The open rack has no "walls" at all. Just 3 shelves. Similar to this: http://www.amazon.com/Bush-Audio-Component-Rack-AD47741/dp/B000069JWY/sr=1-24/qid=1159977119/ref=sr_1_24/104-1967226-8969513?ie=UTF8&s=electronics

Another general question. Will I have any trouble splitting my OTA signal to go to both the 942 and 622? I have 90-100 on almost all important locals I believe.
That rack does not appear to present any cooling issues.
I have my OTA split to 3 TV's. The first run is 50' from the antenna, it then splits off to the other 2 TV's @ 40' each. I have a booster amp in front of each of the two second splits. I'm fairly certain it would work without the amps, but this way, I have the same signal at all 3 TV's...less confusing for my wife....Uhm, OK....less confusing for ME!

kdg:

I missed it, are you just using a laptop cooling fan underneath the 622? I just got my 622 installed yesterday and want to keep its temp down.

Best,

kdg:

I missed it, are you just using a laptop cooling fan underneath the 622? I just got my 622 installed yesterday and want to keep its temp down.

Best,
I'm using these John. I have them placed at the L/R corner as you face the machine. It's a variable speed, on the lowest setting, no fan noise is heard. The 622 USB port powers it.

http://www.preisvergleich.org/pimages/THERMALTAKE-MOBILEFAN-II-USB-LED-LUEFTER_39__998736_20.jpg

I paid $12 + $6 (shipping) each. Don't ask, cus I don't remember. They go by the ™ ThermalTake...pretty sure you'll easily find them.

I've also read some are using underneath laptop-type cooling fans, which seem to be doing the job, just a bit more pricey.

I already have a laptop USB cooler, that's why I asked :)

Best,

I could prolly host the website, if we still want to do it.
I would like to get my bosses OK first tho.
Let me know
Fastman

......Get a tuner off Ebay. I really liked the Samsung SIR TS 360 OTA. I gave it to my son-in-law so he could have HD. It was an extra.

Walt

Ditto. I followed Walt's advice. The tuner is excellent and OTA is FREE! I am not a D* subscriber and never have been. Only buy the receiver if it has an access card or if you know you can borrow one from a friend. You'll need it only during the initial setup.

.......
While we applaud the efforts by KSDK to broadcast local news in high definition, we cannot agree with KSDK's claim of being the high defintion leader in St. Louis. In the two areas that matter most, picture quality and responsiveness to its viewers, KSDK falls seriously short of some of its local competition.......

Don't forget the audio issue with the "hole-in-the-center".

Doug,

You may also want to invite them to this site to discuss the issues we have. Ask them to designate someone with the authority to resolve issues to engage in a dialog with the "leading HD viewers in St Louis". They may well find that they are missing the mark when it comes to understanding what is expected of HD.

If we can have access to them as we do others, perhaps both sides can come out for the better.

Dave

Dave,

I believe that in the past they have been invited here, or at least it has been suggested that they could come here and learn more about where they're not meeting viewer expectations.

I have no problem with extending an invitation, but as the primary person looking to cut them off at the ankles, I don't think I'm the best person to do that, particularly if someone from kSDk has been lurking and relaying recent discussions here.

But I'm 100 percent open to having them come here and discuss the issues and I would definitely participate in a positive way. I'd much rather get things on the right track without resorting to coercion and threats, but kSDk's track record for listening AND following through does not fill me to the brim with enthusiasm.

Would you like to volunteer to make that approach? If not, is someone else prepared to do it?

I will if no one else wants to take it on.

Dave

I highly doubt they would accept. After reading through the past few days, stepping up and participating would be a calculated suicide. They don't even answer their emails. KSDK has continued to demonstrate their philosophy of "we're the leader....enough said."

There are not very many "Jim's" in this world. I'm fairly certain KSDK has anything even close.

Additionally, many companies, DishNetwork for example, prohibit their employees from engaging in discussions in public forums.

Dave,

If you're game, just go for it.

I'm having some pixellation issues with KMOV. I just crawled into the attic and adjusted the antenna, and it seems a bit better. Anybody else have anything (Jericho is on at the moment). Otherwise, can I get pointed to the best site to plot the antennas to my address?

Ken,

You may be right, particularly about the online aspect of the discussion. But again, someone can make them aware of the fact that there's a near-complete lack of respect for kSDk and its claims to HD leadership. The conversation can take place offline -- it's not like the Internet is the solution to all our problems... ;)

Again, I don't care HOW the problems get resolved -- I'm just fed up with the status quo and want to see a change.

FWIW, when I spoke with the Post-Dispatch reporter way back when they did the story on HDTV and KSDK doing the news in HD, she told me that she had asked KSDK management about the fact that online chatter indicated they were doing a poor job handling network passthrough. She said they responded in a positive way, noting that they were definitely aware of their shortcomings and would be doing better going forward.

And they have -- but only during their own local news programs. The rest of their digital channel management has actually gotten worse.

i still think someone needs to conact the head of Affiliate Operations at NBC. I don't know if that's a real job title, but it sounds good. I'm not sure where to look to find out who at NBC is in charge of affiliates.

looking on NBC Universal's corporate bios, Jay Ireland seems to be the go-to guy, but it sounds like he's only in charge of the O&O's:

Jay Ireland is president of the NBC Universal Television Stations. He has overall executive responsibility for NBC Universal's 14 owned-and-operated NBC television stations and its 16 Spanish language television stations - 15 affiliated with the Telemundo network and one independent Spanish language station. Together, the 30 stations reach more than 30 percent of U.S. television households. Ireland is responsible for continuing the division's expansion by developing programming, growing local news operations and expanding community presence.

http://www.nbcuni.com/About_NBC_Universal/Executive_Bios/ireland_jay.shtml

Dan,

FWIW, this seems to be the time of year where you tend to see poor or variable reception from stations that previously were rock solid. I can't provide you any scientific explanation for why this tends to happen, but I have heard repeated online claims that trees losing/sprouting leaves can cause intermiitent problems.

I know that sounds stupid, and I feel stupid even relaying it. But I have had intermittent problems in both the spring and the fall. The last time this happened, I just rode it out without climbing into the attic and in a week or so, all was good again. For me, if I recall correctly, in late spring my KSDK reception goes downhill and in fall I have had problems with KDNL. There were a couple of weeks early last season where I had to watch "Lost" in SD.

Anyway, if anyone here is relatively new to HDTV and you haven't been through a a couple of change of seasons, it might be worth bearing in mind that signal reception can suddenly deteriorate and then just as suddenly return to normal during these periods.

I appreciate that's not even close to being a solution to being able to watch your favorite program, but maybe it helps to know that it might clear up on its own (or not).

audio,

I agree that contacting the network is a good idea and it definitely will be included once we have a plan of attack.

However, I don't think the guy you are pointing to is the right guy, as kSDK is owned by Gannett, not NBC owned/operated. But I'm sure there is someone at a similar level who carries the can for affilliates.

I tend to favor a more positive approach to the KSDK issue as well. I think our chances for improvement would be much better if we could engage them rather than alienate them. I know it’s difficult to get through to them, but I think we could make more progress if the first collective communication attempt was an offer to assist rather than a threat to boycott.

Here are a couple of ideas:


Search AVS and other local forums for industry insiders with KSDK / Gannett contacts we can leverage.



Contact the station through their normal public relations channels and ask for a group tour of their facilities. They should be told we are a group of local HD enthusiasts that are interested in the technical details of their transmission facilities and would appreciate the opportunity to discuss those details with a member or members of their engineering team.


I think it’s important that we not look only for an outlet to complain and vent our frustrations, but seek a relationship where we could offer suggestions, based on our observations and experience, and perhaps gain a understanding of such technical challenges that may exist of which we have no knowledge. We know from experience that having an engineering representative of a local station on the forum helps us to understand some of the specific transmission issues involved and tends to allow us to tolerate the glitches more readily when we know the details surrounding them. I believe the station benefits also from the feedback we provide.

It’s sometimes easy to reach the conclusion that professionals don’t care about the quality of their work or are incompetent. I can tell you, as a professional in a technical industry, this is very rarely the case. Poor performance is most often a result of technical issues unknown to the service consumer. I’m irritated by the glitches, but, think for a moment about what KSDK has accomplished regarding local high definition programming. Not too long ago, when the station ran sports specials after the news, Leno would be presented in SD because they could not tape delay HD. Now, they are the only local station with the ability to time-shift HD (even if it isn’t working too well at the moment, no other station can even attempt it). They are the first and only local station to present syndicated programming in HD. They are the first and only local station producing daily local programming in HD, and one of two that have produced any local HD programming at all. They have invested quite a lot in an endeavor that, as we’ve heard here, has no revenue associated with it. When you swing for the fences, you’re going to hit home runs, but you will strike out a lot (just had to fit a baseball reference in here :)). Remember when their network audio was always in DD3.0 ?

Isn’t it strange that we seldom complain about the ones that don’t even try ?

Wondering through space tonight....

Doug, were you, or anyone else here, aware that Lynn Beall carries both the title of Executive Vice President of Gannett Broadcasting and President and General Manager of KSDK TV?

I knew she was the GM at KSDK, but I was not aware of her Gannett status.

This being the case, I'm guessing any issues we bring to the attention of the parent Gannett would then be shuffled through Beall's staff....and round and round we go.

Pink,

I'd like to keep the letter and the advertiser list at one central location. But once we've got the letter finalized, you could post a message explaining the boycott and then a link to the letter/advertiser list/signatures.

What's the membership and focus of www.stlmedia.net?

stlmedia.net is owned by Mike Anderson, a former radio guy. Membership is comprised of current and former media professionals, plus others. I was in radio over twenty years ago, and heard about the site from a friend who is still in the biz. The site has message boards dedicated to individual radio and television stations, plus boards for services, for sale, political, etc. Due to flamewars (mostly concerning KTRS and politics) , Mike Anderson has restricted membership. Although the board has a definite political bias (they don't listen to NPR much), it is the most likely place to find someone working for Gannett/KSDK posting.

I'll wait for your move.

Charter, for all their horrible CS, sure get things done fast when it involves their money!

I turned on the TV monday to a surprise: "There is a problem with your account status, please contact customer service".

Uh-Oh.

Of course I didn't call CS, I just logged in to my online Charter account and was shocked to see that my account had been turned off for not paying my bill...surprising since I always pay it. Apparently what had happened was I forget a zero when paying my last bill online (Guess I should take my time better now). And although an account should be turned off for being in default, I was surprised that mine had been turned off without a either a phone call, "final notice" snail or e-mail. Not very good customer service, imo. Afterall, I made an honest (stupid) mistake and wasn't even given a chance to correct it.

As I hit "Pay Now" and paid the balance, within literally 5 seconds my TV came back. I was shocked that it got turned back on so fast. They love that money!


That is their billing system at work. Majority of the cable companies (Cox, Time Warner Cable, Comcast, etc) use this same system called ICOMS. The billing system is totally automated to do such procedures and is setup exactly the same way. That message is a friendly reminder that you didnt pay your bill, and is cheaper than staffing a person to call or sending a seperate letter. I would have been up in arms if they physically disconnected your service.

Mark

On the various KTVI questions, I don't watch a lot of FOX programming, but I was tuned into the early parts of the Yanks-Twins game last night on DirecTV channel 88. During roughly a 30-minute period, there were approximately a half-dozen dropouts, to the point where the screen went completely black (though I believe audio continued).

Is it possible that this is the same thing that others are reporting with KTVI-DT FOX on other programming (in other words, could this be a sign of network issues)?

I think that might be possible.

By the way, I asked DirecTV the other day to give me ch88 and she said she couldn't see anything on her computer that would indicate I should/could be receiving that.

Before you head to the attic, I suggest reading about multi-path issues first. They can be a real pain to resolve. My antenna is inside right now and I'm having problems with NBC. I get the same sort of numbers. It will drop for a second to the 20's and run up to around 80. It will bounce between those ranges.

In my research I have read about using FM traps working if there is a station nearby, attenuators, a larger antenna, slight tilt up on antenna, etc. I have found that sometimes, the slightest change in antenna placement often works.

It has never been a problem before, though. Could multipath suddenly become an issue?

Dave,
Excellent perspective. Very good points, especially the idea of touring the station and gaining an idea of how the other guy lives.
I know KSDK does station tours, but I don't know the qualification they grant them on....I'll see if I can find some more info on that.

We'll have to pull a "Mr. T" on Doug to get him inside the front door :)

I tend to favor a more positive approach to the KSDK issue as well. I think our chances for improvement would be much better if we could engage them rather than alienate them. I know it’s difficult to get through to them, but I think we could make more progress if the first collective communication attempt was an offer to assist rather than a threat to boycott.

Here are a couple of ideas:


Search AVS and other local forums for industry insiders with KSDK / Gannett contacts we can leverage.



Contact the station through their normal public relations channels and ask for a group tour of their facilities. They should be told we are a group of local HD enthusiasts that are interested in the technical details of their transmission facilities and would appreciate the opportunity to discuss those details with a member or members of their engineering team.


I think it’s important that we not look only for an outlet to complain and vent our frustrations, but seek a relationship where we could offer suggestions, based on our observations and experience, and perhaps gain a understanding of such technical challenges that may exist of which we have no knowledge. We know from experience that having an engineering representative of a local station on the forum helps us to understand some of the specific transmission issues involved and tends to allow us to tolerate the glitches more readily when we know the details surrounding them. I believe the station benefits also from the feedback we provide.

It’s sometimes easy to reach the conclusion that professionals don’t care about the quality of their work or are incompetent. I can tell you, as a professional in a technical industry, this is very rarely the case. Poor performance is most often a result of technical issues unknown to the service consumer. I’m irritated by the glitches, but, think for a moment about what KSDK has accomplished regarding local high definition programming. Not too long ago, when the station ran sports specials after the news, Leno would be presented in SD because they could not tape delay HD. Now, they are the only local station with the ability to time-shift HD (even if it isn’t working too well at the moment, no other station can even attempt it). They are the first and only local station to present syndicated programming in HD. They are the first and only local station producing daily local programming in HD, and one of two that have produced any local HD programming at all. They have invested quite a lot in an endeavor that, as we’ve heard here, has no revenue associated with it. When you swing for the fences, you’re going to hit home runs, but you will strike out a lot (just had to fit a baseball reference in here :)). Remember when their network audio was always in DD3.0 ?

Isn’t it strange that we seldom complain about the ones that don’t even try ?

Excellent post. Your approach has a FAR better chance of making a positive change than the "sledgehammer approach" outlined by the others.

Wondering through space tonight....

Doug, were you, or anyone else here, aware that Lynn Beall carries both the title of Executive Vice President of Gannett Broadcasting and President and General Manager of KSDK TV?

I knew she was the GM at KSDK, but I was not aware of her Gannett status.

This being the case, I'm guessing any issues we bring to the attention of the parent Gannett would then be shuffled through Beall's staff....and round and round we go.Yes, this does ring a bell, and I believe at one point a couple of years ago I wrote her a note about problems they were having then. But I'd actually forgotten about this.

I think the fact that a Gannett VP in charge of TV broadcast properties is working under the same roof as kSDk and continues on in that role, is not a good omen. To me, it says everything we probably need to know about the organization and its standards.

Even if we take the most charitable possible view of kSDk's technical problems with delayed HD programming, there can be no acceptable explanation for kSDk continuing to mess up switching from HD to SD, and then back to HD.

This is not about technical limitations. This is not a matter of having money to spend. This is plain and simple incompetence on the part of engineers, and gross incompetence by management in not taking action to correct it. No other station in town fumbles the switching ball with anywhere near the same frequency and regularity as kSDk.

So, it seems absurd to me to use the word "professional" anywhere in connection with a discussion of kSDk and its digital operations. If professionals were involved at any level, we wouldn't be having these discussions.

Let me leave this on a positive note: I was thinking last night how happy I should be that "Lost" is an ABC, not NBC, program.

I'm having some pixellation issues with KMOV. I just crawled into the attic and adjusted the antenna, and it seems a bit better. Anybody else have anything (Jericho is on at the moment). Otherwise, can I get pointed to the best site to plot the antennas to my address?

I also had signal dropouts in the first 5 minutes or so of Jericho.
I think it was only once but it was 20-30 seconds.

I'm gettting a steady signal in the lows 70s on my Directv R10 via OTA.

Hopefully it was just a network issue.

EDIT: I forgot to add that I finally got the new 6.3x Tivo software yesterday. The drop outs were occuring before the upgrade as well as last night after :(

Good luck,
Token

Yes, this does ring a bell, and I believe at one point a couple of years ago I wrote her a note about problems they were having then. But I'd actually forgotten about this.

I think the fact that a Gannett VP in charge of TV broadcast properties is working under the same roof as kSDk and continues on in that role, is not a good omen. To me, it says everything we probably need to know about the organization and its standards.

Even if we take the most charitable possible view of kSDk's technical problems with delayed HD programming, there can be no acceptable explanation for kSDk continuing to mess up switching from HD to SD, and then back to HD.

This is not about technical limitations. This is not a matter of having money to spend. This is plain and simple incompetence on the part of engineers, and gross incompetence by management in not taking action to correct it. No other station in town fumbles the switching ball with anywhere near the same frequency and regularity as kSDk.

So, it seems absurd to me to use the word "professional" anywhere in connection with a discussion of kSDk and its digital operations. If professionals were involved at any level, we wouldn't be having these discussions.

Let me leave this on a positive note: I was thinking last night how happy I should be that "Lost" is an ABC, not NBC, program.

It's time to move on this now. The simple act of not switching reminds me of phone calls I used to make to Fox years ago. It went like this: "Hello, Fox engineering? Why haven't you switched to the widescreen digital broadcast of Dark Angel?" "Oh, let me check. (Sound of footsteps.) OK, the guy who does that isn't here right now. How's that?" (I see the broadcast suddenly switch to Fox High Resolution Widescreen.) "Thank you." Years ago, when there were a handful of people watching, maybe you could make excuses. Now, the guilty parties just don't care.

It's feet to the fire time.

Dan,

FWIW, this seems to be the time of year where you tend to see poor or variable reception from stations that previously were rock solid. I can't provide you any scientific explanation for why this tends to happen, but I have heard repeated online claims that trees losing/sprouting leaves can cause intermiitent problems.

I know that sounds stupid, and I feel stupid even relaying it. But I have had intermittent problems in both the spring and the fall. The last time this happened, I just rode it out without climbing into the attic and in a week or so, all was good again. For me, if I recall correctly, in late spring my KSDK reception goes downhill and in fall I have had problems with KDNL. There were a couple of weeks early last season where I had to watch "Lost" in SD.

Anyway, if anyone here is relatively new to HDTV and you haven't been through a a couple of change of seasons, it might be worth bearing in mind that signal reception can suddenly deteriorate and then just as suddenly return to normal during these periods.

I appreciate that's not even close to being a solution to being able to watch your favorite program, but maybe it helps to know that it might clear up on its own (or not).
Doug, thanks for the advice. Lost was, in fact, a pixel nightmare, so we did watch it in SD. Is there any real aiming I can do to focus towards the antennas? I live in Clayton/U. City. The antenna is somewhat facing South, about 170 degrees.

I am not sure if I should put this here, and I could probably read somewere to find it out, but I am moving and will have a DB-4 from antennadirect that I will no longer need. I purchased it for the Superbowl and really have not needed it since. It is in 100% condition. If anybody is in need of such an antenna, let me know. I paid $70 for it. $50 and it is all yours. You can even have the mast that it is on if you wish. It was the same mast that the DTV uses for their dish. I live in the St. Charles area, off 94/Kisker. Shoot me an email scheerce@charter.net if interested.

If this post is inappropriate, let me know and I will remove with an apology ASAP!

Excellent post. Your approach has a FAR better chance of making a positive change than the "sledgehammer approach" outlined by the others.

Sledgehammer, I love that song.

Doug, thanks for the advice. Lost was, in fact, a pixel nightmare, so we did watch it in SD. Is there any real aiming I can do to focus towards the antennas? I live in Clayton/U. City. The antenna is somewhat facing South, about 170 degrees.

What does antennaweb.org suggest list for the degrees? IIRC, take the number of degrees, divide by the number of stations you are trying to receive and use that as a place to start.

Where do I sign the petition?

I almost lost it last night when they flubbed another great episode of "Kidnapped."

The letter and the advertiser list should be available sometime on Friday or Saturday.

As soon as I can pull all the pieces together, it will be available as a separate thread.

Note for those without ESPN2...CW11 is currently simulcasting the Cards/Pads game. :)

Where do I sign the petition?

I almost lost it last night when they flubbed another great episode of "Kidnapped."
You may not be happy to hear this, NBC halted production on Kidnapped and will show the 13 already produced.
Dug

You may not be happy to hear this, NBC halted production on Kidnapped and will show the 13 already produced.
Dug

This was the new show I liked most :(
The sure don't give them much time these days.



Token

Kidnapped is destined for DVD.

Kidnapped is destined for DVD.

See, Winston, I told you Julie Bowen would pop up again on Lost. :D

Universal HD to Revamp Programming Lineup

Maybe the third time will be the charm...first the high-brow Bravo fare, then the UHD hodge podge. Next up: more sports and movies. But don't worry -- Battlestar Galactica remains in the mix.

The following excerpt is from TV Week's HD Newsletter:
_________________________________________

After two years operating as a catch-all network for the library of its corporate parent NBC Universal, high-definition network Universal HD is taking steps to forge its own distinct brand.

Starting this month, UHD will increase its programming focus on the two biggest drivers of HD viewership: movies and sports.

Replays of Universal library content such as "Knight Rider" and "The Equalizer" will be reduced in favor of a more robust theatrical slate that includes non-Universal Pictures titles.

For the fourth quarter, UHD has acquired films such as "Bram Stroker's Dracula," "About a Boy," "Smokey and the Bandit," "Meet Joe Black" and the "Back to the Future" trilogy.

"There will be less older series and more movies on the air," said Dan Harrison, who as senior VP of emerging networks at NBC Universal runs UHD. "We want to move beyond being one of the NBC cable networks and for UHD to get its own brand, and movies and sports is a very logical way to do that."
_________________________________________

To read the full story, click here. (http://www.tvweek.com/page.cms?pageId=322)

See, Winston, I told you Julie Bowen would pop up again on Lost. :D

I love her.

I hope she comes back again. She looked AMAZING in HD last night.

I love her.

I hope she comes back again. She looked AMAZING in HD last night.

Yes, she did. Funny, for a guy with no known heart problems, I have cardiopulmonary irregularities when I see her. I'll have to have that checked.

Saw my first HD episode of Lost last night. Sweet. Though I must say, I don't know why I keep watching that damned show because every episode makes me more confused than the last.

Another kSDk snafu - Wheel of Fortune was SD tonight.

I have cardiopulmonary irregularities
Sounds like a multi-path issue :D

Does anyone know why the Blues Hockey game is blacked out on FSMW on DirecTV?

The message says it is not available in your area.

This does not make any sense to me. FSMW is our regional sports channel for Blues and Cardinals!

I checked the DirecTV guide and it says it also should be on Channel 95 which I assume is a HD channel?????? but it is saying the same message.

Thanks if anybody has any info. :)

Does anyone know why the Blues Hockey game is blacked out on FSMW on DirecTV?

The message says it is not available in your area.

This does not make any sense to me. FSMW is our regional sports channel for Blues and Cardinals!

I checked the DirecTV guide and it says it also should be on Channel 95 which I assume is a HD channel?????? but it is saying the same message.

Thanks if anybody has any info. :)

I am watching it on DirecTV ch. 647. Dan Hinote got one early. It is blacked out on 95, must be the FSN Bay Area HD feed.

Does anyone know why the Blues Hockey game is blacked out on FSMW on DirecTV?

The message says it is not available in your area.

This does not make any sense to me. FSMW is our regional sports channel for Blues and Cardinals!

I checked the DirecTV guide and it says it also should be on Channel 95 which I assume is a HD channel?????? but it is saying the same message.

Thanks if anybody has any info. :)

I just checked on Dish and it's not blacked out here. Must be a DirecTv mistake.

Does anyone know why the Blues Hockey game is blacked out on FSMW on DirecTV?

The message says it is not available in your area.

This does not make any sense to me. FSMW is our regional sports channel for Blues and Cardinals!

I checked the DirecTV guide and it says it also should be on Channel 95 which I assume is a HD channel?????? but it is saying the same message.

Thanks if anybody has any info. :)


Its on FSMW Charter.

Its on FSMW Charter.

I called DirecTV and they do not know why I am blacked out and I can't figure it out either. I live about 70 miles south of STL and I have always gotten the Cardinals and the Blues games and they are never blacked out.

Why would this game be blacked out in my area.

It does not make sense.

Darn............I was looking forward to watching the Blues 1st game this evening. :mad:

I hope this does not continue. Has the blackout rules been changed in the NHL for some reason?????

There is no reason to blackout an away game.

There is no reason to blackout an away game.

I agree! That is what I tried explaining to the DirecTV rep and they said they have no control over these blackouts.

I just hope this is a one time occurence tonight. I would hate to miss these games since I should be getting these games via FSMW on DirecTV.

Any other thoughts from STL DirecTV subscribers.

Thanks again for the feedback. :)

I agree! That is what I tried explaining to the DirecTV rep and they said they have no control over these blackouts.
I just hope this is a one time occurence tonight. I would hate to miss these
games since I should be getting these games via FSMW on DirecTV.
Any other thoughts from STL DirecTV subscribers.
Thanks again for the feedback. :)
It was blacked-out on DISH also. You're right, makes no sense originating from San Jose.

Purely speculation...even though it's a different sport, perhaps FOX nixed some selected RSN's tonight, to direct more sports viewership to their national feed :confused:

On a side note, Saturday's game from LA will be on CW11 and for those who have it, in HD on HD NET. ---subject to change, I suppose. I guess that will be our first look at the Blues in HD this season.

Cards are now .661 in HD--full season + 2 post wins.

Anyone else lose the center channel (off/on off/on) on CBS's Shark tonight? Weren't there some center channel issues with CBS last week?

It was blacked-out on DISH also. You're right, makes no sense originating from San Jose.

Purely speculation...even though it's a different sport, perhaps FOX nixed some selected RSN's tonight, to direct more sports viewership to their national feed :confused:

On a side note, Saturday's game from LA will be on CW11 and for those who have it, in HD on HD NET. ---subject to change, I suppose. I guess that will be our first look at the Blues in HD this season.

Cards are now .661 in HD--full season + 2 post wins.

black_macleod mentioned that he was watching it on FSMW Charter. I wonder if the Blues have swung an exclusive rights deal for some of the games for only Charter. Now that would make sense that Dish and DirecTV could not air the game this evening.

Da*n Charter!!!!!!!!! LOL.......... :rolleyes:

Anyone else lose the center channel (off/on off/on) on CBS's Shark tonight? Weren't there some center channel issues with CBS last week?

Yep....Shark went away.

Walt

black_macleod mentioned that he was watching it on FSMW Charter. I wonder if the Blues have swung an exclusive rights deal for some of the games for only Charter. Now that would make sense that Dish and DirecTV could not air the game this evening.

Da*n Charter!!!!!!!!! LOL.......... :rolleyes:



I was watching it on Dish with no problems.

It was on DirecTV for me on 647.

I saw the Blues game on D* 647...no blackout. I didn't try the HD box to see if anything was on 95.

My wife said that CBS lost dialogue during CSI last night. She was just listening through the TV speakers which was hooked up L/R analog. All that could be heard was apparently the surround sound channels...no center or dialog. When this happened before during an episode of Num3ers I tried the optical DD feed to a surround receiver and found the same thing..the surrounds were coming out of the front L/R and no center.

She was mad because I have a favorite channel list set up to only show the HD local and not the SD local from D*. She couldn't figure out how to tune in the SD version. Just punching in 4 goes to the HD local version if that is the only one in the favorite list and that favorite list is active. If they are both in the favorite list then it goes to the SD version. (This is on an H20)

Kidnapped is destined for DVD.

I thought I saw on cnn.com that they'll run all 13 episodes shot and that it will reach a conclusion. Kind of like how the first season of "24" came to a semi-conclusion after hour 12.

I called Sony for warranty service for my SXRD. They provided two sevice providers in my area:

RAC National Products; and
CC Bell.

I went with Bell. A rental center working on a tv didn't sound the better of the two.

Anyone have any experience with these?

Thanks,

dave

You may not be happy to hear this, NBC halted production on Kidnapped and will show the 13 already produced.
Dug
I heard that a couple of days ago, but at least they will be able to finish the storyline - you have to love tv producers who have contingency plans and think about DVD.

My favorite show every fall always seems to get cancelled so it really wasn't much of a surprise.

I was watching it on Dish with no problems.
Jay,
What channel did you view it on Dish? It was blacked-out (here) on 418.

Has anyone watched any of CW11's HD programming? I have noticed at least twice this week while flipping through the channels that their DD audio seems horribly loud and out of synch. I have yet to watch one of their HD programs for more than a few minutes, so I didn't know if this was a frequent problem.

I forgot about this.

But I record a lot of CBS shows and when I went to watch Cold Case from 2 weeks ago
the first minute (maybe shorter) or so of it was a CW11 show. It was weird. The KMOV bug
was on the screen but it was clearly the CW11 feed.

Dan,

FWIW, this seems to be the time of year where you tend to see poor or variable reception from stations that previously were rock solid. I can't provide you any scientific explanation for why this tends to happen, but I have heard repeated online claims that trees losing/sprouting leaves can cause intermiitent problems.

I know that sounds stupid, and I feel stupid even relaying it. But I have had intermittent problems in both the spring and the fall. The last time this happened, I just rode it out without climbing into the attic and in a week or so, all was good again. For me, if I recall correctly, in late spring my KSDK reception goes downhill and in fall I have had problems with KDNL. There were a couple of weeks early last season where I had to watch "Lost" in SD.

Anyway, if anyone here is relatively new to HDTV and you haven't been through a a couple of change of seasons, it might be worth bearing in mind that signal reception can suddenly deteriorate and then just as suddenly return to normal during these periods.

I appreciate that's not even close to being a solution to being able to watch your favorite program, but maybe it helps to know that it might clear up on its own (or not).
Wow, I just tested the signal strength of all the OTA channels... KSDK is abysmal, bouncing all over the place, from zero to about 80.

Doug,

Did you ever hear back from your contacts from FSN Midwest about games being available in HD on DirecTV via spotbeam (MPEG4). Foxsports.com shows the first Blues HD game scheduled for Friday, Oct. 20 vs. Vancouver. Thanks

Doug,

Did you ever hear back from your contacts from FSN Midwest about games being available in HD on DirecTV via spotbeam (MPEG4).No, I never did, and I asked/reiterated the question at least four times.

So, nothing has changed from the original announcement -- Fox Sports Midwest is one of the country's only regional nets shut out of the DirecTV spot-beam plan. But no one knows why, or if that might change in the future.

I see no point in asking the question again, because that source, for whatever reason, doesn't have an answer (or isn't in a position to pass it along).

Not sure where else the question can be directed...

Does anyone know any insider within Bud Sports? They produce the content.

Has anyone watched any of CW11's HD programming? I have noticed at least twice this week while flipping through the channels that their DD audio seems horribly loud and out of synch. I have yet to watch one of their HD programs for more than a few minutes, so I didn't know if this was a frequent problem.

FWIW, I didn't notice any unusual lip synch issues, and the blocking seemed better than last spring. I usually pick up on the blocking problems easily, so unless I'm just especially tired, there's been some improvement there.

Wow, I just tested the signal strength of all the OTA channels... KSDK is abysmal, bouncing all over the place, from zero to about 80.

FWIW, I have been having the same issue with KSDK. When my antenna was on the roof it was my strongest signal. Inside it jumps all over and I atributed it to multi-path. Last night it locked on pretty good but a little before Leno it started having problems again. No big deal because Leno is horrible (lines) in HD due to Cards Plus.

FWIW, I have been having the same issue with KSDK. When my antenna was on the roof it was my strongest signal. Inside it jumps all over and I atributed it to multi-path. Last night it locked on pretty good but a little before Leno it started having problems again. No big deal because Leno is horrible (lines) in HD due to Cards Plus.

Tropospheric ducting was occurring last night, and will continue through this weekend. I was getting KHQA and WGEM (Hannibal/Quincy) off the back of my primary 4228 last night, a good indicator of ducting.

Forecast:

http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html

Sort-of-live:

http://www.mountainlake.k12.mn.us/ham/aprs/path.cgi?map=na

Because I had to look it up.......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropospheric_ducting

Fox Sports Midwest is one of the country's only regional nets shut out of the DirecTV spot-beam plan. But no one knows why, or if that might change in the future.
It appears the same will hold true with Dish Network, as they have uplinked virtually all the other FSN HD RSN's except MW.

Because I had to look it up.......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropospheric_ducting
OK, I read the link....now can someone explain it to me :o

FWIW, I have been having the same issue with KSDK. When my antenna was on the roof it was my strongest signal. Inside it jumps all over and I atributed it to multi-path.
I guess I'll check it again this evening... it was amazing how much it was bouncing.

I'll give it a try

Too much heavy air keeping the signal from traveling.

This helps....... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropospheric_ducting#Tropospheric_ducting

I can see our next big frustration being finding our Cardinals in HD. We have so many passionate Cardinal fans here who are HD enthusiasts or at least HD watchers. I say that because I am a watcher, but not intelligent enough to be considered an enthusiast.

The point is, I can imagine many of us being very frustrated when we are one of the only teams that cannot be viewed in HD next year. If we can nip this before it becomes a problem, it would be nice. But I don't know where to start.

I am new to this forum and I apologize if I'm not posting this in the right section. I am wanting to put an antenna in the attic to receive OTA HD channels. Currently I have DirecTV including local channels, a DVR but no HD. I realize that if I am able to get OTA HD that I won't be able to record on my DVR since it is not an HD DVR. I would like to cancel the local channels through DirecTV and get them from the antenna. Is it possible to receive locals through the antenna in both HD and non HD and somehow be able to record the non-HD ones on my DVR? Any ideas or suggestions. Thanks!

Tropospheric ducting was occurring last night, and will continue through this weekend. I was getting KHQA and WGEM (Hannibal/Quincy) off the back of my primary 4228 last night, a good indicator of ducting.

Forecast:

http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html

Sort-of-live:

http://www.mountainlake.k12.mn.us/ham/aprs/path.cgi?map=na

That could be why I"m having problems w/ KTVI-DT (or at least I have been the last few days.)

I'll give it a try

Too much heavy air keeping the signal from traveling.

This helps....... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropospheric_ducting#Tropospheric_ducting
Damn heavy air.

I am new to this forum and I apologize if I'm not posting this in the right section. I am wanting to put an antenna in the attic to receive OTA HD channels. Currently I have DirecTV including local channels, a DVR but no HD. I realize that if I am able to get OTA HD that I won't be able to record on my DVR since it is not an HD DVR. I would like to cancel the local channels through DirecTV and get them from the antenna. Is it possible to receive locals through the antenna in both HD and non HD and somehow be able to record the non-HD ones on my DVR? Any ideas or suggestions. Thanks!
If your DVR is a combination DirecTV receiver/DVR, then no, there is no way to record anything that you receive OTA. The non HD DirecTV DVR's can only record satellite channels. You could record OTA digitial channels if you had the HR10-250 (HD Tivo) and the new DirecTV HD DVR (HR20) will be able to record OTA digital channels eventually. The HR20 has digital OTA tuners but the software apparently has not yet activated them. No DirecTV DVR's have analog OTA tuners.

I am new to this forum and I apologize if I'm not posting this in the right section. I am wanting to put an antenna in the attic to receive OTA HD channels. Currently I have DirecTV including local channels, a DVR but no HD. I realize that if I am able to get OTA HD that I won't be able to record on my DVR since it is not an HD DVR. I would like to cancel the local channels through DirecTV and get them from the antenna. Is it possible to receive locals through the antenna in both HD and non HD and somehow be able to record the non-HD ones on my DVR? Any ideas or suggestions. Thanks!
Laterno,
The digital signal being HD or "non-HD" (SD) will not effect what you can or cannot record on your DVR, as most of the local digital content is still SD. It would be more a matter if your DVR is able to record off-air (OTA) content, and how it interacts with your program guide. Your DVR should down-rez any HD content, and record it in SD.

If you post exactly which DirecTv and DVR system you have, one of the D* subs will be able to provide you more direction. :)

So I get a recorded message from Charter tonight. Looks like we're finally getting a real guide on our boxes!

http://www.charter.com/products/digital/newguide.aspx

Jay,
What channel did you view it on Dish? It was blacked-out (here) on 418.

I was watching it on channel 418. It must be something with how they set up the black out regions. I would imagine they use zip codes to determine this(just a guess)
They must have the zones screwed up or something.

Sorry this is off topic...

I need a backpack case for my 17" laptop. Most places only have ones for laptops up to 15.4"

Is there any place in St. Louis with a good selection of laptop cases? I would go to CompUSA but there isn't one close, so I don't want to try there unless I know they have a large selection. Any other places I should try. The local BB and CC were no help.

I never could find anything good locally .......

http://www.ebags.com

FWIW, this is the one I bought for m 17" MacBook Pro:

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/6324003/wo/A064CU9l8WQ22scEA6j1ANPKWQw/2.0.21.1.0.8.25.7.11.1.3

http://www.ebags.com

FWIW, this is the one I bought for m 17" MacBook Pro:

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/6324003/wo/A064CU9l8WQ22scEA6j1ANPKWQw/2.0.21.1.0.8.25.7.11.1.3

Thanks, but I was looking for a local B&M, so I can touch and feel. Besides, I'm flying to Seattle week after next on business and would like to have it by then, so I don't trust having anything shipped. I'm sure the Apple one is nice, and overpriced compared to what is otherwise available.

I am new to this forum and I apologize if I'm not posting this in the right section. I am wanting to put an antenna in the attic to receive OTA HD channels. Currently I have DirecTV including local channels, a DVR but no HD. I realize that if I am able to get OTA HD that I won't be able to record on my DVR since it is not an HD DVR. I would like to cancel the local channels through DirecTV and get them from the antenna. Is it possible to receive locals through the antenna in both HD and non HD and somehow be able to record the non-HD ones on my DVR? Any ideas or suggestions. Thanks!
I was in the same delima a few weeks ago. I called Directv and got me a the new HR20. My old reciever was the old sd Tivo. I really like the Hr20 the pic quality is for the most part the same with over the air for local channels. 2,4,5,and 30 come in both HD and SD. The others are just SD. My Over the air came through my bulit in tuner in my Sony 30xs955 HDTV and I hated all the drops outs I would get on my indoor antenna and did not want to mess with a rooftop one. Hope this info helps

I was watching it on channel 418. It must be something with how they set up the black out regions. I would imagine they use zip codes to determine this(just a guess)
They must have the zones screwed up or something.
Yes, zip codes, but only the first 2 digits, sometimes 3, which makes no sense for an out-of-market originated game. I believe all of MO is 63, 64 or 65.

I didn't actually read the error message, I just cancelled it and went back to BB. Based on how the black-outs are done (zips), it's not possible the broadcast would be available and blacked-out within the same zip code. I guess St Peters is 63, yes?

It either has to be a local issue with my receiver/account, or the error message was other than blacked-out. The next FSNMW road game is at Dallas on Nov 1st...I'll check it again then. Thanks for the reply, Jay :)

Dean,
Do the CompUSA thing, it's your best bet. May also want to check if there's a large luggage/leather outlet at the Mills, if that's close-by to you.

Where's Fry's when ya need one, eh?

Thanks, but I was looking for a local B&M, so I can touch and feel. Besides, I'm flying to Seattle week after next on business and would like to have it by then, so I don't trust having anything shipped. I'm sure the Apple one is nice, and overpriced compared to what is otherwise available.

Heh, did you even bother to look? Its not an Apple one -- Apple doesn't make bags. I guess you're biased from the get go, I was just trying to help you out, as its hard to find a good bag for a 17" laptop -- of any brand.

Heh, did you even bother to look? Its not an Apple one -- Apple doesn't make bags. I guess you're biased from the get go, I was just trying to help you out, as its hard to find a good bag for a 17" laptop -- of any brand.
No, I'm not biased against Apple. I used Macs for a long time, and plan to get a MacBook pro next year. And I did look at your link (which has since timed out). But that bag is $100. That's the most expensive one I've seen. If you want to buy an accessory, go thru the normal channels. If you want to buy an accessory and pay extra for it, go to Apple. It's the Apple way...always has been. I remember way back when they sold a box of 10 floppies for $60 and everyone else sold them for $20.

Well I'm not having this argument --- Dell sells other branded accesories through its site too, its no difference. If you want a quality bag that will acutally protect your laptop, expect to pay $100. I shopped around a lot, even locally, handling cheap $40 bags that I wouldn't expect to last longer than a couple of months. Have fun.

Incase makes quality bags - the link was more informational than telling you to buy from the Apple store. You can buy them other places as well.

Well I'm not having this argument --- Dell sells other branded accesories through its site too, its no difference. If you want a quality bag that will acutally protect your laptop, expect to pay $100. I shopped around a lot, even locally, handling cheap $40 bags that I wouldn't expect to last longer than a couple of months. Have fun.

Incase makes quality bags - the link was more informational than telling you to buy from the Apple store. You can buy them other places as well.I agree, Dell is just as bad...except they have really crappy quality hardware and offshore helpdesk, so they own the book on bad value (IMO). I figure on paying about $70 for a case. I've seen nice ones for $50-60, but they only support 15" laptops. Thanks for the advice. :)

I called Sony for warranty service for my SXRD. They provided two sevice providers in my area:

RAC National Products; and
CC Bell.

I went with Bell. A rental center working on a tv didn't sound the better of the two.

Anyone have any experience with these?

Thanks,

dave


I have the 50" SXRD and used C.C. Bell last year. They put in a new light engine and at the time of repair they broke another part so I went about a week without my new HD set. Then this past week I had another problem with picture quality and the same guy came out (can't recall his name ) and he said compared to his TV mine looked great. When I asked what kind of TV he had he said a SD TV. I would not recommend these guys but they are the only repair shop Sony uses in our area. What kind of problem are you having? PM me and let me know how it works out. I still have PQ issues.

I said after the recent power outage that I would report on the backup generator I was going to have installed. I went with a company recommended by a family friend - Southeast Services, based in Desoto. They finished the install today and we now have a 16kilowatt, whole house backup system (almost whole house - it could accomodate everything but the electric range, so only microwave cooking in case of another outage).

The Generac Guardian system is based on natural gas. (The same system is also available for propane, if you have no gas service.) Total cost was about $6,000, considerably cheaper than the same system from Bates Electric, which is the first bid we got. The only complication was the size of the gas pipe. This area of St. Louis city has low pressure service, so the pipe had to be a larger diameter to handle the volume of gas needed to drive the generator.) A minor glitch was the UPS's I have on the computer equipment. My newest UPS's started cycling off and on, apparently a common problem. If I can't adjust the UPS's, they are supposed to return to make adjustments at the generator. When a power failure occurs, the backup takes about 3 minutes to come online, so minor brownout and extremely brief outages don't trip it.

Basically, I switched on just about everything when we tripped the breaker to shut off UE current and it all worked (except for the 2 UPS's). The AC took about 10 minutes to cycle back on after the generator kicked in. When UE power was switched back on, it was totally seamless. Not even a flicker from the lights.

I feel a lot better with this system in place.

Sorry this is off topic...

I need a backpack case for my 17" laptop. Most places only have ones for laptops up to 15.4"

Is there any place in St. Louis with a good selection of laptop cases? I would go to CompUSA but there isn't one close, so I don't want to try there unless I know they have a large selection. Any other places I should try. The local BB and CC were no help.

I have always used Targus bags. Their leather bags are expensive but I still have the 3 that I purchased over the last 15 years and they all are still in good condition. My daughter had a problem with one but they replaced it without a squeak. The leather bags are garanteed forever.

Here is a link to a 17" backpack bag. They are available at serveral stores locally.

Targus bag (http://www.targus.com/us/product_details.asp?sku=TXL617)

Sorry this is off topic...

I need a backpack case for my 17" laptop. Most places only have ones for laptops up to 15.4"

Is there any place in St. Louis with a good selection of laptop cases? I would go to CompUSA but there isn't one close, so I don't want to try there unless I know they have a large selection. Any other places I should try. The local BB and CC were no help.

My Wife found a good backpack she uses at Dick's Sporting Goods West County Mall.

Scott

While we're just a tad off topic, I am looking to buy a GPS system for my car -- a portable system I suppose. I'd like to be able to take it from car to car. I need voice guided directions and all of that.

Anyone have one? What would you recommend? How much is it going to run me?

Winston,
I used a TomTomGo for a year or so. Have since given it to my daughter, who still uses it. It's about 4 years old. My current vehicles have OEM NAV.

Anyway, it worked as well as any GPS, I've used several, both add-on and OEM. The map data was accurate (I think they're all Navteq based), and the site/software support was clean and easy. The user interface clean and logical.

There were 2 updates in the time I had it, 1 firm and 1 soft. Plugged the unit into the PC via USB, logged on, recognized, downloaded, updated, nice and smooth.

I especially like the guidance voice choices. I used the female English accent voice. Anytime we changed vehicles, when I got back in, it had some gruff male Desperate Housewives gardner-type voice on it.

If I had to do it again, I think I'd consider something more hand-held. There's a gazillion on the market now...enjoy the journey :)

The game is being shown on ESPN 2 which means it won't be in HD for Charter subscribers. What a bummer. Any chance the game will be in HD on Channel 11?

Anyone know if CW 11 is covering the Cardinals game day like they did earlier this week from ESPN 2?

Also, they didn't happen to carry the HD feed ?

Anyone know if CW 11 is covering the Cardinals game day like they did earlier this week from ESPN 2?

Also, they didn't happen to carry the HD feed ?

CW11 simulcasted the first two games from ESPN, so I'm assuming they'll show the ESPN2 broadcast today also. No HD though, just the SD feed for the first two games.

Winston,
I used a TomTomGo for a year or so. Have since given it to my daughter, who still uses it. It's about 4 years old. My current vehicles have OEM NAV.

Anyway, it worked as well as any GPS, I've used several, both add-on and OEM. The map data was accurate (I think they're all Navteq based), and the site/software support was clean and easy. The user interface clean and logical....I also have a Tom Tom Go for the last year and a half. I really like the design and interface, but implementation is a problem. The TeleAtlas maps (I have the updates they offered last summer) are terribly outdated. I often need to have a paper/web map backup because the Tom Tom maps often don't have streets that changed 5 years ago or so. Also Tom Tom customer service is abysmal -- I think they get the CS people that Charter fires for incompetance.

I continue to use my TTG, but I would never buy another one. The Garmin's have a reputation for having much better maps. For a GPS nav, if the maps aren't good nothing else about it really matters.

I've never contacted their CS, but if you compare them to Charter, that in itself, is an issue.

I used the Navteq '05 update data disk for my car for the map data in the TomTom. It's a bit of a cumbersome process, but once done, I had no issues with map data.

This much I know, no GPS in any future cars is a deal-breaker for me. I got hooked on it back in 2000, and there's no going back.

Overall, I think you're right, Garmin seems to be the standard.

I've often wondered how a small hand-held unit, like in a cell phone works. It seems you could inadvertently alter your location just by twisting your wrist.

...This much I know, no GPS in any future cars is a deal-breaker for me. I got hooked on it back in 2000, and there's no going back....I'm with you. I will never travel without a GPS, but I don't have to have it integrated in the car. I have a BMW and their nav is a $1800+ option and not so great (from what I hear). I like having the portable unit for less than half that. And I can take it in another car (like a business trip rental) whenver I want to.

This is pure crap... as a loyal :o charter sub, i get screwed again! D* and E* subs get ESPN2 HD...why not us??? I don't have a problem during the regular season, but this is PLAYOFF baseball!

Charter isn't going to add an HD channel simply because its baseball playoff time.

In fact, they just don't seem to add HD channels.

rbkb, I'm not trying to be a jerk, but this issue -- Charter not having ESPN2-HD -- was probably the single biggest reason I refused to go w/ them, regardless of all the line-of-sight issues I have had w/ DirecTV.

I'm with you. I will never travel without a GPS, but I don't have to have it integrated in the car. I have a BMW and their nav is a $1800+ option and not so great (from what I hear). I like having the portable unit for less than half that. And I can take it in another car (like a business trip rental) whenver I want to.
We had an '04 745 w/NAV...it was not worth the price. The Bavarian thought process is a bit different than the American. I do miss the laser cruise :(

Our Buick has a touch-screen system, first introduced by Lexus back in 2000....it's great.

Sorry for the side-spin folks.

Speaking of ESPN2, does anyone know why it is Charter doesn't have that channel available? I would think ESPN has close to total saturation on cable with both ESPN and ESPN2. Does Charter have the ESPN2 SD channel?

Directv Rocks! Go Padres!

We had an '04 745 w/NAV...it was not worth the price. The Bavarian thought process is a bit different than the American. I do miss the laser cruise :(

Our Buick has a touch-screen system, first introduced by Lexus back in 2000....it's great.

Sorry for the side-spin folks.And your 7 series Nav is supposedly better than what's offered for mine (05 M3 coupe). Nav in the newest biimmers is now up to $2200. :eek: I've heard the Acura nav system is the best.

Has anyone watched any of CW11's HD programming? I have noticed at least twice this week while flipping through the channels that their DD audio seems horribly loud and out of synch. I have yet to watch one of their HD programs for more than a few minutes, so I didn't know if this was a frequent problem.

I posted about this a couple of weeks ago, during the premiere week for CW. Lip sync was horrible, and the control on my TV did nothing to fix it. I didn't even bother recording CW HD this past week.

Directv Rocks! Go Padres!


Scott,

If you think things got heated here last week, keep that up and the mods WILL have to step in! :D

Tim

Directv Rocks! Go Padres!

Cardinals fans are way too civilized to lash out at someone who is just expressing his own heart felt opinions. Anyone know what Scott's car looks like? :D

Anyone know what Scott's car looks like? :D
Shouldn't be hard to find the only brown and yellow car in O'Fallon.
It's OK, Joe, a little false hope is good for the heart. :p

And your 7 series Nav is supposedly better than what's offered for mine (05 M3 coupe). Nav in the newest biimmers is now up to $2200. :eek: I've heard the Acura nav system is the best.
Yeah, Acura's NAV and Voice Command is the best out there. We do miss the voice command system in the bimmer...my wife doesn't do well with remembering which button is which. Like most women, she's proficient in voice commands.

Like most women, she's proficient in voice commands.You mean they have nav systems that respond to screaming? :D

I need some help with the KSDK boycott. Here's what needs to be done to get this rolling.

* Finalize the Boycott Letter. I'm taking care of this. Based on the feedback I've received so far, there won't be any major changes. I am trying to make the letter "more to the point" AND more diplomatic. That part of the process is virtually complete.

* Create the Advertiser List. Ken (kdg454) has taken this on and provided me with an record of all advertisers appearing on the KSDK news broadcasts he monitored during the first part of this week.

When I first saw the list, I have to admit to being more than somewhat overwhelmed, as there were roughly 50 different companies advertising. I think that trying to organize a blanket boycott on all of those advertisers is pointless, as the impact would be too diffuse and the entire effort would lack credibility.

But Ken pointed out that near the beginning of each news broadcast a voiceover announces the main sponsor of the current news program, and he suggested that we narrow the focus to these primary sponsors. During the past week there were five sponsors for the nine broadcasts monitored. They are: Bimmers R Us (2); Gershman Mortgage (2); The Sound Room (1); Pepose Vision (2); and Fischer & Fritchel (2).

This seems to be a lot more manageable target group, but we will still need to continue to monitor and update the sponsor list to ensure that the list is accurate and up to date as long as it is publically available.

Therefore, we need volunteers to monitor the sponsors for every KSDK news broadcast. Much of this can be done via DVR, by recording only first 5 or 10 minutes of each broadcast. But we need to have some backup and cross-checking, so if you'd like to help out on this, send a private message to Ken (kdg454). I'd think we probably only need to have three or four volunteers.

* URL & Redirect. As I've said several times, the success of the boycott will ultimately come down to the number of people who (electronically) sign the boycott letter and then followthrough and refrain from patronizing the listed sponsors.

Maximizing the number of signatures will ultimately come down to ease of access. If we rely on just the regular posters and lurkers to the St. Louis Local HDTV thread, this effort will likely die on the vine. Therefore, we are going to have to engage in some viral marketing, with each person here getting the word out to friends, family, work colleagues who may also be unhappy with KSDK's performance.

But assuming we can do that, we still need to make it easy to find the Boycott thread. Once I create the thread here at AVS, the URL for that thread will probably be too unwieldy to relay to others. Therefore, we need to arrange for a separate URL for the boycott and arrange for someone to host it so that it redirects to the AVS thread.

I've checked and www.ksdkboycott.com is available. So, I'd like to ask for someone to step forward and purchase that domain. Ideally the same person would also host the www.ksdkboycott.com domain and set up the redirect, but this can be two people if that works better in spreading out the effort/commitment.

One wrinkle that I think is going to be difficult to get around is that non-AVS members coming to sign onto the boycott thread will also need to register as an AVS member. I think it's unavoidable that we're going to lose some visitors at that point, so if anyone has any ideas about how to minimize that issue, let me know.

* Defining the Signature Requirements. Electronic signatures are somewhat nebulous, so I'm thinking that we need something besides the AVS ID and an "I agree" message.

I'm thinking that the best option would be to require first and last names, city/state and a ZIP code. But I also recognize that many consumers are wary about openly identifying themselves online, due to privacy and security concerns. I don't think the suggested ID should be an issue, but it might be for some.

Is there a better way to do this? Ideas?

FWIW, in the signature instructions, I'm going to encourage signatories to provide specific comments about problems they have personally experienced with KSDK's digital broadcasts. I think this will go some way toward "authenticating" the signatures, but I doubt that everyone will take the time to do that, so the basic ID method still needs to carry some weight.


Let me know if anyone has any other ideas about steps that need to be taken to get this rolling.

Note: There will be a separate, parallel effort by one or more AVS Forum members to make contact with KSDK and to try to arrange a formal, constructive dialogue.

Dave (phenwick) has agreed to take this on. So, if there's anyone here who doesn't feel comfortable signing the boycott letter for any reason but still wants to help get KSDK straightened out, you can contact Dave and help him with that part of the effort.

Thanks in advance for your help and support.

FWIW, in the signature instructions, I'm going to encourage signatories to provide specific comments about problems they have personally experienced with KSDK's digital broadcasts. I think this will go some way toward "authenticating" the signatures, but I doubt that everyone will take the time to do that, so the basic ID method still needs to carry some weight.

Since the signatory page/section will already be interactive....having to enter name data and click agree....perhaps a drop-down selectable could be added to encompass the most common/know issues with KSKD, in addition to a space for other manually entered comments.

Regarding on-going monitoring of the broadcasts...as Doug said, with a DVR, it is very simple. 5 minutes into each news broadcast, and immediately following the first weather teaser, is when the sponsor of that particular HD broadcast is announced. It's the first commercial event and very easily picked-up on 60x FF.
It takes 5 minutes to capture the data for all 4 broadcasts, Noon, 5PM, 6PM, & 10PM. 1-2 additional back-up monitors should suffice.

You mean they have nav systems that respond to screaming? :D
That's funny....I've witnessed her screeching at it! One time in the bimmer, she went off on it, and this nice polite gentleman's voice replied, "pardon me?"

I have the 50" SXRD and used C.C. Bell last year. They put in a new light engine and at the time of repair they broke another part so I went about a week without my new HD set. Then this past week I had another problem with picture quality and the same guy came out (can't recall his name ) and he said compared to his TV mine looked great. When I asked what kind of TV he had he said a SD TV. I would not recommend these guys but they are the only repair shop Sony uses in our area. What kind of problem are you having? PM me and let me know how it works out. I still have PQ issues.


Thanks duvy. PM sent.

Dave

I went and looked at a few this evening. I found a TomTom and a couple Garmin's that I liked.

Anyone know of a good forum on GPS? I"ve found one or two, but they're highbrow GIS GPS groups.

I went and looked at a few this evening. I found a TomTom and a couple Garmin's that I liked.

Anyone know of a good forum on GPS? I"ve found one or two, but they're highbrow GIS GPS groups.http://www.yournav.com/

Speaking of ESPN2, does anyone know why it is Charter doesn't have that channel available? I would think ESPN has close to total saturation on cable with both ESPN and ESPN2. Does Charter have the ESPN2 SD channel?

Yes, they carry the SD feed. I don't know why they don't carry the HD feed.

Everyone's priorities are different. For me, Having the Cardinals in HD on FSNMW-HD is what keeps me glued to Charter at this time. I was glad they added TNT-HD for the TNT portion of the NASCAR season too. I would like to have it all, but I can't really say I've missed ESPN2-HD all that much, except for today. (From the looks of it at the moment, Sunday's game will be on ESPN.)

Sunday's game will now be at in the eveing on FOX due to the Dodgers-Mets series being over.

Cards in primetime... let's hope it works out.

Cardinals fans are way too civilized to lash out at someone who is just expressing his own heart felt opinions. Anyone know what Scott's car looks like? :D

Now that's funny. :)

Scott

Shouldn't be hard to find the only brown and yellow car in O'Fallon.
It's OK, Joe, a little false hope is good for the heart. :p

Brown and yellow, good one. Maybe they should break out the old colors to see if it helps 'em play better.

"a little false help is good for the heart" is exactly what describes this San Diego transplant. Actually, I can't lose because I love both teams. Anyway, what the hell, Go Padres!

Scott

Since the signatory page/section will already be interactive....having to enter name data and click agree....perhaps a drop-down selectable could be added to encompass the most common/know issues with KSKD, in addition to a space for other manually entered comments.Ken, I wasn't planning on setting up the boycott thread as a poll, though I suppose it is possible to go that route.

Also, I'm not aware of how I could set up a dropdown box using the HTML code provided via the AVS Forum bulletin board software, but if that's possible and somone wants to school me on how to do it, I'm game.

Brown and yellow, good one. Maybe they should break out the old colors to see if it helps 'em play better.

"a little false help is good for the heart" is exactly what describes this San Diego transplant. Actually, I can't lose because I love both teams. Anyway, what the hell, Go Padres!

Scott

I know the feeling Scott. I am a transplanted Giant fan. For those of you who think that coming from the Bay Area I should be happy for the A's, you should know that it is better to be a Giant Fan than an Oakland Athletic Supporter.

Walt

Brown and yellow, good one. Maybe they should break out the old colors to see if it helps 'em play better.

"a little false help is good for the heart" is exactly what describes this San Diego transplant. Actually, I can't lose because I love both teams. Anyway, what the hell, Go Padres!

Scott

Well, Scott, I'm afraid it's all over for the Padres. After all, it's just not like the Cardinals to go into an extended losing streak.

Wait a minute.

Sunday's game will now be at in the eveing on FOX due to the Dodgers-Mets series being over.

Cards in primetime... let's hope it works out.

stlcardinals.com says it will be on ESPN at 6:30

stlcardinals.com says it will be on ESPN at 6:30
It's not updated...it's on FOX at 6:30PM.

According to the channel guide, the Rams are playing the Packers as we speak.... why is KTVI showing the Giants and Redskins instead??????????

KTVI's HD feed is the wrong game. The SD feed is the Rams

The SD channel 2 has the right game. Who has KTVI's phone number, this is rediculous.

It started out with the Rams and after the commercial break it's the wrong the damn game. What gives KTVI?

Ooops, they just switched back

KTVI can't fix it. The splicer is operated from network control.

Okay, they just switched to the Rams and Packers.... guess whoever was asleep at the switch woke up.

This is the first time I've ever seen Fox/KTVI screw up like that (compared to NBC/kSDk where it's a multiple-times-daily occurrence).

The Cards get Network Sunday Night Prime Time :D

Heads will roll!

NASCAR on NBC (kSDk) looks horrible.
I can see EVERY pixel while the camera is panning.
Fastman

The Rams game in HD looks pretty bad IMO. The closeups look good, but that elevated camera view that shows every play is GRAINY. Are they using an SD camera for that shot?

The Rams game in HD looks pretty bad IMO. The closeups look good, but that elevated camera view that shows every play is GRAINY. Are they using an SD camera for that shot?


I was thinking the exact same thing. The elevated shots just don't look right. I wonder if it has something to do with the superimposed markers and stuff on the field during those shots.

The Rams game in HD looks pretty bad IMO. The closeups look good, but that elevated camera view that shows every play is GRAINY. Are they using an SD camera for that shot?

Looks better than NASCAR.
But yes, I see it too.

Also the Newschannel 5 bug in the lower right has a greyish box behind it that is much larger than the logo itself. It is very annoying to look at.
Fastman

NASCAR on NBC (kSDk) looks horrible.
I can see EVERY pixel while the camera is panning.
Fastman

Are you sure its NBC and not the bandwidth limitations of your digital display or satellite provider? Now Directv is claiming superior picture QUALITY over cable. Which cable? Not my cable for sure.

The Rams game in HD looks pretty bad IMO. The closeups look good, but that elevated camera view that shows every play is GRAINY. Are they using an SD camera for that shot?

I was told last year that these were 500 line cameras but that they would be HD this year. Maybe they skipped one.......

How did you get the Rams in HD? I wish they had stayed with Giants Redskins.

I can't find the football game for Sunday night. Does this mean we are stuck watching the over paid steroid pumped prima donnas. Damn at least football has a cap and you know they are ALL taking Roids. OOh wait, I can watch the recording I made of the McNabb vs T.O.

Oops that can wait for later....Steelers/Bolts Steelers/Bolts Steelers/Bolts......


Life is good.

Walt :D

The Rams game in HD looks pretty bad IMO. The closeups look good, but that elevated camera view that shows every play is GRAINY. Are they using an SD camera for that shot?

The Rams were being shown in 480p widescreen guys, not 720p HD. FOX likes to make you think they have a ton of HD games each week, but only a few are actually HD, the rest are 480p widescreen (which, is still better than the garbage CBS puts out when they're not in HD).

The Rams were being shown in 480p widescreen guys, not 720p HD. FOX likes to make you think they have a ton of HD games each week, but only a few are actually HD, the rest are 480p widescreen (which, is still better than the garbage CBS puts out when they're not in HD).


That explains a lot. The Eagles Cowboys game looked so much better than the Rams game. Also tonights Cards game looks pretty good.

all games on Fox were 720p today, none in Fox Widescreen 480p

I thought the picture quality on the Cards game was poor, particularly on shots with the main camera. Carpenter's uniform was a lovely shade of cyan, indicating that camera was seriously miscalibrated.

Overall it looked better than normal FOX Widescreen presentations, but the guide listed the game as Yankees-Tigers, and "HDTV" was not tagged for that game. With all the football today, it's possible that FOX put all its HD resources there.

On the bright side, it was better than 4:3 NTSC, and of course, no McLaughlin-Hrabosky. And an excellent result. :)

good game too :)

Things that may me go hmmm...number FIVE.

Did anyone watch "Saturday Night Live" live last night? I recorded it and today when I checked the opening and the guest monologue, there wasn't a single flash artifact.

Was the start of the program delayed, as usual, for the extended Saturday late news? If so, then it appears that the delay playback problem may have been fixed (at least for now).

Things that may me go hmmm...number FIVE.

Did anyone watch "Saturday Night Live" live last night? I recorded it and today when I checked the opening and the guest monologue, there wasn't a single flash artifact.

Was the start of the program delayed, as usual, for the extended Saturday late news? If so, then it appears that the delay playback problem may have been fixed (at least for now).

Yes, Leno was clean Friday night too. Looks like their HD recorder might be fixed.

I thought the Cards game on FOX looked great tonight.

It was definitely NOT 480p. No, i'm not a professional, but I can tell the difference in that. I thought it looked damn good and tbe reds were bright.

But, like I said, I'm not a "pro." I just know that everyone in my family room was stunned by the picture and sound tonight.

Go Cardinals! Go Chargers! Padres Suck!

Scott

I watched 3 games today
-Rams/Packers
-Eagles/Cowboys
-Cards/Padres

and thought the PQ was very good on all 3. I'm not a discriminating viewer, and I don't notice many of the things most of the rest of you do, but they all looked good to me.

and Rams won, Cowboys lost, and Cards won....banner day!

Leno and SNL both seemed to be fixed. Yes Doug, SNL was delayed.
Wonder if they're peeking :D

Has anyone been watching the Star Treks on KTVI Saturday nights?
Are these the remastered ones they look pretty good? Gives me a reason to watch them all over again. I had recorded some but just now started watching one back. Colors really pop for a show shot in 1967.

By now, everyone here as had to opportunity to see that fairly new GM (Chevrolet truck) commercial being run. The one that says, "This is our Country, This is our Truck."

While I keep my opinions to myself, I'd be interested in hearing what, if any, the others impressions are of this Ad.
tia

Has anyone been watching the Star Treks on KTVI Saturday nights?
Are these the remastered ones they look pretty good? Gives me a reason to watch them all over again. I had recorded some but just now started watching one back. Colors really pop for a show shot in 1967.

Yes, these are the ones they've redone for HD broadcast (though they've yet to be shown in HD anywhere). They did new CG FX for all the spaceship shots and for the bridge screen shots. They've remained fairly true to the original look. Everyone's looking forward to the eventual broadcast of these shows in HD, or their release on next gen DVD.

Have to admit it - the Cards have looked like a different team in these games with the Padres. The pieces sure fell into place for this series. Maybe they needed the adversity of going down to the wire. The last two years, when they had it sowed up early, seemed to take the edge off the team.

Gotta love the result, but I wasn't happy with the quality of the picture. Fox's coverage didn't hold a candle to the average ESPN broadcast. The image was not the best (overexposure, color balance issues). And the image had some blocking problems (I'm guessing low bitrate). Some of the cameras were almost certainly not HD (lack of detail in wide shots of the fans in the stands).

Yes, they carry the SD feed. I don't know why they don't carry the HD feed.

Everyone's priorities are different. For me, Having the Cardinals in HD on FSNMW-HD is what keeps me glued to Charter at this time. I was glad they added TNT-HD for the TNT portion of the NASCAR season too. I would like to have it all, but I can't really say I've missed ESPN2-HD all that much, except for today. (From the looks of it at the moment, Sunday's game will be on ESPN.)


Fox Sports MWHD also has been showing at least one HD football game every Saturday--this past Saturday they showed USC and Washington in HD.

The problem with the current airings of Star Trek is the same problem the old versions had on the Sci-Fi Channel... they're cut to shreds!

Those episodes were 52 minutes each when they first aired back in the 60's. But now that stations show 15-18 minutes of commercials per hour, the episodes are cut down to 42-45 minutes each to make room.

Even though the special effects are pretty cool now, I'll just stick with my DVD's for a while longer.

I am a Directv subscriber in Chesterfield with an HR10-250. I have an old roof top antenna (probably 25 years old) that I use to pick up the OTA channels. The antenna is plugged into the HR10-250 so I can record the OTAs.

I am able to get every OTA with very high signal strength (80-95) for every channel except 2. On that channel the signal has been typically very low with frequent dropouts, and now in the last few days I get no signal at all.

Of course now I have to watch the Rams and Cardinals in SD!

I am not able to get on the roof to adjust the antenna.

Can anyone offer any suggestions as to why I am having this problem and any ideas as to how to fix it?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Mike

I am a Directv subscriber in Chesterfield with an HR10-250. I have an old roof top antenna (probably 25 years old) that I use to pick up the OTA channels. The antenna is plugged into the HR10-250 so I can record the OTAs.

I am able to get every OTA with very high signal strength (80-95) for every channel except 2. On that channel the signal has been typically very low with frequent dropouts, and now in the last few days I get no signal at all.

Of course now I have to watch the Rams and Cardinals in SD!

I am not able to get on the roof to adjust the antenna.

Can anyone offer any suggestions as to why I am having this problem and any ideas as to how to fix it?

Thanks in advance for your help.Mike,

I can't say for sure why you're having reception problems with KTVI-DT, but here's a couple of things that MIGHT help:

* If your "old rooftop antenna" is a combo VHF/UHF, there's a good chance that you would get better reception with a UHF-only model.

* If your antenna is "really old" you should check the cabling to ensure that it is good quality (RG-6) and not compromised with cracked insulation.

* You might want to try an indoor antenna that you can aim specifically to maximize KTVI-DT reception. The best bet for an indoor antenna is the Zenith Silver Sensor, but they can be difficult to find in local stores and you may have to buy online from Amazon or elsewhere.

Sorry to hear of your problems and hope that some of this might help you improve your reception.

I thought the picture quality on the Cards game was poor, particularly on shots with the main camera. Carpenter's uniform was a lovely shade of cyan, indicating that camera was seriously miscalibrated.
I'm glad I wasn't the only one that noticed the blue shading. Although, I will admit my wife didn't notice the problem until I pointed it out :rolleyes:

Fox Sports MWHD also has been showing at least one HD football game every Saturday--this past Saturday they showed USC and Washington in HD.

That game was on Channel 95 via DirecTV. Fox Sports Net HD channel. They have
been showing those games this year. To my surprise they even used channel 94
Saturday Night for a Detroit Dead Things Hockey game.

Looks better than NASCAR.
But yes, I see it too.

Also the Newschannel 5 bug in the lower right has a greyish box behind it that is much larger than the logo itself. It is very annoying to look at.
Fastman

It looks like their bug is typed in a square box that is supposed to be translucent
but there is some color or something to it because when it ends up on a black
part of the scene it is very noticeable. As far as the race goes, I missed most
of it but I did catch Jimmy the Whiner getting wrecked.

Any KMOV insider here able to explain why CBS Primetime (Cold Case/Without A Trace) was
not flipped to the HD Feed last night?

The football programming ran late and all shows were 30 minutes behind, but the switch was not flipped!

all games on Fox were 720p today, none in Fox Widescreen 480pAre you certain about that?

If FOX is saying that all games were in HD, then it's probably true. But if, for example, you're basing this on the info display of a settop box or built-in tuner, it's going to indicate 720p for even FOX Widescreen broadcasts, because the actual images are line-doubled from 480i to 480p and then scaled to 720p prior to transmission -- but that doesn't make them HD.

Again, I'm not a football fan, so I didn't see any of the games and I'm not saying you're wrong. But with all the events going this weekend (NFL, college football, baseball playoffs, hockey, auto racing) and the continuing relative scarcity of mobile HD units, it's possible that one or more of the FOX NFL games were given FWS treatment.

Gotta love the result, but I wasn't happy with the quality of the picture. Fox's coverage didn't hold a candle to the average ESPN broadcast. The image was not the best (overexposure, color balance issues). And the image had some blocking problems (I'm guessing low bitrate). Some of the cameras were almost certainly not HD (lack of detail in wide shots of the fans in the stands).I'm glad I wasn't the only one that noticed the blue shading. Although, I will admit my wife didn't notice the problem until I pointed it out Thanks for confirming what I saw. I'm not as young as I used to be (who is, right?). But I started thinking it might be time to have my eyeballs recalibrated. Now it looks like I'm good for another 100,000 hours or so... :)

The games were HD because they were in the Sunday Ticket HD schedule. If the game is
widescreen 480p, it is only carried via Sunday Ticket on the standard def schedule. Not all
of the camera's that are used are HD though. I have noticed this on several of the HD Football games.

It looks like their bug is typed in a square box that is supposed to be translucent
but there is some color or something to it because when it ends up on a black
part of the scene it is very noticeable.This has been a problem for months, but it seems to be most obvious to me during the Leno musical segments. The underlying problem is that whatever generates the logo overlay has its brightness and/or contrast set too high -- that's why the text characters are completely opaque and the background of the overlay is visible.

FWIW, this issue was included in the draft letter I prepared last week.

Is anyone else was having 5-10 second audio dropouts on DirecTV HR10-250 Tivo? There seems to be growing reports of this problem at the Tivo forum. I just noticed it for the first time watching live football yesterday.

I just received the 6.3x software last week any never had any audio dropouts before the update. My last month or so of using the 3.15x software, I had increasing signal problems for my OTA channels. For the prior 10 months I never had a signal problem unless it was caused by rain fade.

I'm beginning to wonder if my OTA dropouts and now audio dropouts are related :rolleyes:

Just want to give you guys a heads up so you don't thinks it's something with your installation ;)

Good luck,

Token

Any KMOV insider here able to explain why CBS Primetime (Cold Case/Without A Trace) was
not flipped to the HD Feed last night?

The football programming ran late and all shows were 30 minutes behind, but the switch was not flipped!It appears this may have been a network issue. Somone on the KC thread reported exactly the same thing and said that the CBS affilliate in Wichita was in SD all night, too.

The person posting in KC said this is CBS SOP when football runs long, but I believe that last week's "Without a Trace" was in HD, but I ended up trashing it without watching due to the fact that it started late and therefore the recording was incomplete. Sunday night time slots on CBS might as well come with their own guillotine.

Not conclusive, but it looks like this may have been outside KMOV control.

It's the 6.3 upgrade. It drops the audio but not the video. It does cause some different
signal things though. I think because it changes the channel so fast, it doesn't signal lock
on it as fast on the OTA so when I change the channel back and forth, I get the searching for
signal for a breif second.

It appears this may have been a network issue. Somone on the KC thread reported exactly the same thing and said that the CBS affilliate in Wichita was in SD all night, too.

There person posting KC said this is CBS SOP when football runs long, but I believe that last week's "Without a Trace" was in HD, but I ended up trashing it without watching due to the fact that it started late and therefore the recording was incomplete. Sunday night time slots on CBS might as well come with their own guillotine.

Not conclusive, but it looks like this may have been outside KMOV control.

I checked the HDTV Programming section and others reported it in HD. But I see
what you are saying.

I checked the HDTV Programming section and others reported it in HD. But I see
what you are saying.Are the other cities reporting HD receiving the ET/CT feed or the PT feed?

It appears this may have been a network issue. Somone on the KC thread reported exactly the same thing and said that the CBS affilliate in Wichita was in SD all night, too.

The person posting in KC said this is CBS SOP when football runs long, but I believe that last week's "Without a Trace" was in HD, but I ended up trashing it without watching due to the fact that it started late and therefore the recording was incomplete. Sunday night time slots on CBS might as well come with their own guillotine.

Not conclusive, but it looks like this may have been outside KMOV control.
I seemed to have missed something. I thought KSDK was the only local capable of time-shifting HD. Is it they were the first to have the equipment, and now all the other locals have it also?

Central TZ.

And yes, last weeks show was in HD.

When I watch KDNL-DT with my OTA antenna, the picture is very jumpy and the audio and video are not synchronized. Is it my TV or is there a real problem with the signal? I emailed the engineer at KDNL and he tells me that there's no known problem. Hopefully it's not my TV.

Thanks! :D

Ken,

The delay was network-wide (or at least, regionwide, depending on the games shown).

As far as I know, KSDK is the ONLY local station capable of time-shifting/streaming HD programming.

When I watch KDNL-DT with my OTA antenna, the picture is very jumpy and the audio and video are not synchronized. Is it my TV or is there a real problem with the signal? I emailed the engineer at KDNL and he tells me that there's no known problem. Hopefully it's not my TV.

Thanks! :D

No problems on my end.

Central TZ.

And yes, last weeks show was in HD.Again, I don't watch football, so I'm not sure how these things are handled these days.

But maybe it's possible that there were two late games shown on CBS yesterday and one finished before 7 ET and the other after. If the audience watching the early-ending game weren't switched to the other game at 7 ET, then it may be that the HD feed was restricted to the early markets and the others had to stay with the later SD feed of the prime time slate.

???

Ken,

The delay was network-wide (or at least, regionwide, depending on the games shown).

As far as I know, KSDK is the ONLY local station capable of time-shifting/streaming HD programming.


I don't remember Cold Case being in SD last year and it never started on time durning football season. I was surprise to see it this way last night.

On another note I too am experiencing audio dropoffs with 6.3a and that's with a new harddrive I put in a few weeks ago.

I don't remember Cold Case being in SD last year and it never started on time durning football season. I was surprise to see it this way last night.

On another note I too am experiencing audio dropoffs with 6.3a and that's with a new harddrive I put in a few weeks ago.

I just bought an HD Tivo(off craigslist) and don't have D* set up yet. We'll restart our service in November, should I not let it make it's call and avoid the 6.3a software or is it a sporadic problem?

Dug

I just bought an HD Tivo(off craigslist) and don't have D* set up yet. We'll restart our service in November, should I not let it make it's call and avoid the 6.3a software or is it a sporadic problem?

Dug

It's a annoying problem because you never know when it's going to happen. Hopefully they soon will send a patch for this.

When I watch KDNL-DT with my OTA antenna, the picture is very jumpy and the audio and video are not synchronized. Is it my TV or is there a real problem with the signal? I emailed the engineer at KDNL and he tells me that there's no known problem. Hopefully it's not my TV.

Thanks! :D
Proximus,
This forum is actively monitored by the lead engineers at KDNL. I would think if your email yielded no issue with KDNL, and the other members here have not mentioned any issues, it is probably not a KDNL issue.

Are you certain about that?

If FOX is saying that all games were in HD, then it's probably true. But if, for example, you're basing this on the info display of a settop box or built-in tuner, it's going to indicate 720p for even FOX Widescreen broadcasts, because the actual images are line-doubled from 480i to 480p and then scaled to 720p prior to transmission -- but that doesn't make them HD.

Again, I'm not a football fan, so I didn't see any of the games and I'm not saying you're wrong. But with all the events going this weekend (NFL, college football, baseball playoffs, hockey, auto racing) and the continuing relative scarcity of mobile HD units, it's possible that one or more of the FOX NFL games were given FWS treatment.

Thanks for confirming what I saw. I'm not as young as I used to be (who is, right?). But I started thinking it might be time to have my eyeballs recalibrated. Now it looks like I'm good for another 100,000 hours or so... :)

The consensus in the programming forum is that yes the STL/GB game was in HD, however there seems to be one Fox braodcast a week where the main center HD camera has issues and this week was our turn. All other shots are normal and this concurs with how I perceived it on Sunday.

Ironic to me as I was looking forward to Sunday's game because from past experience HD games from Lambeau Field always seems to look *very* good so that was a bit disapointing.

Proximus,
This forum is actively monitored by the lead engineers at KDNL. I would think if your email yielded no issue with KDNL, and the other members here have not mentioned any issues, it is probably not a KDNL issue.

It's not an all the time thing, though... Some programs come in just fine, others don't. For example, last Wednesday: I had Dancing With the Stars on and the signal was just fine, then Lost came on and the signal was jumpy and the audio and video was not synched. It just seems to be ABC network programming when the problem occurs. Syndicated and local programming comes in just fine. Does anyone know of a problem with ABC's signal? All of the other networks (CBS, NBC, Fox) come in just fine. This ABC thing really frustrates me because I'm unable to get HD Dish Network or DirecTV because a neighbor's tree blocks the signal. And I refuse to give my money to Charter.

Does anyone know if Comcast is coming into the St. Louis market? I'm seeing a lot of commercials advertising Comcast services.

Proximus,
When Jim (Wracer) from KDNL reads your query, he'll reply. If you want to contact him while it is happening, his pager number is listed within this thread. :)

It's not an all the time thing, though... Some programs come in just fine, others don't. For example, last Wednesday: I had Dancing With the Stars on and the signal was just fine, then Lost came on and the signal was jumpy and the audio and video was not synched. It just seems to be ABC network programming when the problem occurs. Syndicated and local programming comes in just fine. Does anyone know of a problem with ABC's signal? All of the other networks (CBS, NBC, Fox) come in just fine. This ABC thing really frustrates me because I'm unable to get HD Dish Network or DirecTV because a neighbor's tree blocks the signal. And I refuse to give my money to Charter.

Does anyone know if Comcast is coming into the St. Louis market? I'm seeing a lot of commercials advertising Comcast services."Lost" was perfect for me last week -- no droputs, no blips, no lagging lips.

What is your display, and how are your routing audio through your system?

On the Comcast question, I've been puzzled by the ads, too, but I've been told that because the Comcast subscriber footprint is so large that it's actually cheaper to buy national advertising than to buy on a local/regional level. I have no way of confirming this, but maybe somone in the advertising biz can offer an opinion.

AT&T will be rolling out its IPTV service, U-Verse within the next 12 months or so. At the moment it's a work in progress, particularly as they're only now getting around to adding the initial HD channels. No telling how long it might take them to catch up with Charter, DirecTV or DISH (in that order)...

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 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=8523674&&#post8523674)

Why Isn't KDNL-DT (ABC) Available via Charter? (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8072643&&#post8072643)

New! Cardinals HD Schedule (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7576786&&#post7576786)

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

Are you certain about that?

If FOX is saying that all games were in HD, then it's probably true. But if, for example, you're basing this on the info display of a settop box or built-in tuner, it's going to indicate 720p for even FOX Widescreen broadcasts, because the actual images are line-doubled from 480i to 480p and then scaled to 720p prior to transmission -- but that doesn't make them HD.


http://www.gribblenation.net/nflmaps/05-FOX-E.gif

FOX only had a total of 5 games in their doubleheader yesterday. The only time they show games in 480p is during weeks they broadcast 7 games.

No doubt there were some SD cameras used in yesterday's broadcast, but it was a HD game

"Lost" was perfect for me last week -- no droputs, no blips, no lagging lips.

What is your display, and how are your routing audio through your system?

On the Comcast question, I've been puzzled by the ads, too, but I've been told that because the Comcast subscriber footprint is so large that it's actually cheaper to buy national advertising than to buy on a local/regional level. I have no way of confirming this, but maybe somone in the advertising biz can offer an opinion.

AT&T will be rolling out its IPTV service, U-Verse within the next 12 months or so. At the moment it's a work in progress, particularly as they're only now getting around to adding the initial HD channels. No telling how long it might take them to catch up with Charter, DirecTV or DISH (in that order)...


Maybe it's just my TV, then... I just think it's weird how I only have problems with KDNL. And my set is a Samsung model TXR3079WHKXXAA. (Quite the long model number.) I'm hoping that my neighbor's tree falls over or something so that I can get the HD signal from DISH Network -- just have SD DISH and an OTA antenna. Works for now. Oh, and about my audio... It's routed into my Sony surround system via Optical cable.

Another question: What's the deal with KSDK & Wheel of Fortune? Some days it's in HD other days it's not. I'm confused.

Maybe it's just my TV, then... I just think it's weird how I only have problems with KDNL. And my set is a Samsung model TXR3079WHKXXAA. [...]

What you are seeing is a known compatibility issue with the Samsung's ATSC receiver and the Harmonic ATSC encoder KDNL uses.

You shouldn't have any problems with live programming. Pre-recorded material will exhibit the symptoms you describe.

Another question: What's the deal with KSDK & Wheel of Fortune? Some days it's in HD other days it's not. I'm confused.http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8569002&&#post8569002

What you are seeing is a known compatibility issue with the Samsung's ATSC receiver and the Harmonic ATSC encoder KDNL uses.

You shouldn't have any problems with live programming. Pre-recorded material will exhibit the symptoms you describe.

That makes sense now... Last week I had "Dancing With the Stars" on while waiting for "Lost." Dancing was fine because it was live, "Lost" wasn't. Is there anything I can do to fix this problem?

That makes sense now... Last week I had "Dancing With the Stars" on while waiting for "Lost." Dancing was fine because it was live, "Lost" wasn't. Is there anything I can do to fix this problem?

The only solutions I've come up with is to either buy a new TV or buy an external ATSC receiver just for KDNL.

Or, wait for KDNL to replace their encoder.

Hi I'm new to the forum and apologize if these questions have been covered in a previous post or if there is a specific faq that covers them. I will be making the switch to HD when I move to St. Charles in about a month from now. I am trying to determine which provider I should go with. It seems to me that Dish offers more channels, but may not have the best DVR options. Is that fairly accurate? I know it is probably not cut and dry, but what advice would you have for me in deciding between Dish, Directv or charter. I am interested essentially in sports and movies in HD and would like a DVR as well.

Also I see there is a lot of discussion about getting local channels. Maybe something is escaping me here, but what is the big deal about getting locals in HD or not? If network feeds are in HD through satellite and Fox MW is what it is why is it such an issue about local channels for so many people?

Finally in reading so many people discussing the best installer, I am assuming my installation will require more than simply choosing a provider and having them come out to install? I thought up until now everything could be accomplished by simply ordering new service with the provider of my choice and the installation would include HD installation. It appears I am incorrect.

I am sorry for my newbie questions and will thank you in advance for your help. I hope these questions do not seem too stupid or have not been previously answered elsewhere in the forum.

I think KSDK is just screwing w/ people now - their audio has been goofy since Heroes started. I turned off the surround and it was still weird. Almost like I was using a Stadium DSP mode.

The only solutions I've come up with is to either buy a new TV or buy an external ATSC receiver just for KDNL.

Or, wait for KDNL to replace their encoder.

Dave,
We don't plan on replacing the Harmonic encoder any time soon. We have over a hundred Samsung receivers in the group and do not see the same symptoms reported. Are these documented reports on the Forum?

BTW. I'm at one of our Fox stations today...the Fox net screwed up the HD feed everywhere...also CBS screwed up an HD football switch also.
Jim

Dave,
We don't plan on replacing the Harmonic encoder any time soon. We have over a hundred Samsung receivers in the group and do not see the same symptoms reported. Are these documented reports on the Forum?


Hi Jim. I'm just waiting for it to die. :) (Been waiting two years now ... )

If you search my old posts on this thread I think you'll find several references. I'm using a TXP series direct view and Proximus has a TXR. There was someone else observing the same effect recently as well. IIRC, there were some Zenith set top boxes and maybe some older E* receivers affected as well.

We never had any issue with the Tandberg encoder but I understand why it's retired. You once said you saw more jitter from the Harmonic than the Tandberg but it was within spec.

Early last month the issue had cleared for a few days but came back again in less than a week.

You're welcome to stop by and have a look if you like.

is 2.1 just a black screen with audio for anyone else?

I think KSDK is just screwing w/ people now - their audio has been goofy since Heroes started. I turned off the surround and it was still weird. Almost like I was using a Stadium DSP mode.

I just started watching it back off my DVR and noticed the same thing. Sounds like they are in a large cave. I recorded the Dish MPEG4 feed tonight, I take it the OTA feed is the same?

Sorry, once I saw on titantv that both Prison Break and Justice were repeats tonight, I deleted both from my hard drive without looking at either of 'em..... so I can't confirm the nothin' but black.

Is Heroes a good show, other than the screwed up sound, that is?

Is Heroes a good show, other than the screwed up sound, that is?

I like it so far, it's a little slow going but I think they are just setting up the charachters and storyline in the first couple of episodes. I like the part played by the Japanese heroe, cool powers.

Are these documented reports on the Forum?


I probably missed a number of them. But here's a list of related posts from this thread, in cronological order:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=3634859&&#post3634859
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=3635641&&#post3635641
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=3635706&&#post3635706
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=3640497&&#post3640497
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=3641909&&#post3641909
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=3645056&&#post3645056
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=3646975&&#post3646975
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4085481&&#post4085481
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4247483&&#post4247483
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4465281&&#post4465281
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4466149&&#post4466149
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4472098&&#post4472098
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4472748&&#post4472748
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4474476&&#post4474476
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4695098&&#post4695098
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4697706&&#post4697706
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4700467&&#post4700467
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5047063&&#post5047063
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5060459&&#post5060459
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5393977&&#post5393977
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5394057&&#post5394057
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5396158&&#post5396158
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5398653&&#post5398653
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5403463&&#post5403463
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6263281&&#post6263281
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6263405&&#post6263405
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6268815&&#post6268815
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8363890&&#post8363890

The fix in early september only lasted a few days before it was back to it's old behavior.

is 2.1 just a black screen with audio for anyone else?
Yep, full signal but not locked, OTA and SAT, that was around 10PM...seems to be back now.

thx, i was going crazy rescanning channels on my DVR. back up now

Is Heroes a good show, other than the screwed up sound, that is?
Robert,
I find it to be kinda like a X-Men meets Super-heroes thing. Several characters emerge to discover different beyond human powers, the plot follows each as they try to develop their new power.

It appears to be taking on the form, where the plot will bring these characters together, in a good against evil sorta thing....my take so far is 6-7ish...I'll give it a few more episodes and see how it comes together.

Robert,
I find it to be kinda like a X-Men meets Super-heroes thing. Several characters emerge to discover different beyond human powers, the plot follows each as they try to develop their new power.

It appears to be taking on the form, where the plot will bring these characters together, in a good against evil sorta thing....my take so far is 6-7ish...I'll give it a few more episodes and see how it comes together.

That pretty much sums it up for me, too. Could be interesting, but too early to tell where they're going with it. It's on my 622 for all new episodes.

Has anyone in the STL area gotten DirectV's new MPEG4 HDDVR installed ? Since I moved last October I can not pick up channel 4 in HD anymore and I am tired of watching the shows in SD recoreded or HD live. What is weird is my HR10-250 wont pick up 4 via a rooftop antenna but my tv's tuner will with a silver sensor. I am mulling doing the whole MPEG4 upgrate.

Pat

John Malone say HD is AT&T's Achilles' Heel

The following is from today's TV Predictions newsletter:
________________________________________

John Malone, chairman of Liberty Media, says AT&T's new TV service is not equipped to handle High-Definition TV.

In an interview with USA Today, the industry veteran says AT&T is saving money by sending its video over DSL-upgraded copper phone lines. But while DSL may improve AT&T's Internet service, Malone says it can't handle "heavy video," particularly high-def.

Consequently, Malone says, AT&T may not be able to compete with cable and satellite when more homes get high-def sets.

DSL "makes AT&T competitive against cable for high-speed data" subscribers "but it doesn't get them into video in a meaningful way," he told the newspaper.
________________________________________

For the full story, click here. (http://www.tvpredictions.com/malonehd100906.htm)

Hi I'm new to the forum and apologize if these questions have been covered in a previous post or if there is a specific faq that covers them. I will be making the switch to HD when I move to St. Charles in about a month from now. I am trying to determine which provider I should go with. It seems to me that Dish offers more channels, but may not have the best DVR options. Is that fairly accurate? I know it is probably not cut and dry, but what advice would you have for me in deciding between Dish, Directv or charter. I am interested essentially in sports and movies in HD and would like a DVR as well.

Also I see there is a lot of discussion about getting local channels. Maybe something is escaping me here, but what is the big deal about getting locals in HD or not? If network feeds are in HD through satellite and Fox MW is what it is why is it such an issue about local channels for so many people?

Finally in reading so many people discussing the best installer, I am assuming my installation will require more than simply choosing a provider and having them come out to install? I thought up until now everything could be accomplished by simply ordering new service with the provider of my choice and the installation would include HD installation. It appears I am incorrect.

I am sorry for my newbie questions and will thank you in advance for your help. I hope these questions do not seem too stupid or have not been previously answered elsewhere in the forum.

You will have people on all 3 sides of the Charter/DirecTV/DISH debate, your best
bet is to look at all the programming options. I always tell my friends if you like
all sports, DirecTV is your best bet. If you don't care about sports it pretty much
makes them all "even".

When it comes to the installer, that is due to the lack of the professional look
when a dish is installed/cables run/grounded and such. I run all my own wire in
my walls and cut the holes for the boxes with the connectors just because I don't
want someone else doing it. So if you don't care, then don't worry about it.

My Bro-in-law had DirecTV installed, the dish looked good but that ran a wire
all the way around the outside of his house and then drilled a hole in the side
of the house to bring it in the room. Nice wiring job. Then on another floor they
just ran the cable under the carpet, so there is a nice bump. My bro-in-law
doesn't care, but it bothers me.

As far as Network Feeds in HD. DirecTV and DISH just recently added the STL
big four networks in HD, you still don't get Channel 11 or Channel 9, or any other
local digital station. So people have an antenna to receive them. Charter doesn't
offer KDNL's digital feed, so you don't get that in HD.

In regards to Fox Sports Midwest: Only some Blues and Cardinals games are
in HD on this channel, it is more of a point of frustration on why those of us that
use DBS don't get the feed. Charter has it available and some games are carried
via DirecTV and DISH, but not every time.

I tried to answer your questions, feel free to ask more.

Has anyone in the STL area gotten DirectV's new MPEG4 HDDVR installed ? Since I moved last October I can not pick up channel 4 in HD anymore and I am tired of watching the shows in SD recoreded or HD live. What is weird is my HR10-250 wont pick up 4 via a rooftop antenna but my tv's tuner will with a silver sensor. I am mulling doing the whole MPEG4 upgrate.

Pat

The HR10-250 can be flaky when it comes to OTA. There are some post in other
forums about taken the box apart and fixing the connections on the OTA card because there is a splitter in there that could be defective and some crappy
cabling.

As far as getting the D* mpeg 4 DVR, I was supposed to have it installed two
Saturday's ago, but Premier says DirecTV is out of them.

Have you tried determining if the OTA signal is bad on both of the tuners of the
Tivo?

Pat,

I did some calibrations last week (new non-Elite Pioneer plasmas) for a guy who has three of the new MPEG-4 DVRs. I wasn't able to reach any major conclusions about the MPEG-4 DVRs in the limited time I spent around them, apart from the already well-documented gripes about the lack of a 30-second skip and the lack of dual live buffers for the two tuners.

The other thing to know is that the MPEG-4 line-up currently provided by DirecTV is limited to just the four major network affilliates -- KTVI (FOX), KMOV (CBS), KSDK (NBC) and KDNL (ABC). So there's no PBS (KETC) and no CW (KPLR) via MPEG-4, at least for now. And while the new DVR includes dual onboard OTA digital tuners, these are not currently active and dependent on a firmware update that has no target release date.

For this reason, I suggest that anyone talking to DirecTV about an upgrade to the new DVR insist that you will not pay the DVR fee and/or mirror charge until DirecTV successfully upgrades the new product to make OTA recording possible.

For specific feedback about picture quality, etc. I'd suggest that you check out the HDTV Recorders discussion here at AVS as well as the TiVo Community forums for more feedback. While the new DVRs are not TiVo-based, there is comparative discussion about them among TiVo users.

It seems to me that Dish offers more channels, but may not have the best DVR options. Is that fairly accurate? I know it is probably not cut and dry, but what advice would you have for me in deciding between Dish, Directv or charter. I am interested essentially in sports and movies in HD and would like a DVR as well.Far and away, DISH has the most HD programming of any provider. You can see a side-by-side comparison here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8523674&&#post8523674

While there's a bit of a cloud overhanging DISH as a result of a TiVo patent infringement lawsuit the company recently lost, DISH is currently able to sell its DVRs unhindered. The DISH DVR product is very good, particularly the second- and third-generation DVRs.

Far and away, DISH has the most HD programming of any provider.


Don't you mean "HDLite?"

:rolleyes:

Anyone care to list where they are buying HD DVDs in the St louis area?
Walmart in Ofallon Il had only a couple of titles with some empty titles on rack a couple of weeks ago (down from the 8-12 I had previously seen), but had the best prices. Best Buy and Ultimate in Fairview carry them, with Best Buy having the better price of the two.

The HD DVD software forum is stating Target stores are starting to carry them.

Any sightings?

Thanks,

Dave

I think KSDK is just screwing w/ people now - their audio has been goofy since Heroes started. I turned off the surround and it was still weird. Almost like I was using a Stadium DSP mode.
Same here... sounded like I was watching "The Pride of the Yankees".

John Malone say HD is AT&T's Achilles' Heel

The following is from today's TV Predictions newsletter:
________________________________________

John Malone, chairman of Liberty Media, says AT&T's new TV service is not equipped to handle High-Definition TV.

In an interview with USA Today, the industry veteran says AT&T is saving money by sending its video over DSL-upgraded copper phone lines. But while DSL may improve AT&T's Internet service, Malone says it can't handle "heavy video," particularly high-def.

Consequently, Malone says, AT&T may not be able to compete with cable and satellite when more homes get high-def sets.

DSL "makes AT&T competitive against cable for high-speed data" subscribers "but it doesn't get them into video in a meaningful way," he told the newspaper.
________________________________________

For the full story, click here. (http://www.tvpredictions.com/malonehd100906.htm)
Just what we need, another......

Don't you mean "HDLite?"

:rolleyes:

D* has more HDLite than E*, at least for the time being. They seem to be trying to catch up, though.

Has anyone in the STL area gotten DirectV's new MPEG4 HDDVR installed ? Since I moved last October I can not pick up channel 4 in HD anymore and I am tired of watching the shows in SD recoreded or HD live. What is weird is my HR10-250 wont pick up 4 via a rooftop antenna but my tv's tuner will with a silver sensor. I am mulling doing the whole MPEG4 upgrate.

Pat

Yes I have the HR20-700 DirecTV HD DVR + and I love it. This is my first DVR and I have always just had an old VCR.

This HR20 has improved my PQ on both HD channels and SD channels. I was using the Sony HD300 as a HD receiver. I see very little difference in the PQ between the OTA STL locals and the DirecTV locals provided. The OTA feed may be a little better PQ but it is very close IMO.

The HD recorded PQ is just as good as watching it live.

Some people are reporting some bugs(missed recordings/freezing,etc.) with the new unit but I have had the unit for 2 weeks now and with the exception of missing one recording last week it has worked great!

I would suggest you go to the DBS/satellite forum located here at AVS forum and read the threads concerning the HR20.
http://www.dbstalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=112

That is what I did before I purchased this unit. DirecTV is rolling out fixes/new firmware weekly to get this baby up to date and bug free.

Only drawback is that DirecTV has not activated the OTA tuners yet but they are suppose to be activated in October.

By now, everyone here as had to opportunity to see that fairly new GM (Chevrolet truck) commercial being run. The one that says, "This is our Country, This is our Truck."

While I keep my opinions to myself, I'd be interested in hearing what, if any, the others impressions are of this Ad.
tia

It pisses me off. I hate the fact that they try to play with my heartstrings. They are trying to make it seem as if you buy a Chevy Truck to help fight terrorism or something. I kept thinking they would show the towers falling. I'll stick to my Toyota Tacoma.

Scott

It pisses me off. I hate the fact that they try to play with my heartstrings. They are trying to make it seem as if you buy a Chevy Truck to help fight terrorism or something. I kept thinking they would show the towers falling. I'll stick to my Toyota Tacoma.

Scott
I'm glad I'm not alone. The first time I saw it, I played it back to be sure I was seeing what I thought I was. I then sent a comment to GM.

Thank God I don't know anyone who was killed in 911, Katrina, Viet Nam, etc., but comparing a freakin' truck to all those American lives lost? I understand their premise, but c'mon, isn't there at least one person at GM with some sort of common sense.

I guess they think showing the commemorative beams of the towers, and not their actual collapse, is common sense enough.

I hope they pull it. :mad:

Hmm, nobody complained about the ad campaign that said if you smoke pot, you support terrorism. I'm not even a drug user, and that stuff pissed me off. Same breed of propaganda if you ask me.

Hmm, nobody complained about the ad campaign that said if you smoke pot, you support terrorism. I'm not even a drug user, and that stuff pissed me off. Same breed of propaganda if you ask me.
I'm not either, though I don't really see the correlation. Right, wrong, or indifferent, smoking pot is illegal. That campaign was designed to stop people from doing something that is already illegal by saying it supports something else which is not only illegal, it's immoral and reprehensible.

The GM campaign prays on the hearts and goodness in people to market a product, using comparisons of death and destruction, as if it say their product has been there through the thick of it all, and seen its way though.

I own a GM vehicle, and this won't change my opinion of their products, or whether or not I buy another. I just find the advertisement bold and objectionable. I cannot even imagine how someone who's husband or wife was killed in the towers must feel.

OK, I'm done...sorry for the vent :o

I have seen in this thread that the most highly recommended indoor antenna is the Zenith Silver Sensor. Is the Zenith Silver Sensor better (achieves better reception) than other "Silver Sensor" antennas?

I purchased a Phillips "Silver Sensor" antenna from Circuit City. It has the same apparent design as the Zenith. I currently have it connected to the tuner in my Dish Vip622 DVR receiver. However, I have been unable get any reception on it for the Channel 9 (PBS) digital channels. The reception of the other local channels are generally adequate (with some drop outs).

I am considering going online to purchase the Zenith Silver Sensor. Is that going to make any difference though?

I'm not either, though I don't really see the correlation. Right, wrong, or indifferent, smoking pot is illegal. That campaign was designed to stop people from doing something that is already illegal by saying it supports something else which is not only illegal, it's immoral and reprehensible.

The GM campaign prays on the hearts and goodness in people to market a product, using comparisons of death and destruction, as if it say their product has been there through the thick of it all, and seen its way though.

I own a GM vehicle, and this won't change my opinion of their products, or whether or not I buy another. I just find the advertisement bold and objectionable. I cannot even imagine how someone who's husband or wife was killed in the towers must feel.

OK, I'm done...sorry for the vent :o


My point wasn't a direct correlation .... its that propaganda is propaganda. We should hate it all!

And smoking pot isnt illegal in Holland, but I don't see anyone saying the Dutch support terrorism :-)

My point wasn't a direct correlation .... its that propaganda is propaganda. We should hate it all!
True, True. It just seems there's no sacred bounds when it comes to advertising. If it's propaganda that works, it's propaganda they resort to...just sad.

GM sent a reply back, which I don't think was automated. It was several days later, and appeared personal.

Just said, "Thank you for your comments about our advertisement. We at General Motors appreciate the input of our customers."

I have seen in this thread that the most highly recommended indoor antenna is the Zenith Silver Sensor. Is the Zenith Silver Sensor better (achieves better reception) than other "Silver Sensor" antennas?

I purchased a Phillips "Silver Sensor" antenna from Circuit City. It has the same apparent design as the Zenith. I currently have it connected to the tuner in my Dish Vip622 DVR receiver. However, I have been unable get any reception on it for the Channel 9 (PBS) digital channels. The reception of the other local channels are generally adequate (with some drop outs).

I am considering going online to purchase the Zenith Silver Sensor. Is that going to make any difference though?

I don't think it will make much difference. When I had one it worked best high and pointed through a doorway to my office. Try a window if you have one nearby. Also, the fins turn from horizontal to vertical (or vice versa). So try that too. A little movement can make a big differerence so be sure to find PBS and go from there a little at a time. It can be time consuming.

I don't think it will make much difference. When I had one it worked best high and pointed through a doorway to my office. Try a window if you have one nearby. Also, the fins turn from horizontal to vertical (or vice versa). So try that too. A little movement can make a big differerence so be sure to find PBS and go from there a little at a time. It can be time consuming.

Thanks for the advice. I'll give it a shot and see what happens.

I probably missed a number of them. But here's a list of related posts from this thread, in cronological order:

[
The fix in early september only lasted a few days before it was back to it's old behavior.

Thanks for the info. We didn't do anything different at that time. This digital software is a pain!!! I did find that the Tandberg encoder worked better through the microwave....but all out stations have Harmonic as well as many other groups. We are looking at additional redundant equipment for purchase before analog cut off...the newer Harmonic equipment with the newer receiver chips will hopefully solve incompatability issues.
Jim

Has anyone else noticed the large reels of orange cable sitting on the south side of I44 between Lindbergh and Elm? It looks like it is being buried along the south shoulder. Is one of the Telcos laying fiber?

Report Says Customers Unhappy with AT&T TV

More evidence that AT&T doesn't (and probably won't) get it -- according to an AT&T official, customers aren't upset that their TV picture freezes. No, they're disappointed because they have such high expectations based on AT&T ability to reliably deliver a dial tone.

Spin, spin, spin away...

The following story is from today's TV Predictions newsletter.
_________________________________________________

AT&T's new TV service is leaving some customers out in the cold -- their picture frequently freezes up in the middle of a program.

In addition, the company is not offering any High-Definition TV channels.

That's according to an article in today's San Antonio Express-News.

The newspaper reports that the new Telco TV service is generating negative word of mouth among early users in the south Texas city.

AT&T, which is testing the "U-verse" service in San Antonio and other cities, hopes to eventually compete with cable and satellite TV operators nationwide. Verizon, another communications company, has also launched a new TV service.

But the Express-News says many customers who have signed up with AT&T TV are not singing its praises.

"The first week or two it was a bit frustrating," customer Gina Beadles told the newspaper. "We would be watching a movie and it would just stop in the middle — it just froze."

Beadles, however, praises AT&T for responding quickly to solve the problem. Consequently, she said she's sticking with the service for now.

But her son, Michael, is less forgiving.

"I like it when it's working," he said. "But when it's unreliable, it's just frustrating."

Another customer told the newspaper that her picture is freezing as well. She said she has returned to Time Warner Cable, the local cable operator.

AT&T says the "freezing" problem should be solved later this year when it begins installing new set-tops from Motorola. The new boxes will also be able to display high-def channels.

As of now, AT&T's "U-verse" does not offer HDTV.

Michael Grasso, a AT&T spokesman, said he's confident the problems will be worked out soon.

"Customers expect more from us because of the quality of phone service they've gotten from us," Grasso said. "If they're getting a little pixelization or freezing, they hold us to a higher standard than they would a cable company."
_________________________________________________

For more stories about the TV industry, go to www.tvpredictions.com

It pisses me off. I hate the fact that they try to play with my heartstrings. They are trying to make it seem as if you buy a Chevy Truck to help fight terrorism or something. I kept thinking they would show the towers falling. I'll stick to my Toyota Tacoma.

Scott

I agree. Another point - from a music lover's standpoint, I hate it when artists sell out. Mellencamp has clearly done that. His last good record was "Human Wheels" back in '93. He used to make important social commentary records like "Scarecrow", "The Lonesome Jubilee" and "Whenever We Wanted" which had his tune "Now More Than Ever" which he also sold recently for some Chevy ad. Maybe they should air his song "Love and Happiness" for the next Chevy ad.

Here's the words:
Love and Happiness - John Mellencamp (from "Whenever We Wanted" 1991)

Well, we're droppin' our bombs
In the southern hemisphere
And people are starving
That live right here
And they're tearing down walls
In the name of peace
And they're killing each other
In the Middle East

But love and happiness
Have forgotten our names
And there's no value left
In love and happiness
They raise the price of oil
And they censor our mouths
If you are a young couple today
Forget buying a house
And we wage or wars
In the neighborhoods
We kill the young to feed the old
And man that ain't no good


So, if you sell arms
Or you run dope
You got respect
And you got hope
But the rest of us die
On your battle fields
With wounds that fester and bleed
But never heal



That's the biting Mellencamp I love!

Two days ago I purchased a Samsung 4051D 40" LCD from Best Buy. It has 2 HDMI out ports, but no DVI. The rep at BB advised that charter offers 2 different digital/HD options:

1) Normal box (model unknown) which only has component ports. The BB guy said that there is a HDMI port on this box, but it is NOT used. Doesn't make sense to me...but oh well.

2) DVR box...which he said there was a 3 month waiting list. He thought it was called Moxi. He said that there was a DVI port on this and that it would work fine w/ the appropriate DVI/HDMI adapter w/ my TV. He said this was $10 extra per month w/ charter for this box.

Today I called Charter, which I was dreading, to find out if the rep's info was correct. I requested the model # on the DVR and she couldn't find it after 10 minutes. She could only determine that it was a Motorola. She said there was a waiting list, but that there was no way to determine how long I'd have to wait. She said I'd have to go to the charter office on S. Hampton or in Overland to find out the wait (how convenient). She also didn't know if the normal box (non DVR) only had component ports. Miraculously she was able to determine that the DVR option was $15 extra per month.

Charter makes me want to vomit. I hate dealing w/ them...but I'm kind of screwed in that I have a lot of trees in my yard, otherwise I'd give satellite a shot.

My questions:
1) What is the model of charter's DVR?
2) Does anyone here know how long the wait is for the DVR in the St. Louis area?
3) Is it true that the normal box w/ charter (non DVR) does not have DVI or HDMI?
4) Can I just purchase the DVR instead of paying extra $$$ to Charter? (I didn't ask this question to the charter rep -- she was already way too helpful)

I only purchased the TV for now and it'll be delivered next week. If it's a 3 month wait for the DVR I may just order it now, refund the TV, and then get the TV later. No doubt the prices will drop by then.

I should mention that I have no desire to get a DVR. It just looks like I have to get that to get the best possible picture.

Any advice / recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

mike

My questions:
1) What is the model of charter's DVR?

Its a Moxi Box, BMC90xx either 12, or 22 I believe. The 12 is a single unit, the 22 has larger hard drive and support for a 2nd room to have a mini-moxi on it. Although I think Charter has stopped using the moxi mates.

More Info on the Moxi can be found in.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=412846

2) Does anyone here know how long the wait is for the DVR in the St. Louis area?

No Clue, but I have been on the waiting list to upgrade my 80gb moxi(the 12) to the larger 160gb moxi for about 2 or 3 months now. I was originally told to expect it sometime in August. Now they don't even attempt to give any dates. I have heard rumors that it is not really a hardware supply issues as much as Charter has held off ordering more because of budgets n' such. No clue if any truth to this, but it wouldn't surprise me if they are waiting on a new fiscal year.

3) Is it true that the normal box w/ charter (non DVR) does not have DVI or HDMI?

I believe this is correct, and/or the port on the box is disabled. But not 100% sure have only used the Moxi.

4) Can I just purchase the DVR instead of paying extra $$$ to Charter? (I didn't ask this question to the charter rep -- she was already way too helpful)

As of now the Moxi is not sold to the public directly. They announced just a month or so back that they have plans to do so but don't expect that any time soon and the price on it was way too much to be considered a good alternative to Tivo or anything anyway.

flying99,

A couple of things about DVI/HDMI:

First, DVI and HDMI are compatible from a video standpoint. So, if your TV has an HDMI input and your Charter box only has DVI, you can use a DVI-to-HDMI cable without any penalty in terms of picture quality. Of course, HDMI can also carry audio but DVI can't. But again, that shouldn't be a showstopper for you as there are other ways to route audio to your AV system or direct to the TV.

Second, there's no inherent picture quality advantage with DVI and/or HDMI over component (or RGB) video. Theoretically, an all-digital path should be better, but in my experience it's a crapshoot. On the other hand, there may in the future be copy protection issues that make a DVI or HDMI connection preferable, but that's not an issue currently.

Sorry to hear about your problems with Charter and your lack of access for satellite. Hope you can get what you need without too long a wait.

I still have not located a local (near Ofallon, IL) Dish retailer that comes with good recommendations to install a 622 and 1000+ for me. Does anyone have any ideas?

Also does anyone know if the HDMI issues with the 622 are being fixed or getting better, it seems to be just hit or miss.

deuces:

I haven't had any HDMI issues with the 622 yet. So I can't comment.

kdg:

I have the USB fans on order and they should be here early next week.

Best,

Folks,

We're currently sitting in neutral on the kSDk boycott. No one has followed up on the need for sponsor monitors and no one has stepped forward on the domain name purchase and hosting/redirect.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8603915&&#post8603915

phenwick has written a letter to kSDk in an attempt to start either an online or offline dialog. I'm not sure the letter has been sent yet, but I'm sure Dave will update us once it's gone off.

I'm still interested in pursuing this, but I'm not going to go into this essentially alone and then watch it belly flop due to a lack of followthrough. Maybe kSDk fixing the "tape delay" problems is enough that we should let them off the hook. Under different circumstances, I might agree, but the long track record shows that execution and consistent followthrough is not a likely outcome.

Unless someone is going to step up on the mointoring and the domain/redirect, this probably won't go any further.

deuces:

I told you I can help you get the switch installed and stuff. I just can't get the 1000+ installed. That isn't my area of expertise :-(

If you know someone that can get that going I'll be more than happy to come out one evening or weekend and to that.

Best,

Thanks John. I will see what I can come up with.

This isn't *technically* an HD question, but I would appreciate the help.

I would love to ditch cable and satelite for next couple of years until all this HD junk gets straightened out. It's not big deal to me anyway since the majority of shows I watch are available OTA. The biggest thing keeping me a subscriber is cardinal games and MNF.

Soon I'll be hooking up my computer to my Samsung LCD and was wondering about MLB.com's "MLBTV" which allows you to watch "out of market" games on your computer. Obviously this wouldn't allow me to watch Cardinal games as I live 20 minutes from the stadium and every Cardinals game except one or two every year now is on TV. And of couse its not HD...but regular FSN looks like crap anyway.

So here are my questions:
1) Does anybody know the quality of mlbtv? Is it worth it?
2) Would it be possible for me to have a relative who lives "out of market" purchase the package and "slip" me the login info? Does it decide if you are out of market by your billing address or somehow through your IP?
3)Is this a stupid idea and I have too much time at work to think about this stuff?

If you subscribe to MLBTV it uses the IP to determine the out of market eligibility, so if you
go away on travel, you would be able to watch the cardinals games.

As far as the quality goes, it is just compressed video so you can watch it on a computer in a
small window, it looks crappy when you blow it up to fill up the screen.

Since we are talking about the Cardinals....has there been any new news on why FSN HD is being left in the dust with the sat companies, or if this might change?

Hey guys, just ordered a Samsung HLS6188W from Vanns. Will be joining the HD family sometime next week :) I have a moxi through charter is there a post in this thread someone has bookmarked that has all the current charter/moxi info? For example can it record OTA? Which HD stations come with the service and which require additional fees. My GF is a Lost fanatic but can't handle all the commercial breaks so she usually records it. I noticed that ABC HD isn't on charter yet and am trying to figure out my options for her.

Hey guys, just ordered a Samsung HLS6188W from Vanns. Will be joining the HD family sometime next week :) I have a moxi through charter is there a post in this thread someone has bookmarked that has all the current charter/moxi info? For example can it record OTA? Which HD stations come with the service and which require additional fees. My GF is a Lost fanatic but can't handle all the commercial breaks so she usually records it. I noticed that ABC HD isn't on charter yet and am trying to figure out my options for her.


You can't do anything OTA with Moxi.

Since we are talking about the Cardinals....has there been any new news on why FSN HD is being left in the dust with the sat companies, or if this might change?

I posted a subject over in the HDTV PROGRAMMING area about this and got no response.

"Drop the Remote" has asked his FSN-MW contact a number of times and has gotten no response.