DVI works fine with my Charter Motorola 6200.

Yup the DVI port is sending down 1080 just fine.

DVI works fine with my Charter Motorola 6200.

Sorry for the confusion...I meant all Charter "DVR" HD boxes...

The leader in HD screwed up the SNL start. The audio started at 10:30 with the official network feed over the audio of the local news. Talk about confusing...trying to listen to the weather with Alec Baldwin dying in the background!

When will they get this right? It's been bothched differently every week? Must be when the trainees are piloting the ship :)

When will they get this right? It's been bothched differently every week? Must be when the trainees are piloting the ship :)When kSDk realizes that hiring typewriter repair school flunkees isn't going to get the job done?

Cablevision Systems Corp. is launching a ground-breaking technical trial Monday in which its subscribers will record TV shows and movies on servers on its network rather than on set-top boxes in their homes.

By shifting the recording to storage devices at its equipment headends, Cablevision will not have to invest in set-tops with hard drives for customers who want to record programs. Instead, every digital set-top automatically becomes a digital recorder.

Story here: http://heh.pl/&2MZ

Now what happens when the connection is down?

MYNAMEHERE:

The DVI port on my MOXI has been active for around 3 months. I don't see any noticable difference in picture clarity between the DVI and component, but the changing of channels sure is slower on the DVI side!

Maybe the CableVision idea will work out, but I think it ultimately falls into the category of "Just Because Something is Technically Possible Doesn't Mean It's a Good Idea."

The bigger problem I have with this is that it feels like a fight for control -- viewers vs. networks, distributors, advertisers (in short, everybody else in the TV industry).

I wonder if this is the reason why Directv decided to remover their skip forward feature from their new DVR.

Excerpt from story:
DALLAS (AP) -- In a case beginning this week, a Texas jury will be asked to decide whether satellite-TV giant EchoStar Communications Corp. stole TiVo Inc.'s technology that lets viewers skip the commercials.
The trial is scheduled to start Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Marshall, 150 miles east of Dallas. It is expected to last about two weeks.
If TiVo wins, it could sue cable companies that offer other set-top boxes or at least force them to pay licensing fees. Defeat probably would relegate TiVo to a niche place in the market it created, analysts say.
TiVo produced a stand-alone digital video recorder, or DVR, in 1997 and changed the way Americans watch television. It now has more than 4 million subscribers, but TiVo's growth slowed as EchoStar and cable companies offered other DVRs, usually at lower prices....

Link:
http://washingtontimes.com/business/20060326-092757-5514r.htm

Maybe the CableVision idea will work out, but I think it ultimately falls into the category of "Just Because Something is Technically Possible Doesn't Mean It's a Good Idea."

The bigger problem I have with this is that it feels like a fight for control -- viewers vs. networks, distributors, advertisers (in short, everybody else in the TV industry).


I would anticipate that the Cable Company will then be selling storage capacity. So
instead of a DVR subscriber, you will be a Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3 DVR Subscriber.

Just watch, these people will be charged more.

I would anticipate that the Cable Company will then be selling storage capacity. So
instead of a DVR subscriber, you will be a Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3 DVR Subscriber.

Just watch, these people will be charged more.


If this idea takes off, it will be time to buy stock in EMC....

If this idea takes off, it will be time to buy stock in EMC....


YEP!

Actually, they could just have one recording of every show and if a user wants it recorded, it
is just a link in their profile. All this is, is a glorified VOD service. So the storage is really not
increasing and if the company guarentees that you will never lose "your recordings" they
just have to back up the profile that is created for each user. Then once ever user has no
link for a particular show, it is wiped clean.

I would definitely give the attic a shot. When I bought my house there was an antenna already installed in the attic. I assumed it wouldn't work, but when I ran the RG6, that sucker pulled in far better signals than my Silver Sensor indoor antenna could do.

I would think that putting mine on the roof would be even better, but it doesn't seem to be needed.

Give it a shot; what's the worst that can happen? You blow a Saturday? =]


Well I gave it a shot. I tried to install the CM 4221 this weekend. I couldn't get a signal in the attic or on the roof. The only station I could bring in was the analog channel 30. I was running a direct RG6 cable from the antenna to my Mits 825. I guess I am going to have to have a professional come and try to install. I installed my own D* dish and have 90+ signal coming from that so I figured that the antenna would be similar. Guess not. :)

Did anyone else try to install their own OTA antenna with success?

Did anyone else try to install their own OTA antenna with success?

Yes, and yes.

Well I gave it a shot. I tried to install the CM 4221 this weekend. I couldn't get a signal in the attic or on the roof. The only station I could bring in was the analog channel 30. I was running a direct RG6 cable from the antenna to my Mits 825. I guess I am going to have to have a professional come and try to install. I installed my own D* dish and have 90+ signal coming from that so I figured that the antenna would be similar. Guess not. :)

Did anyone else try to install their own OTA antenna with success?

Try this: http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/fixes.html

You need to walk the roof to find the best spot. Did you use a compass for the degrees?

Try this: http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/fixes.html

Ypu need to walk the roof to find the best spot. Did you use a compass for the degrees?


I walked the roof but not with a compass. I was up there for awhile trying different spots.

Well I gave it a shot. I tried to install the CM 4221 this weekend. I couldn't get a signal in the attic or on the roof. The only station I could bring in was the analog channel 30. I was running a direct RG6 cable from the antenna to my Mits 825. I guess I am going to have to have a professional come and try to install. I installed my own D* dish and have 90+ signal coming from that so I figured that the antenna would be similar. Guess not. :)

Did anyone else try to install their own OTA antenna with success?

Yes, I've done it at 8 different houses now (4 of my own, my parents, my brother's 2x, and inlaws). It shouldn't be that hard, much easier than a dish install. Are you sure that the 4221 is pointed the correct direction? The metal grid/mesh points away from the towers, while the crossing bowtie things point toward the towers.

Also, make sure your digital receiver is looking for digital channels. I know that when I setup my Dad's Sony last week, I had to scan for all of the channels first, it wouldn't let me directly input 56-1, 31-1, etc... That would be a 2nd thing to check, make sure you are entering the channels correctly. KMOV-DT is actually UHF channel 56-1, not 4-1 (that it will remap to after the receiver adds it).

edit:

PS. Did you try connecting the antenna and locking in the digital stations with the antenna indoors, standing next to your HDTV? You should be able to get good strong signals even indoors with the 4221, plus it gives you a better idea of which direction to ultimately point it after you have it installed on the mast. I was able to do this with the 4221 in O'Fallon at my Dad's house, which is ~32miles from the towers.

Being on the roof with a cell phone talking with someone inside makes it much easier. It takes a few seconds to try a lock before changing the position. Try tilting it up just a tad of 2-4 degrees.

Edit: The compass comes in handy. You need to add all the station degrees up (from antennaweb)and shoot for the middle number. That gives you a starting point. Once that is done you should be able to fine tune it from there.

Yes, I've done it at 8 different houses now (4 of my own, my parents, my brother's 2x, and inlaws). It shouldn't be that hard, much easier than a dish install. Are you sure that the 4221 is pointed the correct direction? The metal grid/mesh points away from the towers, while the crossing bowtie things point toward the towers.

Also, make sure your digital receiver is looking for digital channels. I know that when I setup my Dad's Sony last week, I had to scan for all of the channels first, it wouldn't let me directly input 56-1, 31-1, etc... That would be a 2nd thing to check, make sure you are entering the channels correctly. KMOV-DT is actually UHF channel 56-1, not 4-1 (that it will remap to after the receiver adds it).


I did have the antenna pointed in the correct direction. I thought it could have something to do with the TV not recoginizing the digital signal but I couldn't find anything in the TV users manual about it. When you say (56-1, 31-1) what is the -1? I was trying channel 31,56 ect.

When you say (56-1, 31-1) what is the -1? I was trying channel 31,56 ect.

The -1 refers to the digital channel. I know every HDTV and receiver that I've used, requires adding the -1 or .1 after the UHF channel number in order for it to know that you're wanting the digital station to tune in.

Try 56-1, 35-1, 31-1, 43-1, etc... that may have been the problem.

The -1 refers to the digital channel. I know every HDTV and receiver that I've used, requires adding the -1 or .1 after the UHF channel number in order for it to know that you're wanting the digital station to tune in.

Try 56-1, 35-1, 31-1, 43-1, etc... that may have been the problem.


Thanks. I will try that. It is killing me not having the HD.

Thanks. I will try that. It is killing me not having the HD.


Sorry now that I read this post I re read your original post. It sounds like you are
plugged into your analog RF input. What type of TV do you have?

Which session was it for, the noon to 3 or the 5-8 one?
2 extra for either session. I sent you a PM yesterday :)

Sorry now that I read this post I re read your original post. It sounds like you are
plugged into your analog RF input. What type of TV do you have?

I have the Mits 825. http://www.mitsubishi-tv.com/televisions/details.asp?id=40


Edit:

Here are the specs.

http://www.mitsubishi-tv.com/common/getfile.asp?uuid={7C408228-DCDE-438D-AC7E-A084F2C0401F}

I have the Mits 825. http://www.mitsubishi-tv.com/televisions/details.asp?id=40


Edit:

Here are the specs.

http://www.mitsubishi-tv.com/common/getfile.asp?uuid={7C408228-DCDE-438D-AC7E-A084F2C0401F}



I have a XX725 series. I had to go through the setup and scan the channels. I could not manually punch them in.

I have a XX725 series. I had to go through the setup and scan the channels. I could not manually punch them in.


Mo told me to try that too. I am going to give it a shot tonight. Thanks.

gdoublev,

Make sure to connect the coax to the DTV antenna input. Also, Jon gave great advice to stand in front of the tv with the antenna connected, go into the set up of your tv and do a auto channel scan to lock in the channels. While you are standing in front of the TV you can move the antenna and easily see what direction it needs to face.

Scott

2 extra for either session. I sent you a PM yesterday :)
Gone!

Cablevision Systems Corp. is launching a ground-breaking technical trial Monday in which its subscribers will record TV shows and movies on servers on its network rather than on set-top boxes in their homes.

By shifting the recording to storage devices at its equipment headends, Cablevision will not have to invest in set-tops with hard drives for customers who want to record programs. Instead, every digital set-top automatically becomes a digital recorder.

Story here: http://heh.pl/&2MZ

Now what happens when the connection is down?

Obvious answer: You'll really have NOTHING to watch!

But seriously, this might a good way to resolve the bandwidth crunch. Instaed of trying to ram 500 channels down a skinny pipe to every connected set, simply keep all programs at the server and then send the viewer only whatever he/she wishes to see. Easier said than done, but an interesting concept.

Good luck making that fly.

Obvious answer: You'll really have NOTHING to watch!

But seriously, this might a good way to resolve the bandwidth crunch. Instaed of trying to ram 500 channels down a skinny pipe to every connected set, simply keep all programs at the server and then send the viewer only whatever he/she wishes to see. Easier said than done, but an interesting concept.

Good luck making that fly.

And what happens when Monday night rolls around and everyone wants to watch 24? I have my doubts about this. Shoot, most cable head-ends are already a mess.

Gone!

:D :D

Mo told me to try that too. I am going to give it a shot tonight. Thanks.

I remember these TV's now. The analog and digital antenna are on the same RF input.

After the antenna is connected go into your menu and choose antenna.

Then choose which antenna input you used, 1 or 2 and then click AIR. It will then memorize
the channels. Click Prefer Digital on any channels it finds.

Basically, look at page 68 of your owners manual... Good Luck!

Yes, and yes.

Yes. I bought a CM4221 (4 bay UHF) from Skwalker Communications. Good service, excellent price, long drive. Great antenna for STL with it's crazy quilt of xmtrs. Mounted at 20 feet, bearing 165 to null out downtown and Clayton buildings (I'm in Webster Groves, right under the guns, so front-end overload is a real issue). Feeds 56 feet of RG-6 quad shield to 3 receivers. Able to recieve all analog and digital signals, except for WRBU-DT. The 4221 receives both VHF-High and Low at this close range, six miles max (KMOV/KPLR). Am able to recive WPXS-13 and WSIU-8 intermittently (about 70 miles off). Also have received channel 23 from Cape, and WICS-20 from Springfield IL.

not that I really care, but our "HD leader" KSDK did not broadcast Jeopardy in HD today, even though Sony started syndicating it in high def today along with Wheel and Seinfeld

I wonder if this is the reason why Directv decided to remover their skip forward feature from their new DVR.

Excerpt from story:
DALLAS (AP) -- In a case beginning this week, a Texas jury will be asked to decide whether satellite-TV giant EchoStar Communications Corp. stole TiVo Inc.'s technology that lets viewers skip the commercials.
The trial is scheduled to start Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Marshall, 150 miles east of Dallas. It is expected to last about two weeks.
If TiVo wins, it could sue cable companies that offer other set-top boxes or at least force them to pay licensing fees. Defeat probably would relegate TiVo to a niche place in the market it created, analysts say.
TiVo produced a stand-alone digital video recorder, or DVR, in 1997 and changed the way Americans watch television. It now has more than 4 million subscribers, but TiVo's growth slowed as EchoStar and cable companies offered other DVRs, usually at lower prices....

Link:
http://washingtontimes.com/business/20060326-092757-5514r.htm

is this the same technology that Tivo stole from ReplayTV? :D

is this the same technology that Tivo stole from ReplayTV? :D
"...In its lawsuit, TiVo charged that EchoStar's set-top box violates TiVo's patent for a "multimedia time warping system" developed by a half-dozen engineers in California...."
IIRC, When ReplayTV first developed the technology, they called it something like, "Television time shifting software."
I suppose, there in lies the difference :D

not that I really care, but our "HD leader" KSDK did not broadcast Jeopardy in HD today, even though Sony started syndicating it in high def today along with Wheel and Seinfeld

audio -

Has Jeopardy been in HD in the past? I'm all for HD, but I'd think they'd push to have shows like 'Deal or no Deal' or more primetime shows with better eye candy in HD before Jeopardy.

- Whose ready for Baseball?

audio -

Has Jeopardy been in HD in the past? I'm all for HD, but I'd think they'd push to have shows like 'Deal or no Deal' or more primetime shows with better eye candy in HD before Jeopardy.

- Whose ready for Baseball?

today was the first day Jeopardy and Wheel are being syndicated in HD, along with Seinfeld. These shows are syndicated, so there's not a 'network push' to have them broadcast in HD like network primetime

KTVI not broadcasting Seinfeld in HD either. *sigh*

is this the same technology that Tivo stole from ReplayTV? :DI was thinking the same thing.

I've already posted in the Dallas section but I'm wondering if anyone from this forum is originally from the Dallas/Fort Worth area? I'm trying to figure out what my HD options will be down there. I'm leaving the home theater shop I work for up here to take a job with one of the manufacturers that I've been delaing with for years.

Matt,

I'm sorry to hear that you're leaving the Sound Room and the area. I've enjoyed knowing you and appreciate more than you'll ever know the support you've offered to me and my business over the past few years.

I hope your new job brings you massive success.

On the Dallas/FW options, I don't have any specific details, other than to note that one of the FW suburbs is currently in the process of a telco rollout -- but I can't remember if this is Verizon' FIOS service or AT&T's Lightspeed.

I think the AT&T corporate HQ is in the DFW area, so maybe that makes it more likely that it's Mummy Bell.

Again, best of luck to you.

Mo told me to try that too. I am going to give it a shot tonight. Thanks.

Well?

Well?


Hey, I am happy to report that it was a success! After I had the TV memorize the channels I was able to get FOX, CBS, NBC, ABC all in DT. That is just with the antenna propped up next to the TV. I will try and get it into the attic later this week. Thanks everyone for all the help! It is great to be a new member to the HD community.

Hey, I am happy to report that it was a success! After I had the TV memorize the channels I was able to get FOX, CBS, NBC, ABC all in DT. That is just with the antenna propped up next to the TV. I will try and get it into the attic later this week. Thanks everyone for all the help! It is great to be a new member to the HD community.

Good news. What about your issue with the remote not working the dvr?

Scott

Hey, I am happy to report that it was a success! After I had the TV memorize the channels I was able to get FOX, CBS, NBC, ABC all in DT. That is just with the antenna propped up next to the TV. I will try and get it into the attic later this week. Thanks everyone for all the help! It is great to be a new member to the HD community.

Sounds like you can skip getting a compass. :) That's great news. One thing that may be helpful is to jot down your signal strength. My set doesn't display any numbers, just a bar. You may want to note the signal before & after. I just flip over the print out from antennaweb and record the numbers. Having that info comes in handy. I would rescan after the attic install too.

If you decide to get the HD DVR you will need to rescan using the DVR. There is an option for scanning both satellite and OTA. The DVR displays the numbers.

Unless we get t-storms early Thursday, my 4221 is going up then. Pulling in PBS good was short lived.

Keep us posted.

I didn't get a chance to post yesterday, but did anyone see the beginning of CSI:CSI on Sunday night? Talk about a disgusting use of HD! The beginning sequence had some gorgeous shots of the Vegas strip and skyline and then followed a fly (ala, the opening credit sequence from Men in Black) out to the crime scene where a dude had been shot in the chest and the face. The fly, flies right into the open chest wound. From there, you get to see the body decompose in time lapse over the course of about 2 weeks.

It was particulary nasty especially in High Def and I'm glad I wasn't eating in front of the TV at the time. Yuk!

Has anyone seen the ads that KTVI-2 showed during the news last night? They talked about a building a new set, using new "sharper, clearer" graphics and new "state-of-the-art digital cameras". All online later in the Spring.

Lots of use of the word "new" but nothing about HD.

Could this be in preparation for a move to HD at a later date?

Do any of you HTPC enthusiasts use a USB enclosure device for an IDE hard drive?

I am looking to do this. I need to transfer some large files, and from what I hear its a lot cheaper to buy an IDE hard drive, buy an enclosure and use that than it is to purchase an external hard drive. Apparently, this way you get more hard drive space for the money.

Any experiences? Is it super easy? Is it easy? Is it worht it? What kind did you buy? Feel free to PM. Thanks for the help!

Do any of you HTPC enthusiasts use a USB enclosure device for an IDE hard drive?

I am looking to do this. I need to transfer some large files, and from what I hear its a lot cheaper to buy an IDE hard drive, buy an enclosure and use that than it is to purchase an external hard drive. Apparently, this way you get more hard drive space for the money.

Any experiences? Is it super easy? Is it easy? Is it worht it? What kind did you buy? Feel free to PM. Thanks for the help!

You just need to ensure that the external drive encloser back plane supports the
size of the drive you are trying to put in it. I have an external fireware drive that
went bad and when I tried to replace it with a bigger drive, it only recognized 80GB
of the 250GB, so I had to swap my internal with the new drive I bought for the
external.

I've noticed some problems with my Charter Motorola box. In the past, some channels would come in and out. Like they would lose the signal and pixellate. Then over the weekend, I moved my living room around. I had to run a longer cable line (RG-6 cable) from my cable outlet in the living room to the receiver. Now, ever since I moved the receiver, I get all my standard def channels, but I'm having problems with most of my HD channels. I get HDNet and HDMovies, Discovery, FOX, NBC and WB. But I don't get HBOHD, ShowtimeHD, ESPNHD, CBSHD. I get the standard def HBO, Showtime and ESPN channels and the ESPN HD barely comes in. The Video on Demand is working though - but those are standard def channels. I called Charter and they have a technician coming out on Saturday. Could this be a signal loss issue? Do high def channels require a different kind of cable? The extra cable line I ran was pretty long (50 feet or so) but it's RG-6 and connected properly. I'm not running splitters or anything. Anyone had these kind of issues with HD channels through the Motorola box?
Maybe the technician will know, but I'm not holding my breath.

Shaka:

I've been having alot of trouble lately with both my MOXI and my Moto HD box losing signals, with the dreaded "You don't subsribe to this channel" message. It is really becoming bothersome. When the Charter tech came out, he happened to be there the 5 minutes that all channels were coming in fine. I noticed that this problem only occurs during the night, usually during prime time.

Do any of you HTPC enthusiasts use a USB enclosure device for an IDE hard drive?

I am looking to do this. I need to transfer some large files, and from what I hear its a lot cheaper to buy an IDE hard drive, buy an enclosure and use that than it is to purchase an external hard drive. Apparently, this way you get more hard drive space for the money.

Any experiences? Is it super easy? Is it easy? Is it worht it? What kind did you buy? Feel free to PM. Thanks for the help!

I've used the CompUSA enclosures successfully - smallish, not much bigger than a 3 1/2" drive. I'd try the net now, though, since they are pricey unless they're on sale. I recently put a couple of SATA 320GB drives in such enclosures and went external with what are essentially internal SATA drives. It gives you internal speeds with drives outside the case. In addition to watching for the capacity of the enclosure (some don't support drives over a certain size), you need to be aware that drives in such enclosures take a serious hit in speed through the USB2 or FireWire ports. They're plenty fast enough for recording HD, but file transfers will be considerably slower than they would if you used them internally. External SATA enclosures can operate just as fast as internal drives, depending on how they're hooked up.

Do any of you HTPC enthusiasts use a USB enclosure device for an IDE hard drive?

I am looking to do this. I need to transfer some large files, and from what I hear its a lot cheaper to buy an IDE hard drive, buy an enclosure and use that than it is to purchase an external hard drive. Apparently, this way you get more hard drive space for the money.

Any experiences? Is it super easy? Is it easy? Is it worht it? What kind did you buy? Feel free to PM. Thanks for the help!

I've gone several routes on this one. I purchased a pair of non-hot swap removable modules (they fit in a 51/4" bay and fit a standard IDE drive). Supports ATA-133. I used those drives for moving shows captured by my HiPix to my Video Editing station for comercial edits and burning to DVD. I think also have both USB and Firewire External Enclosures. I now have GB Ethernet between my WinMCE PC and my editing station, along with a DVD burner in both systems, so I don't have much use for them.

All the devices work fairly well. The main difference is the the modules are not HS, but the USB/FW are HotSwap, meaning you have to power down the PC prior to installing or removing the drive.

I spent between $25 and $30 on each solution and would probably be willing to part with them now.

My HiPix is also sitting unused, so if someone has a low power PC (I used a PIII800) and is interested shoot me a PM.

My brother-in-law (the one who's not a moron) is a film student at Webster and had some large files that he needed to transport and use on his home, work and school PCs. I helped him pick out a 160gb SATA drive and a corresponding enclosure from Tiger Direct

The enclosure guidebook was in some horribly translated Engrish; so when he set everything up, the computer wouldn't recognize the drive. I helped him out and everything has worked fine since.

All I can say is make sure the drive type and enclosure type match: ATA drive to ATA enclosure, UltraATA drive to UltraATA enclosure etc... That way the cables and connectors match.

I would highly recommend SATA. The smaller cable is quicker, better and easier to connect/set up.

Matt,

I'm sorry to hear that you're leaving the Sound Room and the area. I've enjoyed knowing you and appreciate more than you'll ever know the support you've offered to me and my business over the past few years.

I hope your new job brings you massive success.

Doug,

Thanks for the kind words. I've appreciated your support as well.

If I was going to be staying in the retail side of things then I wouldn't be interested in being anywhere but the Sound Room. The people there are the best and it really is a second family. But the new ooportunity is too good to pass up and the move to Texas gets me closer to some of my family.

If you're at CEDIA this year maybe we'll run in to one another.

Matt

Guys, regarding the hard disk drive enclosures....

Would this type work? (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817155223) I know I can get that and a SATA hard drive much cheaper. But, how does that hook up to my computer? Is that USB?

I think I need a USB. Obviously, I don't know much about these, so I'm totally in the dark.

Has anyone heard of this? My brother has been in contact with an A/V tech who told him that MPEG 2000 with be used instead of MPEG 4 in the very near future...just think of all the people (including me :p ) that just got the newer sat boxes to get the HD channels will have to replace them again!

Update...This was on HDNET last night on one of the HD industry shows...

Strange, I had a Charter guy out at my house today. I have lost CBS-HD for the past ~six weeks. Unfortunately, I was not home when the guys was here. My wife says he was here for 5 minutes and blamed my problems on ME! Says that since I have a monster power protector with my coax going through it, that it is the problem. Even though I have had this config since November and it has been working fine! I am SO FED UP WITH THE @#$$#@!$#@$ cable company! I am not home during the day to see if it was a night time only problem, but I seem to have the same problems as mentioned above!

I've noticed some problems with my Charter Motorola box. In the past, some channels would come in and out. Like they would lose the signal and pixellate. Then over the weekend, I moved my living room around. I had to run a longer cable line (RG-6 cable) from my cable outlet in the living room to the receiver. Now, ever since I moved the receiver, I get all my standard def channels, but I'm having problems with most of my HD channels. I get HDNet and HDMovies, Discovery, FOX, NBC and WB. But I don't get HBOHD, ShowtimeHD, ESPNHD, CBSHD. I get the standard def HBO, Showtime and ESPN channels and the ESPN HD barely comes in. The Video on Demand is working though - but those are standard def channels. I called Charter and they have a technician coming out on Saturday. Could this be a signal loss issue? Do high def channels require a different kind of cable? The extra cable line I ran was pretty long (50 feet or so) but it's RG-6 and connected properly. I'm not running splitters or anything. Anyone had these kind of issues with HD channels through the Motorola box?
Maybe the technician will know, but I'm not holding my breath.

I had similar problems last year with both my HD and normal digital STB connects and finally a Charter tech who seemed to have some knowledge and experience fixed it. Basically the cable has to be perfect for the digital channels. Digital is either on or off so any marginal signal will just shut it down. I had some channels OK and some did not work and it was sometimes intermittent.

Mine was fine for quite a while .....after a year or so the STB gets moved around and the cable gets wiggled etc. (it is possible). In my case he merely replaced the original RG-6 with new cables he made on the spot and all the channels were good again. I wanted new boxes!!!!

He seemed to blame many of these issues on cheap (Walmart) cables and now I believe him. It is just a few extra bucks to buy better quality coax and it avoids all the frustration.

Has anyone seen the ads that KTVI-2 showed during the news last night? They talked about a building a new set, using new "sharper, clearer" graphics and new "state-of-the-art digital cameras". All online later in the Spring.

Lots of use of the word "new" but nothing about HD.

Could this be in preparation for a move to HD at a later date?
I didnt see that, but I sure hope so. I love watching HD, but refuse to watch KSDK news. I hate Karen Foss with a passion :D

KTVI does really well in the local news ratings, so they're not going to let KSDK one-up them like that. The great thing about all this is that once KTVI converts, KMOV will have to do it as well. I could care less about WB11 news, but if the other stations are broadcasting their news in HD every single night, maybe they will think about giving us more than 11 HD cards games.

I didnt see that, but I sure hope so. I love watching HD, but refuse to watch KSDK news. I hate Karen Foss with a passion :D

KTVI does really well in the local news ratings, so they're not going to let KSDK one-up them like that. The great thing about all this is that once KTVI converts, KMOV will have to do it as well. I could care less about WB11 news, but if the other stations are broadcasting their news in HD every single night, maybe they will think about giving us more than 11 HD cards games.

I didnt notice that either but I sure hope so!!!! KSDK news looks great but I'd much rather watch KTVI. I figured it couldnt be too long before others would follow into the HDrealm.....I know it sounds silly but i never used to watch channel 5 news but since it went HD i cant help but to flip to it at least half the time just to see it in HD, damn I love HD!!!!! :o

Strange, I had a Charter guy out at my house today. I have lost CBS-HD for the past ~six weeks. Unfortunately, I was not home when the guys was here. My wife says he was here for 5 minutes and blamed my problems on ME! Says that since I have a monster power protector with my coax going through it, that it is the problem. Even though I have had this config since November and it has been working fine! I am SO FED UP WITH THE @#$$#@!$#@$ cable company! I am not home during the day to see if it was a night time only problem, but I seem to have the same problems as mentioned above!

For what it's worth, the sales rep that sold us our Monster surge protector specifically told us not to run the coax cable through the surge protector, since it according to him apparently, does lessen signal quality.

Guys, regarding the hard disk drive enclosures....

Would this type work? (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817155223) I know I can get that and a SATA hard drive much cheaper. But, how does that hook up to my computer? Is that USB?

I think I need a USB. Obviously, I don't know much about these, so I'm totally in the dark.

Looks like it will work. Just make sure you have a way of getting a SATA cable out of your computer to the external enclosure. (You do have SATA connectors on the motherboard, don't you? If not you can add one via a PCI card.) I got a PCI slot cover with SATA connectors with a motherboard I bought recently, so I was simply able to use a couple of short cables from the mobo connectors to that, then short SATA cables to the external enclosures.

Another word about the external SATA enclosures. Unlike the IDE versions that convert IDE to USB or FireWire, the SATA connections don't have to involve any electronics for a conversion. That's also why they can be so much faster than the IDE to USB/FireWire versions. It's all just cabling. The enclosure should need to provide just the power for the drive.

After watching and waiting nearly a month for KTVI to get the problem with its digital break-ups issue fixed, I'm beginning to feel like a victim of Chinese water torture.

I watched "American Idol" last night and there were at least a dozen break-ups during the hourlong show. Maybe it's my imagination (or my drip-drip-drip pending psychological cascade and collapse), but if anything the problem seems to be getting worse.

Prior to this problem, KTVI seemed to have one of the more professional and on-the-ball engineering departments in town, but I can't help but think they've gotten themselves involved with some sort of ill-advised management/engineer exchange program with kSDk.

FWIW, I also noticed a number of break-ups during Letterman on KMOV last night. I didn't watch anything else on CBS last night, so don't know if this was happening earlier. It's possible the KMOV issue was a reception problem at my end, but I can't ever recall having any KMOV problems, at least over the past year.

We Interrupt Your Normal AVS Programming...

...for the following St. Louis housekeeping break:

In the not-so-distant past, we used to begin each month of the St. Louis discussion with an entirely new thread and usually that started with a cut/paste of basic resource information that is now buried back on the very first page of this discussion thread.

Because of its location, a lot of that general, introductory information about HDTV and OTA reception is now easily overlooked, especially with the discussion here stretching back more than 2 years and nearly 400 pages.

In an attempt to make this information more accessible, I'm going to post an advisory/reminder note similar to this every couple of weeks. Ideally this will make this general resource information more visible and easier to find for more readers.

With HDTV sales increasing every month, we're getting more and more newcomers here, which is a great thing to see. But like most of us when we took home our first HDTV, there's a huge amount to learn beyond where to point the remote and which buttons to push.

So, here's to filling in some of those information gaps...

Tower Maps, Your Satellite/Antenna Rights & Local Station Feedback (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=2995679&&#post2995679)

Using An Antenna to Receive Local HD Stations (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=2995718&&#post2995718)

Common Questions about HDTV (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=2995791&&#post2995791)

HD Programming Available in St. Louis (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7176354&&#post7176354)

And finally, I want to remind everyone -- newcomers and old hands alike -- that you can access the St. Louis HDTV discussion here at AVS directly by using the shortcut URL that has been arranged.

The short-form URL also makes it very easy to remember and give the address to anyone you know who's just getting into HDTV.

The shortcut URL is: www.stlhdtv.info

For what it's worth, the sales rep that sold us our Monster surge protector specifically told us not to run the coax cable through the surge protector, since it according to him apparently, does lessen signal quality.


That is good info. Thanks. I wish I was there to see his meter readings before the monster and after the monster. See how much signal loss there really was.

He also did not like the fact that I had an A/B switch in line going to the digital box. Since I only have one coax going to the TV with NO WAY for a second, I need it to switch between Charter and OTA.

This has all been working fine for months. Maybe there is a better quality A/B switch out there. I purchased a $15 dollar one from Rat-Shack.

Once D* has the locals in STL, I will probably switch to them, eliminating the need for the OTA. I could then sell the DB4.

For what it's worth, the sales rep that sold us our Monster surge protector specifically told us not to run the coax cable through the surge protector, since it according to him apparently, does lessen signal quality.

If you don't run the coax through your surge protector, then you might as well disconnect it because you are no longer protected. Think about the people that unplug their TV's in storms and their TV still gets fried because they didn't disconnect the cable.

Scott

Has anyone seen the ads that KTVI-2 showed during the news last night? They talked about a building a new set, using new "sharper, clearer" graphics and new "state-of-the-art digital cameras". All online later in the Spring.

Lots of use of the word "new" but nothing about HD.

Could this be in preparation for a move to HD at a later date?


I spoke with one of their camera operators this week and he showed me one of the new cameras. Apparently, the new cameras allow them to record to a bank of removalbe 4gig flash cards instead of tape. He did not know of any plans for KTVI to start broadcasting their news in HD.

Scott, I agree. That is why I spent $$$ on that monster protector. Also have a monster protector on my subwoofer. That way, everything is going through a protector. Charter obviously changed something and now blame me.

scheerce,

Unless you've got a cosmetic problem with an antenna on your rooftop and want to remove it, there's really no good reason (at least from a picture quality standpoint) to drop the OTA locals.

The local St. Louis HD feeds coming from DirecTV are very unlikely to be the same bandwidth as what you receive over the air -- they will be further compressed. And remember, that's just the starting point -- where do you think DirecTV will go looking for bandwidth savings when they're scrambling around in 2 or 3 years looking for space for new channels or other new services?

Having the OTA HD channels is going to be great for DirecTV to sell itself to the great unwashed masses. But if you care at all about picture quality, you should think seriously about hanging onto your antenna.

If I hang onto it, then I would like to combine the signal down one coax. I know you can do it with the old D*, but I am not sure about the new. Also, most say that it is not a good idea to combine. Right now, having to go into the back of my basement and switch the A/B switch stinks. I know I scred up when I finished my basement, I should have ran two coax to the TV. But it is to late now and I have to deal with what i have.

scheerce,

If that is what you have to deal with, I'd go with the D* locals and bail on the antenna. Yes, it is true that when they switch to MPEG 4 you will not be able to use diplexers to combine and de-combine signals.

Scott

scheerce,

Thanks for the additional detail on your wiring issue (actually you explained that above and I overlooked it).

Is there no way at all to run additional coax to the basement? The reason I ask is that the problem isn't really that you don't have two coax runs there, but the fact that you don't have three (or even four).

One coax run means that you won't be able to take advantage of the ability to use a DVR that allows you watch something live while something else records (or to record two live events). I think that it won't be long before we see the ability to record MORE THAN two programs simultaneously, and this will require even more individual runs from the satellite distribution box.

Maybe I'm butting too far in here, but I guess I'd agree that if the issue were only the A-B switch between satellite and OTA that it might make sense to suck it up and just go with locals OTA. But I think you're going to find the issue goes well beyond that before long.

So at some point, it may make sense to bite the bullet and to add a few additional runs of coax. Or not.

Unless we get t-storms early Thursday, my 4221 is going up then.

I installed two of them yesterday. My CM3016 + amp had been giving me fits with ABC. I tried messing with the amp level, and the FM trap on it, but couldn't get everything perfect. Knowing how well the 4221 did at my Dad's (just sitting on the family room floor) I swung into Skywalker and picked up another. I got up in the attic, slid the 3016 up to the top of the mast (never know when I might need it again, so I left it up there) and mounted the 4221. Took all of 5 min. I'm getting 90+ on everything now (without the amp), and I'm even getting a ~70 signal on UPN. Wow, what a great antenna.

After dinner, I headed to my parent's and finally got his 4221 installed in the attic. It took a little longer as I had to mount an antenna mast to a joist, but he's getting 95+ signals on the 6 major channels (plus 70's on UPN). I'm putting this little sucker in any future installs for people. Forget the UHF/VHF yagi that I had been using since 2000, that was more trouble than it's worth.

DtR, all that makes sence. I just finished my basement with drywall ceiling. All my wiring is prewired in the walls, and the ceiling is insulated to keep the HT noise in the basement. Yes, I was stupid for only running one coax. I did the wiring before I got onto this forum and learned A LOT about HD and all the options. I have been sitting here, starting at my monitor, thinking if there was ANY way to get the wires over to the TV, but there is not any way.

Yes, it is true that when they switch to MPEG 4 you will not be able to use diplexers to combine and de-combine signals.

Only the mpeg4 HD receviers can't use diplexers, but any mpeg2 HD receivers in the system still work fine that way (I'm using diplexers for my HD Tivo and a RCA DTC210 right now... even though I have a H20, new 5 LNB dish and a new mpeg4 capable 6x8 multiswitch).

Even when they flip the switch for our digital locals on D*, I'm not going to take down my antenna. No way. Like Doug mentioned, we have no idea what those locals are going to look like coming from D*. I'll only switch to all mpeg4 equipment once they have a HD DVR that I like better than Tivo, and they start adding some HD national channels that are mpeg4. Even at that point, I'll be tempted to run new lines of RG6 for my OTA antenna since I wouldn't be able to diplex any longer. But that's a long long way off (and perhaps they'll have a diplexer for mpeg4 equipment by then... who knows)

DtR, all that makes sence. I just finished my basement with drywall ceiling. All my wiring is prewired in the walls, and the ceiling is insulated to keep the HT noise in the basement. Yes, I was stupid for only running one coax. I did the wiring before I got onto this forum and learned A LOT about HD and all the options. I have been sitting here, starting at my monitor, thinking if there was ANY way to get the wires over to the TV, but there is not any way.

There is a way, you just chose not to think of it.... Cut the holes and get it over with.

This is why I am not putting up a drywall ceiling.

DtR, all that makes sence. I just finished my basement with drywall ceiling. All my wiring is prewired in the walls, and the ceiling is insulated to keep the HT noise in the basement. Yes, I was stupid for only running one coax. I did the wiring before I got onto this forum and learned A LOT about HD and all the options. I have been sitting here, starting at my monitor, thinking if there was ANY way to get the wires over to the TV, but there is not any way.

Patching drywall and fishing cable is not that hard. It's worth it for being able to get exactly what you want in your theater room. As long as you run the same direction of the joists in the ceiling, you should be able to fish the wire through the ceiling (even with insulation) with a few small boxes cut out (that can be repatched) and a good wire fishing device (you can buy them at Lowe's, some even glow).

Alternatively, you can always run RG6 under the baseboards to get around the room. Not knowing your exact layout makes it tough, but if one of the walls backs to unfinished basement, you can run your OTA antenna there, then run the RG6 around the room to the TV via the baseboards.

Alternatively, you can always run RG6 under the baseboards to get around the room. Not knowing your exact layout makes it tough, but if one of the walls backs to unfinished basement, you can run your OTA antenna there, then run the RG6 around the room to the TV via the baseboards.

This is funny, because I know the layout of his basement and just sent him a PM
basically stating the same thing.

Once D* has the locals in STL, I will probably switch to them, eliminating the need for the OTA. I could then sell the DB4.

I'll take it.

Along those same lines, does anyone know if they make such a thing as thin/flat RG6 coax? I ran RG6 under the baseboards in my master bedroom for Tivo (installer had to put the 2nd line on an exterior wall, which is opposite the TV) and it was very thick and hard to push under there (already had a phone line tucked there for the Tivo as well, and the baseboard was mounted really low).

I've seen this kind of thing for speaker wire, where it's flat and paintable. I want to buy some coax cable that's flat or thin where it would make it easier to tuck under the baseboards (but still be heavily shielded like RG6). The bedroom TV is SD, and it's a SD Tivo, so perhaps I could get away with RG59 for the 20ft run across the room for line 2 into the Tivo as a 2nd option?

Anyone watch Frontline on PBS last night? I hope congress watches the program. Lots of good info from the artists on the reason they are losing money in the music industry. None of it related to copy protection and illegal downloading.

Walt

After much trouble, and many box exchanges, I finally have 5.1 sound from my Moto 6200. Mysteriously it appeared the night before last. Do you think it was something I did or just that, through some fluke, charter got the program right in the box????

Walt

Along those same lines, does anyone know if they make such a thing as thin/flat RG6 coax?
http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/flatwire-CXW.html

Pricey!

After watching and waiting nearly a month for KTVI to get the problem with its digital break-ups issue fixed, I'm beginning to feel like a victim of Chinese water torture.

I watched "American Idol" last night and there were at least a dozen break-ups during the hourlong show. Maybe it's my imagination (or my drip-drip-drip pending psychological cascade and collapse), but if anything the problem seems to be getting worse.

Prior to this problem, KTVI seemed to have one of the more professional and on-the-ball engineering departments in town, but I can't help but think they've gotten themselves involved with some sort of ill-advised management/engineer exchange program with kSDk.

FWIW, I also noticed a number of break-ups during Letterman on KMOV last night. I didn't watch anything else on CBS last night, so don't know if this was happening earlier. It's possible the KMOV issue was a reception problem at my end, but I can't ever recall having any KMOV problems, at least over the past year.

Doug, I have to admit that I have recently lost my drive to pursue anymore fixes from KTVI. After the initial "we fixed it" I received via a phone call from the engineer, things were better. But for the next 2 or 3 weeks, I left a couple of messages with no response. I'm starting a new job on Monday and therefore have been too busy to continue to hound them about the continued problems.

I think my wife would like me to do something so I will quit cussing at the TV everytime there is a breakup during 24. I don't always use my surround when watching Prison Break, House or Bones so the breakups aren't as noticable.

Maybe I'll have some newfound motivation to be a big pain in the butt after I get settled into the new job :)

DtR, all that makes sence. I just finished my basement with drywall ceiling. All my wiring is prewired in the walls, and the ceiling is insulated to keep the HT noise in the basement. Yes, I was stupid for only running one coax. I did the wiring before I got onto this forum and learned A LOT about HD and all the options. I have been sitting here, starting at my monitor, thinking if there was ANY way to get the wires over to the TV, but there is not any way.

I know how you feel, since you just finished working on it. I've been there. However, you'll probably feel a little different after you've recuperated from the remodel. If you do decide to change things, I'd suggest you make your new holes a lot bigger than you think you'll need them. This suggestion comes from painful experience.

I installed two of them yesterday. My CM3016 + amp had been giving me fits with ABC. I tried messing with the amp level, and the FM trap on it, but couldn't get everything perfect. Knowing how well the 4221 did at my Dad's (just sitting on the family room floor) I swung into Skywalker and picked up another. I got up in the attic, slid the 3016 up to the top of the mast (never know when I might need it again, so I left it up there) and mounted the 4221. Took all of 5 min. I'm getting 90+ on everything now (without the amp), and I'm even getting a ~70 signal on UPN. Wow, what a great antenna.

After dinner, I headed to my parent's and finally got his 4221 installed in the attic. It took a little longer as I had to mount an antenna mast to a joist, but he's getting 95+ signals on the 6 major channels (plus 70's on UPN). I'm putting this little sucker in any future installs for people. Forget the UHF/VHF yagi that I had been using since 2000, that was more trouble than it's worth.

Glad it worked out so well! I have to wait until tomorrow to try mine out since it's not safe being on the roof alone. :(

Doubt we will be get anymore snow but want to apply RainX to the dish while I'm up there.

I'll take it.

That's not until May if we are lucky. You can pick one up for very little $ at Skywalker. It's a CM 4221. May want to check antennaweb.org first to see what type is recommended.

Skywalker
9390 Veterans Memorial Pkwy
O'Fallon, MO 63366
(800) 844-9555
(314) 272-8025
Fax (314) 272-8214

ya, it will be a while before I sell it, if I do. I am going to look at my basement again to see if I can posibally get another coax run to my tv.

Joe, thanks so much for your help re: the external enclosures for hard drives.

However, I'm not going to be able to go SATA. Its going to have to be USB connected for me. The files that I want to transfer will be from all types of PCs (newer and older) and they do not all have SATA interfaces. Its going to have to be IDE via USB.

Did you say that USB *is* fast enough to record HD from the tuner card to the external hard drive?

On the Dallas/FW options, I don't have any specific details, other than to note that one of the FW suburbs is currently in the process of a telco rollout -- but I can't remember if this is Verizon' FIOS service or AT&T's Lightspeed.

I think the AT&T corporate HQ is in the DFW area, so maybe that makes it more likely that it's Mummy Bell.


Doug,

It might be AT&T depending upon where in DFW. However, our HQ is in San Antonio and that city is the biggest deployment area so far. The HQ used to be here in STL and thanks to our wonderful taxing city, they moved.

Joe, thanks so much for your help re: the external enclosures for hard drives.

However, I'm not going to be able to go SATA. Its going to have to be USB connected for me. The files that I want to transfer will be from all types of PCs (newer and older) and they do not all have SATA interfaces. Its going to have to be IDE via USB.

Did you say that USB *is* fast enough to record HD from the tuner card to the external hard drive?

What he is saying is that they make USB enclosure cases that have a SATA connection or an IDE connection. Take a look at this (http://www.cornerproducts.com/cgi/products.php?cat=15&sc=67) page and you will see multiple cases.

This is what I was trying to say when I said you have to make sure to get the right
interface connection back plane because some cheaper ones might have an
ATA-100/133 or different.

Joe, thanks so much for your help re: the external enclosures for hard drives.

However, I'm not going to be able to go SATA. Its going to have to be USB connected for me. The files that I want to transfer will be from all types of PCs (newer and older) and they do not all have SATA interfaces. Its going to have to be IDE via USB.

Did you say that USB *is* fast enough to record HD from the tuner card to the external hard drive?

Maybe I misexplained.

Yes: you can have a SATA connection running from your computer to the external drive. There's not many cards for laptops and desktops with SATA inputs, but they exist.

What I was talking about is connecting the enclosure to the hard drive. When you get the enclosure you'll open it up and see one or more cables to connect the hard drive to. You'll need to connect the hard drive to the enclosure, seal it back up and then connect the whole setup to your computer via USB.

Please excuse my first post being somewhat off-topic....

Toshiba's HD DVD road show is at the American TV store in Fenton (751 Gravois Bluff Blvd) today.

The show will be there until 8 PM.

Jason Wernle

If you don't run the coax through your surge protector, then you might as well disconnect it because you are no longer protected. Think about the people that unplug their TV's in storms and their TV still gets fried because they didn't disconnect the cable.

Scott


Alas. Thanks for bringing up that point. I failed to mention that I was running my coaxial cable in through my Monster surge protector. I pulled it out this morning and directly ran the cable into my MOTO receiver. And wow! Now I get all the HD channels fine!
So are surge protectors necessary for cable in?? Back when it was installed in January, I asked the Charter Tech if I could run the cable through a surge protector. He told me I could, but said it was "unnecessary" since the "cable" line was surge protected outside. I used my monster surge protector anyway. Since that day I've had occasional dropouts. When I moved my setup around this weekend, I ran a 50ft. RG-6 coaxial cable from the cable ready outlet, through the surge protector and into the MOTO box. Maybe running longer cable really did me in? But, since I ran it directly in without the surge protector I get every channel fine. I'm surprised the surge protector would lessen the signal that much? I used it before with Directv and never had a problem. Now I feel silly, it took me so long to figure out?

Oh well, live and learn.

Joe, thanks so much for your help re: the external enclosures for hard drives.

However, I'm not going to be able to go SATA. Its going to have to be USB connected for me. The files that I want to transfer will be from all types of PCs (newer and older) and they do not all have SATA interfaces. Its going to have to be IDE via USB.

Did you say that USB *is* fast enough to record HD from the tuner card to the external hard drive?

USB2 is plenty fast enough for HD recording and playback (USB2 = 480mbps, theoretical, HD = 19.3mbps, real), but I have read a lot of posts from people who say they are having problems with consistent capture to USB2 drives. My experience has been more problematic with FireWire, with lost "connections" with external FireWire devices. At any rate, USB2 has been consistent for me as a way of moving files back and forth between computers.

Some older computers may have slower USB1.1 connections. The drives will work, but the transfers will be slow. They are NOT fast enough to record HD. USB1.1 = 12mbps; HD = 19.3mbps. The water won't go through that pipe fast enough. File transfers work, but very slowly. If, however, it's a one time transfer from an older system, it shouldn't be a problem. Just be prepared to wait.

Please excuse my first post being somewhat off-topic....

Toshiba's HD DVD road show is at the American TV store in Fenton (751 Gravois Bluff Blvd) today.

The show will be there until 8 PM.

Jason Wernle

Thank you. I'll be there. Any other local AVSers, if you see a guy pushing a wheelchair, that's me and my Godfather. Say hi.

Thanks for the info, Jason.

Saw this link over in the programming forum. Would solve A LOT of problems:

Euclid Discoveries Shatters Bandwidth Barrier (http://www.eucliddiscoveries.com/press_release.php#032806)

We can dream can't we? :D

Jason,

Nice to see you here -- and thanks for pointing out the Toshiba road show info.

If you don't run the coax through your surge protector, then you might as well disconnect it because you are no longer protected. Think about the people that unplug their TV's in storms and their TV still gets fried because they didn't disconnect the cable.

Scott


Scott,

You coax cable from Charter should be properly grounded at entry of your home which will prevent those cases.

Running Coax cable through surge protectors will degrade the signal.

Mark

Doug, I have to admit that I have recently lost my drive to pursue anymore fixes from KTVI. After the initial "we fixed it" I received via a phone call from the engineer, things were better. But for the next 2 or 3 weeks, I left a couple of messages with no response. I'm starting a new job on Monday and therefore have been too busy to continue to hound them about the continued problems.Kurt, I understand completely -- you can only point out these problems and then it's up to the people in charge to fix them.

This morning after posting here, I PMed a Fox Engineer who posts regularly on other areas of AVS to see if he could offer any suggestions on who to contact, either locally or at FOX corporate. He replied within about an hour, but doesn't know anyone locally. He did point me toward some general points of contact at head office, and I have sent a note in that direction.

Expecting little, getting less...probably time to give in and switch my FOX Season Passes to Channel 88 on DirecTV (FOX-DT NY)...

I only wish I had that option for kSDk...

Kurt, I understand completely -- you can only point out these problems and then it's up to the people in charge to fix them.

This morning after posting here, I PMed a Fox Engineer who posts regularly on other areas of AVS to see if he could offer any suggestions on who to contact, either locally or at FOX corporate. He replied within about an hour, but doesn't know anyone locally. He did point me toward some general points of contact at head office, and I have sent a note in that direction.

Expecting little, getting less...probably time to give in and switch my FOX Season Passes to Channel 88 on DirecTV (FOX-DT NY)...

I only wish I had that option for kSDk...

Thanks Doug/DTR

Expecting little, getting less...probably time to give in and switch my FOX Season Passes to Channel 88 on DirecTV (FOX-DT NY)...

I only wish I had that option for kSDk...

Doug,

Hate to admit it, much as I like to bitch about *D's signal compression, but I switched my 24 season pass to channel 88 a few weeks ago. :(

Yeah, I made the switch earlier tonight -- it was pretty easy, since the only thing I watch regularly on FOX is guilty pleasure AI...

___________________________________

ST. LOUIS -- Charter Communications announced today that they are accepting applications for the first-ever Charter Collegiate Scholarship Awards for the 2006-2007 academic year.
___________________________________

I wonder if the selection criteria requires winning students to promise that they'll make their best effort to arrive for their 10:30 a.m. class no later than 1:30 p.m.? ;)

Please excuse my first post being somewhat off-topic....

Toshiba's HD DVD road show is at the American TV store in Fenton (751 Gravois Bluff Blvd) today.

The show will be there until 8 PM.

Jason Wernle

Thanks again for the post, Jason. I spent about 45 minutes at American watching the demo of HD-DVD and asking some questions. Just a few things off the top of my head:

1. There weren't many people there. I saw one other AVSer. Thanks, Ken, for saying hi. I didn't even know St. Louis was on the list to get a demo. Too bad. I think a lot of folks here would be interested.
2. The Toshiba rep told me the demo player would be there until the launch date of the format. Call to confirm this before trekkiing out there, but it should give those who didn't have a chance to go today a chance to see a demo. (It's at the American at Gravois Bluffs in Fenton.)
3. I asked about the launch date, but the rep couldn't give a firm date for player or movie releases. (Originally, IIRC, the date was set for March 28, but that's been delayed until April 10 according to what I've read. The rep wouldn't commit to any firm date.)
4. The demo was done on a 56" Toshiba DLP rear projector - 1080p. The HD-DVD player was outputting 1080i (no 1080p option, but 480p and 720p can be toggled from the player remote). I think DLP is a good choice of projector to show off increased detail. The set was overly dark and there was some obvious banding (most likely a result of the DLP video settings).
5. No commercial disks were available, but the demo showed a Toshiba produced side by side of HD/SD material. Ken and I both thought the SD side was worse than much SD out there, especially DVD. It wasn't far off from standard VHS or many standard SD satellite broadcasts in quality. The demo material was supposed to have been MPEG4 AVC, although the rep said the format supports MPEG2, MPEG4 and Microsoft VC1.
6. Movie clips included: The 40 Year Old Virgin, The Dukes of Hazard, Serenity, Batman Begins, King Kong (2006) and four others.

The clips were spectacular video quality. We're in for a treat when the dust settles between HD-DVD and BluRay (or whatever succeeds in the market).

I just got home from American seeing the HD-DVD player.

Overall pretty impressive. I also think that the SD replay they showed was God Awful. As good as King Kong looked they should not have to revert to these tactics to make the HD version look better.

I was the only person there at 6:30 then 3 other people showed up so I only saw Dukes of Hazzard, 40 yr old virgin and King Kong.

I saw King Kong at the theater and my wife finally slapped me in the back of the head because I kept complaining how bad the picture and sound was at the theater. The clip on HD-DVD proved to me how good the movie can actually look. I can't wait to get one in my hands. I'll probably wait a couple of months to see if Blu Ray is better but as of now I'm getting HD-DVD!

I wonder if the selection criteria requires winning students to promise that they'll make their best effort to arrive for their 10:30 a.m. class no later than 1:30 p.m.? ;)
In order to receive the scholarship, I'd be certain the winning students will be required to bundle their wireless notebook service, cell phone service, and fraternity house TV services. :mad:

I just got home from American seeing the HD-DVD player.
I saw King Kong at the theater and my wife finally slapped me in the back of the head because I kept complaining how bad the picture and sound was at the theater. The clip on HD-DVD proved to me how good the movie can actually look. I can't wait to get one in my hands. I'll probably wait a couple of months to see if Blu Ray is better but as of now I'm getting HD-DVD!

As someone who used to see almost EVERYTHING at the movie theaters, I can say that for me the home theater experience is far superior to what you will find in most movie houses. Subpar projectors, subpar sound systems, scratched prints, rude or moronic behavior, overpriced concessions, uncomfortable chairs - what except for the communal spirit of being in an audience would make someone want to watch movies in a typical theater any more?

Ken (kdg454) made the comment while we were there that this new HD format (whatever flavor it ends up being) may have more of an impact on the growth of HD than broadcast HD has so far. I thought that was an especially astute observation.

That said, I'm not buying in right now. I hate that the major players could not come up with one standard. I think they've done a disservice to the buying public and to the future of HD disks. Although I'm often an early adopter, I won't buy either format until I see how things are shaping up.

BTW, the Tosiba rep also had no info on the availability of any HD-DVD burners for computers, or standalone HD-DVD recorders for consumers.

Anyone watching Heist? I think they said sh!t at the beginning.

I am going to look at the charter entry point to see if there is any grounding. I am afraid to move the coax off the monster.

I am going to look at the charter entry point to see if there is any grounding. I am afraid to move the coax off the monster.

The Charter cable connection is grounded with a long rod to the earth if it is done right. This will not protect their STB against a direct lightning stike in the immediate neighborhood. I would not use the monster if you are using their STB since you are renting it anyway!!! If you have your cable modem or other TVs hooked directly to the cable then the surge protector can help somewhat....but with a direct strike of lightning near your house..........???????

I was just wondering if abcward was gone? I believe he was moving..... Are you still in the area?

Kurt, I understand completely -- you can only point out these problems and then it's up to the people in charge to fix them.

This morning after posting here, I PMed a Fox Engineer who posts regularly on other areas of AVS to see if he could offer any suggestions on who to contact, either locally or at FOX corporate. He replied within about an hour, but doesn't know anyone locally. He did point me toward some general points of contact at head office, and I have sent a note in that direction.

Expecting little, getting less...probably time to give in and switch my FOX Season Passes to Channel 88 on DirecTV (FOX-DT NY)...

I only wish I had that option for kSDk...

Thanks Doug. Let me know when you tire of this. By then I should be settled in my new job long enough to take up the cause again.

I was just wondering if abcward was gone? I believe he was moving..... Are you still in the area?
You'll find him in the Charlotte NC - TWC thread, posted this morning :)
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=128876

I rented King Kong at RedBox today and just finished it. I got a chance to see clips from the film on HD-DVD in the afternoon. With those images fresh in my mind, I was struck by how much less involving the DVD was. Although the DVD was a pretty good transfer, I suppose, it clearly lacked the fine detail I saw in the HD-DVD clips. It was obvious how much resolution was lost going from 1080p (on the Toshiba DLP set) to 480p upconverted to 720p (my Oppo DVD player to my Optoma H79 projector).

Three things I learned (or reaffirmed) today:

1. Good DVD doesn't hold a candle to true 1080p HD.
2. I'm still waiting to jump onboard the HD-DVD/BluRay movement.
3. I'm not buying any more DVDs. It's RedBox rental at McDonalds for those titles I have to see, befoe I start collecting HD versions of films.

The number of disks available in either format (HD-DVD or BluRay) in the next few months is going to be minimal. I can wait a while for a player that will support both formats (if either survives). Meanwhile, I'll continue to collect HD films and other shows from satellite via the R5000 mod to my Dish 211. Although I'm sure they'll lose a lot through recompression by the time I record them, they'll still beat DVD. Also, I can collect some things that may never make their way to the new HD disk formats.

Short term, I think we're going to see more degradation of the signal coming from Dish and DirecTV. Long term, though, I think not only the quality of these new HD disks, but also the quality and decreasing price of the 1080p sets will force providers to find ways to give us better HD. As I've said before, basically I'm an optomist.

DirecTV Interested in Buying DISH?

The following excerpt comes from today's TVPredictions.com newsletter. The report originated from a Reuters news service story.
____________________________________________

Could it be true?

Mike Palkovic, DIRECTV's chief financial officer, said yesterday that his company was interested in buying rival satcaster EchoStar. (The executive made his remarks to Reuters during a Bank of America conference in New York.)

While Palkovic noted that the acquisition would face regulatory hurdles, he said: "We'd be nuts not to look at it." He even said the merger would be "desirable" even if it wasn't "feasible."

I doubt that DIRECTV will buy EchoStar. As Palkovic alluded to, the Federal Communications Commission rejected EchoStar's attempt to buy DIRECTV in 2002, saying the deal would stifle competition in the satellite TV industry. (DIRECTV and EchoStar represent more than 95 percent of the satellite audience.)
____________________________________________

To read the entire TV Predictions article, click here. (http://www.tvpredictions.com/)

To read the original Reuters report, click here. (http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=mergersNews&storyID=2006-03-29T183644Z_01_N29251286_RTRIDST_0_MEDIA-DIRECTV-ECHOSTAR.XML)

Joe Clark wrote:

"As someone who used to see almost EVERYTHING at the movie theaters, I can say that for me the home theater experience is far superior to what you will find in most movie houses. Subpar projectors, subpar sound systems, scratched prints, rude or moronic behavior, overpriced concessions, uncomfortable chairs - what except for the communal spirit of being in an audience would make someone want to watch movies in a typical theater any more?"

Joe

I agree. I never (I think twice in the last 4 years) go to movies. Since I got the projector, I can wait for the DVD to come out. The home theater experience is much better than a movie house. I can sit around in my underwear with a beer and fart as much as I want. I don't miss anything if I have to get rid of some beer. The picture and sound are always better.

Now....do you think that this might be the reason for all the copy protection worries of the studios. Everyone is getting larger and larger TV's. With these larger sets and HD movies, the general public will start to realize that movie houses really suck. When this happens, movie houses will disappear which could create a great demand for pirate disks.

Walt

I can sit around in my underwear with a beer and fart as much as I want. I don't miss anything if I have to get rid of some beer.

Walt

Thanks for the visual :eek:

Everyone is getting larger and larger TV's. With these larger sets and HD movies, the general public will start to realize that movie houses really suck. When this happens, movie houses will disappear which could create a great demand for pirate disks.


No, I don't think we'll see the movie theater go away, there will always be a place for it:

1) Teenagers/Young adults who want to get out of the house and not watch a movie with their girlfriend/buddies at their parent's house.

2) People who can't afford a HDTV & Surround Sound that rivals going to the theater. We (HT nuts) represent a very very small percentage of people who might goto the theater. There alot of people that jumped on the HDTV bandwagon with smaller/inexpensive sets but those certainly won't replace the big screen experience. However, unless theaters real in their ticket and concession prices, they're going to alienate the blue collar crowd before too long.

3) Most older people, who don't have the time or patience for newer technology (case in point, my 60-ish parents bought a 60" LCD HDTV 18 months ago and last week was the 1st time they've seen HDTV on it with the $20 antenna I bought them and installed in the attic. They would have had it sooner, but I haven't been in St. Louis in 2yrs to help them out). They have a nice DD5.1 setup too, but had the DVD player hooked up to the receiver with a pair of analog audio cables (and thought they were listening to surround sound the entire time, thanks to some Yamaha DSP processing). After I saw that, I went to Sam's and picked up a a 6ft fiber optic cable for $10 and they were good to go. :eek: They still goto afternoon matinee's as well.

Personally, I've only been to one movie in the past 5+ years of owning a HDTV (Star Wars Epi III) and that was only because I was on a business trip, by myself, and had nothing to do. I left the theater underwelmed. I think the theaters are seeing less and less middle aged people though who have own nice setups and know how to use them. Especially middle aged couples with kids (and want to avoid paying a babysister just to see a movie that would look better at home).

Thanks for the visual :eek:

Yer welcome.

No speedos.

Sometimes PJs

Going outside clothing when company is present.

Walt

Jon

You are right about the price of admission plus the concession counter. To send my grandchildren to the show it costs me $25.00 and I get to provide the transportation. That's admission, soda, and popcorn. I remember when I was their age, it cost me $0.25 to go to the show. Bus fair $0.02, admission $0.05, soda $0.05, popcorn $0.10, bus fair $0.02. Mom wanted the penny change when I got home. I went every Saturday to find out if Flash Gordon survived his latest predicament. We also got to see previews of coming attractions, news reel, cartoons, and a main attraction, not just previews and commercials. There was usually 2 movies to see. The main attraction and some B flick. Most of those B flicks were better than today's main attraction. My Grandchildren get to go about twice a month because of the content. I think there are more reasons, than a large TV, why the movie houses will fade from view.

Walt

"...The three-year negative trend in movie attendance can be attributed to both a saturation of celebrity-based marketing in mass media and an increased level of competition from home entertainment alternatives. As consumer attentions are splintered among myriad cable and internet offerings, marketers find it more difficult to convince consumers of a new release’s significance. Combined with home theater systems achieving ever higher standards of visual and audio quality, consumers are more apt to stay at home with a DVD or cable offering rather than chancing a trip to the theaters. A mere 14% of survey respondents agree that going to the movies is still a good value for the price..."

http://www.marketresearch.com/product/display.asp?productid=1173912&g=1

DirecTV Interested in Buying DISH?

Mike Palkovic, DIRECTV's chief financial officer, said yesterday that his company was interested in buying rival satcaster EchoStar. (The executive made his remarks to Reuters during a Bank of America conference in New York.)

____________________________________________



Intriguing... I guess that would give the government a 2nd chance to deal with what they screwed up the first time. To say cable is not a competitor to satellite was insane - and now with pressure to reduce the regulatory barriers to land based television distribution, USDTV and other wireless opportunities out there, and online television proving at least possible - I bet it would go through on the second try. Not that it would be good or bad - so far all television distribution consolidation seems to do is add more channels, increase compression, increase costs, and get the company focused on extending service past their existing customers in order to get the return on their purchase...

Chris

Scott,

You coax cable from Charter should be properly grounded at entry of your home which will prevent those cases.

Running Coax cable through surge protectors will degrade the signal.

Mark

I don't have cable and never will as long as Charter is in town. I have satellite which I don't ground at all. I do know plenty of people that have cable and during storms have lost their TV's to surge even though they unplugged the TV. That means the surge came in on the cable line.

Scott

I rented King Kong at RedBox today and just finished it. I got a chance to see clips from the film on HD-DVD in the afternoon. With those images fresh in my mind, I was struck by how much less involving the DVD was. Although the DVD was a pretty good transfer, I suppose, it clearly lacked the fine detail I saw in the HD-DVD clips. It was obvious how much resolution was lost going from 1080p (on the Toshiba DLP set) to 480p upconverted to 720p (my Oppo DVD player to my Optoma H79 projector).

Three things I learned (or reaffirmed) today:

1. Good DVD doesn't hold a candle to true 1080p HD.
2. I'm still waiting to jump onboard the HD-DVD/BluRay movement.
3. I'm not buying any more DVDs. It's RedBox rental at McDonalds for those titles I have to see, befoe I start collecting HD versions of films.

The number of disks available in either format (HD-DVD or BluRay) in the next few months is going to be minimal. I can wait a while for a player that will support both formats (if either survives). Meanwhile, I'll continue to collect HD films and other shows from satellite via the R5000 mod to my Dish 211. Although I'm sure they'll lose a lot through recompression by the time I record them, they'll still beat DVD. Also, I can collect some things that may never make their way to the new HD disk formats.

Short term, I think we're going to see more degradation of the signal coming from Dish and DirecTV. Long term, though, I think not only the quality of these new HD disks, but also the quality and decreasing price of the 1080p sets will force providers to find ways to give us better HD. As I've said before, basically I'm an optomist.

I feel about the same way as you regarding HD format DVD's. The thing that upsets me the most is not passing the signal through component outputs. I am not buying a new projector just to see HD DVD or BD. Screw them all.

Scott

I don't know how rick solid this is. But someone at the stltoday.com Bernie Bits forum posted the following High Def Cardinal Schedule:

On KPLR WB-11

Saturday 04/15/06 vs Cincinnati 1:15
Sunday 05/07/06 at Florida 12:05
Sunday 06/11/06 at Milwaukee 1:05
Sunday 06/25/06 at Detroit 12:05
Saturday 08/05/06 vs Milwaukee 6:15
Sunday 08/06/06 vs Milwaukee 1:15
Sunday 08/13/06 at Pittsburgh 12:35
Sunday 09/03/06 vs Pittsburgh 1:15
Sunday 09/10/06 at Arizona 3:40
Sunday 09/17/06 vs San Francisco 1:15

On FSN Midwest

Monday 04/10/06 vs Milwaukee 3:00 (opening day)
Monday 04/24/06 vs Pittsburgh 7:00
Tuesday 04/25/06 vs Pittsburgh 7:00
Friday 05/05/06 at Florida 6:30
Saturday 05/06/06 at Florida 5:00
Monday 05/08/06 vs Colorado 7:00
Tuesday 05/09/06 vs Colorado 7:00
Monday 06/05/06 vs Cincinnati 7:00
Tuesday 06/06/06 vs Cincinnati 7:00
Thursday 07/13/06 vs LA 7:00
Friday 07/14/06 vs LA 7:00
Monday 07/24/06 at Colorado 8:00
Tuesday 07/25/06 at Colorado 8:00
Tuesday 08/15/06 vs Cincinnatti 7:00
Wednesday 08/16/06 vs Cincinnati 7:00
Thursday 09/07/06 at Arizona 8:30
Friday 09/08/06 at Arizona 8:30

On ESPN2 HD
Wednesday 04/05/06 at Philadelphia 6:00

On ESPN HD
Sunday 04/09/06 at Chicago 7:00
Friday 09/22/06 at Houston 6:05

Wonder how reliable this is?

On the subject of Hard drives, is PATA, just another name for an ATA hard drive? I have a line on a 250gb drive that I can get for $65 (it's $85, but I have a $20 GC through Amazon) and they're referring to it as a Parallel ATA hard drive. I know the SATA drives require a different bus and cable.

Is this compatible with my motherboard? (Intel P4 1.8ghz)

Thanks in advance.

I feel about the same way as you regarding HD format DVD's. The thing that upsets me the most is not passing the signal through component outputs. I am not buying a new projector just to see HD DVD or BD. Screw them all.

Scott

Scott, They WILL/are passing 720p and 1080i via component. ;)

The KPLR and ESPN listings are correct.
Is FSNMWHD available on Directv or Charter? It's probably not going to make it to Dish this season.
http://wb11tv.trb.com/sports/baseball/kplr-cards-bbsched,0,1135028.story?coll=kplr-sportsbaseball-2
Yesterdays Cardinal Press Release states there will be "approximately 30 HD telecasts between FSN, ESPN, FOX, and KPLR.
It would appear the schedule from stltoday is accurate.
http://stlcardinals.scout.com/2/493469.html

So now DirecTV wants to buy Dish Network?

They must have short memories over there. When those two companies were going to merge a few years ago (with Dish being the buyer), the Justice Department shot that idea down pretty definitively.

btw Joe, The current Toshiba DLPs will not accept a 1080p input signal and the current HD-DVD players will not output 1080p. What you saw was an upconverted 1080i or 720p image.

Is FSNMWHD available on Directv or Charter? It's probably not going to make it to Dish this season.

No, it's not available on either. So, no Charter, no D*, no E*. Where in the world can you watch FSN Midwest - HD?

No, it's not available on either. So, no Charter, no D*, no E*. Where in the world can you watch FSN Midwest - HD?


That's not entirely true. It is on Charter, but only certain games have been broadcast - such as this hockey season. Its Channel 792

On the subject of Hard drives, is PATA, just another name for an ATA hard drive? I have a line on a 250gb drive that I can get for $65 (it's $85, but I have a $20 GC through Amazon) and they're referring to it as a Parallel ATA hard drive. I know the SATA drives require a different bus and cable.

Is this compatible with my motherboard? (Intel P4 1.8ghz)

Thanks in advance.

PATA=ATA

As long as you have an open IDE channel or a free place on the ribbon cable, yes if you are running XP. If you are adding it, I would make it master on IDE-2 and slave a burner/etc.

Depends on what devices you have to get the best configuration.

Well, I ran out of daylight and not able to tweak the roof mounted 4221. It's pretty much the same as my old 2-bay. PBS is again unwatchable. The guy that was supposed to come over bailed so my sister came over after work and we ran out of time. Oh well, another time. I'll rescan when it's done recording my shows later tonight.

Scott, They WILL/are passing 720p and 1080i via component. ;)

Really, everything I've read or heard was to the contrary. If what you say is true, I will feel a little bit better about HD DVD.

Scott

Scott, They WILL/are passing 720p and 1080i via component. ;)

Tom, according to this thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=493102&highlight=component

The new players will not pass HD via component. Please elaborate if you know more.

Thanks,

Scott

Really, everything I've read or heard was to the contrary. If what you say is true, I will feel a little bit better about HD DVD.

Scott
Most studios(not universal yet) are backing off image constraint. There is a requirement that the disks that do constrain images be labeled as such.
There is pretty decent coverage at DVDfile.com . I know that the author has had issues with a local fellow that does reviews for a national magazine(don't know if there is bad blood or if I am reading too much into it.)

Dug

btw Joe, The current Toshiba DLPs will not accept a 1080p input signal and the current HD-DVD players will not output 1080p. What you saw was an upconverted 1080i or 720p image.

Tom, I didn't say the player was outputting 1080p or that the DLP was accepting 1080p. The player was outputting 1080i. The Toshiba DLP set was doing the deinterlacing of the 1080i to 1080p. I don't know exactly what sort of deinterlacing technology the Toshiba DLP uses, but I didn't notice any interlace artifacts.

It's unfortunate that most new 1080p sets don't accept 1080p signals. If done properly, however, 1080i film based content can be deinterlaced for display on 1080p sets with full resolution frames. I don't know what sort of deinterlacing the Toshiba was doing, but the results were spectacular, nonetheless. On a 1080p DLP, all content would have to be deinterlaced, since it's a progressive technology. Video based sources could be problematic for the deinterlacer, but I don't think I saw any video based 1080i.

but the results were spectacular
Understated.
The picture on that setup and display was nothing short of amazing!

PATA=ATA

As long as you have an open IDE channel or a free place on the ribbon cable, yes if you are running XP. If you are adding it, I would make it master on IDE-2 and slave a burner/etc.

Thanks for the advice Mo. It's for my DVD server which is already set up and running with a 40gb drive as the master and a 250gb USB2.0 external drive. The new 250 is strictly a storage drive and I'm running Win2k Pro. I was just going to make it a slave on the same ribbon cable as the master drive. I have a Sony DVD Burner as the master on IDE-2.

Do you see any issues in using it that way?

EDIT: I just re-read you original suggestion. I can do that also. I had never put a HD and CD/DVD drive on the same ribbon cable before.

Wouldn't ya know it. I just went to buy the drive and now it's gone. (It was being sold by an individual seller through Amazon.com) He who hesitates.....

...... I do know plenty of people that have cable and during storms have lost their TV's to surge even though they unplugged the TV. That means the surge came in on the cable line.

Scott
Totally agree.....

As I type this the storm is approaching. Unless you have an industrial strength surge protector please disconnect your Charter cable until the lightning subsides. I have always done this. Grounding will only hopefully prevent a fire in case of a direct strike. A near by strike of the cable will fry your TV and/or STB and maybe more.

BTW...this is one thing nice about wireless 802.11 for computers. If a strike happens only the modem is fried....not the two laptop computers I have in my house. Of course the other two desktops still should be unplugged from A/C just in case.

Understated.
The picture on that setup and display was nothing short of amazing!

How did it compare to HDTV programs via OTA?

How did it compare to HDTV programs via OTA?


In my opinion the King Kong clip was better then anything I've ever seen on broadcast television. Better then HDNET and OTA broadcast.

How did it compare to HDTV programs via OTA?
IMO, it's in a different league. I wouldn't go so far as to parallel it to the difference between broadcast SD and HD, but it's that noticeable. I watched CSI-M on a Doug calibrated plasma last week, and that King Kong clip blew it away.
It's difficult to imagine when the formatting issues are resolved, and 1080p reaches compatibility, it could actually get better.

The machine and demo disc are still at the store. If you, or anyone else has the opportunity, it is defenetely worth a look.

In my opinion the King Kong clip was better then anything I've ever seen on broadcast television. Better then HDNET and OTA broadcast.

I'd agree with that. The resolution was stunning. Seems like broadcast HD has taken a real hit in picture quality lately, with lots of MPEG artifacts (during fast motion, shot changes). None of that was present with the MPEG4 material of the demo.

Of course, I'd have to amend that with the note again that my projector is 720p. What I'd really like to do is take one of my MyHD rigs to the store and compare some clips I have of OTA and Dish satellite broadcasts with the demo material. That would be a somewhat better test. Anyone know the manager there?

Thanks for the advice Mo. It's for my DVD server which is already set up and running with a 40gb drive as the master and a 250gb USB2.0 external drive. The new 250 is strictly a storage drive and I'm running Win2k Pro. I was just going to make it a slave on the same ribbon cable as the master drive. I have a Sony DVD Burner as the master on IDE-2.

Do you see any issues in using it that way?

EDIT: I just re-read you original suggestion. I can do that also. I had never put a HD and CD/DVD drive on the same ribbon cable before.

Wouldn't ya know it. I just went to buy the drive and now it's gone. (It was being sold by an individual seller through Amazon.com) He who hesitates.....

Sounds like you will be using your DVD more and since the dirve would be for storage, it's fine to leave it on the same cable. The idea behind making it a master on IDE-2 is speed. Non-AVS peeps don't use their CD/DVD much so it's usually installed on the chain as secondary. Putting both hard drives on the same cable will slow down reads & writes some. You can try it and see if it's perceptable. If it is, move it over.

If your mobo doesn't have SATA you could get a PCI card. The only IDE device I have is an older DVD burner. I have 2, 10K raptors and a 300g Seagate, all 3 SATA. Keeps my case tidy, improves air flow and easier to connect. Also, SATA is a bit faster.

Edit: I'm assuming you have service pack 3 or 4 applied to win2K. Need SP 3 or 4 to see a drive larger than 137GB.

Well, for the first time in a few months I turned on the "HD leader in St. Louis," kSDk, to see if they ever fixed the 5.1-channel flag on 2.0-channel broadcast issue last night.

No such luck.

I really wish we could get NBC-HD East from DirecTV!

Well, for the first time in a few months I turned on the "HD leader in St. Louis," kSDk, to see if they ever fixed the 5.1-channel flag on 2.0-channel broadcast issue last night.

No such luck.

I really wish we could get NBC-HD East from DirecTV!

Absolutely, I couldn't agree more. At leaset we do have ABC and Fox.

Scott

Absolutely, I couldn't agree more. At leaset we do have ABC and Fox.

Scott

ABC? How'd you manage that one, Scott? The only distant network the rest of us can get is Fox (because KTVI is an O&O). And Sinclair (KDNL's owner) strikes me as the type of company that would be more stubborn than most about NOT granting waivers.

Edit: I'm assuming you have service pack 3 or 4 applied to win2K. Need SP 3 or 4 to see a drive larger than 137GB.

I do have SP4, yes.

Actually, I only use the DVD drive when I'm ripping a DVD to the hard drive. With Xlobby as a front end (free), I can have all of my DVD's in one place and viewable as a list. I just need storage as each movie takes up about 4-7gb. (I don't rip the menus or extras. Just the movie and primary soundtrack.) If I ever want to watch an actual DVD, then I use my DVD player since the computer is actually located directly beneath my system in the basement. That way I don't have to care if the drives or fans are loud.

As far as speed goes, the external USB2.0 drive works fine for playback, so I assume a slave on IDE-1 would be as good or better. If a drive ever goes bad, I really haven't lost anything other than the time it would take to re-rip the DVD's back to disk, so backups are not a HUGE issue.

Thanks for your advice!

IMO, it's in a different league. I wouldn't go so far as to parallel it to the difference between broadcast SD and HD, but it's that noticeable. I watched CSI-M on a Doug calibrated plasma last week, and that King Kong clip blew it away.
It's difficult to imagine when the formatting issues are resolved, and 1080p reaches compatibility, it could actually get better.

The machine and demo disc are still at the store. If you, or anyone else has the opportunity, it is defenetely worth a look.


Better question is how does it compare to D-Theater. I have Ice Age, XMEN and U-571 on D-Theater and that picture (106" 720 LCD Projector) is better than any OTA I've seen.

I'm holding out for a combo player that outputs 1080P (My next projector will be either a 3Chip 720P DLP or single chip 1080P DLP (maybe SRXD) I figure I'll be upgrading late 2007 and be looking to spend about 5k.

That way I can get a BR burner for my PC and I'll be able to play HD-DVD (if needed)

Hopefully by XMas we will see one format take the lead...

Dave

Better question is how does it compare to D-Theater. I have Ice Age, XMEN and U-571 on D-Theater and that picture (106" 720 LCD Projector) is better than any OTA I've seen.

I'm holding out for a combo player that outputs 1080P (My next projector will be either a 3Chip 720P DLP or single chip 1080P DLP (maybe SRXD) I figure I'll be upgrading late 2007 and be looking to spend about 5k.

That way I can get a BR burner for my PC and I'll be able to play HD-DVD (if needed)

Hopefully by XMas we will see one format take the lead...

Dave

The only D-Theater tape I have is Backdraft with Kurt Russell. Again, all I've ever seen it on is a 720p machine, but I'd say HD-DVD looked better. Given the tendency for any tape based format to drop out at least a little, and the random access, there's no comparison. Also, I believe all the specs for the new disk formats are better than D-Theater. D-Theater had no provision for 1080p. Both HD-DVD and BluRay formats can handle 1080p, even if the first generation of players don't output it directly.

Just a reminder,

Last HD Blues game of the season tonight on FSNMWHD Charter 792. The Blues can make it 9 in a row tonight :)

Here's looking forward to the Cardinal home opener in HD !

Consumers Union (Reports) is chiming in on the cable / telco video debate. I received an email asking me to contact my congressmen. I did not know there was video franchising legislation before Congress. I just thought it was before state governments.
____________________________________________________________ _

Ensure access to video services for all!

Giant telephone companies want to offer new for-pay video services over high-speed Internet wires to compete with cable companies, potentially offering some consumers relief from skyrocketing cable bills. But rather than just take on the cable giants in the marketplace, the phone companies are asking Congress for special exemptions from existing policies that help communities protect their consumers.

Currently, local communities have the right to ensure that video service providers offer their video packages to all consumers in a community, rather than just the wealthiest. That helps ensure that middle- and low-income consumers get more choices and aren’t left on the wrong side of the digital divide. These protections are more important than ever given that cable TV prices are soaring and high-speed Internet has become critical to education, business opportunities and other fundamental daily needs.

But the big phone companies don’t want existing consumer protection policies to apply to them. And, at the same time phone companies claim they want to compete with cable, they’ve also opposed laws that would prohibit them from interfering with your access to web sites and services offered on the Internet that might compete with the phone company’s own video offerings.

Tell Congress to bring cable price relief and competition to all consumers, including those who need it most!

ABC? How'd you manage that one, Scott? The only distant network the rest of us can get is Fox (because KTVI is an O&O). And Sinclair (KDNL's owner) strikes me as the type of company that would be more stubborn than most about NOT granting waivers.

I thought everyone got it. Maybe I'm granfathered in or something. A while back they did turn off my CBS and NBC HD feeds, but they left the other networks on. Shhhhh! Don't say anything if I shouldn't have it. :D

Scott

Has anyone on this forum ever recieved or been granted a waiver from our local networks through DirecTV? Fox was the only network that signed off on my request.

Complained to customer retention at DirecTV; we went back and forth with the rep. for about 20 min. and was GIVEN access to all the East Coast HD channels. So it can be done my friends.

Back in 1998 (or was it '99?) when *D shut off my distant CBS and Fox due to a court order, I requested waivers from both... and was denied on both... even though KTVI was a Fox O&O even back then.

In fact, the denial from KTVI was especially insulting. There wasn't even a person's name attached to it, it was just from "Fox 2 Engineering." And it stated something like "you'll have plenty of time to put up an antenna to get our over the air signal because your distant signal shutoff won't happen until February 28, 1998." This was on a letter dated March 16, 1998.

Has anyone on this forum ever recieved or been granted a waiver from our local networks through DirecTV? Fox was the only network that signed off on my request.

Complained to customer retention at DirecTV; we went back and forth with the rep. for about 20 min. and was GIVEN access to all the East Coast HD channels. So it can be done my friends.

Welcome to the forum. :)

Got a postcard in the mail with the denial. Only got Fox. What was your argument?

Anyone know where PBS fits into this?

Anyone here using TIVO or D-TIVO have a problem with recording LOST this week? It's been widely reported in the TIVO Community Forum that LOST did not record for many people with a season pass. I had the same issue but thankfully checked my TODO list and caught it before the show started.

I have my OTA antenna run directly (no diplexors). It comes off the roof into a box of sorts outside. It is then run through my utility room where it is coupleded a second time and run into a plate in my living room where it's run from there into my DVR. I got a longer mast to attach to my current mast and may need a short piece of cable to make the final run to the antenna.

How many times can the cable get coupled before it starts to degrade or does it? If I do need a short piece on the roof how would I keep moisture out? Just wrap it with black electrical tape? Seems like there would be something better out there. Suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

No problem with LOST for me this week. And I *never* saw the ending coming......

I have my OTA antenna run directly (no diplexors). It comes off the roof into a box of sorts outside. It is then run through my utility room where it is coupleded a second time and run into a plate in my living room where it's run from there into my DVR. I got a longer mast to attach to my current mast and may need a short piece of cable to make the final run to the antenna.

How many times can the cable get coupled before it starts to degrade or does it? If I do need a short piece on the roof how would I keep moisture out? Just wrap it with black electrical tape? Seems like there would be something better out there. Suggestions?

Thanks in advance!
Mo,
My longest OTA run is 110' from antenna to receiver. It has 4 couplers, and is split at 70'. The signal strength is stronger at the end of the run, than it is to the two closer TV's, which is because the receiver at the end has a better OTA tuner.
I have one coupler exposed to potential moisture. I used the small rubber (plastic?) end boots to protect it. One on each end, the sealed with electrical tape at the seam.

Call the 1-800-directv and ask for the customer retention department. These people are trained to give you whatever you want and will not let you go unhappy.

My biggest asset was that I've been with DirecTV continuously since 1997 and that they did not want to lose me as a customer. I told them that I was leaving DirecTV for Dishnetwork because they were offering their customers access to the East and West Feeds of the HD networks channels. For some reason he acknowledged that Dish was doing it for their customers and that it will be stopped very shortly.

After he consulted with his supervisor, he said turn on your TV and proceed to the following channels; 80 82 86 and 88....all HD stations from NY.

Best time to call these guys are in the middle of the night. At that time, they are not in a rush to finish your call to get to another customer.

Good luck! Hell, I hope DirecTV is not reading this post.

Mo,
My longest OTA run is 110' from antenna to receiver. It has 4 couplers, and is split at 70'. The signal strength is stronger at the end of the run, than it is to the two closer TV's, which is because the receiver at the end has a better OTA tuner.
I have one coupler exposed to potential moisture. I used the small rubber (plastic?) end boots to protect it. One on each end, the sealed with electrical tape at the seam.

Thanks for the advice. I wish I had picked up a cable crimper when I was out yesterday. It'd be nice to get that little circular tool the installers use. I have a wire stripper I could try. Think that would work? Where did you get the boots?

Call the 1-800-directv and ask for the customer retention department. These people are trained to give you whatever you want and will not let you go unhappy.

My biggest asset was that I've been with DirecTV continuously since 1997 and that they did not want to lose me as a customer. I told them that I was leaving DirecTV for Dishnetwork because they were offering their customers access to the East and West Feeds of the HD networks channels. For some reason he acknowledged that Dish was doing it for their customers and that it will be stopped very shortly.

After he consulted with his supervisor, he said turn on your TV and proceed to the following channels; 80 82 86 and 88....all HD stations from NY.

Best time to call these guys are in the middle of the night. At that time, they are not in a rush to finish your call to get to another customer.

Good luck! Hell, I hope DirecTV is not reading this post.

Retention said they (D*) can be sued for turning them on and transferred me to Hi Def dept. who said they can be fined 10K per day. So no go.

Costco has a terrific buy on a Sceptre x20 1680x1050 computer/HDTV monitor - 20" LCD - through Sunday. I'm replacing two of my standard 1280x1024 LCD desktop monitors with two of these. The price is hard to beat and the Costco return policy makes a return easy if you decide you don't like it. Hard to imagine, though, with this monitor - it's native widescreen, too. HDTV from the MyHD card looks really good.

Anyone interested in a good deal on some older LCDs, please PM me. I have three for sale.

Thanks for the advice. I wish I had picked up a cable crimper when I was out yesterday. It'd be nice to get that little circular tool the installers use. I have a wire stripper I could try. Think that would work? Where did you get the boots?
I don't think I'd suggest terminating it with only strippers/pliers.
I've seen the boots most anywhere, most recently at Lowe's.
If you're using already terminated cables, for just protecting a coupling, you could just use electrical tape. If you're really concerned about moisture, you could also get the boots, slice them vertically, slip them over the already terminated ends/coupling, and seal it with electrical tape. Tighten them with just a tad of torque using a wrench, rather than just hand tightening them.

I don't think I'd suggest terminating it with only strippers/pliers.
I've seen the boots most anywhere, most recently at Lowe's.
If you're using already terminated cables, for just protecting a coupling, you could just use electrical tape. If you're really concerned about moisture, you could also get the boots, slice them vertically, slip them over the already terminated ends/coupling, and seal it with electrical tape. Tighten them with just a tad of torque using a wrench, rather than just hand tightening them.

Thanks. I meant to strip them to put the terminators on (expose the copper).

I use a wrench to tighten them up.

I'll check for the boots at Lowe's. Appreciate the tip.

Hey all, I don't know if this has been addressed already, but ever since I've been receiving OTA digital broadcasts, I don't get a detailed program guide. I had a SIR-T351 before that did the same thing. Anyone else have the same problem? Is it the stations in St. Louis or my STB? The channels otherwise come it just awesome! Thanks,

Alex

A couple of questions from Sat night viewing....

Anyone have a few -- very short -- pixilization and dropout issues with CBS during the Final Four?

Anyone watch any of ABC30's "The Ring" broadcast? I was flipping it there during halftime of the basketball games and at times there was no center channel and at others it was dropping out like crazy.

Some of thse may have been on my end... I really think I need an amp, but just don't know what to get.

Hey all, I don't know if this has been addressed already, but ever since I've been receiving OTA digital broadcasts, I don't get a detailed program guide. I had a SIR-T351 before that did the same thing. Anyone else have the same problem? Is it the stations in St. Louis or my STB? The channels otherwise come it just awesome! Thanks,

Alex

My Zenith receiver stopped giving program info/description on the channel banner. I did a rescan for channels, and it works fine now. Maybe try to scan for channels again.

Scott

It'd be nice to get that little circular tool the installers use. I have a wire stripper I could try.

After doing a ton of these installs for myself and friends/family, a few years ago I decided that I needed some real equipment and bought the coax wire stripper (that you rotate in a circle, it works great), a crimper with ends, and that handy toner tool that helps identify which cables have a signal when you're sorting through a nest of RG6 stuffed in the basement (it's a 2 piece unit, one that you put on the cable jack in the room you're trying to identify, then the other piece that you put on the other end of the run and it makes a noise when you hit the right one).

Anyway, I bought all of this stuff on eBay, at under wholesale type prices. Lowe's/Home Depot has the crimpers and stripper, but they are at 300% markup. You can also buy it all at Skywalker (for wholesale prices), but check out eBay to see how cheap you can get this stuff for (sometimes you can buy it as a package too).

BTW, I'd recommend the compression connectors and tool, instead of the crimping stuff. It's a little more expensive, but the end result is much more professional looking and better for outdoor applications.

After doing a ton of these installs for myself and friends/family, a few years ago I decided that I needed some real equipment and bought the coax wire stripper (that you rotate in a circle, it works great), a crimper with ends, and that handy toner tool that helps identify which cables have a signal when you're sorting through a nest of RG6 stuffed in the basement ......

Yep....the house I moved into in '03 had the "nest of RG6 stuffed in the basement". They had a dish E* setup (still on the roof) which was rented and I switched it all to Charter with pipeline. I figured out all the cables but one and it still bugs the hell out of me. I was hoping it went to the attic but with all the blown-in insulation it is hard to find a black cable.... :confused:

After doing a ton of these installs for myself and friends/family, a few years ago I decided that I needed some real equipment and bought the coax wire stripper (that you rotate in a circle, it works great), a crimper with ends, and that handy toner tool that helps identify which cables have a signal when you're sorting through a nest of RG6 stuffed in the basement (it's a 2 piece unit, one that you put on the cable jack in the room you're trying to identify, then the other piece that you put on the other end of the run and it makes a noise when you hit the right one).

Anyway, I bought all of this stuff on eBay, at under wholesale type prices. Lowe's/Home Depot has the crimpers and stripper, but they are at 300% markup. You can also buy it all at Skywalker (for wholesale prices), but check out eBay to see how cheap you can get this stuff for (sometimes you can buy it as a package too).

BTW, I'd recommend the compression connectors and tool, instead of the crimping stuff. It's a little more expensive, but the end result is much more professional looking and better for outdoor applications.

I did the same thing, except I bought all my stuff at Home Depot. I agree with using compression as opposed to crimpers.

Dave

Anyone call anout the Dish 921/922 to 622 upgrade?
I'm planning on calling, but havn't gotten around to it. I plan to ask to move my current dish location (I have a tree growing into the line of sight) and have 2 Dish's installed (I've seen reports of weak signals on the Dish 1000 to 129* (I think))

Dave

looks like KTVI is getting their new (hopefully HD) set built. They're doing the news in front of a blue curtain now.

Anyone else getting after-effects from the storms last night?

I had a few shingles blown up (they're not in place anymore but they're at least still there on my roof).... got off easy compared to several neighbors.

My TV antenna is still on the roof but it's now turned about 20 degrees from where it was. I still pick up all the HD locals except 24-1 and 46-1, which of course aren't HD anyway. My analog locals all show more noise in the picture except 11 which actually improved.

My DirecTV dish made it through fine and dandy.

But can someone tell me why a thunderstorm would completely KILL my Charter Pipeline service for several HOURS when the cables bringing me that service are all UNDERGROUND??????

And these people wonder why I won't give up my dish.

My OTA antenna spun about 40° also.
Also, the mast is about 4" off-axis....knew I shuda but on those guy wires when I installed it. Dish's are ok.
Guess what I'm doing today.....Sigh.

Our electricity was out for 13 hours, just came back on an hour or so ago.
I had forgotten to shut down my main computer, so it shut itself down when the UPS ran out....caused some indexing issues. Didn't have to use the backup, but did have to run a couple of chkdsk, and a system restore.

Oh, and none of the wife's shows recorded, which is never a good thing.

Fun night!

BTW, I'd recommend the compression connectors and tool, instead of the crimping stuff. It's a little more expensive, but the end result is much more professional looking and better for outdoor applications.

I read about the compression connectors somewhere else and it sounds like I should get them and the tools. I can always use it to customomize my cable length especially if I have to add a short length to reach the antenna with mast extension.

My 4221 is sitting too low on the 38" mast so I picked up a smaller diameter 5' mast. I want to drop it inside the 1.66" diameter mast and drill some holes and add 2 bolts. It will give me 2 more feet. To keep it from flopping around, I was thinking of shooting some of the non-expansive foam sealant inside. Unless someone has a better idea for shimming it/keeping it in place after adding the bolts. Because of the plate already bolted to the roof I am pretty much married to a 1.66" diameter mast.

I love Skywalker, but Bill is not a good resource as he's the one who sent the 38" mast over a 5' or 6' one knowing I have the CM 4221. If given a choice always talk to Craig.

My DirecTV dish made it through fine and dandy.

But can someone tell me why a thunderstorm would completely KILL my Charter Pipeline service for several HOURS when the cables bringing me that service are all UNDERGROUND??????

And these people wonder why I won't give up my dish.

My 5-LNB whopper made it through just fine as well. These dishes seem to be able to handle anything (my dish in Florida made it through 2 hurricanes and my Houston one through 1 hurricane, all with 80-100mph winds, no prob).

Antenna made it fine, as it's in the attic.

Like you though, my pipeline service was out from around the time that the storm started (late afternoon) until who knows when (I last checked around 10pm last night). Doesn't make sense, and the Charter analog TV worked just fine during that time, only Pipeline was hosed. I don't get it.

Lost my privacy fence, snapped the 4x4's off at the base. My DB4 made it though and I had no problems with Grey's Anatomy last night. That is the only channel I watch with it, so I am not sure about the rest.

Heck with the fence.....just leave my OTA alone..... :-)

Well, anybody know any good fence installers........

Due to the tuner mandate, 480i CRT's are showing up at Wal-Mart. 27" Samsung's for $230.00 (CRT "flat").

looks like KTVI is getting their new (hopefully HD) set built. They're doing the news in front of a blue curtain now.

I don't get the impression that their newscast is going to be HD, I'm thinking more along the lines of true 480p. During the newscast promos they refer to the new cameras as digital not HD, and as far as I remember they have never once said their news will be HD, just clearer graphics, plasmas, and nicer news set. You would think they would be more than eager to announce an HD news cast, since local news is all about competition with the other stations, I would also imagine that Kmov is not far behind with their upgrade.

Lost my privacy fence, snapped the 4x4's off at the base. My DB4 made it though and I had no problems with Grey's Anatomy last night. That is the only channel I watch with it, so I am not sure about the rest.

Heck with the fence.....just leave my OTA alone..... :-)

Well, anybody know any good fence installers........


One of my panels on my fence got blown through. The 4x4's are standing but
the framed 2x6's got blown out along with the 2x4 framing piece, it was shattered.

But can someone tell me why a thunderstorm would completely KILL my Charter Pipeline service for several HOURS when the cables bringing me that service are all UNDERGROUND??????

And these people wonder why I won't give up my dish.No idea -- but the same thing happens to me like clockwork any time there is any semi-serious rainfall. A sprinkle has no effect, but a pouring rain means I'll be out of commission on Pipeline for at least a couple of hours. A thunderstorm is a sure thing for an outage.

No damage here. D* signal never went out. Centurytel DSL never went out. Power never went out. I feel very lucky not to have any damage. Too bad about the fence Scheerce.

Scott

ya, now I am hearing it from the wife. "We NEEDED a new fence, but you decided to buy a big hdtv that you WANTED." I won't hear the end of this one for a while......

I have more than a few missing shingles (Hwy K & Mexico Rd). Im not sure if I should call the insurance agent or not. Last time I called my rates went up WITHOUT any payout. At what point do you replace a roof as opposed to repair?

My Sister-in-law got creamed in Catawissa, MO (Pacific area). Entire 4'x8' sheets of plywood ripped off the roof and a Huge indoor rodeo arena was almost leveled.

I would say that if you are williing to do it yourself, and can get the same shingles, repair.

If you are not willing to do it yourself, replace.

I'm pretty lucky here in GC relatively speaking. A lot of tree damage, a few downed street lamps (none by me).

No roof damage (sorry to hear that Tom!) and no house damage. It'll take me about 45-60 minutes this afternoon to clear up all the limbs from the lawn but it's better than how bad many others got hit!

Cheers,

Well, here I go...It's KPLR's turn for trouble. With a Baseball game coming on just under 2 hours, my HD signal keeps freezing. Everything was fine yesterday, before the wind/rain/tornado/hail storm. No I'm getting HD/SD pictures every few seconds, and lost the signal entirely last night.

No problems from KDNL, KSDK, KETC, KMOV, or KTVI. The only affected one was KPLR-DT. I just might have to watch the game with the NTSC tuner on the TV...Please tell if anybody is having the same problem.


Strike that folks. Everythings fine now. Woo-Hoo!

Hey all, I don't know if this has been addressed already, but ever since I've been receiving OTA digital broadcasts, I don't get a detailed program guide. I had a SIR-T351 before that did the same thing. Anyone else have the same problem? Is it the stations in St. Louis or my STB? The channels otherwise come it just awesome! Thanks,

Alex

No, 2 & 5 seem to have issues. When I called KTVI, they actually made an attempt to turn their's own. (works sometimes, not others). KSDK's works, but when they want it to.

I've got the SIR-T151 (a little older model than yours), and I've had no real problems with PSIP until yesterday. KPLR's is doing something weird yesterday:

2:00 Mighty
7:00 Charmed
2:00 Mighty
7:00 Charmed (etc...)

Everything's fine now, though.

Anyone else getting after-effects from the storms last night?

I had a few shingles blown up (they're not in place anymore but they're at least still there on my roof).... got off easy compared to several neighbors.

My TV antenna is still on the roof but it's now turned about 20 degrees from where it was. I still pick up all the HD locals except 24-1 and 46-1, which of course aren't HD anyway. My analog locals all show more noise in the picture except 11 which actually improved.

My DirecTV dish made it through fine and dandy.

But can someone tell me why a thunderstorm would completely KILL my Charter Pipeline service for several HOURS when the cables bringing me that service are all UNDERGROUND??????

And these people wonder why I won't give up my dish.

Down here in the city, I'm glad my antenna was inside. Over here by the Botanical Gardens, the wind had to be upwards of 60mph. What was amazing to me was that KPLR and KSDK lost their satellite uplinks to the network, KDNL was struggling with ABC, but not a jot of a problem with local HD signals. No multipath, nothing (as I said, totally amazed by this indoors, no less). Not even a loss signal (my previous issues with KPLR disappeared today sometime between 10am-and 12pm). :)

Idiot question to all, will a D* or DishNetwork dish work indoors? I know, I know, n00b question. :D

Forgot to mention: My earthlink DSL worked all the way through, with no issues. Oddly enough a conventional thundertorm usually kills it for few minutes (I guess it's the fluctuating phone lines).

kj,

I just tuned to KPLR-DT and every thing looked OK -- I could only watch for a couple of minutes (700 Club), but no break-ups or freezes during that time.

No problems from KDNL, KSDK, KETC, KMOV, or KTVI. The only affected one was KPLR-DT. I just might have to watch the game with the NTSC tuner on the TV...Please tell if anybody is having the same problem.


Strike that folks. Everythings fine now. Woo-Hoo!

I had the same issue last night with their digital signal. I was watching the "fan show" around 9:30 and it kept breaking up (even though the rest of my digitals were fine and I doubt my antenna moved as it's in the attic). I flipped to the analog version and it was having some issues too, so I chalked it up to a KPLR issue. I checked this morning to see if had cleared up, and all is well now. Good stable signal, no problems. 1hr and counting, go Cards!

Hey Mo. I use the Thomas and Betts Snap n Seal connectors. Below is a link to an auction on ebay. I also have the T&B crimper tool specifically made for these connectors. I bought that on ebay also but didn't see any auctions for one at the moment. You'll also need some kind of Coax wire stripper.

http://cgi.*********/50-pcs-Thomas-Betts-snap-seal-Compression-fittings_W0QQitemZ9705177704QQcategoryZ39803QQrdZ1QQcmdZView Item

These are the particulars from a post by Hanjke from a while back:

Manufacturer- THOMAS & BETTS
"Snap N Seal"
Model # SNS1P6

...will a D* or DishNetwork dish work indoors?

Nope. Your dish needs a relatively clear line of site to the satellite. The signal can't pass through walls or the roof.

Is the Cards game in HD anywhere on D*?

I have more than a few missing shingles (Hwy K & Mexico Rd). Im not sure if I should call the insurance agent or not. Last time I called my rates went up WITHOUT any payout. At what point do you replace a roof as opposed to repair?

My Sister-in-law got creamed in Catawissa, MO (Pacific area). Entire 4'x8' sheets of plywood ripped off the roof and a Huge indoor rodeo arena was almost leveled.

Any repair you do to your roof will count towards your deductible. You can not get
anyone to come out and do a repair for under $500.

If you can pull up the shingles on your roof, like they aren't glued down to one
another, that is a tell tale time to replace.

I installed my CM 4221 in the attic and I am getting everything ok. I am getting my D* HD dish and reciever installed tomorrow.

Hey Mo. I use the Thomas and Betts Snap n Seal connectors. Below is a link to an auction on ebay. I also have the T&B crimper tool specifically made for these connectors. I bought that on ebay also but didn't see any auctions for one at the moment. You'll also need some kind of Coax wire stripper.

http://cgi.*********/50-pcs-Thomas-Betts-snap-seal-Compression-fittings_W0QQitemZ9705177704QQcategoryZ39803QQrdZ1QQcmdZView Item

These are the particulars from a post by Hanjke from a while back:

Manufacturer- THOMAS & BETTS
"Snap N Seal"
Model # SNS1P6



Nope. Your dish needs a relatively clear line of site to the satellite. The signal can't pass through walls or the roof.

I have used the same F connectors for years. Easy to use and durable.

Mo, Skywalker sells Snap 'N Seal.

Scott

State Farm says that wood fences are not covered under home owners......ARGH!!!!! There goes $5k out the window....

Pipeline Outage
But can someone tell me why a thunderstorm would completely KILL my Charter Pipeline service for several HOURS when the cables bringing me that service are all UNDERGROUND??????
-------------
The problem was somewhere upstream to the Charter servers. Spoke to a rep based in Louisville [but formerly from St Louis] and we tested the up and down signals to my modem - and they were all within the acceptable dB range. We were back on line by midnight.

Jim

My 5-LNB whopper made it through just fine as well. These dishes seem to be able to handle anything (my dish in Florida made it through 2 hurricanes and my Houston one through 1 hurricane, all with 80-100mph winds, no prob).



I'm noticing a trend :)

Jon moves to Florida - hurricanes.
Jon moves to Houston - hurricanes.
Jon moves back to St. Louis - tornadoes/storms.

Who wants to start a collection to move Jon to Arizona or somewhere else far away?? :)

Chris

Every month I get my Charter bill and every month I have to call them to discuss the errors. I have a Moxibox and Moximate. Here's what I'm being charged.
Digital Video Recorder $6.85
2 interactive Integrated Service $5.98
DVR Service- Advanced $20.32
Moxi mate Authorization $1.50

Total $34.65

This seems very expensive for the service. Is this correct or am I being mischarged?

well, i dont have a Mate. I've never seen an "authorization" fee. and i have no idea what "advanced" DVR service is.

anyone else's Charter just take a Dive? My tv is totally out, internet is working. Both of their phone numbers are busy, so I'm assuming its widespread.

Charter Cable is down in South City. Good thing I kept my OTA tuner.

I am in O'Fallon and Digital and HD channels are all out. Only getting a few selected channels below 99. What a pain in the a$$. 24 and National championship basketball and I cannot watch it in HD. Charter is going to get an earful.

Completely out, this sucks no 24 tonite, just my daughters recorded Dora episodes, just ain't the same.

Weird cause my On Demand is working fine.

I got through on the 636-207-7011 C* number. Got to a recording that said they are experiencing widespread outages in MO and IL. They say they have technicians working on it, and they are sorry for any inconvenience. Then it hangs up on you. Nice customer service.

Off HWY 94, had both TV and Internet down. Just came back up... Went down during the middle of 2.5 men.

Pipeline down again for three hours tonight. Just came back up minutes ago.

Much as I like to complain about DirecTV's HD-Lite, Charter has a lot of work to do before I'd even THINK about switching to their TV service.

I'm glad to hear that everyone is ok. It was weird to drive around Fairview Heights today with all the power out and parts of Lincoln Trails closed.

I'm looking forward to a break in the weather patterns.

I was actually out driving with my Godfather during the start of the storm yesterday. We were almost to the Cathedral on Lindell when the winds really started to blow. A traffic light blew down just in front of us on Kingshighway and I had to weave my way around it. Torn between going home and staying the course for church, we decided on the safety of the closer option. The dog was in the car with us and we couldn't leave her to be lifted away by a tornado ("Oh, no, Toto!!!). So, in she went with us. We were expecting raised eyebrows, but no danger. The lights were out. True to form, she was a perfect Lady during the Mass - not a peep.

When Mass was over, the storm was, too.

I'm noticing a trend :)

Jon moves to Florida - hurricanes.
Jon moves to Houston - hurricanes.
Jon moves back to St. Louis - tornadoes/storms.

Who wants to start a collection to move Jon to Arizona or somewhere else far away?? :)

Chris

Ironically, this afternoon, I was replying to Jon's earlier comment about his pipeline being out during the storm. I believe we live only about a mile apart and my pipeline was up and monitoring the storm via weather radar and it worked for hours afterwards. As soon as I tried to send the reply......the pipeline internet went out. :confused:

I'm noticing a trend :)

Jon moves to Florida - hurricanes.
Jon moves to Houston - hurricanes.
Jon moves back to St. Louis - tornadoes/storms.

Who wants to start a collection to move Jon to Arizona or somewhere else far away?? :)

Chris

LOL. When we were up here house shopping during the holidays, I told my family and inlaws to update their home owner's insurance to include earthquake coverage. Natural disasters seem to be following me as of late. :eek:

I am in O'Fallon and Digital and HD channels are all out. Only getting a few selected channels below 99. What a pain in the a$$. 24 and National championship basketball and I cannot watch it in HD. Charter is going to get an earful.

+1

Couldn't have picked a worse night for an outage

FAVOR :) Anyone who was able to watch 24 can you give a synopsis of what happened last night since Charter was out, from the thread in programming the Prez.(former VP) is the bad guy?

No spoilers PLEASE!

I have it in an xvid file (350mb) if you want it. ;)

LOL. When we were up here house shopping during the holidays, I told my family and inlaws to update their home owner's insurance to include earthquake coverage. Natural disasters seem to be following me as of late. :eek:


I have heard that the major insurance companies are getting ready to drop earthquake insurance. I believe American Family is the first. Once they do, the others will fall in line.

For anyone who suffered from Charter's outage last night and missed the Final Four championship game or other programming, I would encourage you to complain firmly but politely about the poor service.

In view of the fact that Charter has let down HD subscribers for two major events on the sports calendar (Super Bowl and NCAA hoops championship game), a major gesture of apology should be forthcoming.

Needless to say, a one-day prorated credit falls WAY short of what's required in this situation. I'd start the bidding at a full-month TV credit, and settle for no less than 2 weeks.

As many of you know, I'm a DirecTV subscriber, so it may appear that I don't really have a stake in this and should just keep my opinions/advice to myself. That would probably be a fair comment, but I can't help but feel that a lot of Charter subscribers here and at large are in "perpetual shrug mode" -- the bastards have beaten you down to the point where the only expectation you have remaining are low expectations. And I think that attitude ultimately reflects the service provided not only by Charter, but also their competitors.

I've seen hard evidence of Charter Customer Fatigue here recently, for example, with someone a few weeks ago asking for advice on what sort of splitter should be used to replace the subpar or faulty one that Charter installed, or someone else asking for recommendations on the type of cable that should be used to rewire the Charter drops in his house due to signal loss.

While I admire the personal initiative this demonstrates, these are problems that Charter should be fixing for you, and when you let them off the hook and do it yourself, you're just flashing a big green light to let them know that you're perfectly comfortable with them screwing you down another quarter-turn whenever it suits them.

Last night's badly timed outage should be a great opportunity to get the point across to Charter that you're not going to accept crummy service any longer.

End of rant...

For anyone who suffered from Charter's outage last night and missed the Final Four championship game or other programming, I would encourage you to complain firmly but politely about the poor service.

Firmly I could probably handle, it's the polite part I'll probably struggle with.

Personally, the more irritating thing is that the service line was BUSY. I tried for several hours to call in to get the scoop. I finally gave up out of frustration.

I assume everyone else got the busy signal?

This is just not acceptable. I realize there are limitations on how many calls they can take, but I get the feeling they just plain switched the phones off.

I have heard that the major insurance companies are getting ready to drop earthquake insurance. I believe American Family is the first. Once they do, the others will fall in line.

If they do, they better refund that part of the paid premium. Doubt they would though. State Farm decided that my deductible is $1K which really irks me.

Don't feel bad Jon. I was 12 during hurricane Betsy in FL, lived in Portland when Mt St. Helen's blew, in SF during the '89 Loma Prieta earthquake and NorCal when the 100 year flood happened.

Tornadoes scare the heck out of me. Too much exposure to the Wizard of Oz as a child. My family is getting me the NOAA weather alert radio for my b-day. :)

I'm surprised you guys are that ticked off. I mean if it was just my place sure, I'd be mad, but a huge outage - well, stuff happens, especially after a storm. I'm not so locked into shows that I get all that pissed I guess. At least my internet and VOD worked, and I had plenty of stuff recorded on the Moxi to watch. But I decided to do some reading.

I'm surprised you guys are that ticked off. I mean if it was just my place sure, I'd be mad, but a huge outage - well, stuff happens, especially after a storm. I'm not so locked into shows that I get all that pissed I guess. At least my internet and VOD worked, and I had plenty of stuff recorded on the Moxi to watch. But I decided to do some reading.
Except that -- for example -- when a storm knocks out electricity you stop paying for it until it's restored. When a storm knocks out cable, the cable company does -- and is quite happy to -- charge you for service anyway.

Yea i get that but ... It was only 1.5 hours at my house. I see your point ... I just cant get all that excited about it :P

Yea i get that but ... It was only 1.5 hours at my house. I see your point ... I just cant get all that excited about it :P
I still agree with Doug.

If you lay down like a doormat, you get stepped on like a doormat.

I contacted Charter and requested they credit my account for the 13+ hour outage of Pipeline.

Charter responded by saying, "our records indicate no service outage of the Charter Pipeline services existed in your location during the specified time.
Charter Communications is not responsible for electrical outages which cause the lost of power to Charter Pipeline hardware.
We recommend you contact your electrical utility."

Obviously, with the electricity being out, I have no way of knowing if Pipeline was up or not.

Guess that makes be a wet doormat :o

Can I just say I love Directv!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can I just say I love Directv!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ditto. I hated cable in the 90s and earlier, and have no intention of going back to that mess.

Well when the Aliens take out your satellites, we'll see whos bragging!

I got rid of Charter for OTA two years ago, and I've never looked back.

Every month I get my Charter bill and every month I have to call them to discuss the errors. I have a Moxibox and Moximate. Here's what I'm being charged.
Digital Video Recorder $6.85
2 interactive Integrated Service $5.98
DVR Service- Advanced $20.32
Moxi mate Authorization $1.50

Total $34.65

This seems very expensive for the service. Is this correct or am I being mischarged?


Can anyone respond with what they are being charged?

Sure. Again I don't have a MoxiMate though. These are the only DVR/HD related charges on my bill:

DVR Service 11.98
HDPAK w/ HDNET 3.99

Can anyone respond with what they are being charged?


I would, but everytime I try to log into my account on charters stupid website it says I'm not logged in after I log in.

I am so glad I decided not to go back to Charter. I have been with DirecTv for about 8 years and I just got my 3 LNB dish installed and HD/TiVo reciever. I have the locals with the OTA and everything is coming in great! I love DirecTv too.

Can anyone respond with what they are being charged?

Here is what mine reads. I do get credit for having this as my first box since Charter gives that to you as part of the Biggest pack.

1 Remote Control - Digital 0.11
DVR Service-advanced 20.32
Moxi Mate Authorization 1.50

.....

Last night's badly timed outage should be a great opportunity to get the point across to Charter that you're not going to accept crummy service any longer.

End of rant...

Charter never will get the point until there is some real competition. I seems like Missouri won't be doing anything soon about this until AT&T starts to "grease" some palms in Jeff. City.

I am at the point that I am afraid to have a Charter service guy come to my door. Chances are he will screw up more than he fixes. The last two CSRs I talked to last week tried to talk me into a pay-per-view wrestling event!!!! I just wanted them to reset one of my STBs which stopped showing the Weather Channel.....that took an escalation and two days since they did not recognize my MAC address on the pipeline modem......jeez.....

I don't care if AT&T is just "cherry picking" customers/markets to offer their service....I'm in one of those markets and will pay........

For anyone who suffered from Charter's outage last night and missed the Final Four championship game or other programming, I would encourage you to complain firmly but politely about the poor service.

In view of the fact that Charter has let down HD subscribers for two major events on the sports calendar (Super Bowl and NCAA hoops championship game), a major gesture of apology should be forthcoming.

Needless to say, a one-day prorated credit falls WAY short of what's required in this situation. I'd start the bidding at a full-month TV credit, and settle for no less than 2 weeks.

As many of you know, I'm a DirecTV subscriber, so it may appear that I don't really have a stake in this and should just keep my opinions/advice to myself. That would probably be a fair comment, but I can't help but feel that a lot of Charter subscribers here and at large are in "perpetual shrug mode" -- the bastards have beaten you down to the point where the only expectation you have remaining are low expectations. And I think that attitude ultimately reflects the service provided not only by Charter, but also their competitors.

I've seen hard evidence of Charter Customer Fatigue here recently, for example, with someone a few weeks ago asking for advice on what sort of splitter should be used to replace the subpar or faulty one that Charter installed, or someone else asking for recommendations on the type of cable that should be used to rewire the Charter drops in his house due to signal loss.

While I admire the personal initiative this demonstrates, these are problems that Charter should be fixing for you, and when you let them off the hook and do it yourself, you're just flashing a big green light to let them know that you're perfectly comfortable with them screwing you down another quarter-turn whenever it suits them.

Last night's badly timed outage should be a great opportunity to get the point across to Charter that you're not going to accept crummy service any longer.

End of rant...
well, i just called charter (we got a whopping 13 minutes of last night's 24 on moxi) to see if they would re-air it. first, i had to argue that the power was on, the cable was not (nor was the internet, so i couldn't connect to the forum to see if anyone else was steaming). then i mentioned that on a recent trip to chicago, i noticed that comcast had the weeks top shows (CSI, etc.) as on-demand options, so if you missed it on thurs., you could catch it again that weekend. he starts selling me on their on-demand service. i say, "yeah, and that's just the cat's meow, so is this week's 24 on-demand?" then i spend the next 15 minutes in hold limbo. no, it's not on-demand. i say, "you know what? charter should consider offering the top network shows as an 'on-demand' option... hell, you can steal that idea and say it's your own." he just says "well, thank you for choosing charter." well, i didn't, my wallet did. i have no allegiance to charter, directv, to anyone, other than myself. ultimately, it's annoying, but it's tv, and i'll keep breathing. i just hate the fact that ALL these amazingly, technologically advanced companies have such short-sighted vision.

My son lives in the Chicago area and has Comcast. He has just a bit above basic cable and internet. He pays $10.00 less than I pay for Charter and I get everything but phone.

Walt

Here is what mine reads. I do get credit for having this as my first box since Charter gives that to you as part of the Biggest pack.

1 Remote Control - Digital 0.11
DVR Service-advanced 20.32
Moxi Mate Authorization 1.50


What is the going rate for Charter internet access? Are there 2 speeds?

3mb 29.99

then i mentioned that on a recent trip to chicago, i noticed that comcast had the weeks top shows (CSI, etc.) as on-demand options, so if you missed it on thurs., you could catch it again that weekend.

Be careful what you wish for, Dan. All those programs are 99 cents each. Another cable company (Cox?) has struck a deal to carry broadcast content on demand. One speculation is that broadcast networks may move to a pay model for cable and satellite customers, and no longer offer their programs for free. (Except for OTA, that is.)


Anyway, if you look through your program guide, the previous week's episode of "24" re-airs on Sunday nights on another cable channel. Since my MOXI only recorded one second of this week's episode (and 16 minutes of PRISON BREAK), I have scheduled it to record the rerun.

Just do a search on your guide and you'll find it.


-Hanjke

Here is what mine reads. I do get credit for having this as my first box since Charter gives that to you as part of the Biggest pack.

1 Remote Control - Digital 0.11
DVR Service-advanced 20.32
Moxi Mate Authorization 1.50

Digital Video Recorder 6.85
Remote Control .11
DVR Service Advanced 20.32
Moxi Mate Authorization 1.50
Interactive Integrated Service 2.99

Be careful what you wish for, Dan. All those programs are 99 cents each. Another cable company (Cox?) has struck a deal to carry broadcast content on demand. One speculation is that broadcast networks may move to a pay model for cable and satellite customers, and no longer offer their programs for free. (Except for OTA, that is.)


Anyway, if you look through your program guide, the previous week's episode of "24" re-airs on Sunday nights on another cable channel. Since my MOXI only recorded one second of this week's episode (and 16 minutes of PRISON BREAK), I have scheduled it to record the rerun.

Just do a search on your guide and you'll find it.


-Hanjke
Really? I did a search, but I'll narrow it down to Sunday. Thanks! (and I agree about the potential fleecing that comes with on-demand OTA).

Digital Video Recorder 6.85
Remote Control .11
DVR Service Advanced 20.32
Moxi Mate Authorization 1.50
Interactive Integrated Service 2.99This can't be correct -- nearly $30 a month for a glorified DVR service? Over $20 a month for DVR service, before equipment?

This must be what Charter executives refer to as their "Brooklyn Bridge Package."

Seriously, it seems that the whole "Shrugging With Charter" phenomenom is much worse than I thought.