Harrisburg, PA - HDTV - Page 6

WITF still has the HD Ch but there is very little HD content on it. I think I saw 2 shows so far in HD CH 240 on the Hershey Comcast Feed.

There simulcasting there Analog Ch when there is no HD.

Can anyone in the Mechanicsburg / Camp Hill area tell me what HDTV channels you can pick up with a QAM tuner.

I don't want to go out and spend $150 and find out that everything is encrypted.

Is there a WGAL-HD tech on this list?

Several problems on the Nascar Feed.

Took a break from the race, whats up with WGAL. they started 5.1 on and off at the start of the Olympics. Last week the practice for the Daytona was in 5.1, sounded great. Now the race is in digital not 5.1. Is this Comcast or WGAL?

Its OTA, and the Pre-Race feed was DD5.1 with only 3 Ch audio in the stream. Now it's just DD2.0

PQ was horrible for PreRace. Bit rate went up at start of race but it's nowhere near full strength.

OK...I put an antenna in my attic, and was receiving all off air HD local broadcasts--perfect. The other day, the FOX network's HD went down--confirmed by the station ( a "splicer" problem). It is now back up, according to them, but I am receiving nothing--a "0" or "--" signal strength. All of my other HD channels are working perfectly, but the engineer at FOX (who has been doing his very best, but I believe now is at a aloss) has been unable to get my picture back or explain why I am still not receiving signal.

I borrowed an HD set top box from a friend, and it receives the FOX signal fine, yet the tuner in my TV (built in) will still not receive the singal--it indicates "unusable signal." The problem is apparently not with the antenna positioning or that actual signal not being sent, and seems to be more of "decoding problem" according to the FOX engineer. Any way to reset the TV (RCA Scenium) back to the factory original settings (to try as a first step), or any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated...

I've tried that--to the point where I've even left the TV unplgged overnight, and then for a weekend when that did not work--the TV seems to still hold it's memory. Ive re-scanned numerous times, to no avail, as well as manually entering the channel. Any other suggestions--this is very frustrating...

I sent the following email to WITF concerning their lack of PBS-HD.
===========================================
WITF:

Several weeks ago on my HDTV I recieved 2 stations from WITF.
33.1 - Standard WITF Digital Signal
33.3 - PBS HD

More recently I no longer get 33.1, but only get 33.3 which is now the Standard WITF Digital Signal, and no longer PBS HD.

Should this be the case?

thank you,
Bobby Elrod
York, PA

This is the response I received.
======================================

Thanks for your question. We have, for the immediate future, suspended our high-definition service. Here's why:

Since WITF became the first television station in Pennsylvania to transmit its digital channel in November 1998, the station has been airing a continuous loop of high definition digital programming supplied by PBS. The content of that channel included repeats of specials created in the High Definition format, the only PBS series provided in HD (Nature and History Detectives), and miscellaneous programs that PBS would insert to round out the schedule.

Since its inception, WITF has had no local input or opportunity to add value to the content of the channel. We have been unable to provide any of our local programs, like Smart Talk, Explore PA, or the Our Town series in the schedule, or any of our Candidate's Access or special election coverage.

As WITF faces the eventual relinquishing of its analog service (the deadline set by Congress is now February 19, 2009), we have been weighing the value of our broadcasting a prepackaged digital schedule loaded with repeats against a locally-programmed schedule that offers those programs available to us in HD as well as the other programs our viewers value.

Our concern over the content delivered by PBS in the national digital feed (particularly the fact that there were just so many repeats, and little new material) preceded PBS's precipitous announcement of a costly feeimposed after station operating budgets (including WITF's) were set for this year.

WITF was faced with three options: eliminate other services and reallocate money to cover the fee; find an underwriter or donor to pay the fee; or drop the service, at least for the short-term.

After attempts to find an underwriter to pay the fee were unsuccessful, WITF opted to suspend the service and replace it with a simulcast of our analog programming, upconverted to a digital (but not hi-def) picture. However, when high-definition versions of the programs we carry are available to us, as I indicated above, we will, of course, feed those programs in high-definition.

Though PBS's unanticipated charge for the service was a catalyst in WITF's making this decision this year (a decision other local public television stations have faced, as well), the content of the digital feed was a problem already under discussion at the station. WITF will continue to press PBS for more original programming/less repetition in its high-definition service and we will re-evaluate our decision if PBS indicates that the content of the channel will be improved.

If you have additional questions or comments about this, or anything else you see on WITF-TV, or hear on WITF-FM, please feel free contact me.

Thanks again for writing,

Joe

______________________________________

Joe Miller
Programming Assistant
WITF-TV / WITF-FM 89.5

OK...NBC is showing with 100% signal strenght for HD, yet there is no picture or sound....
UPN (which the signal was usually in the low 70's for strength) is now showing a variation between 0 and 6 or 8 signal strength (thus no picture or sound)...Does anyone know what is going on with HD in the Harrisburg area?

keithl1967

We are having the same issue with our NBC. Have "feelers" out to find a possible solution.
Signal strength is about 90% but no picture or audio. Very strange.

FYI On another set in the house, Analog NBC is coming in fine.

With March Madness starting this week, I wonder what WHP's plans are.
1 HD game or multiple SD games?
What did they do last year?

Yes, the analog signal is fine and clear here, too--Just the HD problem persists...I sent an email to WGAL, but received no response...

I live in Ephrata and WGAL is perfectly fine.... Haven't had any problems... I don;t have a signal meter on my TV but I can pick it up just using the indoor amplified antenna on the top of my HD TV

All,

Here is WGAL's response:

Thank you for your inquiry about the reception of WGAL-DT.

This past Thursday, we made some temporary changes to our HD transmission
stream that unfortunately changed the channel assignment displayed on HD
receivers. The reason we made this temporary change was that our equipment
was not sending out the correct program ratings and the computer that
generates that signal seemed to have some type of problerm. We are
continuing to work on thisissue but we have restored the 8-1 and 8-2
channel designator in the data stream and you should now find us again at
8-1 and 8.2.

Here is a bit of background information to help you understand the problem.
WGAL-DT actually broadcasts on UHF Channel 58. Embedded in the data stream
is a channel designator that causes HD receivers to display 8-1 and 8-2 on
your HD receiver while, in fact, your receiver is really tuning in Channel
58.

Please accept our apologies for this problem. The fact is this type of
change causes problems in some receivers and, in others, the signal is
displayed as if nothing happened. If this happens again, you may find that
your HD receiver will find 58-3 and 58-4 if you have it rescan for
channels.


Carol Jacoby
Program Manager
WGAL

Found WHP's March Madness Guide.
http://www.whptv.com/sports/ncaa/

Week 1:
MARCH MADNESS
3/16
12:20pm Wichita State vs. Seton Hall (Analog and HD)

2:40pm Marquette vs. Alabama (Analog only)
2:40pm Tennessee vs. Winthrop (HD only)

7:10pm George Washington vs. UNC Wilmington (HD only)
7:20pm Gonzaga vs. Xavier (Analog only)

9:30pm Syracuse vs. Texas A&M (Analog only)
9:30pm Duke vs. Southern (HD only)

3/17
12:30pm Arkansas vs. Bucknell (Analog Only)
12:30pm Arizona vs. Wisconsin (HD Only)

2:45pm West Virginia vs. Southern Illinois (HD Only)
2:50pm Villanova vs. Monmouth (Analog Only)

7:10pm Pittsburgh vs. Kent State (Analog Only)
7:25pm Connecticut vs. Albany (HD Only)

9:40pm Texas vs. Pennsylvania (Analog Only)
9:45pm Kentucky vs. UAB (HD Only)

I have direct tv (in Silver Spring) and will be wanting HD (especially locals) when I move to Bonneville at the end of April. Anyone have any experience with direct tv, adelphia, and sus com with hd. I know direct tv doesn't offer locals and i am not sure if i can pull a signal from Harrisburg or Baltimore. Also, Iam a rookie so not sure what if any equipment i will need. Any help is appreciated.

This thread is great!

Live in southern York County. I can get a strong OTA signal for 21-1 at 85 to 90. But I can not get 27-1 at all. I know they are only about 0.5 miles apart. Is the signal from 27-1 a lot weaker than 21-1? Where should I rotate the antennae from 21-1 to get 27-1? I would think they should be in about the same location. Thanks.

Does anyone every visit this site? Two weeks since my last post and no response or any other posts.

if you go here http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx enter your address and it will tell you where the towers are and where you should point it.

Thanks for the reply. However, I have already done that. I get no digital signal at all for 27-1. I get a digital signal strength of 90 for 21-1. They are basically in the same location (337 degrees 47.5 miles and 343 degrees at 47 miles). I was wondering if there was something in the way that 27-1 broadcasts that limits the signal to the south east. Analog reception is about the same for both 27 and 21. I though someone out there may know something about the way that 27-1 broadcasts its digital signal. Thanks.

This thread is a little slow compare to most. I live in Dover (middle of York County I guess). On July 1st I will be moving into my apartment and experimenting with this stuff so I will start posting here.

Thanks. I have ordered a CM 7777 Pre-amplifier to amplify the signal at the source. I will let you know if that helps. I only have a distribution amplifier currently. Please note that the Tube is now on 43-2. That is an all music OTA channel. If you get 43-1 you should be able to get 43-2.

Is anyone here in the Shiloh or York, Dover area?
I am interested in getting HD on channel 8 and 43 with an antenna.
I now have Dishnet but none of my local channels are in HD.
I am located in Shiloh.
What antenna setup are you people using to pick up these channels?