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Lehigh Valley, PA HDTV

33K views 166 replies 44 participants last post by  Egan 
#1 ·
Since my last post under the Philadephia, PA section and being recommended the AntennasDirect 91XG, the antenna has now been installed and is being amplified with my Radio Scrap "30db" pre-amp.


Although now from where I'm located (dense tree cover to my south) I'm able to lock in KYW 3.1 and a PBS station here and there and Scranton stations are SCREAMING in at 93-100%. Although I'm still trying to get FOX29-DT, NBC10-DT out of PHL. They blink in on my DirecTV HD receiver up to 30, but blink around 10,20,0.


Has anyone tried or know if a stacked array of 91XG's into a preamp will make a difference?


Here's what I'm thinking, Add a second 91XG at the bottom of my rotating mast and run both antennas into a dual-input Channel Master CM0264DSB amp.


(or)


Does anyone know of a good amp to replace my RS 30db that may make a difference?


Thanks!
 
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#79 ·
Unless things changed recently, the RCN On-Demand does not include any HD programming. And for now you will also lose FX-HD, Universal-HD, & USA-HD.


After getting fed up with the lousy software on the 6412 box, I moved to an HD-TiVo in Nov '06 with two cablecards. It has worked wonderfully the whole time.


I've never compared the two services but RCN doesn't seem to recompress the HD feeds. HDNet Movies is consistently received at one of the highest possible bitrates and looks fantastic. No HD-Lite here.
 
#82 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by E-A-G-L-E-S /forum/post/13027889


flyersfan....the Tivo you got, how does that work? Do you still need RCN's service? Do you still need one of their HD boxes?

Thanks!

Yes, I still have RCN's service. The TiVo box takes the place of the one from the cable company. Cable cards are required to get the HD tier and HD movie channels.

So to sum up, I pay for the cable service, the HD tier, 2 cable cards, and I do NOT rent a cable box from RCN.


FWIW, I've never met anyone who's actually happy with the internet service from SECTV. And a friend who switched from RCN to SECTV (and back again) said the HD quality was much better on RCN. Granted, this was a couple years ago.
 
#85 ·
Decided on RCN. Got the bump from 10 to 20 for my net as well. Will also save a little coin. My research has shown that sectv is outdated, compresses HD too much, and their dsl service from Prolog is aweful. They are a local company with great roots, but need to have a big overhaul and come into this millenium. Sectv does have a couple more HD channels, but when PA goes all digital RCN will have a much more loaded line-up of HD programming.

Chicago residents are about to see it this week with an addition of ~25 more HD channels due to more bandwith space.


Can't wait for those fightins'! Hopefully they can overcome managements' unwillingness to spend money.
 
#86 ·
I posted the same thing in PM... this is just for the benefit of anyone else who might see this.


I just looked at RCNs lineup and while it's better than they used to be (They just added ESPNews rather recently) they still are missing channels I'd want and SECTV has: ESPNU, the Big 10 Network, and a couple Fox Sports networks... plus they have the NHL and NFL in HD and the NBA channel which RCN doesn't have.


Of course RCN has VOD which Service Electric doesn't have... but I'm a huge college basketball and football fan so I wouldn't be satisfied with RCN... even if I had the choice.


You are absolutely right though about everything else you posted.... SECTV really has some major issues. I'd love better internet and video on demand and less compression on the HD signals on some of the stations... but I'm a college sports junky so ESPNU and the Big 10 network are must haves.
 
#87 ·
I live in Bethlehem and have had Service Electric's high-def cable for about five years now. Started off with few channels and poor reliability, but I'm now very happy with the number of channels and the service. They will give you technical advice and I've found them to be responsive to questions about problems. I have three separate cables coming into my house, one each straight through for two high-def TVs, and the third distributed for several analog sets. How's your Service Electric HDTV? Do you often have pixelization or freezup? Are you using a PACE or Motorola STB? If you're using a PACE DVR STB, have you added an external SATA hard drive and did you have any problems doing that?
 
#88 ·
Any of you OTA guys still around? Check this out


So I come home after a short vacation and I fire up the HD TiVoto my surprise there is a message saying new channels found and added to your line up.


I check my channel line up and find the following added:


Channel Description Strength

42.3* 70%

54.3 * 75%

54.4 * 75%

64.3 * 88%

64.4 * 88%

64.5 * 88%

67.3 * 79%

67.4 * 79%


However, there is no picture. Almost like there is multipath destroying it. I'm using a roof top fringe antenna and I don't have any problems with the other Philly channels. And the strength is the same for the new sub-channels as for the main channel.


This is really a head scratcher for me. All of those channels are Philly digital channels (no overlap from Scranton, Harrisburg, or NYC) but 64.3 in theory should be the same as WPVI's Accuweather channel.


Anyone else getting these?
 
#89 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by E-A-G-L-E-S /forum/post/13028948


Anyone local have opinions or experience with two or all three providors as far as PQ:

D*

sectv

rcn


sectv has more HD channels but worse net service.

SECTV--bad hd--too compressed. Internet is horrible

RCN -GREAT uncompressed HD--soon to get better. Great internet


I recently tried a tivo series 3 hd with the rcn cable cards.

Didnt like the cutesy tivo interface at all or the PQ and SQ compared to the motorola dvr box rcn offers. Tivo went back.


PS--Eagles better stop messing around...Do whatever it takes to get larry fitzgerald. Lito, Reggie, draftpicks...get it done !!


I cant comment on dish but I cant imagine it being better than RCN's awesome hd quality. Rumor has it there is little if any compression. To me their HD looks as good as any blu ray I have.
 
#90 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by gdog2004 /forum/post/13335581


I recently tried a tivo series 3 hd with the rcn cable cards.

Quick question, did an RCN tech have to come out to install the cableCARDs in your TiVO?


IMO the interface of the RCN DVR is horrid and clunky for the Motorola DCT-6416 III box that I have. (This coming from a previous exclusive MCE2005 user) It doesn't seem like the box has enough "horsepower" for the HD stuff. (i.e. Recording two shows in HD and trying to do anything else.)
 
#91 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Y2KFirehawk /forum/post/13342747


Quick question, did an RCN tech have to come out to install the cableCARDs in your TiVO?


IMO the interface of the RCN DVR is horrid and clunky for the Motorola DCT-6416 III box that I have. (This coming from a previous exclusive MCE2005 user) It doesn't seem like the box has enough "horsepower" for the HD stuff. (i.e. Recording two shows in HD and trying to do anything else.)

Yes an rcn tech had to come out. Three of them. And it took them over 3 hours...RCN techs are NOT trained on this. Not their fault. Its RCN's.

As far as the motorola box is concerned...try getting a new one. I had problems in the beginning with the 6416 but I think I now have a moto 3416 which is all digital and I have no issues recording 2 hd shows while watching a third. The stuttering used to be really bad on the box but now its never an issue.

I miss the tivo 30 second skip for sure but rcn is coming out with new software this year that has the 30 second skip enabled.


Tivo is great if you have never had a DVR..then its like magic. But I have a replay tv and have the moto box and IMO tivo is way overrated.

Not to mention the PQ is better from the moto box(marginally) and the sound is MUCH better.

The fact that you cant watch a show while viewing your library was really annoying.
 
#93 ·
Re: cable card installation. The RCN tech who installed mine was able to get it right the first time and we didn't need add'l dispatches. The key was insisting that he follow the directions provided by TiVo. If you follow them exactly, you increase your chance of success.


Re: gdog's comments about the TiVo interface, I couldn't disagree more. TiVo's interface is the most intuitive of any DVR. It simply works, all the time, which I can't say about the Moto DVRs I dealt with before the S3 TiVo came out. We've been a TiVo family for nearly 6 years and can't imagine TV without it.
 
#94 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by flyersfan /forum/post/13350357


Re: cable card installation. The RCN tech who installed mine was able to get it right the first time and we didn't need add'l dispatches. The key was insisting that he follow the directions provided by TiVo. If you follow them exactly, you increase your chance of success.


Re: gdog's comments about the TiVo interface, I couldn't disagree more. TiVo's interface is the most intuitive of any DVR. It simply works, all the time, which I can't say about the Moto DVRs I dealt with before the S3 TiVo came out. We've been a TiVo family for nearly 6 years and can't imagine TV without it.

You got lucky on the RCN tech. Anyway...

I dunno...

Things I hated about tivo interface


No play show from the beginning

No idea how much space is left

cant watch show and browse recordings

cant watch show while browsing guide (guide covers whole screen)

no on demand...(this will really blow when RCN gets HD on demand later this year)


Picture quality not a sharp

Sound quality FAR worse


Outside of that I loved the tivo



Cost was not an issue..I got the tivo S3 for 79.00....and I returned it. To me it was that bad.
 
#95 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Y2KFirehawk /forum/post/13349335


Does it look like this?


Because that peaks my interest...

no it doesnt look like that. It looks just like the 6416....

but the 3416 with the latest firmware updates is ROCK solid. No stuttering at all even if your recording 2 hd programs and watching another.

Last year this time wiht the 6416 it was a friggin mess with all the stuttering.
 
#96 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Y2KFirehawk /forum/post/12352576


Partially correct. ATSC OTA is exactly as you stated, you have a physical antenna and it is picking up HD signals "over-the-air."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATSC_tuner


If you have coax running to your TV only, and using a local cable provider (RCN or Service Electric) the HD content you are picking up (on the strange # channels) is QAM-based HD programming on the cable line.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QAM_tuner


For RCN specifically, you will not see some of the HD channels that are listed in their "HD Lineup" because you need their "tuner box." Discovery HD is an example that does not come in over QAM.

thanks.... i just have internet thru Service Electric and I hooked up the cable to my XBR4 and now have about 35 Analog channels coming through and 65 Digital channels (a bunch are just music), but none are HD. I guess it's not bad for free.
 
#97 ·
Firehawk and others. I've been looking to get a dvr, but RCN's charge for HD DVR is $17.99 a month. I think that's high. So I've been looking at options. Looks like in the near future, the FCC is pushing for open access to third party hardware, and the Cable Companies would allow access to their premium services via M-card cable cards. Yes, I know that's what Tivo currently is, but currently they are the only choice. More will come, including cable card tv cards for PC's. So, here's my question. I'm sure many here have searched Ebay and found Motorola DVR's like the DCH 3416 that Firehawk is showing. And for reasonable prices. So, knowing that RCN does use this same model, what would stop a person from purchasing one of these dvr's from an ebay vendor, and then just renting the cable card? In fact, in my case, I already have a cable card that I use in my Toshiba lcd tv. I'm guessing that I can just pop it out of my tv and put it into one of these boxes and be off and running. Anyone with input on this? Has anyone done this already?


Thanks!
 
#98 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by vath /forum/post/13442557


thanks.... i just have internet thru Service Electric and I hooked up the cable to my XBR4 and now have about 35 Analog channels coming through and 65 Digital channels (a bunch are just music), but none are HD. I guess it's not bad for free.

You should be getting the "broadcast" network HD channels in the clear. I do.
 
#100 ·
I don't know if I'm just too picky, but my regular non-HD digital channels are absolutely terrible. Sometimes they're right up there with YouTube in terms of compression quality. The HD channels are okay (although there's extremely poor blocking in the reds and blacks). I'm surprised there's not more of a local outrage about how terrible the standard digital channels look.
 
#101 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by zillion29 /forum/post/14101612


I don't know if I'm just too picky, but my regular non-HD digital channels are absolutely terrible. Sometimes they're right up there with YouTube in terms of compression quality. The HD channels are okay (although there's extremely poor blocking in the reds and blacks).

zillion, I agree. The normal def looks very bad on an hdtv. But I think that's the norm for any cable service. These sets, at least most, don't handle sdtv very well. That said, RCN signal quality has had some issues the last week or two. Myself and a few other's I've talked to, have seen one or both of the following when watching HD content.

1- much pixelation and jerkyness of the picture on HD

2- picture, but audio goes away.
 
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