without errors.

Clicking the link here for the St. Louis Programming Guide and having the document viewable for reading in FoxItReader took less than 5 seconds. Even Reader 7.0 was taking well over 30 seconds to load.

Bye bye, bloatware... :)

Sorry to bore with off-topic chatter, but I just wanted to close the loop on my ill-fated adventures with Adobe Acrobat Professional 8.0.

After tiring of the long load times and huge memory drain, I uninstalled this beast this morning. For the record, it took 51 minutes for the uninstall process to complete. As it happens, a clean install of Windows XP can usually be done in just over 45 minutes. I think this is a good illustration of the unacceptable bloat Acrobat carries around with it.

Rather than fall back to Adobe Reader 7.0, which was also slow (though nowhere near as slow as Acrobat Pro), I did some research and found a freeware application called FoxItReader, which basically does one simple thing -- view PDF files -- and so far it seems to do it quickly and without errors.

Clicking the link here for the St. Louis Programming Guide and having the document viewable for reading in FoxItReader took less than 5 seconds. Even Reader 7.0 was taking well over 30 seconds to load.

Bye bye, bloatware... :)


I'll say it again ... the problem is with Windows, not Adobe.

Acrobat 8, and in fact the entire new CS3 Suite, screams on my Macs -- older PPC G5 and my Intel MacBook Pro.

Unix of any flavor > Windoze

</rant>

edit: forgot smileys :D

Sorry to bore with off-topic chatter, but I just wanted to close the loop on my ill-fated adventures with Adobe Acrobat Professional 8.0.

After tiring of the long load times and huge memory drain, I uninstalled this beast this morning. For the record, it took 51 minutes for the uninstall process to complete. As it happens, a clean install of Windows XP can usually be done in just over 45 minutes. I think this is a good illustration of the unacceptable bloat Acrobat carries around with it.

Rather than fall back to Adobe Reader 7.0, which was also slow (though nowhere near as slow as Acrobat Pro), I did some research and found a freeware application called FoxItReader, which basically does one simple thing -- view PDF files -- and so far it seems to do it quickly and without errors.

Clicking the link here for the St. Louis Programming Guide and having the document viewable for reading in FoxItReader took less than 5 seconds. Even Reader 7.0 was taking well over 30 seconds to load.

Bye bye, bloatware... :)

Thanks for the tip, Doug. I didn't bother uninstalling Adobe Reader, just added FoxItReader and told it to be the default reader for pdf files. Amazing speed.

I'll say it again ... the problem is with Windows, not Adobe.

Acrobat 8, and in fact the entire new CS3 Suite, screams on my Macs -- older PPC G5 and my Intel MacBook Pro.

Unix of any flavor > Windoze

</rant>

edit: forgot smileys :D

Could it be that it's Adobe's implementation of Reader on Windows, rather than Windows itself? FoxItReader screams on Windows (thanks again, Doug). I haven't opened a single pdf file on my system that takes more than 2 seconds to open; most are almost instantaneous. And I have some long pdf files I've just opened with FoxItReader.

I'll say it again ... the problem is with Windows, not Adobe.

Acrobat 8, and in fact the entire new CS3 Suite, screams on my Macs -- older PPC G5 and my Intel MacBook Pro.

Unix of any flavor > Windoze

</rant>

edit: forgot smileys :DHere's a smiley for you... :rolleyes:

Adobe Acrobat Reader used to have more than acceptable speed (versions 5.0 and 6.0) on Windows XP, but things have gotten progressively worse with each new version released by Adobe. No other Windows application even comes close to this sort of problem. Firefox, loaded with a half dozen extensions, can actually take a while to load up, but it's easily 10 times faster to load than Acrobat Pro.

You can also find plenty of reviews that cite the the poor performance of Adobe 8.0.

The fact that the Adobe uninstall process had to spend more than 20 minutes just tracking down all the files and registry entries it littered onto my hard drive tells me all I need to know -- this product has gone from being a useful tool to a bloated, self-important turd.

No more Adobe software for me.

I've recently been using PrimoPDF quite a bit to create pdf files. Once you install it, it appears as one of your printers. So when you print a document to the PrimoPDF "printer," it saves it as a pdf. Pretty handy and extremely easy to use.

mgr_stl,

PDF995 works in a similar way.

Not sure if what you're using is freeware or shareware, but PDF995 is free (if you don't mind a nag screen suggesting an upgrade whenever you print to a PDF file).

I've been using PDF995 to create PDFs of customer reports, written in Word with Excel embedded objects, and this has been a foolproof way to convert those complex documents into lightweight, read-only attachments.

The only big downside for PDF995 is that it can't be used to save PDF forms, such as federal and state tax documents. That's about the only time I find a need for something more functional for PDFs, and that's the main reason that I did a trial of Acrobat 8.0.

If FoxItReader delivers the goods over the next few months, I'll consider buying the version that allows authoring and saving of forms.

I need to amend my previous statement about the speed of FoxItReader. I said I hadn't found any file that took more than 2 seconds to load. Actually, after playing around a little more, I discovered that I couldn't finish a count of "a thousand one" before *any* pdf loaded. This includes files over 150 pages in length. Gotta love it.

Here's a smiley for you... :rolleyes:

The fact that the Adobe uninstall process had to spend more than 20 minutes just tracking down all the files and registry entries it littered onto my hard drive


Yes you can blame Adobe. But registry entries is a Windows necessity, and the worst thing about that OS.

Anyhow ... back to TV.

I just got a Motorola HD-DVR box from Charter a few days ago, and I was wondering if I needed to go into the service menu to make sure it is outputting in 1080i? I seem to remember that with the regular HD boxes, this was sometimes an issue. If I have to do it, can anyone help me figure out how to get to this menu?

Thanks for the help in advance.

Brian

Yes, it's important to make sure your Moxi is outputting at 1080i. I've had two Moxi's and both times the technician did not bother to set the output. I have 1080i, 720P, 480P and 480i checked. You are supposed to check all formats that your display can handle. If you don't think your HD picture is very good, then it's a good bet your output is not set correctly. On my Moxi I can find the output settings by pushing the Moxi button, then "settings", then "HD settings".

brezz,

You weren't clear if you have the MOXI or the other Charter DVR.

On the other non-DVR Motorola boxes that Charter uses for HD receivers, you access the resolution settings by turning off the power and pressing and holding the Menu key on the front panel until the menu comes up. From there you just navigate to the setting you want to change.

Not sure if the non-MOXI Charter DVR works this way, but it's worth a try if that's what you have.

brezz,

You weren't clear if you have the MOXI or the other Charter DVR.

On the other non-DVR Motorola boxes that Charter uses for HD receivers, you access the resolution settings by turning off the power and pressing and holding the Menu key on the front panel until the menu comes up. From there you just navigate to the setting you want to change.

Not sure if the non-MOXI Charter DVR works this way, but it's worth a try if that's what you have.

Thanks for the help. I have the Motorola HD-DVR and your tip worked. Everything was set fine, so no problems. Just like to double check. Thanks again.

Brian

I thought the HD production of the Cardinals game was very good today.
I watched it entirely on the Dish SAT feed, and don't recall any audio or video blurbs.

Randolph still rudely interrupting Horton, mid-sentence, is getting quite annoying. It's obvious he cannot keep pace with engineering in one ear, Horton in the other, and call the game. IMO, he's an embarrassment. I think Katie Felts would have been a better choice. :eek:

Though, KSKD did a good job. The cuts to Cusumono were smooth and well timed.



OT (oddly enough), I'm thinkin' Jared has 2 daughters by now...last Tuesday was the scheduled day.
:) :) Hope all is well! :) :)

Discovery Announces Plan to Add 6 HD Channels

The following is from today's TV Predictions newsletter:
________________________________________________

Discovery, which launched Discovery HD Theater five years ago next month, plans to launch four new High-Definition TV network this fall. That's according to an article in Adweek Magazine.

Discovery tells the publication that it will launch high-def simulcasts of Animal Planet, TLC, The Science Channel and the company's main network, Discovery Channel.

Then, in the first quarter of 2008, Discovery says it will add two more high-def channels.

"Having established first-mover advantage in the HD space with Discovery HD Theater, this is a step toward growing that leadership," Discovery president and CEO David Zaslav told the publication.
________________________________________________

To read the full story, click here (http://www.tvpredictions.com/discovery050707.htm)

Digeo Slashes DVR Pricing to Cable Companies

Not sure what this will mean for Charter, which recently began selling a vanilla DVR not based on Digeo's MOXI.

From today's TV Predictions newsletter:
_______________________________________________

Facing stiff competition from larger rivals, Digeo says it will cut the price of its Moxi HD DVR to cable operators by one-third.

That's according to an article in Multichannel News.

The publication reports that Digeo CEO Mike Fidler says the new pricing will now be similar to what's charged by set-tops makers Scientific-Atlanta and Motorola. (Cable set-top manufacturers charge cable operators a licensing fee for each unit.)

“Recognizing that the market is very competitive, we’re trying to make sure we offer a product that is appealing and drives the right economics,” Fidler told Multichannel News.

Digeo has struggled to expand its cable reach with just 400,000 subscribers with eight cable TV operators, according to the publication. Motorola and Scientific-Atlanta, which is now owned by Cisco, has millions of subscribers.

Digeo also plans to launch a retail HD DVR later this year. Fidler says the set-top will have enough capacity to store 1,000 hours of video and provide Web-based scheduling.
_______________________________________________

I thought the HD production of the Cardinals game was very good today. I watched it entirely on the Dish SAT feed, and don't recall any audio or video blurbs.

Randolph still rudely interrupting Horton, mid-sentence, is getting quite annoying. It's obvious he cannot keep pace with engineering in one ear, Horton in the other, and call the game. IMO, he's an embarrassment. I think Katie Felts would have been a better choice. :eek:

Though, KSKD did a good job. The cuts to Cusumono were smooth and well timed.I agree -- KSDK did a nice job on the game. I agree that Randolph is a waste of time, but then he's got plenty of company on the list of local broadcasters I'd like to see come down with permanent laryngitis.

BTW, the crews that do the game are the same as for FSNMW (and KPLR in years past) -- Bud Sports. I saw the credit flash by at the end of the game.

OT (oddly enough), I'm thinkin' Jared has 2 daughters by now...last Tuesday was the scheduled day. :) :) Hope all is well! :) :)deuces, I hope that everything went well and that you're managing at least a few hours of sleep a night.

You know it just occurred to me this morning that it is more than somewhat ironic that someone whose Forum ID is deuces would be having twins. I'm pretty sure "deuces" was your screen ID long before you knew what was in store on the instant family front.

So, maybe now would be a good time to drop "deuces" and switch to "Powerball Winner." ;)

I expect the repair kit for my parents RP CRT HDTV to arrive tomorrow. In the event that I cannot fix it they have begun looking at new TV's.

They have 3 main requirements:
Cost - Less than $2000 (they just spent $20K on a new retaining wall and landscaping)

Size - Current screen is 53", they don't want to go smaller

Anti-Glare - The position of the TV means it get's a lot of sunshine in the early afternoon. The current Hitachi RP CRT is almost a mirror at times.

They are perfectly happy with 720P/1080i and do not need 1080P.

I've been looking at some of the new DLP models(unfortunately the Samsung LED model is a little high)

Mom went to Best Buy and they tried to sell her an LCD.
Any recommendations?

Thanks
Dave

Yes, it's important to make sure your Moxi is outputting at 1080i. I've had two Moxi's and both times the technician did not bother to set the output. I have 1080i, 720P, 480P and 480i checked. You are supposed to check all formats that your display can handle. If you don't think your HD picture is very good, then it's a good bet your output is not set correctly. On my Moxi I can find the output settings by pushing the Moxi button, then "settings", then "HD settings".


Haha...this, and few similar problems, is why/how I found out about this board....to fix all the crap that Charter couldn't/wouldn't! Year and half later, I have D*. :D

FYI - on my Direct HR20 experiences.

Install went smooth. No problem. They left both dishes in place per "policy" - guess I'll get up on the roof in a week or two and pull down the 3 LNB.

I'll start with the bad, because there isn't much. Really the only "bad" I have found is the 'trickplay' of FF/RW/JUMP etc is not quite as "smooth" during live video as it was on the HDTivo. Also, channel changing is a bit slow.. not too bad, but a little slow.

With that said, the picture is geat. Significant improvement in shadow detail, clarity, consistency, etc over the HDTivo. Also no banding which was getting progressively worse on my Tivo. The MPEG-4 locals are pretty dang good. Good enough that the season passes are setup on these versus OTA to save the HD space.

Spent an hour educating my wife and myself on the menu setups, the shortcuts, the guide, etc. Did a couple quick 'hidden' settings from dbstalk to change the guide and scrolling behavior. The end result - we both like it better than the HDTivo. Its faster, easier to navigate, and quicker to get down to business. After a weekend of use, going back to the bedroom Tivo you start to feel like the Tivo's cutesy-ness gets in the way. It feels like 'fluff'.

Anyhow - we are happy with the HR20. We'll see if we start having any of the record problems others talk about, but as of now I would rate it very high.

Chris

Digeo Slashes DVR Pricing to Cable Companies

Not sure what this will mean for Charter, which recently began selling a vanilla DVR not based on Digeo's MOXI.

From today's TV Predictions newsletter:
_______________________________________________

Facing stiff competition from larger rivals, Digeo says it will cut the price of its Moxi HD DVR to cable operators by one-third.

That's according to an article in Multichannel News.

The publication reports that Digeo CEO Mike Fidler says the new pricing will now be similar to what's charged by set-tops makers Scientific-Atlanta and Motorola. (Cable set-top manufacturers charge cable operators a licensing fee for each unit.)

“Recognizing that the market is very competitive, we’re trying to make sure we offer a product that is appealing and drives the right economics,” Fidler told Multichannel News.

Digeo has struggled to expand its cable reach with just 400,000 subscribers with eight cable TV operators, according to the publication. Motorola and Scientific-Atlanta, which is now owned by Cisco, has millions of subscribers.

Digeo also plans to launch a retail HD DVR later this year. Fidler says the set-top will have enough capacity to store 1,000 hours of video and provide Web-based scheduling.
_______________________________________________
Isn't Diego owned by that same Microsoft dude who owns Charter? Do I have someone mixed up? :o I wanna say Paul Allen, but I'm not sure I'm thinking along the correct lines here :confused:

Yes - it is the same Paul Allen.

Its become clear over the years that he must not have been the brains, or the business sense behind Microsoft. He's run more companies, basketball teams, and other ventures into the ground than anyone with $10 billion should be allowed - but I guess if you have $10 billion you have that luxury...
Those of use with 1 or 2 billion just can't throw it away like he does... :D

Chris

What's even more interesting about Paul Allen is that he's funding some major research on the workings of the human brain. Here's a link to the story announcing his formation of the Allen Institute of Brain Science, back in 2003:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2003_Sept_16/ai_107806762

So I wonder, is there any risk that human brain development can be reversed (if a certain someone throws enough money at it)? :eek:

What's even more interesting about Paul Allen is that he's funding some major research on the workings of the human brain..Maybe he believes there is some hope for him... :D

What's even more interesting about Paul Allen is that he's funding some major research on the workings of the human brain. Here's a link to the story announcing his formation of the Allen Institute of Brain Science, back in 2003:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2003_Sept_16/ai_107806762

So I wonder, is there any risk that human brain development can be reversed (if a certain someone throws enough money at it)? :eek:

Something tells me this foundation will suffer from poor customer service, an irrational pricing structure, and ultimately will trail its competition due to charging more for a lesser service.

I dunno why I think this... just a hunch... :D

Chris

Cinemax HD is now live on Dish, and available to subscribers.
It is located on channel 9458, and also mapped down to channel 310.
Yes, and what a nice surprise to find that in my dish line-up Friday night. But why do this new channel, and many other HD Channels, appear in two places? Is this temporary while Dish consolodates the HD to appear next to the SD version? Or is it a permanent nuisance?

After tiring of the long load times and huge memory drain, I uninstalled this beast this morning. For the record, it took 51 minutes for the uninstall process to complete . . .
Doug-- For what little it might be worth to you, Adobe Acrobat, as well as their Creative Suite (Photoshop, In-Design & Illustrator) just scream on my Mac. I can't help wondering if this was a Windows problem. I always thought Adobe couldn't be more different than Microsoft: their software is beautifully designed and respects the user.

Well, MSWord is still better than Pages, hehe. But Keynote kicks Powerpoints butt!

I expect the repair kit for my parents RP CRT HDTV to arrive tomorrow. In the event that I cannot fix it they have begun looking at new TV's.

They have 3 main requirements:
Cost - Less than $2000 (they just spent $20K on a new retaining wall and landscaping)

Size - Current screen is 53", they don't want to go smaller

Anti-Glare - The position of the TV means it get's a lot of sunshine in the early afternoon. The current Hitachi RP CRT is almost a mirror at times.

They are perfectly happy with 720P/1080i and do not need 1080P.

I've been looking at some of the new DLP models(unfortunately the Samsung LED model is a little high)

Mom went to Best Buy and they tried to sell her an LCD.
Any recommendations?

Thanks
Dave

I have the Samsung HL-S5687 and absolutely love it. The HL-Ts just came out. If you can find an HLS around, I'd expect it to be priced around $17-1800.

Tim

Yes, and what a nice surprise to find that in my dish line-up Friday night. But why do this new channel, and many other HD Channels, appear in two places? Is this temporary while Dish consolodates the HD to appear next to the SD version? Or is it a permanent nuisance?
This is a new mapdown feature of the new software released recently. Both the 211/222 and 622 now have this feature. Unfortunately, it does not come with "user instructions," and can appear to be a cumbersome duplication to many.

It is a necessity, while Dish reconciles how to segregate the HD and SD versions, primarily for recording priorities, though other issues exits with regard to satellite placement, compression, etc.

The 9xxx will always remain, just as your 8xxx's and 6xxx's remain for your SD and HD local channels. With this new HD mapdown feature, those SD channels having a HD version, allow them to appear in the guide just above the SD version. You no longer have to range up to the 9xxx to find these HD versions.

If the duplication of the extra local is bothersome, or any other channel, simply go to the locks menu, and lock-out that particular channel.

I would guess you're correct, the eventual goal will be to map down all the 9xxx HD channels into a more usable range in the guide. :)

Can someone please explain why the FCC would do this for Charter? What makes them so special? Could it be some give-and-take for allowing AT&T to roll out video?

Charter gets limited FCC waiver
St. Louis Business Journal - 11:54 AM CDT Monday, May 7, 2007

Charter Communications Inc. said Monday that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted the firm's request Friday for a limited waiver of a ban on set-top boxes with integrated security.

The FCC ban prevents cable system operators from deploying set-top boxes with integrated security after July 1, 2007. The waiver by the FCC allows Charter to continue to deploy its low-cost, limited capability set-top boxes with integrated security until July 1, 2008, according to a release.

"With this relief, Charter will be better positioned to offer its customers, especially those in more rural markets, greater value through advanced video services, high-speed Internet access, and a choice for telephone service," Neil Smit, president and CEO, said in a statement.

St. Louis-based Charter Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: CHTR) is the nation's third-largest cable television provider, and also provides digital video programming and high-speed Internet access.

I knew I should have knocked on wood saying Centurytel is so great. My internet is down today and they didn't up my speed to 10megs like they said they would last Friday. Anyone else in O'Fallon/St. Peters area also down?

Scott

Any recommendations?

Thanks
Dave

I'll second the Samsung HLS recommendations. We replaced a Hitachi 57" CRT (S700 w/improved anti-glare). It was in a room that the bay window faces due west. It was nearly unwatchable during the afternoon. It was replaced because it was big, bulky, no cabinet space below it, and the glare.

We replaced it with a HL-S6187. REMARKABLE sums it up. The color, clarity, quality, etc. is phenomenal. I am a big believer of the CRT picture - but with these new DLPs I'm a convert. I can have my windows open, the sun shining in, and the picture is still watchable. Not even marginal. I mean as good as the CRT with the blinds closed tight. It really has allowed us to open our house up again! Plus we got rid of the piece of furniture sitting next to it and bought a glass and metal piano black cabinet to match. My wife likes traditional furniture but loves how this TV set turned out.

Anyhow - the Samsung DLPs are great. I know there is a S6188 that is better than mine because as Doug will tell you it allows pixel to pixel mapping and more color adjustments, but for your parents case a 6187 might work.

And I paid less than twenty-two hundred for mine plus cabinet.

Chris

Can someone please explain why the FCC would do this for Charter? What makes them so special? Could it be some give-and-take for allowing AT&T to roll out video?

Ummm... because the FCC is a farce, especially when it comes to consumer choice and benefit? :)

Chris

I knew I should have knocked on wood saying Centurytel is so great. My internet is down today and they didn't up my speed to 10megs like they said they would last Friday. Anyone else in O'Fallon/St. Peters area also down?

Scott

Yes - and if they could find their dial-up modem they'd answer you... :)

Sorry - couldn't resist.

Chris

My new CenturyTel DSL went active today. My 10m is running at 2.1 at best. Thank goodness I still have my Charter 10m going so I can fall back. Centurytel said the 10m is only the 3m service with the capability of bursting to 10m. Sorry but that isn't worth the $20 savings over Charter. I will be re-pulling the CenturyTel plug. I guess I shouldn't mess with what is working...

My new CenturyTel DSL went active today. My 10m is running at 2.1 at best. Thank goodness I still have my Charter 10m going so I can fall back. Centurytel said the 10m is only the 3m service with the capability of bursting to 10m. Sorry but that isn't worth the $20 savings over Charter. I will be re-pulling the CenturyTel plug. I guess I shouldn't mess with what is working...

Wow, sounds like pretty false advertising.

Today's TV Predictions newsletter carries an article that lists the HD channels that DirecTV says it will add this year. Thought it might be handy to have this list here:

A&E HD
The History Channel HD
National Geographic HD
Bravo HD
MHD
The Tennis Channel HD
Weather Channel HD
ESPNews HD
Toon Disney HD
Disney Channel HD
ABC Family HD
Sci-Fi Channel HD
CNN HD
Food Network HD
Cartoon Network HD
Speed HD
FX HD
TBS HD
USA Network HD
The NFL Network HD
Starz HD (possibly four channels)
Cinemax HD

My new CenturyTel DSL went active today. My 10m is running at 2.1 at best. Thank goodness I still have my Charter 10m going so I can fall back. Centurytel said the 10m is only the 3m service with the capability of bursting to 10m. Sorry but that isn't worth the $20 savings over Charter. I will be re-pulling the CenturyTel plug. I guess I shouldn't mess with what is working...

I wouldn't give up yet. What modem are you using? Some older modems will not support the higher speeds..

Today's TV Predictions newsletter carries an article that lists the HD channels that DirecTV says it will add this year. Thought it might be handy to have this list here:

...
Speed HD
...I'm curious about Speed and what it will be as far as HD content goes. I'm betting all the non-racing, worthless junk they have will be first in HD (the NASCAR yadda yadda shows, Pinks, etc) and the good live racing series like ALMS, F1, etc. will be last to be in HD, if at all in the not-distant future. My $0.02

deuces, I hope that everything went well and that you're managing at least a few hours of sleep a night.

You know it just occurred to me this morning that it is more than somewhat ironic that someone whose Forum ID is deuces would be having twins. I'm pretty sure "deuces" was your screen ID long before you knew what was in store on the instant family front.

So, maybe now would be a good time to drop "deuces" and switch to "Powerball Winner." ;)

Thank you to you and Ken for the well wishes. Everything did go well. And yes I had this screen ID well before the twins were on there way, lol. Never thought of the Powerball angle.

Everyone is doing well, thank you for asking guys. Two healthy baby girls, and they are beautiful, of course I'm biased. :) We are getting a little sleep, luckily we have 2 grandmas around to help for a while.

FWIW, I now have to shave some shows off our "watch list", there is just no way to get to everything before the DVR is gonna fill up. I guess I could record all SD, bite my tongue.

Today's TV Predictions newsletter carries an article that lists the HD channels that DirecTV says it will add this year. Thought it might be handy to have this list here:

A&E HD
The History Channel HD
National Geographic HD
Bravo HD
MHD
The Tennis Channel HD
Weather Channel HD
ESPNews HD
Toon Disney HD
Disney Channel HD
ABC Family HD
Sci-Fi Channel HD
CNN HD
Food Network HD
Cartoon Network HD
Speed HD
FX HD
TBS HD
USA Network HD
The NFL Network HD
Starz HD (possibly four channels)
Cinemax HD


That works for me. I watch a lot of L&O on TNT and quite frankly I like the picture vs the SD channel. What am I'm watching if its no in true HD.

Thanks
Tom

That works for me. I watch a lot of L&O on TNT and quite frankly I like the picture vs the SD channel. What am I'm watching if its no in true HD.

Thanks
Tom

I don't know what provider you have, but on Universal HD Law & Order SVU (http://www.universalhd.com/Schedule/search.bravo?month=2007-12&keyword=law%20&%20order&start=today) is on at 6PM every evening.

Another vote for a Samsung HLS. I had the HLR and it had a glossy screen that picked up reflections. The HLS has more of a matte finish. I too have it opposite western facing windows and have no viewing issues when I close the blinds and draw the light drapes (which I ordinarily do to conserve heat and now the AC).

I don't know what provider you have, but on Universal HD Law & Order SVU (http://www.universalhd.com/Schedule/search.bravo?month=2007-12&keyword=law%20&%20order&start=today) is on at 6PM every evening.

I have DirecTV and Charter. I quess what I was wondering or asking is that everybody says TNT-HD is not true HD or is HD in the stretch mode, but I like the picture when I watch L&O. So am I watching L&O in HD or not.

Thanks
Tom

I wouldn't give up yet. What modem are you using? Some older modems will not support the higher speeds..

This is a brand new account with a brand new modem. It is the Westell that supports ADSL2.

The thing I like about Charter is that they have a SLA that says you will get minimum 70% of advertised rates at all times. So on my 10m from Charter, if I see below 7m then they look at that as a problem.

I do have a question for the masses. I am currently demoing a Pioneer 50" Plasma PDP5070HD from my friend who does theater installs. I am pondering going with the 60" version but it is like $1900 more. I have the room for it but for $1900 I could buy some nice upgrades elsewhere in the system like a Tivo S3.

If I could part with my 55" Mitsubishi WS-55711 and entertainment center ($1100) ;) I would have no problem making the upsize.

Thoughts?

I do have a question for the masses. I am currently demoing a Pioneer 50" Plasma PDP5070HD from my friend who does theater installs. I am pondering going with the 60" version but it is like $1900 more. I have the room for it but for $1900 I could buy some nice upgrades elsewhere in the system like a Tivo S3.

If I could part with my 55" Mitsubishi WS-55711 and entertainment center ($1100) ;) I would have no problem making the upsize.

Thoughts?

skippy-

What's your viewing distance? I have the Pioneer Elite 1130 50" & it is perfect for me at about 8-9 feet. If you are further back than this, the 60" would be quite tempting.

I have DirecTV and Charter. I quess what I was wondering or asking is that everybody says TNT-HD is not true HD or is HD in the stretch mode, but I like the picture when I watch L&O. So am I watching L&O in HD or not.

Thanks
Tom

When TNT-HD shows an actual HD show, like L&O, they're showing it in real HD.

When people deride TNT as having "stretch-O-vision" (among other nasty names), it's in reference to shows like Charmed. 4x3 SD shows on TNT-HD are stretched horizontally to fill the 16x9 HD frame... which is why the normally hot gals on Charmed look short and fat when you watch Charmed on TNT-HD.

Hope that helps.

Doug, wow, thanks for posting the future Direct TV lineup. Dish Network won't be able to keep me later this year when these light up.

Does anyone else out there long for an HD version of the commercial-free Turner Classic Movies (TCM)? Much would need to be presented in window-pane to preserve the 4:3 format, but the amazing B&W cinematography of Hollywood's first golden era deserves to be seen without all the awful low bit-rate artifacts. It's good to have something to look forward to.

When TNT-HD shows an actual HD show, like L&O, they're showing it in real HD.

When people deride TNT as having "stretch-O-vision" (among other nasty names), it's in reference to shows like Charmed. 4x3 SD shows on TNT-HD are stretched horizontally to fill the 16x9 HD frame... which is why the normally hot gals on Charmed look short and fat when you watch Charmed on TNT-HD.

Hope that helps.

It does quite nicely. I watch L&O and The Closer the most. Maybe you can clear up one more for me. On Universal HD when they run the promo for Northern Exposure it look to be in HD that fills the screen but not when they show the actual show it looks to be in 4:3.

Thanks
Tom

skippy-

What's your viewing distance? I have the Pioneer Elite 1130 50" & it is perfect for me at about 8-9 feet. If you are further back than this, the 60" would be quite tempting.


I am further than 9ft back and am ok to go with the 60. My only thing is the $ difference.

I am further than 9ft back and am ok to go with the 60. My only thing is the $ difference.

Personally I wouldn't upsize for $1900. For $1900 you could buy an S3 HDTivo and still have $1300 left over...

I guess in my mind for >50" I would go DLP, projector, LCoS, etc... The cost differential is just too much. Hell, the upcharge from 50 to 60" alone is only a couple hundred less than the cost of a great 60" 1080P projection - and in my opinion these have better pictures. With the $$ savings you could build a fantastic built-in that would make any Plasma/DLP look like a cheap picture hung on a wall (ok, bit of an exaggeration, but you get the point...)

Chris

I agree that the premium for going beyond 50 inches with a plasma is a poor value. If you really need the additional size, I'd agree with Chris and look at other display technologies that have a better bang-for-the-buck at that size.

Another alternative is to wait another 6 to 12 months, as the move of LCD into larger sizes will wash away a good chunk of the 50+ flat-panel premium that exists today. LCD generally and the aggressive pricing of cut-rate manufacturers such as Vizio and Oleiva for both LCD and plasma is what's pushed prices for all display technologies down in the first place.

And Vizio just recently announced they will be selling a 60-inch plasma for under $3,000 soon. So, it's very likely that history will be repeated.

As an alternative, I'd take a long look at the Samsung DLPs or a Sony SXRDs (with extended warranty).

And in order to maintain your electronic guru bona fides, you should direct part of the savings toward calibration. ;)

And Vizio just recently announced they will be selling a 60-inch plasma for under $3,000 soon. So, it's very likely that history will be repeated.

Doug,

Vizio 60" plasmas are already down to $2500 at the wholesale clubs.

Once SciFi-HD goes live, I just might have to go for an HR20 and retire my HD DirecTivo to the bedroom (which currently has an SD CRT TV in it). But man, rerunning the OTA antenna cables to every room without the diplexers is gonna be a B!TCH.

Note to all thinking about upgrading to to *D MPEG-4..... *D's new equipment does NOT allow using diplexers to run your OTA antenna signals through the same cables, like I currently do with my older *D equipment. Antenna wires will have to be run completely separate from your DirecTV cabling.

When TNT-HD shows an actual HD show, like L&O, they're showing it in real HD.

When people deride TNT as having "stretch-O-vision" (among other nasty names), it's in reference to shows like Charmed. 4x3 SD shows on TNT-HD are stretched horizontally to fill the 16x9 HD frame... which is why the normally hot gals on Charmed look short and fat when you watch Charmed on TNT-HD.

Hope that helps.
Law & Order, Las Vegas (Wednesday nights), and Alias (late Wednesday nights) are all broadcast in true HD on TNT HD. I think ER (in the mornings) is too, but I'm not positive. Charmed, X-Files, NYPD Blue, and Judging Amy are all stretched, upconverted SD. Movies are hit and miss.

Doug,

Vizio 60" plasmas are already down to $2500 at the wholesale clubs.Thanks for the update -- I'm not surprised, as $3,000 was the MSRP.

By Xmas, I would expect the 60-inch Vizio plasmas to be hovering right around $2,000, with the quality brands only a few hundred bucks more online.

Note to all thinking about upgrading to to *D MPEG-4..... *D's new equipment does NOT allow using diplexers to run your OTA antenna signals through the same cables, like I currently do with my older *D equipment. Antenna wires will have to be run completely separate from your DirecTV cabling.
I believe it's the 5LNB dish that does not allow you to diplex your OTA but according to this link: http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=78249, D* is working on a new signal distribution method called the Single Wire Multiswitch that will not only allow you to diplex your OTA but satellite as well. In other words, one cable to your DVR and split to both satellite inputs as well as the OTA input. No more multiple cable runs to your D* receivers. Sounds interesting but I have no idea when it will be available.

My new CenturyTel DSL went active today. My 10m is running at 2.1 at best. Thank goodness I still have my Charter 10m going so I can fall back. Centurytel said the 10m is only the 3m service with the capability of bursting to 10m. Sorry but that isn't worth the $20 savings over Charter. I will be re-pulling the CenturyTel plug. I guess I shouldn't mess with what is working...

Well today my Centurytel is running at around 7 megs down and 800 kbs upload. Either way. If I'm paying for 10 megs, I want 10 megs.

Scott

Today's TV Predictions newsletter carries an article that lists the HD channels that DirecTV says it will add this year. Thought it might be handy to have this list here:

A&E HD
The History Channel HD
National Geographic HD
Bravo HD
MHD
The Tennis Channel HD
Weather Channel HD
ESPNews HD
Toon Disney HD
Disney Channel HD
ABC Family HD
Sci-Fi Channel HD
CNN HD
Food Network HD
Cartoon Network HD
Speed HD
FX HD
TBS HD
USA Network HD
The NFL Network HD
Starz HD (possibly four channels)
Cinemax HD
This is great news for HD. The more cable and satellite "compete" to be the glorified HD leader, the more we all benefit. :)

For reference, of the 22 DTV predicted additions listed, 6 have already launched on Dish. [A&E; NTGEO; FOOD; NFL; Starz; Cinemax]

I'll call this my own purely speculative statement, though there is some basis, and I'll leave it at that.

I believe these following 7 HD channels will also be added to the Dish lineup during 2007--
History Channel HD
Weather Channel HD
ESPNews HD
Disney Channel HD
CNN HD
FX HD
TBS HD

FWIW ;)

Strong, Silent Type: DISH to Launch Two New Sats for HD

From today's TV Predictions newsletter:
_________________________________________________

EchoStar CEO Charlie Ergen revealed yesterday that his company will launch two new satellites late this year to expand capacity for High-Definition channels...posters at several Internet message boards last week said Ergen first disclosed the company's launch plans at EchoStar's annual summit of retailers.

Ergen vowed that EchoStar would remain the industry's high-def leader and told retailers that the company would have two new satellites going up by year's end.
_________________________________________________

Dubious Achievement: LG Launches First HD Fridge

I'm posting this only because it reminds me that not so long ago there was a real question mark about whether HDTV would ever catch on.

FWIW, the only pictures I've seen of this $3,999 Frankenstenian appliance makes it appear that the embedded LCD panel is in 4x3 format.

Now, that's cold...

From today's TV Predictions newsletter:
____________________________________________________

What's cooler than High-Definition TV?

A high-def refrigerator.

Huh?

Yes, LG Electronics today introduced the world's first High-Definition Refrigerator, which includes a 15-inch LCD screen and digital TV tuner. And all it will set you back is a cool $3,999.
____________________________________________________

To read the entire story, click here (http://www.tvpredictions.com/lgice050807.htm)

Well today my Centurytel is running at around 7 megs down and 800 kbs upload. Either way. If I'm paying for 10 megs, I want 10 megs.

Scott


Which modem do you have? The old modems will only sync at 8meg. down. You need an ADSL2 modem such as a Westell 6100 or 327w. I had a speedstream and an older 2 wire modem and neither would get past 7meg. in download testing. I bought a 6100 on Craigslist and I sync at 12meg. which gets me around 10.5meg. down in speedtesting. They are all over Ebay as well, if you buy a 6100 just make sure it is a version E90.

My new CenturyTel DSL went active today. My 10m is running at 2.1 at best. Thank goodness I still have my Charter 10m going so I can fall back. Centurytel said the 10m is only the 3m service with the capability of bursting to 10m. Sorry but that isn't worth the $20 savings over Charter. I will be re-pulling the CenturyTel plug. I guess I shouldn't mess with what is working...


I don't know who told you that but it is not true, It is a true ADSL2 service. Sure you will not hit 10meg. during peak hours but I sync at 12meg. When downloading from fileplanet or Microsoft it consistently downloads at between 850kb/sec and 1.1mb/sec.

Which modem do you have? The old modems will only sync at 8meg. down. You need an ADSL2 modem such as a Westell 6100 or 327w. I had a speedstream and an older 2 wire modem and neither would get past 7meg. in download testing. I bought a 6100 on Craigslist and I sync at 12meg. which gets me around 10.5meg. down is speedtesting. They are all over Ebay as well, if you buy a 6100 just make sure it is a version E90.


My modem is probably 3 years old, so it may be the kind that is limiting me. I'll call Centurytel to upgrade.

Thanks!

Scott

Ergen vowed that EchoStar would remain the industry's high-def leader
Like somebody else said above, this is exciting to me. As long as the providers fight to maintain supremacy, we can rest assured that we won't get completely left behind if we sign an 18 month contract to get a good price on a receiver, for example.

Go capatalism!

Strong, Silent Type: DISH to Launch Two New Sats for HD

From today's TV Predictions newsletter:
_________________________________________________

EchoStar CEO Charlie Ergen revealed yesterday that his company will launch two new satellites late this year to expand capacity for High-Definition channels...posters at several Internet message boards last week said Ergen first disclosed the company's launch plans at EchoStar's annual summit of retailers.

Ergen vowed that EchoStar would remain the industry's high-def leader and told retailers that the company would have two new satellites going up by year's end.
_________________________________________________

My problem with this is the news reports fail to mention the "details" that have been released by people who attended the summit.

These sats will be used for an MPEG-4 simulcast 'relaunching' of Dish. Certainly this puts Dish in a strong position in the future when they complete migrating people over to MPEG4 - but - it won't really give them more capacity in 2008 to compete. AND while it does allow them to let people migrate from MPEG2 to MPEG4 without consuming more bandwidth from simulcasting on the existing sats, it WILL require new dishes and/or repointing of EVERY subscriber that goes from the existing Dish sats to the new Dish sats.

They also tout the big advantage being the ability to go back to a smaller dish - but most people are past that... 24-32" dishes don't seem to be a major decision factor.

I'm just not convinced that E*, with their past track record, is gonna pull off this "migration". I bet like the SuperDish they get these things up there and then just end up abandoning the plan and just 'adding' these sats to the existing service... I guess either way its a win-win, but as of now they aren't committing these things to 'expansion' - its for a simulcasting all content in MPEG4.

Chris

Once SciFi-HD goes live, I just might have to go for an HR20 and retire my HD DirecTivo to the bedroom (which currently has an SD CRT TV in it). But man, rerunning the OTA antenna cables to every room without the diplexers is gonna be a B!TCH.

Note to all thinking about upgrading to to *D MPEG-4..... *D's new equipment does NOT allow using diplexers to run your OTA antenna signals through the same cables, like I currently do with my older *D equipment. Antenna wires will have to be run completely separate from your DirecTV cabling.

Someone already mentioned the SWM, but I'll add that you are also gaining MPEG4 locals with this move, which includes CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox. So you are really only missing on KPLR and PBS from an HD content perspective. And with the Cards moving to 5, I'll paraphrase a popular movie...

"I wouldn't say I've been missing KPLR Bob"

Chris

Someone already mentioned the SWM, but I'll add that you are also gaining MPEG4 locals with this move, which includes CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox. So you are really only missing on KPLR and PBS from an HD content perspective. And with the Cards moving to 5, I'll paraphrase a popular movie...

"I wouldn't say I've been missing KPLR Bob"I believe that in this scenario, it's worth biting the bullet and installing an extra run of coax to continue to receive locals OTA. They are the genuine article and will always be a higher quality signal than what is retransmitted via satellite or cable.

Granted, the difference in picture quality today between OTA and retransmitted cable/sat is decidedly marginal. But the history of signal compression and these pay TV providers makes it a good idea to preserve the direct receipt option, where that's manageable.

I'm just not convinced that E*, with their past track record, is gonna pull off this "migration"That's fair comment. But DISH's recent track record in doing what needs to be done to increase capacity, particularly capacity for HD channels, is probably the best in the entire pay TV industry. Granted, they have fumbled other plans in the past, but I think their recent success is probably the more relevant measuring stick for their ability to execute their latest plans.

Although I'm a longtime DirecTV subscriber, I genuinely admire DISH and its excellent support for HD. In my opinion, DISH stands as one of the three pioneers/leaders in actual rubber-meets-the-road support for HDTV -- just behind Mark Cuban/HDNet and ESPN.

I believe that in this scenario, it's worth biting the bullet and installing an extra run of coax to continue to receive locals OTA. They are the genuine article and will always be a higher quality signal than what is retransmitted via satellite or cable.

Granted, the difference in picture quality today between OTA and retransmitted cable/sat is decidedly marginal. But the history of signal compression and these pay TV providers makes it a good idea to preserve the direct receipt option, where that's manageable.

I agree - but in those situations where you "can't" - remember that today you get the 4 majors and tomorrow you can use a SWM to diplex an OTA antenna.

Now, I don't know when tomorrow is, but they are doing a public beta test so its not years away.... but we'll see.

Chris

That's fair comment. But DISH's recent track record in doing what needs to be done to increase capacity, particularly capacity for HD channels, is probably the best in the entire pay TV industry. Granted, they have fumbled other plans in the past, but I think their recent success is probably the more relevant measuring stick for their ability to execute their latest plans.

Although I'm a longtime DirecTV subscriber, I genuinely admire DISH and its excellent support for HD. In my opinion, DISH stands as one of the three pioneers/leaders in actual rubber-meets-the-road support for HDTV -- just behind Mark Cuban/HDNet and ESPN.

The more HD birds in the air, the better for us all.

Although I'm a longtime DirecTV subscriber, I genuinely admire DISH and its excellent support for HD. In my opinion, DISH stands as one of the three pioneers/leaders in actual rubber-meets-the-road support for HDTV -- just behind Mark Cuban/HDNet and ESPN.

I'm not so sure I admire Dish :) Maybe it comes from being a spurned customer. In my view, all they did was buy Voom's capacity, compress some of it, and charge an arm and a leg for it. Yes, they do have more uncompressed channels than DirecTV, but they aren't 100% pure as some of their fans so willfully fail to point out when attacking DirecTV.

Also, DirecTV has done more with HD locals - which much like SD locals, will do a lot more in the long run than nationals. I know its taken some time for DirecTV to get their sats up - but they said all along here's our plan. They really haven't deviated from that and with the announced carriage agreements the ONLY thing standing between them and being the lone HD leader is a launch/satellite failure. The main question will be, what will the resolution of the MPEG4 HDs be when they get up. That will make or break DirecTV in the eyes of the HD fans - and with Comcast attacking them about quality I think that only increases the chances that DirecTV will not (at least initially) reduce resolution on MPEG4s.

Chris

Chris, if I were starting over, from scratch, I would go with DISH in a heartbeat. They've delivered a real HD product and DirecTV has been limping along for 2 years with essentially the same HD lineup and a lot of pretty talk about the future.

If you really want to make bank on future events, I think you need to put more than a mild negative weighting on what Liberty's takeover for DirecTV will mean for the quality and service level of DirecTV down the road. TCI was a miserable company to do business with, and that's where Liberty CEO John Malone made most of his current bankroll.

Malone is all about deals and making a quick buck on a turn. Hopefully he won't own DirecTV long enough to shag it senseless, but with rumors of AT&T as a likely buyer, I'm still not feeling all warm and fuzzy.

Maybe this is the case of the grass being greener... but I'd do the exact opposite. Knowing what I know now if I went back to 1999, I'd have just gone with Pegasus and avoided Dish altogether.

Chris

Do trees effect the OTA reception that much. I have great signal reception on 2-1, 5-1, 11-1, and 30-1. Within the last week 4-1 has drop to 0 to 40 %. This is playing havoc with my recording since Charter lost Kmov.

Chris, if I were starting over, from scratch, I would go with DISH in a heartbeat. They've delivered a real HD product and DirecTV has been limping along for 2 years with essentially the same HD lineup and a lot of pretty talk about the future.

-----
Malone is all about deals and making a quick buck on a turn. Hopefully he won't own DirecTV long enough to shag it senseless, but with rumors of AT&T as a likely buyer, I'm still not feeling all warm and fuzzy.

This is kind of a separate subject so I broke it out. I question Dish delivering a 'true' HD product. They have reduced resolution some of their channels as well - in fact in the grand scheme of spin-mastering Echostar reduces resolution on MORE HD channels than DirecTV, making them the winner in the less is more contest :eek: (Of course, thats only because they have more channels, but the point is it can be twisted in multiple ways)

DirecTVs 'limp' was based on a defined plan thats actually been well executed. During those 2 years they have made MPEG4 usable for them, installed a large number of MPEG4 recievers, deployed more HD locals than Dish, and locked up delivery of more major sports in HD than Dish can hope for. Oh, and pre-announced a large number of carriage agreements for those expanded HD channels furthering their claim to be the future HD leader. Short of getting the sats up earlier - they've done a lot in those 2 years (it just wasn't national HD channels).

Also - Dish has been the target of rumors regarding mergers, sell-offs, etc. more than once. And based on their history of dropping channels, channel disputes, poor quality receivers and products, and pending legal actions with respect to patents they aren't exactly the best choice either.

Its an interesting debate. There is no right answer due to the complexities and differences between products, but at least in my mind DirecTV comes out ahead versus Dish. I think its the Disney scenario. People expect more from DirecTV than Dish, and don't really do an apples to apples comparison. I can tell you from the HR20 history and my personal experience with it so far - the people complaining didn't spend 2000-2005 with DishNetwork.

Chris

Well, after measuring my viewing distance in the living room, I got the 60". I sit about 13-14' back and is why I was second guessing 50". I managed to get the difference down to $1450 between the 50 and 60 and decided to do it. Now my setup is as follows.
60" Plasma - Pioneer PDP-6070HD
A/V Receiver - Pioneer VSX-9110TXV
Speakers - Mordaunt-Short In-Wall
Front L/R - AW152
Center - AW153
L/R Surround - AW151
Back Surrond - AW151
Sub - jury is still out
Patio Speakers - Proficient AW650


On the DSL front...
I found that CenturyTel provisioned me for 3m and not 10m. I got that fixed and started doing some speed tests between Charter and CenturyTel and found that Charter consistently provided me with higher speeds. After further review I decided to give it another week and re-evaluate.

Sorry, Chris, but your anger at Dish doesn't convince me. I know you had a bad experience, but the view's different from my chair. Dish has more national HD channels now, and instead of just promising more later, they've actually added several in the last year. The HD locals are here. It has Fox Midwest HD for Cardinals games. The Dish 622 is a versatile DVR with lots of useful features. No matter how you slice it, Dish offers higher resolution HD than D* (which is *all* the worst form of HDLite, except for the locals they just pass through), even if Dish has taken some steps backwards in that regard.

When I look at the big picture, there's no way you can convince me that D* is a better option now or that it will be in the next year or so. I have no *loyalty* to Dish (or to Windows - for those who remember my reaction to "The Mac is better" comments). If I had believed that D* was a better option in the last 5 years, I'd have jumped ship in a heartbeat.

I'm open to real evidence that D* is better, but so far I haven't heard any.

Its not anger at Dish - I just flat out don't think they put out a quality product. That may have changed, but 5 years of subpar products, lagging DirecTV in content (lets not forget that they did lag D* in HD content for a while there), and constant shuffling of Dish's, add-on charges (8PSK for the 6000), etc. leave me not angry but rather doubtful in their abilities.

In my mind they utilized Voom's failure to their advantage - so good for them. Had Voom not failed - where would they be? Debates aren't about what might have been - but if we are calling DirecTV out for not expanding during the past 2 years while waiting for their plan to take shape, I won't let Dish off the hook. Their plan was non-existant had Voom not failed. Once Voom failed, they bought up the programming, shuffled some content and TPs, and resold a lesser quality product. I just don't think they are to be celebrated for that. Thats just my biased perspective.

DirecTV is better in my opinion because they have had 1 plan for 2 years. That plan is coming to fruition now. IF they don't succeed or compress the content - so be it they will enter the same space in my mind as Dish. The evidence that D* is better in my mind is a published game plan, clear deliverables, a constant progression to the target, and increased clarity as the target approached. All these things occurred. D* has issues (they should've done more for HDTivo owners, improved customer service, etc) - but they have a defined business plan.

On the other hand I haven't seen E* lay out a business plan. A quick comparison shows:
DVR:
E* 622 moving to 722. 622 may or may not get increased capacity and VOD (both are delayed). 921 is dead. 942 almost dead. Connection to home network? Maybe.
D* HR20 is committed to. ESata disk expansion available now. VOD about to enter public beta. Connection to home PC available now. HDTivo is dead.

HD LinL:
E* Some locals up. Missed dates on others. No defined plans or timelines that I've seen for majority of markets.
D* More locals up. Missed 4Q06 dates. Recent progress again with defined plans for more markets based on scheduled satellite launches.

HD Nationals:
E* More than any carrier - but 15 are Voom. Commitment to not be left behind. Recent announcement of new satellites - but the plans are not clear and may or may not require new dishes, repointing, and may be for MPEG4 conversion and not for capacity adds. No announced carriage agreements.
D* 1st Satellite launches in June. Carriage agreements announced in press releases. Will have more HD than any provider by end of September 07, with additional channels announced for later this year and early 2008.

Again - its all personal preference. I think D* does a better job of running a business, being honest with their customers, and has a better plan. In a year or two, E* might just jump D* in content - who knows. The only thing E* or cable might get D* on is quality. And as long as D* gets the bandwidth up they are currently lacking, I tend to believe they will utilize the excess bandwidth to also address the resolution issues.

Chris

Sigh...whatever happened to the good ole days, when Charter was the constant target :D

Sigh...whatever happened to the good ole days, when Charter was the constant target :DDrying paint demanded equal time.

Kinda pointless to debate the future. When it comes to big companies, my first and only criterion is, "What can you do for me now?" When I got into HD, I chose Dish because they had the most of what I was looking for. When Voom came along, I switched, but kept a minimal Dish account for HDNet, which Voom didn't offer. When I called Voom to cancel, they asked what it would take to keep me as a customer. I said, "A DVR." They promised one in the future, in a few months. No, thanks.

If and when D* passes Dish in terms of HD quantity and quality (neither of which is the case NOW), I guarantee I'll be watching very closely. For someone on the fence now, there are plenty of compelling reasons they might chose E* over D*, and business plans have nothing to do with any of them.

Well, after measuring my viewing distance in the living room, I got the 60". I sit about 13-14' back and is why I was second guessing 50". I managed to get the difference down to $1450 between the 50 and 60 and decided to do it. Now my setup is as follows.
60" Plasma - Pioneer PDP-6070HD
A/V Receiver - Pioneer VSX-9110TXV
Speakers - Mordaunt-Short In-Wall
Front L/R - AW152
Center - AW153
L/R Surround - AW151
Back Surrond - AW151
Sub - jury is still out
Patio Speakers - Proficient AW650

Sweet...time to post a pic!

Well, after measuring my viewing distance in the living room, I got the 60". I sit about 13-14' back and is why I was second guessing 50". I managed to get the difference down to $1450 between the 50 and 60 and decided to do it. Now my setup is as follows.
60" Plasma - Pioneer PDP-6070HD
A/V Receiver - Pioneer VSX-9110TXV
Speakers - Mordaunt-Short In-Wall
Front L/R - AW152
Center - AW153
L/R Surround - AW151
Back Surrond - AW151
Sub - jury is still out
Patio Speakers - Proficient AW650


On the DSL front...
I found that CenturyTel provisioned me for 3m and not 10m. I got that fixed and started doing some speed tests between Charter and CenturyTel and found that Charter consistently provided me with higher speeds. After further review I decided to give it another week and re-evaluate.

Sweet, but 60" is too small! :eek: Should have done at least a 70" DLP. ;) Take back that plasma. :)

Scott

Well, after measuring my viewing distance in the living room, I got the 60". I sit about 13-14' back and is why I was second guessing 50". I managed to get the difference down to $1450 between the 50 and 60 and decided to do it.


I agree with your decision on the size and the display technology choice. No surprise since I have a 50" Pioneer Elite 1120 and I sit about the same distance away, 12' or so. Next time around, I will go with a larger screen, probably something around 60." I like the 50", but it feels a lot smaller now than when I first bought it 2 yrs ago or so.

As far as the technology side goes, I have had three people over at my place who have recently purchased 60" or larger Mits DLP televisions and every time they tell me how much more they like the picture on my plasma compared to their sets (and I haven't even called on Doug yet to calibrate it). They just didn't want to pay the extra price for a plasma. I have nothing against DLP and don't want to start a debate over which has a better picture, but that's been my experience. In most cases they went with the larger DLP for budget reasons, and if you are looking for a better value that's probably the way to go. However, I have no regret getting a smaller screen size for what I feel is a better quality picture. At today's prices, I would have bought the 60" hands down - hell, I could have bought two 50" sets at todays prices - ok, now I'm starting to get pissed :)

Either way - congratulations on the purchase!

Sweet...time to post a pic!

The pic right now would be of all the boxes. :) Installing the speakers and such this weekend. The plasma will either be here on Fri. or next Wed. If I would have decided on Tuesday, I would have it Friday for sure.

I tried convincing the wife that I needed an outdoor plasma or projector for the pool. She didn't agree with that idea.

Oh Doug.... Any discounts or trade of services or equipment?

DirecTV Provides HD Expansion, Pricing Details

DirecTV announced quarterly results yesterday and in the process addressed some questions about its plans for expanded HD.

From today's TV Predictions newsletter:

First, on WHEN new HD channels will appear, quoting DirecTV CEO Chase Carey:
__________________________________________________

"At the top of the list is clearly our planned launch of a new satellite, a satellite we are calling DirecTV-10 in late June. This satellite will greatly increase our HD capacity beginning in September; that's about the target when we hope the satellite should be operational if everything stays on target.

With that satellite, we'll move forward to later this year, towards the end of the year bringing 100 channels of HD to the marketplace."
__________________________________________________


And there's better news on pricing, also from Carey:
__________________________________________________

"I think in terms of pricing, it is probably -- essentially, we’ve got a $10 price to the package and we don’t have plans to change that. So from a pricing perspective, the addition of the channels is not going to change what we do today with the product."
__________________________________________________


Do I detect some off-the-cuff pricing talk here? While Carey said almost exactly the right thing on pricing, it's hard to see how he could have sounded more wishy washy about it.

FWIW, I'm pleasantly surprised on pricing, as I've thought all along that DirecTV HD pricing would go up when significant numbers of new channels were rolled out, perhaps doubling from current rates.

On the other hand, I think all Pay TV providers are caught in something of a bind, because once HD channels become the norm (and we're probably only 24 months or so from that being the case), customers would (should) be unhappy paying progressively higher rates for HD -- along with existing rates for SD channels that are watched less and less.

I think there's still a question whether it's reasonable to charge even a $10 HD premium when HD is the norm and SD channel viewing is a last resort. At some point, these guys are going to have to completely blow up their pricing structures and start over, and it's probably going to be easier to do that when they're only charging $10 for the HD package.


Finally, Carey on putting the final piece in place required to deliver on DirecTV's long-promised 150 national HD channels and 1500+ local digitals...
__________________________________________________

"The second satellite, DirecTV-11, is scheduled to be in service the first half of next year. That satellite is delayed a bit as we said before due to the C launch (Sealaunch?) problems.

That delay really only has an impact on probably pushback some of our local HD launches but it's not material because we're really, at this point, moving down to smaller markets that on an individual basis are not as big a part of our plans.

But once we get that satellite up, DirecTV-11 with DirecTV-10 we will have the capacity for over 150 national channels and 1,500 plus local channels."
__________________________________________________

To read additional Carey comments, click here (http://www.tvpredictions.com/dquotes051007.htm)

The pic right now would be of all the boxes. :) Installing the speakers and such this weekend. The plasma will either be here on Fri. or next Wed. If I would have decided on Tuesday, I would have it Friday for sure.

I tried convincing the wife that I needed an outdoor plasma or projector for the pool. She didn't agree with that idea.

Oh Doug.... Any discounts or trade of services or equipment?Call me or drop me a private message.

I just wanted to weigh in with my two cents about the E* vs. D* debate.

"hd lite" or not, I know that life is better post-Charter fo'sho, no doubt.

another thing too: twice I tried to have Dish installed...I chose Dish based completely on bundling options...both times I was very UNIMPRESSED with the installers that came out. They just kind of glanced around "ho hum, too many trees. Sorry, bye." The DirecTV guy came out and took his time and found a spot. He was also the only one who used one of those little devices to measure line of sight. Granted, it's mounted on a 6' pole about 50 feet from the house....I know it's not fair to hold a corporation responsible, positively or negatively, since these guys don't really work directly for either company, but still.

Also, as sports fan, D* is without a doubt the way to go...another reason I couldn't be happier.

All that being said, "can't we all just get along? I mean we all hate charter!" :D

To me this whole debate is like arguing over who makes better shoes, Nike or Reebok...

Do trees effect the OTA reception that much. I have great signal reception on 2-1, 5-1, 11-1, and 30-1. Within the last week 4-1 has drop to 0 to 40 %. This is playing havoc with my recording since Charter lost Kmov.

Yes, tree growth can affect OTA reception.

I love Directv and Nike. BTW, I do hold D* and E* or any other company accountable for the installs. They are choosing to use certain installers they pay to do a job for them. If you hire me to install your system, and I sub it out to some idiot...I expect you to hold ME accoutable.

Scott

DirecTV Provides HD Expansion, Pricing Details

Yes - the $10 pricing structure is an expected relief... they had hinted all along that it would be the same (especially when they changed the name earlier this year) - but you never know. Having them saying that in May for a June launch is reassuring.

The other part that is "bad" I think is how they will fill those 100 channels. They'd be better to say "We'll carry all available channels that we can get carriage for, and right now that's 35 (or whatever)" They keep harping 100 channles - but there aren't 100 channels to carry, nor will there be. Like he said, the 150 national/1500 local is almost a moot point (heck, the locals they can't put on D10 probably aren't even in HD due to the market size!)

You are also correct on the overall pricing. At some point in time you have to start shutting down the SD channels (which will give more HD capacity) and just down converting the HDs. All receivers will be HD - it will just depend on what they output. I think this is Dish's direction with their new birds - MPEG4, all HD all the time, SD is just downconverted HD.

Chris

Nike.

Nike.

Seriously? What are you thinking. Nike's are too narrow in the arch... Reebok's are a lot sturdier, longer lasting, and they have an excellent business plan for the future when they move to an all synthetic leather called "HD-Leather".

Besides - I heard Nike offshores their manufacturing to child labor in India. Have you ever tried to get a hold of someone in the states when you had an issue with Nike?

:D :D

Chris

Yes, tree growth can affect OTA reception.


I just seems odd that all other channels are at 100% and KMOV is at 0% (zilch). Anyway, A-1 is coming Monday to take a look.

Thanks
Tom

That delay really only has an impact on probably pushback some of our local HD launches but it's not material because we're really, at this point, moving down to smaller markets that on an individual basis are not as big a part of our plans.
Hmm...bet that makes all the Jonesboro AK, Cawker City KS, etc., subscribers feel all warm and fuzzy.

I just seems odd that all other channels are at 100% and KMOV is at 0% (zilch). Anyway, A-1 is coming Monday to take a look. It's not odd -- it's science. :)

Each station's signal forms a different wavelength, and because of that each is likely to interact in different ways to topographical or manmade obstructions that may exist in the path between the transmission tower and your antenna.

This likely explains why you receive some stations perfectly, and others not at all.

Nike.

New Balance.

Choice of widths for a custom fit!

[QUOTE=DroptheRemote]It's not odd -- it's science. :)

Then it's odd science.

[QUOTE=DroptheRemote]It's not odd -- it's science. :)

Then it's odd science.
It's not science
It's fundamental [][/]
:D

[QUOTE=tommeyj]
It's not science
It's fundamental [][/]
:D

Due to the storms whatever is odd or science or even fundamental has privilege me the viewing of Kmov tonight.

Okay, I feel like the audio sync on KPLR-DT has been a problem for some time. Some nights are worse than others, but often the sounds is about 1/2 second before the video. Is there anybody that can be contacted directly about this? I am watching via Charter.

PS: the email on KPLR's website (KPLRTech@tribune.com) does not work.

DISH CEO Says 6 HD Channels May Be Added by Year End

Echostar CEO Charlie Ergen confirmed various media reports that Echostar would launch two new satellites in order to expand its ability to deliver HD programming.

Today/s TV Predictions newsletter reports on the outlook for DISH adding more HD programming prior to bringing expanded satellite capacity online.
_______________________________________________________

EchoStar's Dish Network now carries 32 national high-def channels, more than any other TV provider. However, the nation's second largest satcaster is under pressure from rival DIRECTV to expand HD capacity in the coming months. DIRECTV has said it will offer 100 national HD channels by year's end.

In the investors call, EchoStar CEO Charlie Ergen also said the company might add roughly six more high-def channels this year.
_______________________________________________________

Slightly Off-Topic Post:

GO PADRES!!!!!

Keep going...You will get to 1000 soon.

DISH CEO Says 6 HD Channels May Be Added by Year End
_______________________________________________________

EchoStar's Dish Network now carries 32 national high-def channels, more than any other TV provider. However, the nation's second largest satcaster is under pressure from rival DIRECTV to expand HD capacity in the coming months. DIRECTV has said it will offer 100 national HD channels by year's end.

In the investors call, EchoStar CEO Charlie Ergen also said the company might add roughly six more high-def channels this year.
_______________________________________________________
This is great news for HD. The more cable and satellite "compete" to be the glorified HD leader, the more we all benefit. :)

For reference, of the 22 DTV predicted additions listed, 6 have already launched on Dish. [A&E; NTGEO; FOOD; NFL; Starz; Cinemax]

I'll call this my own purely speculative statement, though there is some basis, and I'll leave it at that.

I believe these following 7 HD channels will also be added to the Dish lineup during 2007--
History Channel HD
Weather Channel HD
ESPNews HD
Disney Channel HD
CNN HD
FX HD
TBS HD

FWIW ;)
I believe it will be "roughly" 7 :)

I believe it will be "roughly" 7 :)


Do you think we will have to pay more for these channels or will they be included in the "HD Package?" For example, I would have to pay more for NG HD.

Keep going...You will get to 1000 soon.

I'm working on it... I need to stay away from the long winded responses/debates...

Do you think we will have to pay more for these channels or will they be included in the "HD Package?" For example, I would have to pay more for NG HD.

No, as long as you have the equivalent standard package (in other words if you get the SD channel you'll get the HD feed for your $20/HD package charge)

Chris

Okay, I feel like the audio sync on KPLR-DT has been a problem for some time. Some nights are worse than others, but often the sounds is about 1/2 second before the video. Is there anybody that can be contacted directly about this? I am watching via Charter.

PS: the email on KPLR's website (KPLRTech@tribune.com) does not work.

I complained about this (KPLR sync and droputs) on the Charter thread a couple of weeks ago and was PM'd by a KPLR staffer who said they are aware of the problem and working to correct it.
Can't say that overall I've seen much improvement. On Tuesday, Gilmore Girls was perfect, but Veronica Mars right after it was out of sync. Supernatural last night was not in sync.
I watch via Moto Moxi on Charter; can't testify to OTA or SATS.

barry

No, as long as you have the equivalent standard package (in other words if you get the SD channel you'll get the HD feed for your $20/HD package charge)

Chris
I agree Chris, personally, I don't think Dish subs will have any increases until the next restructuring, probably in 08-09, when we begin to get the full impact of the SD/HD changeover. Something Doug mentioned the other day.

National Geographic HD is the only Dish HD offering which requires a higher programing tier (AT250), in addition to the HD package. This is only because Dish was able to negotiate it into their carriage agreement with National Geographic.

I believe this will continue to be the exception, rather than the rule, in future HD carriage negotiations.
They all "want" to be in the basic bottom-tier packages.

Slightly Off-Topic Post:
GO PADRES!!!!!
What is up with those uniforms??? :eek:
It may be better it's in SD.

There *must* be some story behind it.

My parents have a 53" Hitachi RP CRT HDTV. About a week ago it developed convergence problems in the red gun. I called a couple shops and was quoted $350 to $450 for repair.

I found the issue to be common and the fix was to replace to STK-110 chips and a handful of resistors. I found a manual online for $5, removed the convergence board, and brought it to a local tv repair shop, PAN Electronics on Manchester in Ballwin.

He charged me $100, including parts to replace the STK chips and associated resistors (even used factory authorized part). Took him 2 days and I just installed it. The picture looks great. I may have to adjust convergence once I get into the service menu, but for now my folks are extremely happy.


At home I have been enjoying my Sharp zx3000 DLP projector for about 3 months now and I love it more every time I fire it up. Coupled with BluRay/HD-DVD and the picture is miles better than my AE700.

Dave

What is up with those uniforms??? :eek:
It may be better it's in SD.

There *must* be some story behind it.It's retro night.

Actually the Cards are cheating, because as far as I remember they never had synthetic road grays -- if I'm not mistaken, they were always Comet kitchen cleaner blue.

It's retro night.


Its a beautiful shade of mustard! Heh - just remember, I used to have to wear those hats and all my shirts/jerseys had brown and mustard in them!

Well the best thing for the Cards just happened - the Pads sat Peavy! :)

Chris

Well the best thing for the Cards just happened - the Pads sat Peavy! :)
Chris
guess i can FF past the 5th inning now :mad:

guess i can FF past the 5th inning now :mad:

Sorry - I wasn't thinking about the "Cardinal" rule... at least I didn't state the score or anything!

Chris

Sorry - I wasn't thinking about the "Cardinal" rule... at least I didn't state the score or anything!
Chris
No biggie, it's really my own fault. I can't watch night games like normal people do. A day game, I can usually watch straight through, but at night, it usually takes me 6 hours-3 innings at a time, to see the whole game.

All of the daytime activity has to be tended to at night, and before the next day. Since I'm using the computers, I pop in here, when I should be working in the first place.
Like now....I've got an hour of stuff left to do, and I'm writing this! :o

I have lots of tall trees directly to the south and southwest on my property. Does anyone think a satelite would work in this situation?

Gotham - depends on the height of the tree, spacing between them, the height where you can get the satellite - etc. Best to have someone come out. More than likely if the trees are spaced or a little distance away (40-50ft) the dish can be shot between or over them.

Chris

We Interrupt Your Normal AVS Programming...

...for the following St. Louis housekeeping break:

In the past, we used to begin each month of the St. Louis discussion with an entirely new thread and usually that started with a cut/paste of basic resource information about HDTV and over-the-air reception. Although those messages were moved to the new thread here that was started in January, that information is still easily overlooked as the new thread is growing rapidly, approaching 75 pages in a relatively short period.

So, in order to make this introductory information more accessible, I will be periodically reposting this advisory/reminder note. The idea is to make the general resource information available here more visible and easier to find for more readers.

With HDTV sales increasing every month, we're getting more and more newcomers here, which is a great thing to see. But like most of us when we took home our first HDTV, there's a huge amount to learn beyond where to point the remote and which buttons to push.

Hopefully, you'll find this information of some use...

Tower Maps, Your Satellite/Antenna Rights & Local Station Feedback (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9713839&&#post9713839)

Resources for Receiving Digital/HD OTA Local Stations via an Antenna (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9713842&&#post9713842)

Frequently Asked Questions about HDTV (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=2995791&&#post2995791)

HD Programming Available in St. Louis (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10464913&&#post10464913)

Why Isn't KMOV-DT (CBS) Available via Charter? (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9341270&&#post9341270)

St. Louis Blues 2006-07 HD Broadcast Schedule (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8678636&&#post8678636)

New! St. Louis Cardinals 2007 HD Broadcast Schedule (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10174447#post10174447)

2006 Survey Results: HDTV in St. Louis

Part 1: Profile of Survey Respondents (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9713951&&#post9713951)

Part 2: Local Digital Stations (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9713954&&#post9713954)

Part 3: Digital Multicasting (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9713956&&#post9713956)

Part 4: Customer Ratings for Charter, DirecTV & DISH HD Services (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9713960&&#post9713960)

Part 5: Customer Ratings for Pay TV HD Channels (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9713963&&#post9713963)

Part 6: Best Picture/Sound Ratings & HD Wish Lists (http://http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9713965&&#post9713965)

Finally, I want to remind everyone that you can access the St. Louis HDTV discussion here at AVS directly by using the shortcut URL that has been arranged.

The short-form URL also makes it very easy to remember and give the address to anyone you know who's just getting into HDTV.

The shortcut URL is: www.stlhdtv.info

I don't think I've seen anything on this board about MLB Extra Innings in the past few days, but I got a message on my Charter box that it is now available for something like $150.

Finchem just said the Players was in HD. KSDK is showing it in SD. Why can't the a**holes get it right? Hmmmm, it could be a St. Louis thing. Wouldn't be the first time.

Walt

Finchem just said the Players was in HD. KSDK is showing it in SD. Why can't the a**holes get it right? Hmmmm, it could be a St. Louis thing. Wouldn't be the first time.

Walt
It's on in HD...probably slow flipping the switch.

Well I guess there is one group worse than KSDK.....its...........CHARTER. Who would have thought that.

Thanks for the info. I just switched to OTA. Now to call my favorite cable company.

Walt

It's retro night.

Actually the Cards are cheating, because as far as I remember they never had synthetic road grays -- if I'm not mistaken, they were always Comet kitchen cleaner blue.

'84 was the last year for the blue road uni's. They switched to grey in '85.

Home and away were both still polyester pullover with piping on the sleeve and neckline until about '96 when they returned to the traditional button down (which coincided with the return to grass at Busch).

It was Charter. I guess I got some form of download that set the DVR to 480i. My firewire connection to the Moto 3416 has gone away also. Guess its time for a dish discovery.

Thanks Ken

Walt

It was Charter. I guess I got some form of download that set the DVR to 480i. My firewire connection to the Moto 3416 has gone away also. Guess its time for a dish discovery.

Thanks Ken

Walt
Not an enviable position to be in...figuring out if the problem is with KSDK or Charter :rolleyes:

Last year, a Dish update changed my display setting from 16:9 to 4:3, but no one else who got the update mentioned it happening. I guess just one of those odd science things, eh :)

FYI, I lost my 1394 connection to the 3416 about a week ago after the upgrade.
Re-installing the XP drivers restored it and it is still working fine.

'84 was the last year for the blue road uni's. They switched to grey in '85.

Home and away were both still polyester pullover with piping on the sleeve and neckline until about '96 when they returned to the traditional button down (which coincided with the return to grass at Busch).


I am not sure, but I would bet the birds did not wear the pullovers with piping on the sleeves in the '90s and certainly not up to 95 or 96. The Post said the unis from the other night were worn from 1970-1975. Link below.


http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/FE61BFA146A6FADF862572D9001151DE?OpenDocument

Gotham - depends on the height of the tree, spacing between them, the height where you can get the satellite - etc. Best to have someone come out. More than likely if the trees are spaced or a little distance away (40-50ft) the dish can be shot between or over them.

Chris

I don't think going between them is an option. They are all grown together. A huge mass. My house is 2 stories tall on the back, but most of them are quite a bit taller than the house. Some are very large oak trees. Some are only 15 feet from the house, some 40 or so. Will they come out for free? I really don't want to pay someone to tell me it wont work.

I don't think going between them is an option. They are all grown together. A huge mass. My house is 2 stories tall on the back, but most of them are quite a bit taller than the house. Some are very large oak trees. Some are only 15 feet from the house, some 40 or so. Will they come out for free? I really don't want to pay someone to tell me it wont work.


I'm not sure there is any way to know without trying. Others can tell you for sure, but I don't think there would be a charge for them coming to try.

My house has a walkout basement so it is basically 2 stories from the back where the dish sits. There are trees behind the house as high as the gutters and the dish is able to receive signal by shooting over the trees mounted only on a 5 ft pole in the ground. It will just depend on your angles and options for placing the dish.

I am not sure, but I would bet the birds did not wear the pullovers with piping on the sleeves in the '90s and certainly not up to 95 or 96. The Post said the unis from the other night were worn from 1970-1975. Link below.


http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/FE61BFA146A6FADF862572D9001151DE?OpenDocument


You're correct, they didn't wear them into the mid 90's, my mistake, but I do know 84 was the last year for the blue's and went to grey in '85, but were still the pullovers.

Ozzie circa '84 (http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=smithoz01)

Tweks circa '91 (http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=tewksbo01)

Gilkey circa '93 (http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=gilkebe01)

Will they come out for free? I really don't want to pay someone to tell me it wont work.

Depends. They won't come for free if you call them and ask 'Can I get a dish'? If you are certain you want to go satellite and pick a provider - call them and setup an appointment. They'll come out and at the end of the day you'll either have a dish installed or they'll leave with nothing installed and no charge to you.

The only problem with this is if you end up getting your heart set on satellite, get the deal you want, and at the end of the day they can't install - I guess that'd be a bummer.

Chris

Some are only 15 feet from the house, some 40 or so.
As best I recall you need a clear line of sight at about 45 degrees elevation. In other words, if a tree in the right direction is 15 feet from the house it can be no more than 15 feet above the dish. A tree 40 feet from the house can be no more than 40 feet above the dish.

Installation experts here can give you more accurate numbers.

I complained about this (KPLR sync and droputs) on the Charter thread a couple of weeks ago and was PM'd by a KPLR staffer who said they are aware of the problem and working to correct it.
Can't say that overall I've seen much improvement. On Tuesday, Gilmore Girls was perfect, but Veronica Mars right after it was out of sync. Supernatural last night was not in sync.
I watch via Moto Moxi on Charter; can't testify to OTA or SATS.

barry

KPLR has had audio sync issues for years. I distinctly remember recording a movie and had to time shift the audio using Video Redo by nearly a half a second before I could watch it. KDNL had variable audio sync issues when they first started broadcasting but managed to correct them through the perseverance of their engineers.

What is up with those uniforms??? :eek:
It may be better it's in SD.

There *must* be some story behind it.

Those are the uniforms only a San Diegan could love. Yes, I love them. I think Ozzie Smith wore a uniform similar his rookie year. Go Padres! :D

Scott

Edit: Found a pic.

http://aycu06.webshots.com/image/16165/2005945269110617502_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005945269110617502)

I wish The Players was on KMOV. NBC doesn't have enough hand held HD cameras. Also, Speaking of San Diego...Go Phil Mickelson!

Scott

Those are the uniforms only a San Diegan could love. Yes, I love them. I think Ozzie Smith wore a uniform similar his rookie year. Go Padres! :D

Scott

Edit: Found a pic.

http://aycu06.webshots.com/image/16165/2005945269110617502_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005945269110617502)
I could live with that....it's those Big-Bird suits that got me! Had they shaped the cap brims like bills, we would have had a winner :D

Man! That Chris Young has some evil pitches!

I had it with Windows! A decade of getting annoyed every day by the poorest excuse for an operating system I've ever had the misfortune to use. :eek: A decade of missing the good ol' Mac days when using a computer was joy.

First post from my beautiful 17" Macbook Pro (160GB, 3GB). :D

I feel like I've been cured of an awful, disfiguring disease.

I wish The Players was on KMOV. NBC doesn't have enough hand held HD cameras. Also, Speaking of San Diego...Go Phil Mickelson!

Scott

I agree, what a joke. Maybe they can get some hand held HD's on ebay if they can't afford it( the HD leader). I've seen some great HD close up's of the golfers after the shot.

I agree, what a joke. Maybe they can get some hand held HD's on ebay if they can't afford it( the HD leader). I've seen some great HD close up's of the golfers after the shot.
To be fair....

KSDK (the puny affiliate) claims itself as "the HD leader."

The golf broadcast is the parent NBC's broadcast. You certainly can't blame KSDK for the parent network's shortcomings.

Following the Puck in HD a Challenge During Playoffs

The following is from today's TV Predictions newsletter:
_______________________________________________

Couldn't find last night's high-def broadcast of game one of the Ottawa-Buffalo NHL playoff series?

Well, although the game was originally scheduled to be broadcast by Versus HD, it was moved to MOJO, the High-Definition channel owned by several cable operators. (Comcast, a partner in MOJO, owns the Versus channel.)

For cable viewers who have both Versus and MOJO, the move was not a disaster, assuming you scanned your dial to find the game. (Cable on-screen guides earlier this week had the game on Versus HD; and as late as yesterday, Versus' web site said the game would be on Versus HD, although the channel aired a golf program instead.)

However, DIRECTV viewers were not so lucky. The satcaster has the rights to carry Versus' high-def broadcasts of NHL action, but last night's move to MOJO apparently created technical difficulties that blocked DIRECTV from showing the game in high-def.
_______________________________________________

To read the entire story, click here (http://www.tvpredictions.com/mojo051107.htm)

Haven't seen it mentioned here, but we finally got around to watching ER from last Thursday, and I noticed that KSDK successfully embedded their severe weather alert map and scroll in the HD feed - no switching to SD to show us the flash flood warnings. Has any other local station done this? It seems like in the past, they always switched to the SD feed.

Yeah, the GF made me watch Thursday's ER yesterday and I noticed that too. I hope KPLR and KMOV take notice (don't remember if KTVI and KDNL can do this yet).

FYI, I lost my 1394 connection to the 3416 about a week ago after the upgrade.
Re-installing the XP drivers restored it and it is still working fine.

Bob

I thought I had the latest drivers. After the 16.35 update, XP spits up the ones I have. Perhaps you could send my your's.

Walt

Haven't seen it mentioned here, but we finally got around to watching ER from last Thursday, and I noticed that KSDK successfully embedded their severe weather alert map and scroll in the HD feed - no switching to SD to show us the flash flood warnings. Has any other local station done this? It seems like in the past, they always switched to the SD feed.

I noticed that. Did you see it when they first started. They had two logos in the bottom left corner under the county map. I don't remember seeing a scroll bar though. Sure was nice with no need to put up with the switching.

Walt

I noticed that. Did you see it when they first started. They had two logos in the bottom left corner under the county map. I don't remember seeing a scroll bar though. Sure was nice with no need to put up with the switching.

Walt

I agree. What I don't understand is why when they switch to HD programming I get a weird sound and the picture gets garbled for a second or two before the program starts. The only way to describe the weird audio is as a pop. This is via live OTA. Anyone else notice this on KSDK? It only happens with them.

Following the Puck in HD a Challenge During Playoffs

The following is from today's TV Predictions newsletter:
_______________________________________________

Couldn't find last night's high-def broadcast of game one of the Ottawa-Buffalo NHL playoff series?

Well, although the game was originally scheduled to be broadcast by Versus HD, it was moved to MOJO, the High-Definition channel owned by several cable operators. (Comcast, a partner in MOJO, owns the Versus channel.)

For cable viewers who have both Versus and MOJO, the move was not a disaster, assuming you scanned your dial to find the game. (Cable on-screen guides earlier this week had the game on Versus HD; and as late as yesterday, Versus' web site said the game would be on Versus HD, although the channel aired a golf program instead.)

However, DIRECTV viewers were not so lucky. The satcaster has the rights to carry Versus' high-def broadcasts of NHL action, but last night's move to MOJO apparently created technical difficulties that blocked DIRECTV from showing the game in high-def.
_______________________________________________

To read the entire story, click here (http://www.tvpredictions.com/mojo051107.htm)

I was pretty distracted last night during the hockey game, but I'm pretty sure my wife had us tuned in the the HD version of the game on DirecTV (channel 95, I think). Maybe it was upconverted. At least Detroit lost :)

That was on 94 I think...I kept giving up whenever I tuned in, Detroit Scored, I hate detriot, so I moved on...Glad they lost

I agree. What I don't understand is why when they switch to HD programming I get a weird sound and the picture gets garbled for a second or two before the program starts. The only way to describe the weird audio is as a pop. This is via live OTA. Anyone else notice this on KSDK? It only happens with them.

Sounds more like a tuner/audio format issue. Maybe switching to dolby when they move to HD. What tuner do you have, and how are you getting the audio (TV, receiver, HDMI to receiver, ???)

Chris

Haven't seen it mentioned here, but we finally got around to watching ER from last Thursday, and I noticed that KSDK successfully embedded their severe weather alert map and scroll in the HD feed - no switching to SD to show us the flash flood warnings. Has any other local station done this? It seems like in the past, they always switched to the SD feed.
They first started back in February, at least that was the first time I noticed any local information without the HD to SD switch:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9771236#post9771236

I agree. What I don't understand is why when they switch to HD programming I get a weird sound and the picture gets garbled for a second or two before the program starts. The only way to describe the weird audio is as a pop. This is via live OTA. Anyone else notice this on KSDK? It only happens with them.

There's a fairly loud pop when KMOV switches from local commercials back to the network HD feed.

And another one when KPLR switches from national HD to local commercials, too.

In both cases, it's when switching from national to local or vice versa.

I hear the pop also from MyHD through a HK520 reciever.

Walt

Those with Dish Network the Tech Chat is on at 8:00 tonight on channel 101. Should be good following the CES Show and Team Summit.

I hear the "pop" whenever KSKD switches from HD to SD, or SD to HD. I figured it's their audio notification, to let us know, they flipped the switch.
Sometimes it's so loud, my dogs alert on it.

Those with Dish Network the Tech Chat is on at 8:00 tonight on channel 101. Should be good following the CES Show and Team Summit.
For those who don't want to watch it, James over at DBSTalk will post a blow-by-blow account of the chat. He's very thorough, and it will be posted about 30 minutes after it ends.

I used to watch them, but found I prefer skipping the D- theatrics, and just read the information. :)

For those either affected by or monitoring the recent DISH satellite 118 move and the loss of some local HD channels (mainly KTVI and KSDK) I find that today I have the two channels back without having a technician out. However, the signal level on Sat 118 transponder 18 is a mere 24. It WAS 0 since Monday 4/30. Transponder 11 is now 64 and WAS 57. So either they jacked up the signal or moved the satellite a little. With a signal level of 24 I'm probably on the edge and any sort of cloud cover will probably knock me out. Still, I do have all my local HD channels back. This makes a good case for me to get off my duff and install an OTA antenna.

A friend who also lost his local HD channels and has a visit scheduled for 5/8 was called by a DISH technician and asked a bunch of questions. The DISH guy said they had thousands of reports since the new 118 was moved and were trying to nail down whether they had thousands of misaligned dishes or some other problem. I'm guessing it's a little of both.


have they fixed this issue

i had my locals canceled a week ago
when i was having this problem
not realizing dish didnt have national locals
if that makes any sense

didnt think i would lose 02-00 and the 6xxx station
and not realizing that tuner 2 wont show either


had an appointment today from 12-5

no one showed up no one called

so i called and raised hell

with american digital which seemed pretty cool
cept for there lack of communication
since i had to call off work for this service call
that never happened



so before i go into to chat tonight to bitch
i was just wondering
guess i should just get my locals back anyway but i was going to wait til after 8

chat is @ 7:45

Thanks for everyone's input. I didn't think it was my receiver.

Thanks for everyone's input. I didn't think it was my receiver.
It irritates me no end-it sounds like a gun shot it is so loud most of the time. The other HD channels either do not have the issue, or the "pop" in much softer.

have they fixed this issue

i had my locals canceled a week ago
when i was having this problem
not realizing dish didnt have national locals
if that makes any sense
didnt think i would lose 02-00 and the 6xxx station
and not realizing that tuner 2 wont show either
had an appointment today from 12-5
no one showed up no one called
so i called and raised hell
with american digital which seemed pretty cool
cept for there lack of communication
since i had to call off work for this service call
that never happened
so before i go into to chat tonight to bitch
i was just wondering
guess i should just get my locals back anyway but i was going to wait til after 8
chat is @ 7:45
Lukin,
You must subscribe to the Dish Locals package in order to be eligible to receive the 6xxx digital feeds.

Any more Dish subs here still not receiving KTVI-DT and KSDK-DT after the satellite move?

Any more Dish subs here still not receiving KTVI-DT and KSDK-DT after the satellite move?

im not and i just got off with e*

1st this guy has heard of it

like i said my installer wont come out to check it out so this guy is getting someone to come AGIAN

on friday

im calling a cple more #'s tommorrow that do installs for dish to see if there still having this problem

they say software
dishs says install problem

edit to add

e* guy added locals while i was on phone and still no fox or nbc

error

transponder 18
sat _____(blank)

Those with Dish Network the Tech Chat is on at 8:00 tonight on channel 101. Should be good following the CES Show and Team Summit.

Just took a look at your albums great pictures. Lot of detail and color. Everyone should take a look. This man knows photography.