Welcome to the Hampton Roads (Virginia) Over-The-Air (OTA) thread for the 4th quarter of 2004.
HISTORY
On March 22, 2001, WAVY-DT started operation as the first DTV station in Hampton Roads. Early adopters of the (then) expensive, new technology started a dialog between themselves and the engineering personnel at the local stations. Topics involved start-up times for the various stations, programming availability and reception problems. These sporadic conversations eventually led to the formation of The Official SE Virginia/NE North Carolina Thread in February 2002. That thread proved to be beneficial for the viewers and the engineering staffs as not all consumer equipment functions the same way.
PURPOSE
While the Official SE Virginia/NE North Carolina Thread is still active on the Forum, the technology of OTA DTV in Hampton Roads has stabilized and newer technologies for the delivery and recording of DTV source material has become the primary topic of conversation of that thread. The engineering managers of the local television stations are creating this thread specifically for conversations and information regarding the OTA DTV service in Hampton Roads.
It is important for the people who subscribe to or just read this thread to understand that television broadcasting is a business. These businesses are not run by committee. All of the commercial stations in the Hampton Roads market are owned and operated by larger corporations. Those corporations have publically traded stock and are under constant pressure to show growth in profits. While the DTV service is now stable and growing, total viewership, nationwide, is just now approaching five percent (5%). For this reason the NTSC, or analog, television service is still the primary money maker for the local television stations. In most cases, the engineering managers are the principle contacts for information on DTV technology. We do not control the programming or other non-technology aspects of the stations. We welcome your technical questions and inquiries.
RULES
The rules of engagement for the Hampton Roads OTA thread are similar to those that were posted for the Official SE Virginia/NE North Carolina thread. They are:
The engineering managers subscribing to this thread are:
Bill Barber
Chief Engineer
WTVZ-TV/DT
bbarber@wtvz.sbgnet.com
Station telephone: 757.622.3333
Les Garrenton
Director of Engineering
WAVY-TV/DT and WVBT-TV/DT
les.garrenton@wavy.com
Station telephone: 757.393-1010
John Heimerl
General Manager
WHRO-TV/DT
jheimerl@whro.org
Station telephone: 757.889.9400
George Randell
Chief Engineer
WGNT-TV/DT
gmrandell@wgnttv.com
Station telephone: 757.393.2501
For pressing matters, station engineers can usually be contacted - during business hours - via the telephone numbers listed above.
For information concerning the orientation of an antenna for Over The Air (OTA) reception, click here for the CEA's antenna mapping utility program.
For "newbies," there are two new web sites:
Both sites are offered to help viewers make the transition from analog to digital broadcasting. Please check these sites before posting equipment or reception problems to this thread.
HISTORY
On March 22, 2001, WAVY-DT started operation as the first DTV station in Hampton Roads. Early adopters of the (then) expensive, new technology started a dialog between themselves and the engineering personnel at the local stations. Topics involved start-up times for the various stations, programming availability and reception problems. These sporadic conversations eventually led to the formation of The Official SE Virginia/NE North Carolina Thread in February 2002. That thread proved to be beneficial for the viewers and the engineering staffs as not all consumer equipment functions the same way.
PURPOSE
While the Official SE Virginia/NE North Carolina Thread is still active on the Forum, the technology of OTA DTV in Hampton Roads has stabilized and newer technologies for the delivery and recording of DTV source material has become the primary topic of conversation of that thread. The engineering managers of the local television stations are creating this thread specifically for conversations and information regarding the OTA DTV service in Hampton Roads.
It is important for the people who subscribe to or just read this thread to understand that television broadcasting is a business. These businesses are not run by committee. All of the commercial stations in the Hampton Roads market are owned and operated by larger corporations. Those corporations have publically traded stock and are under constant pressure to show growth in profits. While the DTV service is now stable and growing, total viewership, nationwide, is just now approaching five percent (5%). For this reason the NTSC, or analog, television service is still the primary money maker for the local television stations. In most cases, the engineering managers are the principle contacts for information on DTV technology. We do not control the programming or other non-technology aspects of the stations. We welcome your technical questions and inquiries.
RULES
The rules of engagement for the Hampton Roads OTA thread are similar to those that were posted for the Official SE Virginia/NE North Carolina thread. They are:
- Topics should focus on over-the-air digital television or carriage of those signals by third party vendors such as cable or direct broadcast satellite services. This narrow focus is due to the limited amount of time the engineering managers can dedicate to participate in this thread,
- No personal attacks or name calling.
- Understanding & tolerance are the first orders 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 Hampton Roads OTA thread is not the complaint counter between the viewers and the stations.
The engineering managers subscribing to this thread are:
Bill Barber
Chief Engineer
WTVZ-TV/DT
bbarber@wtvz.sbgnet.com
Station telephone: 757.622.3333
Les Garrenton
Director of Engineering
WAVY-TV/DT and WVBT-TV/DT
les.garrenton@wavy.com
Station telephone: 757.393-1010
John Heimerl
General Manager
WHRO-TV/DT
jheimerl@whro.org
Station telephone: 757.889.9400
George Randell
Chief Engineer
WGNT-TV/DT
gmrandell@wgnttv.com
Station telephone: 757.393.2501
For pressing matters, station engineers can usually be contacted - during business hours - via the telephone numbers listed above.
For information concerning the orientation of an antenna for Over The Air (OTA) reception, click here for the CEA's antenna mapping utility program.
For "newbies," there are two new web sites:
- CheckHD is a cross-industry, cross-network collaborative web site sponsored by Decisionmark.
- DTV.gov is a government sponsored web site.
Both sites are offered to help viewers make the transition from analog to digital broadcasting. Please check these sites before posting equipment or reception problems to this thread.