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Raleigh, NC - HDTV

2M views 16K replies 879 participants last post by  LaserBeamSC 
#1 ·
Hello Raleigh/Durham area AVS folks. I have re-written this initial post and will try to make it a pointer to some relevant information about our community.


*For information about MUCH more than can be pointed out here in this intial post please USE THE SEARCH. Especially once you are within a large post, such as this one then click on the "Search this Thread" button beside the Thread Tools drop-down.


*For information about QAM reception I would direct your attention to this wonderful site maintained by Erik Garci -
http://home.roadrunner.com/~res18h39/channels.htm Digital TV Channels in Durham, NC[/url]


*For information about antenna reception (Off The Air) check out antennaweb.org. Plug in your address and it will tell you what type of antenna you need and which direction to align it.


* Our local uber-HDTV station WRAL gives away free antennas. Check out Antenna Give-away


* On the subject of free antenna's scsiraid pointed out this information. CLICK HERE


* Your physical location is often helpful in troubleshooting issues and answering questions. Be sure to edit your profile and put in your town and state.


There are a ton of good posts in the forum. My intention is not to re-write everything here in this post or to try to be the decision maker on choice A -vs- B. I would rather just have this post point out fairly routine information that is well documented.


Some posts or information I would like to point out include:

* What to ask for when calling TWC to setup your new HDTV.

* What to ask for when calling for DIRECT-TV service.




Send updates via private messages to WildBill. I will try to be prompt.
 
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#722 ·

Quote:
Originally posted by jmarkan
Chris,


I had this same issue initially on about half the HD channels. Because of many issues including the guide freezing on the screen, I got the original Pace swapped out and have not had the artifact issue since. I'm not sure if it had any bearing or not, but I also provided the Pace with a cable that was a much better signal off the original splitter coming into the house... it is also possible that the artifacts were because of a relatively weak signal and not a defective box.


Jay

Update to above reply. I noticed last night while watching a couple HD channels that the pixelization artifact issue had reappeared and was really bad to the point of not being able to watch the stations. I boosted the incoming cable signal with an amp (about 15db I think) and the problem immediatelty went away on all channels and the picture was now solid. It now seems even more apparent to be that the biggest culprit of this condition is a lack of signal strength and not the Pace box itself...most likely the HD stations are a lot less tolerant of a weaker signal.


Jay
 
#723 ·

Quote:
Originally posted by jmarkan
Update to above reply. I noticed last night while watching a couple HD channels that the pixelization artifact issue had reappeared and was really bad to the point of not being able to watch the stations. I boosted the incoming cable signal with an amp (about 15db I think) and the problem immediatelty went away on all channels and the picture was now solid. It now seems even more apparent to be that the biggest culprit of this condition is a lack of signal strength and not the Pace box itself...most likely the HD stations are a lot less tolerant of a weaker signal.


Jay

Jay,

Where did you put the amp? Where the cable comes into your home, or just before your TV?

Thanks,

Bob
 
#726 ·
Called TWC in Cary today to ask a question about changing menu color schemes and while I had them on the line I asked about if they knew any info on next shipment of Pace boxes. She said they just got them - so I drove out to Cary and they did! Will install shortly.


Get them while they're hot,

dagger
 
#727 ·
OK, the Pace box is in, and........, RTFM is the first advice. After that, I was able to configure everything and I'm impressed. This box seems a little faster/more responsive than the SA3250 - tunes a little quicker, the menu on channel surfing displays faster. May be fooling myself, but the up-conversion of the analog channels seems better done with less artifacts than the SA.


I have a question for all with the Pace box. What setting for output do you use/prefer. 1080i or 720p or PASS? I have the Sony HS10 PJ and the scaler is pretty decent. In fact until I go DVI the unit upconverts any signal to its native 1366x768 resolution (and yes the HD channels look incredible at this resolution). I kind of like the idea of PASS as that lets the native resolution of the HD channels pass through with no conversion until it reaches the Sony - that should eliminate one conversion process and thus might improve the final PQ. However, channel changes take a little longer as the Sony has to resync on channel changes. The Pace box set to 1080i or 720p has to do the same as it needs to sync to the incoming cable signal so I be wrong on this. Anyway, what is the opinion/preference of Pace users: 720p, 1080i, or PASS?


I think I see a bug/difference than the manual. It says if PASS is selected than SD (480i) signals are converted to 420p. However, it doesn't - it sends 480i to the Sony. Is this correct (or could it only apply to an HDTV station that is transmitting 480i is converted to 480p)?


Cheers,

dagger


PS. I also made sure she gave me the AT8400 remote (# button allows for remote changing of the zoom/stretch/normal selection).
 
#729 ·
daggerNC,


I suggest leaving the Pace box on Pass and let your tv do the conversion. I'm pretty sure the tv does a better conversion job.


The manual must have a typo. In Pass 480i is output at 480i.
 
#730 ·
Hi all. I'm new to HDTV this week and I have a question.


I have just installed a Samsung TS360 DirecTV/OTA receiver. I have a Radio Shack antenna mounted in the attic pointed toward Clayton, NC. I live south of Mebane and Antennaweb.org says that I am about 47 miles from the towers. I can receive WRAL-DT, WNCN-DT, and WTVD-DT without a problem. With WRAZ-DT, I appear to receive no signal at all. I don't even get an occasional picture or pixelation. The signal meter on the TS360 is worthless.


Does anyone know of any reason why I could be receiving WRAL but not WRAZ?


I have searched the forums, and I am beginning to think I am the only one with HDTV in my area.


Thanks.


P.S. I have some trouble with WUNC which is only 11 miles away.
 
#731 ·
That's kind of strange, since WRAL and WRAZ (And WLFL-DT and WRDC) are all on the same tower.


Your WUNC - you may need to get a rotor.
 
#733 ·
WUNC 893.2 kW (HD)

WRAL 1000 kW (HD)

WTVD 1000 kW (HD)

WNCN 525 kW (HD)

WLFL 9.2 kW-STA

WRDC 9.1 kW-STA

WRAY 95 kW-STA

WUVC 500 kW-STA (Can anyone receive this yet? They have an STA and I heard a report that it was on the air)

WRPX 180 kW

WRAZ 200 kW-STA (HD)

WFPX 1000 kW


WRAZ is at 1/5 the power of WRAL and may have something to do with it.


- Trip
 
#735 ·
I was watching WNCN-DT NBC ststion over the air and about half way through the race I was getting nasty breakups and lost it altogether later on so had to finish watching in analog. The audio lip sync was way off also. The audio seened ok when the video broke up so not sure what the problem was.


Regards


Wayne
 
#736 ·
Long time reader, first time poster.....


I've been getting my HD via TWC for awhile now and just recently purchased an accessDTV card to allow me to do some recording and play around with OTA reception. So far I'm just using the SilverSensor that came with the card and I've been playing around with positioning. Right now I've got it in the attic. WRAL comes in great and I get a pretty strong signal. I'm able to get FOX, NBC, and ABC as well, but not on a consistent basis. Friday I was pulling in ABC pretty well and today I'm not getting a very good signal without having moved the antenna. I tried playing around with positioning some, but no luck. I am pulling in Fox better today than before and having a hard time getting NBC. (I didn't expect to be able to get WB or UPN, but was surprised to actually pull in UPN for stretches of close to a minute without losing the signal) I think that multipath might be a factor in this as I'm seeing the signal meter jump all over the place on any of the stations except for WRAL. I'm planning to get a larger antenna to try out and am wondering if the 4221 will be sufficient, or if I should go ahead and get the 4228. (I'm guessing the answer is "you won't know until you try
) I plan to initially try to put the antenna in the attic of my two story house. I'm located in SE Durham (Southpoint mall area) and according to antennaweb am 27.4 miles from the towers.


Thanks!


Kevin
 
#737 ·
Thanks Wayne.

I was seeing the same thing via HD-CABLE and while I could have hooked up OTA (still have the antenna wire ready to go) I thought this looked like an issue from either NBC at the track or the local NBC-17.

It got much worse about mid-way thru. I gave up and went out with the wife and kids.
 
#739 ·
Pace was very responsive to the email I sent. They also recommend running it in PASS mode if my display can handle all the different formats (it can and it's now set to PASS).


I also mentioned the screen blacked out while channel surfing thru SD to HD channels, and they are aware of it and have a fix that TWC should send out in near future.


Cheers,

dagger
 
#740 ·
Dagger,


When you set the Pace for PASS, is your image size much smaller than it would be for 1080i? I also have he HS10 and when I tried tonight (using Component, not DVI) the image with PASS was greatly reduced when the 1:1 setting was selected. It ended up looking best with the Pace set to 1080i. Might I be setting the HS10 up wrong?


thanks,


Scott
 
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