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Originally Posted by dline /forum/post/0
For those of you just joining us, here's a recap of Eastern Iowa HD/DTV issues:
KGAN (2-1, CBS):
Their job of "throwing the switch" to HD has greatly improved. Still some complaints about "stretching" 2-1 during SD upconverted programming. Also, as the Hawkeye basketball station, it often has to tape-delay network programming, but can't do it in HD. The DT station is not currently carried on many cable systems because its owner, Sinclair Broadcast Group, wants payment for HD carriage.
KWWL (7-1, 2 and 3, NBC):
Recently added two subchannels, NBC Weather Plus and Raycom's music channel "The Tube," but they don't seem to get a lot of complaints about the quality of 7-1, which they've vowed to keep up. Their tower is a few miles north of most of the other stations, which occasionally causes issues with some viewers in the southern reaches of the market. For most, it comes in loud and clear.
Although it's been a great performer, Raycom recently announced plans to sell KWWL and several other stations so it can concentrate on its core geographic area, the South.
KCRG (9-1, 2 ABC):
As with KGAN, they often delay network programming for basketball games -- in their case, it's the Cyclone men and Hawkeye women -- but can't timeshift those shows in HD yet. Occasionally the stream has an issue with a few stray pixels, though not so much lately.
(Edit 8-23-06) 9-2 now displays "KCRG Local 9.2".
KIIN (12-1, Iowa Public Television):
Currently broadcasting at low power on a special temporary authority from just north of West Branch. That will change, but for now most of us use KRIN (32-1), which is broadcasting the same thing at higher power from Walker.
KWKB (20-1, The WB):
Their analog is full-power, but their digital is running on a special temporary authority and isn't required to go full power until this summer. (As a WB affiliate they're on a more generous FCC deadline.) As far as I know they're not doing HD at this time. A major issue for KWKB is that they transmit from a tower just north of West Branch in Cedar County, which is southeast of Cedar Rapids and east of Iowa city -- a completely different direction from most other stations.
There's still no official word as to whether KWKB or KWWF will become The CW when UPN and The WB cease operations this fall.
KWWF (22, UPN):
Analog only, and for most viewers outside Waterloo, it's cable-only. If it survives the loss of UPN, it will probably have to "flash-cut" to digital when the transition ends.
KFXA (28-1, Fox):
Like KWKB, their biggest issue for them is location. Their tower is in central Benton County, which is a completely different line of sight from Cedar Rapids than the others. You may have to re-orient your antenna or find a "compromise" location if you're having trouble with them.
KFXA also had some recent PSIP trouble and had been coming up on some receivers as 27-1 or even 27-3 in recent days, but as of today they seem to have fixed those problems. Check your receivers.
KRIN (32-1 and 32-2, Iowa Public Television):
32-1 is currently a full-time HD service, while 32-2 is a full-time SD upconvert of IPTV's analog service. They rarely simulcast each other. They're on the same tower as KCRG and KGAN near Walker, so if you can get any one of those stations, you should be able to get the others.
KPXR (48-1, 2, 3 and 4):
An affiliate of "i" (formerly Pax). Not carrying HD. 48-1 is a simulcast of their analog. 48-2 is like 48-1 but occasionally carries actual programming during times when 48-1 is running infomercials. 48-3 is the "Worship" network, and 48-4 is Faith Television.
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One other note: All Eastern Iowa digitals are on UHF for now. When the transition ends, hopefully in early 2009, three of our stations -- KCRG, KWWL and KIIN -- plan to switch back to their VHF channels to broadcast digital. Keep that in mind if you're selecting an antenna for the long term.