I don't bother with a local paper, but the local TV news is still interesting. And I watch News 9 first because of the HD. I then flip around during commercial and end up on another news show if they aren't in commercial break too.

Get out of my head!!!!

I do the exact same thing.

A quick google search turned up a Washington Post article from last November on the ratings for the 11 PM DC newscasts which add up to around 460,000 viewers for the 4 stations. WTTG 5 got 169,000 viewers for the 10 PM broadcast. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/29/AR2007112902307.html. These are the 11 PM news numbers; don't know how the 5 & 6 PM numbers compare. Just because you don't watch the local news does not mean no one else does to make a obvious point.


Actually, those numbers pretty much say virtually no one else does, either. And I'm betting the demographics on those numbers are not at all in the 18-49 range.

My point is simply that local networks are no longer financially viable. The O&O's are being sold off more and more, and the local viewership is declining.

And what percentage of programming is really "local"? Maybe 2-3 hours a day? That's less than 10% for each channel, max. Then you figure it's pretty much the same "local" information on each channel, and it's just silly.

And to the other poster, the CN8's and the like are fine - one low-cost bare-bones local channel in a market makes total sense. And local sports channels also make sense - they are really regional sports channels, and not that different from an HBO-East and HBO-West.

But for the major networks, they are saddled with a model that makes it difficult to compete (in the long term) with cable networks that have one operation to feed 110 million homes, compared to hundreds of broadcast stations, and the $100's of millions of additional overhead for each network to reach the same number of homes.

It's an obsolete system, that had a purpose back when the technology was limited, but no longer serves any useful purpose. We need to let it go already.

No, you don't want to accept that other people may feel differently than you do.

Actually, those numbers pretty much say virtually no one else does, either. And I'm betting the demographics on those numbers are not at all in the 18-49 range.

My point is simply that local networks are no longer financially viable. The O&O's are being sold off more and more, and the local viewership is declining.

And what percentage of programming is really "local"? Maybe 2-3 hours a day? That's less than 10% for each channel, max. Then you figure it's pretty much the same "local" information on each channel, and it's just silly.

And to the other poster, the CN8's and the like are fine - one low-cost bare-bones local channel in a market makes total sense. And local sports channels also make sense - they are really regional sports channels, and not that different from an HBO-East and HBO-West.

But for the major networks, they are saddled with a model that makes it difficult to compete (in the long term) with cable networks that have one operation to feed 110 million homes, compared to hundreds of broadcast stations, and the $100's of millions of additional overhead for each network to reach the same number of homes.

It's an obsolete system, that had a purpose back when the technology was limited, but no longer serves any useful purpose. We need to let it go already.

Ironically, if you take "local news" out of that post and replace it with "primetime/network programming," your post is just as relevant. I think your post might make more sense if this were the thread for some small town sub-150 DMA, but as it stands there is plenty of news to go around in the nation's capital (for crying out loud), and local news is the fastest and most efficient aggregate of that information.

Reminder. For those who want to see at least some Os or Nats games in HD, WJZ-DT CBS 13 in Baltimore is airing the Os-Yankees game tonight and tomorrow afternoon. These games are on MASN-HD, so they should be HD on WJZ-DT. Looking at the schedule, the next MASN-HD game for the Os is not until May 16! The next Nats MASN-HD games are next week starting on April 21 with the next WDCA-DT 20/MASN-HD game on the 24th. Verizon has not added MASN-HD yet, so I am dependent on the WDCA-DT and WJZ-DT broadcasts for Os or Nats in HD (unless I add Comcast Loudoun as a temporary provider, but I am not going to do that).

Today's game is in HD on Mojo but not WJZ.

Today's game is in HD on Mojo but not WJZ.
Yep, it's SD on WJZ-DT 13. Bummer. Maybe the Saturday crew doesn't know how to hook up the HD feed?

BTW, it was announced in the Harrisonburg / Charlottesville thread that WVIR-TV NBC 29 in Charlottesville, VA upgraded to providing the local news in HD today. So Charlottesville beats Baltimore to having a station with HD local news! Apologies to AbMagFab about info that he doesn't want to read... :p

NBC29 Charlottesville, VA – April 18, 2008 – WVIR-TV today announced that, effective Saturday, April 19, at 6 p.m., NBC29 News is available in high definition. This is the Charlottesville station’s first live, locally-produced, HD broadcast, and is the result of more than five years of planning and construction and an expenditure of more than 3 million dollars.

http://pressroom.vartv.com/

Was the point of that to embarass the ninth largest DMA with its one HD local news broadcast, since now it's on par with the 181st DMA?

It should be noted that C-ville only has two local broadcasters in the first place. One company owns the ABC, CBS, Fox, and MyNet affiliates. Another owns the NBC and CW affiliates. Both the CW and MyNet affiliates are digital subchannel broadcasts only, though they are carried by Comcast.

And let me tell you, the other guys in C-ville (not NBC29) are broadcasting a seriously budget local operation. They actually can't even broadcast both an SD and an HD feed at the same time on any of their channels--Fox, CBS, or ABC. The SD feed is a center-cut downconvert of the HD feed.

...local news is the fastest and most efficient aggregate of that information.

Hardly... the internet is by far a faster and more effeciant aggregate of local news, and national news. Much more timely, just as accurate/inaccurate, and quicker and easier to find the specific piece of information relevent to me.

I understand that some people still like to get sports, weather, and traffic from local news stations. That's great. However that doesn't mean it makes sense.

The aging and techno-phobic demographics of our population stick to local news as some sort of anchor, and that's fine for them. But it's a rapidly dwindling segment, and it's increasingly irrelevant.

At a minimum, Network/Primetime shows (usually ~7pm-11pm) are exactly the same across all 1000+ local TV stations (300+ for each network). What a complete waste of overhead (people, infrastructure, etc.), compared to the same thing for cable networks that broadcast one feed to everyone, with no local station overhead.

And that 7-11pm timeframe is when nearly all the TV viewing occurs. The entire rest of the day is a fraction of 7-11pm, and the demos for the rest of the day are extremely narrow and unattractive to advertising (the only thing that really matters on free TV).

It's an arcane system that has passed it's time, and needs to be done away with.

(The only issue is the 10% of people with no cable or satellite connection, who rely on OTA. Again, they fall into the aging/technophobe group, but it's a difficult problem to solve.)

In this area, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic uses its own custom-made truck, housed primarily at Verizon Center, to show Wizards and Capitals home games in HD. But most road games are still shown in standard definition. Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) began rolling out HD broadcasts of Orioles and Nationals games this year, but only for 40 games per team.

"Mostly, it's a cost issue, but it also has to be a slow progression," said Stephanie Offen, a spokeswoman for Comcast SportsNet. "We feel we got in at the ground floor, but we're also trying to improve it. We want to make sure we're doing it right."

In some instances, networks and cable channels have decided to invest their money elsewhere before broadcasting in HD round-the-clock. And MASN spokesman Todd Webster said there is a danger in going too quickly to HD, as it takes time to ensure that the picture quality is ideal. He pointed out that those older regional sports networks that are now fully HD, including the New England Sports Network and YES Network, rolled out the service gradually.

"We want the picture quality to be flawless," Mr. Webster said. "It's an evolutionary process."

There's also the issue of finding space on the dial for dedicated HD channels. While providers such as DirecTV and Comcast are continually adding capacity, the process of finding available space is often like a game of musical chairs. Comcast for instance, places MASN's HD games on Mojo, a special channel with HD programming. And Cox Communications did not add Comcast SportsNet's HD channel until earlier this month, just in time for the Capitals' first playoff game.

http://washingtontimes.com/article/20080419/NATION/879341886/1001

New Ballpark Packs Video Power

Sony brings HD experience inside the stadium

by Sanjay Talwani, April 14, 2008

WASHINGTON
When the Washington Nationals planned Major League Baseball’s newest stadium, the team understood that the fan experience goes way beyond balls and strikes. And management grasped that in a city of iconic structures, fans nowadays demand a top-flight entertainment experience along with their hot-dogs. A dull, standard-definition video program on a run-of-the-mill scoreboard display just won’t do.

Sony, which has been courting big stadium and arena deals, provided much of the gear in the stadium control room—a video replay control center, they call it—along with Professional Products Inc., a systems integrator based in Gaithersburg, Md.

After a couple of test events, Nationals Park was ready for Opening Day March 30, with the Nationals hosting the Atlanta Braves, complete with an F-16 flyover and the ceremonial first pitch from President George W. Bush. The screen provided the kind of graphics, pictures and instant replays that shame the screens of old with their clunky motion and weak colors.

“Washington is on the front of the current wave of HD-replay sports facilities,” said Bruce Kaufmann, PPI president. “I know the Nationals fought very hard to make this a very high-class, high-technology, and high-resolution facility.”

HD EXPECTATIONS

Steve Stubelt, director of sales and marketing for Sony Systems Group, said the drive to HD and a more satisfying jumbo screen meets the growing expectations of fans used to HDTV in their homes, hotel rooms and an expanding list of other places. It started, said Stubelt, with the demands of luxury suiteholders—folks spending a couple of hundred thousand dollars a year for baseball games want top-flight monitors.

Sony’s growing sports practice, which involves installing its gear in new stadiums and upgrading existing ones, presents opportunities to bring the in-house video to a standard closer to that of TV production.

“We’ve tried, as we’ve worked in sports, to raise the level of consciousness about what kind of quality programming can be done,” Stubelt said.

The control room is responsible for all video displays in the park, including the 100-foot-wide 1552x720 Mitsubishi scoreboard screen and the fascia screens all around the front of the upper decks. The room has multiple connections to the cameras, slo-mos and other data coming from the production trucks; plus it has its own complement of wired, wireless and remote cameras.

It also has a Deko 3000 for graphics, a Click Effects Crossfire and servers, carts and VTRs to provide other content, such as advertising, highlight clips and the personalized song selections for the players as they step up to the plate.

Four 52-inch Sony LCD monitors along with multiple Sony Luma LCDs occupy the wall, powered by Evertz controllers.

Nationals Scoreboard Producer David Lundin said the arrangement provides plenty of flexibility for different types of events, or two different events can even happen in different parts of the stadium with different audio programs. On the different monitors around the stadium in the concourses, suites, bars and restaurants, operators can customize the picture as well as lower-thirds, crawls, bugs for different sections—bringing ads or useful information to fans and providing additional revenue sources.

Connected with the control room are Sony cameras—two HDC-1400s, and two wireless XDCAMs. There are also four remote-controlled BRC-H700 cameras around the top of the stadium for beauty shots, taking advantage of the dome of the U.S. Capitol beyond the left field wall.

At the center of the action is a three-M/E Sony MVS-8000G switcher.

The deployment gives technology companies a testing ground for some new products and methods. For example, Global Microwave Systems equipment handles the RF feed from the XDCAMs, and has supplied a component that allows operators to shade the cams remotely, something they had never done with this model of camera before. “So they’re physically upgrading their component to make us more functional and to make their product more valuable,” said Lundin.

Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, which carries every Orioles and Nationals game not carried by a national network, has begun HD coverage, planning a total of 80 games in HD this season. It also does live pre- and post-game shows for all of the 300-plus games.

Most cable systems that carry MASN also carry MASN HD, as does DirecTV (but not Dish). Some systems carry MASN content on a channel of another name—Mojo, in the case of Comcast.

Using NEP trucks, MASN says the new facility is a world apart from the Nats’ temporary home at the crumbling Robert F. Kennedy Stadium.

“The stadium folks listened to what television wanted,” said Jonathan Solomon, MASN chief engineer.

From the Triax and fiber drops at the 39 camera positions around the stadium to the truck parking area, the program has improved. At RFK, trucks used an outdoor position amongst the fans that was designed 40 years ago for smaller trucks. The new bay could easily tackle a game with two team broadcasters, a national broadcaster, plus the feed to Japan, said Solomon.

The interconnect panels are well laid out and well marked, and there’s even a crew lounge with a restroom.

Plus, with a new stadium and HD, it’s just a better show.

“Showing off the ballpark makes good TV,” said Solomon. “It definitely brings a brighter view to the fans.”

ENTERING THE MAJORS

Sony launched its sports sales practices about a year ago, targeting pro and college arenas and stadiums, particularly on retrofits to HD or new builds. The team worked on AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, on its screen in time for the 2007 season (and All-Star game), and on Bank One Ballpark, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Nationals and Sony agreed last summer to have Sony provide much of the control room gear (about half the equipment, as measured by cost) plus all 600 or so displays around the stadium.

The rise in production values characterized by venues such as the American Airlines Center in Dallas (home of the Mavericks of the NBA) and the American Airlines Arena in Miami (home to the NBA’s Heat) has led to control rooms with all the tools and capabilities of the production trucks—but with even more content to choose from, because the control room has access to all the truck channels plus its own cameras.

Kaufmann said there’s still the argument among venue officials about whether the premium paid for HD gear is worth it. But with the move toward bigger and bigger jumbo displays, the scale is tipping toward HD. And Sony, with its high-end gear, is working to ensure it has a piece of that market.

“They [Sony] have gotten very aggressive making sure their technology becomes more affordable to these teams, to get into these facilities,” said Kaufmann.

PPI did some integration work offsite and began moving into the facility in January, and had everything up and running for a test game (of college teams) March 22.

Stubelt said teams realize better video makes a better fan experience in a way that the teams can monetize.

“They’re controlling what you’re seeing, and what they’re realizing is they have a captive audience, and they can sell the branding to the marketing partners.” he said. “The dynamic is changing a lot. From our standpoint as a vendor, we can not only intro higher levels of capability, but it really is moving to a new level of sophistication.”

He predicted that four or five more stadiums will bust a move toward HD within the next year, and such displays will be the rule within about five years.

Another Sony-centric element of the stadium as entertainment center is the PlayStation 3 pavilion, an area with multiple games played on large HD screens. The team plans to hold competitions and show the action on the big screen—including shots from a Karaoke-style video game, so wannabe singers can belt it out large.

Nationals Park will get its next big event—and worldwide exposure—April 17, when Pope Benedict XVI gives a mass there in his only Washington-area public appearance on his current U.S. visit.

http://www.tvtechnology.com/pages/s.0082/t.12869.html

(The only issue is the 10% of people with no cable or satellite connection, who rely on OTA. Again, they fall into the aging/technophobe group, but it's a difficult problem to solve.)

My girlfriend is kind of in this 10% group. But she is no technophobe. She has been in IT for almost 30 years. But she has never felt the desire to get cable/satellite since most of what she watches is available OTA. Although I am trying to convince her to get FIOS. Because of the election this year, she has been more involved in the election process than ever before in her life. So she is actually considering getting cable so she has access to all the political shows available on cable. I'm hoping I can nudge her to FIOS especially since, with the deals they have she will only be paying about $10 more a month for phone, TV, and INTERNET, than she does now for just Phone and INTERNET service.
That way she can also get more use out of the two TiVoHD boxes I gave her and pay for monthly myself.

Hardly... the internet is by far a faster and more effeciant aggregate of local news, and national news. Much more timely, just as accurate/inaccurate, and quicker and easier to find the specific piece of information relevent to me.

I understand that some people still like to get sports, weather, and traffic from local news stations. That's great. However that doesn't mean it makes sense.

The aging and techno-phobic demographics of our population stick to local news as some sort of anchor, and that's fine for them. But it's a rapidly dwindling segment, and it's increasingly irrelevant.

At a minimum, Network/Primetime shows (usually ~7pm-11pm) are exactly the same across all 1000+ local TV stations (300+ for each network). What a complete waste of overhead (people, infrastructure, etc.), compared to the same thing for cable networks that broadcast one feed to everyone, with no local station overhead.

And that 7-11pm timeframe is when nearly all the TV viewing occurs. The entire rest of the day is a fraction of 7-11pm, and the demos for the rest of the day are extremely narrow and unattractive to advertising (the only thing that really matters on free TV).

It's an arcane system that has passed it's time, and needs to be done away with.

(The only issue is the 10% of people with no cable or satellite connection, who rely on OTA. Again, they fall into the aging/technophobe group, but it's a difficult problem to solve.)

Blah Blah Blah.

All to justify your view of the world.

Gee, we should close all bookstores. The internet takes care of it.

We should shut down all TV, including satellite and cable because the internet can take care of it.

Banks? Who needs buildings? You can bank on the internet.

Oh, and stores of all kinds. Blow them up. The internet takes care of it.

Or not.

Yes, of course you are right. All those businesses making money on local TV must be lying to themselves.

ABC's This Week With George Stephanopoulos is in HD on WJLA. SD on WMAR.

Hardly... the internet is by far a faster and more effeciant aggregate of local news, and national news. Much more timely, just as accurate/inaccurate, and quicker and easier to find the specific piece of information relevent to me.

You seem to have assumed that, because Washington has a robust local news presence on the Internet, all localities do, in which case you've been suckered by the same beltway elitism from which most politicians in Washington suffer. Small town America depends on the local news as much as they depend on the local newspaper, and neither will be supplanted by the Internet for a while yet, and even when they are locals will turn to the local news because all it requires is an antenna to view and a chair to watch.

Your argument is more an indictment of network news broadcasts and national newspapers, since their value is primarily in national news coverage, which has a robust presence on the Internet. Truly local news, for small town and rural Americans, has a week Internet presence at best.

My girlfiend...

I thought I'd force a break in the sniping on this thread to say...was that just a typo, an intentional joke, or a Freudian slip?
:D
Doug

I thought I'd force a break in the sniping on this thread to say...was that just a typo, an intentional joke, or a Freudian slip?
:D
Doug

a typo:o

Nats-Braves on D*, 626-1 - definitely not HD (pillar boxes on either side). Called the good folks up and let them know and they are aware of the issue.

Nats-Braves on D*, 626-1 - definitely not HD (pillar boxes on either side). Called the good folks up and let them know and they are aware of the issue.

HD finally kicked in about 20 minutes later.

CNN and a few other channels disappeared from Comcast DC last night and were replaced by a "This channel should be available shortly" message. Hopefully that means that the not-so-swift technical folks at Comcast are trying to add the new channels promised for this month, including CNN-HD and Animal Planet. Or maybe not.

New Ballpark Packs Video Power
Sony brings HD experience inside the stadium

Too bad MASN can't take 100% advantage of it.

Too bad MASN can't take 100% advantage of it.


Maybe since the Nationals are playing so, so bad MASN thinks no one is watching.

Maybe since the Nationals are playing so, so bad MASN thinks no one is watching.

With game 7 at the Phone Booth, I don't think anybody will be watching the Nats in HD tonight.

With game 7 at the Phone Booth, I don't think anybody will be watching the Nats in HD tonight.

Nats who? It's still hockey season!

... What a complete waste of overhead (people, infrastructure, etc.), ...

Right! Get all of those people begging on the streets where they belong! What this country need is more layoffs, to get that unemployment rate way up. :rolleyes:

Why is the sharks game blacked out on D* in this area on Versus? Anyone know?

-Mike

EDIT: nevermind, guess it was just the caps running late.

Unrelated to the present discussion, but thread-relevant:

Does anyone in DC proper actually manage to get WNVC digital channel 30? I've been trying for some time now and have absolutely no luck with any of my equipment. I can't get up on the roof or properly install outside (though I think my landlord will allow a modest antenna setup I am planning after the transition) but I should have LOS, at least according to TVFool.

So far it's only the MHz and Ion stations I'm losing as a result of DTV, though neither are in very good quality on analog or really seemed to show anything. But it does seem that with the subchannels these stations are showing some potentially interesting programming.

Does anyone in DC proper actually manage to get WNVC digital channel 30? I've been trying for some time now and have absolutely no luck with any of my equipment. I can't get up on the roof or properly install outside (though I think my landlord will allow a modest antenna setup I am planning after the transition) but I should have LOS, at least according to TVFool.

So far it's only the MHz and Ion stations I'm losing as a result of DTV, though neither are in very good quality on analog or really seemed to show anything. But it does seem that with the subchannels these stations are showing some potentially interesting programming.
Do you mean WNVT-DT 30 in Goldvein or WNVC-DT 56 (on 57) in Fairfax? If you do a search in this thread, you will see a post from a few weeks back where I could not lock onto the WNVT-DT 30 broadcast signal. I emailed the station and the engineer replied that WNVT-DT was running at reduced power because of transmitter hardware failure. They had ordered replacement parts. I think they are back at close to the 160 kW ERP as I do get the station, but it has always been tricky for me to get WNVT-DT reliably from Sterling as it is off at a bad angle to the south with respect to the DC & Baltimore stations. I have to place and aim the CM4221 in the attic just right.

If you mean WNVC-DT 56 in Fairfax, the digital antenna is mounted on the side of the tower and is only operating at at 7.3 kW on UHF 57. WNVC will go dark this September on both analog & digital to install a new antenna on top of the tower for operation on UHF 24 at 45 kW with a much improved digital coverage. But WNVC-DT can't go back on the air until WUTB 24 in Baltimore shuts off it's analog signal and WUTB has stated they will keep their analog 24 signal on the air until February 17, 2009. Maybe by then WUTB-DT will have finally gone full power on their digital signal.

WPXW-DT Ion 66 in Manassus will be taking over WUSA-DT's current UHF 34 antenna and 1000 kW power in DC next February 18 after WUSA-DT moves it's digital signal to their VHF 9 antenna. This will give WPXW Ion 66 a huge increase in broadcast coverage in the DC and Baltimore markets next year. Although people far enough west of DC and Baltimore can pick up WWPX-DT Ion 60 on VHF 12 out of Martinsburg. Ion has stated they will be switching to a 720p HD sub-channel, but I expect there will not that much true HD on it.

Right! Get all of those people begging on the streets where they belong! What this country need is more layoffs, to get that unemployment rate way up. :rolleyes:


Right! Let's bankrupt this country into a communal model where people remain employed in pointless jobs and advancement is stunted for the benefit of the worker.

I'm heavily biased that decisions about advancement in technology and other areas should not be influenced at all by how many jobs will be made obsolete. So there's really no point in having that discussion, my position is on the table.

Do you mean WNVT-DT 30 in Goldvein or WNVC-DT 56 (on 57) in Fairfax? If you do a search in this thread, you will see a post from a few weeks back where I could not lock onto the WNVT-DT 30 broadcast signal. I emailed the station and the engineer replied that WNVT-DT was running at reduced power because of transmitter hardware failure. They had ordered replacement parts. I think they are back at close to the 160 kW ERP as I do get the station, but it has always been tricky for me to get WNVT-DT reliably from Sterling as it is off at a bad angle to the south with respect to the DC & Baltimore stations. I have to place and aim the CM4221 in the attic just right.

If you mean WNVC-DT 56 in Fairfax, the digital antenna is mounted on the side of the tower and is only operating at at 7.3 kW on UHF 57. WNVC will go dark this September on both analog & digital to install a new antenna on top of the tower for operation on UHF 24 at 45 kW with a much improved digital coverage. But WNVC-DT can't go back on the air until WUTB 24 in Baltimore shuts off it's analog signal and WUTB has stated they will keep their analog 24 signal on the air until February 17, 2009. Maybe by then WUTB-DT will have finally gone full power on their digital signal.

WPXW-DT Ion 66 in Manassus will be taking over WUSA-DT's current UHF 34 antenna and 1000 kW power in DC next February 18 after WUSA-DT moves it's digital signal to their VHF 9 antenna. This will give WPXW Ion 66 a huge increase in broadcast coverage in the DC and Baltimore markets next year. Although people far enough west of DC and Baltimore can pick up WWPX-DT Ion 60 on VHF 12 out of Martinsburg. Ion has stated they will be switching to a 720p HD sub-channel, but I expect there will not that much true HD on it.

Sorry, my mistake--I did mean WNVT-DT 30, not WNVC. I was actually going to email their engineer and ask the same, since I did recall reading something a while back here. Again, my mistake for not searching. My Insignia tuner and CM4220 detect a signal on DT 30 but does not lock, and as far as I can remember I get nothing on DT 57. I've tried all the feasible positioning I can manage indoors and also a CM4221 which actually worsened my reception of some channels. That's not completely surprising since I am getting a reflection pointing directly south that gives me all the Baltimore digitals and WMPT-DT 42; I can't position towards the actual stations with any luck but I imagine on a mast that the 4221 would outperform the 4220.

Unfortunately I doubt I can get anything beyond a 4220 plus a discreet VHF dipole outdoors, that is if my landlord will allow me to attach something to the house outdoors. I rent a whole rowhouse but the OTARD regulations don't really seem to favor anything I want to do, including finding a way of running the wire indoors without my landlord objecting. I'm definitely wishing I had a roof deck right now.

That's good to hear about Ion, in any case, since that'll come in through rabbit ears if it's on the DT 34 antenna. Hopefully that'll give me some more programming options. There's still no way I'm paying for cable or satellite, both of which would require drilling holes in the house anyway since there is no indoor wiring for cable either.

[end mini-rant]

I'm in D.C. proper and have never been able to get digital WNVC or WNVT, but I'm only using a $10 set of Radio Shack rabbit ears. I can pull in the digital signals of channels 4, 5, 7, 20, 26, 32, and 50. Multipath is a big issue in my location, though.

MASNHD - Anyone else notice that during their HD baseball games this year (at least the ones I have seen) the announcers voices are coming from the rear speakers in DD5.1? I don't know if they're actually using DD5.1 equipment or just trying to simulate it but they're sure doing something wrong.

May sweeps begin tomorrow

Wondering if FOX5 will make the switch by then...

Sorry, my mistake--I did mean WNVT-DT 30, not WNVC. I was actually going to email their engineer and ask the same, since I did recall reading something a while back here. Again, my mistake for not searching. My Insignia tuner and CM4220 detect a signal on DT 30 but does not lock, and as far as I can remember I get nothing on DT 57. I've tried all the feasible positioning I can manage indoors and also a CM4221 which actually worsened my reception of some channels. That's not completely surprising since I am getting a reflection pointing directly south that gives me all the Baltimore digitals and WMPT-DT 42; I can't position towards the actual stations with any luck but I imagine on a mast that the 4221 would outperform the 4220.
You should email WNVT to see if they are back to full power. WNVT-DT MHz 30 is at their post-transition power of 160 kw and antenna HAAT (Height Above Average Terrain) of 229 meters. Since there are no nearby analog channels that might interfere, the reception of WNVT-DT is not going to improve next year. I can get WNVC-DT 56 (57) in Fairfax if I aim the CM4221 in my attic right at the station (but I lose the Baltimore stations in the process).

You have 3 stations to the SW of DC in VA: WNVC 56, WNVT-DT 30, WPXW Ion 66. Do you have a window or high point with a reasonably clear shot to the SW? If you want to try it, get the CM4220 as high up as possible and aim it towards the SW to see if the stations come in at all. What about analog 56 or 66? If you don't get the digital and analog stations, you may have local obstructions or terrain blocking the signals from that direction.

Forgive me if you know this, but the bowties are on the front side of the antenna, the screen is a reflector screen. Some people mount the CM bowties backwards and don't realize it. I just want to be sure.

I recently got a new PC which I can use to watch some shows and capture (for later viewing). I was wondering about some things. Hour shows from WNUV and WJZ appear to be about 8 GB in size (and half that for a half hour). I am guessing that this is the full HD rate. The Simpsons on WBFF is coming in at about 2.3 or 2.4 GB. WMAR came in at about 5.5 GB for LOST.

WMPT has been all over the place. Soundstage has been about 5 GB for an hour on three different weeks. Masterpiece (they dropped the Theatre) was once 6 GB for 1.5 hours and then 10 GB for 2 hours another week. Austin City Limits was about 5.5 GB one week and then another week it was 3.8 GB.

I am receiving all of this television over the air, so I am assuming that the different rates are a function of the tv stations. Any ideas as to what is going on?

Thanks,

Neil

MASNHD - Anyone else notice that during their HD baseball games this year (at least the ones I have seen) the announcers voices are coming from the rear speakers in DD5.1? I don't know if they're actually using DD5.1 equipment or just trying to simulate it but they're sure doing something wrong.

I have watched here and there and have noticed it myself. I am receiving DD5.1 through my receiver but the same sound is coming from every speaker.

...the announcers voices are coming from the rear speakers in DD5.1?...

It's that way right now against the Mets (SNY is blacked out). I'm not sure it's intended, but it sure is different. It's almost like you're sitting in the seats just in front of the broadcast booth. Except when Sutton talks, you want to turn around and tell him to shut up.

I have watched here and there and have noticed it myself. I am receiving DD5.1 through my receiver but the same sound is coming from every speaker.
That seems to be a fancy way of saying "Mono encoded as DD5.1". Please correct me (someone, anyone) if I'm mistaken.

Too bad MASN can't take 100% advantage of it.

To be clear, at any venue, with few exceptions, the video production for the "Jumbotron" (or whatever they are using) is completely separate from the telecast. YES and NESN do HD production at their home ballparks that are still SD (or analog); ESPN does HD production at many venues where the the in- house is still SD. Likewise, just because a venue is HD for their in -house doesn't mean the telecasts are any easier, or have to be, HD.

However, most MLB broadcasters give camera feeds to the house. Some take camera from the house (robo cams, etc.)

Hope that clears things up.

Meet the Press is scheduled to go HD sometime in 2009 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1021430), according to an NBC spokesperson. MTP films at WRC's Studio A (I'm pretty sure that local news is in Studio B).

I'd think that the WRC plant would be upgraded to HD in a manner where the local news would beat or match the date of MTP's HD launch. Assuming I'm right, that means the local WRC news should be in HD within, oh, the next two years.

I know you all don't want to wait like that for WRC-HD news. Well, I mean, we've now got an approximate date, right? Anybody like this development? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

You have 3 stations to the SW of DC in VA: WNVC 56, WNVT-DT 30, WPXW Ion 66. Do you have a window or high point with a reasonably clear shot to the SW? If you want to try it, get the CM4220 as high up as possible and aim it towards the SW to see if the stations come in at all. What about analog 56 or 66? If you don't get the digital and analog stations, you may have local obstructions or terrain blocking the signals from that direction.

Forgive me if you know this, but the bowties are on the front side of the antenna, the screen is a reflector screen. Some people mount the CM bowties backwards and don't realize it. I just want to be sure.

Unfortunately I am already at the highest usable indoors point in the house, a second-story window pointing directly south. The houses across the alley are slightly taller than mine; aiming directly SW does not improve reception as I believe they are obstructing any view I'd have of the transmitters from indoors. I can indeed get analog 56 and 66, which although snowy are not much different than the quality of the Baltimore analog UHF stations whose digital counterparts come in well.

I am going to try making a small stand for the CM4220 and/or mount it upside down from the top of the window frame. Right now it is just leaning with the bowties against the lower pane which has a metal screen outdoors. Holding the antenna up a few inches seemed to improve reception a bit on previous tests. I also have metal bars ~8 in. apart on all my windows, which I'm sure does not help.

My placement is extremely sensitive for the farther-off stations; even the position of the balun makes a difference between no signal and solid lock on some channels. I'm not sure if it's multipath or just weak signal, but I ordered a Winegard preamp that should arrive today to try to test the latter hypothesis. Ghosting isn't particularly bad on the analog channels. I definitely get very different results between each of the four ATSC tuners I have, and different results on each depending on wiring.

Thanks for the help.

Black Television News Channel to launch in HD in 2009. Comcast will carry in Baltimore and D.C.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6554337.html?q=black+news+channel

Unfortunately I am already at the highest usable indoors point in the house, a second-story window pointing directly south. The houses across the alley are slightly taller than mine; aiming directly SW does not improve reception as I believe they are obstructing any view I'd have of the transmitters from indoors. I can indeed get analog 56 and 66, which although snowy are not much different than the quality of the Baltimore analog UHF stations whose digital counterparts come in well.

I am going to try making a small stand for the CM4220 and/or mount it upside down from the top of the window frame. Right now it is just leaning with the bowties against the lower pane which has a metal screen outdoors. Holding the antenna up a few inches seemed to improve reception a bit on previous tests. I also have metal bars ~8 in. apart on all my windows, which I'm sure does not help.

My placement is extremely sensitive for the farther-off stations; even the position of the balun makes a difference between no signal and solid lock on some channels. I'm not sure if it's multipath or just weak signal, but I ordered a Winegard preamp that should arrive today to try to test the latter hypothesis. Ghosting isn't particularly bad on the analog channels. I definitely get very different results between each of the four ATSC tuners I have, and different results on each depending on wiring.

Thanks for the help.

What kind of cable between the antenna and the TV's?

Since there are no nearby analog channels that might interfere, the reception of WNVT-DT is not going to improve next year.
Not necessarily true. A 39/48 beat could produce interfering signals on 30, 57, or both, and these interfering signals would disappear when WJLA-DT moves to 7 and 39 goes dark.

Right now it is just leaning with the bowties against the lower pane which has a metal screen outdoors.
If you have not already done so, try moving the antenna backward and forward, away from the window up to 2 or 3 feet. With an indoor antenna, it’s all about location, location, location, and it’s very important to move the antenna through all three dimensions to find the best sweet spot. Also note that the optimal directional orientation for an indoor antenna can be counterintuitive due to reflections, standing waves, etc.

I can indeed get analog 56 and 66, which although snowy are not much different than the quality of the Baltimore analog UHF stations whose digital counterparts come in well.

I am going to try making a small stand for the CM4220 and/or mount it upside down from the top of the window frame. Right now it is just leaning with the bowties against the lower pane which has a metal screen outdoors. Holding the antenna up a few inches seemed to improve reception a bit on previous tests. I also have metal bars ~8 in. apart on all my windows, which I'm sure does not help.

My placement is extremely sensitive for the farther-off stations; even the position of the balun makes a difference between no signal and solid lock on some channels. I'm not sure if it's multipath or just weak signal...
The metal bars on the window do not help reception at all. Depending on the construction materials in the walls, you should try moving the CM4220 away from the window and place it at different locations facing a wall. The metal bars may be blocking the UHF signals from the SW. If you have a tripod or pole you can mount the antenna on, move it around the room and see if there is improvements. That your placement is so sensitive suggests you are getting multi-path & signal blockages. You should also tilt the CM 4220 aim upwards a bit.

If you can get a watchable picture for WNVC analog 56, you should be able to get WNVC-DT next year when they switch to a UHF 24 antenna at the same height as the current analog 56 antenna.

Thanks for all the suggestions! I have played around with this antenna extensively in different positions and each have their strengths and weaknesses. I previously had it on a chair further indoors, which worked for most channels but was too weak for my downstairs TV to decode (I've since replaced its internal tuner with a Samsung 260 which is far better). At the window position I get all the DC channels, MPT-DT 42 and all the B-more stations except UPN. I have been having problems with 11 and 13's digitals as of late though. 11 did not come in through any other position other than at the window, and MPT is extremely finnicky to my Samsung 260 tuner but comes in very clearly on my Insignia tuner.

My Winegard HDP-269 pre-amp arrived yesterday and it has successfully offset the cable loss I was experiencing. I have a 25ft. RG-6 from the window to my upstairs TV and 50ft. RG-6 running downstairs. Without the preamp I got a noticeable difference hooking up the same tuner upstairs and downstairs, and the splitter killed all the Baltimore stations and MPT. Perhaps now I can move it further in as I had before since the cable loss is lower.

Surprisingly this morning I was getting FOX 29 analog--I did not have enough time to see where it was from on the newscast but I matched the logo with the Philadelphia station. Their digital is also channel 42, which perhaps is why I am having some trouble with MPT on one tuner but not the other. Again this is still pointing directly south so I am clearly getting it from a reflection somewhere.

Also surprising is that rabbit ears at the preamp near the window got me 11 and 13 analog from Baltimore. This may be good news as far as their VHF transitions are concerned. Actually, they both come in with just the 4220 but not very well but even DC 4, 5, 7 and 9 analog are nearly perfect with it.

This weekend I will try the CM4221 again away from the window. I did not test it much anywhere else than the back window, so there may be another place where it beats the 4220. I also have the possibility of mounting the 4220 at the same window but outside since I can attach a mast or other makeshift mounting bracket to the metal bars. My landlord can't say anything if I don't permanently modify anything.

Would this be worth a shot, or do the bars also negatively impact behind the reflector? If this is worthwhile, does anyone have ideas/suggestions on passing a coax cable through a window? The only idea I have is to put two layers of weatherstripping and make a small notch on the top layer to pass the coax, then shut the window on top of that.

This mounting would probably give me enough height to shoot SW for the Virginia stations past the two-story houses across the alley. IIRC the terrain slopes down in that direction past the Capitol and the Mall, which should help.

Thanks again for your help.

Addition: the balun placement is also making a tremendous difference. I'm using the included balun and found that a odd position running one wire under the two center wires to the right terminal and above the left wire to the left terminal works the best. Mounting it down the middle did not give as good results no matter how far or close I spaced the two wires.

Hi. New here and have been searching this thread like crazy. Haven't quite found what I'm looking for. I'm hoping someone can pm me or at least just post a reply.

Just got my hdtv and am using the qam tuner at the moment. First scan picked up a bunch of stuff but I can't seem to find any of the local broadcast in HD.

Using RCN in Montgomery County.

Could someone please link me to a listing of the clear-QAM stations... and at least the local stuff?

(sincerely apologies. I'm sure this has been asked many times. I just can't seem to find it in this thread.)


never mind... found 'em.

At the window position I get all the DC channels, MPT-DT 42 and all the B-more stations except UPN. I have been having problems with 11 and 13's digitals as of late though.
...
Surprisingly this morning I was getting FOX 29 analog--I did not have enough time to see where it was from on the newscast but I matched the logo with the Philadelphia station.
...
I also have the possibility of mounting the 4220 at the same window but outside since I can attach a mast or other makeshift mounting bracket to the metal bars.
...
Would this be worth a shot, or do the bars also negatively impact behind the reflector? If this is worthwhile, does anyone have ideas/suggestions on passing a coax cable through a window?
WUTB-DT My 24 in Baltimore is still operating at a very low power of 530 Watts on their DT UHF 41 channel. Until WUTB-DT goes to 200 kW power, whenever that finally occurs, only those with a direct line of sight have much of a decent chance to get the digital signal.

The weather the past several days has been good for tropospheric ducting. You picked up a reflected signal for WTXF Fox 29 out of Philly. But the DT signal on UHF 42 at some 78 MHz off in frequency may have acted very differently

The metal bars on the window might act as part of the reflector, but with the large spacing, would be a reflector more for VHF than UHF. You could first attach to the window bars with plastic ties as an experiment (don't drop the antenna into the street!). But you may want to consider how to mount the antenna so that the CM 4220 reflector screen is electrically isolated from the window bars. Mount the antenna to a wooden pole which is tied to the window. But you would presumably lose the ability to aim the antenna by attaching it to the bars.

This is probably only on P.G County Comcast Cable, but I now have zero signal from QAM Channels 124-1, 124-2, 124-4, 125-1, 125-2, 125-3, and 125-4. All of these signals have been very good for the past several months. These channels include WMAR-HD,WBALDT, WBALSD, WJZ-DT, MPT-DT, MPT-HD, and V-me. They have all been off for the past 3 hours, and all of the others are fine.
Anyone else note this problem.

Did anyone notice any problems with the broadcast of Desperate Housewives last week? My wife and I just got around to watching it on our DVR and the breakups were so bad we had to go watch online. We called a friend who reported no problems so I'm afraid it might be either the DVR or our signal. But why would it always manifest on ABC programming?

Thanks.

Not sure if this has been posted:

The 10-part Carrier (10 hours) debuts tomorrow at 9 on Channels 22 and 26 PBS HD.
Life aboard the USS Nimitz shot in HD & shown in HD

This is probably only on P.G County Comcast Cable, but I now have zero signal from QAM Channels 124-1, 124-2, 124-4, 125-1, 125-2, 125-3, and 125-4. All of these signals have been very good for the past several months. These channels include WMAR-HD,WBALDT, WBALSD, WJZ-DT, MPT-DT, MPT-HD, and V-me. They have all been off for the past 3 hours, and all of the others are fine.
Anyone else note this problem.I'm in Bowie and I'm getting no signal for any of these channels from Comcast either.

Neil

Montgomery Co., RCN. No signal either. Was getting the 125- stations just fine this morning, now they're gone (and hockey is on in a half hour, damn it.)

Is this sort of thing normal? Do the channels come back or will they show up elsewhere?

Montgomery Co., RCN. No signal either. Was getting the 125- stations just fine this morning, now they're gone (and hockey is on in a half hour, damn it.)

Is this sort of thing normal? Do the channels come back or will they show up elsewhere?I haven't tried to rescan to search for the channels, but the only other time some of these channels vanished on me was when they were mapped to their "normal" locations - i.e. 2-1, 11-1, 13-1, etc. Their previous 12x-x slots gave no signal at that time. Both slots have no signal at the moment.

Neil

I haven't tried to rescan to search for the channels, but the only other time some of these channels vanished on me was when they were mapped to their "normal" locations - i.e. 2-1, 11-1, 13-1, etc. Their previous 12x-x slots gave no signal at that time. Both slots have no signal at the moment.

Neil
124 and 125 are still dead, and on a complete rescan I don't find them anywhere. I did find a new signal, 133-11, which is Bloomberg news. The missing signals are all Baltimore and Annapolis.

http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/04/mclaughlin_switches_stations_i.php

After 20 some years at WRC, The McLaughlin Group is switching affiliates and studios over to WUSA. I hesitate to ask given who's on the panel but... does this create a possibility for HD?

I'd put money down that it would be in HD. The other WUSA productions have been in HD.

This is probably only on P.G County Comcast Cable, but I now have zero signal from QAM Channels 124-1, 124-2, 124-4, 125-1, 125-2, 125-3, and 125-4. All of these signals have been very good for the past several months. These channels include WMAR-HD,WBALDT, WBALSD, WJZ-DT, MPT-DT, MPT-HD, and V-me. They have all been off for the past 3 hours, and all of the others are fine.
Anyone else note this problem.

I'm having the exact same problem. As far as I can tell, they're not encrypted, they're just gone.

I'm having the exact same problem. As far as I can tell, they're not encrypted, they're just gone.


Actually, the Baltimore HD channels shouldn't even be there (remember, Comcast here in PG dropped Baltimore's analogs a few years back); however, the only one of Baltimore's channels I've completely lost are WBAL-TV/DT (normally at 11-1/11-2, between ESPN and ESPN2 on my QAM lineup). WMAR-DT is still present at 2-1 (WMAR-DT2 is still at 120-10) while WJZ-DT is still at 13-1. TNT-HD's Stretch-O-Vision is now gone (was at 127-5). No sign of any new HD channels in ClearQAM.

Actually, the Baltimore HD channels shouldn't even be there (remember, Comcast here in PG dropped Baltimore's analogs a few years back).They were moved to the digital lineup. But, MPT-1, and -2 are also gone and MPT has always been there.

I just went to http://www.comcast.com/Customers/clu/ChannelLineup.ashx
and looked under All Channels and none of these channels, not even the MPT digitals are listed. I'll have to check one of my old listings, but I was sure they all used to be listed in the lineup before. There used to be slots for the Baltimore HD channels.

Neil

Hi,
I wonder if any OTA viewing members are experiencing this problem. I have both the Insignia and Zenith dtv boxes. Both are displaying the WETA 26.1 epg information on the WHUT 32.1 epg as well. Not sure if this is a box problem, or a transmission problem. I'd be interested to see if any other folks with cecb's are noticing this as well.

Hi,
I wonder if any OTA viewing members are experiencing this problem. I have both the Insignia and Zenith dtv boxes. Both are displaying the WETA 26.1 epg information on the WHUT 32.1 epg as well. Not sure if this is a box problem, or a transmission problem. I'd be interested to see if any other folks with cecb's are noticing this as well.
The epg data is provided by the station; nothing wrong with your dtv boxes. WHUT-DT showing guide data for WETA-DT has happened before when WHUT-DT first started showing guide data. I think WETA handles the digital transmission for WHUT-DT and is supposed to add the guide data for WHUT's programming, but they made a mistake and inserted the guide data for WETA-DT's schedule. Someone should contact WHUT and/or WETA and point out the problem. After all, it took weeks for WHUT to realize they were not sending out the correct channel 32 mapping after the digital signal went on the air last fall.

Someone should contact WHUT and/or WETA and point out the problem.

Thanks for the reply afiggatt. Just called WETA. What an adventure that was:rolleyes: Apparantly they don't have an engineering dept with a phone. After several attempts I gave up and sent them an email.

I'm new to the cecb world and am discovering lots of anamolies in the local dtv arena. E.g, WRC time code off by over an hour. WFDC timecode off by over 11 years!

Has anyone else noticed signal problems with WUSA in the last couple of weeks? I live in Arlington, so I should be point blank from the guns. The signal on mine dropped from smoking hot(no dropouts) to borderline constantly dropping out in the matter of a couple of weeks. I originally thought it was the leaves on the trees, but none of the other channels that reside on higher frequencies than WUSA are having problems. In fact, i haven't noticed problems on any other channel. Is anyone else having problems or it just me?

Has anyone else noticed signal problems with WUSA in the last couple of weeks? I live in Arlington, so I should be point blank from the guns. The signal on mine dropped from smoking hot(no dropouts) to borderline constantly dropping out in the matter of a couple of weeks. I originally thought it was the leaves on the trees, but none of the other channels that reside on higher frequencies than WUSA are having problems. In fact, i haven't noticed problems on any other channel. Is anyone else having problems or it just me?


It could still be the foilage. I used to have problems when the leaves fell of the trees, but only for WRC. The other channels were fine. But once a storm knocked down a third of the tree, my signal problem went away. But again I only had problems with the one channel, nothing else was ever affected. And it happened every year when the leaves were around 80% gone, and once the leaves grew back, the signal was rock solid.

WMAR-DT is still present at 2-1 (WMAR-DT2 is still at 120-10) while WJZ-DT is still at 13-1.

Is there any way you can tell me what the physical QAM channel numbers are for WJZ-DT and WMAR-DT? I can't find them on my Samsung SIR-T451. Are they higher than channel 125?

My favorite TV infobabe has been spotted locally.

http://chipstah.blogspot.com/Laurieinblue.jpg

Laurie Dhue Seen At 7 - 4/28 - Seen at the Rosslyn HQ of Channel 7/WJLA today: Laurie Dhue, formerly an anchor at Fox News and other cable news nets. Possible new JLA anchor? You know, 7's never formally replaced evening anchor Kathleen Matthews, who left more than a year ago. Hmmm. Stay tuned.....

Is there any way you can tell me what the physical QAM channel numbers are for WJZ-DT and WMAR-DT? I can't find them on my Samsung SIR-T451. Are they higher than channel 125?

You and I appear to have the same Comcast signals. On my connection, WMAR-DT and WJZ-DT were on sub-channels of 124. However those signal levels went to zero over the past weekend.Aat 10:00 am this morning I find that the RF signals are at full strength, but the only sub-channel not scrambled is 124-2, and it has E&E-HD at 720p at the present time. All of the sub-channelas of 125 are at full signal level also, but scrambled. Channel 128-1 is also showing A&E-HD as it has for the past few months.
I agree with Hammner that P.G. Comcast is not required to provide these QAM signals, but they have done so for some time. It is fun to try and keep up with the changes which Comcast will not comment about.

You and I appear to have the same Comcast signals. On my connection, WMAR-DT and WJZ-DT were on sub-channels of 124. However those signal levels went to zero over the past weekend. ...
I agree with Hammner that P.G. Comcast is not required to provide these QAM signals, but they have done so for some time. It is fun to try and keep up with the changes which Comcast will not comment about.last night I couldn't find the old listing which I thought I had which had the Baltimore channels on it. I guess my memory saw something else. I think Comcast really should provide the MPT subchannels and maybe I'll write to (or call) MPT about that. The Baltimore channels would be nice to have especially when they are showing something different than the DC channels. At least I can get some of the Baltimore channels over the air okay.

Neil

I just called MPT and they said they hadn't received any reports about it. Looking on the MPT and WETA websites it appears that with Comcast on their nominal box settings it really is MPT or WETA in the digital channels. MPT has Channel 220 – MPT Comcast (regular MPT HD), Channel 200 – MPTSL Comcast (MPT Select), and Channel 201 – V-ME Comcast. WETA has WETA HD - Channel 220, WETA Create - Channel 200, WETA Kids - Channel 201, and WETA World - Channel 202. Note that Verizon FIOS doesn't have this overlap (MPT is on 806, 880, and 881 while WETA is on 804, 874, 872, and 873).

Neil

Is anyone else missing program guide info for WTTG-DT and WJZ-DT?

I'm moving from Arlington to DC proper in a month, and since there's no Fios there, I'm probably going with Comcast. Do they have the new HD channels (Food, Animal Planet, etc)? Are they as heavily compressed as in Arlington?

Are there other good options?

We do have Food Network HD, but no Animal Planet HD yet... You can pull up a full list on comcast.com.

Without FIOS, the only other options for HD are OTA or satellite (unless you're moving to the part of DC serviced by RCN, which I know very little about).

Drew

I heard a radio commercial this morning from WBFF Fox 45. As part of the promo they mentioned their newscasts will be in HD very soon.

Anyone heard anything on this?

I heard a radio commercial this morning from WBFF Fox 45. As part of the promo they mentioned their newscasts will be in HD very soon.

Anyone heard anything on this?
Go back to post #5238 of this thread for Sinclair owned WBFF. It was indicated some weeks ago that both WBFF Fox 45 in Baltimore and Fox O&O WTTG 5 in DC would be upgrading their local news to HD during the May sweeps. If they are advertizing it on the radio, it must be occuring very soon for WBFF-DT.

Comcast is not required to provide these QAM signals, but they have done so for some time. It is fun to try and keep up with the changes which Comcast will not comment about.

As far as I can tell, 2,11,13,22,45, and 54 are now gone from Comcast's Clear QAM lineup
in PG.

I'm not happy about it even though I know they were not "required".

Does anyone know what Verizon's FIOS QAM looks like in PG?

WBFF is now on the new digital master control as of this morning. We're still working on some issues, so sorry in advance for any problems that you notice (if any...), but the pictures, especially the news, look a lot better.

The news is not currently in HD, but this is a step in that direction.

Cheers -

I'm moving from Arlington to DC proper in a month, and since there's no Fios there, I'm probably going with Comcast. Do they have the new HD channels (Food, Animal Planet, etc)? Are they as heavily compressed as in Arlington?

Are there other good options?

RCN (http://www.rcn.com/), if they're available at your location. Cheaper than Comcast, and far better customer service. After they go digital-only sometime within the next year, their HD offerings will blow Comcast away.

So was today's WBFF news in HD or not?

45 Launches HD Newscasts - 4/30 - A DCRTVer tells us that Baltimore's Fox affiliate, Channel 45/WBFF, debuts its high-def newscasts today. DCRTV told you a while back that station owner Sinclair was planning to start HD local news broadcasts on Fox45 this spring. That would make WBFF the second TVer in the DC-Baltimore area to air news in HD. Joining DC's Channel 9/WUSA. DC's Channel 5/WTTG is expected to launch HD news in May..

I won't be home until after 9pm, so I can't check it out until then.

As far as I can tell, 2,11,13,22,45, and 54 are now gone from Comcast's Clear QAM lineup
in PG.

I'm not happy about it even though I know they were not "required".

Does anyone know what Verizon's FIOS QAM looks like in PG?

That would be the simplest thing Comcast could do to lose my business.

Earlier this year I received a letter from Comcast, in response to an inquiry of mine, that indicated that Comcast planned to roll-out CNN-HD during the first quarter of 2008. When that didn't occur I followed up with Comcast and received this email from Patrick Carroll this afternoon, which indicated that CNN-HD isn't coming anytime soon to DC. Instead we get Mickey Mouse in Stretch-o-Vision.

Mr. Burns:

I just came from his office. The only new Hi-Def channels that are definite at this time are the Science Channel in HD (Channel 217), the Disney Channel in HD (Channel 244) and ABC Family in HD (Channel 245). These will debut on May 15th. Our Marketing Manager expects that there will be some others but nothing else is definite at this time. Please feel free to check back with me in June and I will hopefully have some updates.

I did ask him about CNN-HD and he said that it isn’t on the list at this time. That doesn’t mean that we aren’t getting it ever, it just isn’t definite yet so it isn’t on the list.

I hope this helps.

Patrick Carroll

Blech. More stretched upconverted simulcasts of SD channels. At least CNN-HD has HD origination out of its NYC studios and has started pushing HD cameras into the field for location reporting. Instead DC Comcast customers get Mickey Mouse stretched into the size of a rat.

Earlier this year I received a letter from Comcast, in response to an inquiry of mine, that indicated that Comcast planned to roll-out CNN-HD during the first quarter of 2008. When that didn't occur I followed up with Comcast and received this email from Patrick Carroll this afternoon, which indicated that CNN-HD isn't coming anytime soon to DC. Instead we get Mickey Mouse in Stretch-o-Vision.



Blech. More stretched upconverted simulcasts of SD channels. At least CNN-HD has HD origination out of its NYC studios and has started pushing HD cameras into the field for location reporting. Instead DC Comcast customers get Mickey Mouse stretched into the size of a rat.

Disney doesn't stretch and has HD programs.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13610807#post13610807

So was today's WBFF news in HD or not?



I won't be home until after 9pm, so I can't check it out until then.

No HD news yet, but WBFF does look better. The news ticker goes all the way across the screen.

Disney doesn't stretch and has HD programs.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13610807#post13610807

That's good to know. But I still think the DC market would prefer to see news programs in HD as opposed to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in HD (which was one of the programs that the link said was in HD).

Just turned on the TV and noticed on a promo channel that Cox in Fairfax is due to receive 5 new HD channels on May 31st. The channels listed are:

USA HD
Bravo HD
Sci-Fi HD
CNBC HD
Lifetime HD

It states that brings the total to 39 HD channels for Cox in Fairfax with "...more coming soon!" being touted on the promo channel.

So was today's WBFF news in HD or not?

I won't be home until after 9pm, so I can't check it out until then.

10pm news, indeed the ticker goes all the way across the screen, but the video is in 4:3. (BTW, Mark, I'm missing the bottom line of the ticker on my set, so an L looks like an |).

The image looks better though. I know the engineers have been working hard. I'm not convinced the studio is HD (yet), but it is certainly being upconverted and fed out of an HD Master Control.

Nice work guys!

I guess HD comes later on for Fox45 news. I saw the ticker on the widescreen.

10pm news, indeed the ticker goes all the way across the screen, but the video is in 4:3. (BTW, Mark, I'm missing the bottom line of the ticker on my set, so an L looks like an |).


Mine, too. Overscan. On both TVs on multiple sources.

Looking forward to all HD!

Prince Georges County Comcast not only removed the Baltimore QAM digital channels from their system, but the Annapolis & Anne Arundel Comcast system removed many DC QAM digital channels yesterday (4, 7, 9, & 26). I still have 5, 20, and 50, but probably not for long. I miss having the option of watching WUSA's HD news. Not only that, I often watched several other DC locals on the QAM side since the SD version is so overly-compressed. This was one of the reasons that I initially chose Comcast over satellite, especially since the town that I live in is actually quite a bit closer to DC than it is to Baltimore. I'd rather watch DC locals. Most severe weather moves generally from West to East. I live directly East of DC. Baltimore weather rarely matches up with what I experience in my town. I don't expect to see FIOS install crews for years either. Maybe I need to look into a good D*/OTA hybrid solution.

Now WBFF is showing the news with graphics on the right side and bottom. The right side graphics are partially cut off. Video is in a 16X9 window but is still SD with black sidebars.

Prince Georges County Comcast not only removed the Baltimore QAM digital channels from their system, but the Annapolis & Anne Arundel Comcast system removed many DC QAM digital channels yesterday (4, 7, 9, & 26). I still have 5, 20, and 50, but probably not for long. I miss having the option of watching WUSA's HD news. Not only that, I often watched several other DC locals on the QAM side since the SD version is so overly-compressed. This was one of the reasons that I initially chose Comcast over satellite, especially since the town that I live in is actually quite a bit closer to DC than it is to Baltimore. I'd rather watch DC locals. Most severe weather moves generally from West to East. I live directly East of DC. Baltimore weather rarely matches up with what I experience in my town. I don't expect to see FIOS install crews for years either. Maybe I need to look into a good D*/OTA hybrid solution.I am not surprised. I wouldn't be surprised if this is a company wide purge - removing dual locals from all areas. Living in Bowie, I liked getting the Baltimore channels as well as the DC ones. It is definitely time to call our franchise authority.

Neil

I am not surprised. I wouldn't be surprised if this is a company wide purge - removing dual locals from all areas. Living in Bowie, I liked getting the Baltimore channels as well as the DC ones. It is definitely time to call our franchise authority.

Neil

You should be able to put up some "rabbit ears" and get the channels from both markets OTA. AT my girlfriends house in Fort Washington, a small antenna easily picks up the Baltimore and DC stations OTA.
That was how I used to watch HD from ABC back in 2001/2002. I would record it from the BAltimore station onto a removeable hard drive every week and take it home every week to to watch it in HD at my condo.

Now WBFF is showing the news with graphics on the right side and bottom. The right side graphics are partially cut off. Video is in a 16X9 window but is still SD with black sidebars.

The bottom is much better than last nigth but still pushing the edge. The right side is cropped a bit.

Graphics for weather look very nice as does the picture in the middle.

Some very odd sports scores on the ticker. Seems like it is all minor league baseball.

Step by step.

Well, for all you QAM users who are getting cut off by Comcast, there is alway the OTA solution to consider. Sure its a bit of effort, but at least you'd get your HD channels back on your flatscreens.

You should be able to put up some "rabbit ears" and get the channels from both markets OTA. I was using rabbit ears before I found out about the QAM signal. Some of the stations come in quite nicely, but not all of them. ABC is the toughest over the air for both Baltimore and DC. In fact I am using rabbit ears for the tuner in my new PC. It is just infuriating to have something like this taken away from you.

Neil

Well, for all you QAM users who are getting cut off by Comcast, there is alway the OTA solution to consider. Sure its a bit of effort, but at least you'd get your HD channels back on your flatscreens.

It's not that I can't flip an A/B switch and switch to my rooftop antenna in my living room, but it was very convenient to have QAM locals from both DC and Baltimore interleaved with the Comcast analog lineup and quite a few unencrypted QAM channels. I only have one Comcast HD-DVR (digital tuner) in my house. The other rooms have televisions with QAM capable tuners. To go the antenna route in other rooms would require dual coax to be installed. I'm trying to keep it simple for the rest of my family members.

In addition, receiving either DC or Baltimore locals requires that I turn my antenna. The transmitters are at a 90 degree offset at my location. Plus, being close to the Chesapeake Bay increases my chances of ducting. Some of the analog and digital channels from nearby cities (Norfolk, Philly, NJ/NYC) share the same channels as the DC/Balt locals. It's not always easy to keep a rock solid signal from certain digital locals.

I just emailed and called our franchise authority representative in Bowie. She said that the competing markets (Baltimore in DC areas and DC in Baltimore areas) were removed due to the different advertising rates in the areas. Something connected to the Nielsen ratings. I'm not exactly sure. She believes that the removal of the Annapolis stations was a mistake, though. She is going to forward my email over her contact at Comcast and we might get some answer.

She also told me that this coming Tuesday night they are going to have a forum about the digital transition at City Hall and there will be representatives from Comcast, Verizon and maybe even the FCC there. If you have any ideas of good questions for them, please pass them on and I'll try to ask them.

Neil

To be honest, I don't believe that it has anything to do with rates or ratings. Comcast is trying to making room for more HD content to attempt to compete. Since their system is at saturation, they either need to get rid of existing analog channels or juggle the current digital lineup. Taking away DC locals in Annapolis freed up 12 MHz of bandwidth. I wish Comcast would've removed a few of the useless analog shopping channels, but I'm sure it was just another business decision that wasn't all that well thought out. Like I said in my original post, Comcast is becoming less and less desirable versus satellite now. Comcast having both digital DMAs 'was' a huge plus in my book.

To be honest, I don't believe that it has anything to do with rates or ratings. Comcast is trying to making room for more HD content to attempt to compete. Since their system is at saturation, they either need to get rid of existing analog channels or juggle the current digital lineup.What they say the reason is and what the real reason for their actions is can be completely different things.

Neil

Just turned on the TV and noticed on a promo channel that Cox in Fairfax is due to receive 5 new HD channels on May 31st. The channels listed are:

USA HD
Bravo HD
Sci-Fi HD
CNBC HD
Lifetime HD

It states that brings the total to 39 HD channels for Cox in Fairfax with "...more coming soon!" being touted on the promo channel.

I saw that as well. I'm looking forward to Sci-Fi HD.

I was using rabbit ears before I found out about the QAM signal. Some of the stations come in quite nicely, but not all of them. ABC is the toughest over the air for both Baltimore and DC. In fact I am using rabbit ears for the tuner in my new PC. It is just infuriating to have something like this taken away from you.

Neil

I don't understand. You must not have the digital signal to want the local HD channels from the QAM signal. So Comcast should just keep giving the digitial HD signal to you for the cost of basic analog? Is that a good business model? Am I missing something here?

Rich N.

I don't understand. You must not have the digital signal to want the local HD channels from the QAM signal. So Comcast should just keep giving the digitial HD signal to you for the cost of basic analog? Is that a good business model? Am I missing something here?

Rich N. No matter what plan I have - starting Friday, Comcast stopped supplying the digital Baltimore and Annapolis channels in PG County. I don't think they were ever listed on their official channel lineup of things you can get through their box, but were available on the QAM signal.

Neil

Does anyone know what Verizon's FIOS QAM looks like in PG?

The only FIOS QAM channel that I've watched recently is WJZ. I watched the Orioles opening day game. It looked great.

[Unfortunately, subsequent MASN-HD games on WJZ have not been in HD.]

... receiving either DC or Baltimore locals requires that I turn my antenna. The transmitters are at a 90 degree offset at my location. Plus, being close to the Chesapeake Bay increases my chances of ducting. Some of the analog and digital channels from nearby cities (Norfolk, Philly, NJ/NYC) share the same channels as the DC/Balt locals. It's not always easy to keep a rock solid signal from certain digital locals.
I stacked 2 CM 4224s, one facing Baltimore, one to DC, combined them with a splitter, then fed into a preamp. Works great for all Baltimore & DC channels... even 20. Your angle is probably just a little less than 90 but that arrangement would probably still work well. We do all of our TiVO HD recording OTA, so no need to mess with cable cards and no QAM worries.
I agree, CC's explanation doesn't hold up. Baltimore & DC HD are still both available on AA & Howard FiOS and not just QAM... they're mapped to channels on the STB.

I stacked 2 CM 4224s, one facing Baltimore, one to DC, combined them with a splitter, then fed into a preamp. Works great for all Baltimore & DC channels... even 20. Your angle is probably just a little less than 90 but that arrangement would probably still work well. We do all of our TiVO HD recording OTA, so no need to mess with cable cards and no QAM worries.
I agree, CC's explanation doesn't hold up. Baltimore & DC HD are still both available on AA & Howard FiOS and not just QAM... they're mapped to channels on the STB.

Up until a couple of years ago, I had a CM 4228 that I could point between DC and Baltimore and receive most channels out of both cities fairly well. I changed back to a VHF/UHF yagi when I found out that VHF-HI would still be a factor around here after 2/09. I also use my current system for two FM receivers in my home. The 4228 wasn't very good for FM reception. It seemed like it started to come to life at about 200 MHz or so.

In addition, Comcast's explanation doesn't hold up because they still provide carriage of most of the DC locals (Ch. 4, 5, 7, 9, 26) via 12:1 compression ADS and via analog. The last I heard, ratings and rates are still not being based upon DTV.

I just emailed and called our franchise authority representative in Bowie. She said that the competing markets (Baltimore in DC areas and DC in Baltimore areas) were removed due to the different advertising rates in the areas. Something connected to the Nielsen ratings. Neil

Nielson isn't paying my cable bill. They are a 4th party to the transaction between Comcast and the folks who are paying Comcast to provide, at a minimum, the signals from the tv stations broadcasting in this area.

The peculiarities of the pricing schemes of a company that services other companies who wish to make money selling our attention are not a valid reason for Comcast to reduce the level of the service it sells to its paying customers in P.G. County.

Did anyone see what happened on NBC HD last night...at 8:30 Scrubs was suppose to start, well the first two minutes where ER, and not the beginning of ER but rather 30 minutes into ER. However on NBC non HD they were running Scrubs...wonder if anyone will be fired for this.

The only FIOS QAM channel that I've watched recently is WJZ. I watched the Orioles opening day game. It looked great.

[Unfortunately, subsequent MASN-HD games on WJZ have not been in HD.]

Glad to hear the quality's good, but right now, I'm interested in quantity. Does Verizon provide all the Baltimore and D.C. local high def broadcast stations to P.G. via clear QAM?

WUTB-DT My 24 in Baltimore is still operating at a very low power of 530 Watts on their DT UHF 41 channel. Until WUTB-DT goes to 200 kW power, whenever that finally occurs, only those with a direct line of sight have much of a decent chance to get the digital signal.

The weather the past several days has been good for tropospheric ducting. You picked up a reflected signal for WTXF Fox 29 out of Philly. But the DT signal on UHF 42 at some 78 MHz off in frequency may have acted very differently

The metal bars on the window might act as part of the reflector, but with the large spacing, would be a reflector more for VHF than UHF. You could first attach to the window bars with plastic ties as an experiment (don't drop the antenna into the street!). But you may want to consider how to mount the antenna so that the CM 4220 reflector screen is electrically isolated from the window bars. Mount the antenna to a wooden pole which is tied to the window. But you would presumably lose the ability to aim the antenna by attaching it to the bars.

I am going to set this up sometime soon when my dad can come out and help me since I have no tools, ladder, etc. In the meantime, to my surprise the CM7777 I bought on a whim did not overload and is instead working perfectly from the antenna's current window location. As I had noted before I first bought the Winegard HDP-269 high-input preamp for overload reasons since I'm quite close to the DC towers but I still could not get WMPT on my tuner downstairs unless I removed the splitter, and even then it was intermittent. I'm happy to report that I can get it solidly now with the splitter in place. I even got DT 57 last night, though it was gone this morning.

Heck, I was able to get WMAR and WBFF digital using just a loop at the same window location when piped through the preamp. My experience seems to contradict some of what I've read about preamps. So, if anyone reading this is in a similar situation but is afraid of overloading it's still worth a shot.

I think I'm done messing with TV for a while. Thanks, everyone, for the help. I'm going to "stimulate the economy" by buying a shortwave radio and building an antenna for that instead.

Seems like I've quoted three articles from www.dcrtv.com this week.

NC8 To HD, Politico TV On Track - 5/2 - A tipster tells DCRTV: NewsChannel 8 is getting a new state-of-the-art news set and studio and will go high-def by late summer (presumably with sister WJLA). They are moving the "studio" out of its current space to the second floor of the Rosslyn facility to make more room for Politico TV. This should help squash some rumors about the possible demise or scaling back of the political rag/website's TV efforts. Allbritton's "WJLA/ NC8/Politico is by no means getting smaller. If anything, they are expanding"....

So it looks the wheels for WJLA's HDTV News are in motion. Of course we have known this for a while, but this the first time I have seen it externally referenced, and of course a time line put out there. Still wish I could see News Channel 8 on a digital sub channel. Seems like the perfect application for a subchannel.

Just turned on the TV and noticed on a promo channel that Cox in Fairfax is due to receive 5 new HD channels on May 31st. The channels listed are:

USA HD
Bravo HD
Sci-Fi HD
CNBC HD
Lifetime HD

It states that brings the total to 39 HD channels for Cox in Fairfax with "...more coming soon!" being touted on the promo channel.

I also noticed that. A few hours later, I got a call from Cox offering me a year of Showtime for free if I promised to not change my services or drop Cox. Since I had no intention of doing either, I said sure. The addition of these channels -- especially Sci-Fi -- made my decision easier.

The only channels I wish they would add are the HD-Net ones but I'm not holding my breath.

So, by the fall, pretty much all national news programming and all D.C. local news programming not originating out of WRC-TV will be HD?

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

So, by the fall, pretty much all national news programming and all D.C. local news programming not originating out of WRC-TV will be HD?

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

is cbs news going hi def? katie couric looks like they stole the cameras from the jimmy kimmel live set...

is cbs news going hi def? katie couric looks like they stole the cameras from the jimmy kimmel live set...
Yes, CBS evening news is going HD sometime in June or shortly thereafter. ABC nightly news along with Nightline and other ABC news programs are going HD the week of September 8. See http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1020033.

The way it is looking, WRC-DT NBC 4 may the last of the big four net stations in both Baltimore & DC to go HD for local news. While WUSA 9 is still the only local HD news station, if all the reports are correct, we may have 7 out of the 8 between the 2 cities before the end of this year. By then, HD viewers may have to tune to WRC 4 to remember what SD studio shots look like.

http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/04/mclaughlin_switches_stations_i.php

After 20 some years at WRC, The McLaughlin Group is switching affiliates and studios over to WUSA. I hesitate to ask given who's on the panel but... does this create a possibility for HD?

Not HD. But very sharp SD thanks to the HD cameras.

Yes! I saw the McLaughlin Group last night on my local PBS station and was blown away by how clear and sharp it looked. I figured it was the result of new equipment and WUSA, but I had no idea just how much of an impact it would have.

I'm not entirely sure I want to see those people in HD anyway. Widescreen SD though... that I could handle, if it was offered. =)

- Trip

Yes! I saw the McLaughlin Group last night on my local PBS station and was blown away by how clear and sharp it looked. I figured it was the result of new equipment and WUSA, but I had no idea just how much of an impact it would have.

I'm not entirely sure I want to see those people in HD anyway. Widescreen SD though... that I could handle, if it was offered. =)

- Trip

This is one of the few shows that could truly blow you away w/ 5.1 - McLaughlin on the center chanel, with a guest on each of the R/L and Rear R/L - I think it would make the show that much more intense.

I'm in Bowie and I'm getting no signal for any of these channels from Comcast either.

Neil
I'm so ticked off by this. Here in AA county (Crofton), I've lost all widescreen locals (Balt and DC!) except for MPT and WTTG Fox 5.

No STB, just using Clear QAM from Comcrap and my TV's tuner. I thought they were required to pass local signals on to the customer?

Definitely switching to Verizon FIOS, this is complete BS.

I'm so ticked off by this. Here in AA county (Crofton), I've lost all widescreen locals (Balt and DC!) except for MPT and WTTG Fox 5.

No STB, just using Clear QAM from Comcrap and my TV's tuner. I thought they were required to pass local signals on to the customer?

Definitely switching to Verizon FIOS, this is complete BS.
Between this issue and the rapidly declining HD quality, I've made the same decision. My household has had Comcast cable since they moved into the area to take over Jones Communications sometime back in the 90s, if I remember correctly. And we'd had Jones (or whoever else came before them) for as long as I can remember.

It's been a fun ride, but Comcast has finally taken away the last barriers between themselves and their competition (in my mind). It's FIOS time. Maybe next time, Comcast won't try and trade their high-paying premium video customers for a whole slew of discount-rate "Triple Play" customers -- especially when it appears that the competition is capable of providing both.

No matter what plan I have - starting Friday, Comcast stopped supplying the digital Baltimore and Annapolis channels in PG County. I don't think they were ever listed on their official channel lineup of things you can get through their box, but were available on the QAM signal.

Neil
I understand you will be attending the meeting with Comcast and the Cable Commissioners on Tuesday.
I would like to know if Comcast will continue to provide a connection via Basic Cable to the D.C , Baltimore, and Annapolis channels after February of next year.
I was not able to obtain an answer to this question a year ago from the Cable Commission.

Glad to hear the quality's good, but right now, I'm interested in quantity. Does Verizon provide all the Baltimore and D.C. local high def broadcast stations to P.G. via clear QAM?

I checked twice this weekend, and it appears that I've lost QAM on FIOS for most of the Baltimore HD stations. WJZ, WBAL, WMAR, and WMPT were absent. I still have WBFF-HD though.

In addition to WBFF, I get the following HD channels through FIOS QAM:

WUSA, WRC, WETA, WJLA, WB50, WTTG, WB54, A&E-HD

I also get the WUSA and WJLA doppler radar subchannels, if anyone cares (I sure don't).

I checked twice this weekend, and it appears that I've lost QAM on FIOS for most of the Baltimore HD stations. WJZ, WBAL, WMAR, and WMPT were absent. I still have WBFF-HD though.


Oh, well. Market forces don't help much when a duopoly controls the market. Comcast heeded the wishes of bean counters in another company over the needs of their paying customers. Verizon promised competition and delivered collusion.

If anybody with any influence needs an example of why these monopolistic gatekeepers shouldn't be allowed to kill network neutrality, this is it.

I understand you will be attending the meeting with Comcast and the Cable Commissioners on Tuesday.
I would like to know if Comcast will continue to provide a connection via Basic Cable to the D.C , Baltimore, and Annapolis channels after February of next year.
I was not able to obtain an answer to this question a year ago from the Cable Commission.That's one of my prime questions. If I get the opportunity, I will be asking about that.

Neil

If I can I'll be asking Comcast tomorrow evening about the three different TV situations I have and what they will be able to receive in 2009 and in the years following.

1. A cable-ready analog TV with a straight cable connection into the back.
2. An analog TV with a digital starter kit cable box connected to it.
3. An HDTV with ATSC and QAM tuners with a cable connection into the back.

At the moment I have no clear picture of just channels I'll be getting from Comcast on these 3 TVs in Feb 2009. I hope they'll be able to give solid answers.

Neil

I also noticed that. A few hours later, I got a call from Cox offering me a year of Showtime for free if I promised to not change my services or drop Cox. Since I had no intention of doing either, I said sure. The addition of these channels -- especially Sci-Fi -- made my decision easier.

The only channels I wish they would add are the HD-Net ones but I'm not holding my breath.

I noticed "Cox Communications" on my caller ID the other day (I wasn't home when they called), but they left no voicemail. I wonder if I missed out on the Showtime offer....

anyone want to speculate on why the new channels are listed with a gap between USA-hd and CSN-hd on cox fairfax?

If I can I'll be asking Comcast tomorrow evening about the three different TV situations I have and what they will be able to receive in 2009 and in the years following.

1. A cable-ready analog TV with a straight cable connection into the back.
2. An analog TV with a digital starter kit cable box connected to it.
3. An HDTV with ATSC and QAM tuners with a cable connection into the back.

At the moment I have no clear picture of just channels I'll be getting from Comcast on these 3 TVs in Feb 2009. I hope they'll be able to give solid answers.

Neil

What they promise and deliver could be two totally different things. My feeling is the following:

1. You'll still have a few viewable chs (locals) - but not for long
2. All chs available
3. The clear QAM lineup would be about the same as today

I noticed that the Orioles HD games are mostly on channel 226, the Mojo channel. A few weeks ago I tried watching and it says I'm not authorized so I contacted Comcast and they said they pulled that channel off the lineup. Does anyone know if this is true?

I noticed that the Orioles HD games are mostly on channel 226, the Mojo channel. A few weeks ago I tried watching and it says I'm not authorized so I contacted Comcast and they said they pulled that channel off the lineup. Does anyone know if this is true?

If you're in the Baltimore market, perhaps the game was on WJZ as well, which would have blacked out MASN HD on Mojo HD.

If you're in the Baltimore market, perhaps the game was on WJZ as well, which would have blacked out MASN HD on Mojo HD.

Games on Mojo are not blacked out when they are on WJZ.

I noticed that the Orioles HD games are mostly on channel 226, the Mojo channel. A few weeks ago I tried watching and it says I'm not authorized so I contacted Comcast and they said they pulled that channel off the lineup. Does anyone know if this is true?

What system (location) and was this for all Mojo programming or just the Orioles game.

What they promise and deliver could be two totally different things.Normally I would say that this is the case. This meeting though is with the franchise authority as well. There is a legal relationship in place. They have been able to act when Comcast has not delivered on their promise in the past. One good question to bring up may be what can be done if Comcast does lower their level of service below what they have promised. Can the franchise authority or the FCC do something?My feeling is the following:

1. You'll still have a few viewable chs (locals) - but not for long
2. All chs available
3. The clear QAM lineup would be about the same as todayThat might be close. It will be interesting to hear what they say.

Neil

7 To Go HD By End Of Summer - 5/6 - DCRTV hears that Channel 7/WJLA will go to high-def newscasts by the end of summer. New studio cameras and a new switcher are down to final bids from major equipment vendors. Field cameras are already HD-ready, and graphics are ready to go. Promotions has been shooting in HD for months. Allbritton sister NewsChannel 8 will also be in HD, but nobody will see it since the deal with local cable providers Comcast and Cox has no provisions for HD, and they have not asked for it, so NC8 will be "down converted" to standard-def. We're told that it's easier for the whole 7/NC8 facility to be HD and down convert NC8 to SD than to have WJLA in HD and NC8 in SD. Also, we also hear that NC8's will have new studio space in the former SunTrust bank space on Wilson Boulevard, just down the street from WJLA's Rosslyn HQ.....

hehe, I was just about to post that.

7 To Go HD By End Of Summer - 5/6 - DCRTV hears that Channel 7/WJLA will go to high-def newscasts by the end of summer.
So how many HD predictions for local stations by DCRTV that have yet to come true does this make? The site said last week that WBFF-DT Fox 45 was going HD for locals that day. Oops. I know many of the DC and Baltimore stations are working towards upgrading their local news to HD, but DCRTV's track record on when has been shaky.

i hope if they're taking over that space that the studio backdrop is wilson blvd...

So how many HD predictions for local stations by DCRTV that have yet to come true does this make? The site said last week that WBFF-DT Fox 45 was going HD for locals that day. Oops. I know many of the DC and Baltimore stations are working towards upgrading their local news to HD, but DCRTV's track record on when has been shaky.

They got some bad info. What we did on on May 1 is put WBFF through our new master control.

As I mentioned last week, that's a step toward HD news, but the change to the new studio isn't for a couple of weeks (fingers crossed).

Cheers -

Now I can stop recording the news every day (for the next two weeks).

What they promise and deliver could be two totally different things. My feeling is the following:

1. You'll still have a few viewable chs (locals) - but not for long
2. All chs available
3. The clear QAM lineup would be about the same as todayAt the meeting last night that is basically what Comcast said.

If you have an analog TV connected to cable, at some time (schedule not decided yet) you will only be able to get the B1 services - the basic level of local networks and community stations. The other channels that are on expanded service will be going digital only in the future. They said they have a commitment to continue converting locals to analog for 2 years past Feb 2009 if you do not have a box.

If you have a box, you will continue to get all the channels you currently get.

As far as QAM - when I asked about why Annapolis and Baltimore channels went away a week ago Friday, the representative said that people had been able to get those "through the back door" until then. They are no longer feeding the signals as they wanted to free up the bandwidth. This was the case in both PG and Anne Arundel counties. When I asked about the clear QAM of local channels, she had no idea how long they would remain clear.

Neil

Yesterday afternoon at around 2:30, I noticed that Comcast in Loudoun had added ScienceHD, DisneyHD, and FamilyHD to the lineup but they all showed up as not authorized when I tried to watch. They were gone by 4, so I guess it was just a test and they'll be added sometime in the (hopefully) near future.

hopefully Manassas will follow Loudoun, will check when I get home

At the meeting last night that is basically what Comcast said.

...

As far as QAM - when I asked about why Annapolis and Baltimore channels went away a week ago Friday, the representative said that people had been able to get those "through the back door" until then. They are no longer feeding the signals as they wanted to free up the bandwidth. This was the case in both PG and Anne Arundel counties.

Neil

Strange that Verizon Fios needed to free up the same amount of bandwidth on their network at the same time by removing the same channels.

7 To Go HD By End Of Summer - 5/6 - DCRTV hears that Channel 7/WJLA will go to high-def newscasts by the end of summer. New studio cameras and a new switcher are down to final bids from major equipment vendors. Field cameras are already HD-ready, and graphics are ready to go. Promotions has been shooting in HD for months. Allbritton sister NewsChannel 8 will also be in HD, but nobody will see it since the deal with local cable providers Comcast and Cox has no provisions for HD, and they have not asked for it, so NC8 will be "down converted" to standard-def. We're told that it's easier for the whole 7/NC8 facility to be HD and down convert NC8 to SD than to have WJLA in HD and NC8 in SD. Also, we also hear that NC8's will have new studio space in the former SunTrust bank space on Wilson Boulevard, just down the street from WJLA's Rosslyn HQ.....

Do many people actually watch NewsChannel 8? On RCN, it's buried out there on channel 48, so I don't typically hit it when I'm flipping through. And as someone mentioned above, it's hard to believe that they haven't added it on a subchannel of WJLA-DT. I wonder if it has anything to do with the intricacies of cable carriage.

I've been with Dish since I moved back to the DC area in 2000, so its been a very long time since NewChannel8 was in my home lineup (1996). I would love to have it as a 7.x sub-channel. I've suggested this before, but Robert is quick to point out that it would never happen since the cable companies pony up $$$ for the channel.

Hmm, firmware update for my box here in Alexandria. I hope it comes with some sort of new features.

I noticed "Cox Communications" on my caller ID the other day (I wasn't home when they called), but they left no voicemail. I wonder if I missed out on the Showtime offer....

Cox called again, and this time I was home. I now have a free year of Showtime and The Movie Channel. But I cannot reduce my level of service for one year, otherwise I get back charged for the free Showtime.

I couldn't get Cox Cable (in Fairfax, VA) HD signal for WETA through my MyHD QAM tuner in the past few days. Signals for other channels (e.g., CBS) are also sporadic. I rescanned several times, but to no avail.

I used to be able to get WETA through my My HD QAM tuner card.

Could any Cox Cable user in the Fairfax area check his QAM tuner to see whether he ca get WETA? Thanks!

Yesterday afternoon at around 2:30, I noticed that Comcast in Loudoun had added ScienceHD, DisneyHD, and FamilyHD to the lineup but they all showed up as not authorized when I tried to watch. They were gone by 4, so I guess it was just a test and they'll be added sometime in the (hopefully) near future.

I went to http://tv.msn.com/tv/guide to check the TV listings and when I enter the zip code for my town, Montclair (22025), the channel listings include 4 new HD channels: Science Channel HD (217), AMC HD (218), Disney Channel HD (244) and ABC Family HD (245). But at this moment, they're not listed on the Comcast guide on my set-top box. Can anyone confirm that these 4 channels will be added soon?

Misc questions:
1. Any predictions on what day this month Fox-5 goes HD with their news?
2. Will WJLA be able to show Oprah in HD come Sept.?
3. Ditto for WRC and Ellen (insert sarcasm here if you like).

one more Misc. Question

1 does anyone have a date when WBFF's newscast will be in HD?

Best Guess replies.

1. I say the last Monday of May for Fox5 HD news.
2. Since WJLA has Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy in HD, I would say that YES, they will very likely be able to show Oprah in HD when that happens.
3. WRC and Ellen??? No idea. WRC is hard to read. It took them forever to even go DD5.1, and they have shown the lease amount of HD effort in the DC area. If it wasn't for Weather Plus, I would think that WRC was completely oblivious to the digital transition.

The HD efforts of other DC stations.

WTTG - Has HD news in the works
WUSA - Has HD News and their local studio stuff is in HD, plug Doppler Radar on subch.
WJLA- Has HD news in the works. Customer Weather channel, and Local Point TV.
WDCA - Shows Syndication HD shows (Raymond) and sports in HD.
WDCW - Shows Syndication HD shows (2 1/2 men), sports (Caps & Wiz) in HD.

WRC - Just NBC stuff in HD, Weather+ (Which seems to be mostly NBC national stuff) wtih some local customization (ie graphics)

one more Misc. Question

1 does anyone have a date when WBFF's newscast will be in HD?

Hehe,

Mark (engineer at WBFF) just posted this yesterday.

They got some bad info. What we did on on May 1 is put WBFF through our new master control.

As I mentioned last week, that's a step toward HD news, but the change to the new studio isn't for a couple of weeks (fingers crossed).

So the date is "a couple of weeks". ;)

iam just glad there finally getting rid of that set its very old looking

Best Guess replies.

1. I say the last Monday of May for Fox5 HD news.
2. Since WJLA has Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy in HD, I would say that YES, they will very likely be able to show Oprah in HD when that happens.
3. WRC and Ellen??? No idea. WRC is hard to read. It took them forever to even go DD5.1, and they have shown the lease amount of HD effort in the DC area. If it wasn't for Weather Plus, I would think that WRC was completely oblivious to the digital transition.

The HD efforts of other DC stations.

WTTG - Has HD news in the works
WUSA - Has HD News and their local studio stuff is in HD, plug Doppler Radar on subch.
WJLA- Has HD news in the works. Customer Weather channel, and Local Point TV.
WDCA - Shows Syndication HD shows (Raymond) and sports in HD.
WDCW - Shows Syndication HD shows (2 1/2 men), sports (Caps & Wiz) in HD.

WRC - Just NBC stuff in HD, Weather+ (Which seems to be mostly NBC national stuff) wtih some local customization (ie graphics)

You can add Nationals baseball and ACC basketball in HD to the list for WDCA.

I just summed them up as Sports.

I went to http://tv.msn.com/tv/guide to check the TV listings and when I enter the zip code for my town, Montclair (22025), the channel listings include 4 new HD channels: Science Channel HD (217), AMC HD (218), Disney Channel HD (244) and ABC Family HD (245). But at this moment, they're not listed on the Comcast guide on my set-top box. Can anyone confirm that these 4 channels will be added soon?

Hi, I see the same numerical slots with the show/guide information, but get "not authorized" when tuned to them.

I'd imagine in the next few days we'll get the signal.

I'm in Sterling/Loudoun.

Thanks

Hi, I see the same numerical slots with the show/guide information, but get "not authorized" when tuned to them.

I'd imagine in the next few days we'll get the signal.

I'm in Sterling/Loudoun.

Thanks

I have them available in Loudoun now and they work. Although while watching Three Sheets on Mojo the picture seems worse (or maybe it's just me). But I do see the pixilation.

A bit of wishful thinking: is there a financial or logistic reason why WJLA couldn't put their NewsChannel 8 on a sub-channel? Not that I've heard this being suggested, but it'd be a nice addition.

I've tried to keep an open mind about Local Point TV, but to date have yet to watch it for more than 5 seconds at a time.

A bit of wishful thinking: is there a financial or logistic reason why WJLA couldn't put their NewsChannel 8 on a sub-channel? Not that I've heard this being suggested, but it'd be a nice addition.

I've tried to keep an open mind about Local Point TV, but to date have yet to watch it for more than 5 seconds at a time.
Contractual reasons with Comcast and Cox

I couldn't get Cox Cable (in Fairfax, VA) HD signal for WETA through my MyHD QAM tuner in the past few days. Signals for other channels (e.g., CBS) are also sporadic. I rescanned several times, but to no avail.

I used to be able to get WETA through my My HD QAM tuner card.

Could any Cox Cable user in the Fairfax area check his QAM tuner to see whether he ca get WETA? Thanks!I just checked a minute ago, and I am getting WETA 26.1 through 26.4 via Cox QAM. I lost them a few weeks ago and was able to get them back by doing a re-scan.

Hey...anyone in Alex./Arl experiencing issues with CNN-HD? I get a blank screen. Also, TBS and MHD are stuttering and breaking up. I tried restarting the box and reseating cables but that did nothing.

This always seems to happen to me, just on these three.

Has anyone else in Loudoun County not been able to get NBC-HD, FOX-HD, CBS-HD and WDCA-HD over Comcast in the clear QAM in the past week? I don't understand what happened to them. They had been there the past two months only to disappear last week. I've done several rescans returning nothing. What could be my problem? I use a built-in tuner on a Vizio HD TV. Could that be the problem? Thanks.

Has anyone else in Loudoun County not been able to get NBC-HD, FOX-HD, CBS-HD and WDCA-HD over Comcast in the clear QAM in the past week? I don't understand what happened to them. They had been there the past two months only to disappear last week. I've done several rescans returning nothing. What could be my problem? I use a built-in tuner on a Vizio HD TV. Could that be the problem? Thanks.

I'm in Sterling and have had no problems this past week with any in the clear QAM HD channels. Video on Demand is has been bad all week, but not the HD. FYI - I also have a Vizio(VU42)

As far as QAM - when I asked about why Annapolis and Baltimore channels went away a week ago Friday, the representative said that people had been able to get those "through the back door" until then. They are no longer feeding the signals as they wanted to free up the bandwidth. This was the case in both PG and Anne Arundel counties. When I asked about the clear QAM of local channels, she had no idea how long they would remain clear.



This is very annoying. I live in Annapolis and recently lost the DC QAM channels. I guess this means I won't be able to watch Redskins homegames in HD? I don't think the Baltimore channels carry those unless its a big game like Dallas/Redskins. I suppose I could hook up a splitter and get DC NBC Channel 4 OTA.

I'm pretty sure the Baltimore locals carry the Redskins pretty often, as a general rule... Not that it's necessarily a predictor of the future, but a quick look at http://www.the506.com/nflmaps/2007.html appears to show that 13 of the 16 games (or 14 if you have NFL Network) were available last year on a mixture of Baltimore locals and national broadcasts. A look back at previous seasons could give you more of an idea of the general trend.

Drew

This is very annoying. I live in Annapolis and recently lost the DC QAM channels. I guess this means I won't be able to watch Redskins homegames in HD? I don't think the Baltimore channels carry those unless its a big game like Dallas/Redskins. I suppose I could hook up a splitter and get DC NBC Channel 4 OTA.

If they don't, that pisses me off. WUSA carries Ravens games as if their network's viability depended on it. I think WUSA's insistence on Ravens games has actually fueled my hatred of the team. But my guess is that Fox Baltimore carries 90%+ of Redskins games.

I'm pretty sure the Baltimore locals carry the Redskins pretty often, as a general rule... Not that it's necessarily a predictor of the future, but a quick look at http://www.the506.com/nflmaps/2007.html appears to show that 13 of the 16 games (or 14 if you have NFL Network) were available last year on a mixture of Baltimore locals and national broadcasts. A look back at previous seasons could give you more of an idea of the general trend.

If I recall correctly, at the end of the 2006 season, either two of the last three or three of the last four Ravens games had the same starting times as Redskins games and were not televised in Washington, so I expect that the corresponding Redskins games were not carried in Baltimore. Last season, in Week 16, there was a Philadelphia/New Orleans game that controlled the Redskins playoff chances that was not televised in Washington but was televised in Baltimore.

I've installed broadcast HDTV add-ons in over a dozen multiple dwelling units in the Washington metro market, and since those buildings all have separate distribution wiring for their master antenna systems and cable TV, the TV football junkies all subscribe to cable, but also connect their TV's RF input to the antenna system wallplate so they can enjoy both services without even needing an A/B switch, as the cable TV box connects to the TV either through RCA cables or HDMI.

Looks like this might be a big Day for Dish Network HDTV customers.

If they don't, that pisses me off. WUSA carries Ravens games as if their network's viability depended on it. I think WUSA's insistence on Ravens games has actually fueled my hatred of the team. But my guess is that Fox Baltimore carries 90%+ of Redskins games.

NFL dictates what stations carry what and also what league is signed with what network. THis must be a FAQ or maybe a FIA, frequently ignored answer.

Looks like this might be a big Day for Dish Network HDTV customers.

Sorry I missed the discussion - what is happening?

Dish is adding about 22 HD channels today. Well actually its about 19 today. There are some RSNs that aren't in our area, and they are also counting SciFi, CNN, and USA which were added back in April. But still, its forward movement. I listed the channels in the first post of this thread and updated my grids.

ABC Family HD
Disney HD East
ESPNews HD
Biography HD
Hallmark Movie Channel HD
Bravo HD
Cartoon HD
MGM HD
Cinemax 5 Star
Sci Fi HD
Cinemax HD West
Smithsonian HD
Tennis Channel HD
Toon Disney HD
Travel Channel HD
USA HD
CNBC HD
Weather Channel HD
CNN HD
World Fishing Network HD

Of course CNN, SciFi, and USA were already added, but they finally "announced" them today.

Dish is adding about 22 HD channels today. Well actually its about 19 today. There are some RSNs that aren't in our area, and they are also counting SciFi, CNN, and USA which were added back in April. But still, its forward movement. I listed the channels in the first post of this thread and updated my grids.

ABC Family HD
Disney HD East
ESPNews HD
Biography HD
Hallmark Movie Channel HD
Bravo HD
Cartoon HD
MGM HD
Cinemax 5 Star
Sci Fi HD
Cinemax HD West
Smithsonian HD
Tennis Channel HD
Toon Disney HD
Travel Channel HD
USA HD
CNBC HD
Weather Channel HD
CNN HD
World Fishing Network HD

Of course CNN, SciFi, and USA were already added, but they finally "announced" them today.

Good for Dish and their customers!

Keep the competition burning!

Good for Dish and their customers!

Keep the competition burning!

Thanks cyclone & yes: more comp is good.

Yeah. It looks like the only channels that DirecTV has that Dish does not are some Viacom channels (Nick, MTV, VH1, etc..) and Fox Cable (Speed, FX, Fox News Business). Most of the Viacom channels aren't HD yet and Dish and Fox are in court, so that is an artificial hold up.

I ahve a question about WNUV over the air tonight. For some reason Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill were 4:3 instead of 16:9 on the HD feed. At least that's what my digital tuner saw. Any ideas what was going on?

Thanks,

Neil

Looks like Dish decided to axe 10 of the 15 Voom channels that they carried. They are now down to just 5 Voom channels.

I have Cox Fairfax, and I happened to see on the Cox Promo channel (~735; can't remember right now) that they will be adding 5 new HD channels on May 31:


USA HD
Bravo HD
Sci-Fi HD
CNBC HD
Lifetime HD

I'm pretty psyched about USA HD and Sci-Fi HD, and my wife will love Bravo HD! These are pretty much the main HD channels I was hoping for.

Just in time for the new season of USA shows, like Monk, Psych, and Law & Order: CI!

Looks like Dish decided to axe 10 of the 15 Voom channels that they carried. They are now down to just 5 Voom channels.

Makes your table on page 1 smaller :)

I ahve a question about WNUV over the air tonight. For some reason Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill were 4:3 instead of 16:9 on the HD feed. At least that's what my digital tuner saw. Any ideas what was going on?

Thanks,

Neil

Sorry - there was no audio on the HD receiver for some reason, so we had to switch up the SD back-up receiver...

Mark

Makes your table on page 1 smaller :)Yeah, I just made the update this morning. I wanted to let this go overnight in case there was some kind of mistake. Looks like it wasn't.

Sorry - there was no audio on the HD receiver for some reason, so we had to switch up the SD back-up receiver...

MarkThanks for the information. It is good to know that there was a backup plan for audio mystery. Is someone doing research into why there was no audio? Has that happened before?

Thanks,

Neil

I live near Frederick, MD and I am looking to purchase an off air antenna. I was told a DB8 would work since I am 32 miles from the DC stations and 44 from Baltimore, but Channel 7 & 9 are switching to VHF in February. There are a lot of hills and valleys near me, so I need something long range. I need an antenna that has great VHF and UHF range. I would prefer to have it mounted in the attic versus the roof.

Also, does anyone know of any installers in my area? I tried antennainstallers.com but they don't service my area. Your help would be appreciated.

Is anyone else not seeing the Nationals game on MASN HD? It's supposed to be in HD tonight, but here on RCN, the Orioles game is on, in SD. Looks like someone forgot to flip the switch.

Is anyone else not seeing the Nationals game on MASN HD? It's supposed to be in HD tonight, but here on RCN, the Orioles game is on, in SD. Looks like someone forgot to flip the switch.

It's on MASN2, the alternate channel, and it's in SD. The O's are on the main channel.

Even better, they forgot to switch in the announcers for the first few batters. If SNY is going to be blacked out, it's the next best thing.

It is a RCN specific issue. Comcast in MoCo has the Nats game on MASN-HD via Mojo.

It is a RCN specific issue. Comcast in MoCo has the Nats game on MASN-HD via Mojo.

And naturally, the RCN call center in the Philippines is clueless, asking me to re-boot my cable box :rolleyes:

The game is finally on MASN HD. Calling MASN directly seems to be the solution :)

I live near Frederick, MD and I am looking to purchase an off air antenna. I was told a DB8 would work since I am 32 miles from the DC stations and 44 from Baltimore, but Channel 7 & 9 are switching to VHF in February. There are a lot of hills and valleys near me, so I need something long range. I need an antenna that has great VHF and UHF range. I would prefer to have it mounted in the attic versus the roof.

Also, does anyone know of any installers in my area? I tried antennainstallers.com but they don't service my area. Your help would be appreciated.
try action antenna they are out of balt. 4102420440.

It's on MASN2, the alternate channel, and it's in SD. The O's are on the main channel.


MASN claims to have MASN HD and MASN2 HD. Tonight's game was on MASN2 HD. On most cable systems, they put both MASN HD and MASN2 HD on the same channel. On DirecTV, they put MASN HD on 626-1 and MASN2 HD on 671-1.

try action antenna they are out of balt. 4102420440.

My friend in Sykesville got an antenna from them. Very happy with the work.

Dish has removed the rest of the Voom channels.

Now that stinks, because the five that had remained were the good ones. Monsters and Rave especially. End of an era, unless Voom knows how to grovel.

This from Arlington County Alert Program:

An accidental Comcast outage has occured affecting 30% of their telephone traffic, approximately 1.5M customers, and taken down 20 nodes impacting all three services in S. Arlington and Crystal City, Additionally, it has taken out the 6 MHZ channels throughout the Washington Metro region and I-net and school sites are also impacted.

Regional/system staff are on site working to make the repairs as quickly as possible, but it is likely to be an extensive restoration.

DGB/OEM

Sent by Arlington County OEM to All users (e-mail) through Arlington Alert

I went to http://tv.msn.com/tv/guide to check the TV listings and when I enter the zip code for my town, Montclair (22025), the channel listings include 4 new HD channels: Science Channel HD (217), AMC HD (218), Disney Channel HD (244) and ABC Family HD (245). But at this moment, they're not listed on the Comcast guide on my set-top box. Can anyone confirm that these 4 channels will be added soon?

hopefully the same for Manassas as I have had significant pixelization on my HD's for last few days. Usually that is a sign

just check listings on TV guide Manassas says the same thing good sign! That would make 38 hd channels for Manassas

Thanks for the reply. I called Action Antenna and they are quoting me $588 installed. Seems kind of high, but I guess you get what you pay for, plus they do include everything and also a rotator.

Again - from Arlington County

an accidental Comcast outage has occurred affecting approximately 2,500 customers with digital phone service in Crystal City. Affected subscribers will need to use cell phones for 911 emergencies. Additionally, it has taken out the 6 MHZ channels throughout the Washington Metro region and County I-net and school sites are also impacted.

This is a major fiber issue, and no estimated time has been provided as to when service will be restored.

DGB/OEM

Seems Comcast service is back in Arlington/Crystal City.

Now that stinks, because the five that had remained were the good ones. Monsters and Rave especially. End of an era, unless Voom knows how to grovel.

Bell Expressvu in Canada and Cablevision still carry some of the voom channels. I'd say their days are numbered though. Kinda sad.

Has anyone else noticed that the programming on The CW Ch.54 is a couple minutes fast? I was watching the Simpsons tonight at 6PM, and at 6:27PM Family Guy came on. I compared my Dish receiver time with the time listed on CNN, and also with a internet time server.

Mark, any chance you could check the clocks on your equipment? :)

Anyone else having problems tuning Comcast of DC channel 226 (usually MOJO HD, but currently supposed to be MASN HD) at the moment? I'm getting a gray screen on my TiVo.

Drew

All of my digital QAM signals from P.G.County Comcast Cable were lost shortly after 7:00 pm tonight.

Anyone else having problems tuning Comcast of DC channel 226 (usually MOJO HD, but currently supposed to be MASN HD) at the moment? I'm getting a gray screen on my TiVo.

Drew

I'm in DC and have RCN, but I'm getting a blank screen on MASN HD right now as well. I put a call in to MASN's customer support line, which has been surprisingly helpful in the past.

Anyone else having problems tuning Comcast of DC channel 226 (usually MOJO HD, but currently supposed to be MASN HD) at the moment? I'm getting a gray screen on my TiVo.

Drew

it seems to be blacked out as if it was also on a local

Right, but it's not on WDCA... Sounds from the previous posts in this thread that it isn't the first time MASN HD has had problems (this is the first time I've tried to tune into MOJO to catch the Nats).

Drew

Still no Nats in HD here on RCN.

Comcast appears to be working on it as a few frames per second show up on Mojo now. This was the email response I received from MASN:

"Thank you for contacting MASN regarding this technical issue.

MASN is currently being carried by twenty one cable and satellite providers throughout the seven state region. Some of these carriers have experienced technical problems including transmission problems, audio and or video problems, and even the lack of carriage.

We have contacted Comcast about this problem and they are working to correct the issue.

We regret any inconvenience that the technical difficulties of a provider may have caused you. We hope and expect that any problems will be rectified immediately.

Again, thank you for your interest in MASN.

Sincerely,

Your Friends at MASN"

I just got a call back from MASN; they're claiming that RCN is having a problem getting the HD signal from MASN, and that the game will not be in HD tonight :mad: This is BS.

It appears to be fixed at least for Comcast Montgomery County.

All of my digital QAM signals from P.G.County Comcast Cable were lost shortly after 7:00 pm tonight.

As of 8:50 PM I'm still getting all mine. At least all that were left after Comcast deleted all the Baltimore and Annapolis HD clear QAM stations in P.G. I suppose Comcast feels we're getting the remaining QAM channels through the "back door" as well and they could be gone at any time.

Is anyone getting Sci-Fi HD (channel 236) also on 239 (Discovery HD)? This is in Alexandria/Comcast. So much for MythBusters. Instead I'm getting 2 versions of ghost hunters in low definition. Boo.

Has anyone else noticed that the programming on The CW Ch.54 is a couple minutes fast? I was watching the Simpsons tonight at 6PM, and at 6:27PM Family Guy came on. I compared my Dish receiver time with the time listed on CNN, and also with a internet time server.

Mark, any chance you could check the clocks on your equipment? :)

Actually, the clocks are set by GPS, and aren't off by more than a few milliseconds. That doesn't mean that the programming runs at the correct time, though. That's determined by other factors - basically, how the programs, commercials, PSAs, etc. add up. The more time a good master control operator has to add, subtract, or change things, and the better the program log from the programming department, the closer the schedule is to the correct time.

There are a some shows that have to start at specific times - shows being received live from someplace else (network programming, for example), that bring the program times back into line.

Cheers -

Need a favor here. I've got one of those Analog to Digital converter boxes now. I'm testing it out, and I want to see if the missing guide data is on the station end, or the STB end.

WBAL - Always says DTV program
WJZ - No Info available
WFDC - No info available

Everyting else comes in OK.

WBAL - Always says DTV program
WJZ - No Info availableI see the same, with the Insignia CECB I bought yesterday. I can't say about WFDC; it doesn't come in well for me.

As of this morning, Disney HD (244) and Family HD (245) are now available. Science HD (217) also is in the guide but was not authorized.

Need a favor here. I've got one of those Analog to Digital converter boxes now. I'm just wondering - what converter boxes are available in the DC/Baltimore area? WalMart has the Magnavox TB100MW9 (for $50) and Best Buy has their Insignia NS-DXA1 box (for $60). Anything else out there in the area? Dish Network's DTVPal will be out in about a month at Dish Retailers (and Radio Shack) for $40. Target doesn't have anything yet, but say they'll have something in the coming months.

Neil

I have my two $40 coupons, so I want to try to find something as cheap as possible. I wish I had waited, since the coupons expire after 90 days, and the Dish ones aren't going to be ready for a while. Guess I might just get the WalMart ones on day 90.

As of this morning, Disney HD (244) and Family HD (245) are now available. Science HD (217) also is in the guide but was not authorized.

They were all put on the same frequency (627Mhz) so it is three HD channels per QAM. Compresscast?

They were all put on the same frequency (627Mhz) so it is three HD channels per QAM. Compresscast?
Yes, Compresscast indeed. They already moved to 3:1 in Annapolis and surrounding areas. This happened several weeks ago, and I have this on good info; can't elaborate. Local channels are not affected, but some national channels look like trash now, and I am canceling my service as a result. No credit, rebate, "deal", or discount could change my mind at this point. I am signing up for FIOS as soon as the Stanley Cup playoffs are over (and perhaps even sooner than that). I wish I could get a truck out to my house tomorrow, I have the day off work.

Yes, FIOS is launching some additional HD in our area in the July-ish timeframe; can't elaborate. And FIOS will not be pulling any 3:1 tomfoolery, either -- they don't need to, unlike their lesser brethren.

Dish Network's DTVPal will be out in about a month ;) *wink*

I might use up one of my coupons on a 2nd converter for comparison sake.

As of last night's Nats game, MASNHD's DD5.1 problems appear to be fixed. The sound appeared to be a true DD5.1 mix (you could hear the hot dog vendor with the NY accent in the rears).

Glad someone was able to watch in HD last night.

Drew

Is it me or does it seem TNT HD feed is not as good a quality as their SD feed.
Not saying head to head.
More like their HD vs other's HD. & Their SD vs other's SD.

Maybe it was the Lakers yellow unis that popped on SD which made it looked good last nite. ;)

I have my two $40 coupons, so I want to try to find something as cheap as possible. I wish I had waited, since the coupons expire after 90 days, and the Dish ones aren't going to be ready for a while. Guess I might just get the WalMart ones on day 90.

I haven't heard terribly good things about the Wal-Mart boxes... I really think you should spring for the Zenith or the Digital Stream; I've heard good things about both. It's a bit extra, but...

- Trip

4 new HD channels added today:

Science Channel HD (217)
AMC HD (218)
Disney Channel HD (244)
ABC Family HD (245)

Glad someone was able to watch in HD last night.

Drew

That was the second night in a row that RCN was having problems with MASN HD, but after multiple phone calls to both, I reached the conclusion that either side was blaming the other, and that they did nothing to remedy the situation :mad:

That was the second night in a row that RCN was having problems with MASN HD, but after multiple phone calls to both, I reached the conclusion that either side was blaming the other, and that they did nothing to remedy the situation :mad:

Last nights problems had to do with some receivers not receiving their authorization codes properly. It has been corrected.

Also, RE: Dolby D, correct; there was a hardware issue and you should be enjoying the wonderful sounds of Queens today.

On another note, I saw DTV converter at Radio Shack last week; RF out, RCA outs (audio/video) [can't remember if it had an S-Video] and a remote. I recall it being $50 or $60.

Sorry, but this is a double post from the HTPC area. Someone suggested I post it here since it has to do with my OTA reception.

I live in Ellicott City between Baltimore and Washington, DC, so I am able to receive lots of OTA HD stations from both markets. I have dual ChannelMaster 4228 8-bay UHF antennas pointed at both sets of broadcast towers based on the compass headings posted for my address at tvfool.com. I had originally set up the antennas using the data posted at antennaweb.org. I recently realigned both antennas using the tvfool.com compass headings. I found that the antenna for Baltimopre was aimed correctly but the DC antenna needed to be realigned for the best signal.

Here's where it gets kinda weird. When setting up my ATSC tuners (V-Box 3560-A-USB's) for my HTPC, the signal strength from the DC stations is now stronger than the Baltimore locals. This is odd because I'm about 10 miles or less from the Baltimore broadcast towers and about 25-30 miles from the DC towers. I suspect that the compass headings I used for Baltimore weren't quite correct so I plan on fiddling with the alignment when I get the chance.

I had been experiencing a certain amount of periodic freezeups, jerkiness, stuttering, and skipping when recording from the Baltimore stations. I recently set up BeyondTV to use the DC stations instead and now my recordings seem almost perfect with but a few rare artifacts. The CW was the worst offender from Baltimore but this week's episode of Reaper from the DC station played back better than I've ever seen it and was essentially perfect with only one minor audio dropout of about one second.

Is it possible that the artifacts I was seeing when recording from the Baltimore stations were the result of too strong of a signal? I had a distribution amp setup to feed my six ATSC tuners to overcome any attenuation due to the number of times the signal was split. The outputs of both rooftop antennas on my 2-story house are combined using a standard VHF/UHF/FM splitter/combiner and then routed to the distribution amp located in the basement. I have since included an inline amplifier from the antenna feed and replaced the distribution amp with a 6-way splitter with essentially no change in the signal levels. I checked the signal strength with both the inline amp and the distribution amp and there was still no change in signal level. The inline amp is supposed to boost the signal by 18dB so I expected to see at least a slight change but I got bupkus.

The good news is that my stuttering and other issues seem to have disappeared by switching to the DC stations but WTF is going on with my Baltimore stations? I can only assume that the artifacts I experienced were the result of overdriving the tuners since the antennas are of extremely high gain. What's got me confused is that the signal strength is lower from Baltimore than it is from DC. I may actually have a clearer line of sight to the DC towers than the ones in Baltimore due to tall trees to the north of me.

45 To Launch HD News Next Week - 5/15 - DCRTV hears that Baltimore's Sinclair-owned Fox45, WBFF, will debut its HD newscasts next week. Making it the first Charm City station to air local news in hi-def. Currently, DC's Channel 9/WUSA is the only regional station airing local news in HD. DCRTV has reported that DC's Fox5, WTTG, is also planning to launch HD local news soon.....

Is it possible that the artifacts I was seeing when recording from the Baltimore stations were the result of too strong of a signal? I had a distribution amp setup to feed my six ATSC tuners to overcome any attenuation due to the number of times the signal was split. The outputs of both rooftop antennas on my 2-story house are combined using a standard VHF/UHF/FM splitter/combiner and then routed to the distribution amp located in the basement. I have since included an inline amplifier from the antenna feed and replaced the distribution amp with a 6-way splitter with essentially no change in the signal levels. I checked the signal strength with both the inline amp and the distribution amp and there was still no change in signal level. The inline amp is supposed to boost the signal by 18dB so I expected to see at least a slight change but I got bupkus.


Have you tried running the cable only from the Baltimore antenna without joining with the DC antenna? The interaction between the two could be messing things up. Remove the splitter entirely and use a barrel connector, then check reception.

As for overloading, you can try plugging a tuner before splitting or amplifying anything. If you are that close to the transmitters, using a high-gain antenna with an amplifier could cause problems. More signal can be worse in some situations.

Both of these will give you a better idea of how the Baltimore antenna is doing and what you might need to do to improve that. However combining two antennas is not foolproof due to phasing, multipath and other concerns.

As of 8:50 PM I'm still getting all mine. At least all that were left after Comcast deleted all the Baltimore and Annapolis HD clear QAM stations in P.G. I suppose Comcast feels we're getting the remaining QAM channels through the "back door" as well and they could be gone at any time.

My signals from Comcast Digital QAM returned to normal about 8:10 pm, and I also found that during the time from 7:10 to 8:10 my Comcast TV signals, digital and analog were all dead. I attempted to call Comcast about 7:15, but I got a recording stating "all lines in use, call back later". The loss of TV signals did not affect my Comcast phone and internet signals.

Capt Video. Using a 4228 at only 10 miles and then amplifying it might be over kill. Try it without the amplification just to see how that works. It might actually be better with less signal.

As some basic cable users have come to know, some cable system will allow us to get some HD stations that otherwise would be on the digital tier. Of course we get no annoucements as would a dig subscriber get & thus I post the question:

Was curious to know ppl who get basic cable - how often to you scan your channels?

4 new HD channels added today:

Science Channel HD (217)
AMC HD (218)
Disney Channel HD (244)
ABC Family HD (245)

Ditto for Comcast of Alexandria/Arlington.

Ditto for Comcast of Alexandria/Arlington.

And SciFi is still showing on DiscoveryHD and SciFiHD

Ditto for Comcast of Alexandria/Arlington.

Ditto for Calvert County Md, except we did not get AMCHD. Would have preferred to get CNNHD, ANPLHD and AMCHD, but still better than nothing.:)

MoCo did not get AMC meaning that while Comcast has a deal for both AMC, CNN and Animal Planet, we don't have them. I'm sure that our bill is less than the areas that have these channels (sure).

4 new HD channels added today:

Science Channel HD (217)
AMC HD (218)
Disney Channel HD (244)
ABC Family HD (245)


thanks, I'll need to add them to my TiVoHD on Comcast. I think those are four more channels I don't have on FIOS.

And SciFi is still showing on DiscoveryHD and SciFiHD

THat is not happening for me. Weird...

Actually, the clocks are set by GPS, and aren't off by more than a few milliseconds. That doesn't mean that the programming runs at the correct time, though. That's determined by other factors - basically, how the programs, commercials, PSAs, etc. add up. The more time a good master control operator has to add, subtract, or change things, and the better the program log from the programming department, the closer the schedule is to the correct time.

There are a some shows that have to start at specific times - shows being received live from someplace else (network programming, for example), that bring the program times back into line.

Cheers -

Gotcha. Didnt know if all that syndicated stuff was just one big recording with commericials included or if that stuff was inserted later.

So, basically, it seems like you guys could be throwing in a couple more commercials then? For now, I've adjusted my recording timers to start 5 minutes early and go 5 minutes long, just in case :)

I called Comcast about 5pm today (Alexandria) and reported the SciFi on Discover HD and SciFi. I actually got the nicest lady who contacted broadcasting and she said they saw it, too, and would work on it. Within 30 minutes it was done. For once, they didn't insist I unplug my box to try to fix it.

As of this morning, Disney HD (244) and Family HD (245) are now available. Science HD (217) also is in the guide but was not authorized.

Is anyone in Montgomery County getting channel 217? It is still "not authorized" for me.

i heard dcrtv reported 45 was to launch their HD newscast next week? how do they know this lst time they said that 45 already was HD

MoCo did not get AMC meaning that while Comcast has a deal for both AMC, CNN and Animal Planet, we don't have them. I'm sure that our bill is less than the areas that have these channels (sure).

As you probably already know, the main reason why MoCo doesn't have a number of the HD channels that other local Comcast systems have is because MoCo is a 750 MHz system vs. 860 MHz for the other local systems. However, I noticed this morning that the NBA PPV channels are now on QAM ch. 123--- a few months ago, MoCo QAM only went up to ch. 116 and more recently, the NBA PPV was on QAM ch 117. So, it appears that they are finally upgrading the network which could allow for the addition of more HD channels in the near future.

Does anyone else have no audio on 7.1 right now? I'm watching over DirecTV (MPEG-4 LIL) and the DVR'd Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy (in progress) are mute.

Sure hope some of these new channels (and the last wave from a few months ago) come to Comcast DC before too long....

As you probably already know, the main reason why MoCo doesn't have a number of the HD channels that other local Comcast systems have is because MoCo is a 750 MHz system vs. 860 MHz for the other local systems. However, I noticed this morning that the NBA PPV channels are now on QAM ch. 123--- a few months ago, MoCo QAM only went up to ch. 116 and more recently, the NBA PPV was on QAM ch 117. So, it appears that they are finally upgrading the network which could allow for the addition of more HD channels in the near future.

Thanks kenrowe. I wonder why they didn't upgraded the network sooner.

New "HD" channels on Comcast DC this morning:

217 SciHD
244 DisneyHD
245 ABC Family HD

All are simulcasting SD programming from their SD channels. So the reason people on Comcast DC have started to see macro-blocking and compression artifacts on your other channels is to make way for these wastes of bandwidth.

Although CNN-HD was planned for 1st quarter, Comcast told me that CNN-HD has been deferred indefinitely. Obviously the DC market, at least according to Comcast, is more interested in kiddie programming than news.

I've seen no signal on 26 digital since last night. It's not just me, is it?

Also, while I'm thinking about public TV, I've noticed periodic freezing and skipping on 22.1, maybe beginning about 3 months ago. It lasts like a half-second, happens every minute or two. I have a somewhat older Sanyo HD set, but I'm not noticing this anywhere else. Has anyone else seen this problem? Might MPT have changed something about their signal (bit rate, etc.)?