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 you want to keep receiving the service, sshhhh! They'll probably disconnect it one day, but that might depend on whether the guy driving the truck to check such things for your area decides to do his job that day. :D

Charter is likely just to disconnect you, or ask you to subscribe, if they find out. I don't know if continuing to use it constitutes theft of service, but I doubt they'd prosecute anyway. I'm no lawyer, though. My nephew just got too nervous about the situation and subscribed on his own eventually.

Regarding the thing I read,

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-170A1.doc

The FCC states that broadcast signals that are subject to mandatory carriage "must be viewable via cable on all television receivers of a subscriber which are connected to a cable system by a cable operator or for which a cable operator provides a connection." (Paragraph 15)

Does that verify anyone with a cable modem can watch TV with the connection? It says TV has to be available for a subscribe *or* to whom a connection has been provided. Charter provided me with a connection.

Even if I'm not receiving all the fun cable channels, I should still be able to get locals in HD.
How does the cable company send a truck around to check on who is watching TV? I've had Internet service for almost a year now. That is almost a year of TV going into my house. How do they know if someone is watching TV or not? The coax has been in constant use anyway.

Regarding the thing I read,

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-170A1.doc

The FCC states that broadcast signals that are subject to mandatory carriage "must be viewable via cable on all television receivers of a subscriber which are connected to a cable system by a cable operator or for which a cable operator provides a connection." (Paragraph 15)

Does that verify anyone with a cable modem can watch TV with the connection? It says TV has to be available for a subscribe *or* to whom a connection has been provided. Charter provided me with a connection.

Even if I'm not receiving all the fun cable channels, I should still be able to get locals in HD.
How does the cable company send a truck around to check on who is watching TV? I've had Internet service for almost a year now. That is almost a year of TV going into my house. How do they know if someone is watching TV or not? The coax has been in constant use anyway.

Again, I'm no lawyer, but if you have cable service (and thus a cable connection), I wouldn't worry about it. They're not going to cut you off if you have Internet service with them. I just wouldn't talk about it too much, and if you have a service issue they might "correct" the problem.

A note about Dish Network: if you sign up for regular SD service, chances are you'll get an HD receiver (but no DVR, unless you pay the $7/month DVR fee). That means you get local HD channels from satellite without subscribing to any HD programming package. Also, a regular, non-HD package price will get you Fox Sports Midwest HD for free, too (and all the FSNMW HD Cardinals broadcasts). Both my parents and another nephew get it. This nephew gets the Bronze 100+ service with them ($30/month for a year, with a 2-year commitment that goes up to $45/month the second year). It's a pretty cheap way of getting a summer's worth of Cardinals HD games (FSNMW and KSDK) without having to pay a penny for HD service (or buy an antenna, for that matter).

I don't know if DirecTV does this the same way. D* users, is it the same for you?

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.

This is actually pretty common with Charter. I suspect that most people simply don't talk about it.....:-) Perhaps this contributes to them gong bankrupt! It is very unlikely Charter will ever turn you off if you are an internet customer - or the guy in the truck will ever figure it out unless they are called specifically to your house for a service call. I have heard about people doing this for years.

NeonGerbil, essentially what has happen is Charter has not put a line trap on the coax going to your house to block the video signal.

When I dropped Charter video in favor of Directv but kept the internet, they had a truck roll around to put in a filter to block the video signal.

Recently I upped my internet to the 20 meg service and to get a better deal, I signed up for phone and basic service. Before I got the video, they had to remove the filter. But they will send locals in unencrypted qam, which also includes TBS HD and Weather Channel HD, which it sounds like what you are getting now.

I just had my old HK receiver fixed. It had a bad capacitor. Schneider TV is an authorized repair center. Anyway, I now have a dead speaker. I swapped it out and it's dead as a doornail.

Wondering if anyone has a HK satellite speaker collecting dust somewhere. A TS2 or TS2 would work.

Thanks in advance! :)

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)

Saw it for the first time last night, on a recorded copy of Dexter (from Sunday?). Only instance thus far, fingers crossed.

Oops! I had a typo...a TS1 or TS2 speaker(s) would work.

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)

I saw the issue on my recording of House. Also, I'm wondering if this is related to my issue with KSDK, where the receiver shows nothing but a blank screen. One time I had to reset and rescan the receiver to get OTA KSDK back, but another time, the problem fixed itself after a day or two.

I saw the issue on my recording of House. Also, I'm wondering if this is related to my issue with KSDK, where the receiver shows nothing but a blank screen. One time I had to reset and rescan the receiver to get OTA KSDK back, but another time, the problem fixed itself after a day or two.

If the issue is with mpeg2->4 transcoding at the uplink, as the dbstalk thread suggests, I can't see an impact to the OTA receiver. There would be no transcoding (and no uplink) involved.

If there were garbage in the station's mpeg2 stream I think the effects would be more widespread.

Speaking of speakers... Does anyone in St Louis re-cone them? I have a pair of "classic"...er, old AR-18s that have blown woofers. They're a pair of speakers that I've really liked over the years (bought them new in the PX in Wiesbaden Germany 29 years ago) and I'd prefer to fix them.

Speaking of speakers... Does anyone in St Louis re-cone them? I have a pair of "classic"...er, old AR-18s that have blown woofers. They're a pair of speakers that I've really liked over the years (bought them new in the PX in Wiesbaden Germany 29 years ago) and I'd prefer to fix them.

Google it on the web. I know that generic do-it-yourself kits are available. I have no clue regarding success rate or quality. Usually, it's the foam surrounds that fail/rot due to age.

Speaking of speakers... Does anyone in St Louis re-cone them? I have a pair of "classic"...er, old AR-18s that have blown woofers. They're a pair of speakers that I've really liked over the years (bought them new in the PX in Wiesbaden Germany 29 years ago) and I'd prefer to fix them.

Ask for a quote from Alpha Tech just off Big Bend. I think the number's (314) 645-5250.

The OTA timers on my Dish Network receiver have stopped firing. Satellite timers work just fine, manual recordings of OTA timers work fine. No OTA timer records anything. Just started recently. I read that some people are having the problem if they have multiple dishes on their roofs, but I have just one. Anyone else having this problem?

The OTA timers on my Dish Network receiver have stopped firing. Satellite timers work just fine, manual recordings of OTA timers work fine. No OTA timer records anything. Just started recently. I read that some people are having the problem if they have multiple dishes on their roofs, but I have just one. Anyone else having this problem?

Dish added our locals to a spot beam on the new 129 satellite. They were originally and still are on the 118 satellite.

I fixed mine by disconnecting the 118 satellite feed to my switch, it is the "fss" feed, or port 4 on my DPP44. After removing do a checkswitch on each receiver and save changes.

This will not effect any other programming unless you subscribe to an international programing package.

The OTA timers on my Dish Network receiver have stopped firing. Satellite timers work just fine, manual recordings of OTA timers work fine. No OTA timer records anything. Just started recently. I read that some people are having the problem if they have multiple dishes on their roofs, but I have just one. Anyone else having this problem?

tstolze is absolutely correct. I did the same and the issue vanished. 118 should be port 4 but that's only if your installer knew what he was doing. It will work on any port. You can verify the actual port by first going to MENU 6-1-1 and then selecting Check Switch. Look at the tables and verify that 118 is connected to port 4. Then simply unscrew the 118 cable and do a TEST on all DVRs in the home.

Regarding the thing I read,

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-170A1.doc

The FCC states that broadcast signals that are subject to mandatory carriage "must be viewable via cable on all television receivers of a subscriber which are connected to a cable system by a cable operator or for which a cable operator provides a connection." (Paragraph 15)

Does that verify anyone with a cable modem can watch TV with the connection? It says TV has to be available for a subscribe *or* to whom a connection has been provided. Charter provided me with a connection.

Even if I'm not receiving all the fun cable channels, I should still be able to get locals in HD.
How does the cable company send a truck around to check on who is watching TV? I've had Internet service for almost a year now. That is almost a year of TV going into my house. How do they know if someone is watching TV or not? The coax has been in constant use anyway.

Yeah you are definitely reading that wrong. In a nutshell what you posted simply says that no matter what sort of TELEVISION (and it states television) service they offer you, they have to provide you "must carry" channels. So it doesn't matter if it is a cable box or right out of the wall. You get TBN and HSN you lucky duck.


What you are doing is technically illegal. It has a name and its called "passive cable theft".

Just because someone (or some company) is stupid enough to "leave a cupcake on a table" doesn't excuse you from taking what is not yours. By that justification, a robber could say "well they should have made their locks and alarm system better, it's not my fault".

Having said all that, if it works, use it. Just don't justify by anything else than what it is...a mistake on Charter's part. I don't think it's a big deal at all and the chances of you getting into any real trouble are slim. This happens quite a bit.

I have OTA only and I leave by cable coax plugged "just in case". Hasn't happened yet.



CHANGE OF TOPIC:

Can we know complain about MLB and their stupid tv rights again?

This will be the first post-season involving the Cardinals that will not be broadcast OTA. At least until the World Series. Only the AL will be on broadcast. I think its stupid...they should have left it the way it was...local markets have must-carry OTA. ANd if they are not going to do it, couldn't they at least mix up the games a little bit? Why carry only one DS and one CS? Why not a little from all four and two respectively?

F* Bud Selig.

tstolze is absolutely correct. I did the same and the issue vanished. 118 should be port 4 but that's only if your installer knew what he was doing. It will work on any port. You can verify the actual port by first going to MENU 6-1-1 and then selecting Check Switch. Look at the tables and verify that 118 is connected to port 4. Then simply unscrew the 118 cable and do a TEST on all DVRs in the home.

Thanks, guys. I just checked and 118 is on port 4. I'll pull it.

Just thought I'd share a quick printer story with you guys. I recall there being a discussion around printers here a while back. I've been looking for a decent all-in-one wireless photo/copy/scan/fax printer to replace an older basic HP I have (model 7350). I ended up buying a HP 8500 Wireless from Office Depot on Sunday morning. I could get it to print wirelessly, but I couldn't open the HP Solution Center, which apparently is needed to use some of the printer features/functionality, such as scanning. The install would hang at 96%, then give me a "fatal error" at which point it would close. The Solution Center would tell me it couldn't open because the install was never completed.

I consider myself fairly tech savvy, but I couldn't figure this one out for anything, even after many Google searches. To make a long story a little shorter, I spent 4.5 hours on the phone with HP on Sunday night, only to be told I would get a call back in 20-25 minutes that never occured (around 12am). I called back Monday evening and was on the phone for 3 more hours, only to be conveniently "disconnected" again at 12am (that was the second disconnect during the 3 hour span). I took the printer back on Tuesday during lunch and got a refund. I ended up buying a Canon MX860 from BB and, in IMHO, it is much better in terms of setup, ease of use and overall software performance. I almost got a Brother, because I remember some of you talking about how much you liked them, but I didn't care for the overall design and look of their all-in-one's. Just thought I'd post this for informational purposes in case any of you are looking for a decent all-in-one printer. The Canon isn't as fast and doens't look as "cool' as the HP8500, but it's also considerably cheaper. Both have a very large footprint, so make sure you have space for them.

Just thought I'd share a quick printer story with you guys. I recall there being a discussion around printers here a while back. I've been looking for a decent all-in-one wireless photo/copy/scan/fax printer to replace an older basic HP I have (model 7350). I ended up buying a HP 8500 Wireless from Office Depot on Sunday morning. I could get it to print wirelessly, but I couldn't open the HP Solution Center, which apparently is needed to use some of the printer features/functionality, such as scanning. The install would hang at 96%, then give me a "fatal error" at which point it would close. The Solution Center would tell me it couldn't open because the install was never completed.

I consider myself fairly tech savvy, but I couldn't figure this one out for anything, even after many Google searches. To make a long story a little shorter, I spent 4.5 hours on the phone with HP on Sunday night, only to be told I would get a call back in 20-25 minutes that never occured (around 12am). I called back Monday evening and was on the phone for 3 more hours, only to be conveniently "disconnected" again at 12am (that was the second disconnect during the 3 hour span). I took the printer back on Tuesday during lunch and got a refund. I ended up buying a Canon MX860 from BB and, in IMHO, it is much better in terms of setup, ease of use and overall software performance. I almost got a Brother, because I remember some of you talking about how much you liked them, but I didn't care for the overall design and look of their all-in-one's. Just thought I'd post this for informational purposes in case any of you are looking for a decent all-in-one printer. The Canon isn't as fast and doens't look as "cool' as the HP8500, but it's also considerably cheaper. Both have a very large footprint, so make sure you have space for them.

After several horrible experiences with HP printers, including painful failed installs and terrible reliability, I gave up on them, too. I'm the one who posted about the Brother. I have 2 (an inkjet and a laser), and they were both easy to set up and have been workhorses.

After several horrible experiences with HP printers, including painful failed installs and terrible reliability, I gave up on them, too. I'm the one who posted about the Brother. I have 2 (an inkjet and a laser), and they were both easy to set up and have been workhorses.

I've had much the opposite experience. The only times HP printers have failed to install for me were when I disobeyed the orders to leave the printer unplugged until the software was installed and TOLD me to plug them in.

So, you're calling me stupid???

Just kidding. :D

I did follow the instructions, though, and not only did both of my very expensive HP's have installation issues, they also failed catastrophically right after the warranty died. Funny how people can have such different experiences, but that's the way it goes with computer gear.

Funny how people can have such different experiences, but that's the way it goes with computer gear.

Yeah - I agree. I think the same goes for digital cameras, televisions, etc. When researching a purchase, I typically try to watch for the major reliability outliers and ignore the reviews/comments that appear to be one timers. My wife owned a Canon printer years ago before we got married and at the time I swore I'd never buy another one!

I followed the exact instructions as well on the HP and still had the software issue. My previous HP printer was fine and worked a long time without any software or mechanical problems. This wouldn't have been so bad had I not had to waste almost 8 hours of my life on the phone with "tech support" and still end up with no solution. With the Canon the software installed quicker and overall just seemed like less of a system hog. Either way, both companies make some good stuff and wouldn't be around if they sold junk.

As a funny side note, when I went back to Office Depot to return the HP, the sales guy asked me what operating system I was using. When I told him Vista, he said that's my problem because 90% of the printers they sell won't work with Vista :eek: Give me a break! If that were true I think they have a little problem.

118 should be port 4 but that's only if your installer knew what he was doing. It will work on any port.

I found 118 on port 3 of a dpp44 connected to a 1000. How is the port relevant? Is it the port or the LNB connected to the port which makes it wrong?

Yeah - I agree. I think the same goes for digital cameras, televisions, etc. When researching a purchase, I typically try to watch for the major reliability outliers and ignore the reviews/comments that appear to be one timers. My wife owned a Canon printer years ago before we got married and at the time I swore I'd never buy another one!

I followed the exact instructions as well on the HP and still had the software issue. My previous HP printer was fine and worked a long time without any software or mechanical problems. This wouldn't have been so bad had I not had to waste almost 8 hours of my life on the phone with "tech support" and still end up with no solution. With the Canon the software installed quicker and overall just seemed like less of a system hog. Either way, both companies make some good stuff and wouldn't be around if they sold junk.

As a funny side note, when I went back to Office Depot to return the HP, the sales guy asked me what operating system I was using. When I told him Vista, he said that's my problem because 90% of the printers they sell won't work with Vista :eek: Give me a break! If that were true I think they have a little problem.

All my HP problems were with XP.

I found 118 on port 3 of a dpp44 connected to a 1000. How is the port relevant? Is it the port or the LNB connected to the port which makes it wrong?

The problem, apparently, is that having the locals on 2 different satellites creates some sort of software conflict in getting the OTA local timers to fire correctly. They'll probably come up with a software fix one of these days, but I don't care to wait. Later today, I'll be up on the roof pulling the cable.

Just wanted to add another confirmation to disconnecting 118 for the Dish users having OTA timer problems.

And mine was on Port 2! :eek:

[QUOTE=Joseph Clark;17286104]All my HP problems were with XP.[/QUOTE

It is strange how software acts on different hardware/software configurations. I have a HP C6380 and I have no problems with XP or my Beta version of Windows 7, but my Vista machine is consistently having problems with the HP software and connecting to the printer. I have considered dumping vista for an unused copy of XP Media Center. I am currently holding of to see if the Windows 7 family pack of 3 license is true for around $150.

Just wanted to add another confirmation to disconnecting 118 for the Dish users having OTA timer problems.

And mine was on Port 2! :eek:

It is recommended that that satellite be placed on port 4, but it works on others, not sure what the real reason behind the recommendations is. :cool:

The problem, apparently, is that having the locals on 2 different satellites creates some sort of software conflict in getting the OTA local timers to fire correctly. They'll probably come up with a software fix one of these days, but I don't care to wait. Later today, I'll be up on the roof pulling the cable.

I disconnected 118 a few weeks ago. I was curious why 118 should be on port 4 if the installer knew what he was doing. Mine was on port 3 so I had the cluless installer:)

Joe, I have the HP wireless printer. Solutions center software is OK on Vista but not my XP laptop. I had printing problems and have to use drivers for the 990 printer instead of the printer specific drivers.

It is recommended that that satellite be placed on port 4, but it works on others, not sure what the real reason behind the recommendations is. :cool:

The 118 sat will work on any port but E* recommends that it always be placed on port 4. This may have something to do with reliable connectivity when adding additional DP44 switches. Not certain.

I only mentioned this because some folks may have the sat attached to a different port. If they do (as evidenced by ferl above) and blindly pull the fourth cable, it may not resolve the OTA Timer issue. In fact, it will obviously cause larger problems.

FYI, you can also work around the 118 sat issue as long as you specify once, weekly, daily or mon-fri in the 'Frequency' category when you create the timer by selecting something from the guide. If you select 'all episodes' or 'new episodes' it gets messed up.

Update on my Dish OTA timer woes:

I waited until today to remove my 118 sat feed from the switch. The other day the wind was blowing my car around on the highway and I decided it wasn't the best time to be climbing around on the roof. I tested the switch and everything seems to be working OK.

Thanks, guys. I had read about this on one of the satellite threads, and a guy posted "detailed instructions" on how to get the OTA timers working again. Unfortunately, his details were anything but detailed. I had no problem doing it the way it was explained here.

Anybody watching "Glee" on Fox? It's my favorite new show. It's fun and full of energy.

Blues have 55 games in HD this season ... not bad!

All my HP problems were with XP.[/QUOTE

It is strange how software acts on different hardware/software configurations. I have a HP C6380 and I have no problems with XP or my Beta version of Windows 7, but my Vista machine is consistently having problems with the HP software and connecting to the printer. I have considered dumping vista for an unused copy of XP Media Center. I am currently holding of to see if the Windows 7 family pack of 3 license is true for around $150.

My experience with printers...

My HP Photosmart 1215xi worked great on the first PC I installed it on with the included CD (AMD 4400+ with XP). Also worked great when I switched to a C2Q6700 with Vista (which had drivers preloaded).

But on my current office PC (AMD FX-60 with XP), it won't install. Tried the install CD and tried downloading drivers from hp.com. In both cases, I keep getting the error message "unknown driver."

Luckily, nearly all of my actual printing lately is packing slips and shipping labels, which are handled by my $50 Brother black & white laser printer fine and dandy.

But all this means right now I have no scanner.

But on my current office PC (AMD FX-60 with XP), it won't install.
Any chance it is Win64?

Hi again,

My wife watched desperate housewives on our HR-20 directv receiver this morning and the show was almost unwatchable (ignoring the content and focusing on the signal). This was the OTA station recorded on the HR-20, not the MPEG-4 signal processed by Directv. Did anybody else have this problem?

Thanks,

Mike (Da Bears)

Anybody watching "Glee" on Fox? It's my favorite new show. It's fun and full of energy.

After my in-laws had my wife and I watch the pilot with them, my wife and I have been watching it together. We liked the pilot quite a bit more than the episodes we've seen so far (maybe because of the shock value of the concept and some of the things they get into on the show), but overall we do like the show. We've also been watching Community together. We're a show or two behind on both. All I need is more to add to the list of television recordings that I can't find time to watch! I'm already building up Biggest Loser, Heroes, Fringe, and Office episodes on the downstairs box. Part of me really hates this time of year!!!

The pilot for Glee, I thought, was really good, and a couple of the subsequent shows struggled a little. The last episodes have been really good. I have to adjust my usual critical standards a bit for a musical, since bursting into song and dance can hardly be considered rational or realistic. But, this show is tons of fun.

I know what you mean about this being a time when new shows can overwhelm. I'm slowly whittling down the ones I don't care for, including shows like Hank and The Middle. A sitcom I really like is The Modern Family, with which I've had lots of laugh out loud moments.

Fox, unlike the CW, has decent quality video and audio. The CW is a real mess.

Hi again,

My wife watched desperate housewives on our HR-20 directv receiver this morning and the show was almost unwatchable (ignoring the content and focusing on the signal). This was the OTA station recorded on the HR-20, not the MPEG-4 signal processed by Directv. Did anybody else have this problem?

Thanks,

Mike (Da Bears)

I recorded it OTA via my E* DVR and it was flawless. Check your antenna.

Any chance it is Win64?

Nope, standard Windows XP Home Edition 32 bit.

Nope, standard Windows XP Home Edition 32 bit.
Oh, well.

The next step is to make sure that anything that even LOOKS like an HP1215 is totally removed from the Device Manager, and the HP software is totally removed from "Add/Remove Programs."

Then start anew.

Oh, well.

The next step is to make sure that anything that even LOOKS like an HP1215 is totally removed from the Device Manager, and the HP software is totally removed from "Add/Remove Programs."

Then start anew.
I've got detailed instructions that HP sent me a couple of years ago on how to completely remove a HP printer installation off of my Windows XP computer. It is alot more involved that just removing the program/software. If you would like to PM me your e-mail I can forward it to you.

Blues have 55 games in HD this season ... not bad!
How many of those are supposed to be on Vs.?

How many of those are supposed to be on Vs.?

VERSUS plans to air 5 games, including the season opener against Detroit from Stockholm, Sweden on Oct. 2 at 2 p.m.

So at the most 4.

http://blues.nhl.com/club/schedule.htm

So after the season premiere when I lost the entire opening segment, last weekend I told my DVR to start recording Saturday Night Live 3 minutes early instead of my default 1 minute early.

Last week's episode STILL cut off apparently half the opening segment.

I'm setting it SIX minutes early this weekend....

So after the season premiere when I lost the entire opening segment, last weekend I told my DVR to start recording Saturday Night Live 3 minutes early instead of my default 1 minute early.

Last week's episode STILL cut off apparently half the opening segment.

I'm setting it SIX minutes early this weekend....

Charter?

In the Moxi thread we're all talking about how our clocks are a bit off, and all my shows have started about a minute late.

Charter?

In the Moxi thread we're all talking about how our clocks are a bit off, and all my shows have started about a minute late.

Nope, this is on a DirecTV HR20... and SNL is the ONLY show I'm having this issue with.

I suspect kSDk is starting SNL at 10:30 now, but hasn't updated its listings, which still show a 10:35 start time.

Took a month to do, but I finally sold my 240-pound 36" Sony CRT last night. Got $200 for it. That thing went down in value faster than my 401k!

Now I'm gonna see if I can get $50 for the stand...

Anyone else getting "crackles" and "pops" on all KSDK prime time programming? I'm getting it OTA as well as on Charter 785. Noticed it Thursday night and last night on SNL. Sent an e-mail to engineering with no reply yet.

Only watched the first few minutes in the bedroom, sound not turned up loud. Didn't notice anything wrong with the sound... only that with my DVR set to record FIVE minutes early, I *still* missed part of the opening sketch.

Only watched the first few minutes in the bedroom, sound not turned up loud. Didn't notice anything wrong with the sound... only that with my DVR set to record FIVE minutes early, I *still* missed part of the opening sketch.Bob, I think your best bet is to hope for something like what may happen to NBC Universal (see below)...or for now, to set your DVR to start 10 minutes early, as I did on Friday night for this week's show. :)

The background on the blurb below is that General Electric, which owns NBC Universal, is shopping the subsidiary that includes the NBC TV network and associated cable programming and film studio properties. It's early, but Comcast has emerged as the most interested buyer. In a follow-up report last week, TV Week noted that Forbes Online has looked at some possible other suitors for NBCU, and one of the names that came up was Liberty Media, which (currently) owns DirecTV.

From the TV Week report:
_______________________________________________________

Forbes has come up with its list of who--besides Comcast--might mount a bid for NBC Universal. Confirming our own TVWeek speculation, Forbes thinks it's likely that Liberty Media, led by Denver-area based John Malone, will make a bid. And, like TVWeek. Forbes speculates that one of the things Malone, who owns DIrecTV and Starz, could do is turn NBC into a cable network.

Forbes rates Disney and News Corp as longshots in the hunt for NBCU, and Time Warner's interest at slim to none.

On the more probable challengers to Comcast, besides Liberty, Forbes says some private equity firms are likely to make a bid for NBCU as well. The only ones Forbes mentions in the article are Providence Equity and Thomas H. Lee and Bain Capital.
_______________________________________________________

I've long believed that eventually one or more of the "Big 4" networks would fold their traditional network-affiliate structure and go direct via cable, satellite and IPTV. I'm not sure that NBC is the best candidate for that sort of move, but the organization overall has as much or more experience as any other network with cable-style distribution.

I continue to believe that ditching affiliates would be a smart financial and operational move, and it's interesting to see the industry thought parade inching along in that direction.

Anyway, if something like this happens to NBCU, we'll eventually never again be held hostage to the incompetence of the control room cretins and their so-called superiors who own and manage kSDk.

Of course, all of this is wrapped up in a big bow of FCC and DOJ approval speculation. I have a hard time seeing much happening with media company mergers during the Obama administration, though it is true that GE has unusually cozy relations with the WH and the Democrat Party. Maybe that helps them get this done, though I think a lot will depend on who the buyer turns out to be.

And I sure hope that I am understanding what you wrote WRONG. It sounds to me like you are proposing that they DROP over the air broadcasts!!!

I have NEVER used a pay service (cable, etc.) and I hope NEVER to have to!!! I liked what I had gotten out of my investment in tower, amp., etc. over the last twenty years so well (prorate it over 20 yrs. comes out to about $55 per YEAR) that I made what is to me an extensive investment in upgrading it solely because of ST. Louis stations going to UHF with the switch to digital.

Jane B.

Bob, I think your best bet is to hope for something like what may happen to NBC Universal (see below)...or for now, to set your DVR to start 10 minutes early, as I did on Friday night for this week's show. :)

The background on the blurb below is that General Electric, which owns NBC Universal, is shopping the subsidiary that includes the NBC TV network and associated cable programming and film studio properties. It's early, but Comcast has emerged as the most interested buyer. In a follow-up report last week, TV Week noted that Forbes Online has looked at some possible other suitors for NBCU, and one of the names that came up was Liberty Media, which (currently) owns DirecTV.

From the TV Week report:
_______________________________________________________

Forbes has come up with its list of who--besides Comcast--might mount a bid for NBC Universal. Confirming our own TVWeek speculation, Forbes thinks it's likely that Liberty Media, led by Denver-area based John Malone, will make a bid. And, like TVWeek. Forbes speculates that one of the things Malone, who owns DIrecTV and Starz, could do is turn NBC into a cable network.

Forbes rates Disney and News Corp as longshots in the hunt for NBCU, and Time Warner's interest at slim to none.

On the more probable challengers to Comcast, besides Liberty, Forbes says some private equity firms are likely to make a bid for NBCU as well. The only ones Forbes mentions in the article are Providence Equity and Thomas H. Lee and Bain Capital.
_______________________________________________________

I've long believed that eventually one or more of the "Big 4" networks would fold their traditional network-affiliate structure and go direct via cable, satellite and IPTV. I'm not sure that NBC is the best candidate for that sort of move, but the organization overall has as much or more experience as any other network with cable-style distribution.

I continue to believe that ditching affiliates would be a smart financial and operational move, and it's interesting to see the industry thought parade inching along in that direction.

Anyway, if something like this happens to NBCU, we'll eventually never again be held hostage to the incompetence of the control room cretins and their so-called superiors who own and manage kSDk.

Of course, all of this is wrapped up in a big bow of FCC and DOJ approval speculation. I have a hard time seeing much happening with media company mergers during the Obama administration, though it is true that GE has unusually cozy relations with the WH and the Democrat Party. Maybe that helps them get this done, though I think a lot will depend on who the buyer turns out to be.

And I sure hope that I am understanding what you wrote WRONG. It sounds to me like you are proposing that they DROP over the air broadcasts!!!

I have NEVER used a pay service (cable, etc.) and I hope NEVER to have to!!! I liked what I had gotten out of my investment in tower, amp., etc. over the last twenty years so well (prorate it over 20 yrs. comes out to about $55 per YEAR) that I made what is to me an extensive investment in upgrading it solely because of ST. Louis stations going to UHF with the switch to digital.

Jane B.This doesn't mean that over-the-air broadcasting would go away, but rather than one or more of the major national networks might ditch their affiliates and go direct via pay systems.

Presumably the local affiliate would continue to operate, assuming they shift to a workable business model sans network programming. While this sort of development would definitely change the nature of local broadcast television, the potential upside is that it would likely make it a lot more local.

And who knows? If NBC or one of the other networks exits broadcast TV, maybe something similar (or better) comes along to fill the void.

You have missed my point. I like my FREE NETWORK reception from a LOCAL station OTA.

Jane B.

This doesn't mean that over-the-air broadcasting would go away, but rather than one or more of the major national networks might ditch their affiliates and go direct via pay systems.

Presumably the local affiliate would continue to operate, assuming they shift to a workable business model sans network programming. While this sort of development would definitely change the nature of local broadcast television, the potential upside is that it would likely make it a lot more local.

And who knows? If NBC or one of the other networks exits broadcast TV, maybe something similar (or better) comes along to fill the void.

You have missed my point. I like my FREE NETWORK reception from a LOCAL station OTA.

Jane B.

But if that network EXITS broadcast TV, they have no obligation (legally) to offer OTA transmissions (plus, they just won't exist anymore.) So he was saying, maybe someone new and better would buy up that spectrum.

As long as a company uses that public spectrum, they have to offer OTA signal. If I'm not mistaken, its a Federal Law.

Posts not directly relating to St Louis area OTA Reception issues have been removed.

Only watched the first few minutes in the bedroom, sound not turned up loud. Didn't notice anything wrong with the sound... only that with my DVR set to record FIVE minutes early, I *still* missed part of the opening sketch.

Ditto to both findings. For some reason, the show now seems to start BEFORE the top of the half-hour. Therefore, I'm going to start my recurring weekly timer at 10:25 Central time. At least this new schedule will finally put an end to kSDk's stupid, amateurish and error-prone time-shifting caused by the urge to insert 5 minutes of additional local ads at 10:30.

I've been meaning to post this for a couple of weeks now, because I hadn't seen anyone else mention it. KMOV is using their 4.2 channel on Sunday mornings (9-10am) to run 'alternate' programming (locally produced zoo show). Now, I'm no fan of robbing bandwidth from the main channel, but if they're going to do it anyway, I would much rather prefer some kind of actual programming instead of weather - I all ready have enough ways to get weather the best one being opening the door and looking west. :)

I've been meaning to post this for a couple of weeks now, because I hadn't seen anyone else mention it. KMOV is using their 4.2 channel on Sunday mornings (9-10am) to run 'alternate' programming (locally produced zoo show). Now, I'm no fan of robbing bandwidth from the main channel, but if they're going to do it anyway, I would much rather prefer some kind of actual programming instead of weather - I all ready have enough ways to get weather the best one being opening the door and looking west. :)

That is what I wish KSDK would do instead when they show Cardinal games on Sunday and shift a multi-day event of another sport to a station I had never heard of until they started doing that — AND CAN'T GET. It is a matter of if you can't get the other station you miss out on who wins the other event!

Jane B.

Has anyone else been having 26-4 show up for the last few days? I just thought it was odd.

Has anyone else been having 26-4 show up for the last few days? I just thought it was odd.

Seems to be the same RF channel as CW11. Perhaps they are preparing a subchannel and have not yet switched the PID.

VERSUS plans to air 5 games, including the season opener against Detroit from Stockholm, Sweden on Oct. 2 at 2 p.m.

So at the most 4.

http://blues.nhl.com/club/schedule.htm

Actually I saw on Fox Sports MW facebook page that tonights game won't be available some cable outlets and on Dish Network. What is happening there? Kind of weird.

What's up with TBS? Anyone else having a problem with the picture being very jerky?

Didn't notice any problems with TBS on DirecTV in our break room at work tonight.

Actually I saw on Fox Sports MW facebook page that tonights game won't be available some cable outlets and on Dish Network. What is happening there? Kind of weird.

Its on Charter, in HD

First 10 minutes of Blues game on FSMW SD, then yanked on Dish. A call to Dish and they don't know anything, but have had other calls. He suggests calling FSMW. Idiot. I suggest what he can do.

Fox Sports Midwest will be blacking out 35 out of 74 games on Dish Network. 35!!! FSMW bragged that all of the games would now be on TV and now almost half of them are blacked out on Dish. You can check the following links for more info. I'm switching to U-verse if they don't get this settled quickly.

http://msn.foxsports.com/id/10224394

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/blues/story/11404692037BF6EF86257650007A4341?OpenDocument

I continue to believe that ditching affiliates would be a smart financial and operational move, and it's interesting to see the industry thought parade inching along in that direction.

Anyway, if something like this happens to NBCU, we'll eventually never again be held hostage to the incompetence of the control room cretins and their so-called superiors who own and manage kSDk.
Instead, people would be forced to pay monthly for cable/satellite and be held hostage by lower quality video at a higher price. Ohh what a joyous macroblocked future!

Thanks, but no thanks. If price isn't an issue to you (which it seems not to be), feel free to vote with your OWN wallet and switch to DirecTV and watch one of the network E/W feeds if you're that concerned. Channels 390-399 on DirecTV for reference...

The very reason that the 4 networks are valuable (and have the better programming) is because of local OTA broadcast stations. The first network to switch to cable-only will simply lose all of those viewers to the other 3 networks - and lose the advertising revenue too.

Instead, people would be forced to pay monthly for cable/satellite and be held hostage by lower quality video at a higher price. Ohh what a joyous macroblocked future!

Thanks, but no thanks. If price isn't an issue to you (which it seems not to be), feel free to vote with your OWN wallet and switch to DirecTV and watch one of the network E/W feeds if you're that concerned. Channels 390-399 on DirecTV for reference...

The very reason that the 4 networks are valuable (and have the better programming) is because of local OTA broadcast stations. The first network to switch to cable-only will simply lose all of those viewers to the other 3 networks - and lose the advertising revenue too.Some points of clarification:

* Once upon a time, OTA television, or at least OTA digital television, was pristine -- until local broadcasters began stuffing in sub-channels for weather or music or other programming. Of course, the local broadcasters are doing this to make money, and they're making the calculation (and probably the correct one) that most viewers won't notice the change in picture quality.

* I don't LIKE paying for TV programming, but I've found it to be the best approach for me in light of my own viewing preferences. If that's not the case for you, I have no desire to force open your wallet -- and I'm not sure how you've concluded that this is any way my desire. I'll leave the wallet-draining exercise to local, state and federal government, as that's one of their few remaining core competencies.

I'm only pointing out the business dynamics in play here. And remember it's Liberty Media, as a potential buyer of NBCU, that is said to be viewing the purchase in light of a different network TV business model. I didn't give them that idea -- or if I did, they haven't paid me for it yet. :)

* While you're right about the value proposition for network TV, you appear to be unaware that national broadcasters are increasingly concerned about their ability to continue to monetize that value, due to shrinking audiences and the hit they're ultimately going to have to take on advertising rates. And there's additional business model pressures, such as the growing use of DVRs, which raise additional questions about the long-term value of advertising.

On the other side of the equation, you have local broadcasters who are charging robust rates for the redistribution of their signals over local cable and national satellite. From a network broadcast point of view, that's a payday that they're not really benefiting from. It could be argued that this is fundamentally a marketplace distortion just waiting to be rebalanced. The affiliates are passively gaining from the historical anomaly of a government-supported distribution monopoly -- not because they're responsible for the value of the programming (apart from notional value of local news).

And, as you correctly note, the value of network TV is the PROGRAMMING.

At some point, those pressures are almost certain to force at least one of the national networks to abandon the traditional network-affiliate business model. Why? Because they'll continue to work the advertising-supported model, albeit with a smaller audience and lower rates, but they'll also be able to pocket substantial carriage fees from local cable and national satellite networks. If nothing else, that would be a smart hedge against the likely long-term erosion of advertising rates.

* You're probably correct that if the nets abandon the affiliates they'll be looking at a smaller overall audience. But the fact is the audience has been getting progressively smaller for the better part of the past 30 years and there's no sign that trend is going to reverse course. So, maybe an affiliates-scrapping net would take a hit on the advertising side, but they'll be in a strong position to recoup that loss through monthly carriage fees.

BTW, less than 15 percent of households rely on OTA for reception of local TV stations.

* In the past, the networks needed the affiliates, but that's no longer the case. Prior to telecommunications deregulation and ensuing technological developments, the only way to build a national TV network was a "relay system" of local stations. That's no longer the best or most efficient way to cobble together a national network.

The other traditional value that local stations provided to the national networks was their local/regional news-gathering capabilities. But like the distribution portion of the equation, network news has become less important to the nets, as the audience for network news is shrinking even faster than for prime-time. It seems reasonable to expect that at least one of the national networks will exit, or severely streamline, national news programming in the next few years, and that will further weaken the bonds between network and affiliate.

In summary, the traditional model that has worked so well for the early days of television broadcasting is increasingly look like an anachronism. It has probably already lasted 10 years longer than warranted solely by the economics of it.

Will that distribution change? I don't know (or much care). But it's definitely on the table as one of the long-term directions for network television in this country. You may not like, but of course, as is the case now, you can vote with your feet (or your wallet).

Bravo, Doug.:cool:

I had a feeling you wouldn't quietly let that last comment go. I think your response is dead on.

So my cousin (Peter Uihlein) is a really good amatuer golfer (currently a sophmore at OK State)

Last month he was good enough to participate in the Walker Cup tournament in Philly. For those that don't follow golf, the Wlaker Cup is the Amatuer version of the Ryder Cup pitting 10 players from the US agains 10 players from Great Britain and Ireland.

http://www.walkercup.org/

Peter ended up going 4-0 and I got all 4 hours of coverage in HD from the golf channel. I wanted to burn a copy for Pete and his folks, so I invested in the Hauppauge HD PVR and an LG BluRay burner.

I gotta say, the results are pretty awesome. I wish the editing tools for AVCHD streams were a little better, but the picture is very close to the originals (captured at 13MBps/720P)

Even on my 106" screen I have a hard time telling the diff between the originals and the copies. Now I've got pristine copies I can send to friends and family. For those with lowly DVD players I need to find a good app to process the AVCHD to MPEG2 without noise, etc.

Dave

So my cousin (Peter Uihlein) is a really good amatuer golfer (currently a sophmore at OK State)

Last month he was good enough to participate in the Walker Cup tournament in Philly. For those that don't follow golf, the Wlaker Cup is the Amatuer version of the Ryder Cup pitting 10 players from the US agains 10 players from Great Britain and Ireland.

http://www.walkercup.org/

Peter ended up going 4-0 and I got all 4 hours of coverage in HD from the golf channel. I wanted to burn a copy for Pete and his folks, so I invested in the Hauppauge HD PVR and an LG BluRay burner.

I gotta say, the results are pretty awesome. I wish the editing tools for AVCHD streams were a little better, but the picture is very close to the originals (captured at 13MBps/720P)

Even on my 106" screen I have a hard time telling the diff between the originals and the copies. Now I've got pristine copies I can send to friends and family. For those with lowly DVD players I need to find a good app to process the AVCHD to MPEG2 without noise, etc.

Dave

Take a look at PowerDirector from Cyberlink. It allows you to create AVCHD discs and regular DVD from the same interface.

Take a look at PowerDirector from Cyberlink. It allows you to create AVCHD discs and regular DVD from the same interface.

I second this recommendation. I have been using it for a couple of months to edit files from my HD Camcorder. Although I have not produced to a disk yet, I did got through the steps just to see what the software is capable of.

Has anyone else been having 26-4 show up for the last few days? I just thought it was odd.

Affirmative. It's either PSIP, or they are rezzing up an SD subchannel.

Will that distribution change? I don't know (or much care). But it's definitely on the table as one of the long-term directions for network television in this country. You may not like, but of course, as is the case now, you can vote with your feet (or your wallet).

Keeping this on an STL market topic, we're down to three newsrooms: KTVI/KPLR, KSDK, and KMOV. I long since stopped watching KSDK news, and generally, due to the 0100 Central Time repeat on KTVI, watch them.

My major need for OTA is PBS. Considering that I can rent or buy or view content elsewhere, does that not suggest that KDNL was about a decade early in dropping it's newsroom? And that the number of broadcast networks is to shrink? News, and programming are symbiotic. NBC is bombing with the Leno experiment; this threatens KSDK's 2200 (10 PM) news numbers.

There might only be one local newsroom left, in ten years. Here's a crazy thought:

UMSL buys KETC, and uses KWMU's newsroom. PBS Kids, or Create gets interrupted/replaced with news.

That should twirl Doug's head... :)

Keeping this on an STL market topic, we're down to three newsrooms: KTVI/KPLR, KSDK, and KMOV. I long since stopped watching KSDK news, and generally, due to the 0100 Central Time repeat on KTVI, watch them.

My major need for OTA is PBS. Considering that I can rent or buy or view content elsewhere, does that not suggest that KDNL was about a decade early in dropping it's newsroom? And that the number of broadcast networks is to shrink? News, and programming are symbiotic. NBC is bombing with the Leno experiment; this threatens KSDK's 2200 (10 PM) news numbers.

There might only be one local newsroom left, in ten years. Here's a crazy thought:

UMSL buys KETC, and uses KWMU's newsroom. PBS Kids, or Create gets interrupted/replaced with news.

That should twirl Doug's head... :)


Anyways, I think its foolish to think we will see OTA go anywhere or that any of the big stations will move to cable.

Doug said "only" 15% of America watches free tv only...well that's 45 million people in the US. Even if you put that number at 10, it's 30 million.

30-45 million people makes a HUGE difference in how much revenue you can generate with AD dollars. Not to mention LOCAL ads.

And its even more a big deal in places like NY, LA, CHI where you can be talking about what 500,000-several million people in your market? Even here that's around a quarter of a million people.



Plus, correct me if I am wrong, but that top rated TV shows are still on broadcast TV. So why would they want to risk going to cable/sat and becoming just another station in sea of many?

I signed up for this a few weeks ago. In addition to a goodie bag, muffins and bagels you leave with Windows 7 Ultimate. St. Louis event on 11/9 is still open for registration. If you do register, the email is not enough. You have to print it out with the bar code.

http://www.microsoft.com/business/thenewefficiency/StLouis/default.aspx

What to expect (http://www.sevenforums.com/news/26412-new-efficiency-free-win-7-product-key.html)

"AND the freebie 'sw ticket'.
This is the one to treasure, and not lose.
At the end of the sessions, you MUST TRADE IN the 'sw ticket' for the 32 bit Ultimate DVD in cardboard wrapper.
No box - and only one per customer (unless you fare better than I).
The holder, open it before you leave, has a Yellow sticker @ Bottom Right.
There's the Product ID.
The DVD is 32-bit Ultimate, no 64. Although there does exist a 'pocket' in the R-hand flap".

I signed up for this a few weeks ago. In addition to a goodie bag, muffins and bagels you leave with Windows 7 Ultimate. St. Louis event on 11/9 is still open for registration. If you do register, the email is not enough. You have to print it out with the bar code.

http://www.microsoft.com/business/thenewefficiency/StLouis/default.aspx

What to expect (http://www.sevenforums.com/news/26412-new-efficiency-free-win-7-product-key.html)

"AND the freebie 'sw ticket'.
This is the one to treasure, and not lose.
At the end of the sessions, you MUST TRADE IN the 'sw ticket' for the 32 bit Ultimate DVD in cardboard wrapper.
No box - and only one per customer (unless you fare better than I).
The holder, open it before you leave, has a Yellow sticker @ Bottom Right.
There's the Product ID.
The DVD is 32-bit Ultimate, no 64. Although there does exist a 'pocket' in the R-hand flap".

Is this event only for IT pros and developers, Mo?

May not matter anyway, since I'm scheduled for jury duty on Nov. 5th, but I'd spend a day there to get a free copy of Windows 7. Sorry to see it's only 32bit.

Is this event only for IT pros and developers, Mo?

May not matter anyway, since I'm scheduled for jury duty on Nov. 5th, but I'd spend a day there to get a free copy of Windows 7. Sorry to see it's only 32bit.

Darnit! Already booked to capacity!

Wait list only...

Darnit! Already booked to capacity!

Wait list only...

I purchased the family pack. It is 7 Home Premium with 3 license, both 32 and 64 are included. I paid $149, but someone claimed Costco had it for in the $130's.

http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=449410&pCatg=9158

Just checked Sams and they have it for $124.46

I purchased the family pack. It is 7 Home Premium with 3 license, both 32 and 64 are included. I paid $149, but someone claimed Costco had it for in the $130's.

http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=449410&pCatg=9158

Just checked Sams and they have it for $124.46

Do you know if Win7 Home Premium supports dynamic disks, Tom?

Do you know if Win7 Home Premium supports dynamic disks, Tom?You can find out a lot about Win 7 and its applications in home theatre computer settings in the HTPC areas, FWIW.

Is this event only for IT pros and developers, Mo?

May not matter anyway, since I'm scheduled for jury duty on Nov. 5th, but I'd spend a day there to get a free copy of Windows 7. Sorry to see it's only 32bit.

Nope. They have no way of knowing who you are.

There have been many complaints about it being 32 bit. However, if you can locate 64 bit media, the key does work. Also, there is a rumor that MS will charge $10 to mail the 64 bit.

I purchased the family pack. It is 7 Home Premium with 3 license, both 32 and 64 are included. I paid $149, but someone claimed Costco had it for in the $130's.

http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=449410&pCatg=9158

Just checked Sams and they have it for $124.46

Costco St. Peters had it for $124.99 but sold out today. Will get more soon.

Costco St. Peters had it for $124.99 but sold out today. Will get more soon.

Do note that this was for the upgrade version...

Sony's adding Netflix to the PS3, maybe as early as next month. You'll have to get a disc from Netflix to update the PS3, but it's free. Not that I stream that much, but it could be helpful, especially with our sometimes wonky OTA broadcasts. No word yet on whether it will be SD only, or include HD streaming.

I gave up on Blockbuster Online. I was receiving 1-2 movies a week, despite endless promises that they would fix the problem in 3-5 days. I canceled, and I'll be going back to Netflix. I hated to do that. I loved the convenience.

If you're not into Glee on Fox, you're missing out. It's hilarious. But, you don't want to watch if you're looking for realistic. You'll find over the top stories and some of the most politically incorrect characters you could hope to meet. It's outrageous, and I love it - far and away my favorite new show. It returns in November after the playoffs.

Do you know if Win7 Home Premium supports dynamic disks, Tom?

I have tried to find information on this Joe, I am leaning towards yes, but am not positive at this time.

Sorry for the late response, wedding, several computer repairs this weekend, and 3 fresh installs of Windows 7......

Plus I had not re-assembled the theater room after last weeks outdoor event.
All went well, 31 friends/neighbors were in the backyard. I ended up driving two 30" mail box spikes next to our fence, insert two 10 ft 4X4's with "J" brackets to hold the framing on my highpower screen = instant outdoor theatre. :)

The police showed at 9:35 while watching Storm Chasers, said she had a "loud music" complaint.(no music, but some of the scenes in Twister, which ended at 8:50, did get a bit loud) She was amazed when I walked her to the backyard. I handed her a bag of fresh popcorn, she called dispatch and informed them it would be turned off at 10pm, then sat down and watched for ~10 minutes. :D

I have tried to find information on this Joe, I am leaning towards yes, but am not positive at this time.

Sorry for the late response, wedding, several computer repairs this weekend, and 3 fresh installs of Windows 7......

Plus I had not re-assembled the theater room after last weeks outdoor event.
All went well, 31 friends/neighbors were in the backyard. I ended up driving two 30" mail box spikes next to our fence, insert two 10 ft 4X4's with "J" brackets to hold the framing on my highpower screen = instant outdoor theatre. :)

The police showed at 9:35 while watching Storm Chasers, said she had a "loud music" complaint.(no music, but some of the scenes in Twister, which ended at 8:50, did get a bit loud) She was amazed when I walked her to the backyard. I handed her a bag of fresh popcorn, she called dispatch and informed them it would be turned off at 10pm, then sat down and watched for ~10 minutes. :D

:D :D :D

That's a scream, Tom.

I'm probably going to take advantage of the $150 Win7 upgrade offer. If I have to, I can get a cheap RAID card and transfer data to the server until I get a couple of drives moved from Dynamic disc to RAID drives. Home Premium does have all the multimedia and MPEG4 (AVCHD) support, doesn't it? Bob may know the answer to this, too. I have Windows Vista Ultimate, but except for Dynamic disk support it's been overkill - more than I need. 64bit is a must because of the video and photo work I do (need the extra RAM).

When's your next outdoor party?

:D :D :D

When's your next outdoor party?

First the backyard has to dry out! :o

My thoughts are to wait until Spring, but if we get a long warm spell this Fall/Winter I may try to give it a go again. I am considering the second Saturday each month once it warms up. The crowd I had last week was very receptive to it happening again.

I have already started changing the layout of equipment. I had the projector, Denon, HTPC, and the Dish 722 on one table centered on the screen. Next time, I plan on building a mount for the projector, or doing another mailbox spike to support a platform for the projector. The rest of the electronics will be located on a table on the back porch. That way I will only have two cables in the yard, hdmi and electric for the projector.

I plan on posting for this group in the future!:)

Was wondering if anyone knows what can be done to make OTA come it better?

Currently I have a UHF antenna hooked to my chimney and it reaches about 30' off the ground. The chimney is about 10' off the ground so the pole extends about another 20'. I am afraid to add any more pole or the wind may rip it off the house. Furthermore, I live in kind of a fancy neighborhood and it is looking kind of commercial at this point.

But what to do? The FCC took away all the VHF lower frequencies that used to come in good. Are we supposed to just not get OTA anymore? Does anyone have any experience with amplifiers that may help with this problem? All the amplifiers I have tried do nothing at all. I've been screwing around with this quite some time and it seems the only thing that ever has done any good is more height. Does anyone know who I might complain to about this?

I live in the Chesterfield valley and UHF is really freaking hard to get. I like hd and digital but other than that I feel like the FCC has screwed us over.

Has to be some Firefly fans in here, right? Any fan of Firefly absolutely must watch the first minute of last night's episode of Castle. I'm a fan of both, but that's beside the point. You can watch at the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJkLb6nP7x8

Castle is one of my favorite shows. Last night's episode was a hoot. Nathan Fillion is great as Castle and there's great chemistry between him and the Beckett character. It's tone is Bones-like but in some ways I like it even better. Good stuff.

I don't watch "Castle," but caught the intro at the link. Thanks for that -- only bad thing about it was it makes mad all over again that there were only a dozen or so "Firefly" episodes.

Was wondering if anyone knows what can be done to make OTA come it better?

Currently I have a UHF antenna hooked to my chimney and it reaches about 30' off the ground. The chimney is about 10' off the ground so the pole extends about another 20'. I am afraid to add any more pole or the wind may rip it off the house. Furthermore, I live in kind of a fancy neighborhood and it is looking kind of commercial at this point.

But what to do? The FCC took away all the VHF lower frequencies that used to come in good. Are we supposed to just not get OTA anymore? Does anyone have any experience with amplifiers that may help with this problem? All the amplifiers I have tried do nothing at all. I've been screwing around with this quite some time and it seems the only thing that ever has done any good is more height. Does anyone know who I might complain to about this?

I live in the Chesterfield valley and UHF is really freaking hard to get. I like hd and digital but other than that I feel like the FCC has screwed us over.I'm not really familiar with the actual geography of Chesterfield Valley, but I'm surprised that you can't get better reception there. I assume that you're using good quality coax, but I'd also carefully check as much of the cable as you can for damage. You might also want to try moving the antenna to the other side of your chimney, as relatively small moves can make a big difference, particularly if your reception problems are related to multipath.

Was wondering if anyone knows what can be done to make OTA come it better?

Currently I have a UHF antenna hooked to my chimney and it reaches about 30' off the ground. The chimney is about 10' off the ground so the pole extends about another 20'. I am afraid to add any more pole or the wind may rip it off the house. Furthermore, I live in kind of a fancy neighborhood and it is looking kind of commercial at this point.

But what to do? The FCC took away all the VHF lower frequencies that used to come in good. Are we supposed to just not get OTA anymore? Does anyone have any experience with amplifiers that may help with this problem? All the amplifiers I have tried do nothing at all. I've been screwing around with this quite some time and it seems the only thing that ever has done any good is more height. Does anyone know who I might complain to about this?

I live in the Chesterfield valley and UHF is really freaking hard to get. I like hd and digital but other than that I feel like the FCC has screwed us over.

Bob,

Antennas Direct is in your backyard (Eureka) and has a couple of guys and a gal who can give advice. They're real easy to work with for local folks who'd like to try different stuff.

You didn't mention WHAT antenna(s) you've been trying. Important info. Amplifiers cannot help if the antenna cannot get an adequate signal in the first place.

I live in a valley 7 miles south of Pacific and, at only 20-25 miles from most of the towers, had to go with a 91XG (with 4th boom section) in order to get several of the local channels.

Yes, height is the only thing that is certain to help if you are in low-lying terrain. I just boosted my rig an extra 5' last week and now get channel 9 with about 99% reliability.

Run you exact TVFool plot and post the link here so we can see what your forecasts look like.

Was wondering if anyone knows what can be done to make OTA come it better?

Currently I have a UHF antenna hooked to my chimney and it reaches about 30' off the ground. The chimney is about 10' off the ground so the pole extends about another 20'. I am afraid to add any more pole or the wind may rip it off the house. Furthermore, I live in kind of a fancy neighborhood and it is looking kind of commercial at this point.

But what to do? The FCC took away all the VHF lower frequencies that used to come in good. Are we supposed to just not get OTA anymore? Does anyone have any experience with amplifiers that may help with this problem? All the amplifiers I have tried do nothing at all. I've been screwing around with this quite some time and it seems the only thing that ever has done any good is more height. Does anyone know who I might complain to about this?

I live in the Chesterfield valley and UHF is really freaking hard to get. I like hd and digital but other than that I feel like the FCC has screwed us over.

Remove any splitters in the line and make sure you have an actual UHF antenna, which tends to be small and much less obtrusive. Those older, larger, ugly antennas support VHF (which are now all but useless) and maybe the UHF frequencies you really need. A directional UHF YAGI will definitely help pull in the signal since these have higher gain and most local channels come from the same general direction (SW of the valley).

Thanks everyone for all the help. My antenna is a UHF I bought at Radio Shack some time ago right about when digital first made it here in St. Louis. I have gone so far as to try a whole different coax line all the way to the antenna. The length of the line is probably around 50', but most of that length is just going up in the air. I have in the past had loose connections that rusted in the weather but thats not the case this time.



Bob,

Antennas Direct is in your backyard (Eureka) and has a couple of guys and a gal who can give advice. They're real easy to work with for local folks who'd like to try different stuff.I will check them out.

Yes, height is the only thing that is certain to help if you are in low-lying terrain. I just boosted my rig an extra 5' last week and now get channel 9 with about 99% reliability.

Run you exact TVFool plot and post the link here so we can see what your forecasts look like.I just downloaded it to Google earth and it is showing all the major channels in mostly red, yellow, and green. Not sure what you mean by a forecast but if you explain what to do I will post it here.

I do notice from the map that channel 9 has much less red around the tower than the others. Does that mean channel 9 is putting out a lot less strength than the others like 35? Why would they do that? From their map, its no wonder I am having the trouble with channel 9 and it looks like pretty much everyone else would too unless you lived in south county.

It just occurred to me that almost all the stations are transmitting out of south county. I wonder what their thinking was in doing that? Seems like theres a lot of people who live in St. Charles and St. Peters who are even worse off than I am.

It just occurred to me that almost all the stations are transmitting out of south county. I wonder what their thinking was in doing that? Seems like theres a lot of people who live in St. Charles and St. Peters who are even worse off than I am.

Clustered together makes sense. This way, most people in the metro area simply need to point their antennas in the same general direction. These are mostly very high-power stations (1000 KW) that pump out a signal that can be reached 50-75 miles or more away. You are well within the coverage area of all these stations, certainly 2,4,5,11 and 30. Unless you're in a real hole or not pointed in the correct direction, they should come in loud and clear. Maybe the Radio Shack antenna is junk. Go for a higher gain YAGI and see what happens.

It just occurred to me that almost all the stations are transmitting out of south county. I wonder what their thinking was in doing that? Seems like theres a lot of people who live in St. Charles and St. Peters who are even worse off than I am.

Actually I have helped several people in the O'Fallon, St. Peters, Wentzville area. As long as they are not down in a big "hole" I have had little issue with receiving decent signal. I typically use a UHF Radio Shack antenna. When I first installed my first HD TV, I had my coax to connect to the wall hookup connected to the TV. To my surprise I was able to pick up almost all channels with the coax only.

St Charles and St Peters are almost always easy unless the viewer is on the back side of a hill. A simple 4-bay bowtie is what usually works.

Go to TVfool and run your plot. There is a link that you can cut and paste for sharing. That tells a lot because it includes terrain in the modeling. Without it, we cannot give accurate and useful advice.

St Louis' towers are strung along a 20 mile line stretching generally from just north of Jefferson Barracks Park through Affton, Sunset Hills, then down highway 21 almost to Hillsboro. You can use www.antennapoint.com to see the exact tower locations relative to your location. Disregard the "Power" column as it often contains errors.

If you are too close, a Yagi may be too directional and you'll have trouble with the stations on the periphery of the antenna's reception lobes. The 4-bay just works better closer in here in St Louis depending on the angular spread of the towers from the reception location.

KETC only pushes 142.5 kW power compared to 1,000 kW pushed by almost every one else (except 46). They're a lot tougher for receivers without the proper antenna.

Today I got the best TV news I've had in months. NBC has ordered 6 additional episodes of Chuck (19 total) and it will likely return in January. (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118010536.html?categoryid=14&cs=1&ref=bd_tv)

I live in St. Peters, and I get better reception now than when I lived in Kirkwood (except for WRBU). Not a lot of terrain, tall buildings, or tall trees to deal with here.

Go to TVfool and run your plot. There is a link that you can cut and paste for sharing. That tells a lot because it includes terrain in the modeling. Without it, we cannot give accurate and useful advice.

Finally figured it out:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d8adf2ce4ce96fa

Well, according to you guys and this plot I should be getting signals like crazy but for some reason its just not happening for me. I've already tried the coax so now I will put a different antenna up there.

KETC only pushes 142.5 kW power compared to 1,000 kW pushed by almost every one else (except 46). They're a lot tougher for receivers without the proper antenna.


I know this was touched on awhile back, but why exactly did KETC reduce their output power post DTV transition? Do I need to sent them money or something, so that they boost it back up? I live in 62226 and get all the local stations (including WRBU & KNLC) crystal clear with my SquareShooter antenna. All except KETC that is. Ever since they lowered their power, the first hint of wind or rain sends my reception of KETC right down the digital cliff. I suppose that I could adjust my antenna, but the weather has not been making that a fun proposition lately.

KETC did not reduce power. They increased the height of their antenna and slightly increased power.

- Trip

Finally figured it out:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d8adf2ce4ce96fa

Well, according to you guys and this plot I should be getting signals like crazy but for some reason its just not happening for me. I've already tried the coax so now I will put a different antenna up there.


Try a paper clip....seriously.... You have plenty of signal at your address.

KETC is as good as it's going to get. You'll have to address your reception from the antenna side. The 4-bay bowtie is also a good choice for the Belleville area. I had to go to a 91XG with an extra boom section, 40' in the air, in a valleyand behind trees in order to get channel 9 at about 20 miles. My location sucks....

Looking for guidance on Charter HD service. Yeah, yeah, I know, but it's for friends who have no alternative at the moment (they'd like to jump to AT&T but it's not available).

* First, what's the current status of Charter and CableCards? I'm inclined to recommend that my friends opt for a Series 3 TiVo instead of going the Charter hardware route, but I know that a lot cable companies are having CableCard issues with the introduction of the Switched Digital Video system/kludge that's designed to allocate bandwidth to just those stations being actively viewed in a local area. So, I'd like to know if a Charter Cable Card would allow my friends to receive ALL of the HD stations that would be available if they went with a Charter receiver or DVR. If not, which stations would be lost?

* Second, my friends currently have Charter Expanded Basic (analog). What would be the cost of them going to a package that provides all non-premium HD channels? I have some old info from 2005, which indicates that the incremental fees would be $7 to go from Expanded Basic to the entry-level digital package. Then, back in 2005 there were two HD packages, with the intro package costing $3 and the full HD package adding on $3.95. This would have made the cost of jumping from Expanded Basic to Full HD $13.95 ($7 + $3 + $3.95). I assume these numbers or the pricing structure has changed in the past 4 years, so I'd appreciate any guidance anyone can provide.

* Third, my understanding back in 2005 is that the $3 fee above would have covered the digital receiver. Also at that time, there was no additional hardware charge whether you opted for an HD-capable digital receiver or the MOXI DVR hardware, though there was a $6.95 monthly DVR service fee if you went the MOXI route. Has this situation changed?

* Finally, what is the monthly cost of Cable Cards?

I'd appreciate any info or ideas anyone has on this...thanks.

I'd recommend you check the Charter HD STL thread.
There was a discussion there a while ago about SDV and Tivo. IRRC, Charter is deploying SDV in November. Charter will provide tuning adaptors to Tivo owners that would be needed for the Tivo to tune SDV. There's a Charter rep that follows the thread that might be able to help.

I think, unless you really are married to the Tivo interface, I'd go with the provided DVR, rather than have 2 boxes.

I don't have the all the pricing in fromt of me, but my bill runs about 110. That's with HBO/MAX/TMC, and DVR. I see all the available HD channels except Starz.


Looking for guidance on Charter HD service. Yeah, yeah, I know, but it's for friends who have no alternative at the moment (they'd like to jump to AT&T but it's not available).

* First, what's the current status of Charter and CableCards? I'm inclined to recommend that my friends opt for a Series 3 TiVo instead of going the Charter hardware route, but I know that a lot cable companies are having CableCard issues with the introduction of the Switched Digital Video system/kludge that's designed to allocate bandwidth to just those stations being actively viewed in a local area. So, I'd like to know if a Charter Cable Card would allow my friends to receive ALL of the HD stations that would be available if they went with a Charter receiver or DVR. If not, which stations would be lost?

* Second, my friends currently have Charter Expanded Basic (analog). What would be the cost of them going to a package that provides all non-premium HD channels? I have some old info from 2005, which indicates that the incremental fees would be $7 to go from Expanded Basic to the entry-level digital package. Then, back in 2005 there were two HD packages, with the intro package costing $3 and the full HD package adding on $3.95. This would have made the cost of jumping from Expanded Basic to Full HD $13.95 ($7 + $3 + $3.95). I assume these numbers or the pricing structure has changed in the past 4 years, so I'd appreciate any guidance anyone can provide.

* Third, my understanding back in 2005 is that the $3 fee above would have covered the digital receiver. Also at that time, there was no additional hardware charge whether you opted for an HD-capable digital receiver or the MOXI DVR hardware, though there was a $6.95 monthly DVR service fee if you went the MOXI route. Has this situation changed?

* Finally, what is the monthly cost of Cable Cards?

I'd appreciate any info or ideas anyone has on this...thanks.

Thanks, Dave. Anyone else have any more specifics on pricing?

First time posting, but I'd appreciate any input from you guys as I'm glad I foud a forum like this after searching all over for an answer to a question I have.

Is it possible to pick up Columbia or mid-Missouri locals (CBS, Fox) in the St. Louis area via an antenna? Say a 100 mile range amplified antenna mounted on a roof in University City?

I'd post my TVFool info, but was denied the right. 2 more posts needed :)

Thanks again for your help guys!

First time posting, but I'd appreciate any input from you guys as I'm glad I foud a forum like this after searching all over for an answer to a question I have.

Is it possible to pick up Columbia or mid-Missouri locals (CBS, Fox) in the St. Louis area via an antenna? Say a 100 mile range amplified antenna mounted on a roof in University City?

I'd post my TVFool info, but was denied the right. 2 more posts needed :)

Thanks again for your help guys!


Not a chance unless you could get several hundred feet up in the air....

I can sometimes pick up KOMU (NBC) and KRCG (CBS) out near Gray Summit by carefully selecting a site and under certain ideal weather conditions. KMIZ (ABC) is still low power having not yet constructed their 1,000 kW facility.

Last I heard, Fox is being carried on an LP station, KQFX.

Thanks, Dave. Anyone else have any more specifics on pricing?
I have a MOXI DVR and a Series 3 with 2 cable cards. Here are some details from my most recent bill:
Digital Home Package (Basic cable, expanded basic cable, one cable card) - $44.99 (regular $55.99 less $11 discount for 12 months) .... Digital receiver including OnDemand and program guide - $5 .....MOXI DVR - $18 ..... Extra cable card - $2 ....HBO,Showtime,Cinemax,STARZ,Encore = $46 ...HD ultra view - $5.

I'm not sure what HD Ultra View is but I get all the HD channels Charter offers, meager as the selection is. The MOXI DVR is billed as an "equipment upgrade" to the digital receiver. Haven't heard much more about SDV recently but the TIVO will need a dongle when that occurs. My understanding is that Charter will provide that adapter for free. Also, as you probably know, Charter is always offering deals and new customers generally get the best deals so you should be able to beat what I've got pretty easily.

Wow, so not even with a good roof mounted antenna with a 100 mile range? I was hoping there was a chance.

Wow, so not even with a good roof mounted antenna with a 100 mile range? I was hoping there was a chance.

Reality check: Physics meets the Marketing Department

There's no such thing as a "100 mile" antenna..... Reception much beyond the visual horizon (which usually maxes out around 65-70 miles) relies on certain phenomenon that are neither reliable or predictable.

The Mid-Mo UHF stations, as I said, are too weak to get out of their own parking lots. The two high-VHF signals would get wiped out by the powerful background noise clutter of an urban area and, besides, they're too weak at only 14-17 kW (or something like that) to make the trip anyway.

Reception much beyond the visual horizon (which usually maxes out around 65-70 miles) relies on certain phenomenon that are neither reliable or predictable.
For convenience, the "radio horizon" can be approximated by this formula (http://www.qsl.net/kd4sai/distance.html). Plug in the transmitting and receiving antenna heights to see if a chance exists. Some UHF listeners have reports slight gains achieved by tilting the receiving antenna slightly upwards.

Thanks, thilt...much appreciated.

Has anyone else noticed cracking sounds while listening to Dolby Digital audio on channel 5? I notice it every week on Heros (recorded via DirecTV DVR on the sat signal, not OTA). I noticed the same thing last night on a different TV/receiver set-up while watching channel 5 again. It it was cracking like crazy. I admit I should do some more testing to see if it the OTA signal or something with the OTA to D* conversion, but has anyone else noticed this?

Thanks,

Mike

I noticed it during Meet the Press yesterday (4x3 upconvert) via DirecTV channel 5. Sorry, didn't flip to OTA to see if it was a kSDk or DirecTV issue.

It's on Dish, too, so I it's coming from KSDK.

It's on Dish, too, so I it's coming from KSDK.I'm...I'm shocked. ;)

I've noticed it off and on for several weeks. Have sent multiple e-mails and voice mails to engineering dept. with no response.

I've noticed it off and on for several weeks. Have sent multiple e-mails and voice mails to engineering dept. with no response.

I'm...I'm shocked. ;)

Seriously, I gave up years ago on KSDK responding to any concerns by its viewers.

I'm...I'm shocked. ;)

Seriously, I gave up years ago on KSDK responding to any concerns by its viewers.

I sent an e-mail eariler today that will probably fall on deaf ears as well... Glad I don't watch much on KSDK.

On a positive note, I just picked up the 3-pack of Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade at Costco for $110. Retail is $150, the Costco price in-store reads $125, but the check-out price at the cash register was $110. The 3-pack is actually less than the single upgrade price. Freaky.

Edit: Costco also has the best apples I've had in years. :)

I had some drop outs during NCIS, NCIS LA. Any other D* subs notice this?

Woot has an ATI TV Wonder HD 600 USB HDTV Tuner today.

I ordered one to try. I have been asked to archive some old VHS recordings for my wife's family, hopefully I will receive the benefit of a portable tuner for my laptop and the ability to capture video for archive purposes.

I had some drop outs during NCIS, NCIS LA. Any other D* subs notice this?
I don't watch these shows, so I haven't noticed. I am however, still having problems with OTA 5-1 (and now 4-1 and 2-1) where the screen just shows a blank gray background. Usually a rescan revives the channels, but sometimes the problem "fixes" itself.

I did notice a short drop during Biggest Loser last night.

I had some drop outs during NCIS, NCIS LA. Any other D* subs notice this?

Yes, I did.

Woot has an ATI TV Wonder HD 600 USB HDTV Tuner today.

I ordered one to try. I have been asked to archive some old VHS recordings for my wife's family, hopefully I will receive the benefit of a portable tuner for my laptop and the ability to capture video for archive purposes.

$19.99 each, plus $5 shipping for up to three. I ordered three. :D

$19.99 each, plus $5 shipping for up to three. I ordered three. :D

I ordered 2.

I ordered 2.

Same here. Gotta love Woot!

Same here. Gotta love Woot!
sold out before I could order one :mad:

I had some drop outs during NCIS, NCIS LA. Any other D* subs notice this?
I just got around to watching these episodes which I had recorded OTA on my TIVO. I got the drops too.

Is there any reason why Supernatural was in SD tonight? Isn't great that we have a CW station that cares so much about it programming.

Is there any reason why Supernatural was in SD tonight? Isn't great that we have a CW station that cares so much about it programming.


I really wish DirecTV could offer distant networks to anyone that asked for them. I'd pay for a reliable CW feed in a heartbeat.

Or I'd settle for one of CBS or Warner's cable channels repeating Supernatural a few days later (much like FX used to do with 24 a few years ago).

Meanwhile, I just wait for the Blu-Ray releases every year.

I am to the east of St. Louis and although I get MOST of my TV from St. Louis stations (all OTA) I get PBS from Channel 8 rather than 9 most of the time (there are some things that I really wish I could get dependable reception of from channel 9; but that is a different issue). I have found that often when I try say 8.3 I will get a low power message. Most of the time when I do if I turn around and tune 8.1 and THEN 8.3 or which ever 8 I want other than 8.1 it will come in fine. Hope others find this helpful.

Jane B.

I'm thinking about finally buying a blu-ray player, but I'm not really sure if it is worth it for me. My Pioneer Elite RPTV only has component inputs, so I know I will not be getting the best resolution from the player. Is the content that much different on the bluray discs to warrant getting the player before my TV can take advantage of the PQ? Any other thought?

I'm thinking about finally buying a blu-ray player, but I'm not really sure if it is worth it for me. My Pioneer Elite RPTV only has component inputs, so I know I will not be getting the best resolution from the player. Is the content that much different on the bluray discs to warrant getting the player before my TV can take advantage of the PQ? Any other thought?

Nope.

Is KETC off the air (or low signal) right now? It seems to be dead to me in 62226 for the last several hours. Anyone else experiencing the same? Also as an aside, KTVI seems to be slightly weaker for me in the last week or so. I am getting occasional breakups in the picture and the signal strength is in the 60-70 range across my various TVs. All the other channels are fine.

It looks like a spectrum crunch is going to put additional pressure on OTA TV:

http://broadcastengineering.com/news/fcc-considers-tv-spectrum-1102/

A key excerpt from the article:

"A strong argument in favor of reclaiming some of the spectrum broadcasters were given for free is that broadband access is simply more useful to the average citizen than traditional TV. In addition, FCC chairman Julius Genachowski has warned that the United States doesn't have enough spectrum for rapidly growing broadband spectrum for mobile users. The commission is looking for ways to remedy the shortage and has reportedly eyed the spectrum being used by broadcasters."

Of course, a key element here is that TV broadcasters collectively get a ton of spectrum at virtually no charge, while the government, proud to tax anything that moves (or doesn't), can rake in major green by auctioning off spectrum to telecom carriers.

Oh great. I'm hard pressed to think of any service that I directly use that is provided by the government other than OTA and now they want to take it away. And just like all the other incentive programs like 'Cash for Clunkers' (I don't own one), first time home buyer tax credit (bought my first home about 25 years ago), I'll probably miss out on my part of the "... $9 billion to move homes watching OTA TV to digital or subscription services. " because I already subscribe to SD satellite and they will probably think that should be good enough for me, gee its digital already isn't it?

I'll admit, I'm a bit of a tight wad. My mobile phone is paid for by work. My wife has a pay as you go plan that only costs about $11 a month. My daughter has a full service plan 'cause of all her friends that have unlimited texting. Stupid texting costs more per minute than the voice minutes, yet the throughput it uses is far less. So they want to take away my TV in favor of forcing me to pay for satellite or cable? What's next take away my land line and force me to use mobile phone service? Time to say no to the telecom companies.

Well it's ridiculously late, but this ticked me off enough that I wrote our two senators and my congressman Akin. I can't believe its only been a few months since the 'digital transition' and all that must have been spent on it, not to mention how long the standard was in the making. Another great use of our tax money.

Is KETC off the air (or low signal) right now?
Seems to be full strength in 63108 as of 9am Monday.

Oh great. I'm hard pressed to think of any service that I directly use that is provided by the government other than OTA and now they want to take it away. And just like all the other incentive programs like 'Cash for Clunkers' (I don't own one), first time home buyer tax credit (bought my first home about 25 years ago), I'll probably miss out on my part of the "... $9 billion to move homes watching OTA TV to digital or subscription services. " because I already subscribe to SD satellite and they will probably think that should be good enough for me, gee its digital already isn't it?

I'll admit, I'm a bit of a tight wad. My mobile phone is paid for by work. My wife has a pay as you go plan that only costs about $11 a month. My daughter has a full service plan 'cause of all her friends that have unlimited texting. Stupid texting costs more per minute than the voice minutes, yet the throughput it uses is far less. So they want to take away my TV in favor of forcing me to pay for satellite or cable? What's next take away my land line and force me to use mobile phone service? Time to say no to the telecom companies.

Well it's ridiculously late, but this ticked me off enough that I wrote our two senators and my congressman Akin. I can't believe its only been a few months since the 'digital transition' and all that must have been spent on it, not to mention how long the standard was in the making. Another great use of our tax money.I understand the resistance and unhappiness about this sort of potential development. I think that the best way forward is that TV and radio broadcasters should pay market rates for the spectrum they wish to use. In the early days of radio and TV you could make the argument that government should encourage the development of mass communications by giving away or subsidizing spectrum in return for an agreement to deliver a basic level of public service broadcasting.

But does it really make any sense today to continue to give away extremely valuable spectrum for a over-the-air television broadcasting that ultimately only benefits 15% or so of the population? Both radio and TV are well beyond the start-up stage -- they are big and successful business enterprises and there's really no reason to treat broadcast image and audio bits any differently that we treat telephony voice or Internet data bits.

I get the public service argument, and while I think it's about as anachronistic as the network-affiliate TV system, I have no illusion about an overnight change in the way this works. So, in the interest of "public service," government could continue to provide the PBS and NPR networks with free spectrum in return for a higher level of public and politically neutral broadcasting.

On the other hand, all for-profit broadcasters should pony up whatever the spectrum market will bear if they want to own a radio or TV station. In return for paying for the spectrum they use, public service mandates should go the way of the buggy whip. No doubt that would, over time, result in fewer stations in most markets, but that would result in more efficient use of spectrum allocation without the proactively clumsy hand of government.

Of course this would also mean the nature of radio and TV programming would change, and yes, it would probably result in less "public service" content. But if there's really value in that sort of programming, some broadcasters will address that market and figure out how to make money doing it. And if I'm wrong about that, PBS and NPR provide the desired public service safety net.

For the computer folks Micro Center has opened a new store in Clayton on Brentwood.

Anybody have a contact for fox 2? I'd like to complain about shrinking the screen during House to show the Missouri lottery numbers....I just can't believe lottery numbers are that important:mad:

I emailed this address (which I'm sure isn't the correct one) askfox@fox.com. Anybody have a better email?

Anybody have a contact for fox 2? I'd like to complain about shrinking the screen during House to show the Missouri lottery numbers....I just can't believe lottery numbers are that important:mad:

I emailed this address (which I'm sure isn't the correct one) askfox@fox.com. Anybody have a better email?

How hard is it to go to their website and click on the words "Contact us"?

You emailed the network, not the station.

How hard is it to go to their website and click on the words "Contact us"?

You emailed the network, not the station.Help if you want to help. There's no point in slamming someone who's here asking for assistance, particularly someone who has made a point of helping others in the past.

Anyone know if the blues game will be blacked out on the center ice vancouver feed even though its not being broadcast locally?

How hard is it to go to their website and click on the words "Contact us"?

You emailed the network, not the station.

Not hard at all, since that's where I got all of the information I posted. But none of the emails that I found looked to be the correct email. Thanks for posting the right one:rolleyes:

Edit: after revisiting the page, it looks like there is a form-letter page to fill out, not an actual email address.

For the computer folks Micro Center has opened a new store in Clayton on Brentwood.
I love you.

The lack of a real computer store (ie not best buy/circuit city overpriced chain) in the area was a horrible pain in my side since moving from Kansas City (which had both a Micro Center and a number of good local computer shops). Thanks for the heads up on this.

For the computer folks Micro Center has opened a new store in Clayton on Brentwood.

Today was their second day. I was a kid in a candy store with this place. I'll be getting most of my gear from this store from now on, even if it costs a little more. The prices look really good, though, so I might not end up paying much more at all. My first purchase will be 5 Samsung 7200rpm 1.5TB drives for $100 each. Next is probably going to be a low energy HTPC. They told me they have more cases than Tigerdirect. I spent a good hour in the store just checking things out. About 9,000 employees asked to help me as I wandered around.

Finally, a geek paradise in the area. Thanks for the tip on this opening. For those interested, it's between Hanley and Brentwood just off Eager, in the set of stores just west of the Best Buy. Let's patronize this place, folks.

I just can't believe lottery numbers are that important:mad:

I can't speak for KTVI and its specific lottery numbers, but I know that the station for which I worked over the summer carried lottery numbers and they were considered to be VERY important. Apparently, a fair bit of money was involved, and a failure to air them for any reason, even those outside our control, was considered to be a very serious problem.

Granted, the station aired them in between shows and not during shows, but I have to imagine there's a similar monetary reason here.

- Trip

Today was their second day. I was a kid in a candy store with this place. I'll be getting most of my gear from this store from now on, even if it costs a little more. The prices look really good, though, so I might not end up paying much more at all. My first purchase will be 5 Samsung 7200rpm 1.5TB drives for $100 each. Next is probably going to be a low energy HTPC. They told me they have more cases than Tigerdirect. I spent a good hour in the store just checking things out. About 9,000 employees asked to help me as I wandered around.

Finally, a geek paradise in the area. Thanks for the tip on this opening. For those interested, it's between Hanley and Brentwood just off Eager, in the set of stores just west of the Best Buy. Let's patronize this place, folks.

I have no idea how I got on their mailing list, but I got a brochure announcing the opening with a card redeemable for a 4GB flash drive or 4GB SDHC card.

For Black Friday info it says to get on their mailing list.

Joe, did they have a lot of motherboards? EDIT: Never mind, I went & looked. they are carrying a lot of old mobos too. I find that pretty strange.

I have no idea how I got on their mailing list, but I got a brochure announcing the opening with a card redeemable for a 4GB flash drive or 4GB SDHC card.

For Black Friday info it says to get on their mailing list.

Joe, did they have a lot of motherboards? EDIT: Never mind, I went & looked. they are carrying a lot of old mobos too. I find that pretty strange.

I picked up 5x 1.5TB hard drives (7200rpm) for $100/each, and a couple of 7 port USB hubs for $15/each. The store has just about anything you might want for a computer. I'm sure if they don't have the newer mobos, they can get them. They also don't have the latest ATI 5000 series video cards, but one of the salesmen told me they could get what I want. They have a whole isle devoted to computer cooling products, and other isles with products you wouldn't be able to find at all at Best Buy. I love this store.

Micro Center has opened in Brentwood [Brentwood Promenade-near Target]. At 2 PM on both Saturday 11/14 and Sunday 11/15 they will be holding special presentations on Streaming. This is a store that St Louis has long needed. Tons of built-it-yourself supplies, as well as finished products. Reasonable selections of televisons.

Micro Center has opened in Brentwood [Brentwood Promenade-near Target]. At 2 PM on both Saturday 11/14 and Sunday 11/15 they will be holding special presentations on Streaming. This is a store that St Louis has long needed. Tons of built-it-yourself supplies, as well as finished products. Reasonable selections of televisons.

You all are killing me talking about this store. It was bad enough when I found Newegg, now you all are telling me I have a store within 45 minutes of my home....:p

On a HDTV note, I received my ATI USB Receiver from Woot yesterday, installed and working as it should. I still have to try the "record" capability from another device. Hopefully it will work to archive some of my Wife's older family video.

While the decade doesn't actually end until the end of 2010, no doubt we'll be seeing lot of this sort of list in the next month or so...the 30 best TV shows of the decade:

http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-best-tv-series-of-the-00s,35256/1/

Top 5 Teaser:

1) The Wire

2) The Sopranos

3) Arrested Development

4) Freaks and Geeks

5) Mad Men

I went to Micro Center today and my brother had to kick me out...I would have spent the whole evening there. I really was not planing on buying a whole lot, but I ending up getting enough parts to build a Core i7 P55 system. The only thing I did not get was a video card...looking for an Ati 5850 card. Most of the stuff was cheaper than Newegg, and the parts that were higher were not by much. I will be back!!!

I went to Micro Center today and my brother had to kick me out...I would have spent the whole evening there. I really was not planing on buying a whole lot, but I ending up getting enough parts to build a Core i7 P55 system. The only thing I did not get was a video card...looking for an Ati 5850 card. Most of the stuff was cheaper than Newegg, and the parts that were higher were not by much. I will be back!!!

I've had a similar experience. :)

I've already spent over $1,000 there. Over $500 for hard drives and miscellaneous stuff a couple of days ago, and today I bought a P55 mobo, Core i5 and DDR3 RAM to upgrade a defective Core 2 Quad system. Next up, parts to fix a Core i7 system. I love this place.

What P55 mobo did you get? I was wanting the MSI GD80 but they did not have one, but they did have the GD65, which is what I got.

What P55 mobo did you get? I was wanting the MSI GD80 but they did not have one, but they did have the GD65, which is what I got.

Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3R with the Core i5 750. It's a faster system than the Core 2 Quad it replaces (and cost less), but it probably still isn't quite a match for my Core i7. Still, it's a lower power system and I'll be using it as my main HTPC, with occasional duty as a video editing system.

Oh great. I'm hard pressed to think of any service that I directly use that is provided by the government other than OTA and now they want to take it away. And just like all the other incentive programs like 'Cash for Clunkers' (I don't own one), first time home buyer tax credit (bought my first home about 25 years ago), I'll probably miss out on my part of the "... $9 billion to move homes watching OTA TV to digital or subscription services. " because I already subscribe to SD satellite and they will probably think that should be good enough for me, gee its digital already isn't it?

I'll admit, I'm a bit of a tight wad. My mobile phone is paid for by work. My wife has a pay as you go plan that only costs about $11 a month. My daughter has a full service plan 'cause of all her friends that have unlimited texting. Stupid texting costs more per minute than the voice minutes, yet the throughput it uses is far less. So they want to take away my TV in favor of forcing me to pay for satellite or cable? What's next take away my land line and force me to use mobile phone service? Time to say no to the telecom companies.

Well it's ridiculously late, but this ticked me off enough that I wrote our two senators and my congressman Akin. I can't believe its only been a few months since the 'digital transition' and all that must have been spent on it, not to mention how long the standard was in the making. Another great use of our tax money.

i wouldn't worry about it.

"Only" 15% of the population is still about 45 million people. That's a lot of voters to tick off...

I did my first Win7 upgrade today and it's gone pretty smoothly so far. I did find out that Home Premium supports Dynamic disks. Not a big deal, but it might make a difference for some. It's never, ever mentioned as a feature in the comparisons of various Windows versions. Maybe they wised up and decided just to support it in all versions - unlikely, but there's no good reason not to.

I'm going to have several 500GB hard drives for sale soon for $30 each. Let me know via PM if you're interested. They're mostly UnRAID drives, so they're low usage (with especially low write hours). My UnRAID drives spend most of their time asleep. :)

Joe,
PM sent...I upgraded our Vista bus to 7 pro last week and had no hiccups at all. Usually, upgrades are a no no, but I risked it because I didn't want to reinstall 5 hours of adobe.
I haven't tried any media stuff, but I will as soon as my Waters of Mars is complete...though i'll probably still just stream to the ps3.

Joe,
PM sent...I upgraded our Vista bus to 7 pro last week and had no hiccups at all. Usually, upgrades are a no no, but I risked it because I didn't want to reinstall 5 hours of adobe.
I haven't tried any media stuff, but I will as soon as my Waters of Mars is complete...though i'll probably still just stream to the ps3.

I'm faced with re-installs of my software, but it was time to clean things up anyway. I'm just about ready to test this system out as my main HTPC. This time tomorrow I should be fully up to speed.

The one thing I'm really looking forward to seeing is the improved speed over the network. That was always a bottleneck with Vista and my systems.

I just received my upgrade copy of Windows 7 Ultimate that was part of the Intel Retail Edge deal from last Summer.

The Windows Vista Ultimate's Media Center on this PC (Core i7, 6 gigs DDR3, solid state drive) never worked, and neither did the software that came with the AverMedia HD tuner or the FusionHDTV7 card. Hopefully upgrading to 7 will fix that.

O/T

Well, it's kind of OTA, related. :)

My garage door opener (10 year old Lift-Master) remotes suddenly lost range a few days back. By process of elimination, it seems to be interference. Some of my neighbors have experienced range issues too.

I don't think it's anything in our house...I been going thru and unplugging everything that I thought might possible be causing it. We have a cell tower not far behind the house

In an effort to get minimal range, I've extended the antenna outside the garage door. Better, but not by much.

I think they make an amplifier, but not certain. Any ideas where to look? Can a person build their own amplifier?

Thanks,
Greg

Greg,

How close are you to Scott AFB?

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_Mobile_Radio_System

I'm pretty close, but it just seems to be happening at our end of the street.

FWIW, my neighbor was having issues a couple weeks back. He has a newer opener and mine is older. I think the older ones have around a 315 MHz setting, while the newer ones are around 390 MHz. This is just based on what I've read while Googling. :)

I'm pretty close, but it just seems to be happening at our end of the street.

FWIW, my neighbor was having issues a couple weeks back. He has a newer opener and mine is older. I think the older ones have around a 315 MHz setting, while the newer ones are around 390 MHz. This is just based on what I've read while Googling. :)

You've got the frequencies backwards. The new GDOs are operating on 315 MHz.

Without a spectrum analyzer, it's tough to do more than speculate.

Mark it on your calendars:

Chuck returns on Sunday, Jan. 10th with 2 episodes, then picks up in its old time slot the next night (Monday), for a total of 19 new season 3 episodes.

Outstanding.

Mark it on your calendars:

Chuck returns on Sunday, Jan. 10th with 2 episodes, then picks up in its old time slot the next night (Monday), for a total of 19 new season 3 episodes.

Outstanding.

Dollhouse officially cancelled after the remaining episodes play starting in December.

Dollhouse officially cancelled after the remaining episodes play starting in December.

After Joss Whedon became more involved in Dollhouse, it really picked up. But it was too little, too late, to save the show. It was such an odd premise, it felt doomed from the beginning, but he gave it a valiant effort. Still, I'm not that sorry to see the show go. Even with Whedon obviously at the helm, it was a strange story and it starred an actress I've never much liked. Also gone are Hank, Eastwick and a few others I never watched. With Chuck and Glee both airing in January, I'm feeling good about the start of 2010. Glee just keeps getting better and better.

I picked up a Hauppauge dual ATSC tuner the other day at Micro Center, which I added to my rehabbed i5 system. After installation, I was a bit concerned about the Win 7 Media Center .wtv file format and how much more difficult it might make editing my OTA captures of shows like Glee, House, Bones, Chuck, etc. I discovered, though, that my old standby editor, VideoReDo, has added support for .wtv files in its latest beta. The .wtv files are the new, proprietary Microsoft format for Media Center.

I also find that Win 7 seems substantially faster than Vista for all things file related, especially across the network. I edited out the commercials and converted Glee and Fringe to regular MPEG2 HD files, which play back very well in Win 7 Media Center. This Hauppauge card, BTW, is a PCIe x1 card that fits in x1 or x16 slots. I put it in a x16 graphics card slot and loaded the drivers. Win MC configured it as a dual ATSC tuner card, though it could work as an analog tuner, or analog video/audio capture device, too. Very impressive card!

So far, the Win 7 experience has been very positive. This latest development with OTA file editing from Win 7 MC captures is icing on the cake.

If anyone hasn't caught the World War II in HD series on History HD, it is really very good. It's a 10-parts series of color footage from WWII and is unlike any documentary I've ever seen on the war. The 2-disk Blu-ray is available for pre-order (Jan. 15 release) from Amazon for about $23.

After Joss Whedon became more involved in Dollhouse, it really picked up. But it was too little, too late, to save the show. It was such an odd premise, it felt doomed from the beginning, but he gave it a valiant effort. Still, I'm not that sorry to see the show go. Even with Whedon obviously at the helm, it was a strange story and it starred an actress I've never much liked. Also gone are Hank, Eastwick and a few others I never watched. With Chuck and Glee both airing in January, I'm feeling good about the start of 2010. Glee just keeps getting better and better.

See, I can't stand Glee .... even my GF can't understand why people like it. Meh.

I second the WWII series ... excellent ... I never knew there was so much color footage shot during the conflict.

See, I can't stand Glee .... even my GF can't understand why people like it. Meh.

I second the WWII series ... excellent ... I never knew there was so much color footage shot during the conflict.

Different strokes. I've always loved musical theater. Some people don't. I also have a warped sense of humor and like politically incorrect, as long as it isn't mean. Glee is mischievous, but it's never mean, and it usually finds several ways of being politically incorrect in a given episode.