The channel guide for my ReplayTV added NBC East and West in the 80's yesterday, but unfortunately did not add Fox East and West.

I'm taking that as a sign that NBC-HD will be added within a few days, and Fox won't. :(

Here's some visual evidence of what's happening with DirecTV cramming three channels in a space that had previously been used by two:

http://www.widemovies.com/directvcomp.html

Try to avoid refreshing the page or making multiple visits, as bandwidth is limited.

Wow that looks like crap! Maybe it is a good thing I am deciding to try out Charter for awhile until Directv gets their other sats up. Then again, I haven't seen Charter cable in awhile but wow those pics on that page are crap.

Doug,

I think I'm going to have to follow Bob and do a rescan to see if I can get 9-4. When you say "soft reset", does that mean a simple power down and reboot, or do I need to find a "reset" button somewhere on the box? I view a hard reset as a power down, unplug for a few minutes, and plug back in routine. I didn't ever need to do a scan for my Voom box. It just knew from the beginning where it was, and popped up our STL local channels in the correct order even before I connected my antenna. I'll also mention the interesting fact that ALL my boxes automatically added 5-2 when it was available. There was no need to even look for the new subchannel. Weird, huh?? I'll be happy to report my results with each box I have after I've had time to work with them.

hall316,

I'm sorry but I already tried to do what you're hoping to do, and Charter wouldn't go for it. I told them that I knew how to hook up an hd box, and simply wanted to pick it up at the Charter office when available. However, they told me that it was a policy that they must schedule an installer to come out and bring the box to me regardless of my knowledge. They said that it cuts down on service calls resulting from someone who hooked up things incorrectly, saving them time and money. Funny thing, they hit me with a $40 installation trip charge, even though I hooked up the box myself. Not only are they saving money, they are making money anyway they can off us. Ouch!!

I know I'm crazy....I have yet another hd box. Newly purchased last night from BB, I have the LG LST-3510A box. It combines an OTA tuner(yes, I know I didn't need another one) with a QAM hd cable tuner and a dvd player that can upscale dvds through DVI, RGB, and component. Wow!! BB gave me a 10% discount at the register, and I already had $15 worth of Reward Zone certificates I needed to blow before they expired. Supposedly, this box has just about the nicest, most sensitive OTA tuner out there according to many others here at AVS. I bought it mainly for the dvd upscaling abilities through RGB and component, since I don't have a dvi-enabled pj right now. Well, that is, the box it came in advertised that it upscales through all those outputs, and does 480i at the same time. I brought the unit home, and then(only then)started reading about it on the forum. It turns out that this LG box is only supposed to upscale copy protected dvds through the dvi out only, as mandated by the DVD Forum. However, I'm told that the unit will read some copy protected dvds and pass the upconverted signal through the RBG and/or component connections as well. You just have to take your chances and see what you get. The good news is that if I make a backup copy of any dvd that won't play upconverted, the newly copied dvd will in fact play upconverted with no problems, since it will no longer hold the copy restriction. The unit is still in the box, and I'm going to open it up right now. Bob, I can't wait to see that Gloria concert widescreen dvd you made for me in upconverted form. I'll let you know if it looks any different.

Hey Jedi,

I was looking at the 3510A for a while, but passed on it when I read the upconversion only goes through DVI (component does only 480p). If some DVD's do get upconverted to 1080i through the components, I'd be mighty interested. I'd also love to know why some would get upconverted and some wouldn't. Things like that just bring out the hacker in me. :D

Hey Doug,

This morning's SkyReport has some financial analyst talking about how wonderful DirecTV's prospects are with all those new satellites going up, and not a word about how they're cramming 3 HD channels on 1 transponder and, for all practical purposes, turnng HDnetMovies into "SDnetMovies."

The same guy also says Voom is doomed. :(

Any thoughts on what Channel 750 might be? I wouldn't think it is ABC because channels seem to go in order and ABC would be after NBC, so could it possibly be Discovery HD or TNT-HD or maybe not and HD channel at all.

Sometimes my brain does work slow, the channel is listed as local content for right now, so with our luck and Charters history it probably UPN.

I saw that channel 750--its not in the HD group, so it does'nt look like a new HD channel. Although, Charter says their in "contractual negoiations" for new HD programming.

It might be the start of those interactive channels that are available on non-hd digital boxes, but not on hd digital boxes.

With my tv I have a slight delay when going from analog or normal digital to HD, tv shows 1080i during switch to HD and 480p when going from HD to non-HD channels. When I selected 750 from non-Hd I didn't get the switch. Later on when I was watching HDnet I changed to 750 and my tv did not go back to 480p as it would normally, so I don't think the channel has designation yet. The interactive channels as I remember are placed after the PPV channels.

Jedi, So how many HD boxes do you have now? Do we need to have an intervention? :)

Jedi,

With that box you just bought, if you did not previously have a dgital box with Charter and just recieved the channels you can without having a box, wouls this box pick up anymore now? Or will it still only receive the normal up to channel 99 that you would be by just plugging in a cable wire into a normal tv.

After searching the net, it seems that you should not be able to recieve Charter's HD channels through this yet this guy says he can recieve them with it through Comcast. weird.

http://www.hdtvoice.com/voice/showthread.php?t=9432

Jedi,
I tried the LG LST-3510A box... I got one from CC. I wanted it for DVD upconversions thru componant, but it didn't do it.

I got a DVB -318 for DVD's and a LSS 3200 for D* and OTA. It works great.


Best
Dave

D* 3 channels per transponder -

This is where I fall out of bonds with the rest of the forum. I tend to not notice these things and also believe the majority of the world (myself included) don't care as much as some would think. If it maintains DVD quality and higher, I am typically happy. I enjoy the improved clarity, widescreen, 5.1, etc, but don't need window quality.

I think my position can be justified by looking at purchasing trends. You ever compared an LCD/DLP rear projection or flat panel to a CRT based? The compression to me doesn't look nearly as bad as what the LCD/DLP display systems do to video. Yet - they are extremely popular right now. If D* didn't compress, would my CRT projection system look better - probably. Is it enough of a difference that I am willing to give up 6-7 HD football games and distant FOXHD when it launches? No way... I was even a proponent of FOX doing NFL WS multicasting over single market HD games. I would much rather have my choice of 4-5 OTA WS 480I games than a single forced 720P.

Anyhow - I know this puts me in the minority, but figure I might as well give the perspective.

Chris

D* 3 channels per transponder

Doug,
those pictures show the kind of signal degradation that Charter is experiencing in MN when they cram 3 channels on a single digital channel.

It's not too bad when it's non-sports/non action movie, but when you add quick pans the blockiness can get much worse.

I for one would like to see no more than 2 HDTV channels per transponder/digital channel.

Did anyone attend CEDIA. I'd like to hear your thoughts on what you saw.

Dave

Bob,

From what I've read so far, the ability of the LG box to upconvert through RGB and/or component has a lot to do with how the dvd was mastered and the implementation of the CSS copy protection system. If you're willing to burn a backup copy of any dvd that won't play upconverted, then you have a nice workaround for it. BTW, I knew that my Sammy T165 had upconversion abilities, but I'd never been inpressed with how the picture looked for dvds. Then I remembered that this was when I was using inferior component cables, and it was connected to my Pioneer 53" rptv in the other room, not my new hot pj. I ran that Gloria dvd through the Sammy early this morning, and WOW, it looks great upconverted. Practically in hd quality, using my Pioneer 480i/p dvd player. I got a little more color saturation and detailing when going through component cables, but upconverted svideo looked darn close. I just didn't realize what I had. In fact, this LG box just might have to go back. I've yet to compare the 2.

Toeside,
I knew that someone was going to ask your question eventually. So, here we go:
1.Sammy T165 OTA tuner
2.Sammy HD931 upconverting dvd player
3.Sammy T150 OTA tuner
4.LG LST-3510A OTA/QAM/upconverting dvd player
5.Voom receiver with OTA
6.Charter 6200 hd cable box
7.JVC 30K DVHS deck

All these feed a wonderful Benq PB6100 dlp pj and a Pioneer hd rptv. I've begun to realize that I'm going to have a major switching problem once I get a dvi capable pj. Practically all my boxes have dvi outputs. Yikes!!

hall316,
Good question. This LG box is designed to pick up any unscrambled digital hd cable channels. This should include the digital locals that Charter have now, and maybe ESPN-HD. I shouldn't be able to get HBOHD, SHOHD, HDNet, HDNetMovies, or any other digital or analog channels, since the other digital channels are scrambled and this box doesn't do analog cable channels at all. In fact, I'll have to use my AB switcher and rescan each time I want to watch OTA or QAM throught this box, as it only has one cable/antenna input...a major pain.

Dave_STLMO,
When you were trying out your LG box, did you try several dvds? Did you try the RGB output as well as component? It seems that this unit might upconvert on one and not the other, and it's random. Did you try a backup copy of a dvd? I'd be interested in comparing this unit's upconverted picture to your DVB 318. Are you into that? Where did you get you 318?

Doug,
I hadn't realized that 5-2 is still up and running, as I saw on my T165 last night. Wasn't that subchannel supposed to be shutdown after the Olympics? I wonder if my other boxes are still picking it up.

Let me know your results. If you can get Charter's local HD Channels and ESPN HD, I might be interested in buying one of these. I don't really watch ABC or WB so I won't miss those HD channels. Well maybe ABC for Monday Night Football if the Rams were playing. I like the fact the DVD player is built in and I would only be using one of my two component inputs on my tv. My 2 biggest complaints of my Tv are there is no DVI input and it won't show 720p. My 57' widescreen tv is about 4 years old and I wish I knew more about what I wanted back then. I plan on getting another big screen when I finish my basement though. Um, haven't told the wife yet haha.

I have another question of Directivo users. Does your picture look hazy if not blurry sometimes. I really only notice this with the locas when I am recording them. When I recorded Next Comic Standing the other day it was so blurry it was making my eyes hurt. I don't have a regular box anymore to compare if it's becuase of the Directivo or bad signal.

Hey Hall,

Are you talking about the HD DirecTivo or the standard DirecTivo? If it's the HD model, do you mean the HD locals over the air, or DirecTV's SD locals?

The HD locals over the air on the HD Tivo look great.

The SD locals from DirecTV look like crap lately, on my HD Tivo and on regular non-Tivo boxes. KPLR over *D looks like a VHS tape, complete with the ghosts you only expect to see with a weak signal over the air.

I'm hoping that new digital channel 5-2 stays around and gets listed in the guide, because even though it's a 480i SD afterthought, it still looks better than "ST5" does on *D.

Has anyone figured out what channel 750 is? I spoke to a clueless CSR and she said it was an HD channel but didn't know anymore than that.

I have just the regular Directivo. I don't have any HD channels with Directv. I am talking about the regular local channels. When I tivo them it's just crap. Now, when I watch tivoed nip/tuck or anything else it's fine. I have regular cable coming in my house so if I could pick up the HD channels through that with the HD reciever/ DVD player mentioned above I would be inclined to do that and just keep my Directv. I'm not worried about taping HD channels right now. Just would like to watch a few shows on it.

Originally posted by tcfila
Has anyone figured out what channel 750 is? I spoke to a clueless CSR and she said it was an HD channel but didn't know anymore than that.
I don't know but they upgraded their Interactive service in the last few days. When I go to "The Weather Channel" (Channel 28) I get an "I" logo in the upper left corner. If I hit ok you get the local weather in a pop-up box.

Hall, the problem ain't your Tivo. DirecTV's locals are definitely crap lately.

OK, what's the deal?? I can get 5-2 on my Sammy OTA, but not on the Charter hd box. Why?

I tried messing around with my antenna and Samsung t165 again tonight and I just can't seem to get anymore than pixilation. It's driving me nuts. I'll be getting rid of the t165 as soon as the Charter HD is installed next week. If anyone is interested in it let me know.

Originally posted by Dave Beebe
When you say DBS, what provider do you have: DirecTV or Dish?

If you have DirecTV and the Sunday Ticket package, all the HD games were in the channel 90-100 range. The SD games were in the low 700's.

The whole thing about being able to get the Fox-HD East and West feeds from DirecTV is still being worked out. Since KTVI is owned by Fox we can get those feeds (when they come out). It still remains to be seen what will happen on Sunday afternoon with football games.

It was well documented that the Rams/Big Red game was the only one not done in HD since Fox had seven games to broadcast and only have six HD trucks/teams. This weekend will be different since they have six games and six trucks.

And from what I heard (not 100% sure because I went to the Rams game) the Eagles/Giants game was HD here in St. Louis from Fox/KTVI.

Sorry Dave, I misspoke, I meant CBS in my post, not DBS. I was implying neither CBS or FOX games were high def OTA.

Yeah, I know the Sunday Ticket through DirecTV provides lots of high-def programming, I was just hoping to get _something_ from OTA for those of us who don't subscribe to the Sunday Ticket. And the Eagles/Giants game was definitely not in HD either. Us OTA folk had nothin on opening Sunday. It was just disappointing, I was sorta just venting in my last post...sorry.

Hall316,

I also TiVo Nip/Tuck. The season pass is on my HD TiVo, watched over DVI at 480p on my Mits Silver Plus 55". I leave the HD TiVo Ratio to panel (gray side bars) and change the TV format to Zoom (my reason for toggling to 480p). The picture is unbelieveble. That's my opinion, anyway. It's certainly not HD, obviously, but for an SD channel on DirecTV, it looks very good, even zoomed on a 55" widescreen. FX must be given some extra bandwidth compared to channels like TBS. I wish the HDTiVo had a bitrate meter so we could find out.

As far as local DirecTV feeds, no idea the quality now. I was TiVoing non HD shows on those channels, but I decided to just use OTA locals now. Much better.

Craig

So far, I have scanned in all digital locals into my new LG 3510A box. I must admit that the OTA picture quality is fantastic, and I can see why some say that it's the best out there. It is receiving 9.1 thru 9.4, as well as 5.1 and 5.2. I need to test it for QAM reception next. I did a rescan for my Sammy T165, and now have all the same channels there as well. I fired up my Voom receiver, and the first screen bragged about a new channel lineup, but I still don't get 5.2 or 9.4. The next thing I'll try is a hard reset of the Voom box and see if it picks up anything else.

I've spent a lot of time watching upconverted dvd material through a Pioneer dvd audio/video/sacd/cd player and my Sammy HD931 dvd player, both feeding the Sammy T165. I was already impressed with the previous results I got, but tonight I grabbed some killer component cables made by Monster Cable that were not being used from the other room. OMG, it's freaking awesome. These are some of the richest, most detailed images I've seen from dvds, and that includes presentations I've seen on 10-20K pjs. I'm serious. However, all this comparing has made me notice in a big way that the Sammy dvd player does crush blacks. The reports I've read said that the problem was through the dvi output, but it seems to be on component as well. I get much darker and more exciting blacks from the Pioneer unit. I've yet to fire up a dvd on the LG box, but that's coming. I just want to have a good idea of what I can already get with my T165, so if it's not any better, the LG's going back.

Today is the 16th anyone call Charter about the Moxi box since many of us heard today was going to be the rollout day?

Originally posted by Toeside


I wish the HDTiVo had a bitrate meter so we could find out.

Craig

Per my post on 8/14 -

SELECT-PLAY-SELECT-INSTANT REPLAY-SELECT

This gives resolution and bit rate info. The sequence toggles the function on & off. Another neat trick is the 30-sec skip feature-

SELECT-PLAY-SELECT-3-0-SELECT

This toggles the function of the Advance button to skip through commercials easier. The sequence must be entered while playing a recording, and it must be re-entered whenever the unit loses power.

Mike

Originally posted by MSloss
Per my post on 8/14 -

SELECT-PLAY-SELECT-INSTANT REPLAY-SELECT

This gives resolution and bit rate info. The sequence toggles the function on & off. Another neat trick is the 30-sec skip feature-

SELECT-PLAY-SELECT-3-0-SELECT

This toggles the function of the Advance button to skip through commercials easier. The sequence must be entered while playing a recording, and it must be re-entered whenever the unit loses power.

Mike

Mike, thanks, but S-P-S-IR-S doesn't give bitrate info. It gives Tuner info, Resolution, Aspect Ratio, Frames per second, and viewing method. I didn't see anything relating to bitrate.

Too bad, too, since bitrate info would be a really nice easter egg.

Craig

Originally posted by wilkemp
Today is the 16th anyone call Charter about the Moxi box since many of us heard today was going to be the rollout day?

I called, and have news that will shock and amaze you: Rollout has been pushed back to "sometime this month"!!! I asked what the holdup was, CSR indicated that he wasn't positive, but he thought it had something to do with "either a channel won't come in right, or something with our billing system. It's something pretty minute, but we want to make sure it's 100% before we send it out."

I told him I put my name on the reservation list in July, and wanted to make sure I would be one of the first in line. He said that "we already have the first shipment of boxes, and we will just go down the list from the beginning until we're out of boxes." I asked him to verify where I was on the list, but he indicated that all the CSR's do when they put someone on the list is fill out a web-form which is forwarded to the department that will be handling the installs. The CSRs don't actually have access to this all-powerful list.

--Tyler

I wonder why they can have the box working in other parts of the country but not here? You would think they use the same software for billing and equipment for receiving signals. Charter must secretly be run by our government, which is the only reason to explain such ineptness

Originally posted by GlendaleHDTV
I told him I put my name on the reservation list in July, and wanted to make sure I would be one of the first in line. He said that "we already have the first shipment of boxes, and we will just go down the list from the beginning until we're out of boxes." I asked him to verify where I was on the list, but he indicated that all the CSR's do when they put someone on the list is fill out a web-form which is forwarded to the department that will be handling the installs. The CSRs don't actually have access to this all-powerful list.--Tyler

In the real world, that means:

"we only tell you there is a list. There is not a list, we are not that proactive. We only say that to get you off our backs and off the phone. Now give us more of your money and don't ask for any new services."

Jedi,
When you were trying out your LG box, did you try several dvds? Did you try the RGB output as well as component? It seems that this unit might upconvert on one and not the other, and it's random. Did you try a backup copy of a dvd? I'd be interested in comparing this unit's upconverted picture to your DVB 318. Are you into that? Where did you get you 318?



1. Yes I tried several DVD's...only on componant though.
2. Don't not have backups, but they probably would work. I say this because several DVD's would start playing at 1080 but within 1 to 3 seconds fall back to 480.
3. We can compare if you wish... I got my 318 from


http://www.savinglots.com/lotprod.asp?item=DVB318


Best
Dave

Is it me, or is Charter always ready to roll out the next big thing in about "two more weeks"?

Didn't they say that for more than two years about the start up of their HD service? It's not very credible anymore.

I'm glad I have an HDTivo.

Originally posted by Toeside
Mike, thanks, but S-P-S-IR-S doesn't give bitrate info. It gives Tuner info, Resolution, Aspect Ratio, Frames per second, and viewing method. I didn't see anything relating to bitrate.

Too bad, too, since bitrate info would be a really nice easter egg.

Craig

Sorry about that. I confused the FPS with the bitrate.

Mike

All other areas that Charter launched DVR service with MOXI was handled by a billing system called CSG ACSR. St. Louis is the first area that has launched under Convergys' ICOMS. The reason why it was delayed this month is because Convergys did not have the fix for ICOMS to run the MOXI's boxes.

Thanks Marky for the info.

Regardless, Charter needs to get its s**t together before putting notice on their bills about the availability of a new product.

I'm considering making the move to D*, but am a little concerned about OTA reception where I live (Glendale). I've heard from a friend in Warson Woods that he had trouble with OTA and was told it was because he was too close to the towers. I've seen other posts on here claiming the same thing in Rock Hill.

I have a two story house with a pretty good line-of-sight south. Putting up an outdoor antenna on the roof is not an option. About the furthest I'd go would be antenna in the attic. Anyone care to comment on their experience with OTA reception in my area?

Thanks,
Tyler

Jedi,

I don't want to cross any lines talking about backup DVDs, but how are you backing them up? The methods I use don't preserve the original bitrate. For instance, I have a single layer DVD burner, and to fit most DVDs on it, the video is recompressed, resulting in inferior PQ.

I guess it's possible you are backing up DVDs to multiple DVD-Rs, in order to preserve the bitrate. If not, does it really matter if backups are being upconverted?

Craig

I have a few backed up copies of my dvds. I usually don't bother copying the extra stuff, just the video and audio. I've watched a few of them, but never really noticed much of a difference. I have a progressive scan dvd player using component input to the tv. So are you saying if I run the dvd player through my t165 using compnent cables then the picture would look better than the origianl dvd?

On a side note, is there really any difference in dvi vs component?

I just noticed D* is showing NBC-E and NBC-W on channels 82 and 83, but they aren't enabled.

I know our CBS affiliate is NOT O&O, and our FOX affiliate IS O&O, but what about our NBC affiliate?

Dean

dwette,

KSDK is owned by Gannett, so no dice on the network NBC HD feed for us...

Originally posted by DroptheRemote
dwette,

KSDK is owned by Gannett, so no dice on the network NBC HD feed for us...

Thanks Doug.

Guess we'll have to settle for FOX and OTA until D* starts spot beaming us after the new Sats are up.

I still can't get 9 and 11 with an antenna, but D* is sending me a new replacement HD STB, so maybe it'll have better sensitivity. Funny, it used to work (a year ago). Did 9 and 11 lower their HD signal strength?

Dean,

It's possible that what you're seeing (or not seeing) with KETC and KPLR is a seasonal issue.

I know it sounds ludicrous and impractical, but wait a month or so for the leaves to fall off of the trees and that might make a difference.

Bizarre -- but that's been my experience with KSDK...now I don't see it, but soon I will.

In the meantime, I hope the replacement box makes a difference for you.

Dave,
I'll PM you about comparing my LG unit. Thanks!!

Toeside,
You bring up a very good question about backing up dvds. I've been led to believe, like hall316, that if you leave out the extras and just go for video and audio, you're much more likely to get a dvd copy that looks just like the original. The first DVD X Copy program, which I have, is able to copy without any compression, but there aren't any selectable choices, so you get a straight copy, and it might take more than one disc to do it. I also have the Express version of this program, which has some options that you can select. And I have yet another dvd burning program that Bob brought over last week, that appears to have even more options to choose from. Sounds like I need to pick a movie and let these 3 programs shoot it out. I agree that if you are loosing quality in the copy procedure, it negates the upconversion benefits. Real world results: Bob made a widescreen dvd of Gloria's HDNet concert that he'd saved on his ReplayTV. We watched a copy of it that he'd burned at my house, and it looked great. Later, I ran this same copied dvd through the T165 and it looked fantastic...almost hd quality. Go figure.

hall316,
In my setup right now with a calibrated Benq PB6100 dlp pj, yes I do get a much better dvd picture by running my Pioneer player into the comonent inputs of my Sammy T165, and choosing 720p or 1080i as the output resolution. My pj confirms that it's receiving a higher resolution signal than 480p(the user menu shows the resolution of the incoming signal), so I know that the Sammy is doing something. This is funny, because when I ran this combo through my Pioneer 53" hd rptv, I was not impressed at all, and even saw motion artifacts. I can't explain it, but my dlp pj loves this combo. Maybe it depends on your display device.

There are many threads that have discussed component vs. dvi that will go into great detail about this. I think the bottom line is that it does in fact depend on your display device, and the quality of your sources. The dvi signal, being all digital until it reaches your pj or tv, tends to make less of an improvement on CRT display devices, where component may look better. Dvi tends to shine when you have a "fixed pixel"(or "fixed panel") device like a digital pj, plasma, lcd, dlp or DILA tv. Also, the best results happen when the sources can display the full video range of black to white, meaning that blacks don't get "crushed" or limited to the pc value of black =16 instead of the video standard of black =0. My Sammy HD931 dvd player, as stated before, crushes blacks, and I can see clearly now that the black levels aren't nearly as good as with my Pioneer dvd player.

Doug,

I'm new to HDTV (two weeks in now) and have noticed problems receiving KSDK-DT as well. One day the internal HDTV tuner will pick up 5-1 and the next day it won't (after a rescan). I have a decent RS UHF/VHF indoor antenna in my attic, and do receive the other OTA signals fairly well. Have you experimented at all, or know others who have, with antenna amps or attenuators to help pull their signal in any better in our situation?

I live only 12.6 miles from the KSDK-DT tower, according to AntennaWeb.org, but it's easily the most difficult station to acquire without fairly annoying pixelation and dropouts. Interestingly, KDNL-DT, the farthest from me, 13.4 miles, has the best reception.

I'd like to think through amplication OR attenuation I'll be able to do better, and am hoping I don't have to wait for the leaves to fall each year before I can watch NBC-HD.

Is there hope for us tree-dwellers?

GB

Thanks Jedi. I have been using Xcopy for my backups. It's not the latest before they shut down, but it's been pretty bug free. I've had no problems with and I'm glad I got it before all the changes. I'm going to try running my dvd player through the t165 tonight to see if I notice a difference in picture quality.

brumley,

I experimented with pre-amps and attenuators during the early days of OTA digital in San Francisco, but not here. In any event, I didn't have any luck with these "solutions" when I tried them. In the end, I had to go with a bigger antenna, and then ended up moving about 3 months later.

I hope someone else is getting some enjoyment from that antenna.

One thing that's not clear from your note: Are you saying that your problem can sometimes be rectified by doing a rescan? If so, I'd say that is probably an indication that the problem isn't a reception problem and probably points to a hardware problem. On the other hand, if there are times when you simply can't receive KSDK at all, rescan or not, then I'd say it's probably a reception issue.

One thing that might be worth trying is to swap out your VHF/UHF antenna for a UHF-only model. That should improve the ability of your antenna to lock onto weaker UHF signals, but there's no guarantee that it will make the difference between receiving and not receiving KSDK. In my own case, I have a UHF-only and sometimes it just will not lock in.

A closing thought: I think it's fairly certain that distance isn't the issue for you. To be too close, you'd have to be within a mile (and probably less) of the transmission tower.

In my opinion, the big issue with moving to DirecTV right now wouldn't be OTA issues. It would be the compression DirecTV is using on Showtime HD and HDnetMovies. Both of those channels look no better than a DVD right now. Ironic how these channels and HBO HD get crammed onto one transponder and compressed the same week DirecTV announces all these new satellite launches....

hall316,
What is your display device(tv, pj)? Will you be using dvi or component into the display? Also, how will you be going into the T165...component, svideo or composite? Oh yes, and your selected output resolution. I'm curious.

Doug,
I've now had success in scanning all available digital channels and sub-channels with all my hd boxes, except the Charter 6200. This box gave me the 2 digital versions for channels 5 during the Olympics on 785 and 786. Now, 786(or 5-2) no longer appears, even when you try to directly access it. I did have to go through the channel scanning procedure for the LG, Sammy, and Voom boxes in order to achieve this. I think I remembered reading that you wanted to know my results. QAM testing of my LG box is coming up.

jedi,

Thanks for the update on your multi-box scanning. You're probably going to need to schedule a day off the next time you need to do this. :cool:

Obviously the concept of a subchannel doesn't extend to cable (or satellite). Anyway, I'm puzzled why Charter carried the 5-2 subchannel during the Olympics, since they already had the local channel available on the analog side. Seems like a waste of time and effort, but maybe I'm missing something obvious.

Robert,

I noticed on HDNet that Odyssey 5 will be starting up again next week(all the old episodes, I guess). Hmmm, I wonder if you're thinking of making some widescreen dvds of that series??

Jedi,

I have a Toshiba 57" widescreen (57h81). I used component cables from the dvd player to the t165, then component cables from teh t165 to my tv. I had the back of the box on 1080i as my tv does not to 720p. First thing I noticed was the picture was not centered. When I went to adjust the picture size with my tv remote it would not let me. After looking at both the origianl dvd and back up of Miracle, I did not notice any difference when going through the t165. Am I don't something wrong? Actually when I hooked the dvd straight to the tv with the component cables, I almost think it looked a bit better and I was able to adjust the screen size to make the letterbox fill the screen like I normally do.

hall,

Your HDTV set locks into anamorphic mode whenever it receives an HD signal (1080i). This is why you don't have aspect ratio control when your DVD upconverts to 1080i. It's pretty common for HDTV sets to work this way, though newer sets generally allow some limited aspect ratio control with HD sources.

It's interesting to hear you say that you think that 480p looks better than 1080i. In my mind, it's a poor trade-off to go from a progressive to an interlaced format. The upscaling doesn't add resolution, it merely reformats the signal to higher scan rate. I don't believe there's any tangible benefit to scaling DVDs to 1080i on a rear-projection set.

I understand that I'm in the minority in this view and the sales trend for scaling DVD players certainly undercuts my position. Still, I don't buy into the "bigger numbers are better" school of thinking when the destination is an interlaced format.

hall316,
I'll have to admit that my experience was similar to yours when I tried to connect to my rptv through the T165(component in and out). The picture was actually better when I connected the dvd player straight into the tv. I was able to improve on the dvd player to tv picture by using an IScan line doubler. I went into it with svideo from my Pioneer dvd player, and it sent out an RGB signal to the tv. Looked awesome. Strangely, the IScan showed funny vertical lines in the picture when I tried to use it with my pj, so I don't use it now. It'll probably head back into the smaller theater room. Also, is your rptv a 3-gun crt unit, or is it digital(lcd, dlp...)? My rptv is a crt.

Because I got such bad results with the T165 on the rptv, I didn't even bother trying it with the pj, until recently. Imagine my surprise, to find out that the picture is killer with that combination. The jury is still out on whether upconversion looks better through my T165 or my new LC 3510A box. I'm also going to take the LC over to Dave_STLMO's and compare it with his Zenith 318 upscaling dvd player, and I'd like to see his Z2 pj as well.

3 gun crt I'm pretty sure.

Originally posted by jedi35
QAM testing of my LG box is coming up.

Hmmm ... Does charter really broadcast any QAM ?

I'm sure not getting any. Although I do not yet subscribe to any HD through Charter yet, I don't see how they would block a QAM channel if they were sending one.

I thought they might be sending HD as OCAP digital channels.

They all come up as 'not authorized' on my DCT-2000 except for HBO.

Actually, Dave, that's the whole point of my test... to find out of Charter is doing any QAM or not. I have no idea right now. It might make a difference if you are a hd subscriber, so maybe I might see different results than what you've gotten. I'm not real big on it, so it doesn't matter to me one way or the other if I get it or not. Mostly, I'm interested in providing info for you good people here.

Doug,
I have not been able to speculate as to why my Sammy T165 was able to recognize and pull in 5-2, but not 9-4. I didn't need to do a channel rescan to see 5-2. Any thoughts??

jedi,

I'm clueless. If anything, it would seem to make sense the other way around since you were already receiving subchannels on KETC.

Could it be there's more than one way for a broadcaster to set things up for a subchannel? Maybe one works with your Samsung and the other requires it to rescan in order to be recognized.

Maybe one of our broadcasters can offer an explanation.


hall,

Your set is definitely a CRT RPTV.

Hey Jedi,

Saw your note about Odyssey 5 coming back on HDnet and did a ReplayTV keyword search for it. The only episodes that came up for the next ten days will be on Showtime Too, in SD.

If episodes turn up on HDnet again, or on Showtime HD, then hell yes I'll be making DVD's again.... when I bought my first DVD burner in 2002 (a Pioneer 2X model for $400), Odyssey 5 episodes were among the very first discs I made.... in P&S from the SD Showtime, and the audio was a bit out of sync with the video because I was using an editing program that wasn't quite compatible with ReplayTV mpegs. Replacing them with widescreen copies that are actually in sync would be a good thing....

Thanks Bob,
I was hoping that would be your answer. I'd certainly be in for copies of widescreen dvds!!

Breaking news from the St. Louis Business Journal
Bellville resigns from Charter Communications

Margaret "Maggie" Bellville, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Charter Communications, is leaving the firm Sept. 30, the company said Friday.

Carl Vogel, president and chief executive, gave no reason for her resignation in a statement, but said the company appreciated her positive contributions over the past two years and respected her decision to depart the company.

It is the second upper-level executive to resign in two months. In August, Michael Huseby, chief financial officer announced his resignation effective Aug. 20, after eight months on the job. Huseby went to Bethpage, N.Y.-based Cablevision Systems Corp., where he is executive vice president and chief financial officer.

Before joining Charter in December 2002, Bellville was president and chief executive of Incanta Inc., a start-up company in Atlanta. She has also worked for Cox Communications, Century Communications and GTE Wireless/Contel Cellular Inc.

Mike Lovett, currently senior vice president, Midwest division operations, has been named executive vice president, operations and customer care. He will take over oversight of Charter's operational divisions and customer care.

Vogel said other responsibilities handled by Bellville will be taken over by other executives.

Following Huseby's resignation, the company named Derek Chang and Paul Martin interim co-chief financial officers.

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

I bet it was becuase she just found out her name was not on the "list" to get a moxi box.

Originally posted by jedi35
Doug,
I have not been able to speculate as to why my Sammy T165 was able to recognize and pull in 5-2, but not 9-4. I didn't need to do a channel rescan to see 5-2. Any thoughts??

No thoughts, but you're not the only one - my T165 is the same way. Haven't bothered to rescan yet, so I still don't have 9-4 (a huge loss, i'm sure ;))

The projector I've been waiting for is finally being released. The Panasonic AE700 has started showing up on websites, so I should have it in a couple of weeks!!!

It has component, HDMI and VGA connections. I plan to place my rack of equipment within 15ft of it, but would like to get longer cables in case I want to change things.

Anyone know the recommended max cable lengths of various media?

Jedi,
I'd be very interested in hearing your review on the LG 3510A regarding DVD upconversion. I will either replace my current Panasonic DVD player with one of the upconverting ones, or the 3510A, so I can also connect my HD3000 uisng DVI.

I had hoped to hold out for Cable Card support (even though I'm still with E*) for future options, but if that device can serve my purposes of a HD-PVR and Upconverting DVD player it might be worth getting.

Thanks

Dave

Originally posted by SilverLuz
No thoughts, but you're not the only one - my T165 is the same way. Haven't bothered to rescan yet, so I still don't have 9-4 (a huge loss, i'm sure ;))

Here's a possible shourtcut:

Works on the integrated tuner in my Samsing TV so it might be similar on the 165 ...

Tune to a channel already in memory, say 9-3. Open the channel add/delete dialog from the menu or the key on the remote. It will say something like "9-3 in memory --- press enter to delete". Hit the channel up key and it should tune 9-4 and display "9-4 not in memory --- press enter to add". Hit enter and exit and you're done.

I hate rescanning ... have to always go back and delete all the analog and low power home shopping or religous channels.

I'm not having too much luck with the Silver Sensor picking up OTA HD consistently. I have decided to spring for an OTA antenna in my attic and I'll welcome recommendations for a reliable STL company for purchase of the antenna and ito do thenstallation.

Thanks.

TDH

duihlein,
The 3510A ia not an HD-PVR. It is an OTA/QAM/upconverting dvd player. I'll be happy to post my results. I'm still testing, but so far it seems that I have later software than those who posted that some copy protected dvds did play ok through RGB and component. None of mine have so far, they only show as 480p through component. RGB shuts down totally. However, I did pop in a non CSS dvd and it did upconvert, and I saw a huge difference. There was much less video noise, the image held together better, and looked more filled in and solid. Still, there was a bit more sharpness in the 480p mode, but a little grainy compared to upconversion. The real test will be when I can check out what this unit looks like through dvi. In general, my copy protected dvds are looking quite good at just 480p...maybe even better than my Pioneer being upconverted by the Sammy T165. There is a very film-like canvas look to the LG image. I just think this is the best dvd player in my house, as they are not all created equal. More later.

davesalaman,
I wish I'd had your suggestion before I went throught the pain of rescanning. I had to reposition my antenna several times, and deleting the unwanted signals is always tiresome. Your method sounds neat.

According to the DirecTV Sunday Ticket schedule the week 3 Rams/Saints game on Sunday 9/26 will not be in HD on Fox. So once again St. Louis comes out on the loosing end: three weeks on Fox playing NFC teams and the Rams are only in HD once.

Is anyone getting audio stutters or dropouts during the cards game today? I was just watching some of the pregame and I'm getting audio drops on my Dish 811 and stuttering on my HiPix. I'll try disconnecting one of the boxes to see if that improves my signal, but it's hitting 80 right now.

If it is in the transmission I hope they fix the issues by Sun.

Originally posted by duihlein
Is anyone getting audio stutters or dropouts during the cards game today? I was just watching some of the pregame and I'm getting audio drops on my Dish 811 and stuttering on my HiPix. I'll try disconnecting one of the boxes to see if that improves my signal, but it's hitting 80 right now.

If it is in the transmission I hope they fix the issues by Sun.

Yup...I'm getting too. It's fine in SD over D*, but 2-1 OTA has significant audio problems.

Dean

Whew...

At first I thought it might be multipath issues. Looks like I may have to set up the radio for audio of the Rams game...

Dave

Originally posted by duihlein
Is anyone getting audio stutters or dropouts during the cards game today? I was just watching some of the pregame and I'm getting audio drops on my Dish 811 . . .

I am also getting audio drops but I am watching the game on Charter HD.

So, next week we dont get HD for the Rams game vs N.O. Does anyone know if next year the network will get that one more truck so we can get EVERY NFL game in HD? That be great since STL seems like the only city that is getting royally screwed on this...

BTW, I too was getting audio drops during the Cardinals game.

Originally posted by abcward
So, next week we dont get HD for the Rams game vs N.O. Does anyone know if next year the network will get that one more truck so we can get EVERY NFL game in HD? That be great since STL seems like the only city that is getting royally screwed on this...


To be honest we are one of the smaller NFC markets. But two out of three is bad.

Anyone else notice the extreme volume difference between CBS and FOX during the 12 o'clock games? Makes is kind of hard to flip between 2 different games. FOX's volume was low and CBS' seemed a little high.

Sorry I couldn't check. I was working til 3:00 and watched the Rams by HD Tivo when I got home. CBS game was already over. Game looked MUCH better this week than last week (no surprise there), though the game on ESPN right now still looks quite a bit sharper. And of course the Rams themselves sucked dishwater.

Originally posted by Kurt K
Anyone else notice the extreme volume difference between CBS and FOX during the 12 o'clock games? Makes is kind of hard to flip between 2 different games. FOX's volume was low and CBS' seemed a little high.

It was very annoying. The center channel volume was way too low. So, you had to turn the volume up way too high just to hear it. I did enjoy the rear channel sound. It was mostly fireworks (away game, fireworks = loss).

Calibration report:

I just wanted to give an unsolicited plug for Doug. I first contacted him over a year ago about getting my Mits 65809 calibrated, but I had to put it off for one reason or another. My major complaint has been most noticable during football season. The green of natural grass football fields has always looked brown to the point it looked like the grass was nearly dead; however, artificial turf never had that problem. Doug said it was likely a gray-scale issue, and could easily be corrected. He explained that the green intensity of artificial turf was able to overcome the problem, but natural grass couldn't. He was willing to come out yesterday (a Sunday) to do it so we set a 9:00am start time.

He spent about 6 hours getting the geometry and gray scale properly calibrated on all 3 inputs (480i, 480p, & 1080i). He showed me on his laptop how far off the gray-scale was, and that it resulted in a brownish tint to what should have been pure black & white. That confirmed his preliminary diagnosis on the grass issue. He then adjusted the color controls so that I no longer needed the red-push attenuators I had been using (I can sell them if anyone is interested, PM me). We then watched some HD material and a few DVD's to see the results, and I was impressed at the difference. I had recorded the LSU/Auburn game on my TIVO, and was able to use that as a reference. The grass was much greener, but unfortunately the result of the game was the same. :(

Bottom line - Because Doug was meticulous on the geometry and convergence getting it fine tuned to the point I would have gone cross-eyed, and he didn't mind explaining what he was doing as he went along, he didn't leave until around 5:30. My wife and I watched the Emmys last night, and even though it wasn't HD, the difference was apparent in the skin tones and vivid colors of the actresses' dresses, etc.

I am definitely glad I got it done and felt I got my money's worth.

Mike

Did Chevy buy an advertisment channel for the new "Vette" or what? I know it says interactive channel but what they are showing is straight from the VOD.

Has anyone made the weekly call yet to Charter to ask about the hd/dvr boxes?

I talked to them last night and was told they began instillations several days ago. I was also told they are going down the list calling people to set up appointments. Has anyone gotten the call? Can anyone confirm this information is true?

Originally posted by Scroft391
I talked to them last night and was told they began instillations several days ago. I was also told they are going down the list calling people to set up appointments. Has anyone gotten the call? Can anyone confirm this information is true?

I emailed my CSR contact, and he replied:

that could have been a possibility when the person called but we ran into issues with the billing system and it was stopped b4 it got started basically. If we were going down the list you would be an early one to get called due to the list came out on the 9 of July. Once i get some more info on it ill let yah know. I'm going to ask someone in that dept today.

If I hear anything else, I'll post it.

Ha, I'm talking to them now. They are telling me they still don't have them in. I swear, they must just tell people whatever they feel like when people call in. How hard is it to send out a little email or tell the csr's the correct info? Oh now here's a new one, I just talked to the Supervisor Shemiko and she just told me that the boxes are not ever HD enabled at the roll out.

The only reason I was going to sign up for Charter HD was because I couldn't get the signals over the air. It turns out, my t165 which I had never used was bad. Best Buy sent it off to get it fixed. A buddy let me borrow his HD tuner since he has Voom now and doesn't need it. I get everything except 2 and 4. I figured I just needed to mess with the antenna a bit. I have one of those ladders that fold up in four sections and it broke. Well until I can get up there, at least I can watch some stuff.

Shemika told me she would be calling me back in 30 minutes to confirm if in fact her information was correct in that they would not be HD enabled during the roll out. I honestly hope that she is wrong so that my point of having uninformed people working for them is that much stronger.

I'm now remembering why I hated Charter.

I was at Shneithorsts (sp?) at the corner of Lindbergh and Clayton hanging with all the pretty people and saw there was a great opportunity to see HDTV in the great outdoors.

We were driving north on Lindbergh last night and it was so nice we decided to stop someplace to have a drink outside. I was even happier when I saw that the projection screen that they have hanging behind the bar was showing the Cinci/Miami Sunday Night NFL game in full HD! I know Schneithorsts has all their TVs in the downstairs bar in HD but was so glad when I saw the projection screen upstairs and outside.

It was a bit bothersome when a breeze would come along and move the screen. Plus it looks like the lens has some specs on it. But wow did the Bengals uniforms look great.

The drinks and food are a bit pricey ($4.50 for a draft Bud) but if the weather is nice in two weeks it might be a good place to catch the Sunday night Rams/49ers game.

Slightly OT but...

Has anyone noticed how much HD programming there is this season? I was looking through my season passes on the HD TiVo last night. For this coming week, I have about 22 hours of HD scheduled. Here' are my HD Season passes:

L&O, L&O: SVU, L&O: CI
CSI, CSI:Miami, CSI:NY
Smallville, Gillmore Girls
2 1/2 Men, Everybody Loves Raymond
dr. vegas, clubhouse, Center of the Universe, Listen Up
Joey, ER, Father of the Pride, Rodney (is this really in HD?)
North Shore, Hawaii, LAX, Medical Investigation
Without a Trace, Joan of Arcadia,
8 Simple Rules, Crossing Jordan, American Dreams (actually forgot about this one).

That's 23 hours of HD in one week. Some of these will be cancelled, I'm sure. I probably won't continue watching Father of the Pride, and we didn't watch American Dreams much last season. Hawaii is good, but needs some refining. Medical Investigation...jury is still out on that show.

There are some conflicts with times, also. So unless I win the lottery so I can by a 2nd HD TiVo, I'll be forced to make some decisions--either not watch something, or watch it in SD.

Craig

Is anybody having problems with HDnet & Hdnet Movies on Charter, when I try to go to those to HD stations the current station just freezes and they don't come in the other HD channels work fine.

No problem last night (Bikini Destinations;). Haven't looked today.

Just spoke with Germaine....said all the bugs were worked out and that they started calling people on "the list" yesterday.

Anyone believe him....I'm skeptical.

Tim

call up Charter another 5 times right now - I bet you get five different stories...

Well I never got my call back from Shemika yesterday as promised so I called her today. I expressed my disappointment in her not calling me back, but she didn't seem to worried. She got her supervisor on the phone and I had to explain everything all over again. She apologized over and over for the csr's and supervisors not being intelligent and assured me that the only people who have these boxes are the beta testers and they have not called anyone on the list as of yet. I told her I bet I could call right back and get a different answer and she assured me that wouldn't have been the case. I should have just done a conference call with her so she could have witnessed herself how the csr's are just making stuff up. I then told her how the supervisor basically called me a liar about the box having a HD tuner in it and she said she will have a conversation with her regarding her attitude. I then asked for the head of CSR's name and number and they gave me two different people. One of the names I recognized from having to deal with Charter when I lived in the city. I can't decide if I should call them or just forget about giving charter any more of my money.

Has anyone purchased a HD OTA receiver either with Directv capabilities or w/o that you were able to pick up charter's HD channels through the box?

hall316,

This is the sort of thing that would cause me to jump ship. But, I can see why you are holding out--a ZERO out-of-pocket HD DVR sounds great on the wallet.

You have other options, though, besides the Charter Moxi and the HD TiVo. You could put together a PC with ATSC tuner and record HD that way. That's what I was going to do back in January, then I found out the HD TiVo was coming out. I figure I would have spent $500 or so on the PC, and we decided it would be better to get the TiVo and have something that just works.

Good luck dealing with Charter. If only every provider had an HD DVR, the providers would be forced to compete on every level: feature set, price, and customer service.

HOpefully that day will come.

Craig

They only reason I would go with Charter is for the local HD channels. With my borrowed OTA HD reciever, I am getting 5,11 and 30 really good. I watch mostly 2 and 4 which I am not getting at all. A quick jump over to antenna.org say that the 3 channels I am getting are all basically right next to eachother around the 180 degree mark. What is bad is that is basically right inbtween where I need to be to get either 2 or 4. I'm sure I could tweak the antenna one way or the other, but I would still be giving up one of the channels.

Originally posted by hall316
They only reason I would go with Charter is for the local HD channels. With my borrowed OTA HD reciever, I am getting 5,11 and 30 really good. I watch mostly 2 and 4 which I am not getting at all. A quick jump over to antenna.org say that the 3 channels I am getting are all basically right next to eachother around the 180 degree mark. What is bad is that is basically right inbtween where I need to be to get either 2 or 4. I'm sure I could tweak the antenna one way or the other, but I would still be giving up one of the channels.

I'd like to see that. What zip code should I use? I'm not doubting you, just curious.

KTVI-DT 2.1 FOX St. Louis MO 187°
KMOV-DT 4.1 CBS St. Louis MO 175°
KDNL-DT 30.1 ABC St. Louis MO 180°
*KPLR-DT 11.1 WB ST. LOUIS MO 179°
KSDK-DT 5.1 NBC St. Louis MO 180°
KETC-DT 9.1 PBS St. Louis MO 189°
WRBU-DT 47 SAH E. ST. Louis IL 196°

My zipcode is 63031

You will notice that 30,11, and 5 are right in the same place.
2 is 7° one way and 4 is 5° the other direction.

hall316,
My LG 3510A OTA box does have a QAM tuner for cable hd channels. My testing is yet to come, as I have a few other projects on the table right now. However, when I'm done I'll report back and tell everyone what, if anything, is coming through from Charter.

wilkemp,
I noticed the same problem with HDNet and HDNet movies later last night on Charter. I haven't checked it today, but I will later on.

Originally posted by hall316
KTVI-DT 2.1 FOX St. Louis MO 187°
KMOV-DT 4.1 CBS St. Louis MO 175°
KDNL-DT 30.1 ABC St. Louis MO 180°
*KPLR-DT 11.1 WB ST. LOUIS MO 179°
KSDK-DT 5.1 NBC St. Louis MO 180°
KETC-DT 9.1 PBS St. Louis MO 189°
WRBU-DT 47 SAH E. ST. Louis IL 196°

My zipcode is 63031

You will notice that 30,11, and 5 are right in the same place.
2 is 7° one way and 4 is 5° the other direction.

If you discount WRBU, but include KETC, then you are talking about a 14-degree swing. I'm no expert, but I'd say 14* is nothing.

In fact, I just checked mine again.

KTVI-DT 2.1 FOX St. Louis MO 131°
KMOV-DT 4.1 CBS St. Louis MO 126°
KDNL-DT 30.1 ABC St. Louis MO 121
KPLR-DT 11.1 WB ST. LOUIS MO 122°
KSDK-DT 5.1 NBC St. Louis MO 123°
WRBU-DT 47 SAH E. ST. Louis IL 156°
KETC-DT 9.1 PBS St. Louis MO 139
Including WRBU, I'm dealing with 35* swing, and I'm getting all channels with a Philips non-directional UHF/VHF/FM antenna sitting on top of my stereo cabinet. This is in O'Fallon, MO 63366.

If you are up to it, try a cheap, non-descript non-directional antenna and give it another try. I still laugh when I think of all the *tweaking* I did with the Silver Sensor to try to get all the channels.

Good luck!

Craig

I swear I was not getting anything on 2 or 4 the other day. Well tonight I stopped by and picked up an antenna to place on the tv thinking I could turn it a lot easier to see if I could even pick up 2 or 4. I got less channels on it than I was with the ChannelMaster on the roof(not surprised). I had decided that I would just keep the few channels I was receiving until I made a decision on Charter or not. Well when I hooked up the roof antenna again, I started getting every channel. They all come in just fine. The only weird thing is channel 2. 2-1 is coming up but there is nothing on it. It even says it has a good signal. It's running a steady 87 and peaking at 92 or so. I am getting Fox, but it's showing up on 43-3. I won't complain since I can actually get the channel now, just thought it was weird that nothing is coming over 2-1.

The reciever I am using is a free Panasonic ota HD receiver a buddy of mine got when he purchased his tv. It's real small but does the job. I think I will just keep using this until my t165 gets back from the Doctor.

I did see an open box Sony DirecTV HD receiver at Circuit City tonight. Price was $200. I figured I could talk them down more on the price, but decided to just wait. I may go back and pick it up if I can talk them down anymore. I think it was a Sony HD200 but I'm not sure. Is this model any good?

From today's SKYReport E-News:

McCain Eyes Public Safety Spectrum, DTV Transition

As expected, Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican and chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, introduced on Tuesday the "SAVE LIVES" Act that aims to assign more spectrum for public safety and emergency uses as well as addressing the ongoing transition to digital TV.

The digital TV mandate in the legislation, as explained by McCain, would establish and fund a program to subsidize equipment to ensure that no consumer television set goes "dark" due to public safety use of television spectrum. The bill also has a provision that would mandate the labeling of all analog television sets to better prepare consumers for the digital TV transition, and support a consumer education program tied to digital TV.

The bill also aims to set a date for the allocation of spectrum to public safety agencies, specifically 24 MHz of spectrum in the 700 MHz band that Congress promised public safety agencies in 1997. "This is a promise Congress has yet to deliver to our nation's first responders. Now is the time for Congressional action before another national emergency or crisis takes place," McCain said.

The senator added, "Just providing spectrum to public safety is not enough. Without funds to purchase new equipment, this spectrum may sit fallow after being vacated by the broadcasters. This would be an unfair result to broadcasters, public safety organizations and American citizens."

When I went home yesterday Hdnet & Movies was working again must have been some glitch. Last nite I hooked up my Zenith OTA tuner, wanted to watch My Wife & Kids in Hd since Jordan was making an appearance, as usual the stutter problem was still there not as bad as before but still there. Also I did not think the picture quality was as good as Charter on CBS, NBC, or Fox. It pains me to say that but very true everything seemed a bit grainy.

I was reading the latest Widescreen Review (October 2004) this morning and noticed an item (p. 19) detailing the WB network's HD plans for the fall-winter television season.

Included in the WB's HD schedule is a November airing of the movie, "Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring."

WSR notes that the LOTR movie broadcast will include Dolby Digital 5.1 sound and that 5.1 will be the rule on future WB HD broadcasts from that point forward.

Ya, trying to watch ABC last night was watching a vcr tape with a little kid playing with the remote the whole time.

I just went back to the SD broadcast, perhaps before I die Charter will get ABC added, with my luck it will be the day after I die.

Originally posted by wilkemp
I just went back to the SD broadcast, perhaps before I die Charter will get ABC added, with my luck it will be the day after I die.

I wouldn't count on it. There's a thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=444257) over in the HD programming forum where a Sinclair insider (MisterDTV) is posting. According to one poster's local cable company:

I'm disappointed to tell you, Sinclair Broadcasting has taken a hard line stance to date concerning access to their digital signal. They have not signed a deal anywhere in the country to date. Negotiations are being handled by their corporate office and local officials are not involved. They will shortly start running commercials that "over the air" digital reception is the way to go (ignoring the fact that over 90% of present HD sets don't include a digital tuner). Their present demands foreshadow a difficult retransmission consent process in the future. We will continue trying.

This doesn't bode well for any imminent retransmission agreement between Sinclair and Charter.

Doug,

That's great news about WB stepping up to 5.1 sound in November. That means Smallville in 5.1, I hope. Actually, HDNet is showing ads for Smallville coming up in October for its programming lineup, but I'll bet they are old episodes.

wilkemp,
Yes, I was glad to see that both those channels came back too. I got a little glitch with not being able to see the entire menu bar at first, but after checking the service menu settings and powering up the box again, things got corrected ok.

Has hell frozen over??


Charter just called me [from their list] and will be installing my Moxi box tomorrow a.m.

HOLY SH............

Just spoke with a csr in the internet department. After being on hold for quite a while, was told they are starting the callbacks in west county. In about a week they would start in St. Charles.

HOLY, HOLY, SH**...........NOW THE WAITING REALLY BEGINS

Then what was the point of a waiting list if they are going to go by areas, which means the City will be last as usual.

Originally posted by wilkemp
Then what was the point of a waiting list if they are going to go by areas, which means the City will be last as usual.

Charter must not be a member of Metropolis. :(

I just looked at the July thread, and I called and was put on the "list" the same day as abcward. If its truly first come, first serve, then I guess I should expect a call any minute!!:rolleyes:

GlendaleHDTV -

Do you live in West Country? read:

Originally posted by tcfila
Just spoke with a csr in the internet department. After being on hold for quite a while, was told they are starting the callbacks in west county. In about a week they would start in St. Charles.

Originally posted by abcward
GlendaleHDTV -

Do you live in West Country? read:

I'm in the Kirkwood/Webster/Glendale area (not sure if they consider that west county) and I did see tcfila's post, but if they're just going down the list, it shouldn't matter where you are right? Somehow I doubt they are just going down the list. In reality, a geographic approach would probably make the most sense from their perspective. I'll be anxious to hear your comments on the box.

Wow they call you today and can actually schedule the install for tomorrow morning? I had two different suprevisors tell me yesterday they were no where close to being able to roll these out. I can't wait to see read your thougts on the moxi. The pq is what I am most interested in.

Just got off the phone with them. They are rolling these out in small sections. I live in Florissant and they are scheduled to call my area next week. AS of right now, I think she said there was only one area that they were calling back right now.

You guys will be the first people I share my thoughts with.

Any questions you guys want answered tomorrow?

Originally posted by abcward
Has hell frozen over??


Charter just called me [from their list] and will be installing my Moxi box tomorrow a.m.

Wow, they called me today too. They wanted to install it tomorrow morning (Thu), but I couldn't be here. So, they are comming on Friday morning. I guess Wildwood is in the "lucky zone".

pq is what I am most interested in. That's what I've seen most people complain about.

I would like to post a warning about a local company in the nonHD/TV business to warn people off. I don't want to do this without the consent of the people in this forum. We are allowed to bash charter,D*,E*, but I don't want to cross a line. The reason I'd like to post this here is, it's about the only online community with a St. Louis-centric membership. The company does home improvements and has bilked a lot of people out of a lot of money.
If you guys would prefer, I won't post it. I'll wait until Friday at 9:00pm for any answers.
This is more of a public service type thing, not slander a company type thing. We've been promised work since April, and a refund since June, so, I'll leave it to you.
Sorry for being off topic.
On topic,
congrats to the people with the patience to wait for the Charter DVR.
Dug

Mr. Bester,

Bring it on. I would love to know who not to business with.

Tim

Well guys, CSI:NY is gonna have a real hard time beating out LOST for best new show of the season in my book.

LOST is the new show from J.J. Abrams, the guy that does ALIAS (one of my favorite shows). It's on 30-1 at 7PM Wednesdays. Story will follow a group of plane crash survivors on a desert island. Before you start making Gilligan's Island jokes, this show is anything BUT a comedy. Some of the deaths at the beginning were pretty grisly and there's some kind of gigantic CREATURE on the island.

The HD shots of the island are fantastic and the sound, even though KDNL still doesn't pass ABC's 5.1 channel surround yet, manages to give the system a real workout anyway.

I've already moved this show to the top (highest priority) of my HD Tivo Season Pass list.

Don't miss it next week!

Originally posted by hall316
Just got off the phone with them. They are rolling these out in small sections. I live in Florissant and they are scheduled to call my area next week. AS of right now, I think she said there was only one area that they were calling back right now.

Today is our wedding anniversary so we went to dinner. When I got home there was a message from Charter wanting to install the new Moxi box. Man I hope they didn't pass over my name because I was not home when they called. I live in south county right off butler hill road almost in Arnold.

Bob,

Thanks for the heads up about LOST. I'll check it out(I'll have to record it on dvhs since I'm not usually home then).

Hats off to KPLR. I remember that recording Smallville in HD last season was a pain since my Sammy T165 looks at the timer posted on that channel to get its timer going, and KPLR's was always off. I had to compensate by entering different start and stop times than the 8-9pm settings. Tonight, I noticed that their clock is correct, so Smallville taped with no problems when set for its regular time slot. Groovy.

Did anyone tape it in HD format (MyHD, HiPix, D-VHS, etc...) or do you know if it will be re-aired since it's a pilot episode?

Thanks.

Originally posted by Robert Simandl
Well guys, CSI:NY is gonna have a real hard time beating out LOST for best new show of the season in my book.

Don't miss it next week!

Lost is a two part pilot and both parts are scheduled to
air back to back on Saturday October 2.

It's a two-parter? I guess that explains why they didn't show the tail-falling-off sequence that was in the commercials. That sequence must be in part 2.

I just off the phone with Marty the supervisor responsible for the installation of the new charter DVR box. He told me that the billing system is corrupt and they will not be installing boxes until that is fixed. He said that he hopes to have it fixed by this afternoon. If it does get fixed they could start installation tomorrow and Saturday. If not the installation will not take place until next week. He says the boxes are fine it is just their billing system.

The following is from SkyREPORT E-News:

The Senate Commerce Committee approved legislation that would help push the digital TV transition forward, but a proposal providing a solid deadline for the analog/digital TV transition was scrapped by lawmakers during a hearing on the bill Wednesday.

Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican and chair of the Commerce Committee, wanted the deadline, which would have required broadcasters to go all digital in 2009. The legislation passed by the committee did include provisions for setting aside spectrum for public safety/emergency uses as well as language pertaining to subsidies for a device consumers can use to obtain digital TV signals.

Broadcasters, who have been carefully watching developments concerning set deadlines for the digital TV transition, praised the committee's passage of the watered-down bill.

Edward Fritts, president of the National Association of Broadcasters, said the panel vote "balances the legitimate needs of public safety providers while limiting the disruption of local television service to millions of consumers."

So, how many different stories are we going to get? abcward are you still going to get your box today? This area thing seems to be bogus also since they have contacted Wildwood and area near Arnold.

Originally posted by StLouG
I just off the phone with Marty the supervisor responsible for the installation of the new charter DVR box. He told me that the billing system is corrupt and they will not be installing boxes until that is fixed. He said that he hopes to have it fixed by this afternoon. If it does get fixed they could start installation tomorrow and Saturday. If not the installation will not take place until next week. He says the boxes are fine it is just their billing system.

They have NOT called me with this new information. My appt today is between 8am-Noon. If they are changing that, I better get a call.

I'll keep you all posted.

Originally posted by wilkemp
So, how many different stories are we going to get?

Good question. The over/under is somewhere north of 10 :)

Here's the email I got when I inquired yesterday:

I CHECK WITH THE DEPARTMENT AND WHAT I WAS TOLD WAS WE STILL HAVEN'T LAUNCHED IT YET. THE INFORMATION THAT IS ON THE FORUMS IS INCORRECT SRY. I WILL EMAIL YOU ASAP WHEN I RECEIVE THAT IT IS LAUNCHED.

Below is a more complete story on the Digital TV bill, from Wired News.

The real relevant point here, not highlighted in the SkyREPORT story, is that the original bill drafted by Sen. McCain included $1 billion in assistance to the poor for the purchase of digital-to-analog converters, while simultaneously requiring that broadcasters belly up to a "hard deadline" of 2009 for completion of the digital transition and return of the "extra spectrum" they've been given to facilitate the transition.

In removing the hard deadline, Congress has done a classic end-run -- "helping the poor" by spending a billion bucks, while kissing ass with a favored broadcast lobby.
___________________________

Broadcasters Gut Digital TV Bill

By Michael Grebb
02:00 AM Sep. 23, 2004 PT

WASHINGTON -- Two words.

That was all it took to gut a bill introduced Tuesday by Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) to force broadcasters to give back all of their beachfront analog TV spectrum by Jan. 1, 2009. The government would then give some of the spectrum to emergency workers and sell off the rest to telecommunications companies planning broadband wireless services.

The Spectrum Availability for Emergency-Response and Law-Enforcement to Improve Vital Emergency Services Act -- or the Save Lives Act -- also would have provided a $1 billion subsidy to help those without cable, satellite or digital TV tuners pay for equipment that would enable them to go digital.

In a markup of the bill in the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday, Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Montana), along with Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings (D-South Carolina), successfully put forth an amendment erasing the 2009 deadline favored by McCain. It also would require the broadcasters to give up just four 6-MHz channel slots in the UHF band (TV channels 63, 64, 68 and 69).

___________________________

Here's a link to the full Wired story:

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,65056,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_5

ABCWARD, it's 11:30 where is your report :)

he's here now fellas....brb once he's gone.

If the billing system is still corrupt does that mean the abcward can enjoy free PPV, inquiring minds would like to know. I've said it once and I'll say it again, Charter is a strange bird.

Just got another email from my CSR contact:

WE DID START YESTERDAY WE ARE NOW DOING A SOFT LAUNCH, WE ARE CALLING ABOUT 120 PEOPLE A DAY WE HAVE A TOTAL OF 2300 ON THE LIST, WHICH SOME ARE DUPLICATES, WE HAVE NOT BEEN GIVEN THE OPTION TO SET UP INSTALLS UNTIL LIST IS COMPLETE. IM HAVING THEM CHECK TO SEE WHERE U ARE ON THE LIST AS SOON AS IM AM TOLD YOU WILL BE NOTIFIED YOU MIGHT EVEN RECEIVE A CALL B4 IM NOTIFIED.

GOOD NEWS:

The Moxi is in and working. The CSR had some issues getting all of my channels to show up, but all is well now.


BAD NEWS:

I gotta run out for a bit and wont be able to test this toy out for an hour or two. No suicides while I'm out, ok?


*** Charter's gonna get bombarded with 'service' calls on this one. These boxes are much more detailed than the normal Charter user will be used to. Glad i'm not a csr.


Back in a bit

Bruce

2300 Names, well I know my name is on there twice so that makes it 2299.

Originally posted by abcward
GOOD NEWS:

The Moxi is in and working. The CSR had some issues getting all of my channels to show up, but all is well now.

Bruce

OK now this is not right. All of us are getting told different things from these Charter guys. I wish somebody would get their stuff together and just be honest. By the way I am glad that one of us got the box.

Let's make it 2298 since I'm on there twice as well. Let's just hope the "duplicate" entry they delete is the entry from my call in late August instead of the entry from my call in early July.

Based on my limited math skills and with help of the ole' trusty calculator it would take 19 days to call everyone on the list & if they cannot set up install dates until the list is complete the earliest we would see our box is Monday Oct 11th. Now the only reason I could see as to why they would not be able to set up install dates is to see if they have enough Moxi's on hand, which means they don't have enough boxes for the 22xx on the list.

That's my theory an I'm sticking with it.

Or they wanted to make sure that everyone on the list has a chance to receive one before they open it up to the floor to start setting up installations.


Mark

Then why go thru the list to verify interest from people who called them specifically to get on the waiting list, then call back to set up install dates, 'cause as the email states their computers don't give the option to set up times. Efficiency

I am curious to see how many of us have actually been called about these boxes? It looks like about four or five of us have actually been contacted. Are there any others?

ok, some VERY initial comments:

1) The installer was here 2 hours ago and I still do not have an updated channel list. Only the "to be announced" garbage. I may need to call back in on that before the afternoon is up.

2) On Screen Menus and Remote are something that will need to grow on me. Pretty confusing right now, but I can chalk part of that up to user unfamiliarity.

3) Some of the buttons/commands are not working how they are supposed to be. Example- "jump" button is supposed to return you to the last previously watched channel. It doesnt. Nothing totally important, but still, some things are not cooperating so far.

4) PQ looks pretty good from where I stand. I have recorded 10 min's here or there, both SD and HD, and each looks like exact mirrors of that specific show shown live.

Again, I think currently I am hampered by not having an updated channel guide. Without it I cannot really much with the DVR function.

I'll keep ya posted once I do more.

Bruce

I know that my current HD box can take a few hours for the channel guide to fill in. I called Charter a little while ago and was told that I should be called in the next day or two. She tells me that they are going down the list by order received. I originally called sometime in July.

Mookie11 was that based on her actually looking at the list or something she just threw out?

ABCward, is the SD picture quality equal to what we have now with our current boxes? Are the interactive channels available with the box?

I agree sometimes it does take quite awhile for the guide to come back but 2hrs seems a bit long without some of the guide coming back.

So, LOST will re-air its season opener on the same night that Smallville begins on HDNet. Oh well, HDNet does a lot of repeating, so I'm sure I'll catch it later on.

I just placed a call to a Charter crs, and was quite surprised about the honesty of her answers. She confirmed that installations had begun for some people, and that she didn't have anyway of telling where I was on the list, so she just added me again just to be sure. I asked whether they would have enough boxes for the 2300 on ther list. She checked with her surpervisor, who said that when they run out of boxes, they will be able to get them right back in, unlike the slower rollout of the hd boxes. I was so glad that she didn't make up anything or try to feed me a different story than what we know already.

She actually looked at the list. I tried to short circuit the process and set up the appointment with her but she said that it is a different group that is calling everyone.

yes the sd channels on the moxi vs on any other box. Just looking at them live and not recorded. That is what I had read was not that great. There seem to be a lot of pq lost expecially on the sd channels. Maybe they have fixed it.

Another issue I have is setting the current Video Mode. With the HD box I had previously I could set it up so I could change the screen size via the TV remote. Currently, I cannot seem to get that same setting with this Moxi box. If I set it to 1080i everything including SD is stretched. Any ideas?

Moxyguy on a different thread stated that they are going to have this set as a pass through in a future software release.

Mark

Originally posted by abcward
Another issue I have is setting the current Video Mode. With the HD box I had previously I could set it up so I could change the screen size via the TV remote. Currently, I cannot seem to get that same setting with this Moxi box. If I set it to 1080i everything including SD is stretched. Any ideas?

Here's the quote from that other thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=412846&perpage=20&pagenumber=3) :

We don't prevent you from watching in the original aspect ratio, but you may have to manually swtich resolutions to do so.

Examples: You can set the output of BMC9012 to any of the following resolutions: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i. In 1080i mode, we present 1080i signals in whatever aspect ratio they are transmitted. If the program source is 4:3 with pillars on the sides, that's what you'll see. If the source is stretched, that's what you'll see. If it's native 16:9, that's what you'll see.

Here's where the complexity sets in: In 1080i mode, signals in lower resolutions are currently upscaled to 1080i and stretched to 16:9.

At home, when I tune to a 4:3 program that's transmitted in 480i, what I do is manually change output resolution from 1080i to 480i. This restores the 4:3 aspect ratio.

What we plan do in a future release is to eliminate the need to switch output resolution manually. You check off all the resolutions your display is capable of handling, and, provided the display can handle the incoming resolution, that's what we'll output. If not, we'll scale it for you.

In that coming release, we'll present original aspect ratio and screen resolution automatically.

From that point on, it's up to you and your TV to make choices about stretching, cropping, letterboxing, etc.

Thanks GlendaleHDTV,

I would have post that, but right now I am at work (Blah) and didnt have time to research and post.


Mark

...still no listing in the Channel Guide of my Moxi.

I called Charter and talked to a csr. She admitted this was all totally new to them...we were there first Moxi call. She took our number and is having some technician call us. We'll keep ya posted...

Congrats to those of you that have received your Moxi box. Please tell me that there are no longer any ads that populate 1/3 of my screen when i look at the guide. That's worth 10 bucks all by itself.

no ads at all...

I was told when they called to set up my appointment to install the moxi that VOD will not work. I said that it doesn't work most of the time anyway, so I didn't care. But, that may be related to the billing corruption issue which was mentioned.

abcward: does VOD work for you?

Originally posted by abcward
no ads at all...

Hallelujah!:D

VOD is not working, but I was also warned like you beforehand. I do assume that it WILL work sometime in the future...is that what others think too?

There were some recent queries here about the availabilty of online HD programming guides.

HDTV Magazine has been beta testing its version of an online HD guide for the past few weeks. It appears that there will be both basic and premium guides, so if you're interested in having a look at the current version of the guide, it can be found here:

http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/programming/guide.php

Note that you'll need to register in order to customize the channel listings.

Thanks for that link Doug.

I called Charter yesterday to inquire about the DVR boxes and the CSR I spoke to told me I wasn't on the list. Rather annoying since I called them sometime in July and was told I was put on the list. Anyway, she added me to it and said there wouldn't be a shortage of boxes and I had nothing to worry about. We'll see how that goes. I'm nearly at my wit's end with Charter considering it took them 4 trips out here over the span of 5 weeks before I got cable run to the upstairs room of my house where my HDTV is located. If I didn't hate DSL I might have ditched them for satellite already....

For anyone that got the call that wasn't home....On the message did they say to call back a specific number or just the usual one?

Tim

Doug,

Did you get my PM?

Tim

Tim,

I got your message and have a response in the works.

I should be able to get back to you later today.

Just got off the phone with Marty. He is telling me that they found out about the corrupt billing system when they started to install the Moxi boxes. No more boxes will be installed they have the problem corrected. He would not tell me what exactly what the problem was but he said something about a back end code. I reached him at the regular number.

Wonderful, explains why many of us are not receiving the phone call.

Has anyone noticed how the movie and show descriptions have gotten better on Charter?

Previously when you hit the "INFO" button you would at best get a very short description that only fit in one or two of the text box. But now the descriptions are more detailed with more info about the cast.

For example "Star Trek: Nemesis" would say something like "(2002) **: Enterprise crew battles aliens." But now it says something more like "(2002) **:Capt Picard (Patrick Stewart), Data (Brent Spinner) and the rest of the Next Generation crew are dispatched to the Romulan homeworld after a coup and find numerous surprises. Great special effects but the story is lacking."

Dave Beebe

Has anyone noticed how the movie and show descriptions have gotten better on Charter?

I am not sure that is just Charter... I have two D* boxes. One is an old Sony, and the other is a new LSS-3200 HD box. For the same program, I will get the old description on the Sony, and the New one on the LG box... go figger?!?

Best
Dave

Doug,

Thanks for the link on the HD programming.
I've been looking for something like this.

Originally posted by StLouG
Just got off the phone with Marty. He is telling me that they found out about the corrupt billing system when they started to install the Moxi boxes. No more boxes will be installed they have the problem corrected. He would not tell me what exactly what the problem was but he said something about a back end code. I reached him at the regular number.

Darn it, I just hit the wrong button after typing a long reply. I'm not going to do it agian, so here is the short version:

I got my Moxi 3 hours ago and the installer was going to South County to do more.

SD quality is really bad, RF output didn't help much and you have to manually switch it to 480i before you get any RF out.

Guide info is still not available and record doesn't work presumably because of this (pause works).

I didn't get a remote control code book to make it control my TV and receiver, so I'll have to find that on the net later.

abcward: How long did it take for the guide info to show up? I assume you have the same SD quality issues.

bl7385,

I STILL do not have the guide. I will be calling Charter...again...in a few minutes about this issue.

Yea, SD quality isnt great thats for sure. But right now, I just want the guide so I can try out some recording.

So are they installing boxes for people who had install appointments before the found out about the problem? Has anbody gotten a call today?

SD channels are already horrible and basically unwatchable throught the HD box we already have--are you saying the SD quality through MOXI is even worse?

Sienfeld on WTBS is the only SD program/channel I ever watch.

I just spoke to my wife and she says "oh yeah, Charter called on Wednesday about hooking up a PVR." Aargh! Maybe it was for the best since they are all messed up. Now I am on hold waiting for someone to tell me whether they are going to keep installing or not.....

Still on hold.....

I will reply as soon as I get in touch with someone. The regular csr's tell me that they are not the ones with the information on the new boxes.

Since abcward still didn't have guide info, I reset my Moxi (hold the power button for 5 seconds). But, it still doesn't show anything after several minutes.

The codes for the remote control can be found in the user manual at http://broadband.motorola.com/noflash/customer_docs/user_guides/506820-001.pdf

However, it seems that it can only control your TV OR your receiver, not both. And, the power button won't work with my discrete on/off Denon reciever.

I had to change the audio settings as they were not set to Dolby Digital. When I did that, it can't play any sound effects when you press buttons. Not a big deal, I guess.

abcward: If you find out anything on the guide data situation, please post.

How big is the Moxi box, smaller or larger than the motorola?

Originally posted by wilkemp
How big is the Moxi box, smaller or larger than the motorola?

Pretty much the same demensions but is a little taller and has a pretty quite fan in the back. See pictures and info at http://broadband.motorola.com/noflash/bmc.html

I actually find my Moxi to be much louder than my previous Motorola HDTV box...

Originally posted by abcward
I actually find my Moxi to be much louder than my previous Motorola HDTV box...

Oh, I agree. I didn't say that very well. I was trying to point out the difference and I don't even recall knowing there was a fan in the regular HD box. Anyway, it's relatively quite compared to things like my XBox or a PC fan.

UPDATE -

Talked with Charter's Moxi beta-testers today to try and fix my Channel Listing issue. Still no resolution yet.

Has anyone run into any Moxi threads that might have some information?

Originally posted by abcward
UPDATE -

Talked with Charter's Moxi beta-testers today to try and fix my Channel Listing issue. Still no resolution yet.

Has anyone run into any Moxi threads that might have some information?

I just got my channel guide info to work! I talked to a CSR and she was surprisingly well informed. They said they saw the problem, but later said that my box would not accept the codes and that I would have to wait for Marty to get back on Monday. After I hung up, I tried to reset the box by unplugging it this time. When it rebooted, I left it on the zoomed screen it came up with (turned off my TV) for about 20 minutes. When I checked it, all the channel guide info was there!

I hope this helps others, but I'm not sure it will.

Now if we can get the SD quality problem fixed... I guess I'll have to review the other Moxi threads to see what conclusion they came up with. Does anyone know?

sounds like you talked to the same girl as I did. I am currently waiting until Marty gets back to work...maybe Monday...before I hear back from them. I will try what you did and see what happens. Thanks

Bruce

Originally posted by bl7385
Now if we can get the SD quality problem fixed... I guess I'll have to review the other Moxi threads to see what conclusion they came up with. Does anyone know?

Consensus is that it is an issue with the analog to digital conversion (I'm assuming when you say SD you are referring to the analog channels 1-99 and not the non-HD digital channels 100 - 769) and is not specific to Moxi. Standalone Tivo units have this same issue (not the D* Tivo units since D* is all digital).

The problem is that the Moxi has to convert the analog signal to digital so that it can be recorded to the hard drive, before sending it to your display. The only solution I've seen proposed would be for Moxi to bypass the hard drive, which would remove any pause/rewind functionality (or at least delay it). There is a post in the August thread which discusses it.

I got up this morning to watch Nothing But Trailers on HDNet at 10am, but discovered that bicycle racing was still on, with Pool due to come on at 10:30. Does this happen a lot on HDNet? Or is this just a Charter guide error?

Originally posted by jedi35
I got up this morning to watch Nothing But Trailers on HDNet at 10am, but discovered that bicycle racing was still on, with Pool due to come on at 10:30. Does this happen a lot on HDNet? Or is this just a Charter guide error?

I have seen this from time to time as well.

Scott

Well, it turned out that Nothing But Trailers came on at 11am, an hour later. I could have stayed in bed longer.....

Has this STL forum been hijacked by Charter Subs?

I was watching the Wisconsin/Penn State on ESPN-HD and the game kept "pausing". Did anyone else see this?

I was watching with my HD-Tivo. I changed the channel to Bravo-HD and have no stuttering or pausing..

Does anyone have contact information for KMOV? They aren't showing the Chargers-Broncos game in HD.

fireshoes,

Do you know for a fact that the Chargers-Broncos is actually originated in HD? CBS doesn't have the capacity to produce every game in HD, so it's possible that this game isn't in HD anywhere.

Also, I checked the CBS Sports web site (http://www.sportsline.com/cbssports) and they are showing only the Giants-Browns game as being available in HD. Of course, there's no guarantee that this information is completely correct.

The second half is in HD now. Thanks!

Originally posted by GlendaleHDTV
Consensus is that it is an issue with the analog to digital conversion (I'm assuming when you say SD you are referring to the analog channels 1-99 and not the non-HD digital channels 100 - 769) and is not specific to Moxi. Standalone Tivo units have this same issue (not the D* Tivo units since D* is all digital).

The problem is that the Moxi has to convert the analog signal to digital so that it can be recorded to the hard drive, before sending it to your display. The only solution I've seen proposed would be for Moxi to bypass the hard drive, which would remove any pause/rewind functionality (or at least delay it). There is a post in the August thread which discusses it.

Yes, I'm sorry, it's the analog channels. I looked back at the posts in August again and SD picture quality was how it was stated, but you're right, it's just analog and that makes sense. I guess I've only seen a Tivo (et al) on a smaller TV, so I may not have noticed it.

It was also said that:
3. 480i passthrough fix coming in the next couple of months.
4. It is thought that changing the way 480i is passed through will improve SD picture quality.

I'm crossing my fingers that it will really be improved by, say, Thanksgiving. Although, I'm not sure, given this discussion, whether I will like the "fix".

Doug,
Maybe I'm late on this, but there is a second Fox 2 logo on 2-1 that I just saw. Does this have anything to do with the recent upgrade to hd capability?

I went back and saw only 1 vote. It was to give the company name that I was having trouble with.
So,
Do Not Do Business With Woodsmill Construction.

Going back to April(for my neighbor) and May(for me). We signed contracts for siding, soffits and fascia with half down (which seems standard). No work has been done, and they won't return our money. In our investigations, there are about 15 other people in the same situation as us. 4 have gotten their money back, 11 have not. This company seems to do this in the West County area. I know for sure the Manchester Police are involved. We are getting the St. Louis Co. Police involved (we are unincorporated).

The owner of the company, who has promised on several occasions that we'd get our money "tomorrow" lives in a 1+ million dollar house and owns several companies, and claims they always have to "finish one more job" before they will have the money to pay us.

Luckily, we aren't out as much money as some of the other people (one lady had her gutters ripped off before the batch of storms in June, and they still haven't done any work there. Her basement has flooded since).

Hopefully this will keep a few people from getting taken by this company.

Thanks for letting me vent, and hopefully warn people.
Dug

I'm not going to wade through all the Charter banter in this thread, but does anybody remember this from July? I've never seen the guy on here again, and he promised to keep us up to date.

With UPN doing 7 shows in HD, it is time for WRBU to step to the plate, provide HD programming, and up their transmission power (I don't know if it is atmospheric conditions or testing or what but I have been able to occassionally get the signal on my HD Tivo). The other posts from STLBCSTENG implied they were waiting on content from UPN, well they have delivered in spades.

Can anybody be so kind as to repost any updates on the situation at WRBU? I hope they find out UPN is providing all this content sooner than they found out UPN actually had HD content at all.

Originally posted by STLBCSTENG
In respnose to Scroft391's post on 7/20 here is the reply sent to him from WRBU.


Scott,

Thank you for your reply and concern. Even though Enterprise and Jake 2.0 were shot in HD the network did not feed and is not planning on feeding HD signals to the affiliates. The majority of UPN affiliates do not house the facilities necessary to carry High Definition signals thus impacting UPN's decision. Please remember that UPN is a sister network to CBS both are owned by Viacom. Viacom is sinking all its development dollars for HD technology into the CBS facilities and not the UPN network. Should Viacom invest monies into UPN for HD upgrades WRBU will rethink its position on this matter. The master control facility at WRBU was built in 2003 as one of only two 100% digital facilities in St. Louis thus allowing easy upgrades to HD technology when adequate programming is available. (The other 100% digital station is KETC 9) UPN only provides us with 2hrs of programming per night the remaining 22hrs are syndicated programs purchased by WRBU. CBS affiliates receive 18hrs of programming from the network and the rest is filled with local news and a few syndicated programs. Given these numbers one can easily see why Viacom has neglected to upgrade the UPN network to HD.

Thanks for watching the U!





WRBU UPN-46

A Roberts Broadcasting Company

Moxi Update:

I talked with Marty from Charter who finally fixed my channel list issue with the Moxi box. Now I can start scheduling recordings and check out the quality of those recordings.

We did discuss the SD video quality and screen size issues. He said all of those problems would be addressed with future updates, so at least they know of the problems and are working towards resolutions.

If anyone wants to know any further details on the Moxi, please contact me.

[looks like a very fun toy to start messing with though!!]

Bruce

turls,

I remember this discussion as the guy was previously misinformed or uninformed about what his own network was doing in HD.

He indicated that he was going to update us, but that was the last we've heard from him.

I still think we were better off when UPN was piggybacked on top of the WB network via KPLR. Even if things hadn't changed and KPLR wasn't passing through UPN HD content, at least the signal would be widely available to anyone interested in UPN programming.

But a lot has changed since his initial posts on the matter, and I'd like to see their feet held to the fire, so to speak, if this really was what was holding them back and this was reallly the company line.

I don't think there would be enough hours in the day for KPLR to adequately handle the amount of programming UPN has now anyway.

And I have little trouble receiving the analog signal (and of course they are on DirecTV), so just receiving it isn't really an issue, IMO.

Thanks Doug.

I've been using the DirecTV HD Tivo for a few weeks now and wondered if anyone else here locally is seeing what I am seeing. It looks like, in particular, the local upconvert of KTVI 2-1, and KPLR 11-1 have terrible audio synch problems, with the picture trailing sometimes by what looks like a half second at times. When the HD feed comes from Fox or WB respectively, they work fine. If a local spot is aired during a break from network programming, the audio synch problems reappear, then clear up once they rejoin the network.

Normally I'd just chalk this up to a bad job of upconversion, except that my Samsung non-DVR receiver seems to handle these local signals without audio synch problems. I suppose there could be some strange issue in the decoding process....? Anyone else with the DirecTV HD Tivo see this same effect?

-Craig

Originally posted by Craig Kennedy
I've been using the DirecTV HD Tivo for a few weeks now and wondered if anyone else here locally is seeing what I am seeing. It looks like, in particular, the local upconvert of KTVI 2-1, and KPLR 11-1 have terrible audio synch problems, with the picture trailing sometimes by what looks like a half second at times. When the HD feed comes from Fox or WB respectively, they work fine. If a local spot is aired during a break from network programming, the audio synch problems reappear, then clear up once they rejoin the network.

Normally I'd just chalk this up to a bad job of upconversion, except that my Samsung non-DVR receiver seems to handle these local signals without audio synch problems. I suppose there could be some strange issue in the decoding process....? Anyone else with the DirecTV HD Tivo see this same effect?

-Craig

I noticed this problem with the referee mikes in yesterday's Rams game.

Originally posted by jedi35
Doug,
Maybe I'm late on this, but there is a second Fox 2 logo on 2-1 that I just saw. Does this have anything to do with the recent upgrade to hd capability?

Yes, The splicer technology allows the local Fox Affiliate to insert their bug, previously they couldn't put their bug on the screen during Fox Widescreen programming.

Originally posted by Craig Kennedy
I've been using the DirecTV HD Tivo for a few weeks now and wondered if anyone else here locally is seeing what I am seeing. It looks like, in particular, the local upconvert of KTVI 2-1, and KPLR 11-1 have terrible audio synch problems, with the picture trailing sometimes by what looks like a half second at times. When the HD feed comes from Fox or WB respectively, they work fine. If a local spot is aired during a break from network programming, the audio synch problems reappear, then clear up once they rejoin the network.

Normally I'd just chalk this up to a bad job of upconversion, except that my Samsung non-DVR receiver seems to handle these local signals without audio synch problems. I suppose there could be some strange issue in the decoding process....? Anyone else with the DirecTV HD Tivo see this same effect?

-Craig

Occassionaly I notice it with Channel 2, I really don't watch channel 11 much. I am still having issues with ESPN kind of freezing/pausing during some shows. I was watching the Monday Night Primetime show and it kept doing it.

Originally posted by wmschultz
Occasionally I notice it with Channel 2, I really don't watch channel 11 much. I am still having issues with ESPN kind of freezing/pausing during some shows. I was watching the Monday Night Primetime show and it kept doing it.

Are you using a satellite receiver? I've been having freezing issues and I spoke with my provider yesterday about the problem. They are sending out a new tuner via UPS. Mine looks as though it is a very slow slide show. It is only on the HD and if I change the channel, then go back to the channel I was watching, it corrects itself.

No problem with ESPN-HD on Sunday Night Football for me the other night. Looked great.

Originally posted by ferl
Are you using a satellite receiver? I've been having freezing issues and I spoke with my provider yesterday about the problem. They are sending out a new tuner via UPS. Mine looks as though it is a very slow slide show. It is only on the HD and if I change the channel, then go back to the channel I was watching, it corrects itself.


Yep, I have DirecTV using a HD-Tivo.

Turls,

I was the one who instigated the whole thing with WRBU. The general impression I was left with was that this forum educated the individual at WRBU about HD programing and what options the station has. I got the feeling upgrading to HD was possible. If you are interested, the person I contacted was Michael Drainer. His e-mail address is michaeld@roberts-companies.com. Maybe a few e-mails from people expressing their opinion on WRBU's lack of HDTV might have an affect.

I just got a call to have the moxi installed at my house. I would have been the first in my area. I would have basically been the only one in my area to have one, but they can't install in on a Saturday and I can't take off right now. They said by next week, they would have a bigger staff and be able to do some Saturday installs.

Originally posted by hall316
I just got a call to have the moxi installed at my house. I would have been the first in my area. I would have basically been the only one in my area to have one, but they can't install in on a Saturday and I can't take off right now. They said by next week, they would have a bigger staff and be able to do some Saturday installs.

You will really enjoy the Moxi once it is properly installed and all the bugs are worked out. Mine is purring like a kitten and is so much fun to fiddle with.

Let's see, has anyone figured out if Charter is actually going by areas or are they literally going down the list one by one for Moxi installs? If they are in fact going by areas(which does make more sense logistically), then I'm hoping that I'm not too far off, since Fergusen is close to Florissant.

It is my understanding that they are going down the list and not going geographically. I live in South County and actually got the call last Wednesday and am having it installed this Thursday.

Originally posted by jedi35
Let's see, has anyone figured out if Charter is actually going by areas or are they literally going down the list one by one for Moxi installs? If they are in fact going by areas(which does make more sense logistically), then I'm hoping that I'm not too far off, since Fergusen is close to Florissant.

No one but the omnipotent "list master" knows what they are doing. I know I put my name on the list on July 12th, and I haven't heard anything yet.

No word either, I think I got my name on the list around the middle of July also.

Just got the call from Charter. Installation set for Friday.

Is anyone asking the Charter reps about possible new HD channel additions?

ha, they can't even tell anyone the correct info on the moxi boxes and you think they would actually know about new HD Channels? haha

sad but true charter reps dont know anything but how to answer the phone (most of the time)

I thought perhaps that these Charter reps who were calling people on the "list" about DVR's, and/or the DVR installers, were a step above the normal CSR in regard to what they know about HD at Charter.

Anyway--it looks as if Charter has added ESPN NEWS to their sports tier. Its not HD, of course.

I was wathing I think Rescue me last night and there was an advertisement for some game on Fox Sports net and it clearly said it was being broadcasted in HD. I wish I would have been recording it to see what it said. Actually, I can't even remember if it was during Rescue me or not, but it was for some sports event on Fox Sports in HD.

It might be fun (or at least amusing in a sardonic way) for ten of us to call Charter and ask whichever customer service rep answers the phone what channels Charter currently provides as part of the HD package.

Not future HD offerings, but what's available in the Charter HD package today.

I'd wager the accuracy rate would be no better than 50%, which to be fair would be significantly better than random chance.

Of course, I suggest this only in the interest of science... :)

Originally posted by oby
I thought perhaps that these Charter reps who were calling people on the "list"...

Actually, I think the same guy is calling everybody ("Marty"). I know he's the one who called me, and several others in this thread have spoken to him. I got the impression he's not a CSR, but is actually just in charge of the PVR installs.

Anyone else having problems with the OTA feed of ABC 30-1 in St. Louis? It has been pretty much unwatchable lately - jittery and out of synch. I tried to watch lost in HD and it was a no go, so I had to go back to SD :(
Aynone else?

Originally posted by DroptheRemote
It might be fun (or at least amusing in a sardonic way) for ten of us to call Charter and ask whichever customer service rep answers the phone what channels Charter currently provides as part of the HD package.

Not future HD offerings, but what's available in the Charter HD package today.

I'd wager the accuracy rate would be no better than 50%, which to be fair would be significantly better than random chance.

Of course, I suggest this only in the interest of science... :)

They said NBC CBS FOX HBO SHO HDNET HDMOVIES ESPN

Kinda suprising...

on that note....

The guy who did my Moxi install, who seemed very knowledgable, thought DISC-HD was one of our choices. I had to enlighten him.

Marty was who called me. Told me about how he had been testing it for 3 years. Not this version, but different ones. Seemed to know everything about it and was really nice.

Does anyone have a call back number for Marty? Or, could someone who gets called soon remember to ask him for it? It would be nice for those of us who aren't sure where we are on the list to contact him, since he would probably have some idea as to when we might be called. Thanks.

He will be adding more people to his crew next week. I think he is the only one doing the installs right now. I know that when he called me, it showed up as a blocked caller id on my cell.

I have completed my DIY 106" Screen and am awaiting the delivery of my Panasonic AE700. I'm no. 35 on the list. I hope to have it by the middle of October. I have already got a long (25') Component Video cable, now I'm looking for a good price on a 15-25' DVI cable.

Jedi,
Soon I will be looking to add an upconverting DVD player. I saw your comments on the LG 3510, and if they would have included firewire ports, that would be the box I would get. How would you rate the various upconverting DVD players you've seen.

Thanks

My install is sitting in a brown box at home! I finally broke down and got the HDTivo. Was delivered today and I'll be installing first thing after class tonight! :)

Chris

LOST on 30-1 presented no problems for my HD Tivo. I also recorded it from my HTL-HD to my ReplayTV in the interest of making a DVD from it. No problem there, either.

duihlein,

I would really love to hear more information on your DIY screen and your projector. Those 2 items are the next 2 on my wish list.

Could you email me and we could discuss further? abcward@yahoo.com

Thanks!!!

duihlein,
Here are the upconverting dvd players that I know about. There may be others, but none of them have firewire outputs. Even if they did, the ports would not be active for dvd outputs, but only for a digital OTA tuner if available.

Sammy HD931
--my first upconverting player. Mine has a later firmware that has all the bug fixes for jerky picture, skipping, remote control unresponsiveness, etc.). I have not been able to view the upconverted picture as I have no dvi-HDCP enabled display device. I will be testing this in the near future. I may consider selling this one if you're interested, since the LG unit seems a bit better, atleast on the 480p output. It has Faroudja deinterlacing through dvi.

LG3510A
-- seems like a wonderful box. Earleir units did upconvert some copy-protected CSS dvds through component and RGB, but I think the later firmware I have fixed that. I will test dvi output soon(HDCP compliance needed), and will compare it to the Sammy and the Zenith 318. The Zenith unit will upconvert through component as well as dvi. The LG box will upconvert through component and RGB if you are willing to make a backup copy of a dvd. I have seen some upconverted homemade dvds and svcds, and they look good, but I've yet to see a premium dvd movie upconverted. That's coming up. I'm having trouble getting the movie Lost In Space backed up. The LG is cited as having one of the best OTA tuners out there. I would have to agree.

Bravo D1, D2
-- I've never seen these units. My understanding that these are perhaps the most versatile of the upconverting players, as they hav various and custom settings(resolutions, refresh rates), and a company that is willing to work with the customers on getting the results they want. The units tend to be a bit quirky, so reliability may be an issue. These units will not upconvert through component under any circumstances. Excellent picture through dvi. I also think that these boxes do not require HDCP compliance, atleast not the earlier ones.

Mommitsu V880
--upconverts through dvi and component. I believe this unit has some degree of flexibility in terms of resolutions, settings and refresh rates. Excellent picture quality. I may eventually wind up with this unit or the Zenith 318. HDCP compliance not needed.

Pioneer is coming out with a unit for about $599 MSRP. I don't know the model number, but it should upconvert through dvi, not component. It should have DVD-audio and SACD capability too. I'll take a closer look at this one. HDCP compliance needed, I think.

Sammy HD841, HD941
--these are updates to the 931. They still upconvert through dvi-HDCP/HDMI only. The 841 is more streamlined than the 931, without so many annoying bright blue lights. The 941 throws in DVD-audio and SACD playback as well, along with better build quality. Faroudja processing on the 941, maybe both through the dvi output.

If anyone knows that some of this info is inaccurate, please feel free to correct me.

Starting the new St. Louis OTA discussion for October...and here's a link to the last message from September:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4435725#post4435725

The October discussion begins here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4435791#post4435791

St.Louis Tower Maps

For anyone doing the initial install of an OTA antenna, or anyone looking to fine-tune the positioning of their existing antenna, the attached ZIP file contains two maps showing the tower location for each digital station in St. Louis.

Your Right to Erect an Antenna and/or Satellite Dish

As more and more consumers purchase high-definition displays, there's increasing interest in arranging for receipt of HD programming via an over-the-air antenna or through a satellite dish.

Unfortunately with the proliferation of cable television in the 1980s and 1990s, many communities, property developers and homeowner/condo owner associations tried to undo the visual blight of antennas (and later, satellite dishes) from their local skylines. While these laws, rules or convenants were well-intended -- after all, it would be difficult to argue for the cosmetic benefits of a yagi antenna -- these actions are not legally enforceable.

The FCC has ruled -- with only a few very narrow exceptions -- that you have the right to receive over-the-air television and radio broadcasts and as a result you have a right to erect an antenna to receive these signals. This ruling also encompasses the erection of small satellite dishes.

Even if you have previously signed a lease or homeower association convenant that requires you to forego the right to erect an antenna or satellite dishes, the FCC has ruled that these types of provisions are unenforceable.

In general, there are only a few notable exceptions to this rule:

* First, the location of the antenna or dish must be an "exclusive use" area. As a homeowner or condominium owner, this would mean any part of the property over which you have control. For renters, this would also apply to balconies or patios that are intended solely for your use. The sort of rental property area that would not be covered would be general use areas, such as common passageways or rooftop areas that are clearly intended for the shared use of all residents.

* Second, the antenna or dish cannot be erected in areas that would create a legitimate safety issue, for example one that is dangling off a balcony or placed too close to electrical wiring.

* Third, there may be restrictions if you are located in a designated historical (or prehistorical) district, in which case a permit may be required.

The other major limitation is that these devices cannot exceed 1 meter (39.37 inches) in diameter.

The burden of proof in contesting your right to mount a dish and/or antenna rests with the landlord, homeowner association, city council, etc. Strictly speaking, you do not need to seek prior permission or provide prior notice, so long as the device is to be situated in an area under your control and there is no obvious safety issue.

However, before taking on the expense and effort of such an installation, you should read and review in its entirety the following summary of the FCC ruling on consumer rights to mount over-the-air devices:

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html

More Information about Antennas and DTV

The Consumer Electronics Association antenna mapping program at AntennaWeb.org can help you determine the proper antenna to use, based on your own location and the distance from the local digital broadcast towers.

http://antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx

Feedback to St. Louis Stations

Is there something that you're unhappy about concerning the digital broadcasts by local St. Louis stations?

Weird-looking presentation of standard-definition programming? Multiple channel bugs cluttering up those beautiful images? Somebody at the station forgot to "flip the switch" before or during the middle of your favorite HD program?

Or better yet, maybe you'd just like to send your thanks and encouragement to your favorite local station for the effort they've made so far in providing us with more and better HD programming. The cost and effort in providing digital and HD programming is significant, and it's important for the station owners and management to know that we're watching.

Well, here's the place where you can find the online addresses where you can send your comments and feedback.

KTVI Channel 2 contact:
ktvitech@fox2ktvi.com

KMOV Channel 4 contact:
programs@kmov.com
WNichol@kmov.com

KSDK Channel 5 contact:
jheskett@ksdk.gannett.com
kcreamer@ksdk.gannett.com

KETC Channel 9 contact:
letters@ketc.org

KPLR Channel 11 contact:
whatson@wb11tv.com
technical@wb11tv.com

KDNL Channel 30 contact:
jwright@kdnl.sbgnet.com

WRBU Channel 46 contact:
[no email, no web site, no HD programming]

* There are two ways to receive local digital/HD broadcasts in the St. Louis area. The first, and by far simplest, is to subscribe to Charter Cable. Unfortunately, Charter doesn't currently provide all of the available St. Louis digital stations. To date, Charter is only offering KTVI-DT (FOX), KMOV-DT (CBS) and KSDK-DT (NBC).

Until Charter is able to deliver a complete line-up of local digital/HD stations (or if you've already selected satellite for your subscription television service), you'll need some sort of antenna -- either indoor, attic or roof mount.


* Forget most of what you know about receiving traditional analog television via an antenna, as digital broadcasting is for the most part a different animal.

The first and most important thing to know is that digital signals, once received, tend to be highly stable. The sort of artifacts that you may recall about pre-cable antenna reception of local stations isn't all that relevant to digital reception. For example, in the digital realm there's no visual equivalent to the analog artifacts known as "snow," or "ghosting."

And in most cases, a digital signal won't slowly fade in and out as was sometimes the case in fringe analog reception areas. For the most part, with digital broadcasts you either receive the signal and have a near-perfect picture and sound, or you won't get anything at all.

In addition, barring significant topographical or architectural obstacles between your location and the transmission towers, digital signals appear to be more robust in terms of distance they can travel without degradation. While it's the exception rather than the rule, there are instances where digital OTA signals have been received as far as 120 miles from the tower.

So, just because you may have had difficulty with OTA analog signals in the past at your location, that doesn't necessarily mean you won't be able to receive digital OTA signals.


* All of the current St. Louis digital/HD stations are currently broadcasting in the UHF spectrum. The UHF channel assignments for local stations appears below:

26 - KPLR (WB)
31 - KDNL (ABC)
35 - KSDK (NBC)
39 - KETC (PBS)
43 - KTVI (FOX)
47 - WRBU (UPN)
56 - KMOV (CBS)

Today, all St. Louis stations are "simulcasting," with the traditional analog broadcasts via one frequency and the digital/HD broadcasts through another. For example, KMOV sends its analog broadcasts out as VHF channel 4 and then simulataneously sends its digital broadcasts as UHF channel 56.

As the transition to digital broadcasting progresses, there will come a time when the analog broadcasts will be discontinued and stations will only be transmitting digitally. While this switch from analog to digital was originally scheduled to take place in 2006, it's almost certain that the analog shutdown will be deferred for at least a few years.

But when that analog shutdown does occur, it's possible that one or more local stations will decide to shift their digital broadcasts to their longtime analog channel designations. As a purely hypothetical example, after shutting down its analog broadcasts, KMOV might opt to move its digital transmission to VHF channel 4.


* While the signals for digital/HD broadcasts are made up of binary data (zeros and ones), from a viewer perspective, there's nothing special about the antenna required to receive those broadcasts. As noted above, the actual transmission takes place over the UHF spectrum. That means that if you already have an old UHF-capable antenna on your rooftop or in your attic, there's a good chance that it will receive some, and possibly all, of the available local digital broadcasts. The only way to conclusively determine if that older antenna will carry you into the digital age is to test it.

However, it is possible that in order to maximize signal integrity you might need to upgrade the cable run from an existing antenna to your distribution point(s), especially if the antenna uses the flimsy ribbon-type cable connection. If you need to replace the cable for an existing antenna, RG-6 quad-shield coax is recommended. A 1,000-foot roll of RG-6 quad coax can be purchased for around $75, though it is possible to buy smaller quantities at a higher per-foot cost.


* If you're starting from scratch and need to purchase an antenna, there is some merit in selecting a UHF-only antenna. While a combo VHF-UHF antenna would likely work in many situations, a UHF-only antenna will normally give better, more reliable results. If you do have an existing antenna and it isn't capable of pulling in all of the stations in the area, there's a good chance that swapping out for a UHF-only antenna would result in better reception.

Of course, the downside in opting for a UHF-only antenna is that if any of the local stations subsequently decide to shift their digital broadcasts to their old analog channel assignment, a VHF antenna might be required to continue receiving those stations.


* Without officially endorsing one antenna over another, here are some suggestions that should work for most viewers within a 45-mile radius of the St. Louis transmission towers.

But first, bear in mind that antenna reception is one part art and one part science. What works in one location might not work across the street due to topographical or physical obstacles in the signal path at that second location. But that sort of anomaly is rare, and antenna reception is normally achievable with some reasonable effort and determination. But it is important to understand that there are no certainties and the only way to find out what can be received with an antenna in a given location is to test one yourself or arrange for one to be installed by a proven installer.

For outdoor or attic antennae, ChannelMaster sells at least two UHF-only models that you should consider -- the CM4221 (retail approximately $30 -- tax not included), which is a 4-bay rated for 45 miles, and the CM4228 (retail $50), which is an 8-bay rated for 60 miles. Winegard has the Prostar 1000 model PR-4400 rated for 45 miles, and the PR-8800 rated for 60 miles. Radio Shack also sells a UHF-only antenna (catalog # 15-2160, $30 retail) that is worth considering.

As a general suggestion, avoid antennas that appear to be working overtime to not look like an antenna. While it's true that traditional antennae are unattractive and a lot of people consider them to be eyesores to be avoided at all cost, the newer streamlined, aerodynamic antennae seem to compromise reception capability in exchange for a more friendly appearance.

For indoor antennas, there are many options here as well, but the current performance leader is the Zenith Silver Sensor (ZHDTV1), which is available at most local Best Buy stores at a cost of around $40. The excellent performance of the Silver Sensor is probably in part due to the fact that Zenith actually designed the technology responsible for the transmission of OTA digital/HD signals, known as 8VSB.

Again, there's no reliable way to predict if an indoor antenna will work in your location, short of buying one and testing it. The good news here is that most of the major retailers have reasonable return policies, so it's unlikely that you'll be out major bucks if it turns out that an indoor antenna isn't up to the job in your home.

I've updated the pricing information on the ChannelMaster antennas noted in the message above, based on a conversation yesterday with local distributor Skywalker Communications.

Some posters here reported last month that the prices paid at Skywalker were significantly higher than what had been quoted here previously, and this appears to be due to the fact that the prices I had quoted in the past were wholesale, rather than retail, prices.

I spoke with Patrick at Skywalker yesterday, and he confirmed that while their fundamental focus is wholesale, they will sell direct to customers at retail prices. If you're in the market for an antenna and you're thinking of buying it through Skywalker, I'd suggest you call them first (636 272-8025) to check availability and current prices beforehand.

From today's SkyREPORT E-News:

DirecTV Works with Nielsen on DVR Data

Nielsen Media Research said Thursday that DirecTV agreed to join a panel of 10,000 TiVo homes it's measuring to gauge the impact of time shifting on viewing behavior.

DirecTV customers with TiVo service can choose to "opt-in" to the panel and be included as part of the sample. Scott Brown, senior vice president of strategic relations, marketing and technology for Nielsen Media Research, said with DirecTV aboard the company will strengthen its ability to provide detailed and reliable viewing information from within the TiVo panel.

DirecTV also is excited about working with Nielsen. "Our more than 1 million DVR customers are passionate about their DVR service and participating in the Nielsen panel will help us better understand how viewers use DVRs so DirecTV can provide even more compelling services and robust features in the future," said Eric Shanks, senior vice president, advanced services and content at DirecTV.

For more SkyREPORT news, visit the web site here:

http://www.skyreport.com

Could anyone give me some quick advice on HDTV Projectors? I am in the market for one but would prefer to keep the pricing around $1k if possible. Any suggestions/comments/insight would be greatly appreciated.

abc,

I think your best bet is to head over to www.projectorcentral.com. Lots of reviews, a flexible search engine and most projector information pages include a calculator that helps you quickly determine optimal screen size, throw distance, etc.

Jedi,
Thanks for the reviews. I guess I should have specified the only reason I wanted firewire on the 351 was to archive HD, I do not want/need firewire on the DVD player. My AE700 has HDMI inputs so I will be using DVI for the connection. I should have a DVI-HDMI cable before the projector arrives.

abcward,
I've been doing lot's of research. The Infocus 4805 lists for 1500. It gets a lot of great reviews. Also the X1.

Check the Digital Projectors Under $3500 for more.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=68

Dave

I didn't realize there was so much discussing going on in here about the Charter PVR. I called yesterday to see where mine was, since a month ago, they told me they would be getting them within a week. The guy yesterday sounded like he was tired of talking about it, and now I see why.

If you see anyone with a box walking around St. Peters, send 'em my way.

oj

abcward,
The projector forum here at AVS is one of the best for info along with projector central for specs. I have the Sanyo plv Z1(16x9) and love it.

abcward,
I have the X1 and have watched many MUCH more expensive projectors both before I bought and after, and I am very happy at the price/performance ratio of the X1.

For those interested...

Had the moxi installed today, have played around with it a little bit and have some quick observations:

- Installation was smooth, guide data was up immediately.
- User interface is good, but will take a little getting used to since I'm used to Tivo.
- Menu performance better than I expected after reading some comments here. Does stall/speedup on occassion, but nothing too bad.
- PQ on analog channels was better than what I expected based on comments here. Channel 5 was terrible (but who cares since its simulcast on 785). Other analog channels I looked at are at least as good or better than they are through my stand alone Tivo series 2. This is my baseline for picture quality, since its been stated previously that the moxi and tivo standalone units have the same analog to digital conversion issues and related PQ problems. Don't get me wrong, the analong channels are not as good as they were on the old box, but they aren't as bad as I was expecting.

Overall, I'm happy with the unit, although I am the first to admit that my standards may not be as high as others.:D

abcward,
Ofcourse, I need to put in a plug in for my Benq PB 6100 dlp pj. I saw a Sharp Z12(the big $10K one!!) a few days ago, and since I've been tweaking my Benq in the service menu, there's no way that I see $9,000 worth of difference between the 2 pjs. My pj retails for under a grand. Although the 6100 scales hd to 800 x 600, it still retains a lot of the resolution of the original signal, due to great processing, and I don't really notice that something is missing. Later on, I will move up to an XGA dlp with a faster color wheel for fewer rainbows(mine has a 3x wheel), and dvi\hdmi so that I can take advantage of the 6 or 7 boxes I have that do dvi. Yikes!! Also, the Benq has a wonder 3 year warranty, unike most of the others out there, and it has a first year Hotswap if anything goes wrong. It's a long throw pj, which means it works best if you have a longer room and want to position the pj behind the seating area. You can read all about it here on avs.

Glendale , you had yours installed today? I was told just 15 minutes ago that they re not installing yet in the st Louis area because of some malfunctions. I have been a big supporter of charter. I changer from Dish after 7 years with them . Now I'm starting to wonder if charter will ever get their act together. It pains me to say that. I have a friend in upper management with charter and I have always been able to get my answers from him. I just hate bothering him to find something out that the CSR should know. ok I feel a little better now.

Just wait until Charter starts simulcasting all channels in a Digital Format. Dont disregard this so easily since Charter is already doing this in their Long Beach System.

Mark

Originally posted by Joe Smith
Glendale , you had yours installed today? I was told just 15 minutes ago that they re not installing yet in the st Louis area because of some malfunctions. I have been a big supporter of charter. I changer from Dish after 7 years with them . Now I'm starting to wonder if charter will ever get their act together. It pains me to say that. I have a friend in upper management with charter and I have always been able to get my answers from him. I just hate bothering him to find something out that the CSR should no. OK I feel a little better now.


I was suppose to have my installation today. I was told that they would get here as close to 5:00PM as possible, since I was driving a distance to get home. I got home at 4:00PM only to have a work order sticking out of my door stating that they were there at 3:30PM and left at 3:45PM. I called Charter at first only to be told that I had to rescheduled and the CSR was not helpful at all. I called a second time and this time the CSR was very helpful and pleasant. She went out of her way to find the supervisor. Long story short my next appointment is set for Tuesday hopefully sometime after 3:00PM.

This is just like when I had my HD box installed. It took them two tries to get it right. First time tech. just didn't show up. Second time they ran out of boxes.

I just might be switching companies.