Norfolk, VA - HDTV

obxdiver · 04-01-04, 10:15 PM

Welcome to the 2nd Quarter, 2004, issue of our thread. The year 2004 is well on its way and The Hampton Roads area OTA DTV is one to compare other areas to. The station engineers have worked countless man hours to bring us all this new technology.

Here are the links to the past threads:

Click here for the February 2002 thread.
Click here for the March 2002 thread.
Click here for the April 2002 thread and
Click here for the May 2002 thread.
Click here for the June 2002 thread.
Click here for the July 2002 thread.
Click here for the August 2002 thread.
Click here for the September 2002 thread.
Click here for the October 2002 thread.
Click here for the November 2002 thread.
Click here for the December 2002 thread.
Click here for the January 2003 thread.
Click here for the February 2003 thread.
Click here for the March 2003 thread.
Click here for the April 2003 thread.
Click here for the May 2003 thread.
Click here for the June 2003 thread.
Click here for the July 2003 thread.
Click here for the August 2003 thread.
Click here for the September 2003 thread.
Click here for the 4th Quarter 2003 thread.
Click here for the 1st Quarter 2004 thread.

Contained within these past threads is 5049 posts and a wealth of information concerning reception issues and technical issues at the local digital television stations. New subscribers to this thread are urged to read through these threads before posting questions to the group.

Early adopters and station engineers started this thread in February 2002 to foster a constructive dialog between the two groups at the startup of the DTV service in this market. It has worked well but there have been some clashes, teeth gnashing and rending of flesh. To avoid this, basic Ground Rules are enforced for The Official SE Virginia/NE North Carolina Thread. The Ground Rules are:

No personal attacks or name calling.
Requests, not demands.
Understanding & tolerance is the first order of the day (as we are a diverse group of people meeting in a common area).
Courtesy is the second order of the day (as we are a diverse group of people meeting in a common area).
The Official SE Virginia/NE North Carolina Thread is not the complaint counter between the viewers and the stations.

For pressing matters, station engineers can usually be contacted - during business hours - via telephone at the published number for that station.

For information concerning the orientation of an antenna for Over The Air (OTA) reception, click here for the CEA's antenna mapping utility program.

Comment or questions related to OTA DTV broadcasting for our local area would be better answered by one of the local station engineers at the
Hampton Roads OTA Thread - 2nd Quarter 2004 thread.

This thread is for any and all posts related to hardware devices, such as TIVO, STB's, or television service providers for the local Hampton Roads area and NE North Carolina.

Welcome to our thread.

Theo1080 · 04-02-04, 01:04 PM

WTKR-DT

WTKR-DT 3-1 has been increased to 18 MB/s. 3-2 has been turned off. System will be reconfigured on Tuesday, April 6.

WTKR-DT will air Masters Golf in HD (no 5.1) on Thursday April 8 and Friday April 9 on 3-1 from 4pm to 6:30pm. This will be differnet from WTKR-TV programming.

madmike · 04-02-04, 04:38 PM

Cool deal Ted, maybe I'll tune in for some HD golf.

Mike

HILLTOP SAILOR · 04-02-04, 04:54 PM

Over the last few days there have been discussions here about VOOM and in-store displays in general. I, too, have looked. Again, I was surprised and disappointed at the local digital industry problems. I found out that the pictures you see on the TV's in the stores (supposedly from any source you care to name) are not from an antenna. They come from a machine in the back room. The customer only thinks he/she is seeing an actual TV program. The SEARS sales rep told me that even though it wasn't a live antenna picture that I would receive the same quality picture at my home. I said "No Thank You" and walked out. The casual customer doesn't stand a chance. It's like trying to buy a used car. Let the buyer beware! If there are any stores in our area that are showing real TV pictures from the sources they are trying to sell please let us know so we know where to go for some truth.

Drew

Todd · 04-02-04, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by HILLTOP SAILOR
If there are any stores in our area that are showing real TV pictures from the sources they are trying to sell please let us know so we know where to go for some truth.

Drew

Domes does...

robertawillisjr · 04-03-04, 09:11 AM

Just returned from Pittsburgh. We are fortunate, very fortunate.

robrien · 04-03-04, 12:03 PM

Peter:

Just a reminder. If you have not notified Decisionmark Corp. of your new broadcast hours, could you do so. Voom guide data for 13-1 currently starts at noon.

Thanks!

OB

HILLTOP SAILOR · 04-03-04, 12:57 PM

I agree that we are indeed fortunate to live here in Hampton Roads. We have fantastic digital support from all our local stations and it doesn't cost us a penny to receive it OTA! A big "Thank You!" to them all! Isn't it ironic that we have to be so very careful about what we have to pay for when dealing with some other companies.

Drew

vurbano · 04-03-04, 06:08 PM

This looks awesome Ted!!!!

obxdiver · 04-03-04, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by vurbano
This looks awesome Ted!!!!

I totally agree !!! Awesome HD quality and great bass in the DD 5.1 audio. Strong center channel with great surround effects as well all around the room.
No Pixelation here either.

Thank you CBS, WTKR-DT and MOST IMPORTANTLY....Mr Ted Hand for some great Saturday night sports in HD.

Todd · 04-03-04, 09:07 PM

I agree too! I just got home and tuned in and it looks great. There's no substitute for raw bandwidth.

BTW, can CBS make the on-screen scoreboard a little larger?? I can still see some of the game around it...

Todd · 04-04-04, 02:25 PM

Anyone else having trouble locking into 43-1 during the NASCAR race today? I'm getting a lot of dropouts. Last weekend it was perfect. Is there a transmision problem or are the very windy conditions today wreaking havoc?

UPDATE: Reception has gotton more consistent through the afternoon...

robrien · 04-04-04, 03:28 PM

Nope! 43-1 is perfect. No problems here!

Regards

cmont · 04-04-04, 04:33 PM

The NCAA Tourney feed looked great last night with a minimum of artifacting. I was surprised to see the difference between the multiple cameras they had at the game. All long shots looked great while the close up cams were definitely lower resolution. Luckily for the most part the game is covered with the long cams. Still you would think for an event of this caliber they would have the resources to use the same HD cams throughout.

Thanks Ted for all your efforts.

Chris

vurbano · 04-04-04, 07:18 PM

the current broadcast of enterprise on UPN, I get black bars around it. top ones indicative of widescreen dvd or OAR. the side bars indicative of 4:3 digital. I guess ive never asked but why? Program guide says HD? sometimes it is fullscreen HD and sometimes it looks like this. The picture is very good just wondering why the side bars?

Todd · 04-04-04, 08:15 PM

The Sunday broadcast of it has always been in SD. George has looked into broadcasting the HD version, but couldn't do it for various technical reasons. Every new episode of Enterprise that I've seen since it started airing in HD on Wed. has been in HD.

Digitude · 04-05-04, 05:25 PM

Got Voom but the standard OTA antenna is NFG. Voom says they will buy me a Winegard PR8800 but that's an omni too and I think I should probably look for a good directional. CEB says I'm in the red zone for all channels. I'm in Ocean Park, VB. Didn't know there was a local thread. Thanks for the tip OB!

jkhome · 04-05-04, 10:52 PM

"Anyone here near Shore Drive?"

I'm in the Haygood/ Lake Smith area, using a Channel Master 4228, mounted in the attic, with excellant results. Domes and Cain Electronics was selling them.

robertawillisjr · 04-06-04, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Has anyone experienced reception problems with 13.1?

The past few days have been bad for me on all channels but 3, 43 and 49. It has been very windy and with trees in the yard I've had problems. Your friend might be experiencing something similar.

Trip in VA · 04-06-04, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Digitude
Got Voom but the standard OTA antenna is NFG. Voom says they will buy me a Winegard PR8800 but that's an omni too and I think I should probably look for a good directional. CEB says I'm in the red zone for all channels. I'm in Ocean Park, VB. Didn't know there was a local thread. Thanks for the tip OB!

The Winegard PR8800 is like the CM4228, except without the wind resistance. I have one and it works very well. It is a directional antenna.

- Trip

pdennant · 04-06-04, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by robrien
Just a reminder. If you have not notified Decisionmark Corp. of your new broadcast hours, could you do so. Voom guide data for 13-1 currently starts at noon.

Thanx Robert...I was out of town most of last week. I had a conversation with them today. You should see the changes soon.

robrien · 04-07-04, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by pdennant
Thanx Robert...I was out of town most of last week. I had a conversation with them today. You should see the changes soon.

Thanks Peter!

VARTV · 04-08-04, 08:18 PM

Is WAVT-DT having the same video problem as WAVY-TV tonight??? It started around 7:10PM...

Todd · 04-08-04, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by VARTV
Is WAVT-DT having the same video problem as WAVY-TV tonight??? It started around 7:10PM...

Not exactly the same, but while trying to watch Friends, part of the time 10-1 was fine, part of the time only the bottom half of the video was showing. The top half was black with diagonal green lines. Pretty wild. Hopefully 10-1 will be good the rest of the night since I'm watching The Apprentice and ER.

Update: The Apprentice was fine on 10-1 and channel 10 starting working right around 9:20. ER not in HD though.

vurbano · 04-08-04, 09:26 PM

Is it possible to find out the future plans of WTVZ WB 33? DOes anyone know them? Ive emailed them in the past and they dont respond. They are the only ones left in the area that do not broadcast their HD material. I'm surprised there is no discussion of this. Or is it an old topic?

Les Garrenton · 04-09-04, 12:09 AM

Sorry for the interruptions tonight, but we had some big time power problems at the studio this evening. It's been a long day....

George Randell · 04-09-04, 11:41 AM

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

We have upgraded the "Program and System Information Protocol" (a.k.a. PSIP) software for WGNT-DT UPN 27-1. If you tried to watch us last night please accept our apologies if you were not able to tune in. Some sets would have been affected during the transition.

It should all be working fine now. Please drop me a line if it is not.

Thanks,
George Randell
Chief Engineer
WGNT/WGNT-DT UPN
Viacom in Norfolk
gmrandell@wgnttv.com

johncchester · 04-09-04, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by vurbano
Is it possible to find out the future plans of WTVZ WB 33? Does anyone know them? Ive emailed them in the past and they dont respond. They are the only ones left in the area that do not broadcast their HD material. I'm surprised there is no discussion of this. Or is it an old topic?

It's an old & frustrating topic. After getting no response from them, as you have more recently experienced, most of us "old-timers" have just given up on them.

From what I recall, their chief engineer, who got their digital channel up & running, left them. I think he retired. Anyway, they have done NOTHING more, since that time. No HD, even though WB provides some. Not even virtual channel numbering, via PSIP.

They just don't seem to care.

Digitude · 04-09-04, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by johncchester
It's an old & frustrating topic.

John,
I see you live at the North End. What kind of antenna do you use for the UHF digitals? A big yagi of some type?

VARTV · 04-09-04, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by vurbano
Is WTKRDT showing the masters in HD?

They should be...

04-01-04, 10:15 PM	#1 \| Link	<a href='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adclick.php?n=a4ac4393' target='_blank'><img src='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adview.php?what=zone:30&n=a4ac4393' border='0' alt=''></a>
obxdiver Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: SouthEastCoast, VA Posts: 956	The Official SE Virginia/NE North Carolina Thread for 2nd Quarter 2004 Welcome to the 2nd Quarter, 2004, issue of our thread. The year 2004 is well on its way and The Hampton Roads area OTA DTV is one to compare other areas to. The station engineers have worked countless man hours to bring us all this new technology. Here are the links to the past threads: Click here for the February 2002 thread. Click here for the March 2002 thread. Click here for the April 2002 thread and Click here for the May 2002 thread. Click here for the June 2002 thread. Click here for the July 2002 thread. Click here for the August 2002 thread. Click here for the September 2002 thread. Click here for the October 2002 thread. Click here for the November 2002 thread. Click here for the December 2002 thread. Click here for the January 2003 thread. Click here for the February 2003 thread. Click here for the March 2003 thread. Click here for the April 2003 thread. Click here for the May 2003 thread. Click here for the June 2003 thread. Click here for the July 2003 thread. Click here for the August 2003 thread. Click here for the September 2003 thread. Click here for the 4th Quarter 2003 thread. Click here for the 1st Quarter 2004 thread. Contained within these past threads is 5049 posts and a wealth of information concerning reception issues and technical issues at the local digital television stations. New subscribers to this thread are urged to read through these threads before posting questions to the group. Early adopters and station engineers started this thread in February 2002 to foster a constructive dialog between the two groups at the startup of the DTV service in this market. It has worked well but there have been some clashes, teeth gnashing and rending of flesh. To avoid this, basic Ground Rules are enforced for The Official SE Virginia/NE North Carolina Thread. The Ground Rules are: No personal attacks or name calling. Requests, not demands. Understanding & tolerance is the first order of the day (as we are a diverse group of people meeting in a common area). Courtesy is the second order of the day (as we are a diverse group of people meeting in a common area). The Official SE Virginia/NE North Carolina Thread is not the complaint counter between the viewers and the stations. For pressing matters, station engineers can usually be contacted - during business hours - via telephone at the published number for that station. For information concerning the orientation of an antenna for Over The Air (OTA) reception, click here for the CEA's antenna mapping utility program. Comment or questions related to OTA DTV broadcasting for our local area would be better answered by one of the local station engineers at the Hampton Roads OTA Thread - 2nd Quarter 2004 thread. This thread is for any and all posts related to hardware devices, such as TIVO, STB's, or television service providers for the local Hampton Roads area and NE North Carolina. Welcome to our thread. __________________ Steve My AVS Home Theater Gallery Last edited by obxdiver; 05-22-04 at 04:39 PM..

04-02-04, 01:04 PM	#2 \| Link
Theo1080 DTV Engineer Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 583	WTKR-DT WTKR-DT 3-1 has been increased to 18 MB/s. 3-2 has been turned off. System will be reconfigured on Tuesday, April 6. WTKR-DT will air Masters Golf in HD (no 5.1) on Thursday April 8 and Friday April 9 on 3-1 from 4pm to 6:30pm. This will be differnet from WTKR-TV programming. __________________ Ted Hand, CPBE. 8VSB, AMD I was there on July 23, 1996...First DTV broadcast in the US..WRAL-HD

04-02-04, 04:54 PM	#4 \| Link
HILLTOP SAILOR Guest Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 1,309	HDTV In-store Demo's Over the last few days there have been discussions here about VOOM and in-store displays in general. I, too, have looked. Again, I was surprised and disappointed at the local digital industry problems. I found out that the pictures you see on the TV's in the stores (supposedly from any source you care to name) are not from an antenna. They come from a machine in the back room. The customer only thinks he/she is seeing an actual TV program. The SEARS sales rep told me that even though it wasn't a live antenna picture that I would receive the same quality picture at my home. I said "No Thank You" and walked out. The casual customer doesn't stand a chance. It's like trying to buy a used car. Let the buyer beware! If there are any stores in our area that are showing real TV pictures from the sources they are trying to sell please let us know so we know where to go for some truth. Drew

04-03-04, 12:03 PM	#7 \| Link
robrien Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Posts: 385	WVEC-DT Peter: Just a reminder. If you have not notified Decisionmark Corp. of your new broadcast hours, could you do so. Voom guide data for 13-1 currently starts at noon. Thanks! OB

04-03-04, 12:57 PM	#8 \| Link
HILLTOP SAILOR Guest Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 1,309	BEING FORTUNATE I agree that we are indeed fortunate to live here in Hampton Roads. We have fantastic digital support from all our local stations and it doesn't cost us a penny to receive it OTA! A big "Thank You!" to them all! Isn't it ironic that we have to be so very careful about what we have to pay for when dealing with some other companies. Drew

04-02-04, 04:38 PM	#3 \| Link
madmike Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Denver Posts: 179	Cool deal Ted, maybe I'll tune in for some HD golf. Mike

04-03-04, 09:11 AM	#6 \| Link
robertawillisjr AVS Special Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Hampton, VA Posts: 1,100	Just returned from Pittsburgh. We are fortunate, very fortunate.

04-03-04, 06:08 PM	#9 \| Link
vurbano Tivo HD rules!!!!!! Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Newport News, VA Posts: 7,192	This looks awesome Ted!!!!

04-03-04, 09:07 PM	#11 \| Link
Todd HR2x is getting DLB! Join Date: Oct 1999 Location: Chesapeake, Virginia Posts: 2,380	I agree too! I just got home and tuned in and it looks great. There's no substitute for raw bandwidth. BTW, can CBS make the on-screen scoreboard a little larger?? I can still see some of the game around it...

04-04-04, 02:25 PM	#12 \| Link
Todd HR2x is getting DLB! Join Date: Oct 1999 Location: Chesapeake, Virginia Posts: 2,380	Anyone else having trouble locking into 43-1 during the NASCAR race today? I'm getting a lot of dropouts. Last weekend it was perfect. Is there a transmision problem or are the very windy conditions today wreaking havoc? UPDATE: Reception has gotton more consistent through the afternoon... Last edited by Todd; 04-05-04 at 01:10 PM..

04-04-04, 03:28 PM	#13 \| Link
robrien Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Posts: 385	Nope! 43-1 is perfect. No problems here! Regards

04-04-04, 04:33 PM	#14 \| Link
cmont AVS Special Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Studio City, CA Posts: 1,505	The NCAA Tourney feed looked great last night with a minimum of artifacting. I was surprised to see the difference between the multiple cameras they had at the game. All long shots looked great while the close up cams were definitely lower resolution. Luckily for the most part the game is covered with the long cams. Still you would think for an event of this caliber they would have the resources to use the same HD cams throughout. Thanks Ted for all your efforts. Chris

04-04-04, 07:18 PM	#15 \| 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>
vurbano Tivo HD rules!!!!!! Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Newport News, VA Posts: 7,192	the current broadcast of enterprise on UPN, I get black bars around it. top ones indicative of widescreen dvd or OAR. the side bars indicative of 4:3 digital. I guess ive never asked but why? Program guide says HD? sometimes it is fullscreen HD and sometimes it looks like this. The picture is very good just wondering why the side bars?

04-04-04, 08:15 PM	#16 \| Link
Todd HR2x is getting DLB! Join Date: Oct 1999 Location: Chesapeake, Virginia Posts: 2,380	The Sunday broadcast of it has always been in SD. George has looked into broadcasting the HD version, but couldn't do it for various technical reasons. Every new episode of Enterprise that I've seen since it started airing in HD on Wed. has been in HD. Last edited by Todd; 04-04-04 at 09:58 PM..

04-05-04, 05:25 PM	#17 \| Link
Digitude Advanced Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Virginia Beach Posts: 936	Anyone here near Shore Drive? Got Voom but the standard OTA antenna is NFG. Voom says they will buy me a Winegard PR8800 but that's an omni too and I think I should probably look for a good directional. CEB says I'm in the red zone for all channels. I'm in Ocean Park, VB. Didn't know there was a local thread. Thanks for the tip OB!

04-05-04, 10:52 PM	#18 \| Link
jkhome AVS Special Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Virginia Beach, Va., USA Posts: 1,201	"Anyone here near Shore Drive?" I'm in the Haygood/ Lake Smith area, using a Channel Master 4228, mounted in the attic, with excellant results. Domes and Cain Electronics was selling them.

04-08-04, 08:18 PM	#23 \| Link
VARTV Editor - VARTVdotcom Join Date: May 2002 Location: VA Beach VA 23456 Posts: 4,020	What's up at WAVY? Is WAVT-DT having the same video problem as WAVY-TV tonight??? It started around 7:10PM... __________________ Robert F Corbin Editor \| VARTV.com www.VARTV.com email: editor@VARTV.com AIM: VARTV IM The source for media news & information in VA

04-08-04, 09:26 PM	#25 \| Link
vurbano Tivo HD rules!!!!!! Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Newport News, VA Posts: 7,192	Is it possible to find out the future plans of WTVZ WB 33? DOes anyone know them? Ive emailed them in the past and they dont respond. They are the only ones left in the area that do not broadcast their HD material. I'm surprised there is no discussion of this. Or is it an old topic?

04-09-04, 12:09 AM	#26 \| Link
Les Garrenton Advanced Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Posts: 809	Re: Re: What's up at WAVY? Sorry for the interruptions tonight, but we had some big time power problems at the studio this evening. It's been a long day....

04-09-04, 11:41 AM	#27 \| Link
George Randell Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Norfolk VA Posts: 301	WGNT UPN Software upgrade ------------------------------- We have upgraded the "Program and System Information Protocol" (a.k.a. PSIP) software for WGNT-DT UPN 27-1. If you tried to watch us last night please accept our apologies if you were not able to tune in. Some sets would have been affected during the transition. It should all be working fine now. Please drop me a line if it is not. Thanks, George Randell Chief Engineer WGNT/WGNT-DT UPN Viacom in Norfolk gmrandell@wgnttv.com Last edited by George Randell; 04-10-04 at 01:49 PM..