i just noticed today that Directv is now carrying KETC HD. Anyone notice when this change happened?

i just noticed today that Directv is now carrying KETC HD. Anyone notice when this change happened?

There's a post on 7/15 in this thread noticing the same thing, though no indication yet on when Directv first began carrying in HD.

i just noticed today that Directv is now carrying KETC HD. Anyone notice when this change happened?I didn't even notice. :cool: I'll have to check it out when I get home.

I've become a real snob. I rarely watch SD channels anymore. Except MSNBC for Morning Joe. When is D* picking them up in HD?

I've become a real snob. I rarely watch SD channels anymore. Except MSNBC for Morning Joe. When is D* picking them up in HD?

Talk about HD snobs - I have a hard time watching even DVDs anymore. I did watch a couple of episodes of Family Ties on DVD last night, though - the first DVD I've seen in a long time. I got nostalgic about the story arc that introduced the character of Ellen Reed as Alex Keaton's love interest. The chemistry between Tracy Pollan's Ellen and Michael J. Fox's Alex was so good that I was pleased to learn several years later that the 2 actors had married (and, against the trend, they're still married today). I hadn't seen those episodes for a long time, and I was surprised how well they stood the test of time from their original NBC airing a couple of decades ago. Quality writing and acting rise to the surface, even in less than great TV shows.

I just found THIS STL local forum page .......... I've been on the AVS plasma & BD player forums many times ......... fabulous for info and help.

I was wondering if anyone in the area has had their HDTV pro calibrated ??

I've read the many happy reports from others who've stated its a procedure WELL WORTH the expense. I've never seen a pro calibrated plasma in person. I'm on the fence about spending the extra cash for a (slight ?) improvement. Both of my Kuro's look fabulous now, of course PQ is all subjective to the individual eye. But from reading the forums, I've learned owners can achieve the precise PQ that HDTV is suppose to be delivering. A properly ISF calibrated display would verify the PQ is fine tuned to perfection. Of course the source material of the programming plays into account. I've also read about the ControlCAL procedure that any individual can learn to do on their own.


Any remarks or advice is welcomed. I've had two price quotes, $300 & $400 per display, from two local calibrators. I'm VERY happy with all my gear and the PQ performance of the Kuro displays is outstanding - but I'm trying to convince myself spending $600 more would be worthy.

(if my OT earnings earnings weren't so slow for this year, it would be a much easier choice) :(

my gear:
Kuro 5020 - upstairs wall mounted
DirecTV HD DVR & Starchoice HD (Canada)
Pioneer receiver
Paradigm speakers

Kuro KRP-500M - downstairs using an older Pioneer swivel stand
DirecTV HD DVR
JVC XV-BP1 blu ray player
Yamaha receiver
Pioneer DVR-460h recorder
Paradigm speakers(reference & monitor series).

YES - all the Fox channels display inferior HDTV PQ - especially the regional sports channels. Compared to the ComCast sports regional's, its night & day difference in HD quality. I've read a few articles stating that the Fox network (and DirecTV) piggyback (compress) too many signals down too few transponders to save money and fulfill the advertised HD channel line up they promise. I'm glad to see that KETC is finally in HD on satellite (some programming).

Several people on this forum have had their TV Calibrated by Doug. See my signature line.

Talk about HD snobs - I have a hard time watching even DVDs anymore. ...BSG on Blu-ray next week! :D
I'm still trying to figure out how to not to cancel my order and stay out of trouble. ;)

I just found THIS STL local forum page .......... I've been on the AVS plasma & BD player forums many times ......... fabulous for info and help.

I was wondering if anyone in the area has had their HDTV pro calibrated ??

I've read the many happy reports from others who've stated its a procedure WELL WORTH the expense. I've never seen a pro calibrated plasma in person. I'm on the fence about spending the extra cash for a (slight ?) improvement. Both of my Kuro's look fabulous now, of course PQ is all subjective to the individual eye. But from reading the forums, I've learned owners can achieve the precise PQ that HDTV is suppose to be delivering. A properly ISF calibrated display would verify the PQ is fine tuned to perfection. Of course the source material of the programming plays into account. I've also read about the ControlCAL procedure that any individual can learn to do on their own.


Any remarks or advice is welcomed. I've had two price quotes, $300 & $400 per display, from two local calibrators. I'm VERY happy with all my gear and the PQ performance of the Kuro displays is outstanding - but I'm trying to convince myself spending $600 more would be worthy.

(if my OT earnings earnings weren't so slow for this year, it would be a much easier choice) :(

my gear:
Kuro 5020 - upstairs wall mounted
DirecTV HD DVR & Starchoice HD (Canada)
Pioneer receiver
Paradigm speakers

Kuro KRP-500M - downstairs using an older Pioneer swivel stand
DirecTV HD DVR
JVC XV-BP1 blu ray player
Yamaha receiver
Pioneer DVR-460h recorder
Paradigm speakers(reference & monitor series).

YES - all the Fox channels display inferior HDTV PQ - especially the regional sports channels. Compared to the ComCast sports regional's, its night & day difference in HD quality. I've read a few articles stating that the Fox network (and DirecTV) piggyback (compress) too many signals down too few transponders to save money and fulfill the advertised HD channel line up they promise. I'm glad to see that KETC is finally in HD on satellite (some programming).

Just a note, Tony, on your color scheme. Many of us use the AVS Black color scheme. With that scheme, font colors like dark blue or red on a black background are extremely hard to read. I have to highlight text like that just to be able to see it. The aging eyes don't work as well as they used to. :)

Talk about HD snobs - I have a hard time watching even DVDs anymore. I did watch a couple of episodes of Family Ties on DVD last night, though - the first DVD I've seen in a long time. I got nostalgic about the story arc that introduced the character of Ellen Reed as Alex Keaton's love interest. The chemistry between Tracy Pollan's Ellen and Michael J. Fox's Alex was so good that I was pleased to learn several years later that the 2 actors had married (and, against the trend, they're still married today). I hadn't seen those episodes for a long time, and I was surprised how well they stood the test of time from their original NBC airing a couple of decades ago. Quality writing and acting rise to the surface, even in less than great TV shows.

I'll admit I'm an HD snob also. I haven't even watched Jeopardy in awhile. The reason I bring Jeopardy up is because I want to know did 5 break there HD machine? Because they haven't broadcast any of there syndicated shows in HD for weeks. Every time I turn on Wheel of Fortune its in SD.

I'll admit I'm an HD snob also. I haven't even watched Jeopardy in awhile. The reason I bring Jeopardy up is because I want to know did 5 break there HD machine? Because they haven't broadcast any of there syndicated shows in HD for weeks. Every time I turn on Wheel of Fortune its in SD.

I emailed them more than a month ago about this issue. I got a same-day reply saying that they knew they had problems with the HD syndication, and had no timetable for fixing them.

I emailed them more than a month ago about this issue. I got a same-day reply saying that they knew they had problems with the HD syndication, and had no timetable for fixing them.

You actually got a reply from kSDk???????????

I've sent them several e-mails over the years concerning the sound issue on Leno (sending out 2.0 channel sound flagged as 5.1). Never got a reply. Not even once.

You actually got a reply from kSDk???????????

I've sent them several e-mails over the years concerning the sound issue on Leno (sending out 2.0 channel sound flagged as 5.1). Never got a reply. Not even once.

Well, I sent this particular email to the programming department instead of the engineering department. Perhaps that's why I got a reply? :confused:

Does anyone have experience with Priority One Communications from St. Charles, MO?

Talk about HD snobs - I have a hard time watching even DVDs anymore. I did watch a couple of episodes of Family Ties on DVD last night, though - the first DVD I've seen in a long time. ... Quality writing and acting rise to the surface, even in less than great TV shows.

Loved that show. Still my favorite of all sitcoms. Ya know you can watch all the episodes on CBS.com? *(... as well as Hulu and aol-video)
http://www.cbs.com/classics/family_ties/
The humor still gets me today. The raunchy comedy of today just doesn't compare to the writing talent of yesteryears.

There's a post on 7/15 in this thread noticing the same thing, though no indication yet on when Directv first began carrying in HD.

Thanks for the info. I've been looking forward to PBS HD on Directv since they announced in March of 2008. I get to record Nova and Frontline in HD now. Its great.

Loved that show. Still my favorite of all sitcoms. Ya know you can watch all the episodes on CBS.com? *(... as well as Hulu and aol-video)
http://www.cbs.com/classics/family_ties/
The humor still gets me today. The raunchy comedy of today just doesn't compare to the writing talent of yesteryears.

Family Ties was 80's "Must See TV," but before NBC came up with that brand name. I have very fond memories of that era. VHS, cassette tapes, no DVR or cell phone. Those were the good old...

Wait a minute! No DVR, no cell phone, no MP3 players, no HDTV, no Internet. What was I thinking? Well, at least Family Ties was fun. :D

I have the Canon HF10, which is a model or 2 behind what you're looking at, except that mine has built-in memory instead of just an SDHC flash slot. Having the built-in memory isn't that big a deal, though. If I had it do over, I'd get the flash only version. Your model, IIRC, has one higher quality HD recording mode (25mbps?). Mine stops at 18mbps. At that rate, the quality of the HD video is really good.

I love the convenience of flash recordings, although editing software still has a ways to go to catch up with the ease of use of HDV. I'm sure you have a computer powerful enough to handle editing the streams, Tom. It takes considerably more horsepower to edit AVCHD than it does HDV streams. I use PowerDirector 7. The workflow is still a bit of a problem for me with long recordings (such as the ones I've done for church), simply because of the way AVCHD stores the video on the flash drive. The cool thing about it is that I can plug the chip directly into my PS3 and play it like a Blu-ray movie. It creates the menu system as it's recording. I put an SDHC USB flash reader into one of the PS3's USB slots and boom - instant playback on my HDTV (or computer monitor).

I've seen the HF100 (an HF10 without the built-in memory) at places like Newegg for under $500. That model is the 2008 equivalent of the HF S100. It, too, is limited to 18mbps, but the HD quality is really good. I have some recordings, too. If you'd like to check them out and see the camcorder, let me know.

FWIW, I have a positively ancient NEC HT 1000, 1024x768 projector in a dedicated basement room. Have only used it a few hours a week and I'm still on original bulb. I've never seen RBE on this projector. I was a bit concerned about it, but did a lot of research on projectorcentral.com and weeded out the models people seemed to have a lot of issues with. One thing about my projector that I recommend you watch for. Mine is a dedicated home theater projector, not a dual purpose business/HT projector. Dual purpose projectors, at least when I was researching, had white segment in addition to RGB on the color wheel. My projector has a 2x speed wheel and 6 segments (2xRGB). I noticed the very high end projectors at the time were similar, but wheels tended to be spun even faster than 2x. I share your pain and frustration in not being able to see much before you buy. When I was shopping, Ultimate was the only place that had a projector and I wasn't about to drop $8 grand on a Sharp. I went to a place local in St. Charles called Home Theater Heaven and he had several rooms set up, but only one with a projector in my price range. It was small and noisy. Once warmed up, you can barely hear my NEC running. I purchased it on-line based on it having the attributes of very few (if any) RBE reviews and low noise and I've been a happy camper since.

I'm looking for a good Blue Ray player, one that has network and streaming capabilities, and can have the firmware updated. Is the Sony PS3 still the best thing going?

I'm looking for a good Blue Ray player, one that has network and streaming capabilities, and can have the firmware updated. Is the Sony PS3 still the best thing going?

The PS3 is still a really fine player that has the ability to stream movies and music from your home network, as well as being able to update over the Internet. There are no core Blu-ray features that I can think of that the PS3 hasn't added. Some of the newer players from LG and Samsung have the ability to stream directly from places like YouTube and Hulu. AFAIK, the PS3 can't do this directly. A player that's getting great reviews is the Oppo BDP-83, which can read SACD and DVD-Audio, too. I'm not sure about it's streaming capabilities, but you should Google it. Reviews say it's even faster than the PS3 loading and playing discs. There are still lots of players that can't beat the PS3 at speed of operation. That said, the PS3 is fast enough that I have trouble getting to my chair and settling in before a disc starts to play, so speed isn't an issue with it, either.

Thought this was an interesting story about Joss Whedon showing at Comic-Con the "series finale" that would have aired if FOX had pulled the plug on "Dollhouse" back in the spring.

http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tvbizwire/2009/07/at-comic-con-joss-whedon-shows.php

I can't help but think that some elements of the storyline in this "early" finale will end up in any subsequent "Dollhouse" finale, making it sort of a "spoiler." Whedon reportedly has had lots of unhappy interactions with the FOX "suits" between "Firefly" and "Dollhouse," so maybe this is a form of payback.

Thought this was an interesting story about Joss Whedon showing at Comic-Con the "series finale" that would have aired if FOX had pulled the plug on "Dollhouse" back in the spring.

http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tvbizwire/2009/07/at-comic-con-joss-whedon-shows.php

I can't help but think that some elements of the storyline in this "early" finale will end up in any subsequent "Dollhouse" finale, making it sort of a "spoiler." Whedon reportedly has had lots of unhappy interactions with the FOX "suits" between "Firefly" and "Dollhouse," so maybe this is a form of payback.

The DVD set with that episode is due out tomorrow. I'm not a fan of Dollhouse. For me, it's the most un-Whedon of all his shows. I think the basic premise is flawed, and I've never been a fan of Elisa Dushku, even when she played a slayer on Buffy. I'll watch when it returns, because I'm such a Whedon fan, but I think they'll have to take a seriously different tone and direction for it to have a chance to succeed. Joss Whedon has to become even more directly involved.

The DVD set with that episode is due out tomorrow. I'm not a fan of Dollhouse. For me, it's the most un-Whedon of all his shows. I think the basic premise is flawed, and I've never been a fan of Elisa Dushku, even when she played a slayer on Buffy. I'll watch when it returns, because I'm such a Whedon fan, but I think they'll have to take a seriously different tone and direction for it to have a chance to succeed. Joss Whedon has to become even more directly involved.

Is Whedon the Terry Gilliam of TV? :)

Is Whedon the Terry Gilliam of TV? :)

Well, although I don't exactly associate Joss Whedon with mainstream, he's more mainstream than Terry Gilliam. He's usually just not mainstream enough to get considered for Emmy's or Oscar's, although I think some of his work has been worthy. As far as I'm concerned, he's done some of the best work on television in the last 2 decades. Buffy is still my favorite show of all time.

I have been very disappointed in what I can get from KETC since the switch. I am in Centralia, IL and before the switch they were quite easy to get. Now they are a real problem — sometimes great (currently in the low 70's according to my DTVPal) but I never know when I am going to get it or not. Daytime is the time that it is usually completely missing.

So. . .then tonight is one of the times when they are asleep at the switch for captioning on Donneybrook!! And. .. . there is NO way to call their attention to this after the office closes at I think it is 5pm. Someone just found it!!! But — 10 minutes into a half hour program!

Thanks for listening.

Jane

It looks likes there working there signal now. I was just watching Make Them Laugh and they were running a crawl saying at 11PM they were reducing there power or something like that so they can work on there tower and should be completed by Friday.

Also totally unrated it looks like channel 5 redesigned 5-2 its now powered by accuweather.

The PS3 is still a really fine player that has the ability to stream movies and music from your home network, as well as being able to update over the Internet. There are no core Blu-ray features that I can think of that the PS3 hasn't added. Some of the newer players from LG and Samsung have the ability to stream directly from places like YouTube and Hulu. AFAIK, the PS3 can't do this directly. A player that's getting great reviews is the Oppo BDP-83, which can read SACD and DVD-Audio, too. I'm not sure about it's streaming capabilities, but you should Google it. Reviews say it's even faster than the PS3 loading and playing discs. There are still lots of players that can't beat the PS3 at speed of operation. That said, the PS3 is fast enough that I have trouble getting to my chair and settling in before a disc starts to play, so speed isn't an issue with it, either.

Currently the OPPO doesn't have any streaming capabilities. It may be possible that OPPO will make some available with future firmware updates, but nothing is confirmed.

I have both the PS3, and BDP-83. Both are great players, and load incredibly fast, although i have not had a race between the two yet.

Currently the OPPO doesn't have any streaming capabilities. It may be possible that OPPO will make some available with future firmware updates, but nothing is confirmed.

I have both the PS3, and BDP-83. Both are great players, and load incredibly fast, although i have not had a race between the two yet.

Any preference between the 2? Any features you like better on one than the other? Picture, sound?

Any preference between the 2? Any features you like better on one than the other? Picture, sound?

Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to really test the OPPO yet.

I received the OPPO in the middle of June, but our Subwoofer was broken at the time. It is currently out for repairs.

Even worse, about 2 weeks ago the HDMI port of our TV mysteriously stopped working properly. It recognizes the signal for the Directv HR21, but does not recognize the signal from the OPPO, PS3, or an older DVD Player. So I have to get that problem fixed as well. Currently i am limited to watching movies over component cables.

Our family has an older Pioneer Plasma TV that only has 1280 x 768 resolution. So I cannot watch movies in 1080p, and can't compare picture quality of the OPPO with the PS3 with the current setup. The parents and I are actually looking at the possibility of getting a second HDTV now that the Pioneer's hdmi ports aren't working properly.

But from the things i've read in this forum, the load times are essentially identical between the two, and the picture quality of Blu-ray is pretty much identical between most players. The OPPO is supposed to shine with DVD upconversion, and personally i've found it more convenient to use (menu wise) than he PS3, although it is designed how it should be, like a gaming system. When everything gets fixed, and I have more time to try out the OPPO, I will try to give more feedback.

I received the OPPO in the middle of June, but unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to really test the OPPO yet.

Our Subwoofer was broken at the time and is currently being sent in for repairs.

Even worse, about 2 weeks ago the HDMI port of our TV mysteriously stopped working properly. It recognizes the signal for the Directv HR21, but does not recognize the signal from the OPPO, PS3, or an older DVD Player. So I have to get that problem fixed as well. So currently i am limited to watching the OPPO over component cables.

Our family has an older Pioneer Plasma TV that only has 1280 x 768 resolution. So normally I cannot watch movies in 1080p, and can't compare picture quality of the OPPO with the PS3 with the current setup anyway. The parents and I are actually looking at the possibility of getting a second HDTV now that the first one's hdmi ports aren't working properly. I will try to answer your questions if i get the opportunity.

But from the things i've read in this forum, the load times are essentially identical between the two, and the picture quality of Blu-ray is pretty much identical between most players. The OPPO is supposed to shine with DVD upconversion, and i've found it more convenient to use (menu wise) than he PS3.

One advantage of the Oppo is the ability to play back most disc formats, such as SACD (the PS3 can do this, too) and DVD-Audio, as well as regular CD and DVD, for which it's supposed to be spectacular. It's also supposed to be extremely flexible in terms of decoding and playback options.

Anyone catch the Kurt Warner interview special on ESPN Monday night? I forgot about it and caught only the last half hour. Here's a guy we can be glad is a part of sports history in St. Louis. When his career is finally over, I'll be surprised if he doesn't end up in broadcasting. He's not only one of the greatest football players ever, he's also one of the most articulate speakers in sports. The term "class act" is thrown around a lot in referring to athletes, but Kurt seems to be the genuine article.

I haven't been so excited about Cardinals baseball in years. DeRosa, Lugo, Holliday - amazing acquisitions, all of them. We've gone in 2 weeks from watching Chris Duncan or Rick Ankiel strike out in virtually every clutch situation to a lineup that seems to have almost no serious weaknesses. And, except for Wellemeyer, the pitching staff is one of the best in baseball. This is fun.

On the TV side, I saw frequent image problems with the game on Ch. 5 Sunday. There were lots of breakups and dropouts, watching it on Dish OTA.

On the TV side, I saw frequent image problems with the game on Ch. 5 Sunday. There were lots of breakups and dropouts, watching it on Dish OTA.

I had the same issue, 722 ota. I didn't watch the whole game, when I woke up from resting my eyes, the game had gone the wrong direction. I switched to Nascar to rest my eyes some more! :D

FYI: I have the camcorder I mentioned last week in my shopping cart, just have not pulled the trigger yet. The only places that have better pricing are the sites you have to call to confirm your order. Typically they are high pressure sales for warranty and or accessories. The retailer with the lowest price on the camcorder has memory cards marked up 7-8 times Newegg's prices! :confused:

I figure I may get a price drop soon, all major retailers are the same, one of them has to take the next step.....I hope! ;)

I haven't been so excited about Cardinals baseball in years. DeRosa, Lugo, Holliday - amazing acquisitions, all of them. We've gone in 2 weeks from watching Chris Duncan or Rick Ankiel strike out in virtually every clutch situation to a lineup that seems to have almost no serious weaknesses. And, except for Wellemeyer, the pitching staff is one of the best in baseball. This is fun.

On the TV side, I saw frequent image problems with the game on Ch. 5 Sunday. There were lots of breakups and dropouts, watching it on Dish OTA.

I noticed the same issues with my TivoHD.

After a couple innings I went to my inlaws house and turned the game on and was getting the same type of breakups. They have Charter. So I'm guessing it was a ksdk problem.

One advantage of the Oppo is the ability to play back most disc formats, such as SACD (the PS3 can do this, too) and DVD-Audio, as well as regular CD and DVD, for which it's supposed to be spectacular. It's also supposed to be extremely flexible in terms of decoding and playback options.

I've been very pleased with my Oppo. Now I only use the PS3 for streaming. I've got several DVD-A and SACD titles which sound great. Watched the original SW on DVD and it looks fantastic. If your reciever handles DSD, you can stream DSD for SACD.

Dave

I've been very pleased with my Oppo. Now I only use the PS3 for streaming. I've got several DVD-A and SACD titles which sound great. Watched the original SW on DVD and it looks fantastic. If your reciever handles DSD, you can stream DSD for SACD.

Dave

I've been tempted to get the Oppo because of the rave reviews, but the PS3 does a really good job of playing back Blu-ray, and I like the convenience of having it decode all the latest HD audio codecs internally and output PCM over HDMI. I'd really like to explore a little multi-channel music, but both SACD and DVD-Audio have had very little success. Since I can do both PS3 and computer playback of Blu-ray, the Oppo is overkill right now.

BTW, if someone is considering the PS3 for Blu-ray playback but you want IR control for a Harmony remote, Logitech makes a Bluetooth to IR adapter for the PS3. I got it on sale at Best Buy for $50 and it works very well. It lost its link with the PS3 the other day, but all I had to do was re-pair it and I was up and running again.

The Oppo is nice but not have the ability to stream is a deal breaker for me. I'm building a Media Storage server which I now I can stream to the PS3, plus having the ability to stream Hulu and Netflix is nice.

Anybody have any ideas on how I can boost the reception on KETC right now? I know they are on low power, but tonight Nova ScienceNOW is on, and I've got multipath. A lot of multipath.

...

BTW, if someone is considering the PS3 for Blu-ray playback but you want IR control for a Harmony remote, Logitech makes a Bluetooth to IR adapter for the PS3. I got it on sale at Best Buy for $50 and it works very well. It lost its link with the PS3 the other day, but all I had to do was re-pair it and I was up and running again.How well does the discrete power-off work? I have the IR4PS3 device and it works well except that powering off is unreliable and only works about half the time.

I emailed them more than a month ago about this issue. I got a same-day reply saying that they knew they had problems with the HD syndication, and had no timetable for fixing them.


It looks like there back to HD today Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune and Oprah were in HD today.

Anybody have any ideas on how I can boost the reception on KETC right now? I know they are on low power, but tonight Nova ScienceNOW is on, and I've got multipath. A lot of multipath.

About the only thing you can do is get the antenna higher. Alternatively you can watch tonights Nova ScienceNOW episode on the web beginning tomorrow at this URL...
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/

How well does the discrete power-off work? I have the IR4PS3 device and it works well except that powering off is unreliable and only works about half the time.

It works fine as long as I stop the disc before quitting Blu-ray playback with my Harmony remote. If I don't stop first, it stays on. It always powers on without issue.

It looks like there back to HD today Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune and Oprah were in HD today.

I saw WOF. Hopefully they're all back for good!

Anybody have any ideas on how I can boost the reception on KETC right now? I know they are on low power, but tonight Nova ScienceNOW is on, and I've got multipath. A lot of multipath.

If your problem is indeed multi-path, then a combination of a more directional antenna and antenna location are the usual recommendations.

..or you can wait a couple of weeks and see if they get their work done on schedule and see if your reception improves.

I just have to keep telling myself that this is baseball and it can change in a heartbeat, but this Cardinals team has just scored 16 runs in 2 days against a team that may be the best in baseball - with Albert Pujols in a mini-slump! And how good has DeRosa looked - with 6 home runs since he became a Cardinal. Somebody pinch me.

Agree -- this is the most "credible" Cardinals contender since the superb 2004 team, which I think was probably the best Cardinal team since 1982, or maybe even 1968. While I don't think this team is up to the 2004 standard, I'd love to be proved wrong over the next couple of months, but most especially in October.

Agree -- this is the most "credible" Cardinals contender since the superb 2004 team, which I think was probably the best Cardinal team since 1982, or maybe even 1968. While I don't think this team is up to the 2004 standard, I'd love to be proved wrong over the next couple of months, but most especially in October.

Who'd have thought that 2004 team would be 4 and out against Boston? That's why, as a baseball fan, I try not to get too excited about the prospects for winning. But, if you look at the Cardinals lineup, you have to be energized. All the additions have produced, especially DeRosa. And, the rest of the lineup seems to be feeding off the injection of new blood. With Carpenter, Wainwright, Pinero, and Lohse (if he gets back on track after the injury) what team looks much better? Wellemeyer is out of the starting rotation as of right now, with Boggs due up again for another stint. If they can get even modest success out of a 5th starter, they should be in a really good position.

How about DeRosa's comment the other day that it felt good to get back 'home' to Busch after that ugly road trip? He's been here 20 minutes and St. Louis is already home to him? I love this guy. Sign him!!! :D

Uh, oh! I think I lost all my adrenaline during the Cards game tonight. Gotta get some more for tomorrow. Day-um!

I just have to keep telling myself that this is baseball and it can change in a heartbeat, but this Cardinals team has just scored 16 runs in 2 days against a team that may be the best in baseball - with Albert Pujols in a mini-slump! And how good has DeRosa looked - with 6 home runs since he became a Cardinal. Somebody pinch me.

(gives Joe a funny look and edges away slowly) :D

(gives Joe a funny look and edges away slowly) :D

A little over the top, was I? :o

Anyone know where there might be local stock of the complete series in blu-ray? Best Buy has it backordered, though they have Season 4.5 br in stock. Only availability I've found is a few online shops (supposedly).

Edit: Found it at Best Buy on Friday, two stores with stock, Manchester and Chesterfield locations.

Any of you guys have a home server running Windows Home Server? I am stuck and need some advice regarding such servers.

A little over the top, was I? :o

Not IMO. :D The Cards rock and I love the current line-up. Now we just need #5 to start getting hot.

I haven't been following the thread here so my apologies if this topic has come up recently.

My commitment with D* is over next month. I have been a customer since 2001. I am tired of rain & occasional snow fade. I have excellent signal strength in the mid to high 90's on all transponders and a rooftop antenna. My HR20-700 still gets confused when it loses its signal during heavy rain and requires a re-boot to use my antenna for locals. A PITA when I need to know what's happening with bad weather OTA. Also, it's getting a bit pricey even though I only have the grandfathered Total Choice package.

I like the progress of the firmware and they have added Double Play (dual live buffers) and other features that can be downloaded to test. See the DBS Talk forum for more info in the Cutting Edge thread.

Anyway, I already have AT&T phone and DSL. I think it's more cost effective to go with U-Verse bundling. Does anyone here have it? I don't expect it to have better firmware but I do need great PQ. Since it's just me I have no concerns regarding downloading something and sucking bandwidth from the signal, etc.

So do I trade good PQ and reliability (except for rain fade) and decent customer service for more Internet bandwidth, less cost and possible headaches dealing with AT&T?

Thanks in advance.

Anybody know how I can purge my Vista machine of its USB drivers easily. My Vista Media Center remote stopped working, even though it shows up in device manager and the red light comes on when I send an IR command. It just doesn't do anything anymore. I use it for PowerDVD, but it works even in Windows Explorer (or at least it used to).

I know Joe worked on this awhile back, so hopefully he or someone else can help me.

I bought a new computer about a month ago and want to get the home server going now. I took my old computer, a P4, 2.4GHZ and installed a trial version of Windows Home Server. I like it.

But, there's always a problem. Here it is: The old P4 that has WHS on it only has IDE ports -- no SATA. I only have about 300GB on the server now. I would like to purchase a 1TB drive, but those are SATA and it doesn't make sense anyway to purchase an IDE drive now since that is extinct.

Can anyone recommend an SATA controller card for my P4? I see that some of them are well over 100$, if that's the case I might as well buy one of those Acer Home Servers.

Thanks for the help.

I know Joe worked on this awhile back, so hopefully he or someone else can help me.

I bought a new computer about a month ago and want to get the home server going now. I took my old computer, a P4, 2.4GHZ and installed a trial version of Windows Home Server. I like it.

But, there's always a problem. Here it is: The old P4 that has WHS on it only has IDE ports -- no SATA. I only have about 300GB on the server now. I would like to purchase a 1TB drive, but those are SATA and it doesn't make sense anyway to purchase an IDE drive now since that is extinct.

Can anyone recommend an SATA controller card for my P4? I see that some of them are well over 100$, if that's the case I might as well buy one of those Acer Home Servers.

Thanks for the help.

I may have one or two of those lying around (PCI SATA cards), Winston. I'll take a look.

Any particular reason you're not going with UnRAID? WHS is great, from what I read, but unless things have changed, you lose have your disk space (files are saved twice). With UnRAID, you need only one parity drive and you can have up to 15 data drives. The 3 drive version of UnRAID is free, and you can mix and match SATA and IDE.

Joe,

The reason for WHS is that it seems to be easier for me. I need to check into unRAID a little bit, but I like the interface of the WHS and how it appears to be easier w/ somewhat more familiar interface.

Where is a good place to learn all I need to learn (ha ha, I know) about unRAID?

Joe,

The reason for WHS is that it seems to be easier for me. I need to check into unRAID a little bit, but I like the interface of the WHS and how it appears to be easier w/ somewhat more familiar interface.

Where is a good place to learn all I need to learn (ha ha, I know) about unRAID?

You're probably right about WHS being easier, but I haven't used it. I think there are a few folks here who have and can chime in. The main problem I have with it is that it uses twice as much hard drive space to store files. Yes, they're safe, but losing half the storage is too much for me. With UnRAID, you lose only a single drive to parity, though it does have to be the largest drive in the array.

The cool thing about UnRAID is that once it's set up, you can pretty much forget about it. You can also recycle all your old hard drives. Of course, it is more complicated to set up. You can find out about it here. (http://www.lime-technology.com/joomla/) There's a forum section where all sorts of issues are discussed and you can get help. If you're uncomfortable mucking around with hardware, though, WHS probably would be better for you.

So I think I'm finally gonna dump Charter.

Is there any advantage / disadvantage to ordering DirectTV online rather than through a local installer? And if local is the way to go, who is a good one in the StL area.

Ordering online right now gets me free equipment as they have an instant rebate going.

TIA

HTPC users (and potential HTPC users) here might be interested in a new program currently in alpha testing stage. It's called Boxee (http://www.boxee.tv/homepage) and, like MediaPortal, is an offshoot of the old Xbox Media Center HTPC software.

But UNLIKE MediaPortal, setting it up took maybe 15, 20 minutes, tops.

Seems to have no trouble playing my media files, works great with my Microsoft Media Center Remote, and downloads a wealth of info about my movies and TV episodes automatically. Ditto for my music mp3, wav, and flac files.

It's also pre-set-up to stream from Youtube, Comedy Central, Google Videos, Apple Trailers, CNN, Hulu, CBS, Shoutcast, and a host of other streaming web sites.

A few streaming videos didn't work, and there's no live TV or DVR functionality. But then, I never got TV functions working right in MediaPortal anyway.

Freeware well worth watching.

I haven't been following the thread here so my apologies if this topic has come up recently.

My commitment with D* is over next month. I have been a customer since 2001. I am tired of rain & occasional snow fade. I have excellent signal strength in the mid to high 90's on all transponders and a rooftop antenna. My HR20-700 still gets confused when it loses its signal during heavy rain and requires a re-boot to use my antenna for locals. A PITA when I need to know what's happening with bad weather OTA. Also, it's getting a bit pricey even though I only have the grandfathered Total Choice package.

I like the progress of the firmware and they have added Double Play (dual live buffers) and other features that can be downloaded to test. See the DBS Talk forum for more info in the Cutting Edge thread.

Anyway, I already have AT&T phone and DSL. I think it's more cost effective to go with U-Verse bundling. Does anyone here have it? I don't expect it to have better firmware but I do need great PQ. Since it's just me I have no concerns regarding downloading something and sucking bandwidth from the signal, etc.

So do I trade good PQ and reliability (except for rain fade) and decent customer service for more Internet bandwidth, less cost and possible headaches dealing with AT&T?

Thanks in advance.
I don't have uverse, but got it for my mother in law. She had to get away from charter but lives in a condo that the dish guy wouldn't install in. The service is fine(she doesn't have HD). I tried using her dvr to set up a season pass on a show and I have to say it was the worst dvr software/setup I have ever seen. This was about a year ago, so it may be better now.

Hey, guys, Best Buy has the Harmony 670 remote on sale this week for $80. Great price. I have 3 of them in various rooms at home.

HTPC users (and potential HTPC users) here might be interested in a new program currently in alpha testing stage. It's called Boxee (http://www.boxee.tv/homepage) and, like MediaPortal, is an offshoot of the old Xbox Media Center HTPC software.

But UNLIKE MediaPortal, setting it up took maybe 15, 20 minutes, tops.

Seems to have no trouble playing my media files, works great with my Microsoft Media Center Remote, and downloads a wealth of info about my movies and TV episodes automatically. Ditto for my music mp3, wav, and flac files.

It's also pre-set-up to stream from Youtube, Comedy Central, Google Videos, Apple Trailers, CNN, Hulu, CBS, Shoutcast, and a host of other streaming web sites.

A few streaming videos didn't work, and there's no live TV or DVR functionality. But then, I never got TV functions working right in MediaPortal anyway.

Freeware well worth watching.

I played with this last night on my MacbookPro hooked to the LCD, controlled via the Boxee iPhone remote. It was quite slick. UI takes a bit getting used to, but it was all pretty fun, especially for an "alpha" release

Yeah, one of the PC mags I get had a piece on Boxee recently. They loved it.

Best Buy has the Blu-ray of "Stargate: Atlantis Fans' Choice" this week for $20 ($10 off). I just picked it up. Not a great series, but it has some of the best visual quality I've seen in recent years, so I'm anxious to see what they did with the transfer. It's AVC, 37mbps, DTS HD Master Audio, so it shouldn't disappoint. I thought the Dish MPEG4 SciFi broadcasts were exceptional, so this should really rock. This first disc includes the feature length series premiere and an extended series finale. If this Blu-ray goes over well (and probably even if it's just a modest success), I expect the whole series on Blu before too long. As usual, though, I'm too impatient to wait.

Well, for those who were worried about Albert Pujols, tonight's game might make you sleep a little easier.

I watched some of the game Sunday on KSDK. Quality was much better - didn't notice the frequent video break-ups that I saw the week before. I didn't get to finish watching the game, though. I fell into a coma listening to Jay Randolph and had to be rushed to the hospital.

I watched the Stargate: Atlantis episodes on Blu-ray this afternoon, and I was reminded of why I like VC1, and high bitrates. VC1 is, IMO, a much better codec than MPEG2 or MPEG4. The low bitrates on the satellite channels, and on our local OTA stations, are worst during very dark and very bright scenes, and especially when they transition quickly from one to the other. We don't get the high bitrates from anywhere else these days than Blu-ray. None of our locals can touch Blu-ray quality done right. When they first started broadcasting OTA in HD, the bitrate was consistently high, and we were rewarded with really good video quality. Since the locals have started multicasting, that's gone away. Fox doesn't even multicast, but still chooses to run with a low bitrate. Right now, the only station that has consistently good image quality is KDNL.

The Stargate Blu-ray was first rate - deep blacks, rich contrast, razor sharp images and good DTS HD Master Audio. I wouldn't blame anyone for not watching this show for quality of story telling, but it's a visually beautiful show. I hope the new Stargate: Universe can come close. The promos aren't too promising, in terms of the visuals. Let's hope the stories are better.

... I was reminded of why I like VC1, and high bitrates. VC1 is, IMO, a much better codec than MPEG2 or MPEG4. ...

I thought you said Atlantis was AVC.

I thought you said Atlantis was AVC.

My bad - brain freeze. It is AVC. At 37mbps, the differences would be insignificant. Dark scenes look great. I do like VC1 better at low bitrates, but this disc has a very high bitrate.

My bad - brain freeze. It is AVC. At 37mbps, the differences would be insignificant. Dark scenes look great. I do like VC1 better at low bitrates, but this disc has a very high bitrate.

No worries, I was more concerned for my reading comprehension. It's been a while since I was in school.

I don't understand FSN Midwest. Why is today's game NOT in HD?? Because it is a day game and
no one watches day games, or because it is more expensive to carry the payload of a HD broadcast
during the day? Ridiculous....

Anyway, I already have AT&T phone and DSL. I think it's more cost effective to go with U-Verse bundling. Does anyone here have it? I don't expect it to have better firmware but I do need great PQ. Since it's just me I have no concerns regarding downloading something and sucking bandwidth from the signal, etc.

So do I trade good PQ and reliability (except for rain fade) and decent customer service for more Internet bandwidth, less cost and possible headaches dealing with AT&T?

Thanks in advance.

I had Uverse for a test run. I had to get the TV package in order to get the internet package.
I wasn't real impressed with it. The only thing that was quick was the VOD. It was cost
prohibitive for me to switch to Uverse TV versus DirecTV. The per box fee was more and
I have 8 DirecTV servers on my account. You can use the ATT Receiver as a network hub,
so that is nice if you need some CAT 5 next to your TV and only have RG6.

No worries, I was more concerned for my reading comprehension. It's been a while since I was in school.

I think I may be coming down with writing dyslexia - thinking one thing but writing another. I really do know the difference between VC1 and AVC. I used a form of VC1 (wavelet technology) on my very first non-linear video editing project. It was a program I did for the City of St. Louis, when Bosley was the mayor. It changed forever the way I thought about video editing. IIRC, Joe Kane wrote a great article on VC1 in an issue of Widescreen Review a couple/three years ago, in which he explained why he thought it was the best available codec.

I don't understand FSN Midwest. Why is today's game NOT in HD?? Because it is a day game and
no one watches day games, or because it is more expensive to carry the payload of a HD broadcast
during the day? Ridiculous....I do think it's primarily an issue of cost. Since we're not yet at the point where FSN thinks its economically viable to broadcast every game in HD, I think it does make sense for them to cut corners on day games, as they're generally going to draw the smallest audience (probably even after you factor in the evening replay viewership). In fact, I'm not sure what would be a better way to draw the HD/non-HD lines -- out-of-division competition, second-division teams, Democrat vs Republican cities, etc. ;)

But on balance, I'm with you -- I'm well past ready for the point where all Cardinal games are in HD and we don't have to deal with first-inning disappointment on a regular basis.

Spoiler alert: Considering today's result, I think FSN got it right...

Poor Sony. They just can't catch a break. Some of you may be old enough to remember the VHS/Beta war of the late 70s and 80s. They lost that one, but it looked like a major victory when they bounced HD DVD out the door recently. Well, according to this article (http://blogs.zdnet.com/storage/?p=562&tag=nl.e539), they may have won the battle but the bigger war just might be taking place in another part of the world. This article claims that HD DVD may just achieve the greater victory for the very reasons they touted all along as the advantage HD DVD has over Blu-ray - costs.

Although I've had some great Sony products, it's hard to feel sorry for them on this one. The last thing I want, though, is for Blu-ray to fail in this country. It's far and away the best visual quality available. It beats he heck out of satellite, and, at its best, it's better than the best OTA, too.

While there are a number of current Sony products that I like, I have no affection or even respect for the company. They are arrogant, particularly if you have to deal with them on the dealer or service side, and they are generally out of touch with the markets they aim to serve. Blu-ray is a good example of this, as they've largely sat back since the exit of HD DVD and waited to reap monopoly benefits that are clearly not coming just because they think they're due.

The only reason Sony won the HD DVD vs. Blu-ray battle is that they were quicker and more effective in paying off the studios that matter. What consumers wanted mattered not at all in this classic battle of the smoke-filled rooms.

Sony is a company in decline, not all that unlike the Big 3 in Detroit. OK, they're not as far along on the extinction curve, but it seems like pretty good odds that they'll be involuntarily shaking the death rattle in 10 or 15 years.

All good things come to an end once they're no longer any good.

I know, Doug. I've always looked at Sony as a corporate bully, with the whole Blu-ray/HD DVD battle a great example of how important a role money plays in determining a technology "winner." Ironically, the same thing happened when Sony lost the VHS/Betamax battle. But that time it went the other way for Sony.

Anyway, no matter what happens with Sony, I want to see Blu-ray succeed. Even if Sony went completely belly-up, I'd want to see that. Toshiba is rumored to be entering the Blu-ray market soon. Real poetic justice would have Sony going bankrupt, while other companies like Toshiba continue to market Blu-ray products. I don't want to see that happen, but Sony learning a few lessons in humility is something I could live with.

There's no way I see HD DVD making any kind of comeback other than in the Asian variant, so IMO it's either Blu-ray or no HD disc format for most of the world. It's just not going to be the cash cow Sony tried to convince everyone it would be.

Three problems with the whole Sony/Bluray/HDDVD thing.
1 the format war ended nearly 1.5 years ago
2 Toshiba is the only one with balance sheets that show money going to a studio(paramount) for exclusivity
3 Bluray is more Panasonic than Sony. Panasonic holds more patents on Bluray than Sony.
I find it silly that anytime some low rent blogger throws something online, it becomes the Death of Sony/Bluray. It seems every six months another blog says watch out!!! The last time was toshiba's super upconversion. Prior to that it was downloads.

I do believe both sides threw money around during the format war, I also believe that Bluray was a better product with a better future than HD DVD, but if HD DVD would have won, I would have a player now.

It's not just low-rent bloggers that say Sony's not doing well, though. And Panasonic didn't exactly bet the farm on Blu-ray the way Sony did. I also believe HD DVD was the better product, especially in those ways that would have grown the HD disc market with the best chance of success. The video and audio codecs were the same. The storage capacity was comparable (by the time Toshiba had already lost). Interactivity was better and more polished. Hell, even the menu system was not the incomprehensible mess that Blu-ray is sometimes. And probably most importantly, manufacturing of HD DVD would have been much cheaper than Blu-ray, because existing DVD plants could have been adapted easily. Not so with Blu-ray.

I have HD DVD and Blu-ray players, and although I like many things about Blu-ray, it still feels really ragged around the edges. HD DVD came out of the gate looking awfully good. It would only have gotten better. None of that matters much, though, since HD DVD is dead and buried in the western market. I just hope Blu-ray doesn't suffer the same fate.

Panasonic has added Amazon Video On Demand streaming to the VIERA CAST feature on its Blu Ray players:

http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/news/2009/08/panasonic_announces_availability_of_amazon_video_on_demand_o n_its_full_line_of_2009_viera_casttmenabled_bluray_disc_play ers.php

The model DMP-BD605 at Costco is not among the models listed in the press release. But I own this model (it's a DMP-BD60 with an HDMI cable thrown in) and Amazon works well on it after downloading the current firmware.

I bought the HD last season premieres of Smallville and Supernatural, two shows I stopped watching on KPLR long ago. Picture quality is excellent. Not as good as the previous season Blu Rays, but better than it's often been on KPLR (and without KPLR's drops to SD). Sound is 2.0, as Smallville was on KPLR, but sound quality is better than I remember on KPLR. Sound on Supernatural is also 2.0, disappointing since Supernatural was one of the best sounding 5.1 shows out there when KPLR had its act together.

HD TV episodes are $2.99, SD episodes $1.99. Haven't checked out the movies yet.

This seems to be the next big trend in TV, with lots of TVs and Blu-ray players featuring streaming. I like the idea in many ways, but I still wonder how we're going to reconcile the increase in HD streaming with the caps the ISPs are slapping onto monthly rates. Those 2 ideas are incompatible long term. If people start doing a lot of HD streaming, they're going to get some nasty surprises at the end of the month when their ISPs hit them with monster overage charges. As it gets cheaper for the ISPs to provide customers with higher speeds, they're charging more. The US is way behind the curve when compared to many countries around the world.

Amazon Video on Demand movie rentals are $4.99 for HD. That's a buck less than DirecTV's HD PPV. I don't think Amazon's HD is 1080p like DirecTV HD PPV is, but then my CRT only does 1080i anyway. I may switch some of my PPV business now.

OTOH, their prices for a full season of a TV show are not a bargain at all. Supernatural in HD is $2.99 per episode (fine for when you just want to catch that one episode you missed), or $53 for the whole season. You can buy the season on Blu Ray cheaper than that.

Hmm, interesting. Just before starting to type this, I ordered a Blu Ray disc, the "Watchmen (Director's Cut) (Amazon Exclusive Nite Owl Ship and Digital Bundle + Digital Copy and BD-Live) [Blu-ray]" for $75. Along with the e-mail order confirmation, I got a note that said I can watch the movie right now on Amazon on Demand for free. That's kinda cool.

Also interesting... just got another e-mail saying I now have a $5 credit towards watching NBC shows on Amazon on Demand. These people sure do know how to market.

Sure enough, The Watchmen is now listed in the "your video library" section on my player, expires in 29 days, 23 hours.

Figured there'd be a catch... the free Watchmen in my library is SD. Still gotta pay the $4.99 to watch it in HD. Oh well....

This seems to be the next big trend in TV, with lots of TVs and Blu-ray players featuring streaming.


http://playstation.joystiq.com/2009/08/06/hd-porn-streaming-service-available-exclusively-on-ps3/

http://playstation.joystiq.com/2009/08/06/hd-porn-streaming-service-available-exclusively-on-ps3/

Another good reason to hold onto the PS3. :D

I bought the HD last season premieres of Smallville and Supernatural, two shows I stopped watching on KPLR long ago. Picture quality is excellent. Not as good as the previous season Blu Rays, but better than it's often been on KPLR (and without KPLR's drops to SD).

I stopped for lunch at a KFC today and the girl behind the counter was a DEAD RINGER for Kristin Kreuk (Lana Lang) on Smallville. I hope I didn't scare the poor girl, but I couldn't stop staring. :o

Smallville has lost most of what made me watch (story wise), and the unending problems with KPLR have made it impossible to watch (or listen to) many of the episodes. If the picture isn't screwed up, the center channel is lost in the din of the right and left channel over-amplification.

Everything is good now (can't pick up KNLC)

Just an update. I needed to move the antenna a few degrees. Those of you who use indoor antennas have found the slightest change in the way a station broadcasts has dramatic effects on whether you can see a station or not.

Does anyone have the latest D* TV customer retention number?

Does anyone have the latest D* TV customer retention number?Just call the regular number and when the automated voice prompt kicks in say "Cancel Service." That gets you to customer retention, no waiting.

Seriously!

Thanks. I will try that.

I had Uverse for a test run. I had to get the TV package in order to get the internet package.
I wasn't real impressed with it. The only thing that was quick was the VOD. It was cost
prohibitive for me to switch to Uverse TV versus DirecTV. The per box fee was more and
I have 8 DirecTV servers on my account. You can use the ATT Receiver as a network hub,
so that is nice if you need some CAT 5 next to your TV and only have RG6.

Thanks for the feedback. Anyone else?

So I think I'm finally gonna dump Charter.

Is there any advantage / disadvantage to ordering DirectTV online rather than through a local installer? And if local is the way to go, who is a good one in the StL area.

Ordering online right now gets me free equipment as they have an instant rebate going.

TIA

Well ... no sat for me. I went back and forth, decided on DishNet, but there are too many trees in my back yard (even though I think there is a nice open path) so I guess I'm stuck with Charter.

I've researched UVerse which I can get, but it would be no more cheaper and with slower internet - even if I bundle my cell phone and everything with it. A guy I work with has it and he's not too happy with the HD quality.

Next step -- dump TV all together and download everything we watch. I told my GF she could nickname me DVR. And even though that's feasible, I can't seem to cut the cord to lazy Sunday channel surfing. Sad.

:D

Thanks for the feedback. Anyone else?

We've had U-Verse service for a year and a half since they came in to the St. Louis market. We've been very happy with the service. The cost of TV service (with HD and DVR) plus internet is comparable to what we used to pay Charter for TV service only without a DVR. The service is generally very stable (far fewer outages than we had with Charter). I'm satisfied with the picture quality. I've never had sat service so I can't compare to Dish or Direct, and I don't remember Charter's picture being noticeably better.

We've had U-Verse service for a year and a half since they came in to the St. Louis market. We've been very happy with the service. The cost of TV service (with HD and DVR) plus internet is comparable to what we used to pay Charter for TV service only without a DVR. The service is generally very stable (far fewer outages than we had with Charter). I'm satisfied with the picture quality. I've never had sat service so I can't compare to Dish or Direct, and I don't remember Charter's picture being noticeably better.

When I price it out its actually $17 more than what I pay Charter now, and I would have slower internet. Yea, I'll get more HD channels, but I really hate paying any more for TV than I do now :) I guess that is comparable ... having Sat would have saved me about $40 a month.

I've had the Palm Pre just 3 days and am already asking myself why it took so long. As much as I like the Instinct, the Pre's WebOS browser and operating system is a GIANT leap forward. While I was reluctant to use the Instinct's web browser because it was slow, the Pre's browser is a lightning fast thing of beauty.

Anyone looking for a great phone with a second rate browser, PM me for a great price on an Instinct. If you want quick access to email, news, sports, movie times and Sprint's excellent real time voice guided navigation system, the Instinct is great (at $70/month for unlimited everything, but with just 450 talk minutes). If I weren't such a tech junky (I really do need help - :D), I'd still be using it.

New Battlestar Galactica movie on the way... having nothing at all to do with the series that recently ended on Sci-Fi. Brian Singer is going to direct a re-re-imagining (that's my word) of the original from the 70's. Glen Larson, who produced the original series, will produce the new movie.

http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2009/08/13/bryan-singer-battlestar-galactica-movie/

Have any of these people wondered if there might be a REASON the original show lasted only one season and the Ronald Moore version went for four?????

I'm really surprised that 2 is showing the Rams games in HD. I don't like that logo at the top of screen above score it takes up half of the screen.

I am having problems with the TVGOS on a DTVpal dvr and tr-40. Both units had no problem receiving 8 days of info before this week; now both are getting 6-12 hours only. Is anyone else having issues with guides this week?

The Cards game was good on Fox Midwest tonight. This is the most exciting atmosphere for Cardinals baseball since the regular '06 season. I also really like the broadcast team of Dan McLaughlin and Ricky Horton. I remember them doing a game some months ago. I thought tonight's game was even better, and I'd like to see them together on a regular basis. Rick Horton is a really good broadcaster who's getting better with each passing season. He brings a pitcher's perspective to the game, and he's engaging, quick witted and articulate. He also has some very good insights into the game. As far as I'm concerned, Cardinals broadcasting would be in good hands with this duo. I'm not quite as anti-Hrabosky as some people are, but Horton-McLaughlin is so much better.

Well I cannot stand Jay Randolf. He's as slow as mud and about as interesting. He should cover golf.

At one point, McLaughlin and Horton went on at length about what a great guy Jay Randolph is. I suspect they spent so much time talking about him because he's not charting well with viewers. I noted that neither of them was able to say what a great broadcaster he is. :)

Yes, I heard that discussion and noticed the same thing. He might be a great guy but he's mediocre at best as a broadcaster. When he does try to inject enthusiasm to his monotone it sounds forced and insincere.

Rick Horton is the exact opposite of that. His mind is fast and he's able to respond with insight to Dan McLaughlin, and in the post game shows to Pat Parris. Another commentator I really dislike is Jack Clark. Unlike Jay Randolph, he speaks quickly and with Energy, but his comments are like Al Hrabosky on speed. As a game analyst, he uses more words to say less than anyone I know of.

Randolph is a person of few words. Clark is a person of many. But in each case, the commentaries are seldom relevant or interesting. They both remind me a little of Ozzie Smith's brief tenure as a St. Louis broadcaster. I may respect what they've done, but listening to them talk is television torture.

I know this is from awhile back, but I am experiencing the same thing. My DTVPal DVR is not picking up any digital TV Guide On-Screen information in the St. Louis Area. Has any one else been able to get TVGOS in St. Louis after the digital transition?

I am also having problems with the TVGOS. I received it flawlessly for months with my DTVpal DVR and DTVpal tr-40; :mad:but now I get only 6-12 hours of info.

CARDINALS SPOILER AHEAD:





Who caught the Brendan Ryan show tonight? Grand slam, amazing defense, and a DeNiro impersonation that was dead on.

And, oh, by the way - John Smoltz is a Cardinal now. :eek::eek:

We interrupt this conversation for something on-topic...

KETC-9 posted that they finished their engineering upgrades back on August 1st. Antenna is on top of the tower and power is up to the licensed maximum of 142.5 kW.

I wonder if the changes helped the more remote viewers in the area. I know my reception is more stable.

We interrupt this conversation for something on-topic...

KETC-9 posted that they finished their engineering upgrades back on August 1st. Antenna is on top of the tower and power is up to the licensed maximum of 142.5 kW.

I wonder if the changes helped the more remote viewers in the area. I know my reception is more stable.

I agree the signal seems much more stable with no more of the occasional breakups. But with that said, I'm finding much less HD content on 9-01 lately. Hopefully, it's just the summer doldrums or possibly bad timing on my part.

As a side note, I don't know if it's a local problem or an E* problem, but my Program Guide never seems to contain the correct info for all four Channel 9 subs. The data is either missing completely on several of them or assigned to the wrong channel(s) altogether.

No Cardinals in HD on Dish 418 the last several days, even though it was listed. It did come with a "J.I.P." after the listing. Anyone know what that means?

We interrupt this conversation for something on-topic...

KETC-9 posted that they finished their engineering upgrades back on August 1st. Antenna is on top of the tower and power is up to the licensed maximum of 142.5 kW.

I wonder if the changes helped the more remote viewers in the area. I know my reception is more stable.

I am in Centralia, IL and at times it seems to come in better OTA (individual antenna) BUT far from what I had hoped for! I STILL cannot get it before 7 in the evening. Some days after that it is fine until the wee hours of the morning (I have a bedroom TV and sometimes turn it on at odd hours if I wake up). It was EASY to get in the analog days.

Of course, tower work makes no difference to them getting closed captioning turned on. An example was last night on Donneybrook the captioning didn't start until a good 10min. into a 30 min. program! There have been many times with Donnybrook and Donnybrook Your Turn where they will have one WITH captions and the other WITHOUT. There is no pattern to it. Sometimes both are captioned, sometimes one or the other (Donneybrook being captioned is NO assurance that Donneybrook Your Turn Will be and vice versa). When things like this happen with one of the commercial stations it is possible to call the newsroom to have them alert engineering BUT with 9 you are out of luck as far as calling after office hours!!!

Thankfully the Create channel offers the same thing at the same time on both 9 and 8. I can usually get 8. The problem is also less now that 8 is offering the PBS World programing. It is the locally produced things that are the big problem.

Jane B.

We interrupt this conversation for something on-topic...

KETC-9 posted that they finished their engineering upgrades back on August 1st. Antenna is on top of the tower and power is up to the licensed maximum of 142.5 kW.

I wonder if the changes helped the more remote viewers in the area. I know my reception is more stable.

My signal strength has improved by 10 points and there are fewer breakups. KETC was somewhat seasonal for for me so I'll see how it goes.

No Cardinals in HD on Dish 418 the last several days, even though it was listed. It did come with a "J.I.P." after the listing. Anyone know what that means?

I DO NOT have Dish but would take it to be "joined in progress". In other words the previous show is expected to last past the starting time of the game and they will join the game already in progress when the previous show finishes.

Jane B.

Well, keep in mind that there's a substantial difference in coverage area between stations with ERP of 142.5 kW and the 1,000 kW ERP for the rest of the St Louis majors.

No Cardinals in HD on Dish 418 the last several days, even though it was listed. It did come with a "J.I.P." after the listing. Anyone know what that means?

Like the first responder, I would say it is "Joined In Progress."

This is totally a guess, but here goes: the lack of Cards games in HD is because FSN can only show so many HD games at a time, correct? Perhaps once enough east coast games have ended, then the Cardinals will pop up in HD? I dunno. :confused:

Enough with the on-topic chatter already! Got a question that's completely OFF topic again.... :D

My HTPC, which had been acting a bit flaky the past few months, up and died this week. Seems the motherboard's toast.

I went looking for a replacement mobo, but socket 939 motherboards that take DDR400 RAM are nowhere to be found, other than used ones on eBay.

So I removed the CPU, fan, and RAM, and put 'em up for sale on Amazon, and tossed the mobo into the trash... and am about to start looking for a new CPU, mobo, fan, and RAM.

But suddenly I started thinking maybe I don't want to build another HTPC from scratch... maybe just get an Xbox 360 or a PS3?

Anyone here with either of these systems have any thoughts on how they are as an HTPC? I'd need it to stream my video files and music files from my UnRaid server, stream stuff from internet sites like Hulu and YouTube, and stream internet radio stations like smoothjazz.com. I actually have zero interest in gaming.

I'm leaning to the PS3 because of the built-in Blu-ray player, and because at work we get a lot fewer returns of the PS3 than the Xbox 360.... but I might still just put another HTPC together instead.

Suggestions?

Thanks!

Enough with the on-topic chatter already! Got a question that's completely OFF topic again.... :D

My HTPC, which had been acting a bit flaky the past few months, up and died this week. Seems the motherboard's toast.

I went looking for a replacement mobo, but socket 939 motherboards that take DDR400 RAM are nowhere to be found, other than used ones on eBay.

So I removed the CPU, fan, and RAM, and put 'em up for sale on Amazon, and tossed the mobo into the trash... and am about to start looking for a new CPU, mobo, fan, and RAM.

But suddenly I started thinking maybe I don't want to build another HTPC from scratch... maybe just get an Xbox 360 or a PS3?

Anyone here with either of these systems have any thoughts on how they are as an HTPC? I'd need it to stream my video files and music files from my UnRaid server, stream stuff from internet sites like Hulu and YouTube, and stream internet radio stations like smoothjazz.com. I actually have zero interest in gaming.

I'm leaning to the PS3 because of the built-in Blu-ray player, and because at work we get a lot fewer returns of the PS3 than the Xbox 360.... but I might still just put another HTPC together instead.

Suggestions?

Thanks!

I don't stream much of anything with the PS3. For me, it's just one more inconvenient step, keeping me from getting quickly at files I have on UnRAID or my PC. I think the PC is the quickest, most flexible and easiest way to get at music, video and photo files. I like the PS3 a lot, and there's even talk that it will be possible with a firmware upgrade for it to become 3D capable when the standard is finally decided on in a few months. That'll make it even more desirable, but the HTPC is still my preferred method for media playback on my displays.

If you look around Sony knocked a $100.00 off the 80 Gig PS3. Best Buy has them advertised on there website for $299.99. You can also pre-order the slim line 120 Gig for the same price.

It looks like 11 is showing more syndicated HD. Because Legend of the Seeker is on right now and its in HD.

I don't stream much of anything with the PS3. For me, it's just one more inconvenient step, keeping me from getting quickly at files I have on UnRAID or my PC. I think the PC is the quickest, most flexible and easiest way to get at music, video and photo files. I like the PS3 a lot, and there's even talk that it will be possible with a firmware upgrade for it to become 3D capable when the standard is finally decided on in a few months. That'll make it even more desirable, but the HTPC is still my preferred method for media playback on my displays.

Most of the time, I use Windows Media Player to play music files stored on my computer. For photos and slide shows, it's Picassa. For movies, it's PowerDVD. For streaming music, it's Pandora (thanks, Doug, for that suggestion). I have a mouse and keyboard at each of my displays, so getting to anything is just a few clicks away. Any hardware streaming device (like PS3, XBox, etc.) adds another layer to get at the media. Also, codec issues prevent most hardware streaming devices from getting at everything on the system. I just find it easier to put the mouse/keyboard there and connect to my computer using a Harmony remote. This is as close to home theater Nirvana as I've ever been.

Is anybody picking up WPXS on Channel 21? Supposedly it's broadcasting, but I can confirm it. Also, some Charter customers seem to be getting it, yet others aren't.

Is anybody picking up WPXS on Channel 21? Supposedly it's broadcasting, but I can confirm it. Also, some Charter customers seem to be getting it, yet others aren't.

You might want to see what this site http://www.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/maps/ says about them for your location. I have found that exact address works best. Tower appears to be about in the middle when drawing a diagonal line between Carlyle, Il and Highland, IL. Also, you may be entering channel number wrong it is Channel: 13 (RF 21) so the 13 is what you would use.

I am in Centralia, IL and it appears that I would have to rotate my tower mounted antenna in order to receive them or else they are the ones having problems on Sunday, August 23, 2009. They are reported to be expected to come in strong at my location with Receive Power: -45 dBm; 240 meters above sea level; Effective Power: 968 kW; and distance of 26.5 miles from my home. I have NOT tried to get them for a long, long, time as they had very little that I wanted to watch even when I got them easily in the analog days. They do appear to have an antenna location that is opposite of what I remember.

Good Luck
Jane B.

Well, keep in mind that there's a substantial difference in coverage area between stations with ERP of 142.5 kW and the 1,000 kW ERP for the rest of the St Louis majors.

I am only too well aware of that! But . . . sure wish their digital power had not turned out to be sooooo low.

Jane B.

The Rams game on Fox was plagued by audio dropouts every 10-15 seconds on my Dish OTA tuner. Very disruptive.

The Cards game from San Diego was good, technically, and incredible from a John Smoltz perspective:

5 shutout innings
3 hits
9 strikeouts
7 consecutive strikeouts (a Cardinals team record)
pitched out of a serious 1st inning error
made pitching look easy

It's just one game for Smoltz, but this '09 season has me feeling all tingly. Thank you, Boston. You really know how to evaluate talent. :)

Is anybody picking up WPXS on Channel 21? Supposedly it's broadcasting, but I can confirm it. Also, some Charter customers seem to be getting it, yet others aren't.

yeah, I've asked this question a few times and received no response. As far as I know, no one on this board can pick it up.

Back in July, I was picking 55-1 from Springfield from the midnight hours until between 8-9 am. I live in Edwardsville and my antenna is pointed southwest, so there was no reason I should be picking it up.

ANyways, during this same time period I would occasionally get 8-1 in for brief times (10 seconds) and on the signal strength meter, I would get really really low readings for 13-1. But I don't know for sure if it was 13.1 or an adjacent channel coming in tropospheric(sp?)

Sorry, that's all I've got.

A couple of weekends ago I was in Jefferson Barracks Park and, from a bluff overlooking the river, searched for channel 13's signal with a medium range hand-held antenna and my hand-held spectrum analyzer. I could see a weak signal on RF21 but it was so low I didn't bother dragging my laptop up the hill to see if I could decode it with TSReader.

I do, however, get WPXS via my DirectTV feed so their signal is somehow getting to their head-end.

Keep in mind that they're broadcasting from an 85-90 meter tall cell tower about 4 north of Breese. An antenna pointed SW from Edwardsville would have Breese about 120 degrees off-axis and would likely place that signal in a deep null off the rear of the antenna. You'd have to swing the antenna around SSE to focus on it.

From today's http://www.hdtvmagazine.com

In an investor phone call last week, Blockbuster CEO James Keyes pointed to unmanned kiosks as the possible future for the company’s movie rental business. He stated that plans call for 500 kiosks to be in place by the end of August, and more than 2,500 up and running by the end of this year. Ultimately, there could be 10,000 kiosks in operation by the middle of 2010. At the same time, the company may accelerate the closing of its storefront operations. Of the 7,100 stores now operating in the U.S. and other countries, about 300 are targeted to close this year.

Part of what is driving this shift is the success of the RedBox kiosk operations. With DVD rentals of just $1 each, the company is rapidly grabbing market share in the movie rental business, and almost entirely at the expense of Blockbuster’s share. Last quarter, Blockbuster earnings fell 22% while Netflix rose 20%. Redbox revenues soared 110% for the same period. Blockbuster is also saddled with $350 million in debt that comes due by the end of 2010.

Blockbuster is exploring the use of recordable media – such as SD memory cards — for use with their kiosks. This would eliminate the need for physical DVD discs and would simply inventory problems, but don’t expect this to be a significant factor any time soon. Even if Blockbuster can get Hollywood to sign on for such a service (and that’s a big “if” given the studio caution about streaming movies online), most consumers don’t yet have devices that can play back movies stored on an SD card.

I've gotten one movie from Blockbuster Online since a week ago Monday. I've written twice, and they did send me a couple of coupons for the inconvenience, but still no new shipments. They just told me yesterday that they're changing things in their distribution system and that the problem would be fixed soon.

I may not be pushing up daisies when 3D finally hits the home market, if James Cameron has anything to do with it. His new film, Avatar, may make enough of a splash, along with the other 3D films being released, to help get 3D into the living room within a couple of years or so. Panasonic says they'll have product ready for the home soon. (http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6685513.html)

I've gotten one movie from Blockbuster Online since a week ago Monday. I've written twice, and they did send me a couple of coupons for the inconvenience, but still no new shipments. They just told me yesterday that they're changing things in their distribution system and that the problem would be fixed soon.

I used to have the same problem after several good months of service. My biggest complaint was that Monday shipments were rare, they claimed that was the busy day. I figure it would be Tuesday, with the weekend returns put in the mail on Monday for Tuesday delivery. Stay on them Joe! ;)

By the way, we are loving our Canon HF S100!

I used to have the same problem after several good months of service. My biggest complaint was that Monday shipments were rare, they claimed that was the busy day. I figure it would be Tuesday, with the weekend returns put in the mail on Monday for Tuesday delivery. Stay on them Joe! ;)

By the way, we are loving our Canon HF S100!

Doing any editing with the files from the camcorder yet? If so, what are you using?

Tuesday, 25th - 7PM they're showing 'The Simpsons' instead of ABC network's 'Shaq vs.' - why?

Doing any editing with the files from the camcorder yet? If so, what are you using?

I tried PowerDirector, and 2 others I downloaded(can't remember the names). PowerDirector gave me a more comfortable feeling. I am currently transferring 2-1/2 gigs of video from our sons marching band practice tonight. The instructor has found our videos very helpful. Purchased the 3+ hour battery for it along with a Canon wide angle lens. We just couldn't get the whole marching band performance in, hopefully the lens helped, I will find out when I go downstairs to edit and convert for the instructor.

Yeah, my Canon has a 12x zoom, yours a 15x I think. That's s pretty good telephoto, but the wide angle on most camcorders doesn't cut it for some types of shooting. I had to get a wide angle for one of my analog Canon camcorders. Still, the quality they pack into those little cameras is astounding.

Tuesday, 25th - 7PM they're showing 'The Simpsons' instead of ABC network's 'Shaq vs.' - why?

Where did you see that? My son set up a season pass and caught the show last night on the Dish DVR.

Yes, I heard that discussion and noticed the same thing. He might be a great guy but he's mediocre at best as a broadcaster. When he does try to inject enthusiasm to his monotone it sounds forced and insincere.

You can tell he is always reading directly from the media guide. Randolph is unable to call the action as it is happening. On top of that every line drive is "a shot". It is brutal to listen to. Horton is the only decent one out of the bunch.

You can tell he is always reading directly from the media guide. Randolph is unable to call the action as it is happening. On top of that every line drive is "a shot". It is brutal to listen to. Horton is the only decent one out of the bunch.

I like Dan McLaughlin, too.

I hate to speak ill of someone, especially a person who has such a long history in St. Louis sports, but Jay Randolph is just plain awful. A Padre hit a ball in Sunday's game and Randolph said, "There's a LONG ONE!" We all know that call. It means, "Home Run!!!", right? The ball was a short pop up 20 seats back along the first base line. "Foul ball," he mono-toned.

What's glaringly painful is when Pat Parris or Rick Horton is paired with someone like Jack Clark or Jay Randolph. Wouldn't it be fun to see Pat Parris lose it one day and just coldcock Jack Clark when he launches a 2 minute run-on sentence? "Shut up!!! Shut up, motormouth!!! If you don't have anything to say, at least have the courtesy not to spend twice as long saying it!!!"

I guess I really have some work to do on that not-speaking-ill-of-people thing, huh?

Tuesday, 25th - 7PM they're showing 'The Simpsons' instead of ABC network's 'Shaq vs.' - why?

Shaq was on...your clock must be off!!

Shaq was on...your clock must be off!!

Tivo had listed Shaq vs Ben R and then the volleyball one. I wanted to see the football episode and indeed Simpsons was on.

Not a Rams fan so I'm a little bitter that KTVI is showing their game as opposed to the Network Feed.
Makes it even worse when the game is in Stretch-O-Vision...

Go BEARS

I just turned Donnybrook on and NO CAPTIONS!!! My DTVPal is reporting strength in the high 60's to 73. Last week it DID show up 10min. into the program and it is about that now. Wonder if I will get a repeat of that. It is sooo frustrating because at this hour there is NO ONE to call and alert them to this that is often is simple matter of someone having forgotten to turn it on.

Some "Dollhouse" news from TV Week:
_________________________________________________

Fox’s “Dollhouse” picked up Summer Glau from Fox’s canceled “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” says The Hollywood Reporter.

Glau will play a Dollhouse employee.

Jamie ("Apollo") Bamber, from Syfy’s “Battlestar Galactica,” also joins the cast, as does his “Battlestar” colleague Michael ("Saul Tigh") Hogan.
_________________________________________________

Not a Rams fan so I'm a little bitter that KTVI is showing their game as opposed to the Network Feed.
Makes it even worse when the game is in Stretch-O-Vision...

Go BEARS

It was disappointing, because I thought that KTVI (or the Rams, can't remember) advertised that all of the preseason games would be HD.

And to me, it was only the 50-yard-line cam and the end zone cam that were stretched. I saw that in the 1st quarter, then went to dinner. When I turned the game back on in the 4th, it looked like all of the cameras were true 16x9 again. But many of the graphics were stretched, I can't imagine 4x3 viewers were happy with that.

Tivo had listed Shaq vs Ben R and then the volleyball one. I wanted to see the football episode and indeed Simpsons was on.

Your right!! I was out of town and discovered we preempted a repeat of Shaq at 7 and had the new episode on at 8.

Is it still necessary to use a "break-in" disc for a plasma for the first few hours you turn it on?

I just recently got a great deal on a 50in plasma for the living room.... Always had LCD before, not sure what to do. Thanks for any help!

I like Dan McLaughlin, too.

I hate to speak ill of someone, especially a person who has such a long history in St. Louis sports, but Jay Randolph is just plain awful. A Padre hit a ball in Sunday's game and Randolph said, "There's a LONG ONE!" We all know that call. It means, "Home Run!!!", right? The ball was a short pop up 20 seats back along the first base line. "Foul ball," he mono-toned.

What's glaringly painful is when Pat Parris or Rick Horton is paired with someone like Jack Clark or Jay Randolph. Wouldn't it be fun to see Pat Parris lose it one day and just coldcock Jack Clark when he launches a 2 minute run-on sentence? "Shut up!!! Shut up, motormouth!!! If you don't have anything to say, at least have the courtesy not to spend twice as long saying it!!!"

I guess I really have some work to do on that not-speaking-ill-of-people thing, huh?

If you're old enough to remember (age 47 here) our STL sports broadcast line up in the 70's: baseball/Jack Buck, football/Bob Starr & Dan Kelly, basketball/Bob Costas, hockey/Dan Kelly. Many of these guys were national broadcasters of course, Randolph was always considered a top NBC golf announcer as well ( I'm not a golf fan).

I remind myself how spoiled I was listening to these guys. Of course today the "color" annalist (personality ??) IS often the person who does most of the talking on any broadcast.

MY simple poll on local members :
a) your HDTV source(s):
b) your HDTV display(s) (purchased locally ?):
c) are you a Blu Ray owner:



a) DirecTV (DVR's), I've never used an OTA source
b) two Kuro plasma's, purchased online
c) I just bought a JVC BD player (fast loading !) at Ultimate Electronics St Peters

except for missing 1/2 channels I desire in HD on DirecTV, I'm very happy with all the above! :)

Is it still necessary to use a "break-in" disc for a plasma for the first few hours you turn it on?

I just recently got a great deal on a 50in plasma for the living room.... Always had LCD before, not sure what to do. Thanks for any help!It's not necessary to use a specific disc to break-in a plasma TV. You can go that route, but it's not necessary. Break in will require about 150 hours of viewing.

In addition to following the instructions below, I also recommend against doing the 150 hours break-in in a single session, particularly if you're considering professional or DIY calibration. As part of the break-in process you also want to take the TV through at least a dozen complete power on/warm up/power down/cool down cycles. Although it's unlikely to be a problem, going through several iterations of the extremes of TV's operating range will help to expose any components that may fail prematurely.

The following are my plasma break-in recommendations, based on simple, common sense.

* During break-in, do whatever you can to ensure that images cover the entire area of the screen, which means avoiding black bars in 4x3 content or from letterboxed movies. Of course, it can be difficult to completely avoid content incorporating black bars, you definitely want to minimize this exposure to no more than 15% of your break-in activity.

* You should avoid lengthy exposure to channels with static graphical elements, such as scrolling news tickers with unchanging backgrounds, information banners such as are often found on shopping channels, and large, opaque channel bugs, such as are found on the Disney channels (there are many others).

* Keep the contrast/picture level at a moderate level. Specifically you should avoid modes labeled Dynamic or Vivid or Optimum. Better choices are usually modes such as Movie or Standard. By default these modes will have a less bright picture, which is additional insurance against burn-in.

In the event that you accidentally watch a lot of programming with black bars or other static elements, the uneven wear is going to happen more quickly and will be more severe the higher the contrast/picture level settings.

In a nutshell, the point of break-in is that you want to "season" the entire panel during your initial use of the TV. The phosphors in a plasma panel are very similar to CRTs in that they wear down very quickly in initial use. It is usually in the first 150 hours that burn-in occurs, so once you get past that period, it becomes progressively more difficult for burn-in to occur. That's not to say it can't happen after 150 hours, but it is much harder to do.

Enjoy!

Any idea if KETC will be upgrading their output power?

They went from 124kW to 142kW or something. Nice improvement?

Uh, no. I think other stations are broadcasting at like 1,000 kW or something.

I live about 5 miles from the KETC tower, and my signal is crap. SNR is just poor, poor, poor.

Why are they broadcasting at a fraction of the power of other stations?

Can't they drop 9.3 or something and broadcast with more power?

I had been looking forward to their "upgrade" for years. It finally happens, and they hardly add any power.

I just turn on Seinfeld on 2 and its in HD.

WHAT IS THE DEAL?

I just turn on Seinfeld on 2 and its in HD.

WHAT IS THE DEAL?

Amazing !

The HD premier of Craig Ferguson is tonight.
What are the odds KMOV will come through too on the same night ?

(if KMOV still can't timeshift HD this evidently will make them the last without this capability)

Amazing !

The HD premier of Craig Ferguson is tonight.
What are the odds KMOV will come through too on the same night ?

(if KMOV still can't timeshift HD this evidently will make them the last without this capability)


I still don't understand why they have Inside Edition on 11:35 instead of Craig. Last week they showed an episode with Eric Idle. About half through the interview 4 goes right to a commercial . They come back half way through the "What did we learn on show tonight Craig" segment.

:):):):)
The Late Late show in HD and DD5.1 !
:):):):)

:):):):) The Late Late show in HD and DD5.1 ! :):):):)

Not bad! I just wish KMOV would now learn how to start Letterman on time - they seem to be constantly cutting off the first 5-30 seconds! Why can't they end their newscasts on time!

Any idea if KETC will be upgrading their output power?

They went from 124kW to 142kW or something. Nice improvement?

Uh, no. I think other stations are broadcasting at like 1,000 kW or something.

I live about 5 miles from the KETC tower, and my signal is crap. SNR is just poor, poor, poor.........

All the power in the world isn't going to help you much if you can't get the signal from 5 miles away. Other factors must be at play here. I live in West County, about 20 miles out and my signal meter is pegged at a solid 100. I have a decent UHF rooftop antenna split 4 ways. Perhaps you are too close and overloading the tuner input. Try an attenuator or possibly a splitter to lighten the load.

I have an HR20-700 and OTA. When I went to check OTA signal strength I noticed only one tuner, tuner 1. Is there supposed to be two?

Thanks.

Mo

FYI for Blues fans -- the Blues-Red Wings game is available in HD on the Versus/Golf channel.

It appears there's no blackout in force, since the game is being played in Detroit and it doesn't look to be available on local TV...

What about D* dropping Versus? Are D* subs screwed?

What about D* dropping Versus? Are D* subs screwed?

Yep, Charter has no VersusHD anymore either.

I live about 5 miles from the KETC tower, and my signal is crap. SNR is just poor, poor, poor.
13.4 miles in the CWE with an indoor antenna, strength = -11 dBm, 100% lock.

Yep, Charter has no VersusHD anymore either.

Dish put it on free preview yesterday...:eek:

Well, so much for building the savings account back up after buying my new car a few months back.

I got a little impulsive (again), went to costco.com (the local Costco where I work is sold out), and ordered one of these beasties:

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11310781&whse=BC&topnav=&browse=&lang=en-US&s=1

Marked down to $1999.99 including shipping because it's last year's model, which doesn't bother me any.

I still have to find a stand for it, as well as a shelf to mount my center speaker to the top of it.

And the hard part... moving my current 250 pound Sony 36XBR400 36" CRT out of the way!

And the REALLY hard part... figuring out what to do with the Sony after that!

Well, so much for building the savings account back up after buying my new car a few months back.

I got a little impulsive (again), went to costco.com (the local Costco where I work is sold out), and ordered one of these beasties:

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11310781&whse=BC&topnav=&browse=&lang=en-US&s=1

Marked down to $1999.99 including shipping because it's last year's model, which doesn't bother me any.

I still have to find a stand for it, as well as a shelf to mount my center speaker to the top of it.

And the hard part... moving my current 250 pound Sony 36XBR400 36" CRT out of the way!

And the REALLY hard part... figuring out what to do with the Sony after that!

Oooohhhh!!! 58" of plasma beauty. Lookin' for an invite, Bob, when you get everything set up the way you want! I almost bought one of the Samsung 58" plasmas when Costco had it on sale for a ridiculous price, but I waited too long and missed out.

Is anybody picking up WPXS on Channel 21? Supposedly it's broadcasting, but I can confirm it. Also, some Charter customers seem to be getting it, yet others aren't.


This is odd I am picking up WPXS but not on 21 but on 16 analog instead. I thought 16 was that Daystar LP channel. I'm guessing the 13 on Directv is national feed. Because the WPXS I was picking up on channel 16 showing an infomercial while the 13 on Directv was still showing RTN programming.

This is odd I am picking up WPXS but not on 21 but on 16 analog instead. I thought 16 was that Daystar LP channel. I'm guessing the 13 on Directv is national feed. Because the WPXS I was picking up on channel 16 showing an infomercial while the 13 on Directv was still showing RTN programming.

About 1 week and a half ago I was over at Lebanon (12 miles from their transmitter site). I couldn't see even a sniff of any signal using my handheld spectrum analyzer over the air on 21 while I could see a digital 22 that TV fool put at over 80 miles away.

I reached the conclusion that they were not transmitting anything over the air on 21 on that date and time. A few weeks prior, I had looked for the signal from Jefferson Barracks park and could see their weak signal on the scope.

Daystar actually owns WPXS, so it wouldn't surprise me that if WPXS is off the air, they might feed its signal through the full-time Daystar station.

- Trip

Just spoke to them. The transmitter is busted (has been for about two weeks) and they are awaiting parts to get back on the air.

That explains a lot.

thanks for the heads up about 16.

I have this mild obsession with being able to pick up every channel possible within my range, even if I don't watch it. I really want 13.1

I'm sure others here can relate. :D

Looks like 4.2 is the weather now.

They're going to carry the Tour of Missouri bike race today on 4.2 and Charter 154.

I guess that means 4.1 ain't going back to full bandwidth any time soon. :(

Looks like 4.2 is the weather now.

I guess I'll turn it back on in all my receivers.

I did see 24.1 displaying a card telling their views who received via 4.2 that they would have to rescan after this weekend.

BTW, what genius at KMOV decided we needed ANOTHER local weather channel????????

Just had a miserable weekend with KMOV OTA reception. I'm in St. Charles area and since the digital transiton, everytime it is cloudy or raining, I get significant breaking up of signal. KMOV was breaking up all weekend at all times, even late at night until about mid day Monday (labor day) when the clouds finally started breaking up. I didn't have this problem when they were on RF 56 and only had a little trouble after they switched to 24, but once they went to full power there's been trouble when there's weather. I'm assuming I've got a multipath problem. I have a directional antenna (I call it the sword fish type) that I have re-pointed numerous times. As far as I can tell using maps, and compass, antenna should be pointed right at KMOV. All other stations except WRBU are rock solid and strong, even KETC and KNLC this despite the antenna being in the attic and having a neighbors house in the way. Anybody have any suggestions? I could possibly move antenna to a lower location that would be clear of next door neighbors house and trees, but would have to look through a neighbors house two doors up the street.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Just had a miserable weekend with KMOV OTA reception. I'm in St. Charles area and since the digital transiton, everytime it is cloudy or raining, I get significant breaking up of signal. KMOV was breaking up all weekend at all times, even late at night until about mid day Monday (labor day) when the clouds finally started breaking up. I didn't have this problem when they were on RF 56 and only had a little trouble after they switched to 24, but once they went to full power there's been trouble when there's weather. I'm assuming I've got a multipath problem. I have a directional antenna (I call it the sword fish type) that I have re-pointed numerous times. As far as I can tell using maps, and compass, antenna should be pointed right at KMOV. All other stations except WRBU are rock solid and strong, even KETC and KNLC this despite the antenna being in the attic and having a neighbors house in the way. Anybody have any suggestions? I could possibly move antenna to a lower location that would be clear of next door neighbors house and trees, but would have to look through a neighbors house two doors up the street.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Ironically, I was up at Elsberry over the weekend playing with antennas from the muddy swamp along one of the sloughs. KMOV was one of only two stations I could get reliable with a 91XG pointed under the adjoining clubhouse and through hundreds of yards of big trees. The week before I was at my daughter's place off 70 between 5th and 94. I put a C2 on the patio umbrella and we watched the Masters on the laptop (on KMOV) while cooking a batch of Oktoberfest beer.

Get that antenna out of the attic or get a better UHF antenna. That big fishbone antenna is about 2/3rds useless.

If you need it, I can refer you to a local installer who can analyze your situation with the proper equipment.

BTW, what genius at KMOV decided we needed ANOTHER local weather channel????????

Well, since the other one sucks since they went with Accuweather, it will be nice to have a alternative...

I guess that means 4.1 ain't going back to full bandwidth any time soon. :(

What a waste of space! The only good thing I can see from this is that the bandwidth stolen from the primary channel must be very small, with the relatively static image.

Perhaps this is a placeholder for them to do something similar to what kSDk does on 5.2.

I agree with the other poster, get the antenna out of the attic, if you can. I live near the western edge of St. Peters, and KMOV is always perfect for me.

Just had a miserable weekend with KMOV OTA reception. I'm in St. Charles area and since the digital transiton, everytime it is cloudy or raining, I get significant breaking up of signal. KMOV was breaking up all weekend at all times, even late at night until about mid day Monday (labor day) when the clouds finally started breaking up. I didn't have this problem when they were on RF 56 and only had a little trouble after they switched to 24, but once they went to full power there's been trouble when there's weather. I'm assuming I've got a multipath problem. I have a directional antenna (I call it the sword fish type) that I have re-pointed numerous times. As far as I can tell using maps, and compass, antenna should be pointed right at KMOV. All other stations except WRBU are rock solid and strong, even KETC and KNLC this despite the antenna being in the attic and having a neighbors house in the way. Anybody have any suggestions? I could possibly move antenna to a lower location that would be clear of next door neighbors house and trees, but would have to look through a neighbors house two doors up the street.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

So my girlfriend was watching Melrose place last night, which meant I was watching it. The CW's new screen bug gave me cause for concern about them showing during Supernatural. Its the CW logo, then on top of that a barely transparent black box with white lettering. Plus it is in the 4x3 location, its very distracting and I can't believe that anyone would OK this.

So my girlfriend was watching Melrose place last night, which meant I was watching it.

You could have left the room?

:confused:

You could have left the room?

:confused:

I could have but my computer is in that room.

I could have but my computer is in that room.

... a good reason to get a laptop...

I don't get fox 2 showing Seinfeld in HD. About week ago on Monday they showed it in HD one time and that was it. Now I just turned it on and there showing it in HD.

Hi, guys

I need some help deciding if I need to upgrade the antenna in my attic or not. It's the original that came with the house (over 50 years old), one of those "fishbone" looking things. I have it split 3 ways.My biggest problem is with KTVI, especially on the 42" Panny plasma. I can't get a lock on that station for nothing.
I live in a single-story house in Dupo. Antennaweb.org says I need a yellow uhf antenna, as I really don't have any obstructions except for a few trees in the neighborhood, and most of the stations are within 10 miles of me. I have the usual break-up with other stations from time to time, but for the most part they come in crystal clear(although I do have problems with KMOV on all the other tv's sometimes, too). Any ideas why ch. 2 would be a problem? Is it more a problem with my 720p display? Any recommendations on a good antenna in case I do need to upgrade? I'd like to get one at Best Buy if possible since I have some gift cards to use up.
I'm a real noob when it comes to db gain, RF, etc., so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Hi, guys

I need some help deciding if I need to upgrade the antenna in my attic or not. It's the original that came with the house (over 50 years old)...

Stop. Put your pencils down. Go get a new outdoor UHF antenna. Even the El Cheapo Radio Shack UHF antenna works:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103088&cp=&kw=u+75&parentPage=search

Incidentally, you may be suffering from front-end overload on KMOV. It's the closest gun (roughly Reavis Barracks and Telegraph). Everything below the bluffs gets flooded with signal from it.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=80&q=call%3dkmov%26type%3dD

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d8ecd83f0c1d4d4


Zoom in to see how "red" Dupo is.

Stop. Put your pencils down. Go get a new outdoor UHF antenna. Even the El Cheapo Radio Shack UHF antenna works:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103088&cp=&kw=u+75&parentPage=search

Incidentally, you may be suffering from front-end overload on KMOV. It's the closest gun (roughly Reavis Barracks and Telegraph). Everything below the bluffs gets flooded with signal from it.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=80&q=call%3dkmov%26type%3dD

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d8ecd83f0c1d4d4


Zoom in to see how "red" Dupo is.In addition to replacing the antenna, I would suggest that you would benefit from replacing the cabling. If it's really 50 years old, I doubt it is shielded coax, and even if it is, the insulation if not the copper has probably deteriorated to the point where it will lose significant amount of signal.

Thanks for the responses, guys.

Actually, I did replace all the cable earlier this year, and it definitely helped. Right now the signal strength for 5, 9 & 11 is in the 80's, while 4 is currently in the mid 50's, with a peak in the lower 80's...all with great pictures with only the occasional pixelation on 4. For some reason, I can't get ch. 2 to come in on the plasma, yet it's clear as a bell on the Samsung CRT in the bedroom and the 25-year-old Zenith console in the living room. Is that more of a display issue?

With the new antenna that was recommended: could I expect signal strength closer to 100% even if it was still mounted in the attic? Or would that sort of defeat the purpose?

Anyone know of a way to mount a center cahnnel speaker to the top of a flat panel TV?

Something like this: OmniMount CCH1B (http://www.amazon.com/OmniMount-CCH1B-Center-Channel-Speaker/dp/B00067AIEU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1252727201&sr=8-1)

However, the above mount is designed for CRT's and DLP's. It's too deep for flat panel TV's.

Anyone know where I can get a mount like this that's slim enough to work on the Panasonic TH-58PZ800U?

Thanks!

Someone over in the Energy speaker thread fashioned a stand from a couple of long L brackets and a piece of wood. He attached one side of the L brackets to the mounting holes in the back of the flat panel, then attached a piece of wood to the other sides of the brackets, which overlapped the top of the flat panel and formed a stand. It cost just a few bucks. I suppose the L shape could go either forward or back from the TV. If that's not clear, give me a call and I'll try to explain it better.

Why isn't KPLR taking the HD feed of Regis & Kelly? At least when they were on KMOV we were getting it in HD!

I guess the bigger question is why are you watching Regis and Kelly? :D

Can someone who is within 20 miles or so of Affton tell me if analog 7 is on the air with the Home Shopping Network?

I don't need any of the crap they hawk, but a channel 7 OTA signal would be handy for testing a couple of antennas I've got.

Why isn't KPLR taking the HD feed of Regis & Kelly? At least when they were on KMOV we were getting it in HD!

You're not missing anything. They had the softest "HD" of just about any program I've ever seen.

I'm also curious about this analog channel 16 -- it's branded as RTV (Retro Television Network); Kojak was on, then Emergency, then Adam12, and now Dragnet. Weird time warp... but I'm in lemay area and it comes in very well, and was never on my analog tuner pre-dtv.... (home shopping (or some sort) is on 7, and a couple of Jesus channels, but that's it for analog)

I'm also curious about this analog channel 16 -- it's branded as RTV (Retro Television Network); Kojak was on, then Emergency, then Adam12, and now Dragnet. Weird time warp... but I'm in lemay area and it comes in very well, and was never on my analog tuner pre-dtv.... (home shopping (or some sort) is on 7, and a couple of Jesus channels, but that's it for analog)

It looks like Daystar is running their WPSX programming on analog 16 while their channel 21 digital transmitter is broken.

Will we be more lively now that the new season is starting????

Will we be more lively now that the new season is starting????

Hope so. This used to be one of AVS's most active threads. It's been sort of a wasteland this summer. That's what happens when people make the mistake of staying on topic. :D

Here's a topic...
Has anyone noticed a lip sync problem on Fox (KTVI) on D* or E*? We're having problems at all our Fox stations. I did notice lip sync off last weekend on D* but good over the air. Seems to be a problem with the Fox splicer. Strange that there has been no mention of it on this thread.

It's because last night was the first time I've watched Fox for a while. Bones' season premiere was last night an.d I did notice a problem with lip synch on Dish. I usually record the satellite feed to save space on the DVR.

I noticed a lip sync issue, but it was on LOTR on TNT... so that doesn't really cause a problem for you :p

4.2 is not showing up when scanning for OTA. I get everything else. Is it on 24X7?

4.2 is not showing up when scanning for OTA. I get everything else. Is it on 24X7?


What are you using as a receiver?

Have you done a 'double rescan' to clear out the old stored data?

A D* HR22-100 with AM-21. I get everything else & scanned twice.

A D* HR22-100 with AM-21. I get everything else & scanned twice.

The D* receivers use downloaded guide data instead for the results of the OTA scan.

Neither of my D* H/R20 receivers will get 4.2, either. OTOH, both have an 11.2 (with no programming) and 13.1 (which isn't receivable where I live even if it were broadcasting) in the program guide.

I noticed a lip sync issue, but it was on LOTR on TNT... so that doesn't really cause a problem for you :p

Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace was way off this morning on E*. I hope this isn't a new trend. There's no one over there you can call and and complain this to. :mad:

Anyone using a Dish Vip 622 or 722 may want to verify that their OTA timers actually show something scheduled to record on them before the Fall season hits this week. I checked mine and all the OTA timers showed nothing to record, it seems to have something to do with St. Louis locals being available from multiple satellites. Here is a link to the thread on Satguys that I used to get mine working.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-network-technical-discussions/176227-ota-timer-scheduling-disappeared-6.html

I was just coming on here to post the same thing.I was also helped by a local Satguy with this issue.

If you don't need 118 for international, disconnect it from your switch. Then do a check switch test. That should fix your OTA timers. I don't know why, but I did that in July and haven't had any problems since.

It's sad that I could figure this out and Dish couldn't.

Why isn't KPLR taking the HD feed of Regis & Kelly? At least when they were on KMOV we were getting it in HD!


They were showing it in HD today.

The D* receivers use downloaded guide data instead for the results of the OTA scan.

Neither of my D* H/R20 receivers will get 4.2, either. OTOH, both have an 11.2 (with no programming) and 13.1 (which isn't receivable where I live even if it were broadcasting) in the program guide.

Thanks for the reply.

Does anyone besides me record This Old House classics on ch 30 at 1:30 am Sunday mornings? For the last three weeks the program that proceeds it (some church of what's happening now junk) has run about 20 minutes into TOH's 1:30am time slot. This results in only 10 minutes of TOH getting recorded. Is this the new normal? Or is some sporting event earlier in the day to blame?

Tuned in Leno's new, earlier show tonight for the first time.

Audio was flagged as 5.1, but sound was actually 2.0.... left and right fronts only... no center, no surrounds.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Does anyone besides me record This Old House classics on ch 30 at 1:30 am Sunday mornings? For the last three weeks the program that proceeds it (some church of what's happening now junk) has run about 20 minutes into TOH's 1:30am time slot. This results in only 10 minutes of TOH getting recorded. Is this the new normal? Or is some sporting event earlier in the day to blame?

Most likely delayed by college football. I used to have the same issue with NFL football delaying The Unit on CBS Sunday nights, so I padded an extra HOUR at the end of my recordings.

Any way we can petition KDNL to show the UM/VT football game on Saturday as opposed to the Illinois/OSU game? Please???

Any way we can petition KDNL to show the UM/VT football game on Saturday as opposed to the Illinois/OSU game? Please???

No, thank you! Go Bucks!

Did anyone else sign up to go to the St. Louis event on 11/9? (Registration now closed).

ATTEND THE FREE EVENT, TAKE HOME WINDOWS 7
These are the new innovations that can help you be part of the new efficiency. And at our free live events, you can learn, network, and get your copy of Windows 7!

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No, thank you! Go Bucks!

But this is why the Big Ten network exist.

Any way we can petition KDNL to show the UM/VT football game on Saturday as opposed to the Illinois/OSU game? Please???

Unfortunately we have to take what ABC gives us. When events run long it usually comes out a a late night show with the least $ impact so we can be on time the next AM.

Why is 2 showing The Office in SD? Because the show was shot in widescreen you see four black bars and it looks terrible. Some shows shouldn't shown in SD.

I've been too busy simply enjoying my spectacular new 58" Panasonic plasma to post a full review, but here's some observations....

720p programming looks really good, but 1080i stuff completely blows it away. I suspect that's because the TV does a phenomenal job of deinterlacing it. Flipping back and forth between Cards/Cubs on ESPN and Giants/Cowboys on KSDK/NBC, the 1080i NBC football game looked almost as good as a Blu-Ray, tons better than the 720p ESPN baseball game.

The repeats of 24 on Crime & Investigation Network (channel 289 on DirecTV) look a LOT sharper than the first run episodes on KTVI/Fox. Too bad the sound is only 2.0 Pro Logic. The 5.1 sound on Fox makes it the best sounding show on TV. And surprise, the guy that plays Desmond on Lost had a brief role as a German Intelligence agent on 24 during season 5.

On Monday night's Jay Leno Show, the cameras used during the remote shots were in much sharper focus than the ones on the set.

My months-old recording of Taylor Swift and Def Leppard on CMT's Crossroads (1080i) could easily be mistaken for a Blu-Ray disc, it's THAT sharp.

More observations to come if and when I can tear myself away from the TV long enough to post....

Anyone ever rent/purchase one of the outdoor inflatable movie screens? :cool: I have done little research yet, idea has been stuck in my head for several hours now....

I might have a get together next month, and have been considering trying the projector outdoors at night.

My screen would come down fairly easy, but I am a bit nervous about taking it outside. Also beings I will have more room, I really should have a larger image, right? ;)

Have started thinking about sheets, etc.

Thanks!

Anyone ever rent/purchase one of the outdoor inflatable movie screens? :cool: I have done little research yet, idea has been stuck in my head for several hours now....

I might have a get together next month, and have been considering trying the projector outdoors at night.

My screen would come down fairly easy, but I am a bit nervous about taking it outside. Also beings I will have more room, I really should have a larger image, right? ;)

Have started thinking about sheets, etc.

Thanks!

www.backyardtheater.com for some ideas.

I use this - http://www.walmart.com/Deluxe-Outdoor-Inflatable-Movie-Screen/ip/7983503

and something like this - http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Phonic-Powerpod-620-Plus-S710-PA-Package?sku=630486 for the sound with some speaker stands I bought on ebay.

Very small investment for everyone to enjoy movies outside.

I think the projector is the most expensive item, if you want the lumens to start early. I picked up a projector on Buy.com and start the movie as soon as the sun goes down.

I think for 700 bucks you can have a complete system.

Sometime after The Tonight Show recorded Monday night I have lost the signal for 5-1 OTA on my D* HR20-700. Found out tonight when I just tried watching my recording of the SVU season premier:mad: The guide information is there, just a searching for signal message.

I'll try a rescan as soon as the Card's game is over, but is anyone else seeing this?

www.backyardtheater.com for some ideas.

I use this - http://www.walmart.com/Deluxe-Outdoor-Inflatable-Movie-Screen/ip/7983503

and something like this - http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Phonic-Powerpod-620-Plus-S710-PA-Package?sku=630486 for the sound with some speaker stands I bought on ebay.

Very small investment for everyone to enjoy movies outside.

I think the projector is the most expensive item, if you want the lumens to start early. I picked up a projector on Buy.com and start the movie as soon as the sun goes down.

I think for 700 bucks you can have a complete system.

Thanks for the links! :)

I plan on using my Mits HC 6000 from my theatre room, along with my Denon for sound. Not sure how carried away I am getting with the speakers, currently leaning on using my center, fronts and sub. Debating on "borrowing" something for possible surround.

Sunset on Oct. 18 is 6:18, twilight ends at 6:45.

If I get wife approval, my brain storm is to show Twister starting around 6:30, it runs just short of 2 hours. Then at 9 the season premiere of storm chasers is on Discovery Channel.

Thanks for the links! :)

I plan on using my Mits HC 6000 from my theatre room, along with my Denon for sound. Not sure how carried away I am getting with the speakers, currently leaning on using my center, fronts and sub. Debating on "borrowing" something for possible surround.

Sunset on Oct. 18 is 6:18, twilight ends at 6:45.

If I get wife approval, my brain storm is to show Twister starting around 6:30, it runs just short of 2 hours. Then at 9 the season premiere of storm chasers is on Discovery Channel.You wouldn't really want to make a bigger screen a priority -- the bigger the screen area, the less bright the picture will be. And even though you are outside after twilight, you will be dealing with quite a lot of ambient light, further reducing perceived picture brightness. I'd suggest sticking with the same size screen, or possibly smaller. Of course, the objective here is probably more skewed toward convenience/novelty than performance/quality, but you should be aware that you're going to take a substantial hit in terms of perceived brightness in the move outdoors and any increase is screen size is going to add to that.

Yes, you may have to tweak (and thus compromise) the picture in a number of ways to get enough brightness for the image to be viewable - crank up the contrast, raise the lamp level, open up the iris. And an image that's twice as large is half as bright. If I were you, I'd cart the projector and a sheet outside for a real world test. You'll know exactly what you're dealing with.

Sounds like fun, if your Mits has enough light to pull it off. :)

Sometime after The Tonight Show recorded Monday night I have lost the signal for 5-1 OTA on my D* HR20-700. Found out tonight when I just tried watching my recording of the SVU season premier:mad: The guide information is there, just a searching for signal message.

I'll try a rescan as soon as the Card's game is over, but is anyone else seeing this?
I don't know about your OTA issue, but I haven't had any issues using the D* local hd channels. There may be a PQ difference, but not enough for me to see, so I just disconnected my OTA antennas...

Hey projector guys....

What projector line should I look at and where are you getting the screens?

Hey projector guys....

What projector line should I look at and where are you getting the screens?wmschultz,

Your signature line has earned you some free consulting time. ;)

Feel free to give me a call -- 314-226-1705 -- to discuss projector/screen options, at your convenience.

wmschultz,

Your signature line has earned you some free consulting time. ;)

Feel free to give me a call -- 314-226-1705 -- to discuss projector/screen options, at your convenience.

Thanks Doug.

There are lots of great, affordable choices out there for projectors and screens. Doug's the go to guy on that one, for sure. AVS should be at the top of your list of places to get pricing, once you decide. They're a great company to work with. I bought a BenQ projector from them and wasn't happy with it at all, so I was able to trade up to a Sharp XV-Z20000. No problem. I also got my DaLite High Power screen from them. Great company, great support and they provide this wonderful resource (AVS Forum) for all of us to use.

I'd be happy to share what I know about home theater "stuff" (DLP, LCD and LCOS, etc., and a fair amount of experience and research on screens). Feel free to PM.

Yes, you may have to tweak (and thus compromise) the picture in a number of ways to get enough brightness for the image to be viewable - crank up the contrast, raise the lamp level, open up the iris. And an image that's twice as large is half as bright. If I were you, I'd cart the projector and a sheet outside for a real world test. You'll know exactly what you're dealing with.

Sounds like fun, if your Mits has enough light to pull it off. :)

Doug, Joe,

Thanks for the input!

I am currently throwing a 119" image in my theatre room, projector on low, and with excellent light control.

I have an area in my back yard that is very dark, I think I will try the sheet as Joe suggested. I had already figured on setting the projector on high. I wasn't going to get to carried away with the screen, the one listed above claims to be 144", that will work well with the area I have chosen.

The wife currently seems alright with the idea....:cool: Wonder what she will want in return? :confused:

There are lots of great, affordable choices out there for projectors and screens. Doug's the go to guy on that one, for sure. AVS should be at the top of your list of places to get pricing, once you decide. They're a great company to work with. I bought a BenQ projector from them and wasn't happy with it at all, so I was able to trade up to a Sharp XV-Z20000. No problem. I also got my DaLite High Power screen from them. Great company, great support and they provide this wonderful resource (AVS Forum) for all of us to use.

I'd be happy to share what I know about home theater "stuff" (DLP, LCD and LCOS, etc., and a fair amount of experience and research on screens). Feel free to PM.

I also purchased my projector, mount, and DaLite High Power from AVS. Doug and Joe will lead you down the right path.

So the Blues TV schedule is out for this season ... all games on FSMW, a few on Versus .... what happened to WB11 coverage? None?

So I watched Smallville last night on the CW (I don't know why I continue to torture myself with it :() and it was in SD from the satellite feed. I'm assuming it was the same with an OTA tuner, right?

On the bright side, the picture was awful but the audio was even worse. You gotta love that attention consistency. :D

So I watched Smallville last night on the CW (I don't know why I continue to torture myself with it :() and it was in SD from the satellite feed. I'm assuming it was the same with an OTA tuner, right?

On the bright side, the picture was awful but the audio was even worse. You gotta love that attention consistency. :D

Yeah, OTA was SD, figured it was typical channel 11 screwup.

Speaking of channel 11, last night my DTV Pal DVR added 11-2 as a new service called "TUBE TV" :eek:. But then when I tune to that channel, it says 'no service'. Guess someone pressed the wrong button, because I can't imagine that the tube is coming back (almost 2 years to the day since it died :( RIP).

Talk about a blast from the past! It was adding TheShaft, I mean TheTube, on 11-2 that started KraPLR's long hard slow fall from grace in the St. Louis HD community.

Anyone else find that your DVR "missed" the opening monologue of SNL?

Yup, and I've now told it to start 5 minutes early for future new SNL's.

Anyone else find that your DVR "missed" the opening monologue of SNL?

It not only missed the cold opening. But why did 5 miss the first minutes of the 2nd digital short? I'm just getting sick of St. Louis stations in general.

I don't know why I even bother with Smallville anymore. It's a tossup as to which is worse, the sound problems or the video problems. I'm probably going to delete it from my DVR. I have to strain to hear dialog, because the left/right front channels always overwhelm the center, and I can't remember the last time it didn't have one sort of video glitch or station foul up. Fortunately, it's the only show I watch on 11. Does Supernatural have similar issues?

I don't know why I even bother with Smallville anymore. It's a tossup as to which is worse, the sound problems or the video problems. I'm probably going to delete it from my DVR. I have to strain to hear dialog, because the left/right front channels always overwhelm the center, and I can't remember the last time it didn't have one sort of video glitch or station foul up. Fortunately, it's the only show I watch on 11. Does Supernatural have similar issues?

I agree about Smallville, though no problems with Supernatural this year (so far). When Smallville messes up I download the HD version from iTunes. Been happening way too often the last year or so.

Hey Joe,

I gave up on both Smallville and Supernatural on KraPLR when KraPLR moved them both back an hour last year. KraPLR has apparently never broadcast anything with 5.1 channel sound since.

I get my Smallville and Supernatural fixes via the Blu-Ray sets (and occasionally Amazon Video on Demand, also through my Blu-Ray player).

I'd love to get DirecTV's national CW feed, but that would require a waiver from KraPLR, which of course, will not be forthcoming....

Hey dabrooks, do the iTunes versions of Smallville and Supernatural have 5.1 sound? The Amazon on Demand versions are only 2.0........

Well, my rescan fixed OTA ksdk for a couple of days and then it was back to a black gray screen. I checked tonight and I have a picture again. Looks like I may have to reprogram my DVR to record D* 5 and not 5-1 for a while:mad:

Bob, haven't played this episode yet, but my recollection is that most, including Smallville/Supernatural, are 5.1. I'll fire up the sound system this evening to make sure.

I guess 11 doesn't care about the CW at all. Because last night I was channel surfing and stop on 11 and I saw a commercial for the recently canceled The Beautiful Life.

The coolest thing happened to me last week.

I don't pay for cable or satellite, and have spent a ton of time messing with an attic antenna trying to get all stations in clear. Most are fine. I can't get 24 or 46 though, and Channel 9 has about a 60% signal with me. However, if it is really windy outside (like during a storm), my picture gets messed up (mostly Channel 5).

Well, I read that the law requires cable operators to provide local channels on all their coax. Even if you don't subscribe to TV service from them.
Well, I just happened to have a Charter cable modem. I unplugged my modem, and hooked it up to my TV to see if I could get in the local channels I was unable to pull in over the air...

My TV detected 100 Analog channels, and over 300 Digital channels. Most of the digital channels were encrypted, but something like 50+ of them were not.

So I got ABC HD, CBS HD, NBC HD, PBS HD, CW HD, FOX HD all at 100% signal strength. I even got some cable channels like TBS in HD. I can finally watch Channel 46 again. 24 and 33 also come in, but I doubt I will watch those. Most sub channels are there (4.2, 5.2, 9.2, 9.3, and 9.4). I didn't see 24.2 though.
And then on the analog side, I got most of their popular channels, like Comedy Central, SyFy, FX, Discovery, MTV1, MTV2, VH1, History Channel, MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, etc.

Of course, I was amazed. I've apparently been receiving free Cable (including HD) from Charter for almost a solid year now (that's how love I've had the cable modem), and I never knew it.

I immediately disconnected my attic antenna, and plugged in the cable to my splitter/amplifier. Now every TV in the house has cable. My wife has been enjoying all the new stations. She grew up without cable. I spent most of my life without cable as well.

My opinion of Charter just went way up.

Hmm, I think you're misreading or misinterpreting "must carry" rules and, no offense intended, are "stealing" cable services. Would be interested in a link to the info you read.

Well, I don't consider it stealing. Charter came over and put a coax cable in my room, and they are providing TV service on the coax. I hooked it up to TV and now I can watch the Disney Channel. I didn't ask them to do that. I didn't go outside and tamper with someone's line.
It was obviously a gift from them. If they had came over and placed a cupcake on my table, would it be stealing to eat it?

I wasn't looking for free cable. I was just trying to see if my local stations came in with better reception.

Well, I don't consider it stealing. Charter came over and put a coax cable in my room, and they are providing TV service on the coax. I hooked it up to TV and now I can watch the Disney Channel. I didn't ask them to do that. I didn't go outside and tamper with someone's line.
It was obviously a gift from them. If they had came over and placed a cupcake on my table, would it be stealing to eat it?

I wasn't looking for free cable. I was just trying to see if my local stations came in with better reception.

If a cable company left me a cupcake, I'd be suspicious.

If a cable company left me a cupcake, I'd be suspicious.No argument there. :D

The coolest thing happened to me last week.

I don't pay for cable or satellite, and have spent a ton of time messing with an attic antenna trying to get all stations in clear. Most are fine. I can't get 24 or 46 though, and Channel 9 has about a 60% signal with me. However, if it is really windy outside (like during a storm), my picture gets messed up (mostly Channel 5).

Well, I read that the law requires cable operators to provide local channels on all their coax. Even if you don't subscribe to TV service from them.
Well, I just happened to have a Charter cable modem. I unplugged my modem, and hooked it up to my TV to see if I could get in the local channels I was unable to pull in over the air...

My TV detected 100 Analog channels, and over 300 Digital channels. Most of the digital channels were encrypted, but something like 50+ of them were not.

So I got ABC HD, CBS HD, NBC HD, PBS HD, CW HD, FOX HD all at 100% signal strength. I even got some cable channels like TBS in HD. I can finally watch Channel 46 again. 24 and 33 also come in, but I doubt I will watch those. Most sub channels are there (4.2, 5.2, 9.2, 9.3, and 9.4). I didn't see 24.2 though.
And then on the analog side, I got most of their popular channels, like Comedy Central, SyFy, FX, Discovery, MTV1, MTV2, VH1, History Channel, MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, etc.

Of course, I was amazed. I've apparently been receiving free Cable (including HD) from Charter for almost a solid year now (that's how love I've had the cable modem), and I never knew it.

I immediately disconnected my attic antenna, and plugged in the cable to my splitter/amplifier. Now every TV in the house has cable. My wife has been enjoying all the new stations. She grew up without cable. I spent most of my life without cable as well.

My opinion of Charter just went way up.Don't get too comfortable in your cable TV luxury. Charter periodically sends trucks around that can tell if a television is receiving an unauthorized cable signal. Cable companies have traditionally done this to prevent basic cable customers seeing the expanded cable channels that are all available from 2-100 or so. Sooner or later Charter will find out what you're up to, and they will either shut off the cable signal at the source, or they will offer you a chance to subscribe before shutting it off.

Charter provided "free" service to my nephew for a couple of years. He was in the same boat as you. Didn't ask for it, didn't hook it up illegally and didn't ask someone else to do it. He just hooked up his TV and it worked. My folks got "free" Internet from Charter for a short period of time due to Charter's screw-up. They tried to get the whole mess straightened out and pay for the service that Charter never even put them on the books for (despite the fact that it was working). In the process of trying to get things sorted out, I was never able to get a live human being on the phone, even at Charter's corporate headquarters. I ended up having to go to a Charter office, where they were going to charge my folks 2 1/2 times what they had agreed to originally. They went with ATT DSL eventually.

My folks always pay their bills on time. They don't believe in cheating anyone. They were perfectly willing to pay for the service that Charter never billed them for. They just wanted to get everything straightened out, at the price that had been agreed upon.

Charter is a horribly run company. On principle, I wouldn't do business with them at all if I had a viable choice. I just can't get the high speed Internet I want any other way.

To all DirecTv users, have you been having any problems with the Brrriip issue as described in this thread...

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=161262

It just seemed to be appearing recently, maybe coincidental with the recent software on the HR20 and HR21. Last night it happened towards the end of House and I recall it happening on a couple of other locals. I need to start logging this a bit as well to determine with it's happening on my OTA stations on the HR20 or DirecTv locals on the HR21. Please let me know if you're seeing this issue also.

Thanks,

Mike (Da Bears)