All,

As of Today, Charter has started to allow 1 Bill for all three services, or a combination of the three: Telephone, Cable TV and/or High Speed Internet. New customers will automatically be billed for all three, or a combination of the three, on one bill.

Existing customers can call customer support to have the bills combined on to one bill.

Since this started today, not all representative may know of this information.

You can PM me if you have any questions.

Later

Mark

I experience audio and video interference issues with my Moxi Mate. With a composite video connection on the Moxi Mate, I see faint horizontal lines, especially during scenes with a dark background. The overall picture is good, but just looks unstable with these lines. You have to look closely to see these lines, but it's definitely added interference, not visible with a good composite connection. Also, I hear an interrmitent humming noise on the Mate, especially on DVD playback. Are these problems all Moxi Mate users observe, or is my Mate defective. If these are known problems, does anyone know when or if a fix expected.

Thanks,
Andrew

I have the exact same problem.

Lost recorded in spanish today! anyone else have this problem with Charters Moxi? Customer Service said they new about it, but did not have any fix for it.

Thanks,
Chad

Lost recorded in spanish today! anyone else have this problem with Charters Moxi? Customer Service said they new about it, but did not have any fix for it.

Thanks,
Chad


Espanol? Si. Muy pissed. Made sure I hadn't screwed up the SAP settings in Cardinals R.I.P. rage.
ABC has been running Lost rerun on Saturday night -- but of course NOT this week.
Anyone watch Lost live? Was it broadcast that way or is this a Charter/Moxi screwup?

barry

Andrew and tcfila,
It sounds like you both might be having ground loop problems, or maybe Charter didn't ground your lines well enough. I've had success with eliminating ground loops by screwing in one of those barrel groud loop isolators(from Radio Shack) into my main cable feed before it goes into anything else. There is also a version of this that can be attached to your audio RCA cables, but I don't trust it. You might also try lifting the ground at the outlet your electronics are plugged into. Ideally, you'd want all electronics going into the same outlet, with proper grounding at a single point. Since the Mate will most likely be in another room, this may not be practical. Get one of those 3 prong to 2 prong adapters, and see if that makes a difference. I don't know if you'd need to do this in both rooms or not, but try it.

Quick question. - Has anyone found a single remote that can control all of your A/V components? (TV, DVR, DVD, VCR, CD player, receiver, and dare I say ceiling fan?)

I have a Phillips Pronto. (The original TS 1000) There's a bit of a learning curve on the software, but once you get it down, it's not difficult and very powerful. The wife loves it because all she has to do is press one button and everything comes on.

I've not personally used a Harmony remote, but have heard good things about them.

Outstanding place for info is: http://www.remotecentral.com they have reviews of remotes and a TON of remote codes and templates to get you started on almost any remote system. The 'clicker picker' page will help you to figure out which remote is right for you.

http://www.remotecentral.com/features/clicker.htm

Lost was in English in HD OTA.

Despite what I said yesterday, I don't think technology is THAT hard.

Lost was in English in HD OTA.

Despite what I said yesterday, I don't think technology is THAT hard.

The biggest problem is that most people just don't pay attention to what they are doing.

Foundation Estimates Cost of Subsidizing Digital Transition

The following analysis appears in today's SkyReport satellite industry newsletter.
_______________________________________________

BRIDGE: How Much for the DTV Transition?

How much could it cost to subsidize the switch from analog TV to digital TV?

This week's BRIDGE, focusing on regulatory and legislative issues facing lawmakers, has data from the New America Foundation that suggests the cost of providing one $50 DTV converter box to nearly 44 million households (including 28 million cable and satellite TV subscribers) could cost $2.2 billion.

Providing that same converter box to all off-air TV sets in all U.S. households could cost as much as $3.6 billion, the organization says.

If the government subsidizes a DTV converter box program for the digital TV transition, it would take out a chunk of the $10 billion expected to be generated from an auction of any unencumbered spectrum. Nonetheless, the foundation told a Senate hearing during the summer "the cost represents merely a fraction of the revenue that TV band auctions will raise if, and only if, bidders are confident the deadline for clearing those channels will not again be delayed."

Today, the Senate Commerce Committee will mark up legislation concerning the digital TV transition, and the proposed bill is expected to contain a DTV converter box program, funding for which could amount to as much as $3 billion, Sen. Ted Stevens said Wednesday.

The Senate draft also proposes to make the switch from analog to digital TV in April 2009.
_______________________________________________

For more satellite and cable industry news, go to www.skyreport.com.

I got mine for $299 with a $100 rebate- you have to call customer retention to get the deal and I think it's only for existing customers.

Check out the tivo community threads for more info on current deals for new customers.

Did this - good call $200 for the HD Tivo with a 2 year commitment. Also got 6 months of $5 off the HD package and 6 months of showtime free.

I have a Phillips Pronto. (The original TS 1000) There's a bit of a learning curve on the software, but once you get it down, it's not difficult and very powerful. The wife loves it because all she has to do is press one button and everything comes on.

I've not personally used a Harmony remote, but have heard good things about them.

Outstanding place for info is: http://www.remotecentral.com they have reviews of remotes and a TON of remote codes and templates to get you started on almost any remote system. The 'clicker picker' page will help you to figure out which remote is right for you.

http://www.remotecentral.com/features/clicker.htm

I've got a TSU500 Neo remote, and I like it a lot, but like you said, the software has a pretty big curve on it, but it's awesome for OCD tweakers. :) My biggest gripe about the TSU500 is the lack of hard buttons, so I grabbed a Harmony 676 off eBay last week. Haven't really used it yet since I had it setup for the Moxi (which is still useless, Charter sucks), but what I did use of it I really loved it. Setup was actually FUN, my wife thought I was stupid for making such a big fuss out of it, but it was really slick the way they do it w/ the web interface.

Lost was in English in HD OTA.

Despite what I said yesterday, I don't think technology is THAT hard.
Have given up trying to watch any ABC network OTA HD programming except Monday Night Football due to sound sync problems; like watching a dubbed foreign language film the delay in sound is so bad. LOST, Commander In Chief, Desperate Housewives, Invasion--doesn't make any difference what program or what night. I especially find it odd that they can get the MNF correct, but NONE of the other HD broadcasts via OTA transmission. Only way I can watch ABC HD is via analog with its poor PQ on a digital HDTV. :(

Have given up trying to watch any ABC network OTA HD programming except Monday Night Football due to sound sync problems; like watching a dubbed foreign language film the delay in sound is so bad. LOST, Commander In Chief, Desperate Housewives, Invasion--doesn't make any difference what program or what night. I especially find it odd that they can get the MNF correct, but NONE of the other HD broadcasts via OTA transmission. Only way I can watch ABC HD is via analog with its poor PQ on a digital HDTV. :(

Knock on wood, I've never had a single problem with ABC in HD OTA. ABC Evening News (std. def of course) has sound sync problems, but none of the HD shows I watch including Lost, Commander in Chief, Invasion, Boston Legal, Alias, MNF, and Desparate Housewives have ever had a single problem for me. I'm using an HD DirectTivo to pull in my OTA signal.

Now if they could only install their 5.1 equipment!!

Mike

Knock on wood, I've never had a single problem with ABC in HD OTA. ABC Evening News (std. def of course) has sound sync problems, but none of the HD shows I watch including Lost, Commander in Chief, Invasion, Boston Legal, Alias, MNF, and Desparate Housewives have ever had a single problem for me. I'm using an HD DirectTivo to pull in my OTA signal.

Now if they could only install their 5.1 equipment!!

Mike
My HDTV has a built-in ATSC tuner so the signal is coming OTA directly from a Terk antenna to the HDTV. Can't explain why MNF is okay but all the other HD has out of sync sound. No problem with any other network either??

How do you get this for "free"? This is the sort of secret that MUST be shared... :)

Nope, sorry, oops. Poor choice of words on my part.

Charter leased me a 2 tuner DVR (MOXI+MATE) for a what I thought was a reasonable monthly fee.
OTOH Dish wanted me to purchase the same for $799. This was after being a never late paying, $75+ per month, sub for more than 7 years.

Charter has my money now.
But, honestly I cant wait to see some IPTV offerings.
Fastman

My HDTV has a built-in ATSC tuner so the signal is coming OTA directly from a Terk antenna to the HDTV. Can't explain why MNF is okay but all the other HD has out of sync sound. No problem with any other network either??

Nope, no problems at all.

FYI, I'm using a big radioshack multi element antenna in my attic with a cheap powered inline amp from Home Depot. That is fed into my 5x8 Terk multiswitch and then using a diplexer I split the sat and OTA signal right before my HD DirectTivo. Total cable run is ~100 ft.

Seems like I should have more issues with my setup than you ;)

I purchased a Harmony 659 remote about a month ago and could not be happier. Controls my HDTV, Moxi Box, DVD and Receiver. Has a web based setup wizard, and programming less common buttons was pretty easy.

My wife can now turn on the home theater without having to call me for help. That is worth the price I paid.

Brad

I agree. The Harmony 659 is very easy to use. It controls the track lighting in my home theater (through a Lutron IR wall switch). Just about any IR controllable device should work with it. I also have a Pronto (anyone interested?), but the learning curve is much higher on the Pronto and the Harmony has many more hard buttons. I can just pick it up and do most of what I want by feel - I don't have to see much (although all the Harmony buttons are backlit).

At first I was a little afraid of the Web based interface (thought it might be too much of a hassle), but it too is very easy and you only do it once in a blue moon. The Harmony is one of those rare products that is easy to use, powerful and flexible. My small chair table used to be crowded with remotes. Now there is only one - Harmony.

My HDTV has a built-in ATSC tuner so the signal is coming OTA directly from a Terk antenna to the HDTV. Can't explain why MNF is okay but all the other HD has out of sync sound. No problem with any other network either??


I have no sync issues. I have a dish 811 and I also have an internal tuner on my television (Toshiba 62HMX94). Everything works without audio video sync problems. What type of television do you have?

Espanol? Si. Muy pissed. Made sure I hadn't screwed up the SAP settings in Cardinals R.I.P. rage.
ABC has been running Lost rerun on Saturday night -- but of course NOT this week.
Anyone watch Lost live? Was it broadcast that way or is this a Charter/Moxi screwup?

barry

Ditto! The wife and I were P!SSED!!! :mad: The guy I talked to about it said he didn't know anything, and suggested I reset the SAP. It had nothing to do with that, as we record 5 mins extra to make sure we record the previews, and Invasion came on in the same recording as English.

I guess I'll be downloading the episode "illegally" :(

As per Moxi Diego web site..Coming in 2006:

Moxi Mate II-
Servce up to 4 rooms
Options for STD TV and HD

Lost recorded in spanish today! anyone else have this problem with Charters Moxi? Customer Service said they new about it, but did not have any fix for it.

Thanks,
Chad


Chad
Where do you live? I'm trying to get a list of all the areas where this happened...

barry

My small chair table used to be crowded with remotes. Now there is only one - Harmony.

I actually did a little research on the Harmony last night when I posted that message because I noticed it on Remotecentral. The one thing that makes the Pronto that I have a little difficult to use is the 4 cursor/OK button configuration. There are no hard buttons for that so you have to use the touch screen. We actually end up using the Dish remote to change channels and the Pronto to do everything else. (2 remotes is still better than 5)

I may have to look into the Harmony remotes though. One would be better than two. My wife doesn't care, as long as it works perfectly and is easy to use. Hey no problem! :)

As per Moxi Diego web site..Coming in 2006:

Moxi Mate II-
Servce up to 4 rooms
Options for STD TV and HD

And if you hang around the Moxi board for a while, you'll realize that 2006 probably won't happen....

Chad
Where do you live? I'm trying to get a list of all the areas where this happened...

barry

Ofallon, MO. Let me know if you find anything out)

Thanks,
Chad

Update on Lost Espanol

My source says Charter has been working on the problem today. It apparently has not affected thousands, more like "tens" ... although many people who recorded Lost likely were watching the Cards last night and haven't tried to watch Lost yet.
Charter believes the problem is with some Moxis and some digitial converter boxes, and has something to do with the changeover to the digital simulcast.
Until this gets figured out, SAP has been shut off on Charter's end, they say.
Everybody who's had this problem should report it to Charter so they can determine the scope etc.
barry

And now for something completely different....

We've seen one article detailing how the government will make money reselling the "reclaimed" spectrum once analog TV broadcasting shuts off.

We've seen another article detailing how stations will be able to choose whether to keep their digital broadcast where it is (i.e., KTVI-DT on channel 43, remapping to channel 2-1 in our tuners) , or move the digital broadcast back to the same channel there analog broadcast currently occupies (i.e., KTVI-DT actually moves to channel 2).

Stupid question: If some stations keep their digital broadcasts in their current UHF positions, and some stations move their digital broadcasts to the VHF positions currently occupied by their analog broadcasts, how in h*ll is the government going to "reclaim" any spectrum at all???????????

It's the upper part of the UHF band that will be auctioned off. Channels go up to 69 now, but 52 will be the highest I believe after the analog shutoff. Since KMOV-4's digital channel is using 56 now, they HAVE to move to another channel.

Okay, that makes sense. Thanks..........

Will locals work? Don't they spot beam those?

Sorry, I have no idea.

Scott

Yep, locals are spot-beamed, so you won't get them out of the area.

It went to Spanish while I was watching it. I hadn't touch any controllers, so was a bit confused. Later, I remembered that I recorded it on my Moxi. When I played it back it was fine. Go figure!

Update on Lost Espanol

My source says Charter has been working on the problem today. It apparently has not affected thousands, more like "tens" ... although many people who recorded Lost likely were watching the Cards last night and haven't tried to watch Lost yet.
Charter believes the problem is with some Moxis and some digitial converter boxes, and has something to do with the changeover to the digital simulcast.
Until this gets figured out, SAP has been shut off on Charter's end, they say.
Everybody who's had this problem should report it to Charter so they can determine the scope etc.
barry

I had Lost record in spanish. Just a BIT frustrating. Are you sure they aren't rerunning it this weekend?

South Fenton, MO. Merimac Heights area of Jefferson County.

I'm a new Moxi customer, and this is my first major issue with the service.

Alot of times what ABC does is run *two* LOST episodes every OTHER weekend. So check next Saturday's listings if LOST doesn't show up this weekend.

Alot of times what ABC does is run *two* LOST episodes every OTHER weekend. So check next Saturday's listings if LOST doesn't show up this weekend.

It figures, of course: not this week. ABC is running a movie, "Air Force One," and a rerun of "Desparate Housewives."

Lost and DH, btw, are the only ABC programs (I'm told) with a Spanish SAP track. All other programs have closed captions only.

I have Charter and the local channels, especially Fox, has very poor picture quality. My other channels are great on the picture quality but 2,4 and 5 have vertical lines and shadows running through it. I have a Moxi box, digital box and 2 other tv's hooked with cable and they all have the same problem on the local channels. I called a Charter csr and they said they didnt' know what it could be and would have to send somebody out (what a surprise). I was just wondering if anybody had this problem or had an opinion of the problem. Thanks.

Fans Crosschecked: DISH & OLN Skate in Opposite Directions

Not good news for people who love hockey (or those who live outdoors).

The following is from today's SkyREPORT newsletter:

___________________________________________

EchoStar said late Thursday it dropped OLN from the programming lineup for its DISH Network satellite TV service, citing the dispute it's having with the Comcast-controlled channel concerning carriage.

EchoStar said OLN demanded that it "force millions of additional DISH Network customers to pay for its outdoor programming as a condition to continued availability." EchoStar said it was unwilling to impose those additional costs on consumers.

"We work hard to provide choice for our customers and to keep prices low," said Eric Sahl, senior vice president of programming for EchoStar. "Most of our customers have made the decision they do not want to pay the additional cost of watching that channel."

OLN also took aim at EchoStar.

In a separate statement, OLN said, "We are surprised and disappointed that DISH has unilaterally chosen to stop providing OLN to its customers - and denied fans the opportunity to watch sports coverage on OLN. We are also disappointed that EchoStar cut off the ongoing discussions with OLN that were designed to bring OLN's great programming to DISH customers. Fortunately, those customers do have the ability to explore other cable and satellite options that carry OLN."

EchoStar had been carrying OLN in its America's Top 180 package, but OLN officials reportedly wanted DISH Network to carry the channel in more widely distributed packages. The issue surfaced after OLN began delivering NHL games this season.

EchoStar said that for DISH Network customers impacted by the loss of OLN it recently added College Sports TV (CSTV), NFL Network and ESPNU at no additional cost. As for hockey fans, hundreds of hockey games are available through regional sports networks offered by DISH Network, or customers can subscribe to the NHL Center Ice Package, the satellite TV company said.
___________________________________________

For more satellite TV industry news, go to www.skyreport.com.

DirecTV to Launch Second of Four New Sats in November

From today's SkyREPORT newsletter:
________________________________________

Arianespace has its next mission, and it's for the second Ka-Band satellite joining DirecTV's fleet.

The launch services provider said lift-off for Spaceway 2 is set for Nov. 9.

On Thursday, an Ariane 5 launch vehicle rolled out to the final assembly building at the European Spaceport in French Guiana. Next, the launcher will be equipped with the Spaceway 2 satellite and the Telkom 2 communications spacecraft for PT Telkom Indonesia.

The Spaceway launch was delayed this summer due to a technical glitch aboard the PT Telkom payload.

The Spaceway bird is one of four satellites DirecTV is launching during a two-year period as part of an in-orbit expansion. The satellites will enable DirecTV to deliver more than 1,500 local and more than 150 national HD channels and other advanced programming services to consumers nationwide by 2007.
________________________________________

For more satellite TV news, go to www.skyreport.com.

Senate Panel OKs $3 Billion Subsidy, 2009 Analog Cutoff

Note that the subsidy will be available to ANY household for as MANY TVs as needed, regardless of financial means. This should probably make the folks at eBay smile.

But hey, it's only money.

The following is from the Associated Press, via the Washington Post:

_________________________________________________

WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers want to spend $3 billion to make sure millions of Americans won't wake up to blank TV screens when the country makes the switch to all-digital broadcasts.

The subsidy was approved Thursday by the Senate Commerce Committee as part of legislation that would set April 7, 2009, as the firm date for television broadcasters to end their traditional analog transmissions and send their broadcasts via digital signals.

Digital television promises sharper pictures and better sound than analog TV. But millions of Americans with older TV sets rely solely on free, over the-air-television, and they'll need some type of a converter box to keep receiving their television service. Cable and satellite customers won't be affected.

Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, said Congress needs to do something to help consumers with the older analog sets, an estimated 21 million households. "If we're mandating this (digital) conversion, we cannot leave people behind because they can't afford" digital television sets, he said.

The draft of a House bill would end analog transmissions on Dec. 31, 2008. It does not mention a subsidy for set-top converter boxes. So, lawmakers will likely have to work out differences between the two bills, though Stevens said he did not anticipate a big fight with the House over the deadline or the subsidy.

The subsidy program would be paid for by money raised from the auction of the analog spectrum the broadcasters are vacating. The subsidy would be available for all those households with older televisions, and it would pay for converter boxes for all the TVs in a particular household, regardless of financial status.

_________________________________________________

For the complete story, click here. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/20/AR2005102001979.html)

DirecTV to Launch Second of Four New Sats in November

From today's SkyREPORT newsletter:...

So how long before this sat is put into service?
I hope this enables the second tier of HD locals because I think St. Louis is in that (at least St. Louis was in the second set of markets when D* added SD locals some years ago).

Dean

Dish Network/OLN dispute

Isn't this Dishnet's style of negotation? Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't they do the exact same thing with ABC awhile back?

Personally, I warned people that moving the NHL from ESPN to OLN may not be as positive a move as some people spun it.

Dean,

I don't think that St. Louis HD locals on DirecTV is dependent on the launch of the second satellite. I'm certain that the first bird that went up will cover a lot more than the first 12 local markets DirecTV is going HD local on.

I suspect the phasing rollout is driven more by inventory and support capacity, than it is available bandwidth.

Dean,

I don't think that St. Louis HD locals on DirecTV is dependent on the launch of the second satellite. I'm certain that the first bird that went up will cover a lot more than the first 12 local markets DirecTV is going HD local on.

I suspect the phasing rollout is driven more by inventory and support capacity, than it is available bandwidth.

And I just got a HD Tivo from them. But they say they will replace the equipment free. I'll bet that means (from an equipment standpoint) the non-DVR St. LOuis customers will get transitioned first.

I called D* to see what they had to offer since I switched to Charter. The guy told me that the HD DVR would not be replaced for free when the MPEG4 switch is made because of the costs involved in the unit and that they were told a HD DVR with MPEG4 was not scheduled for release until after the full transition. I called 800-881-3938 (which is a direct line to retention and the number I was told to call if I wanted to come back to D*) I spoke with an Adam and even asked him to verify that info. I told him the current deal I was getting from Charter ( the $47.99 deal) and he didn't believe I was getting all the channels for that price. He offered me every channel (TC Premier) for 93.99 plus 10.99 for the HD pack. He was willing to give me $5 off for 6 months and discounting HBO and Showtime for that period as well if I didn't want TCP. I told him thanks but no thanks. He also told me the $199 HD Tivo deal was an offer for current customers for only 3 weeks and was over. The current deal is $399 after $100 rebate. At those costs, I will stay with Charter for quite a while.

My $0.02

Rich

I called D* to see what they had to offer since I switched to Charter. The guy told me that the HD DVR would not be replaced for free when the MPEG4 switch is made because of the costs involved in the unit and that they were told a HD DVR with MPEG4 was not scheduled for release until after the full transition. I called 800-881-3938 (which is a direct line to retention and the number I was told to call if I wanted to come back to D*) I spoke with an Adam and even asked him to verify that info. I told him the current deal I was getting from Charter ( the $47.99 deal) and he didn't believe I was getting all the channels for that price. He offered me every channel (TC Premier) for 93.99 plus 10.99 for the HD pack. He was willing to give me $5 off for 6 months and discounting HBO and Showtime for that period as well if I didn't want TCP. I told him thanks but no thanks. He also told me the $199 HD Tivo deal was an offer for current customers for only 3 weeks and was over. The current deal is $399 after $100 rebate. At those costs, I will stay with Charter for quite a while.

My $0.02

Rich

The Charger $47.99 price is a two year contract so I agree it's worth it when you start comparing package deals. The Moxi dvr is an extra $13 per month. After the contact period is up I'm sure the cost will go up but you have to seach for the best deal. Competetion aids the consumer.

I have no sync issues. I have a dish 811 and I also have an internal tuner on my television (Toshiba 62HMX94). Everything works without audio video sync problems. What type of television do you have?
It's a 2005 model from Samsung; LN-R329D

Fans Crosschecked: DISH & OLN Skate in Opposite Directions

Not good news for people who love hockey (or those who live outdoors).

No skin off my nose. If I'm watching hockey and it's not the Blues, my channel is tuned to HDnet!

Bruce and I agree about the switch. The NHL moving to OLN was a stupid, shortsighted, money grab. They should have taken whatever ESPN was going to give them and been happy that they were still remotely interested in broadcasting a "professional" league that was the first to cancel an entire season due to a labor dispute. (This is coming from a rabid hockey fan, mind you.) Do they not remember the Sportschannel debacle in the mid 80's. Those that do not pay attention to history are doomed to repeat it.

jdurbin,

The attraction to Leno in 5.1 (or Letterman, Conan or any other variety show) is the musical acts.

They have music on those shows? :rolleyes: LOL. If I stay up that late it's for the monologue and the Top Ten list and then off to lala land for me.

I called D* to see what they had to offer since I switched to Charter. The guy told me that the HD DVR would not be replaced for free when the MPEG4 switch is made because of the costs involved in the unit and that they were told a HD DVR with MPEG4 was not scheduled for release until after the full transition. I called 800-881-3938 (which is a direct line to retention and the number I was told to call if I wanted to come back to D*) I spoke with an Adam and even asked him to verify that info. I told him the current deal I was getting from Charter ( the $47.99 deal) and he didn't believe I was getting all the channels for that price. He offered me every channel (TC Premier) for 93.99 plus 10.99 for the HD pack. He was willing to give me $5 off for 6 months and discounting HBO and Showtime for that period as well if I didn't want TCP. I told him thanks but no thanks. He also told me the $199 HD Tivo deal was an offer for current customers for only 3 weeks and was over. The current deal is $399 after $100 rebate. At those costs, I will stay with Charter for quite a while.

My $0.02

Rich

Funny, my Father-in-law just called yesterday and got the exact same deal they are telling you expired. I know for a fact they have been offering the HD Tivos to existing customers for much longer than 3 weeks, and they are still offering it today for $199 after all discounts, rebates etc. I would take advantage of it if not for the MPEG 4 deal.

I am so sick of companies with their mis-information. Rich, if you call back now, you will be told a totally different story. It is pathetic that customers can call some retention # and get special deals, and the ones that bark the loudest get the best deals. It is not just D* either. Dish and Charter are just as bad if not worse.

Scott

Cable's Per Customer Billing Expected to Double by 2015

The following news brief appeared in today's Evening Bridge market wrap-up:
_________________________________________________

In research released today, Kagan Research projected that cable residential average revenue per unit (ARPU) - an MSO's intake per cable customer - will soar from $72.89 a month recorded in 2004 to $143.15 a month by 2015.

"As cable provides more and more services, ARPU continues to climb," said Kagan Research analyst Renee Shaening.

"Remember that cable doubled its ARPU in the past 10 years even as the rival DBS medium went from zero to 25 million subscribers."
_________________________________________________

Charter has confirmed to us the Spanish is their problem on Moxi boxes. We are pressing then to get their act together. There are several shows in Spanish...George, Lost, Freddie, D. Housewives and sometimes other shows. We feed Spanish on SAP the same way Video Discription is fed on SAP, so I would assume VD would replace the english on those shows. Tonight Air Force One is in VD, but not Spanish.

Audio sync....all shows are fed from us exactly the, through the same equipment...we see no lip sync error at the studio...only minor. Problems must be in some receivers or cable boxes.

If I ever get some time off the road, I'll get the 5.1 going...then you'll see new problems!!!
Jim

yes, they do spot beam locals, they won't work.
I researched this and cannot find anything to support it. The best explanation I found on how Directv broadcast works was from http://www.sattvsi.com/directv_guidelines.htm (see below). Having only 5 satellites with "8 or more transponders", many of which do not send a signal, thus I assume they are for backup in case an active transponder fails, they could not possibly cover a lot of cities with a unique signal. Also, with the satellites 22,300 miles up, it gets hard to spot beam anything. I believe its all handled in your access card and its likely if you moved and didn't tell them you might be able to get the local channels you used to get so long as you don't go out of range of the particular satellite you pick up now.

DIRECTV first launched its service in the summer of 1994. According to industry statistics, the DIRECTV System became the fastest selling consumer electronics product ever to enter the market — faster than color TVs, CD players and VCRs.

The DIRECTV System includes a small satellite dish (which is an antenna for receiving a satellite broadcast signal); a digital integrated receiver/decoder (IRD), which separates each channel, and decompresses and translates the digital signal so a television can show it; and a remote control.

DIRECTV® programming is distributed by four high-power HS 601 satellites built by Hughes Electronics Corp. (DBS-1, DBS-2, DBS-3 and DIRECTV 1-R), and one built by LORAL (TEMPO 2). Each satellite is designed to provide eight or more transponders at 240 watts each.

All DIRECTV satellites are located in geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles above the earth. DIRECTV provides service from three orbital locations under authority granted by the FCC. After the DIRECTV System is installed — a process that includes aiming the dish at the satellites — no adjustment is necessary to change programming because the satellites remain in the same location in the sky. The dish never has to track the satellites, so there's no waiting for the picture to come in and little maintenance required.

To gather programming content, ensure its digital quality, and transmit the signal up to the satellites, DIRECTV created two of the most sophisticated digital broadcast centers in the world — in Castle Rock, Colorado, and Los Angeles, California. Programming comes to the broadcast center from our content providers (CNN, ESPN, etc.) via satellite, fiber optic cable and/or special digital tape. Most satellite-delivered programming is immediately digitized, encrypted and uplinked to the orbiting satellites. Some programs are copied to professional video servers by the broadcast centers' state-of-the-art automation equipment to be broadcast later.

The satellites retransmit the signal back down to each customer's DIRECTV satellite dish. Before any recorded programs are viewed by customers, technicians use sophisticated post-production equipment to view and analyze each tape to ensure audio and video quality.

Senate Panel OKs $3 Billion Subsidy, 2009 Analog Cutoff

WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers want to spend $3 billion to make sure millions of Americans won't wake up to blank TV screens when the country makes the switch to all-digital broadcasts.


For the complete story, click here. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/20/AR2005102001979.html)
Perhaps what congress should have done when they came up with the digital standard years ago was mandate all TV manufacturers to include ATSC digital tuners in all TVs. I can't believe there are so few "HD Built In" TVs on the market. It's as though it is a conspiracy of the cable and satellite providers to prevent people from recieving OTA broadcasts, which would be illegal. I imagine the demand created by the mandate to drop analog broadcast combined with congressional subsidy will actually increase the price of converter boxes. If congress had mandated the tuners in new TVs, production volume combined with competition would have caused the price of the tuner to fall.

........ Also, with the satellites 22,300 miles up, it gets hard to spot beam anything.

WRONG! Both D* and E* spot beam selected channels in order to re-use frequencies to get more bang for their buck. Why blanket the entire continent with "Good Morning Boise"? I believe that E* for example has about 12 Spots on certain transponders. Don't hold me to that number.

Charter has confirmed to us the Spanish is their problem on Moxi boxes. We are pressing then to get their act together.Would the first step in this process require you to choose between 8 am to 12 noon, or 1 pm to 5 pm? :D

Seriously, the update on this is much appreciated and it's good to know where the problem originates. Thanks, Jim.

If I ever get some time off the road, I'll get the 5.1 going...then you'll see new problems!!!As they say, those problems would be good problems to have. Bring them on...

Doug,
I second that part about 5.1 sound!! I haven't forgotten about your calibration special, and hope to be in touch with you within the next few days(certainly before the end of the month).

Perhaps what congress should have done when they came up with the digital standard years ago was mandate all TV manufacturers to include ATSC digital tuners in all TVs. I can't believe there are so few "HD Built In" TVs on the market. It's as though it is a conspiracy of the cable and satellite providers to prevent people from recieving OTA broadcasts, which would be illegal. I imagine the demand created by the mandate to drop analog broadcast combined with congressional subsidy will actually increase the price of converter boxes. If congress had mandated the tuners in new TVs, production volume combined with competition would have caused the price of the tuner to fall.

I saw this in the paper today and just couldn't believe it. What an incredible waste of money. If you can't afford to purchase a converter with years of advanced warning maybe you should get your arse off the couch.

--------------------

and some completely unrelated commentary...

P.S. NBC (KSDK?) in St. Louis is the single worst HD channel in our market. How long does it take to sort it out? The lame monstor sized overlapping NBC KSDK logos.... Constantly popping in and out of HD and always going SD before a show ends....

I second that part about 5.1 sound!!

I third it! :eek: Please, PLEEAAAASE get 5.1 soon KDNL. :cool:

Well, that's assuming moving my antenna outside actually allows me to get 30 (and 11 for that matter) reliably... :rolleyes:



Yeah, KSDK has its problems. :mad: And CBS/KMOV-4 can't seem to correctly pass along the 5.1 sound. Between messing with my antenna setup, the little bit I've seen of 2 and 11 (when it comes in), they seem to be OK, thankfully.

[QUOTE=repair4man]I researched this and cannot find anything to support it.



Just google "Spot Beam" and you'll find plenty of support...

I called D* to see what they had to offer since I switched to Charter. The guy told me that the HD DVR would not be replaced for free when the MPEG4 switch is made because of the costs involved in the unit and that they were told a HD DVR with MPEG4 was not scheduled for release until after the full transition. I called 800-881-3938 (which is a direct line to retention and the number I was told to call if I wanted to come back to D*) I spoke with an Adam and even asked him to verify that info. I told him the current deal I was getting from Charter ( the $47.99 deal) and he didn't believe I was getting all the channels for that price. He offered me every channel (TC Premier) for 93.99 plus 10.99 for the HD pack. He was willing to give me $5 off for 6 months and discounting HBO and Showtime for that period as well if I didn't want TCP. I told him thanks but no thanks. He also told me the $199 HD Tivo deal was an offer for current customers for only 3 weeks and was over. The current deal is $399 after $100 rebate. At those costs, I will stay with Charter for quite a while.

My $0.02

Rich

I got at $250 deal from D* three days ago for the HD TIVO. You just gotta keep asking. My deal woulda been $300, but I passed on the OTA antenna since I'm in Los Angeles and the locals come thru the dish (sans WB & UPN and I could care less about those.)

Even though none of the KTVI engineers have surfaced here, I'd just like to give a big "thumbs up" to KTVI for proper handling of the FOX Network's 5.1 sound. Besides doing a good job, they give me hope that someday KMOV and KSDK will figure out if KTVI can get this right, that it might be worth them elevating their own game.

And even before 5.1 became available over the air, I thought the FOX network did a great job with multichannel sound, even when it was only DPL. For example, I thought that "Ally McBeal" routinely had some of the best Pro Logic soundtracks I've ever heard, even in comparison with older DPL DVDs.

FOX Sports does a really nice job with 5.1 sound. Watchng the baseball postseason on FOX is definitely enhanced by their aggressive use of 5.1 surrounds.

Reportedly ESPN is going to be dumping its lame "Circle Surround" technology and adopting DD 5.1 in the next couple of months. Hopefully they'll do more with sound when that takes place.

Senate Panel OKs $3 Billion Subsidy, 2009 Analog Cutoff

...Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, said Congress needs to do something to help consumers with the older analog sets, an estimated 21 million households. "If we're mandating this (digital) conversion, we cannot leave people behind because they can't afford" digital television sets, he said...[/URL]

Humm. Ted Stevens. The same guy that whined and cried when they tried to stop the multi hundred million dollar bridge to an island in AK with a population of less than 50! :mad:

I agree, 3 years should be more than enough time to scrape together the $$ and purchase converters or new sets. If you can't do it in that time, might be a good thing that you can't watch TV anymore.

Stop spending OUR money Ted!

Perhaps what congress should have done when they came up with the digital standard years ago was mandate all TV manufacturers to include ATSC digital tuners in all TVs. I can't believe there are so few "HD Built In" TVs on the market. It's as though it is a conspiracy of the cable and satellite providers to prevent people from recieving OTA broadcasts, which would be illegal. I imagine the demand created by the mandate to drop analog broadcast combined with congressional subsidy will actually increase the price of converter boxes. If congress had mandated the tuners in new TVs, production volume combined with competition would have caused the price of the tuner to fall.Why is it that the onus is always placed on the TV manufacturers? I think this is a highly relevant question, particularly so when less than 20% of the US households rely on OTA reception for a primary TV.

Well, I have a theory about this, though it's hardly original.

The broadcasters have one of the most powerful congressional lobbies for any industry in the National Association of Broadcasters. And our "elected officials" are dependent on their local and network broadcasters for coverage (promotion), especially during election campaigns. TV manufacturers, on the other hand, are mostly non-US companies, and because they actually engage in real balls-to-the-wall competition with each other, they're less apt to huddle up and behave like an entitled cabal.

Another question to ponder: Why is that the broadcasters have done so little to raise the awareness of the public about digital broadcasting? After all, it's their businesses that DIRECTLY benefit from digital TVs with OTA tuners included in them! Have they done ANYTHING to stimulate awareness -- never mind demand -- for built-in OTA tuners?

No, of course not. In fact, broadcasters have hardly raised a finger to promote their industry's most important new innovation in more than 50 years. ESPN-HD did more in its first month after launch to raise public awareness of HDTV than all of the network and local broadcasters combined since the start of the transition in November 1998.

Clearly, based on their actions, broadcasters would rather spend their time harrassing Congress to FORCE cable and satellite to carry every one of their bitrate-sapping multicast channels.

Make no mistake, the digital set-top box subsidy is not a subsidy for low-income viewers. It's a subsidy for the dinosaurs of terrestrial broadcasting, and like most government subsidies to private business, it's one that is completely devoid of merit based on actual public benefit

I'd just as soon we requisitioned a million more of those $1,200 toilet seats for the Pentagon, because that's the net effect of this subsidy.

Audio sync....all shows are fed from us exactly the, through the same equipment...we see no lip sync error at the studio...only minor. Problems must be in some receivers or cable boxes.

As I've stated earlier in the thread I don't see any lip-sync problems in HD, only the ABC Evening News on my HD DirectTivo. The D* feed is fine, it's just OTA that has problems.


If I ever get some time off the road, I'll get the 5.1 going...then you'll see new problems!!!
Jim

I'm sure we'd all appreciate 5.1!! Hope you get some time to install the equipment soon! :D

FOX Sports does a really nice job with 5.1 sound. Watchng the baseball postseason on FOX is definitely enhanced by their aggressive use of 5.1 surrounds.

I totally agree! Also the picture on the World Series was amazing last night. Bravo Fox!

Speaking of HD, while I realize ESPN and ABC are the same company and ESPN does a good job with HD, the total lack of college football in HD on ABC is striking to me. Are there any regular season college football games planned in HD? Looking are HDSportsguide.com I don't see any and I don't think there have been any so far this season. Flipping between NBC, CBS, and ABC yesterday I couldn't help but think ABC is really lagging behind the other networks in HD coverage (although NBC's HD looks bad to me at times). The Wisconsin/Purdue game looked to the room full of people I had over to be sub-SD. It looked aweful. It looked even worse when flipping back and forth and all the other games were in HD. Does anyone know if ABC is going to join the rest of the networks and make SOME effort to modernize their broadcasts?? :mad:

kalon,

I think you probably answered the ABC issue in your sentence that notes the joint ownership of ESPN.

However, I would expect that if ABC holds rights to any of the major bowl games, they would be carried in HD. But apart from that, I wouldn't get your hopes up.

Also, I agree that the Notre Dame games on NBC look hideous, at least by HD standards. I'm not sure if this is due to the moronic weather channel being multicasted, or if the problem is elsewhere in the production and distribution chain. Whatever it is, it's hardly worth bothering with.

I have a Dish 811 HD sat box and the program guide for my OTA channels is slow to populate, if at all. Example for channel 9.1 it always says “Local Digital”. The other channels are slow to fill in like the 8:00 show will fill in at 7:55. Is this normal? Hope I’ve explained well enough.

A little off-topic... I'm having some issues with my HTPC. I think I'm might be making some headway in terms of what the problem is, and then I can correct it, by the Event Viewer codes.

Anybody know of a good place that I can get some help (from either a website or a forum such as this?)

Thanks!

Winston, there's a "Home Theater Computers" area right here at avsforum. That's the first place I go when I have issues with mine.

Make no mistake, the digital set-top box subsidy is not a subsidy for low-income viewers. It's a subsidy for the dinosaurs of terrestrial broadcasting, and like most government subsidies to private business, it's one that is completely devoid of merit based on actual public benefit

I'd just as soon we requisitioned a million more of those $1,200 toilet seats for the Pentagon, because that's the net effect of this subsidy.

Am I the only one who sees this issue differently here? I agree that terrestrial broadcasters are dinosaurs, and I also believe the whole model for TV delivery will change radically in the future. But with this subsidy, we're not talking about the relatively distant future (even if that future is closer than many have the vision to foresee). We're talking about 2009, and OTA broadcasts are going to be around quite some time past that point.

If in January 2009 every existing analog TV and VCR will no longer work, then there stand to be millions of Americans who have no access to free OTA programming. I just don't see how the subsidy is completely devoid of merit for those people. As a matter of fact I think I know a lot of those people, and I'm sure there are whole groups of others I've not even thought about.

I'll say it again - the education of the public to this government mandated transition to digital TV was awful. I don't think anybody (government, TV and VCR manufacturers, broadcasters) thought it was in their best interest to start a substantial public information campaign back in 1998 when this transition began to let people know what it was going to mean to the average viewer. So nobody did.

Think of the millions of analog TVs, VCRs, DVD recorders (none of the current models will record the digital broadcasts - just the analog signals) that people have bought just in the last few years. Think of the hundreds of millions of SD DVDs that people have bought since the inception of the DVD (which, by the way, did not predate the beginning of the DTV transiton by more than a couple of years).

The point is, I think, that without some provision for prolonging the useful lives of some of those 2 or 3 VCRs (or DVD recorders) and 3 or 4 analog TVs per household, the government opens itself up to charges that they effecively came into homes and smashed those pieces of equipment with sledge hammers. Had they made a better effort at educating people, the need for a subsidy would be diminished dramatically - but they didn't.

Now, here's where I say something that may surprise some of you ready to label me an entitlement loving liberal - I'm glad they didn't do that public information campaign. I think such a campaign would have delayed or, potentially, derailed the DTV transition completely. Had more people known about DTV, imagine the firestorm of protest it probably would have raised. If they hadn't flown it below the radar of the general public, the outcry against tearing down analog TV might have been strong enough to keep the transition from happening in my lifetime. Since I'm a strong believer that the DTV transition is going to be a good thing for everyone in the long run, I'm happy (generally speaking) it happened the way it did.

But, you can't tear something like this down without providing for people in the way of the falling debris. Obviously, you can't replace all those analog TVs with shiny new digital ones, so what's a viable option? Converter boxes, anyone? Especially the way this transition was handled, the government HAD to do something, or the cutoff would have stalled even longer than it has already. I'm having a hard time, given the situation, thinking of a more practical solution to the problem than digital to analog converters for existing TVs.

-----------------------
If in January 2009 every existing analog TV and VCR will no longer work, then there stand to be millions of Americans who have no access to free OTA programming. I just don't see how the subsidy is completely devoid of merit for those people. As a matter of fact I think I know a lot of those people, and I'm sure there are whole groups of others I've not even thought about.
-----------------------

This isn't a subsidy to provide milk to school kids, it's just television. It is completely devoid of merit. If you can't scrounge up enough money for a converter box for your TV or a new TV within the next four years maybe sit on couch less, go to work more.

There isn't somewhere better that the government could spend 3 billion dollars?


-------------------------------
Think of the millions of analog TVs, VCRs, DVD recorders (none of the current models will record the digital broadcasts - just the analog signals) that people have bought just in the last few years. Think of the hundreds of millions of SD DVDs that people have bought since the inception of the DVD (which, by the way, did not predate the beginning of the DTV transiton by more than a couple of years).
--------------------------------

I have an HD television and my SD DVD's and SD DVD player work just fine so this equipment isn't suddenly worthless. I will probably be able to play these DVD's for decades (or as long as the medium itself lasts).

Joe,

I'd say it's very likely this subsidy will lead to, in short order, an even worse and potentially much more costly, precedent.

What happens when the unaware analog-only TV owner takes his newly minted government-provided tuner home and finds that his favorite programs no longer cover the entire screen, at least not without seriously distorting the picture?

My guess is that we'll need earplugs to shut out the coast-to-coast whinging and moaning.

The bottom line will be that many people will find this makes their existing television useless, because it doesn't work the way it did before the government decided to force everyone to switch to digital broadcasting.

And the media, based on current form, will be only too happy to give this issue miles of anguished column inches, and the question then shifts to how large a subsidy will be needed to assist in the purchase of widescreen televisions for those who can't afford them.

Or maybe Congress will take the easy way out this time and pressure the FCC to decree that all prime-time and sports programming must maintain a 4:3 aspect ratio until 2019 (or 2029) so that the government can live up to its implied contract of non-obsolesence with the viewing public.

Hey, Hollywood would LOVE that.

And why is that digital television is looking and feeling more and more like "New Coke"?

Although I love HDTV and I've obsessively followed and supported its development from the start, I'm now utterly convinced that the government should never have gotten involved. Everyone would be better off in the long run if HDTV had been driven solely by the consumer electronics industry, rather than the government and traditional broadcasters, even though that might have set back the HDTV timetable by a decade or more.

This is going to be a head-on, train-wreck, chain reaction between poorly administered government policy and a culture of never-ending entitlements, and the financial carnage is only starting.

MediaCenter buffs...can anyone give me some thoughts on the Gateway 827GM Media Center PC? TigerDirect has it for $549.

This is the part that really intrigues me:

With Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, you can record live TV, so you can watch all your favorite shows on your schedule. Includes dual tuner support plus support for a third over-the-air local HDTV tuner, so you can watch and record up to three different shows at the same time.

Does this mean that I can connect this PC to my cable or satellite to view/record live television? Does this include HD content?

Thanks in advance for any help!


Bruce

Bruce,

I think your recording ability with a MCPC will be limited to OTA.

I'm confident that recording from satellite is a no-go, but cable might be possible with a CableCard, if the MCPC supports those, or if there is a manufacturer that provides CableCard adapters for MCPCs.

Honestly Doug, I dont even know if I want to use a HTPC for recording. I think I'll always have a DVR from my provider. However I am very interested in having a HTPC connected to my plasma to be used as a Media Player - so I can watch divx, mpegs, etc and also to play audio files thru my system.

Thanks for the input!

I have a Dish 811 HD sat box and the program guide for my OTA channels is slow to populate, if at all. Example for channel 9.1 it always says “Local Digital”. The other channels are slow to fill in like the 8:00 show will fill in at 7:55. Is this normal? Hope I’ve explained well enough.

I also have an 811 and I think this has something to do with what kind of a signal you're getting on a particular channel. The channels I don't receive very well, if at all, only display 'Local Digital'. The ones I do receive well have the content in them.

Don't know if that helps with your particular issue, but that seems to be how mine works. As a workaround, I just have my analog and digital channels displayed on the guide so I can always see what is on.

[QUOTE=repair4man]I researched this and cannot find anything to support it. The best explanation I found on how Directv broadcast works was from http://www.sattvsi.com/directv_guidelines.htm (see below). Having only 5 satellites with "8 or more transponders", many of which do not send a signal, thus I assume they are for backup in case an active transponder fails, they could not possibly cover a lot of cities with a unique signal. Also, with the satellites 22,300 miles up, it gets hard to spot beam anything. I believe its all handled in your access card and its likely if you moved and didn't tell them you might be able to get the local channels you used to get so long as you don't go out of range of the particular satellite you pick up now.

It is not handled via the access card. There are indeed spotbeams on the newer satellites. I have Dish Network and when I take my receiver to Florida on vacation, I am outside the footprint and can't receive St. Louis locals. Long ago locals were on the BIG footprint, but as more cities were added spotbeams became the only plausible solution. Here is a link to DTV spots:

http://www.scottandmichelle.net/scott/dtv.html

I just got off the phone with Charter (got the 47.99 deal), and was informed that the Mate was no longer being issued?

Anyone have any further insight into this...or do I just keep calling back.....

Hi Doug,
You have an email from me...

Although I love HDTV and I've obsessively followed and supported its development from the start, I'm now utterly convinced that the government should never have gotten involved. Everyone would be better off in the long run if HDTV had been driven solely by the consumer electronics industry, rather than the government and traditional broadcasters, even though that might have set back the HDTV timetable by a decade or more.

This is going to be a head-on, train-wreck, chain reaction between poorly administered government policy and a culture of never-ending entitlements, and the financial carnage is only starting.

I think if the government had never gotten involved that I would not have seen in my lifetime anything close to the level of HDTV we have now. Look at how many of us early adopters moaned for years about the lack of HD programming and less expensive hardware. I think the mandated move to HDTV was worth the money it's going to cost.

I'd hate to have to tally up my bad to good prediction ratio, so I may be way off here, too. However, I'm not so pessimistic that this will be a bottomless money pit. But, even if the government has to pay out every penny (and then some) it stands to make from a spectrum auction to resolve the public outcry about "losing" analog TV, the government decision to mandate HDTV would still look like genius to me. You don't have to look too far to find examples of billions of dollars wasted through collosally stupid government spending. Finally, they've bungled their way into spending for something almost all Americans can enjoy, and sooner rather than later.

That said, I still stand by my opinion that there are millions who, through no fault of their own, stand to lose their only source of free TV if converter boxes are not provided in 2009. The subsidy will help those people, even if it's mishandled, so I think it's worth it.

I think we all agree that we'd like to see a government that spends our money more responsibly. Lumping this subsidy in with all the rest of the stupidity, though, seems a stretch.

Again, I could be way off on this. If I am, it's probably going to be at least ten years before we know and you guys can say I told you so. Meanwhile, I'll be watching HDTV any day I feel like it, saving hundreds of dollars a year not going to movie theaters, and having long since forgotten about a converter box subsidy. When I'm reminded, I think I'll still feel pretty good that I wanted to make sure that provisions were made for those who could be hurt by the transition.

I just jumped into the HD market by purchasing a Pioneer PDP-4350HD and a HR10-250 Tivo unit back at the end of July 05. Since I was new to HD, out of the box I thought the picture looked great, but I kept reading about this thing called calibration. The more I read about it, the more it made sense. I decided to get my Plasma calibrated.

I first found Doug and Clearly Resolved Image and Sound through the ISF website. Since I had not been to this group that much, I had not seen his posts. Doug was very friendly on the phone and told me what he would do to my Plasma.

He showed up at 2pm on Saturday and stayed until after dark. I asked him several questions during the process and he explained the answers very well and took his time. He was very professional and configured three inputs, 720p HDMI, 720p component and 480p component.

Before he left, he gave me a document of all of the settings that he configured through standard menu. That way if any of the kids started to fiddle around with them, I would be able to set them back to their appropriate settings.

Right away, I noticed a big difference. The color balance looked perfect. I told Doug that we were having problems with some of the blacks being too black and some of the reds being too red. This was not the case any longer. All colors looked balanced and no one color stood out. My wife questioned whether or not we needed the plasma calibrated. She said she would be able to tell by watching King of Queens. Doug Heffernin’s IPS uniform is supposed to be green. I thought his uniform was supposed to be brown. After the calibration, his uniform was clearly green.

About a week later, Doug sent me a PDF write-up of the entire calibration process. The PDF contained specifics on what he had done and the result. It also had the user settings that he had originally had written and given to me. It also had pre and post Near Black, Mid Levels, and Near White scores. Very impressive.

I cannot stress enough the value of getting calibration. I know that my set is calibrated and I am still amazed at some of the colors I see and how good they look. Whether it is a baseball game or a TV program, all of the colors look great. I cannot recommend Doug and Clearly Resolved Image and Sound high enough.

I think the hoopla over the number of people without the ability to watch TV after 2009 is over done. I don't want the government subsidizing digital ota boxes. I just bought a no name brand HDTV at BB with a 26" widescreen WITH built in ATSC tuner for $350.
I think that by '09 that a converter box will be CHEAP. Many of the affected we can assume should be lower income, the same that shop in WM. WM will probably find a way to sell these babies for $29.99 by putting the squeeze on some Chinese manufacturer. I don't want the government to pay some company $50 per, and have WM selling them for $29.99. It reeks of $500 toilet seats that we have heard of before.

follow up... does anyone out there know when ALL TV's sold require an ATSC tuner?
(government required.)

I saw this in the paper today and just couldn't believe it. What an incredible waste of money. If you can't afford to purchase a converter with years of advanced warning maybe you should get your arse off the couch.


Everytime I make a post about the lunacy of the politicians taking our money for this subsidy, some whiney liberal crybaby bitchs to an admin to remove my post. Apparently, if you don't support a stupid subsidy program your opinion is not welcome.

We've got plenty of time before the changeover. Ignorance is no excuse. If they do implement the stupid subsidy you can bet I'll get 10 or 12 free set top boxes even if I don't need them just to mess with the system and demonstrate what an idiotic policy it is.

I don't want the government to pay some company $50 per, and have WM selling them for $29.99. It reeks of $500 toilet seats that we have heard of before.

Does Halliburton sell converter boxes?

Why is it that the onus is always placed on the TV manufacturers? I think this is a highly relevant question, particularly so when less than 20% of the US households rely on OTA reception for a primary TV.

Well, I have a theory about this, though it's hardly original.

The broadcasters have one of the most powerful congressional lobbies for any industry in the National Association of Broadcasters. And our "elected officials" are dependent on their local and network broadcasters for coverage (promotion), especially during election campaigns. TV manufacturers, on the other hand, are mostly non-US companies, and because they actually engage in real balls-to-the-wall competition with each other, they're less apt to huddle up and behave like an entitled cabal.

Another question to ponder: Why is that the broadcasters have done so little to raise the awareness of the public about digital broadcasting? After all, it's their businesses that DIRECTLY benefit from digital TVs with OTA tuners included in them! Have they done ANYTHING to stimulate awareness -- never mind demand -- for built-in OTA tuners?

No, of course not. In fact, broadcasters have hardly raised a finger to promote their industry's most important new innovation in more than 50 years. ESPN-HD did more in its first month after launch to raise public awareness of HDTV than all of the network and local broadcasters combined since the start of the transition in November 1998.

Clearly, based on their actions, broadcasters would rather spend their time harrassing Congress to FORCE cable and satellite to carry every one of their bitrate-sapping multicast channels.

Make no mistake, the digital set-top box subsidy is not a subsidy for low-income viewers. It's a subsidy for the dinosaurs of terrestrial broadcasting, and like most government subsidies to private business, it's one that is completely devoid of merit based on actual public benefit

I'd just as soon we requisitioned a million more of those $1,200 toilet seats for the Pentagon, because that's the net effect of this subsidy.

Politicians don't want little old ladies bitching them out for being insensitive to their needs and because D.C. already wastes insane amounts of our tax dollars they figure it will just slip through.

If the subsidy is $3 billion and there are 300 million people in this country, each person will be paying $10 for this lunacy. Since I have four people in my household, I need to get $40 back in free set top boxes to be made 'whole'. Of course, if EVERY person takes this attitude, the subsidy is going to turn out to be a lot more than $3 billion!!!

I have an HDTV and a nice 35" Mitsubishi SD TV and two crappy SD TVs. Instead of just sending the old TVs to India or something useful with them, I will apply for three free set top boxes to totally screw up the system! What a boondoggle!

Am I the only one who sees this issue differently here? I agree that terrestrial broadcasters are dinosaurs, and I also believe the whole model for TV delivery will change radically in the future. But with this subsidy, we're not talking about the relatively distant future (even if that future is closer than many have the vision to foresee). We're talking about 2009, and OTA broadcasts are going to be around quite some time past that point.

If in January 2009 every existing analog TV and VCR will no longer work, then there stand to be millions of Americans who have no access to free OTA programming. I just don't see how the subsidy is completely devoid of merit for those people. As a matter of fact I think I know a lot of those people, and I'm sure there are whole groups of others I've not even thought about.

I'll say it again - the education of the public to this government mandated transition to digital TV was awful. I don't think anybody (government, TV and VCR manufacturers, broadcasters) thought it was in their best interest to start a substantial public information campaign back in 1998 when this transition began to let people know what it was going to mean to the average viewer. So nobody did.

Think of the millions of analog TVs, VCRs, DVD recorders (none of the current models will record the digital broadcasts - just the analog signals) that people have bought just in the last few years. Think of the hundreds of millions of SD DVDs that people have bought since the inception of the DVD (which, by the way, did not predate the beginning of the DTV transiton by more than a couple of years).

The point is, I think, that without some provision for prolonging the useful lives of some of those 2 or 3 VCRs (or DVD recorders) and 3 or 4 analog TVs per household, the government opens itself up to charges that they effecively came into homes and smashed those pieces of equipment with sledge hammers. Had they made a better effort at educating people, the need for a subsidy would be diminished dramatically - but they didn't.

Now, here's where I say something that may surprise some of you ready to label me an entitlement loving liberal - I'm glad they didn't do that public information campaign. I think such a campaign would have delayed or, potentially, derailed the DTV transition completely. Had more people known about DTV, imagine the firestorm of protest it probably would have raised. If they hadn't flown it below the radar of the general public, the outcry against tearing down analog TV might have been strong enough to keep the transition from happening in my lifetime. Since I'm a strong believer that the DTV transition is going to be a good thing for everyone in the long run, I'm happy (generally speaking) it happened the way it did.

But, you can't tear something like this down without providing for people in the way of the falling debris. Obviously, you can't replace all those analog TVs with shiny new digital ones, so what's a viable option? Converter boxes, anyone? Especially the way this transition was handled, the government HAD to do something, or the cutoff would have stalled even longer than it has already. I'm having a hard time, given the situation, thinking of a more practical solution to the problem than digital to analog converters for existing TVs.

I wish I could say that you are the only one who sees it your way but in all honesty there are probably many more like you.

IGNORANCE OF THE LAW IS NO EXCUSE.

Last week I read an article in the Washington Post about a woman who got busted in D.C. for drunk driving with a blood alcohol level of .03 (one glass of wine). It turns out that it is illegal to drive while impaired. If your BAC is over .08 then you are automatically PRESUMED to be impaired BUT even if you are below that level you can still be charged. Millions of people (including that lady and I) didn't know that just because you have ONE drink and are way under the level of .08 you can still be busted.

She passed all of the field sobriety tests but apparently she was flippant with the cop because she thought the whole thing was silly because she was so far under the legal limit. He busted her. Rather than pay $400 for an alcohol awareness course she fought it all the way and got the D.A. to drop the charges but now she has to fight to get her insurance rates lowered because they were raised as soon as her company found out she got busted.

Bottom line = IGNORANCE OF THE LAW IS NO EXCUSE. She was technically chargable under the law. She thought being under .08 meant you were safe. Nope.

We need to stop subsidizing stupidity. How many Betamax owners demanded a subsidy to convert to VHS because they made a bad technology choice? I've got hundreds of LPs laying around that are technologically obsolete. Times change. In an earlier post, I pointed out that my sister and a buddy made the very rational decision to buy SD TVs within the past few months knowing full well they would be obsolete but they decided that during the next two years the set top boxes will drop so low in price that it makes sense to do it rather than go high def today.

MediaCenter buffs...can anyone give me some thoughts on the Gateway 827GM Media Center PC? TigerDirect has it for $549.

This is the part that really intrigues me:

Does this mean that I can connect this PC to my cable or satellite to view/record live television? Does this include HD content?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Bruce

I have been researching this for awhile. I have an HTPC and I have been using a freeware shell. Basically, the MCE is a shell of sorts that sits on top of XP. It's pretty cool though. It will support something like three tuners so you can watch one channel and record two more. It will record HD. I do not know if it will record HD from cable though. Ask around in the HTPC subforum at avsforum for more details. I think if you get a TV tuner card that doesn't recognize the broadcast flag you can rip all the shows. It's complicated.

I have seen pricing of about $125 for MCE and a remote. If I can get the entire PC for $549 it might be more attractive!

I think if the government had never gotten involved that I would not have seen in my lifetime anything close to the level of HDTV we have now. Look at how many of us early adopters moaned for years about the lack of HD programming and less expensive hardware. I think the mandated move to HDTV was worth the money it's going to cost.

I'd hate to have to tally up my bad to good prediction ratio, so I may be way off here, too. However, I'm not so pessimistic that this will be a bottomless money pit. But, even if the government has to pay out every penny (and then some) it stands to make from a spectrum auction to resolve the public outcry about "losing" analog TV, the government decision to mandate HDTV would still look like genius to me. You don't have to look too far to find examples of billions of dollars wasted through collosally stupid government spending. Finally, they've bungled their way into spending for something almost all Americans can enjoy, and sooner rather than later.

That said, I still stand by my opinion that there are millions who, through no fault of their own, stand to lose their only source of free TV if converter boxes are not provided in 2009. The subsidy will help those people, even if it's mishandled, so I think it's worth it.

I think we all agree that we'd like to see a government that spends our money more responsibly. Lumping this subsidy in with all the rest of the stupidity, though, seems a stretch.

Again, I could be way off on this. If I am, it's probably going to be at least ten years before we know and you guys can say I told you so. Meanwhile, I'll be watching HDTV any day I feel like it, saving hundreds of dollars a year not going to movie theaters, and having long since forgotten about a converter box subsidy. When I'm reminded, I think I'll still feel pretty good that I wanted to make sure that provisions were made for those who could be hurt by the transition.

I'm sure you are a nice guy so I would like to avoid saying anything disparaging but you have said "through no fault of their own" in two or three posts and I take issue with that concept. If you are a poor black child born in the ghetto to a crackhead mother, that is a good example of "through no fault of their own". Ignorance of a technology change is not "through no fault of their own" in my humble opinion.

As I've said before, it is not the government's money. It is my money and your money. Our politicians have demonstrated again and again they are not competent stewards of our money. Just because there are tons of other more stupid examples of waste is no reason to just roll over and accept this idiocy.

PLUS, people who are buying SD TVs today are benefiting from this changeover. The manufacturersknow their SD TVS are going to be obsolete in a couple years. Therefore, they price at marginal cost and not average cost in order to make the SD TV attractive in price relative to the HD TV. My sister and buddy who purchased SD TVs in the past few months are not being stupid at all! They can use those TVs for a year and the price drop in HD TVs during that time frame will more than pay for the TV they bought in the Summer of '05 even if they just throw that SD TV in the trash.

c if they just throw that SD TV in the trash.

That creates another nightmare, imagine all the TV's that will be upgraded in a short amount of time.

HD tuner cards for the PC are strictly for OTA in the St. Louis area, even if they say they can do unencrypted QAM. Reason being, Charter encrypts ALL its HD channels, including the locals.

BTW, I think digitalconnection.com still has some FusionHDTV3 cards for $109.99 (remote included). I have one in service now and have bought a second one.

My method for recording HD (well, HD Lite) from DirecTV is to output it from the HD Tivo as 4x3 480i into a Canopus ADVC-100 which feeds it to my Editing PC as camcorder-style DV. I edit the commercials with VirtualDub and frameserve to TMPGEnc. Within TMPGEnc I clip off the black bars at the top and bottom of the picture. If the original source was film I also do an inverse telecine to recreate the original 24fps progressive source. I then encode as 16x9 720x480p 24fps with 3:2 pulldown flags enabled. Granted it ain't HD but it looks a lot better than I had any right to expect it to.

:confused:
I need some help. Is the firewire port on my Motorola 6200 HD box supposed to be active or not? I read on this forum that the cable company is required to provide users with an active firewire port, but the customer service reps have no knowledge of this when I call them and ask about it.

Can someone give me some advice on how to ask Charter for this feature? Is it true that they are required to provide an active firewire port? If so, can anyone point me to the document that requires this so I can reference that when I talk to Charter?

Or is this just a hopeless case?

Thanks in advance!

Everytime I make a post about the lunacy of the politicians taking our money for this subsidy, some whiney liberal crybaby bitchs to an admin to remove my post. Apparently, if you don't support a stupid subsidy program your opinion is not welcome.

We've got plenty of time before the changeover. Ignorance is no excuse. If they do implement the stupid subsidy you can bet I'll get 10 or 12 free set top boxes even if I don't need them just to mess with the system and demonstrate what an idiotic policy it is.

What's great about AVS, and this country in general, is the freedom we have to express our opinions. From the responses I've gotten on this issue, it's clear to me that I'm in a minority - certainly not the first time. Time will tell, and if I'm wrong it won't be the first time for that either.

What I won't be doing is applying for any converter boxes. I have four HDTVs, five OTA HD tuners and no legacy NTSC equipment worth mentioning. As you are fond of saying, those are your tax dollars, and mine, being spent for converter boxes. To get boxes you don't need just to help prove you were right seems a waste.

OK, I'm finished on this one. Anyone who wants to take a last shot, go ahead. I'd rather talk HTPCs or my vow not to watch baseball again, so great is my funk over the way the Cardinals went out in the playoffs.

I just jumped into the HD market by purchasing a Pioneer PDP-4350HD and a HR10-250 Tivo unit back at the end of July 05. Since I was new to HD, out of the box I thought the picture looked great, but I kept reading about this thing called calibration. The more I read about it, the more it made sense. I decided to get my Plasma calibrated.

I first found Doug and Clearly Resolved Image and Sound through the ISF website. Since I had not been to this group that much, I had not seen his posts. Doug was very friendly on the phone and told me what he would do to my Plasma.

He showed up at 2pm on Saturday and stayed until after dark. I asked him several questions during the process and he explained the answers very well and took his time. He was very professional and configured three inputs, 720p HDMI, 720p component and 480p component.

Before he left, he gave me a document of all of the settings that he configured through standard menu. That way if any of the kids started to fiddle around with them, I would be able to set them back to their appropriate settings.

Right away, I noticed a big difference. The color balance looked perfect. I told Doug that we were having problems with some of the blacks being too black and some of the reds being too red. This was not the case any longer. All colors looked balanced and no one color stood out. My wife questioned whether or not we needed the plasma calibrated. She said she would be able to tell by watching King of Queens. Doug Heffernin’s IPS uniform is supposed to be green. I thought his uniform was supposed to be brown. After the calibration, his uniform was clearly green.

About a week later, Doug sent me a PDF write-up of the entire calibration process. The PDF contained specifics on what he had done and the result. It also had the user settings that he had originally had written and given to me. It also had pre and post Near Black, Mid Levels, and Near White scores. Very impressive.

I cannot stress enough the value of getting calibration. I know that my set is calibrated and I am still amazed at some of the colors I see and how good they look. Whether it is a baseball game or a TV program, all of the colors look great. I cannot recommend Doug and Clearly Resolved Image and Sound high enough.

I second the opinion about Doug. You will have to search long and hard to find someone with a stronger work ethic or committment to a client. Given the complexity of my home theater, he probably made about 17 cents an hour for the work he's put into it, along with dozens of e-mails with me about how to approach things. We're lucky to have someone like Doug in our area.

I have been researching this for awhile. I have an HTPC and I have been using a freeware shell. Basically, the MCE is a shell of sorts that sits on top of XP. It's pretty cool though. It will support something like three tuners so you can watch one channel and record two more. It will record HD. I do not know if it will record HD from cable though. Ask around in the HTPC subforum at avsforum for more details. I think if you get a TV tuner card that doesn't recognize the broadcast flag you can rip all the shows. It's complicated.

I have seen pricing of about $125 for MCE and a remote. If I can get the entire PC for $549 it might be more attractive!
I recommend you spend some time in the HTPC forum. I have an HTPC I built (non-MCE) and I wouldn't recommend it for the faint of heart. Had one conflict and have had some strange changing of settings. An MCE machine may come well integrated, but make sure it has a built in SPDIF decoder and at least 5.1 channnel sound to get Dolby Digital right. If you want to receive HDTV, there are three tuner card options: ATI HDTV Wonder, My-HD, Fusion HDTV. I tried the ATI and it didn't get along with my machine and there appear to be a lot of complaints about the software to the point that some are switching to Watch HDTV, an independent app. My-HD software development appears to be done by a community of volunteers, although it's advantage is a hardware MPEG decoder. I have a Fusion card and have found a stable configuration in version 2.99.08, there appear to be problems with the latest version 3.11 for a lot of people. Fusion also receives unencrypted QAM signals from cable, although I have only used mine for OTA reception. I'm in St. Charles and had to add two amplifiers to my run of the mill 17 year old Radio Shack VHF/UHF antenna in the attic to get the signal strenght high enough. I probably should break down for a decent and new UHF antenna! I don't know how MCE plays DVD, but I've used Windows Media Player 10 and it stinks compared to Power DVD 5 OEM version. I've had trouble with WinDVD syncronizing the video and audio and suddenly speeding up for no reason. Like I said, not for the faint of heart. Despite the problems, it is by far the low cost way to build a pretty decent quality home theater with nearly everything integrated into one box.

-----------------------
If in January 2009 every existing analog TV and VCR will no longer work, then there stand to be millions of Americans who have no access to free OTA programming.
There isn't somewhere better that the government could spend 3 billion dollars?


Television isn't a right. If people want to continue to receive access to the media, they would have a few options:

1. Purchase new equipment
2. Purchase one of the converter boxes.
3. Listen to the radio
4. Read a book, magazine or newspaper.

This is another can of worms the feds are opening up for themselves.
Should they pay for new antennas if a person's current antenna won't receive digital broadcasts?

-Hanjke

I also have an 811 and I think this has something to do with what kind of a signal you're getting on a particular channel. The channels I don't receive very well, if at all, only display 'Local Digital'. The ones I do receive well have the content in them.

Don't know if that helps with your particular issue, but that seems to be how mine works. As a workaround, I just have my analog and digital channels displayed on the guide so I can always see what is on.

What kind of signal are you receiving kugumby? I regularly pull a 90-94% on channel 9.1 (the biggest offender). And when not used, the 811 is turned off.

Signia & Joe,

I just wanted to thank you both for your kind words about the video calibration service that I offer. It goes without saying that I'm always pleased to get that sort of feedback.

Also I want to clarify that considering the amount of money Joe funneled to Pizza Hut delivery services during my three marathon sessions at his home, my net take was a lot higher than 17 cents an hour. :D

Thanks again, guys.

What kind of signal are you receiving kugumby? I regularly pull a 90-94% on channel 9.1 (the biggest offender). And when not used, the 811 is turned off.

WallyJ:

Just curious & comparing notes --- I too, have an 811. Although I receive all the locals in the 85 to 95% range, none of the Channel 9 subs (01 thru 04) contain any guide data. All I ever see is "Local Digital". Do you ever see any programming data in the EPG for them? My other locals are fine.

In the past, I used to see Guide data for 9-03 (the analog Ch. 9 mirror) but it showed up in 9-02, which caused much confusion. But now, it too is now gone without any intervention from me.

WallyJ:

Just curious & comparing notes --- I too, have an 811. Although I receive all the locals in the 85 to 95% range, none of the Channel 9 subs (01 thru 04) contain any guide data. All I ever see is "Local Digital". Do you ever see any programming data in the EPG for them? My other locals are fine.

In the past, I used to see Guide data for 9-03 (the analog Ch. 9 mirror) but it showed up in 9-02, which caused much confusion. But now, it too is now gone without any intervention from me.

I have a Dish 921 and all I've ever gotten for it is Local Digital. The way Dish does it seems just a way to get a few extra dollars from its subscribers every month. When I had Voom, they had no diffciulty sending me the local guide data for channel 9s HD programming. So, I subscribe to the locals for $4.95 a month. It has come in handy once in a while, since the 921 only has one OTA tuner built-in. I can record something in HD with the OTA tuner and record another local in SD with one of the regular satellite tuners.

I recommend you spend some time in the HTPC forum. I wouldn't recommend it for the faint of heart.

Agreed. I built one a couple years ago and I could get the ATI All-in-Wonder to record TV but with no audio. I tried to get tech support from ATI and it was non-existent.

I still want to do it as a media center to house thousands of CDs and hundreds of DVDs to support TVs throughout the house but if I use it as a DVR I will have to settle for non-HD.

What kind of signal are you receiving kugumby? I regularly pull a 90-94% on channel 9.1 (the biggest offender). And when not used, the 811 is turned off.

I get in the high 80's and low 90's depending on the channel. Now that I think about it, I don't think I ever received guide data on 9-01, however I seem to remember getting guide data on 02 & 03. So perhaps my original theory is not correct. (I don't receive these anymore since my last anntenna adjustment. I have a decent antenna recommended by A-1 anntenna. ($50 and mounted in my attic.) I live in South County and am pretty much surrounded by towers so there is no one direction I can point my anntenna and get all of the digital channels. I think I need another antenna and put them back to back to be able to pick up everything at the same time. Right now, my decision lies with sports which means 2-01, 4-01, 11-01 & 30-01 are solid. I lose the 5 & 9 multicasts and UPN. I really don't watch much network TV, so the only thing I'm missing is Leno. I'll spend the money at some point and get the other anntenna.)

EDIT: Now that I look at the map Doug provided on page one, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me that I'm not receiving the 5 stations because I'm getting 11 just fine. Hmmmmm. When I try to go to 5-01 or 5-02, my receiver will go back and forth from 0% to 49% and never lock in.

But I digress....right now, I get guide data for all of the digital channels I'm currently receiving. (2, 4, 11 & 30)

kugumby,

On your problems in pulling 5-1/5-2, the behavior of your meter is possibly indicating an intermittent multipath issue.

Sometimes this sort of thing can be seasonal, but in some cases it is just of a feature of the constant topography between you and the tower and not a lot can be done, apart from moving your antenna up/down or laterally. If it is multipath, you may not have enough wiggle room to avoid it.

As alluded to in the narrative on page one of this thread, it's these sort of situations where science exits and art (or luck) can play a big role.

I appreciate this isn't particularly helpful info, but that's the best advice I have for you based on what I've seen of these sorts of issues, both from my own experience and others here.

Good luck -- I hope you can figure out a solution (and if you do, please share it here).

Agreed. I built one a couple years ago and I could get the ATI All-in-Wonder to record TV but with no audio. I tried to get tech support from ATI and it was non-existent.

I still want to do it as a media center to house thousands of CDs and hundreds of DVDs to support TVs throughout the house but if I use it as a DVR I will have to settle for non-HD.

My experience with the MyHD card has been overwhelmingly positive. I've put cards in about 5 or 6 systems for myself and friends and have run into only one problem (with a DVI daughtercard on a Gigabyte motherboard). Otherwise, if you can install a PCI card you shouldn't have any problem getting it up and running with a minimum of fuss. It's easy to set up, easy to use and it comes with a remote control that makes it feel a lot like regular piece of home theater gear.

Here are my only real recommendations for someone looking to do this:

1. All you need for installation of the MyHD card is a phillips head screwdriver and a free PCI slot.

2. Don't use your Windows hard drive for video capture. Use a separate dedicated hard drive.

3. For best results, use a rooftop mounted antenna. (This isn't a necessity if you can get the signal with an indoor antenna, but in some areas - like mine - it saves you a lot of frustration and dropped signals.)

4. Programming can be done without an Internet connection, but makes access to the Web makes programming the card very easy. I'd recommend going through a router if you do keep your system hooked up to the Internet.

I built a MyHD system for a friend who is just about as computer illiterate as it is possible to be in today's world, and he has had very little trouble. On a recent trip to Yellowstone, he set up for three weeks worth of recordings, with the computer set to go to sleep between captures. He didn't miss a single show he had scheduled.

Can the Moxi copy a program by a specific time rather than the Moxi menu?
When I want to copy 60 Minutes, it's usually delayed because of football. The menu is useless unless I copy the 6pm hour and the 7pm hour.

Can the Moxi copy a program by a specific time rather than the Moxi menu?
When I want to copy 60 Minutes, it's usually delayed because of football. The menu is useless unless I copy the 6pm hour and the 7pm hour.

No it can't.

[QUOTE=dominicr] I don't want the government subsidizing digital ota boxes. I just bought a no name brand HDTV at BB with a 26" widescreen WITH built in ATSC tuner for $350.

Would appreciate hearing how well your new purchase is working out


Jim

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I need some help. Is the firewire port on my Motorola 6200 HD box supposed to be active or not? I read on this forum that the cable company is required to provide users with an active firewire port, but the customer service reps have no knowledge of this when I call them and ask about it.

Can someone give me some advice on how to ask Charter for this feature? Is it true that they are required to provide an active firewire port? If so, can anyone point me to the document that requires this so I can reference that when I talk to Charter?

Or is this just a hopeless case?
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Is anyone using firewire with Charter's service???

No it can't.
A work around is to "delay the start" and "delay the ending time".

[QUOTE=kugumby]
....... Now that I look at the map Doug provided on page one, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me that I'm not receiving the 5 stations because I'm getting 11 just fine. Hmmmmm. When I try to go to 5-01 or 5-02, my receiver will go back and forth from 0% to 49% and never lock in.

Not sure where you are, but you may actually be TOO CLOSE to the channel 5 tower and might be overloading the receiver input. Try inserting a splitter or (ideally) an attenuator (which you can buy from Radio Shack for a few bucks). It just might get you past the 49%.

Like Doug says, sometimes it's art.

The link below is a discussion over at the HDTV Programming forum about Charter, QAM encryption and HD locals as part of basic tier.

I'm not sure if this is relevant to Charter in St. Louis, but thought it might be worth passing on.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=594916

Sale of Cable Assets Could Yield Charter $1.2 billion

The following story appeared in today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer online edition. A series of asset sales has been expected by Charter for some time now, due to the high debt burden it is carrying.

According to figures published by The Bridge, at the end of the first quarter of 2005, Charter had 5,984,800 subscribers, so the proposed asset sale would involve just over 7 percent of its overall customer base.

_____________________________________________________

Charter Communications Inc., the cable-television operator controlled by Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen, is seeking buyers for cable assets that may fetch as much as $1.2 billion, said people who have seen the sale proposal.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Daniels & Associates LP are managing the sale of the systems, which serve 420,000 customers, almost half of whom are in West Virginia, said the people, who asked not to be identified.

Possible bidders include private-equity and cable-TV companies, they said.

Selling cable systems may enable new Chief Executive Neil Smit to pay down debt and reduce expenses by shedding properties that are geographically isolated.
_____________________________________________________

House DTV Bill Allocates Less Than $1 Billlion for Subsidies

The following story was featured in today tvpredictions.com newsletter:

____________________________________________

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A proposal by Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives to help subsidize the transition to digital television fails to ensure existing televisions will still work, Democrats charged on Tuesday.

As the House Energy and Commerce Committee began debating a bill to end analog television broadcasts by December 31, 2008, Democrats said the plan for up to $990 million to subsidize converter boxes for older television sets was inadequate.

In contrast, the Senate Commerce Committee approved last week a bill that sets an April 7, 2009 transition date and $3 billion for a subsidy program.

Rep. Rick Boucher, a Virginia Democrat, called the House program "woefully inadequate," while Rep. John Dingell, from Michigan and the senior Democrat on the panel, said the measure would unfairly punish low-income and minority households.

Dingell said House Republicans "would force millions of Americans to reach into their wallets and pay a television tax of $20 to $60 per TV set."

"Why should ordinary people pay for a government decision that makes their television sets obsolete?" Dingell said.

Some of the old analog airwaves will be used by emergency workers who have had difficulties communicating during crises, such as the recent hurricanes.

The rest of the airwaves would be sold for commercial wireless services, potentially raising $10 billion or more.

The Senate bill also backed $1 billion to help these emergency responders better communicate.

Republicans on the House committee defended the subsidy program as sufficient and said they would offer some improvements on Wednesday, when the panel is expected to vote.

"I think to be prudent, less than $1 billion is more appropriate," said Rep. Cliff Stearns, a Florida Republican.

Rep. Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican and chairman of the House telecommunications subcommittee, also defended the bill and an aide said he plans to offer an amendment that would provide $500 million in grants to aid emergency responders.
____________________________________________

"Good Morning, America" HD Launch Limited to ET/PT Zones

The following story appears in today TVWeek Newsletter.
______________________________________________

ABC News, which announced in May that "GMA" would be the first news program to be regularly broadcast in hi-def, does not expect to have the technical ability to do separate HD feeds of "GMA" in those areas until February.

The network mentioned last May during the ABC affiliates convention that the rollout would take place in two parts, but in its announcement and subsequent public comments did not note that some 38.6 million TV homes (35 percent of U.S. TV universe) would be unable to wake up to "GMA" in HD until next year.

Dennis O'Brien, "GMA's" senior producer for special events and the morning show's editorial staffer managing the conversion, said on-air promotion of the format switch, following the pattern of entertainment and sports programming already being offered in HD, will say "GMA" is now in hi-def "where available."

The HD "GMA" will be an option on the eight ABC-owned stations located in the Eastern and Pacific time zones. Only two of ABC's 10 O&Os are in the Central time zone: Chicago's WLS-TV and Houston's KTRK-TV.

As the hard-charging No. 2 morning show, "GMA" is determined to get every promotable edge it can over NBC's increasingly vulnerable "Today" show, and Mr. O'Brien freely admitted that some of the rush to go hi-def before "GMA" could cover all time zones was so HD availability could be touted in the hoopla surrounding "GMA's" high-profile 30th anniversary celebration in November.

"That's just a huge deal for us," Mr. O'Brien said. The hi-def element "is small but we know it's going to grow. It's the future. That's what we're about."

No Hurry

"Today" is not scheduled to go hi-def until fall 2006. "Why rush it for the small numbers of viewers who can get it? We're taking our time and getting it right," said a "Today" spokesperson.

Fewer than 10 percent of viewers in the U.S. are estimated to be equipped to view high-definition broadcasts.

A spokesperson for CBS, which led the charge into hi-def in prime time in 1998, said the network has begun talking about when "The Early Show" might make the format switch but has not set a timetable.

However, the CBS spokesperson said, "We would not roll out our morning show the way ABC is. We would wait to have all the time zones covered before pulling the switch."
______________________________________________

Thanks Doug and Moman for your suggestions. If you look at the Southwest view map that Doug has provided and see where it says 'Mehlville', that's pretty much where I live. KMOV comes in like a beacon and KTVI comes in strong as well. I get 86-88 on KPLR which provides few, but ocasional dropouts. KDNL is 88-91 and I typically have no problem with MNF. KSDK just doesn't like to lock in. Even when I was receiving it (prior to my last adjustment to make sure KTVI was coming in properly) the receiver would sit on 49% for 3 or 4 seconds and then it would lock it in around 90%. Now it just goes from 0-49 and never locks.

I definitely understand the art part of the equation. My attic is short so there isn't much up and down movement that I can do. I can deal with not getting NBC in HD for now. If it was one of the other stations with HD sports, I'd be working a lot harder to get it fixed. NBC will start broadcasting the NHL starting in January and that may be the kick that I need to try and work it out, but as Doug said, it may just not work.

Thanks Doug and Moman for your suggestions. If you look at the Southwest view map that Doug has provided and see where it says 'Mehlville', that's pretty much where I live. KMOV comes in like a beacon and KTVI comes in strong as well. I get 86-88 on KPLR which provides few, but ocasional dropouts. KDNL is 88-91 and I typically have no problem with MNF. KSDK just doesn't like to lock in. Even when I was receiving it (prior to my last adjustment to make sure KTVI was coming in properly) the receiver would sit on 49% for 3 or 4 seconds and then it would lock it in around 90%. Now it just goes from 0-49 and never locks.

I definitely understand the art part of the equation. My attic is short so there isn't much up and down movement that I can do. I can deal with not getting NBC in HD for now. If it was one of the other stations with HD sports, I'd be working a lot harder to get it fixed. NBC will start broadcasting the NHL starting in January and that may be the kick that I need to try and work it out, but as Doug said, it may just not work.

Just remember there are countless reports saying 811s OTA tuner is horrible. Most people say that when it shows 49% and then it drops, that its a multipathing issue. I remember when I had mine it was real touchy. If the wind blew the wrong direction I couldnt receive KMOV. Otherwise is was at 95%-100%.
Fastman

Who had the information on the forum about Charter combining the cable/internet and phone bills into one? I have just talked to two CSRs and they said no. If it is possible I would like to do it.

Charter disconnected my phone today because they credited the phone payment to the cable account for two months in a row! I have even put a memo on the checks in capital letters saying THIS IS THE PHONE PAYMENT.

A work around is to "delay the start" and "delay the ending time".

How do you accomplish this? Where are the settings for this?

Who had the information on the forum about Charter combining the cable/internet and phone bills into one? I have just talked to two CSRs and they said no. If it is possible I would like to do it.

Charter disconnected my phone today because they credited the phone payment to the cable account for two months in a row! I have even put a memo on the checks in capital letters saying THIS IS THE PHONE PAYMENT.

I believe duihlein mentions in post #7158 on page 239 he was quoted by Charter that FCC rules prohibit consolidation of bills. Sounds like it’s time to strap in for a wild ride redwine. We went through that “exercise” for months prior to totally abandoning Charter. We even went to the extra time/expense/trouble of dropping off our payments to a live CSR at the office in Cave Springs and still they messed it up.

Good luck!

WallyJ:

Just curious & comparing notes --- I too, have an 811. Although I receive all the locals in the 85 to 95% range, none of the Channel 9 subs (01 thru 04) contain any guide data. All I ever see is "Local Digital". Do you ever see any programming data in the EPG for them? My other locals are fine...

Not that I can remember. It's always "Local Digital". Other locals are good, just slow to populate. At times I don't get the EPG info till the show has started. This happens on Sat channels as well.

I need some help for a friend. He just bought a 60" Sony HDTV and upgraded to Charter Digital (he thought that would give him the HD stuff). I was down helping him install his surround system and informed him that is didn't look to me as though he had HD since the cable box was small and only RF in and RF out. He then calls Charter to find out how to upgrade to HD and was told by the rep that ESPN-HD is not part of the HD tier. Is that true? I have Dish so I am totally in the dark as to Charter's lineup. Also he is not going for the Moxi at present so I'm wondering what connections the HD box will have (HDMI, component etc...). I am also wondering if a cable card can do HD from Charter.

Thanks for the help.

I believe duihlein mentions in post #7158 on page 239 he was quoted by Charter that FCC rules prohibit consolidation of bills. Sounds like it’s time to strap in for a wild ride redwine. We went through that “exercise” for months prior to totally abandoning Charter. We even went to the extra time/expense/trouble of dropping off our payments to a live CSR at the office in Cave Springs and still they messed it up.

Good luck!

Just call them & set up auto-pay via a credit card. You still get a copy of the bills in the mail & no need to hassle with writing checks.

Just call them & set up auto-pay via a credit card. You still get a copy of the bills in the mail & no need to hassle with writing checks.

I always paid via my banks Internet bill pay. The cable/internet account is done all electronic but the phone is not and the bank mails them a check that they print up. I never liked the idea of auto-pay since the company "pulls" money from me when I want to "push" the money to them when I am ready.

I am going the auto-pay with a credit card on this one. If there is a dispute I can always use my credit card company to contest the charge. I also work for Mastercard and they have been harping on this bill pay method for a few years now. The only problem you have is when your credit card expires and you need to inform all your payees with the new date.

I need some help for a friend. He just bought a 60" Sony HDTV and upgraded to Charter Digital (he thought that would give him the HD stuff). I was down helping him install his surround system and informed him that is didn't look to me as though he had HD since the cable box was small and only RF in and RF out. He then calls Charter to find out how to upgrade to HD and was told by the rep that ESPN-HD is not part of the HD tier. Is that true? I have Dish so I am totally in the dark as to Charter's lineup. Also he is not going for the Moxi at present so I'm wondering what connections the HD box will have (HDMI, component etc...). I am also wondering if a cable card can do HD from Charter.

Thanks for the help.

ESPN-HD is included in the "HD Pak" for $3.99 along with HDnet and HDnetMovie and I believe now Discovery HD Theatre. It is not included in the standard "HD Service" which gets you all the locals (minus ABC).

The normal HD box I have has component and DVI connections with optical digital sound.

There is a mention of a CableCard rental for $1.50 but I don't know if it has HD capability.

Who had the information on the forum about Charter combining the cable/internet and phone bills into one? I have just talked to two CSRs and they said no. If it is possible I would like to do it.

Charter disconnected my phone today because they credited the phone payment to the cable account for two months in a row! I have even put a memo on the checks in capital letters saying THIS IS THE PHONE PAYMENT.

Classic! When is this company going to fold?

All,

As of Today, Charter has started to allow 1 Bill for all three services, or a combination of the three: Telephone, Cable TV and/or High Speed Internet. New customers will automatically be billed for all three, or a combination of the three, on one bill.

Existing customers can call customer support to have the bills combined on to one bill.

Since this started today, not all representative may know of this information.

You can PM me if you have any questions.

Later

Mark

I knew I saw this. It was from the 19th....

How do you accomplish this? Where are the settings for this?

I'm doing this away from my set so I could have the details (nameing of tabs) wrong.
Go to the show that you want to change the times on that you have already told to record. Say it's the 60 Minutes program from 6 to 7 but you want to record from 6:30 to 7:30. choose "recording options", then move up and down on the menu until you see "start on time"...a(I'm editing now since I just looked at the menu and you can only start up to 5 minutes late...... Go Back to the left and now select "stop recording" and stop 30 minutes late (7:30). SO you can only delay start recording five minutes but you can adjust the stop time in increment up to 90 minutes. Not as good a work around as I thought.

P.S. I wouldn't ever use the "Record Series". The defaults are just horrible and will make your hard drive fill up with repeats and give you tons of false alerts. The best is to select "recording options and then tell it: new only/save 2 or 4 days/1 or 2 episodes(this one is really important to not let it say unlimited). Why the defaults are for repeats and 5 episodes is beyond me.

If you do press "record series" by mistake go to the "find & record" tab and choose "series options" and then you can change them there. I sure hope my memory is good today!! If not folks please correct me. Well, better get back to my real job.

my 2cents

An interesting article about VOOM's efforts to transform itself from a programming distributor to provider.

The following excerpt is from the Cable World web site:

____________________________________________

Voom version 1 failed as a stand-alone satellite and programming service. Voom version 2 is off to a good start with its EchoStar deal, but the HD content service could meet a fate similar to its predecessor if it doesn't eventually secure additional carriage deals.

In August EchoStar agreed to carry Rainbow Media's Voom HD Networks, the first step toward Rainbow's goal of establishing the service as an HD standard-bearer on a par with heavies like Discovery HD Theater and ESPN HD.

Getting there won't be easy. In addition to the difficulty of selling bandwidth-challenged cable operators on the value of its stable of 21 HD channels, Rainbow has yet to work out a deal with DirecTV. And while viewers are hungry for HD, networks with more recognizable names already fill some of the same niches as Voom.

____________________________________________

For the full story, click here. (http://cableworld.com/cgi/cw/show_mag.cgi?pub=cw&mon=102405&file=insidethenew.htm)

Here's an excerpt from a Hollywood Reporter story that does a pretty good job summarizing the latest developments on the various proposals for shutting down analog TV, via Reuters.com:

________________________________________________

The legislative battle over the switch to digital TV became a marker in Democratic attempts to paint the GOP as a party beholden to the rich as liberal lawmakers on Wednesday forced a string of party-line votes on a series of issues over the move to turn off the current analog signal.

Democrats repeatedly called for votes that forced conservatives to vote against large government payments to consumers designed to defray the cost of set-top boxes that will allow TVs to remain on after the switch, funding for communications equipment for first responders and labeling requirements allowing viewers to know when they are receiving a high-definition picture.

Party discipline held up until the end as the House Commerce Committee voted 33-17 to send the bill -- which would shut off the current analog signal on December 31, 2009 -- to the full House. The bill is being driven by an attempt to pare down the nation's $319 billion deficit. Although some of the frequencies Congress wants vacated by broadcasters will be used to aid public-safety communications, Congress estimates that an auction of the available channels will bring in $10 billion. Outside estimates approach $30 billion.

While some Democrats broke with their party in the end, it still was an unusual display as Democrats attempted to cast the fight over digital TV as an us-against-them battle at nearly every turn.

In the Democratic alternative to the GOP's bill, every U.S. household would have received a voucher good for a pair of digital-to-analog converter boxes at a cost estimated at $3.5 billion. The GOP plan sets aside less than $1 billion and requires people to ask the government for their vouchers.

Democrats accuse the GOP of invading American's privacy and shortchanging consumers as their plan does not include enough money for the about 20 million homes that depend on an over-the-air signal for their TV programming.

Democrats accused Republicans of caring more about tax cuts that benefit the wealthy than saddling a large number of American consumers with a new payment to make their TVs work.

"Consumers should not have to fill out a voucher and give personal information to the federal government simply to watch TV," said Michigan Rep. John Dingell, the committee's senior Democrat. "There will be no television tax under the Democratic substitute (bill)."
________________________________________________

For the full story, click here. (http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=industryNews&storyID=2005-10-27T062625Z_01_HAR723158_RTRIDST_0_INDUSTRY-DIGITAL-DC.XML)

An interesting article about VOOM's efforts to transform itself from a programming distributor to provider.

The following excerpt is from the Cable World web site:

____________________________________________

Voom version 1 failed as a stand-alone satellite and programming service. Voom version 2 is off to a good start with its EchoStar deal, but the HD content service could meet a fate similar to its predecessor if it doesn't eventually secure additional carriage deals........



Voom is in dire need of more programs. I loved it for the first month or so. But after that, it became nothing but reruns. Soundstage in HD on Rave is totaly awesome & flawless, but after you see the 20 or so in the library it's the same over & over & over ......... Same goes for Equator and the others.

Why would anyone want to carry channels with such a limited selection of programs?

Fans Crosschecked: DISH & OLN Skate in Opposite Directions

Not good news for people who love hockey (or those who live outdoors).

The following is from today's SkyREPORT newsletter:

___________________________________________

EchoStar said late Thursday it dropped OLN from the programming lineup for its DISH Network satellite TV service, citing the dispute it's having with the Comcast-controlled channel concerning carriage.

EchoStar said OLN demanded that it "force millions of additional DISH Network customers to pay for its outdoor programming as a condition to continued availability." EchoStar said it was unwilling to impose those additional costs on consumers.

"We work hard to provide choice for our customers and to keep prices low," said Eric Sahl, senior vice president of programming for EchoStar. "Most of our customers have made the decision they do not want to pay the additional cost of watching that channel."

OLN also took aim at EchoStar.

In a separate statement, OLN said, "We are surprised and disappointed that DISH has unilaterally chosen to stop providing OLN to its customers - and denied fans the opportunity to watch sports coverage on OLN. We are also disappointed that EchoStar cut off the ongoing discussions with OLN that were designed to bring OLN's great programming to DISH customers. Fortunately, those customers do have the ability to explore other cable and satellite options that carry OLN."

EchoStar had been carrying OLN in its America's Top 180 package, but OLN officials reportedly wanted DISH Network to carry the channel in more widely distributed packages. The issue surfaced after OLN began delivering NHL games this season.

EchoStar said that for DISH Network customers impacted by the loss of OLN it recently added College Sports TV (CSTV), NFL Network and ESPNU at no additional cost. As for hockey fans, hundreds of hockey games are available through regional sports networks offered by DISH Network, or customers can subscribe to the NHL Center Ice Package, the satellite TV company said.
___________________________________________

For more satellite TV industry news, go to www.skyreport.com.

In the Post sports section today, there was a large DirectTV ad saying they had OLN in their channel lineup and Dish Network had dropped it from their channel lineup. The headline of the ad was 'Dish Network leaves hockey fans on thin ice'.

Hey guys, I need some help finding a local store somewhere in the area that stocks the Zenith Silver Sensor antenna.

Since Best Buy stopped selling the Silver Sensor a few months ago, I've been suggesting that it can be found at most Sears stores. Well, I needed one for one of my clients and found out this morning that Sears no longer handles them (just Terks and RCAs). On top of my disappointment, I had to listen to the self-appointed expert sales guy tell me that they really shouldn't be called indoor antennas, because you have to place the indoor antennas outdoors to get good reception. :mad:

Well guy, if you sold the Silver Sensor, that might not be the case. :rolleyes:

I've already checked at several other stores in Fairview Hts -- Radio Shack, Circuit City, Best Buy, Lowe's and Ultimate Electronics -- but no dice.

So anyway, I'm looking to find a store locally where you know they normally stock the Silver Sensor. Of course, I could buy this online, but I'm not 100% sure it will work in my customer's location, and I want to have the option to return it if that turns out to be the case.

Can anyone help me on this?

Townsend in Granite City, maybe?

Charter disconnected my phone today because they credited the phone payment to the cable account for two months in a row! I have even put a memo on the checks in capital letters saying THIS IS THE PHONE PAYMENT.
When I was researching cable vs. satellite several years back, I e-mailed Charter for a channel lineup for my area to compare with satellite which at the time was on satellite provider website, but not on Charter's. Six weeks later I got a reply with an empty file. A couple months ago, my boss asks me about DSL. He tells me he went with the whole Charter digital package, but his internet service goes out and for two weeks of calling, Charter cannot find the problem even though he still was receiving his TV. They kept telling him they had 'occasional outages'. Charter does not appear to be competent. I have had zero problems with DirecTV and only one DSL and phone outage over a year ago, which was related to an upgrade SBC was doing to the system.

Night Stalker is being shown tonight at 1:35a and the DirecTV guide indicates HD. If anyone watches, is it HD? I can't check since my antenna isn't reconnected yet, and I was just curious if KDNL-30 can delay HD better than channel 5. :p

Hey guys, I need some help finding a local store somewhere in the area that stocks the Zenith Silver Sensor antenna.

Since Best Buy stopped selling the Silver Sensor a few months ago, I've been suggesting that it can be found at most Sears stores. Well, I needed one for one of my clients and found out this morning that Sears no longer handles them (just Terks and RCAs). On top of my disappointment, I had to listen to the self-appointed expert sales guy tell me that they really shouldn't be called indoor antennas, because you have to place the indoor antennas outdoors to get good reception. :mad:

Well guy, if you sold the Silver Sensor, that might not be the case. :rolleyes:

I've already checked at several other stores in Fairview Hts -- Radio Shack, Circuit City, Best Buy, Lowe's and Ultimate Electronics -- but no dice.

So anyway, I'm looking to find a store locally where you know they normally stock the Silver Sensor. Of course, I could buy this online, but I'm not 100% sure it will work in my customer's location, and I want to have the option to return it if that turns out to be the case.

Can anyone help me on this?

Hey, Doug,

I have a Silver Sensor (or equivalent) that I picked up at Sears some time ago, before the rooftop antenna. You're welcome to borrow it to try out for you client.

Lucky1,
I'm not currently a Charter customer, but when I had the service a few months ago, I was using the firewire output of the 6200 to record hd with my JVC dvhs deck. It worked great. My Sammy T-165 also daisy-chained in there as well, since you can do this with firewire. PM me if you have more questions.

For anyone looking for a cheap solution to switching dvi sources without having to fiddle around too much behind components, lend an ear. I recently ordered up a dvi coupler, and it has arrived. Yep, this thing has dvi female connections on both sides, so it easily joins 2 male to male dvi cables(dvi-i or dvi-d)together. With this, you can have one longer dvi cord going into your display device, and shorter cables permanently attached to your sources on one end. Now it just takes a couple of seconds to unplug one dvi source and plug in another, and I'm not having to reach behind anything. The coupler is positioned in a nice, easy to get to spot off to the side of my component racks. Of course, the best solution is a dvi switcher, if you're willing to spend the bucks. My solution is for the laymen who wants to get the job done, and save some bucks for more dvds. I spent about $8 for the coupler, plus shipping, and my 3 shorter dvi cords came with the source devices I've bought. If you don't have any extra ones, they are cheaply available if you search the net, and you'd need them for a switcher anyway. Simple, and I don't see any loss of picture quality.

Here's the link(it's the 3rd adapter from the bottom of the page):

http://www.mc3llc.com/search_dvicable.asp

The ad doesn't state it, but the adapter will handle dvi-i as well as dvi-d, and it can handle single as well as dual link cables.

When I was researching cable vs. satellite several years back, I e-mailed Charter for a channel lineup for my area to compare with satellite which at the time was on satellite provider website, but not on Charter's. Six weeks later I got a reply with an empty file. A couple months ago, my boss asks me about DSL. He tells me he went with the whole Charter digital package, but his internet service goes out and for two weeks of calling, Charter cannot find the problem even though he still was receiving his TV. They kept telling him they had 'occasional outages'. Charter does not appear to be competent. I have had zero problems with DirecTV and only one DSL and phone outage over a year ago, which was related to an upgrade SBC was doing to the system.

I'm surely not going to be a defender of Charter but after having them (and TCI before that) for over 20 years I must say they are improving. I hated them for years and used to call all the time. This was before satellite.

But over the last few years things have gotten much better. I have had excellent response to questions. Although by being a member of this forum I am usually ahead of them.
Their local line-ups have been on the net for years. I have printed them out for years. Maybe you just missed the time when they started posting it.

As far as the cable modem for the internet I have had it from the beginning and I have had absolutely not one problem with it in St. Charles. My mom claims hers goes out in Millstadt occasionally but she sometimes can't find her desktop so take that with a grain of salt. I have had many friends who have DSl set down at my computer and marvel at how fast it is.

Overall, Charter is trying to get the most money they can from folks without spending tons of money on service calls to folks who can't find there desktop. I would hate to be in their service dept.

Over the last year with the conversion to all digital channels, high def and introduction of the Moxi and Moxi Mate I couldn't be happier......OK..... FSMW and ABC in high def and I would be in Nirvana...but hey you have to have something to look forward to.

BTW, with the Moximate I never run out of room to record. I did develop a hum on the Moximate side...removed the filter and all is well.

Well, I agree with you that Charter is getting better. I still say that if you understand their products and can stand a few bad reps (ok a little more than a few for me), then Charter is definitely worth it especially with the $47.99 deal. I have never had an issue with Charter HSI or Phone. I have only had an ongoing issue with the TV service since 10/1.

WARNING - this may be a little long :)

That Saturday, my neighbor was doing a core aeration and cut my drop in various spots. I was without all 3 services. I called Charter and was told someone would be out by 8pm, this was at 11:40am. At 8pm I called Charter back and was told that was wrong and it would be by 9pm. At 9 I called yet again and was told they have a 24 hr turn around time and it would be in the morning. So there goes my Saturday and soon to be Sunday.

Sunday we stayed home all day. I called Charter 4 more times and was told the same story about up until 9pm and when I asked about 24hr turn around they said no it wasn't true. At 9 I called back and was told a ticket was never created and they don't know why I told there was one. This rep created a ticket and said it would be in the morning.

I called twice in the morning on Monday and it wasn't until 2:15pm that a tech showed up. He replaced the drop and said the NIU (Network Interface Unit) needed replaced since the install contractor screwed up the connector by tightening it too much. Once he hooked it all up he high tailed it out. I went inside and my internet and phone was working. The TV was not.

The MOXI was all screwed up and so I rebooted it. At this point it was even more downhill. The MOXI would start booting and stop with 0421 on its display. I called support and they said they would send the signal and for me to call back in an hour. I did that and called back since it didn't do a thing. I was given the same, we will resend the signal again, call us back in 15 minutes. Same thing again. The next call to Charter they setup a service call for 10/17 from 1p-5p. 2 weeks out!!! They made note that my service would be credited once it is resolved and working.

Over the next few days I started to play around with resetting it every so often. After a day or so I banged my hand on the shelf the MOXI was on since I was ticked at Charter and all of a sudden the MOXI started booting. Ok now my computer geek mode set in... I listened closely and heard the wonderful noise of a bad hard drive! I called Charter and asked them to make note in the ticket to bring a replacement MOXI Mate setup, the rep agreed and did so.

Fast forward to 10/17. I received a call at 12:30 saying the tech would be there in an hour. 1:30 and no tech. I called Charter at 2:45 and was told the tech closed the ticket saying no one was home! I told the rep that was not true and someone needs to be sent out to fix my problem. So the rep said they would put the ticket as a NO PIC (no picture) and someone would call in the morning when they were en route.

We headed out to dinner and on our way I got a call from a Charter tech that was en route to our house! I asked him if he had a MOXI with him and he said the after hours guys don't have them since they are for no picture aka cable outages. He told me he would push the ticket back saying equipment needed and for me to call back and request the same. I called Charter and explained everything to the rep and she was very rude and told me it is impossible to put a ticket in that would get them to bring equipment. After the run around I asked for a supervisor and was told she would have to fill out a form to have one call me back. I explained that in the past when I asked for one I was able to talk to one right away. She rudely said no and she would fill a form out for me and that there were no MOXIs available anyways. I finally said ok and then she hung up while I was in mid sentence.

After receiving no call in the next 24 hrs I called and immediately asked for a supervisor and as I was talking I was blindly transferred to someone's voice mail. I left a message. 3 hours later I called and asked for a supervisor and this time the rep asked if I wouldn't mind explaining why. Very politely I explained all of this and she was very responsive and nice. She asked if she could put me through to a retention rep to take care of the issue. I said ok. I spoke with a retention rep and she put further notes in the account that if I were to cancel, an ETF fee would not be incurred and she gave a note to her sup to have a call returned to me within the next 24hrs. I thanked her.

Well, a week later and no call so I called Charter yesterday and was met with someone who really cared to get this resolved finally, Terry. She even gave me her direct callback number and extension so that I can deal with her in getting this taken care of. She created a ticket for next Monday (my day off) and assured me that service has a supply of boxes and that the install of MOXIs was what they had a wait for. She even told me to call her on Monday and she will look up the exact schedule of tickets to tell me down to an hour window of when the tech will be there. So now I wait.

Sorry for the long post but I had to get this out. All I can say is there are good and bad reps, it seems the reps working in the mid morning are the best and the ones working in the afternoon to the evening are the rudest and worst.

I know that all the Charter naysayers will take this as more proof on why one should avoid Charter. All I can say is that I have dealt with bad reps at every company I have ever done business with. DirecTV, Dish, Sprint PCS, Cingular, the list goes on. Every company has its share of bad apples, that is why we play the game of customer service roulette.

WARNING - this may be a little long :)...

A little friendly advice...
If you want people to read your long posts, break them up into multiple paragraphs. Doing most of it in one very long paragraph is almost as unpleasant to read as all caps. :)

That Saturday, my neighbor was doing a core aeration and ...

skippy,

That was all I needed to read to know what would happen next. My wife wouldn't let me aerate our yard this fall because of the risk of cutting lines.

Sorry for your pain.

A little friendly advice...
If you want people to read your long posts, break them up into multiple paragraphs. Doing most of it in one very long paragraph is almost as unpleasant to read as all caps. :)


Sorry, I wrote that over a period of time this morning while I was doing other work. I edited it per your advice. Thanks. :)

Sorry, I wrote that over a period of time this morning while I was doing other work. I edited it per your advice. Thanks. :)

Like a breath of fresh air. :D

Your experience with Charter isn't though. I've been a D* customer since '98 and have never had customer service issues. Before that I was a TCI customer in St. Louis city, and the service was so bad and incompetant I had to file offical complaints with the City of St. Louis. It took one of the city inspectors to force TCI to rewire/reequip the high rise building I was in. What a nightmare. And it still didn't work correctly.

When I bought my own place I ran to a satellite installer and have never regretted it.

Rich....

I hear you when you say that every company has a few bad reps. BUT Charter seems to take pride in their terrible customer service. Couple bad customer service with a burried wire in someone else's yard and it's a recipe for disaster.

When a supervisor tells you that someone will call, and they don't call...it's a problem. When you wait at home all weekend and the tech doesn't come by...it's a problem. Why purchase their service and encourage the behavior? I'll glady pay a little more a month for better service.

I'm definitely biased, but I can't stand how slow the MOXI is when flipping channels. You need an antenna with the moxi to get all the local channels in HD. (because ALL of them aren't carried.) You can do the same thing with Dish or Direct TV.

So, my question is...Why do people stay with Charter? Is it the HD DVR? Is it a lower monthly price?

Lower monthly price and the HD DVR. I would in a heartbeat go back to D* if they could match the monthly service price of Charter. I would be willing to pay the $200-300 for the HD Tivo since it is that much better. But at the current costs of Charter vs D* when working with a budget, the choice is unfortunately Charter. I do realize I could cut back on my programming offerings with D* but it would still cost more than my current bill.

I had the slow issues with my old MOXI but haven't seen any with the new 9022 (Moxi Mate).

And you are right about using an antenna due to KDNL-HD. I just flip the input, which is how I have been getting by during the problems.

So, my question is...Why do people stay with Charter? Is it the HD DVR? Is it a lower monthly price?

Well, I've never had a problem with their service. At least the past two years, whenever they've sent someone out they gave me a four hour time frame and they've arrived in that time frame every time. No upfront fees are also a big plus.

I can relate with the war stories working with Charter. I've had problems since July on my digital box concerning bad reception on local channels and not receiving premium channels. I've had numerous calls into Charter and have had 4 different techs come out to fix the problem. The first 3 techs could not fix the problem blaming a low signal problem coming into the hosue and said someone else would have to check the lines. Uh ok. I had a tech in yesterday to check the same problem and he rerouted some cable lines in the house and fixed a problem in the main box outside. He couldn't understand why this wasn't checked on the previous visits by Charter. Local channels are great now and I'm getting all the premium channels.

I liked Rich's comment that it's customer service roulette alot of times and this includes technicians as well. You should'nt have to pray that you get a competent csr whether you call in the am or the pm but sadly it does happen. Hopefully their new CEO will improve their customer service program and educate their technicians. It shouldn't take 4 calls to fix the same occuring problem.

Does anyone know how much a typical antenna installation on the roof goes for. Also any reccommended installers? I have a ranch style house and will run from chimney down to the basement. I am thinking of doing this myself, but first I want to see if it is worth it.
My setup now is a channel master 4221 in the attic to a voom STB(only using the local channels). I can pick up 8 local channels, but it doesn't really display any of them without dropouts. I will try to tweek the antenna location a little this weekend to see if that helps, but it sounds like the best location is the rooftop. Thanks.

Does anyone know how much a typical antenna installation on the roof goes for. Also any reccommended installers? I have a ranch style house and will run from chimney down to the basement. I am thinking of doing this myself, but first I want to see if it is worth it.
My setup now is a channel master 4221 in the attic to a voom STB(only using the local channels). I can pick up 8 local channels, but it doesn't really display any of them without dropouts. I will try to tweek the antenna location a little this weekend to see if that helps, but it sounds like the best location is the rooftop. Thanks.

I' also interested. I have a twin attic antenna, but still have some reception problems & would like to move to rooftop.

I have been using a guy who installed my original D* setup a few years ago. He charges $100 and includes the antenna. He did my antenna and my dad's and 2 friends. When I get home I will find his card and post the info.

Does anyone know how much a typical antenna installation on the roof goes for. Also any reccommended installers? I have a ranch style house and will run from chimney down to the basement. I am thinking of doing this myself, but first I want to see if it is worth it.
My setup now is a channel master 4221 in the attic to a voom STB(only using the local channels). I can pick up 8 local channels, but it doesn't really display any of them without dropouts. I will try to tweek the antenna location a little this weekend to see if that helps, but it sounds like the best location is the rooftop. Thanks.

That's my project for tomorrow. I had my wife pick up an antenna from Antennas Direct last week and I got the RG6, a 10' mounting rod and a chimney mounting kit from Radio Shack. I'm going to mount on the roof in the morning and run my cable through the window until I am confident that it will work satisfactorily and then I will drill through the interior and exterior walls and caulk my cable through and properly ground it.

The only negative is that I have a two-story house so it's going to be pretty high up there.

Lucky1,
I'm not currently a Charter customer, but when I had the service a few months ago, I was using the firewire output of the 6200 to record hd with my JVC dvhs deck. It worked great. My Sammy T-165 also daisy-chained in there as well, since you can do this with firewire. PM me if you have more questions.

For anyone looking for a cheap solution to switching dvi sources without having to fiddle around too much behind components, lend an ear. I recently ordered up a dvi coupler, and it has arrived. Yep, this thing has dvi female connections on both sides, so it easily joins 2 male to male dvi cables(dvi-i or dvi-d)together. With this, you can have one longer dvi cord going into your display device, and shorter cables permanently attached to your sources on one end. Now it just takes a couple of seconds to unplug one dvi source and plug in another, and I'm not having to reach behind anything. The coupler is positioned in a nice, easy to get to spot off to the side of my component racks. Of course, the best solution is a dvi switcher, if you're willing to spend the bucks. My solution is for the laymen who wants to get the job done, and save some bucks for more dvds. I spent about $8 for the coupler, plus shipping, and my 3 shorter dvi cords came with the source devices I've bought. If you don't have any extra ones, they are cheaply available if you search the net, and you'd need them for a switcher anyway. Simple, and I don't see any loss of picture quality.

Here's the link(it's the 3rd adapter from the bottom of the page):

http://www.mc3llc.com/search_dvicable.asp

The ad doesn't state it, but the adapter will handle dvi-i as well as dvi-d, and it can handle single as well as dual link cables.

I think I would rather just drop $40 on a mechanical switch box. For the time being though, I am using my sole HDMI port on the HDTV for my DVD player with a DVI-HDMI cable and I am going to use component for my HTPC.

Does anyone know how much a typical antenna installation on the roof goes for. Also any reccommended installers? I have a ranch style house and will run from chimney down to the basement. I am thinking of doing this myself, but first I want to see if it is worth it.
My setup now is a channel master 4221 in the attic to a voom STB(only using the local channels). I can pick up 8 local channels, but it doesn't really display any of them without dropouts. I will try to tweek the antenna location a little this weekend to see if that helps, but it sounds like the best location is the rooftop. Thanks.
I couldn't find anyone local to do the install, so I did it myself. I used a basic wall mount bracket on the side of a top deck rail, and a 10' mast. The down-feed goes into the basement and is 75' RG6 to the 921(living room), then splits back down to the basement and a 35' RG6 to the 811(bedroom).
The antenna is a LD UHF with pre-amp. I'm 53 miles from the towers. The signal strengths are 110-125, and I get KTVI, KMOV, KDNL, KSDK, KPLR.
The antenna cost $64.00 and the pre-amp cost $34.00. (no signals received without the pre-amp at my distance)
Be certain to probe the signals. According to antennaweb, my antenna should be pointed 2°-6°. The best direction ended up being 46°.
If any of the local DT's switch back to VHF, I'll have to either add or change the antenna at that time.
If you'd like more info, drop me a note.

The only negative is that I have a two-story house so it's going to be pretty high up there.

It's good and bad. Since the higher the antenna the better the signal. Be Careful up there.

While you're up there, put it on a rotor and have fun picking up Springfield HD and others. :)

It's good and bad. Since the higher the antenna the better the signal. Be Careful up there.

My front yard is in a valley and the back yard is near the peak of a hill. The house is about midway up the slope. I confirmed that the roof clears the peak and the 10' mast should help but I am hopeful the two houses at the top of the hill behind me don't block my reception. It's a very hilly part of Wildwood. Beautiful, beautiful area but hellish on reception. My fingers are crossed. If it fails I will have to bite the bullet and get Charter HD.

I' also interested. I have a twin attic antenna, but still have some reception problems & would like to move to rooftop.

Not to be disrespectful, but have you checked out your directions with a compass? I felt very confident about my “directional abilities” but found after experiencing drop-outs and failure to lock on at all that my original pointing was almost 100 degrees off. Going up in the attic with my $3 Wal-Mart compass made all the difference. I’m now 90%+ Hi-Def Bliss across the board!

Not to be disrespectful, but have you checked out your directions with a compass? I felt very confident about my “directional abilities” but found after experiencing drop-outs and failure to lock on at all that my original pointing was almost 100 degrees off. Going up in the attic with my $3 Wal-Mart compass made all the difference. I’m now 90%+ Hi-Def Bliss across the board!

Yes it's all been done. I'm just limited by having the antenna inside the house.

Yes it's all been done. I'm just limited by having the antenna inside the house.

Step carefully and gently!

Thanks to all for the good info and quick responses. I need to check the direction with a compass. Also, I think that where I have the antenna in the attic is to close to the outside chimney. I will try a few tweeks first before I go outside.
With that said, how did you guys ground the antenna, i.e. what else would I need to buy. Thanks again.

Doug, I have a buddy who wants the Silver Sensor, too since I've shown him how great mine is., but we can't find it anywhere.

If you find it someplace, be sure to post it!

jdurbin,
Where have you found a dvi mechanical switcher for $40?

Since the discussion is centering on antenna installation, I'm doing pretty well with my indoor powered Radio Shack antenna. I getting all the digital locals, including 46-1. Digital 2, 4 and 5 breakup a bit more than the others, depending on the weather, and other factors as well. I also have the horror of close air traffic, which I'm sure nothing can protect against, short of moving. I've tried some smaller antennas by Wineguard and Terk on my roof, but I've always gotten better reception with my indoor setup. If I go with a larger, better rooftop setup, should I expect that I'll have a more reliable signal on all channels(I know the planes will always knock the signal out briefly)? I'm just wondering if I can improve the weather related drops, or multipath.

Ok, since everyone else is complaining about Charter, here's mine.

A year or so ago my Dish contract was running out, so I decided to go the whole route and get Charter, with a couple Premium channels HD and a Moxie box. I was even going to go with the High Speed Internet too.

I called and talked to someone and they immediately wanted to know my address. I live in a 30 year old subdivision, and I am bracketed on each side of my hose with Charter subscribers. She asked if there was cable run to this house and it had not. The Woman who owned the house before us was an antenna only TV watcher.

The Charter rep. said they would have to do a check and see when I could get a cable run to my house. She came back after a couple minutes and said, No you can't get cable in that part of town. I then told her that my Neighbors who's homes are about 10 feet away on either side of me have cable, and that I wanted to talk to a Supervisor. She hung up.

So I'm still with Dish, but I can't get a clear shot to the High Def Sattelite!! I would really like to see some High Def on my 51" screen.

Within the last several months I get a weekly mail ad from Charter to try and get my business. Should I try again?

I'm getting an intermittent buzzing noise on various channels on the TV that is connected to the MoxiMate. Has this been a problem of the MoxiMate? Can it be resolved without calling Charter?

jdurbin,
Where have you found a dvi mechanical switcher for $40?

Since the discussion is centering on antenna installation, I'm doing pretty well with my indoor powered Radio Shack antenna. I getting all the digital locals, including 46-1. Digital 2, 4 and 5 breakup a bit more than the others, depending on the weather, and other factors as well. I also have the horror of close air traffic, which I'm sure nothing can protect against, short of moving. I've tried some smaller antennas by Wineguard and Terk on my roof, but I've always gotten better reception with my indoor setup. If I go with a larger, better rooftop setup, should I expect that I'll have a more reliable signal on all channels(I know the planes will always knock the signal out briefly)? I'm just wondering if I can improve the weather related drops, or multipath.

Don't know for sure, but I was having lots of breakups with an indoor antenna (Silver Sensor). It was a real hit and miss situation, until I went with a rooftop antenna on a tall pole. I live in south St. Louis, not too far from the Mississippi, so I'm fairly low. With my current antenna, I'm getting good reception on all the locals, including UPN. I helped my brother-in-law install a rooftop antenna on his home in Hazelwood (or Florissant?), where his analog reception is really bad. He picks up all the stations now, too. Same for a friend in Normandy.

TitanTV lists tonight's Blues game on KPLR as HD.

jdurbin,
Where have you found a dvi mechanical switcher for $40?

Since the discussion is centering on antenna installation, I'm doing pretty well with my indoor powered Radio Shack antenna. I getting all the digital locals, including 46-1. Digital 2, 4 and 5 breakup a bit more than the others, depending on the weather, and other factors as well. I also have the horror of close air traffic, which I'm sure nothing can protect against, short of moving. I've tried some smaller antennas by Wineguard and Terk on my roof, but I've always gotten better reception with my indoor setup. If I go with a larger, better rooftop setup, should I expect that I'll have a more reliable signal on all channels(I know the planes will always knock the signal out briefly)? I'm just wondering if I can improve the weather related drops, or multipath.

I'll find the post and link to it later today. I need to run to Radio Shack.

Does anyone know how to connect RG6 to the transformer on the antenna? I thought I would screw an F-connector to the antenna but it has a black plastic transformer on it and it looks like I slide bare (connector-less) RG6 into the bottom of it. How do I make sure my cable stays in contact with the bare metal inside the plastic transformer? Do I strip down the RG6 so there is 1/2" of metal showing before I slide it in? How about black electrical tape holding the RG6 to the transformer where it slides into the whole.

I got my antenna from antennas direct and I like it but their instructions are minimal at best.

Thanks!

Edit: Got it installed. Now to see if I have signal. After this pain in the butt project, I hope I do.

Here's the inexpensive HDMI-DVI switch thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=569022

TitanTV lists tonight's Blues game on KPLR as HD.

Thanks for the information. The games shown on KPLR in SD seem to suffer from poor pq so far.

What a friggin' day of frustration! I finally got the antenna mounted, with a big thank you to the owner of Antennas Direct, but I cannot get a signal. I am pointed in the generally correct direction but with a multi-directional I shouldn't have to be that concerned with nailing it spot on, should I?

It looks like the neighbors have a dish and an OTA antenna. I should see if they get any reception. I have a lot more altitude than they do. If they can get a signal then I should be able to.

I think I'll do my AVIA so I can mark at least one thing of my to-do list!

When I dial to my HD signals, do I use 30.1 for ABC or 31? I tried it both ways but no luck.

jd,

I've worked for a couple of clients out in St. Albans, and one was able to get OTA digital signals (Bordeaux Circle) and the other closer to the golf course (Moores Way) wasn't.

I don't know if this is helpful or not, but even the customer on Bordeaux Circle (much better elevation) required two antennas, as one of the channels required different positioning. That may have been specific to the type of antenna being used, and I can't recall at the moment what those were.

It might be worth checking for the non-digital UHF stations, such as analog 30 to see whether you're getting any signal at all. The analog channels will degrade gracefully in terms of signal capture, whereas the digital stations are subject to the "cliff effect" so it will be harder to tune/position if you're just using the digital channels as your target.

Joe,

Thanks for the offer on the Silver Sensor loan. I may take you up on that and may try to give you a call on Wednesday, depending on what time my appointment finishes up.

Winston, if I come across a local source for the SS antenna, I'll post it here and will also update the information on the first page here.

But for now, I'm still looking...

Thinking of making my own set of component cables 25ft. Wondering if anyone out there would have the Canare tools needed to do this that would be gracious enough to let me borrow them? PM me if so.
Looking to use canare LV-77s or V3-5CFB, or maybe even Belden 1694a and the canare RCAs. I am thinking of using the LV-77s due to its high flexibility. Thanks for any help.

Interesting experience last night.

I was having my leaky roof replaced yesterday. Roofers took down my antenna to replace the roof shingles under it. It got dark before they could get done and they told me sorry, gotta come back tomorrow to finish the job. They left my antenna just lying on the roof, unmounted.

The HD Tivo could not pick up any OTA at all last night. But the FusionHDTV card in my PC still picked up every local OTA HD channel fine and dandy.

When they finished the roof today they put the antenna back up and my local reception on the Tivo is back, though 46-1 is pixellating like crazy.

Man, that OTA tuner in the Tivo sure is finicky.

And BTW..... now that the warranty on the standard DirecTivo in the spare bedroom is over, I decided it's time to hack it. My first attempt at hacking a Tivo from scratch (installing a pre-Tivo-formatted 300gb drive into the HD Tivo a few months back doesn't count) was a complete success! The Hughes SD-DVR40 is now an SD-DVR250, complete with a system information screen showing capacity of "variable, up to 220 hours." Woo hoo!

Robert,

My experience with various set-top boxes is that they're getting progressively better at receiving OTA in difficult circumstances.

I had one of the earliest HD tuners -- the Panasonic DT-50 -- back in 1999, and it was extremely finicky, though this was used near downtown San Francisco (south of Market) with lots of buildings between me and the transmission tower. There's just one tower there, but especially early on OTA reception could be very hit and miss.

The RCA DTC-100 was significantly better there, but when I used it here in St. Louis, I had lots of problems with KSDK. A Hughes E-86 was slightly better but not a lot, but I think that was partly due to the fact that it was used and there was probably some cumulative damage from poor ventilation. The HD-TiVo has been a big improvement for me over all the others, though I still have very, very occasional problems with KSDK (minor breakups a couple times per month) related to multipath.

But other than that the TiVo has gotten great reception for me.

How old is your FusionHDTV card? I've heard that there are some major enhancements in the 8-VSB tuner chipsets in the past 12 months. Maybe you're seeing the benefits of that.

The customer for whom I'm trying to find a Silver Sensor has one of the new DirecTV-branded tuners. I don't think this is an MPEG-4 model (I haven't seen anything to indicate they're out yet), but I suspect that it does have the latest VSB tuner chips. That's another reason that I'm eager to locate a SS, as I'm curious to see how it works with the newest boxes.

Hey Doug,

I think the FusionHDTV3 has been around a year or so? It has VERY recently been replaced by the FusionHDTV5.

Before I got my HD Tivo, I had a first generation Sony HD-100 and a Hughes HTL-HD. They both had better OTA reception than the HD Tivo, at least in my neck of the woods. For that matter the Sony also had smoother and sharper PQ than the Tivo or the HTL-HD. But the Sony's tendency to spontaneously reboot every few days made me happy to get rid of it anyway.

jdurbin,
Thanks for the link. I'll check it out...

SO, was the Blues game HD? (Again, antenna still disconnected.)



The customer for whom I'm trying to find a Silver Sensor has one of the new DirecTV-branded tuners. I don't think this is an MPEG-4 model (I haven't seen anything to indicate they're out yet), but I suspect that it does have the latest VSB tuner chips. That's another reason that I'm eager to locate a SS, as I'm curious to see how it works with the newest boxes.

It's the MPEG-4 model (H20), which IS now available in Detroit :), that's supposed to have the latest 5th generation chipset in it -- unless that's not until LG starts making some D* receivers. :confused: But the "current" HD model (H10) doesn't have the latest tuner tech., as far as I know. I'm not sure how people say it compares to the HD-TiVo...

Does charter have any Hd boxes with hdmi ? My HD box from charter has DVI but a friend of mine needs to know for sure.

Does charter have any Hd boxes with hdmi ? My HD box from charter has DVI but a friend of mine needs to know for sure.


Ice024,

Far as I am aware, all cable boxes that we have do not have a HDMI port. The HD boxes and MOXI (disabled right now) have a DVI port.


Mark

Dr. Pepper,

Thanks for the additional info on the enhanced tuners.

Gotta say, though, it is oddly ironic that the MPEG-4 boxes would include better tuner technology when their main immediate purpose is satellite delivery of HD locals...probaby just a coincidence and not that big a deal, considering the most customers would probably prefer not to mess around with an antenna if there's an alternative.

Nice to know, though, that the better OTA tuner technology is there for those of us who will choose not to subscribe to satellite HD locals.

BTW, all you horror fans who have Showtime will want to catch their new series "Masters of Horror." It's famous (or infamous) horror movie directors doing shorter, one hour films. Caught the first episode and it looks like it has potential. And it *is* in HD.

I just noticed the game today was on CBS. The only time this year that the Rams have been on CBS the game was not in HD.

Please tell me this game will be in HD!

SO, was the Blues game HD? (Again, antenna still disconnected.)

The 1st period wasn't. I moved downstairs for the rest of the game and didn't check again. I did hear a brief comment by Ferderko about how watching hockey in HD was so great...so maybe the game was "supposed" to be in HD, but I didn't notice it.

I had the entire Rams game in HD OTA.
Only 1 or 2 dropouts.

Excellent picture

I flipped during the first period and it was letterboxed...

About the Rams on CBS today.....

My audio receiver was telling me that it was Dolby Digital EX and that it was sending info to all six speakers and the sub. But, all I was hearing was the sub and the cneter, right and left channels.

This is my first CBS football HD game..... what am I missing (if anything?)

Check out the Vanpire Bat movie on 4-01. Real goofy audio that only contains music and effects. I cannot hear any dialog at all. It appears as if the Rear L + R channels are comming from the front two speakers. Nothing else.

Commercials & local cut-ins are fine. Only the movie is affected. Analog 4-0 audio is OK. Only 4-1 affected.

On the CBS Vampire movie. I am not getting anything at all. I was watching OTA with a Dish 811 receiver. All of the other OTA channels are good. Yes real goofy.

Check out the Vanpire Bat movie on 4-01. Real goofy audio that only contains music and effects. I cannot hear any dialog at all. It appears as if the Rear L + R channels are comming from the front two speakers. Nothing else.

Commercials & local cut-ins are fine. Only the movie is affected. Analog 4-0 audio is OK. Only 4-1 affected.I noticed the exact same thing.

KMOV and KSDK have digital audio for their HD stations so screwed up now it's pathetic. I'm now barely even watching them anymore.

Dean

Good to hear about the Blues game. :) Hopefully I'll be all set for the next one...


Nice to know, though, that the better OTA tuner technology is there for those of us who will choose not to subscribe to satellite HD locals.

Everything I've seen says that HD locals will be included with "regular" locals.

Are you able to remove locals now and get a credit? Somebody on the forum mentioned a $3 credit last month. :confused: I know they used to be a separate charge ($4.99) at first.


About the Rams on CBS today.....

My audio receiver was telling me that it was Dolby Digital EX and that it was sending info to all six speakers and the sub. But, all I was hearing was the sub and the cneter, right and left channels.

Just curious, do some broadcasts (of any kind) actually have DD EX sound? Or do you just mean your processor is doing EX processing, always? :)


And has been said... I've yet to here any sound from the surrounds with channel 4, even when the signal indicators are always there. The surround info. seems to still be matrixed into the mains since it comes back when using Pro Logic/II with the stereo downmix. So, I have to decide between having surround or LFE (which gets lost in the downmix). :mad: I choose no surround. :(

And has been said... I've yet to here any sound from the surrounds with channel 4, even when the signal indicators are always there. The surround info. seems to still be matrixed into the mains since it comes back when using Pro Logic/II with the stereo downmix. So, I have to decide between having surround or LFE (which gets lost in the downmix). :mad: I choose no surround. :(

For me things are even worse on KMOV-DT and KSDK-DT. I have my processor set to PLIIx (7.1) for everything. But on KMOV and KSDK I get no center channel doing that. So when I set my procesor to just plain ol' DD it comes across as DD 3.0. I wish they'd fix it because I don't want to set my procesor to auto mode, but I also don't want to end up forgetting to set it back from DD to PLIIx after watching these 2 stations.

Vampire Bat last night was an exception. I got no dialog regardless of how I set my processor.

I really don't understand why they can't just get it right.

Vampire Bat last night was an exception. I got no dialog regardless of how I set my processor.

I really don't understand why they can't just get it right.

Great. Now I know what to look forward to when I play it back some time this week.... :mad:

Yes, I recorded the cheesy vampire bat movie.

Yes, I also recorded the cheesy lesbian vampire movie on SpikeTV last night.

Yes, I'm aware this shows my need to get a life. :rolleyes:

Great. Now I know what to look forward to when I play it back some time this week.... :mad:

Yes, I recorded the cheesy vampire bat movie.

Yes, I also recorded the cheesy lesbian vampire movie on SpikeTV last night.

Yes, I'm aware this shows my need to get a life. :rolleyes:

I didn't even want to watch the bat movie. I was just flipping channels while waiting to watch WindTunnel on Speed (which is the channel I'd most like to see in HD).

Dean

On my OTA receiver, the Blues game was NOT in HD. I watched it on 11.1 because the picture was so bad on D* 11. It was clear, but it was 4x3. Watched the whole horrid game. Federko was talking about the game against detroit that will be on FSN HD according to them(Bernie and onscreen graphics). I don't know where they are going to broadcast it.
Dug

For anyone who's eager to know more about HD locals via DirecTV, here's a "first look" AVS item about the "test" rollout of MPEG-4 in the Detroit market:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=596513

I'm getting an intermittent buzzing noise on various channels on the TV that is connected to the MoxiMate. Has this been a problem of the MoxiMate? Can it be resolved without calling Charter?

I just started getting this also. Yes very intermittent. I removed the filter and it went away. Now it is back about half the time I turn the MoxiMate on. I think I'll post over at the Moxi forum and see if anyone else is experiencing this.

I had the entire game in HD OTA.
Only 1 or 2 dropouts.

Excellent picture

Sorry if I confused anyone, I was talking about the Rams game...
I've edited the original.

A stupid question perhaps. When you are tuning in your OTA HD signals do you tune to the 30.1 channel or the 31 (in the case of ABC)?

If the weather allows, I am going back up on the roof next weekend to:

a) use a compass to tweak my antenna positioning;
b) install a signal amp;
c) maybe install another 10' mast with guide wires - this is doubtful because I don't want my antenna jutting 20' above my roof.

Next weekend I will be certain to bring heavy gloves so I don't slice open my finger again.

So, if anyone has been following, I made the jump to Charter on the 47.99 deal. Botched install, then the all-digital switch completely killed all my channels (tiling out the rear). I'd called 2 weeks ago, and was told the soonest they could get ANOTHER tech (first tech for the post-digital conversion said an upstream something or other needed replaced on their end), until NOVEMBER 7. My install date was 9/29, and every time I'd talked to a CSR, I was assured that my bill would be adjusted since all I was getting was analog cable. Well, I've gotten my 2ND bill for FULL PRICE yesterday (which also included a $4 charge for some program guide I never requested! :mad: ). The first bill they dismissed saying that they bill a month in advance and that it was setup from the install date.

Regardless, I'm pissed as all get-out, and feel sorry for any CSRs, managers, or retention reps that have to talk to me tonight after work. My ultimate goal will be to get out of the contract without paying the ETF, since they haven't held up any of their side of the 'contract'.

Sorry for venting. I was lamenting giving Charter money from the get-go, and triply so now. But hey, at least i still have 80 channels of analog goodness. :(

I'm stuck back in SD hell becuase I had to unload my HDTV after some job problems.

Anyway, I have Charter and got the full digital conversion 2 weeks ago. When I watch Rams games I usually use KLOU radio for the audio and watch the game. Before the digital conversion there was no delay problem: KLOU and CBS or Fox were in synch.

However after the digital conversion on Charter the TV now runs about 3 or 4 seconds behind. Bummer.

I just wanted to post a last reminder that today is the fnal day to take advantage of the video calibration special I've been running during October.

There are still two appointment slots available for the remainder of this week, but to qualify for the $100 discount, you need to book your appointment for those openings before 9 p.m. this evening (Monday).

I also just wanted to thank everyone who expressed interest in the special offer and for the interesting questions and comments directed my way over the past month.

The 1st period wasn't. I moved downstairs for the rest of the game and didn't check again. I did hear a brief comment by Ferderko about how watching hockey in HD was so great...so maybe the game was "supposed" to be in HD, but I didn't notice it.

The commentators said they were having their first HD telecast on Fox Sports Midwest on an upcoming game. I know Charter does not offer FOXHD in the midwest area. I copied this off Fox's website concering HD broadcast.

http://msn.foxsports.com/story/1528357

I'm interested in purchasing the premium sports packages of MLB, NHL and NFL. Like I mentioned earlier...this is due to my family moving in January.

Anyways, I realize that the NFL package allows you to pay an additional $100 to get HD games. I just checked the MLB Extra Innings and see that last year they had about 1 HD game per night at no additional cost. I see nothing anywhere that the NHL package offers any HD at all.

Questions-

- Can we expect the MLB package to increase their HD contests in the upcoming years? It is my hope that if KPLR/FSMW start showing more and more Cardinals games in HD, that these games will end up on the MLB package as well for us out-of-towners. Am I crazy?

- will the NHL package ever offer HD?


Thanks guys - I just want to be able to watch my beloved sports teams after i've left town.


Bruce

The commentators said they were having their first HD telecast on Fox Sports Midwest on an upcoming game. I know Charter does not offer FOXHD in the midwest area. I copied this off Fox's website concering HD broadcast.

http://msn.foxsports.com/story/1528357

According to the following link there is no FSN Midwest but that the game is on FSN Arizona in HD.

http://msn.foxsports.com/name/HD

Like I've posted before, I was on the cargo elevator at the Savvis center a few weeks ago with some FSN engineers and they said no HD Blues games for FSN Midwest this season.

Anyone else having problems with KDNL-DT? Currently I'm only getting a black screen with 84% signal on my Dish 811. MNF is less than 2 hours away! :eek:

Anyone else having problems with KDNL-DT? Currently I'm only getting a black screen with 84% signal on my Dish 811. MNF is less than 2 hours away! :eek:

6:50 in Creve Coeur, and I pick them up just fine. Good Luck! Getting about 80% on my 811. Try a power cycle of your 811.

Anyone else having problems with KDNL-DT? Currently I'm only getting a black screen with 84% signal on my Dish 811. MNF is less than 2 hours away! :eek:
Fine here...75 on the 811, 100 on the 921. It is about 10 less than normal.

I wasn't able to get it at 6pm. Audio-only.

I'm not getting anything on KDNL. I've got people over at my house just to see the game in HD. This is infuriating!!!

They lose audio whenever they try to switch to HD
Guess MNF will be SD tonight.

Well, OK, I'm watching Prison Break instead.

Sorry for the problem with MNF. We have no audio on the HD feed....will need to stay in SD upconvert. I'm out of town and have been unable to fix over the phone.
Jim

Sorry for the problem with MNF. We have no audio on the HD feed....will need to stay in SD upconvert. I'm out of town and have been unable to fix over the phone.
Jim


So this means we will not see the game in HD at any time throughout the game?

Looks like it is back in HD with 2.0 audio.......THANK YOU.

UPDATE....
ABC has confirmed that the problem was on their end....should be ok for rest of game.
Jim

It returned shortly after my post, just too lazy to come back upstairs and repost. :)

Early Charter Investor Buying Cox Cable Systems

The following story appeared today on the Investor's Business Daily web site:

___________________________________________________

Cox Communications (CXR) will be in focus following a report that cable-TV executive Jerry Kent and a group of investors are set to buy a group of cable systems from the company for $2.5 billion to $3 billion, or the high $2,000 range per subscriber.

The Wall Street Journal cited people familiar with the deal. The investors will buy systems serving about 900,000 subscribers in eight states.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the Journal reported, Kent was a cable-industry pioneer. He sold Charter Communications Inc. at the height of the technology boom in the late 1990s to a Microsoft (MSFT) co-founder, Paul Allen.
___________________________________________________

For more Investor's Business Daily news, go to http://www.investors.com.

Finally a project is completed.

Charter removed the ol' school charter DTV STB from my parent's house. Apparently they were rough with the home theatre gear. The HT receiver wouldn't work after he left.

My parent's are proud new owners of Dish Network. The tech didn't use any of the existing cable in the home. He put the Dish coupler/di-plexer in the same place as the no longer used cable splitter. He also left the Charter wire connected. (Which is hooked up to the computer TV tuner and still pulls the basic cable channels.) They said the tech was efficient and showed up on time. He even programmed all 3 remotes for their equiptment.

Now to fix the receiver (10 year old Kenwood with Pro Logic II decoder). We gutted the system, dusted, and rewired everything for easier access. Put an indoor antenna (PF7) on the Dish 811 which is very close to the ceiling. Ran all the sound through the TV and back to the receiver to help with MTD (Mom's technology disorder.) Then, calaborated the plasma and sound system with AVIA. My dad is ecstatic.

The room looks gorgeous. After planning/construction we have managed to completely remodel the room, build a custom A/V cabinet (for SAT, DVD/VCR, CD player, hidden sub woofer), run all the wires behind the walls, install surround sound in wall speakers (throughout the house), and a wall mounted plasma TV The result is a very clean and comfortable red and white living room.

No prfessionals were used except to install/remove cable and Sat. I'll post pictures as soon as I can get my hands on a digital camera.

Did anyone use there HT equiptment to scare trick or treaters last night?

Finally a project is completed.

The room looks gorgeous. After planning/construction we have managed to completely remodel the room, build a custom A/V cabinet (for SAT, DVD/VCR, CD player, hidden sub woofer), run all the wires behind the walls, install surround sound in wall speakers (throughout the house), and a wall mounted plasma TV The result is a very clean and comfortable red and white living room.

How did you do your cabling? I live in a two-story plus my basement is professionally finished off so I don't want to rip up the ceilings down there to do cable runs.

My former boss in Dallas had his brother (professional AV guy) install and calibrate his home theater and his brother ran cabling through the heating/AC ducts. I thought that was innovative.

We ran their cabling when we had the old drywall down. (The old stuff was pretty messy...they used to have wood paneling in that room.) For the speakers, my parents have a drop ceiling in the basement. We dropped the wires from the speaker location and the receiver down to the basement. In the basement we soldered the ends together and covered with electric tape. To go between floors, your gonna need a long drill bit.

However, we did wire a projector/sound system into my basement which has a drywall ceiling...so I have a little experience there. We ran a 50' DVI-I, 50 component, and 50' S-video cable aboe the ceiling drywall, down the side wall, and along the ground behind the baseboard. Ran 12-2 wire down the otherside of the stud (to avoid electrical signal interference,) and piggy backed to a light swtich. Installed the electrical box and had the video wires come down through the hole for the pj mount. My cousin welded the mount for me.

If you wanna make an omelet, you gotta break some eggs. As far as not ripping the basement, you can buy wire fishing tape or fishing rods at the hardware store (or use a metal coat hanger for short runs.)

Make a 3X3 square hole a the beginning, end, and any turns you need to make. Save and label the pieces. Use the fishing tape to pull the wire through the space. After you have the cable ran, it's easy to patch the drywall. Just a little wood, mud, tape, and 10 minutes a day for 3 days. Patience is key. (Use a wet sponge instead of sand paper.)

If your smart about where you put the holes, you won't even notice. You can walk around at nights with all the lights on, anywhere that doesn't get direct light will hide imperfections in the patchwork.

Be smart about your wire runs, take the path of least resistance. Inside walls avoid insulation. Use gravity whenever possible. Tape the ends of your cables so the connectors don't get damaged. Small wires can be pushed under baseboards with a Flat head screwdriver/butter knife.

The old adage Measure Twice cut once does save a lot of time. Wow...I wrote a lot about nothing...sorry everyone.

I received this from the Consumers Union since I am a long standing member of Consumer Reports. Looks like politics are all over this. I wish I could buy a stock and make some money off this ;)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Don't get stuck paying for digital TV switch
If you don’t own a digital TV set, you may get stuck paying $60 or more for a converter box when the government switches to all-digital TV signals. A Senate bill uses money raised by the sale of airwaves to cover most of your cost for a box, but a House committee bill sticks consumers with most of the tab. Let Congress know consumers shouldn’t foot the bill for the government-mandated digital TV transition.

How did you do your cabling? I live in a two-story plus my basement is professionally finished off so I don't want to rip up the ceilings down there to do cable runs.

My former boss in Dallas had his brother (professional AV guy) install and calibrate his home theater and his brother ran cabling through the heating/AC ducts. I thought that was innovative.

Be careful about running through ducts. Plenum cable should be used ($$$) when running through an air space like that.

It is sometimes possible to run cabling around the room under the baseboard, though most rooms will have doorways that will rule that cheat out.

In a room with finished drywall, you can really only run cabling across the room parallel to the studs. A stud-finder is a tool every household should have.

You can run a wire as shown in the attachment. To finish off the holes at the top of the walls and in the ceiling you have two options. The first is to install a crown moulding to cover the holes. The other option is to dig out a trench in the drywall between the wall hole and ceiling hole, push the cable into the trench, and then patch with drywall mud with a trowel.

If you need to run cabling perpendicular to the joists, then crown moudling around the room can be used as a wiring chase.

What's comical about the note from the Consumer's Union is that there's no real distinction between "consumers" and "taxpayers."

Duh.

Charter Reports $63 Million Profit for 3Q 2005

The following story was featured in today's Evening Bridge market close wrap-up:

_____________________________________________

Charter posted a third quarter profit, reporting income from operations of $63 million for the three-month period, compared to a loss of $2.344 billion for third quarter 2004.

The MSO also said it netted 98,400 high-speed Internet customers, 75,800 digital video customers and 22,100 telephone customers during the three-month period.

_____________________________________________

The MSO also said it netted 98,400 high-speed Internet customers....

Make that 98,399. I just cancelled yesterday morning after a month of satisfaction with DSL (and less than half the price).


For HD topic:

Did anybody else have problems with the beginning of Law & Order SVU on KSDK? I wasn't receiving any signal at all. I'm not sure when exactly it the signal came back.

Just watched CSI Miami from 10/24 last night. Sound was 3.0 with no rear channels. Are KMOV and KSDK in a contest to see who can annoy the most people?

Are KMOV and KSDK in a contest to see who can annoy the most people?Yes, I've always thought so. After all, that seems to be the whole point of doing local TV news... ;)

DirecTV to Add Live Music in HD in January

The following item appeared as a news brief in today's SkyREPORT newsletter:
_____________________________________________

DirecTV said it will debut a music programming offering - CD USA - in January.

Every week, CD USA will feature up to seven live performances from the CD USA stages, including Sean Paul, Pretty Ricky, the Goo Goo Dolls, Ben Harper, Leela James, Dwele, Death Cab for Cutie, KT Turnstall, Twista and Marlene.

The show will broadcast on "The 101" (DirecTV channel 101 and in high-def on channel 401).
_____________________________________________

Anyone know if tonights Blues game that's scheduled on Ch11 is in HD?

I've searched their website and they have the game listed but no indication on HD.

I have not watched one single game this year and I figured that if tonights game with the Blackhawks is in HD I'd give it a chance. If not then I'm probably watching something else that is.

If not then KPLR is really missing the boat if they can't produce a Blues/Blawkhawks home game in HD.

It's not HD. Won't be at all. Your only shot to see Blues in HD was the Home Opener and that was Black Outed on HD NET. Not only that but tune in right before 7pm. You will notice how nice everything looks until 7pm when they switch to the game. Picture is ugly to say the least. Very snowy. I cant figure out why the picture is sooooo bad. And yes this is on the Channel 11 HD channel.

Just watched CSI Miami from 10/24 last night. Sound was 3.0 with no rear channels. Are KMOV and KSDK in a contest to see who can annoy the most people?

I very politely informed KMOV, via e-mail, regarding their total audio failure Sunday evening.......just to let them know and to see if they were even aware of the issue.

I received a rather curt reply stating that I should call their office with such "questions" in the future. A phone number was provided along with a schedule, which was M-F business hours only. I guess if things fail on weekends, your are SOL.

It's good to see that they really care.

I very politely informed KMOV, via e-mail, regarding their total audio failure Sunday evening.......just to let them know and to see if they were even aware of the issue.

I received a rather curt reply stating that I should call their office with such "questions" in the future. A phone number was provided along with a schedule, which was M-F business hours only. I guess if things fail on weekends, your are SOL.

It's good to see that they really care.

I emailed Walt Nichol (see 1st post of this thread) about ongoing audio bitstream issues. While he has not duplicated the problems I've had in the past, he seems eager to resolve technical problems and acknowledged some known recet problems (like the Vampire Bat thing). So not everyone at KMOV is unwilling to help.

Dean

It's not HD. Won't be at all. Your only shot to see Blues in HD was the Home Opener and that was Black Outed on HD NET. Not only that but tune in right before 7pm. You will notice how nice everything looks until 7pm when they switch to the game. Picture is ugly to say the least. Very snowy. I cant figure out why the picture is sooooo bad. And yes this is on the Channel 11 HD channel.

I agree that Channel 11 has bad picture quality on Blues games. HDNET has the Blues on a couple more times but it'll likely be blacked out here locally. Hopefully Fox Sports Midwest will start carring a HD channel down the road for Blues/Cardinal games.

Charter Reports $63 Million Profit for 3Q 2005

The following story was featured in today's Evening Bridge market close wrap-up:

_____________________________________________

Charter posted a third quarter profit, reporting income from operations of $63 million for the three-month period, compared to a loss of $2.344 billion for third quarter 2004.

The MSO also said it netted 98,400 high-speed Internet customers, 75,800 digital video customers and 22,100 telephone customers during the three-month period.

_____________________________________________

This story is very misleading. Charter did not report a profit. They are still losing
a lot of money. Although their sales are up, their costs are up even more. The so-called "profit" was before debt service on their 19+ billion debt and other charges.

I just got off the phone with Charter. Evidently, the $47.99 deal is over. He stated that they should have another good deal in the next couple of weeks and to call back then.

Well the broadcast flag issue is rearing its head in congress now.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9897065/

Also talks about the analog hole being plugged. Check it out.

I wonder if that HD "CD Live" channel on DirecTV 401 will require those new MPEG-4 receivers?

It's not HD. Won't be at all. Your only shot to see Blues in HD was the Home Opener and that was Black Outed on HD NET. Not only that but tune in right before 7pm. You will notice how nice everything looks until 7pm when they switch to the game. Picture is ugly to say the least. Very snowy. I cant figure out why the picture is sooooo bad. And yes this is on the Channel 11 HD channel.


UGGGHHH!!!

You're absolutely right. I'm watching 11-1 OTA and the picture is horrible and the sound is all crackly and sounds like a high school basketball game on the radio.

I used to be a pretty avid fan before the lockout, knew where they were in the standings, would watch the game if not doing anything important at the time and try to make it to the Savis 1-2 times a year. Hoping that if it was in HD I would at least pay attention, but it's not and now I could care less to watch that garbage, both the picture and action on the ice. So much for the 'new' NHL.

UGGGHHH!!!

You're absolutely right. I'm watching 11-1 OTA and the picture is horrible and the sound is all crackly and sounds like a high school basketball game on the radio.

I used to be a pretty avid fan before the lockout, knew where they were in the standings, would watch the game if not doing anything important at the time and try to make it to the Savis 1-2 times a year. Hoping that if it was in HD I would at least pay attention, but it's not and now I could care less to watch that garbage, both the picture and action on the ice. So much for the 'new' NHL.

Odd. It even looks snowy and pixelated on analog 11. I wonder what's up? KPLR did such nice work at the HD Cardinal games. This must be something beyond their control.

We thought the Blues picture quality on 11-1 Saturday night was excellent. Not HD, but very good. Tonight, I agree, is terrible. I wonder if it has something to do with broadcasting from Savvis tonight, and on the road Saturday?

I'm puzzled by the poor quality of the Blues games too. KPLR has broadcast Blues games for many years and the quality was never this bad. Has anyone emailed KPLR about this, and more importantly, received a response?

FYI: Local media person Andy Strickland has reported that the sale of the Blues to Dave Checkett's group should be completed by January. Hopefully the new owners will straighten everything out.

I'm puzzled by the poor quality of the Blues games too. KPLR has broadcast Blues games for many years and the quality was never this bad. Has anyone emailed KPLR about this, and more importantly, received a response?



I just shot an email off to technical@wb11tv.com and gave them a link here. I asked many other questions about HD and PQ. I will post if I get anything.

What's comical about the note from the Consumer's Union is that there's no real distinction between "consumers" and "taxpayers."

Duh.
They're all a bunch of leftist freaks. That's the only reason I don't subscribe to Consumer Reports.

Be careful about running through ducts. Plenum cable should be used ($$$) when running through an air space like that.

It is sometimes possible to run cabling around the room under the baseboard, though most rooms will have doorways that will rule that cheat out.

In a room with finished drywall, you can really only run cabling across the room parallel to the studs. A stud-finder is a tool every household should have.

You can run a wire as shown in the attachment. To finish off the holes at the top of the walls and in the ceiling you have two options. The first is to install a crown moulding to cover the holes. The other option is to dig out a trench in the drywall between the wall hole and ceiling hole, push the cable into the trench, and then patch with drywall mud with a trowel.

If you need to run cabling perpendicular to the joists, then crown moudling around the room can be used as a wiring chase.

Thank you guys for the comments! My living room (which I use as my study) shares a wall with my family room, which is where the AV equipment is located. It would be easy to bring cabling through the wall. The study has crown molding for a wiring chase as you suggest. I could cross the 2-story entryway by running the cable across the small ledge above the front door. I forget if the dining room has crown molding but if it doesn't I can certainly add some. Dropping the speaker wire 12" or so to in-wall speakers would be easy and would allow me to use my dining room as Zone 2 for my AV system. That would be nice!

They're all a bunch of leftist freaks. That's the only reason I don't subscribe to Consumer Reports.

Careful, one of the freaks will report you. :eek:

Scott

Anyone else watch Supernatural on KPLR 11, and have double images or ghost images if you will?

Scott

Anyone else watch Supernatural on KPLR 11, and have double images or ghost images if you will?


I'm assuming you mean ghosts that aren't intended to be part of the plot? :D

This week's episode was a repeat of episode 3, so I'm sorry I didn't watch. Didn't notice any problems with the previous few episodes.

Supernatural is easily my favorite of this season's new shows. It's everything the new Night Stalker should have been.

Anyone else watch Supernatural on KPLR 11, and have double images or ghost images if you will?

Well, the show IS called Supernatural :rolleyes: I'm sorry. I couldn't resist. (EDIT: DOH!! Robert beat me to it. I got caught up in my Blues rant.)

On another (Blue)note, I'm anxious to hear what KPLR has to say about their broadcasts from Savvis. I'm equally anxious to run the Lauries out of town on a rail for letting this franchise sink to the bottom of the toilet. Think of the team we COULD have had if they had even been marginally active in the free agent market. Plus, the new owners wouldn't have so much damge control when they take over. How long will it take this franchise to get back to being competitive?

(Yeah, I know there are injuries, but when was the last time you could say that the Blues were in DEAD, LAST PLACE?)

They're all a bunch of leftist freaks. That's the only reason I don't subscribe to Consumer Reports.

I subscribe for the reliably ratings based on surveys of the thousands of subscribers and no advertising influence from manufacturers. I have been highly satisfied with purchases based on these ratings over the years.

The editorials they started a few years ago do annoy me. They definitely have an east-coast urban influence. I just ignore these.

This is also why I no longer subscribe to the paper magazine but do subscribe to the web site. This way I can search for the ratings and ignore the editorials. I also save storage space by not keeping years of magazines!

I'm going to help a friend of mine with his rooftop antenna this weekend. I've never msesed with it on my house, I'm using a Silver Sensor and I'm moderately pleased.

Anyway, he has to run new cabling from his antenna as well as use hte compass and all that good stuff.

What type of cablilng should he buy? From the antenna to the family room in the basement. What type should he buy and where?