Cedar Rapids, IA - HDTV

sgarringer · 10-31-09, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgarringer

Watching KCRG tonight and it seems to be widescreen on the local news at 10:00. Not HD, and it seems that the 4:3 signal is just being stretched.

Is this permanent or just a test, or in anticipation for the transition to their new HD equipment and studio?

Believe it or not I'm not complaining about this, it really doesn't look bad, and it's nice to get to enjoy some local news without wasting 1/3 of my TV display...

My mistake, someone was screwing with the aspect ratio setting on my TV, possibly to intentionally get me worked up (unconfirmed as of yet). I've been working so much that I haven't watched any TV this week, so I didn't notice it until today. It became painfully obvious while watching Science HD. Properly configured my TV is displaying KCRGs signal pillar-boxed like normal.

uhf · 11-03-09, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dline

Website says KRIN Waterloo (32) will face "intermittent outages of 1-2 hours" beginning next Monday and continuing through November 6

All work was completed by noon on Friday, Oct 30. No further disruptions scheduled in the foreseeable future.

oldsyd · 11-03-09, 11:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iowegian3

FWIW, talked w/ KYOU's engineer about a different issue this week, but anyway they're getting ready to power up the new transmitter by this weekend. You may notice a little more punch to the Fox15 signal soon.

Did that happen yet? I was hoping I could pick it up in CR now.

hdtvincr · 11-04-09, 03:26 PM

If you try and have a half way decent line of sight, you probably can.

I pointed my attic antenna that direction since I don't use OTA that much anymore and I get KYOU fairly decent with a few break ups here and there.

I work at the airport and we can pick it up real nice with just rabbit ears.....

iowahawkeye · 11-04-09, 10:32 PM

You made the top #1 position on the better halfs top 10 list Tue night by preempting the first 3 min of "The Better Half" with small local election results, since you apparently can't display them with a drag across the bottom of your HD transmission.....Then you proceed run your drag on all the shows commericals squeezed up in SD. And we all know the first commerical comes in the first 3-6 min...

weaselfest · 11-05-09, 06:55 AM

It's round Two for Mediacom vs Sinclair as their highly publicized previous negotiations come up for renewal December 31st. Get those bugs worked out of your antennas now before the first snow flies, because Rocca will let the station go dark before he caves into a 85% increase.

iowahawkeye · 11-05-09, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by weaselfest

It's round Two for Mediacom vs Sinclair as their highly publicized previous negotiations come up for renewal December 31st. Get those bugs worked out of your antennas now before the first snow flies, because Rocca will let the station go dark before he caves into a 85% increase.

I can hardly wait for another free rabbit ear antenna & free pizza.....Actually it wasn't a problem in Iowa City since WHBF qualified as a "local" CBS afilliate in our area and Mediacom just added it to the Iowa City headend....and left it on the system for about a year.

CR_Client · 11-05-09, 11:52 PM

I'm confused... KWWL doesn't seem to have a local station bug any longer, now they have a permanent advertising bug on the bottom center of the screen.

So, is that type of advertisement really legal? If so, how soon before the rest of the locals follow suit?

I didn't watch any primetime programming, and haven't watched KWWL in a few days, but I'd imagine that, if they use it during Late Night with Conan, they're using it at other times, too.

I mean, it's one thing to sell ad space with a weather warning crawl, it's another entirely to sell your lower third as a permanent ad for Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare, or whatever it's for (I can only actually read it on one of my TVs).

Anyone have any idea what's going on with this? If it's a trend, or even just for sweeps, I'm inclined to tune out for now or for good.

Jon Ellis · 11-06-09, 01:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iowahawkeye

I can hardly wait for another free rabbit ear antenna & free pizza.....Actually it wasn't a problem in Iowa City since WHBF qualified as a "local" CBS afilliate in our area and Mediacom just added it to the Iowa City headend....and left it on the system for about a year.

No longer. Since then, Sinclair has succeeded in getting WHBF off the "significantly viewed" list for Iowa City, so Mediacom can't bring it back.

dline · 11-06-09, 03:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CR_Client

I'm confused... KWWL doesn't seem to have a local station bug any longer, now they have a permanent advertising bug on the bottom center of the screen.

So, is that type of advertisement really legal? If so, how soon before the rest of the locals follow suit?

I didn't watch any primetime programming, and haven't watched KWWL in a few days, but I'd imagine that, if they use it during Late Night with Conan, they're using it at other times, too.

I mean, it's one thing to sell ad space with a weather warning crawl, it's another entirely to sell your lower third as a permanent ad for Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare, or whatever it's for (I can only actually read it on one of my TVs).

Anyone have any idea what's going on with this? If it's a trend, or even just for sweeps, I'm inclined to tune out for now or for good.

I haven't seen what you described yet.

If I'm reading this right, it's probably legal as far as the FCC is concerned unless it's during children's programming, where ad time is strictly limited and must be clearly separated from content. However, the network may have its own contractual limits on what kinds of graphics its affiliates can super over its programming.

4lids · 11-06-09, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CR_Client

I'm confused... KWWL doesn't seem to have a local station bug any longer, now they have a permanent advertising bug on the bottom center of the screen.

That was for our H1N1 phone bank that went until about 11 PM on Thursday night. I believe it had a local number and a sponsor so taht people could call in and ask their questions. This will be going on for the next three Thursdays as well. We still have our local station bug... but this was a special circumstance.
-Jarrett

postmortem · 11-06-09, 08:21 PM

Is KWKB down? Doesn't work with my cablebox setup from Mediacom - both analog channel 10 and HD channel 820 are down.

mred53 · 11-06-09, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by postmortem

Is KWKB down? Doesn't work with my cablebox setup from Mediacom - both analog channel 10 and HD channel 820 are down.

Not working here OTA or via DishNetwork, so I'd say it's down.

319 Sports Fan · 11-07-09, 01:43 AM

KWKB was back on the air around 10:50. I wonder if they will replay Smackdown as I am sure it is one of the highest rated shows on that station, if not the highest rated? And I am not saying that just because it is the only thing I watch on that station once baseball season is over.

CR_Client · 11-07-09, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4lids

That was for our H1N1 phone bank that went until about 11 PM on Thursday night. I believe it had a local number and a sponsor so taht people could call in and ask their questions. This will be going on for the next three Thursdays as well. We still have our local station bug... but this was a special circumstance.
-Jarrett

It had a local number, for sure, and a sponsor, but it didn't say anything about what it was for, just a bug that said "click on KWWL.com or call 1.800.xxx.xxxx", with a Covenant Health Systems sponsor. No mention of H1N1 information, etc. In fact, when I went to KWWL.com to see what it was about, there was nothing on the home page for KWWL.

If the station wants people to call the number for H1N1 information, they would probably be better served explaining what the bug is for within the bug itself, since I would venture to guess that a significant number of people who watch Conan don't actually watch the KWWL 10 o'clock news, and would therefore have no idea why there's a number on their screen.

ivorygate · 11-07-09, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 319 Sports Fan

KWKB was back on the air around 10:50. I wonder if they will replay Smackdown as I am sure it is one of the highest rated shows on that station, if not the highest rated? And I am not saying that just because it is the only thing I watch on that station once baseball season is over.

It looks like Smackdown is usually around a 1.9 rating, while Smallville is around 1.2. That station really can't afford not to air either of those shows, but with most of us having DVRs and the guide data providers never being known for being the most nimble when it comes to last minute scheduling changes (like how most TiVo users, such as myself, didn't get the new episode of Fringe recorded 11/05, because apparently Zap2It was confused about the fact a World Series game 7 wasn't being played), I don't know how any of us are going to find out about it. The KWKB web site doesn't have any mention of anything.

bassdog65 · 11-09-09, 09:11 PM

KWKB was down again tonight for One Tree Hill. My wife is going nuts. What's their deal? Anyone have a number for the station?

iowahawkeye · 11-10-09, 12:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassdog65

KWKB was down again tonight for One Tree Hill. My wife is going nuts. What's their deal? Anyone have a number for the station?

http://www.switchboard.com/results.h...34&search.y=11

XythAdar · 11-11-09, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeremycobert

i almost forgot, here is a fairly accurate list of cedar rapids QAM channels, does anyone know if medicom really has this many free unencrypted QAM channels ? imon does not even have kwwl.. its pathetic.

silicondust.com/hdhomerun/lineup_web/US:52402#sidebyside

Thanks for the link, that's exactly what I was looking for. Anyone know if Mediacom has their ESPNHD in clearQAM or if that is encrypted?

CR_Client · 11-12-09, 12:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XythAdar

Thanks for the link, that's exactly what I was looking for. Anyone know if Mediacom has their ESPNHD in clearQAM or if that is encrypted?

As far as I know, it's encrypted, but that depends on what package level you have, I suppose. On Broadcast Basic, it's definitely filtered out and/or encrypted.

ivorygate · 11-12-09, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CR_Client

As far as I know, it's encrypted, but that depends on what package level you have, I suppose. On Broadcast Basic, it's definitely filtered out and/or encrypted.

In CF/Waterloo, all HD stations other than the broadcast stations are encrypted, even if you pay for the channels, so one needs one of their converters/DVRs or a CableCARD.

sgarringer · 11-12-09, 06:59 PM

Anyone else having issues with KFXA tonight?

Haley1966 · 11-13-09, 09:19 AM

sgarringer, I thought it was just me. I didnt have any signal last night from them. No problems with any other locals. You are talking about ch.48 ION right? I guess I should say I normally get them OTA, but not last night. Mike

KFXAChief · 11-13-09, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgarringer

Anyone else having issues with KFXA tonight?

What issues?

Haley1966 · 11-13-09, 10:17 AM

KFXAChief,
I was getting no signal strength last night. I am in a less than good location for KFXA( Southern Marshall county), so I am never sure if its just weather ect. I usually get KFXA pretty well, last night though between about 730-800pm I didnt have anything. I assume it was on my end?

Mike

KFXAChief · 11-13-09, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Haley1966

KFXAChief,
I was getting no signal strength last night. I am in a less than good location for KFXA( Southern Marshall county), so I am never sure if its just weather ect. I usually get KFXA pretty well, last night though between about 730-800pm I didnt have anything. I assume it was on my end?

Mike

Was it for just that time period? Are you able to get it now?

Haley1966 · 11-13-09, 11:32 AM

As far as I know, it could have been longer, I quit trying after 800pm. The signal is coming in around 70-75% this morning, still watchable though. Mike

KFXAChief · 11-13-09, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Haley1966

As far as I know, it could have been longer, I quit trying after 800pm. The signal is coming in around 70-75% this morning, still watchable though. Mike

I was not aware of any issues last night.

ivorygate · 11-13-09, 05:08 PM

I record the broadcast channels OTA and although I haven't tried to watch Fringe yet from my DVR, Bones recorded from 7pm-8pm and I didn't see a single glitch in the recording as I watched it.

Haley1966 · 11-13-09, 05:39 PM

I am not sure what happen last night for me. KFXA usually has a decent signal for me. On a side note, I picked up one of these new AUVIO 3.5 inch digital/analog TVs from radio shack today. I am sitting hear on the computer with KFXA coming in strong.This thing only has about a 6 inch antenna , and only have about 3 inces of it out! Pretty neat little item. Catalog number is 16-972 if anyone is interested. And no I dont work for radio shack

. Mike

11-04-09, 10:32 PM	#3995 \| Link	<a href='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adclick.php?n=a591f81a' target='_blank'><img src='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adview.php?what=zone:36&n=a591f81a' border='0' alt=''></a>
iowahawkeye Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Iowa City IA Posts: 317	Dear KGAN/Sinclair You made the top #1 position on the better halfs top 10 list Tue night by preempting the first 3 min of "The Better Half" with small local election results, since you apparently can't display them with a drag across the bottom of your HD transmission.....Then you proceed run your drag on all the shows commericals squeezed up in SD. And we all know the first commerical comes in the first 3-6 min... __________________ HD since Sept 2005

11-05-09, 06:55 AM	#3996 \| Link
weaselfest New Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 12	Mediacom Sinclair contract up for renewal It's round Two for Mediacom vs Sinclair as their highly publicized previous negotiations come up for renewal December 31st. Get those bugs worked out of your antennas now before the first snow flies, because Rocca will let the station go dark before he caves into a 85% increase.

11-13-09, 05:39 PM	#4020 \| Link	<a href='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adclick.php?n=a591f81a' target='_blank'><img src='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adview.php?what=zone:36&n=a591f81a' border='0' alt=''></a>
Haley1966 Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 47	I am not sure what happen last night for me. KFXA usually has a decent signal for me. On a side note, I picked up one of these new AUVIO 3.5 inch digital/analog TVs from radio shack today. I am sitting hear on the computer with KFXA coming in strong.This thing only has about a 6 inch antenna , and only have about 3 inces of it out! Pretty neat little item. Catalog number is 16-972 if anyone is interested. And no I dont work for radio shack. Mike

11-04-09, 03:26 PM	#3994 \| Link
hdtvincr More HDTV! Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Cedar Rapids, IA Posts: 1,766	If you try and have a half way decent line of sight, you probably can. I pointed my attic antenna that direction since I don't use OTA that much anymore and I get KYOU fairly decent with a few break ups here and there. I work at the airport and we can pick it up real nice with just rabbit ears.....

11-05-09, 11:52 PM	#3998 \| Link
CR_Client Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: NE Cedar Rapids, IA (but closer to downtown) Posts: 373	I'm confused... KWWL doesn't seem to have a local station bug any longer, now they have a permanent advertising bug on the bottom center of the screen. So, is that type of advertisement really legal? If so, how soon before the rest of the locals follow suit? I didn't watch any primetime programming, and haven't watched KWWL in a few days, but I'd imagine that, if they use it during Late Night with Conan, they're using it at other times, too. I mean, it's one thing to sell ad space with a weather warning crawl, it's another entirely to sell your lower third as a permanent ad for Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare, or whatever it's for (I can only actually read it on one of my TVs). Anyone have any idea what's going on with this? If it's a trend, or even just for sweeps, I'm inclined to tune out for now or for good.

11-06-09, 08:21 PM	#4002 \| Link
postmortem New Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Midwest US Posts: 9	Is KWKB down? Doesn't work with my cablebox setup from Mediacom - both analog channel 10 and HD channel 820 are down.

11-07-09, 01:43 AM	#4004 \| Link
319 Sports Fan Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 17	KWKB was back on the air around 10:50. I wonder if they will replay Smackdown as I am sure it is one of the highest rated shows on that station, if not the highest rated? And I am not saying that just because it is the only thing I watch on that station once baseball season is over.

11-09-09, 09:11 PM	#4007 \| Link
bassdog65 New Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 4	KWKB was down again tonight for One Tree Hill. My wife is going nuts. What's their deal? Anyone have a number for the station?

11-12-09, 06:59 PM	#4012 \| Link
sgarringer Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 178	Anyone else having issues with KFXA tonight?

11-13-09, 09:19 AM	#4013 \| Link
Haley1966 Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 47	sgarringer, I thought it was just me. I didnt have any signal last night from them. No problems with any other locals. You are talking about ch.48 ION right? I guess I should say I normally get them OTA, but not last night. Mike

11-13-09, 10:17 AM	#4015 \| Link
Haley1966 Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 47	KFXAChief, I was getting no signal strength last night. I am in a less than good location for KFXA( Southern Marshall county), so I am never sure if its just weather ect. I usually get KFXA pretty well, last night though between about 730-800pm I didnt have anything. I assume it was on my end? Mike

11-13-09, 11:32 AM	#4017 \| Link
Haley1966 Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 47	As far as I know, it could have been longer, I quit trying after 800pm. The signal is coming in around 70-75% this morning, still watchable though. Mike

11-13-09, 05:08 PM	#4019 \| Link
ivorygate Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Eastern Iowa Posts: 135	I record the broadcast channels OTA and although I haven't tried to watch Fringe yet from my DVR, Bones recorded from 7pm-8pm and I didn't see a single glitch in the recording as I watched it.