Portland, ME - HDTV - Page 2

I got it set up and running this evening. 2channels of hbo 2 channels of showtime. I guess pbs is in hd also. Psyche!!

Excellent Bill! I also am watching WCSH 6-1. I watched the HD broadcast of LA Law the movie last night. So far I can receive WCSH 6-1 and 6-2, WGME 38-1 and 38-2. It appears that WCSH is using 6-1 for HD content and WGME is using 38-2 for HD content. I used to be able to receive the PBS HD demo loop when I lived in Gorham, but I can not receive it at Steep Falls. I am not sure if they stopped broadcasting, or if they are out of my reception range. Looks like digital reception is a lot less forgiving than analog when it comes to distances and objects between the transmit and receive locations. I have not verified it with the two stations, but I believe the antennas are not at the same location which is probably why you are still having difficulty receiving WGME. When they ramp up to full power in June, you might be able to receive them.

Good luck!
Ron

I'm watching the young and the restless (not my favorite show btw) in Hd right now on 38-1 with a bow tie antenna from a 15 year old sony that's lying on top of my Mitsubishi. The signal strength is 100%! I'm receiving 13-1,38-1,and 38-2. 13-1 and 38-2 are both SD and stretched. 38-1 is wide screen hd, the commercials are 4/3. The picture is great,but no sound... Oh wait,the sound just came on. I had no idea it would be this easy!


Ken

Hello all,

Can anyone recommend an antenna installer in the Sanford area? I'm new to the whole ota thing and don't know if I would even be able to get a signal at my location. Is there an inexpensive way to test for an ota signal?


Thanks for any advice,
Mark

Mark, check out this site http://www.antennaweb.org/antennaweb/. You input your address and they tell you what stations you can receive and what antenna you need. You could also experiment with a bow tie antenna.

Antennaweb dosen't have the digital stations listed yet so I'm not really sure about their recommendations. Could I get an adequate bow tie antenna at Radio Shack? I went to Radio Shack looking for information but found that the manager was a little less informed than I am...

Mark

Mark, You're right, antennaweb is a little behind the curve. They only show wenh for my location. A quick search revealed this radio shack bow tie http://support.tandy.com/support_video/39284.htm I cannot recommend this antenna as I know nothing about it.The antenna I'm using is a uhf antenna found on the back
of analog tvs. It is about a foot wide and shaped like a bow tie. I got this antenna from my 19" sony and decided to give it a try. As I said I got 100 signal strength on WGME. I plan to watch Jag later...

I'll pick up a bow tie Wednesday and give it a try. I can pick up the analog channels by putting an antenna out through the skylight but that's obviously not what I'm after. It's quite hilly here but hopefully I'll be able to make something work. Have fun watching Jag.......

Thanks,

Mark

Anybody else watching JAG on 38-1 lose their sound too?

Maine PBS going digital 5/21 http://www.mpbc.org/digital/digital.html

I am interested in what people think of the Time Warner HD. I have just been up and running for a couple days because I had to order a transcoder. Now that I have one (Key digital) I have been very impressed by the quality of the real HDTV programming. Great detail in the picture. I watched some of "A knight's tale" (not much of a movie) and "Apocalypse Now redux" last night and the picture was great on both of them. All (or at least most) of the HBO stuff is in DD 2.0, though. Is that always the case?

Also, I was not prepared for so much non-HD content on the HD channels. It still looks good, but not HD.

Any other opinions?

MPBC will provide the digital signal via: WCBB DT in Augusta (channels 17.1, 17.2, 17.3 and 17.4) Anybody receiving this station?

Ken

I got my Time Warner 3100 HD box a couple of weeks ago and HBOHD looks great.

I am very interested in getting the local stations OTA, but if Time Warner is planning on adding them to the line-up I would just assume wait and not waste the money on an antenna and STB.

Keep the info coming.

Steve
"2002grizzly660"

Get 6 in Exeter NH very strongly but cannot get 13. Where is the antenna located in relation to 6's. Thanks. Bill

Bill,
13 is approx. 8 degrees east of 6's tower and is approx. 69 miles (LOS)from Exeter with 6 being about 61. Hope that helps.

Len

Woo hoo, had been away for a while, but after goofing off a bit last night I am now getting
WCSH (6/44)
WGME (13/38).

On and off I have been getting PBS for a while
WCBB (10/17, was getting mapped to 80)
WNEH (11/57)

I see now that
WMEA (26/45)
WMTW (8/46)

are supposed to be live, but I did not pick them up on a "full scan" last night. Perhaps I need to "tweak and rotate" my antenna.

Stephen, in West Buxton... not far from Steep Falls :-)

Hi Stephen, we are practically neighbors! I moved from Windham to Steep Falls last September and lost WCBB. I am able to receive WCSH and WGME, but that is all so far. My house has very tall trees all around it so I am pleased to be able to receive anything via an antenna.

I need helps guys. My question is this. Are the channels always broadcasting, which would allow my RCA digital reciver to search and find them or do I have to wait until the shows like CSi comes on then try to get the channel. My problem is, that I can pick up all the regular analog channels but NO digital channels right now, 4:00 pm on Sunday. PLEASE HELP, I'm just dying to get HDTV in my home theater.

Thanks,

Kris Noble

Kris, lately the channels have been on and off air quite a bit, so don't give up, keep performing searches and you are bound to lock in WCSH and WGME if you can catch them when they are on the air. You might want to try peaking your signal on the analog version of the channel first, and then try performing the search for digital channels. Also, I believe that the DTC-100 has a glitch that has to do with the aquire channel guides setting. Try turning that off and see if it helps.

Ron

Ron,

I finally got the digital channel 6, with a 75 power rating and this is in my celar. Now, the channel I really want to get is Digital 13. I tried for 2 hours last night and no such luck. Is this tower weaker than the channel 6? I need help. I was so pissed last night because I missed all of my shows, but I was more pissed because I missed them in HD.

Thanks

Kris

Digital channel 13 was not on the air last night, but I am receiving it right now with a signal strength of 100, I also get a 100 on the signal strength meter with Digital channel 6. But I have a UHF Yagi external antenna pointed toward the station towers. You are doing well to get a 75 in the cellar. Try searching again tonight, you probably would have received channel 13 last night had they been broadcasting.

Why don't 6, 8 & 13 transmit all the time on their digital frequencies? I'm in Windham with a rotatable antenna, so if 8 was showing today's Colorado game digitally, I should definitely be able to see it. If they've invested in the technology, why not use it to attract the biggest audience possible?

Jim

I believe it is because the stations are still in the testing phase of digital broadcasting.

I asked CH8 about their plans for the SuperBowl. The response is canned, except for the paragraph beginning with "Unfortunately"....

"WMTW-DT is now broadcasting in a limited capacity, on digital television
channel 46 from our new transmitter site in West Baldwin, Maine.

Programming on WMTW-DT channel 46 is currently a digital simulcast of the
ABC 8 WMTW analog signal from 8-11 pm Monday through Saturday and 7-11 pm on
Sundays.

We will turn on WMTW-DT channel 46 at noon time on Superbowl Sunday, so all
of the pre-game and game will be seen in SD digital.

Unfortunately, we are not able at this time to provide the "HDTV" version of
digital (the 720p). We hope to install the necessary equipment to upgrade
to ABC network pass through of 720p HD sometime later in 2003.

The whole digital conversion process will take several years. The next step
is to convert our studios to true digital TV and at that point all telecasts
will be in one resolution or the other of digital - standard definition (SD)
or high definition (DH).

Sincerely,

Amy Picucci
Program Coordinator
ABC 8 WMTW

Has anyone done, or could anyone do a summary of DTV programming in the Portland area? I'm looking for something similar to the post I authored for Central Texas, the first post in this thread.

It is looking more and more like I will be headed to the Portland area this summer (my division was acquired by Fairchild Semiconductor last summer, and South Portland seems the most likely US fab they will relocate to).

I'm out for my first visit to the area the first weekend of February. I've arranged with my relocation company to get a realestate agent to give me a tour of the area. Looks like my wife wants me to look at some of the smaller towns in the area, 30-45 minutes from the Fairchild fab (near the airport). Can anyone comment on the DTV availability out in the boonies, either OTA or via cable, and the prospects for the future? Is it better closer to Portland?

I hear it is chilly up in Maine -- I guess I'm lucky: it was in the 80's here last week! This weekend a cold front is supposed to drop the temperature below freezing; perhaps that will get me ready for the visit. Do y'all have snow on the ground now?

Thanks for your help,

Joe

Well, if any of you still exist, this is the info I have been able to find out about DTV in Maine. Any additions or corrections would be appreciated -- it looks like I am relocating this summer.

Where someone at the station replied to me I listed their name and title (if known), and italicized what they told me.

ERP = effective radiated power
OTA = over the air
STA = special temporary authority

WPME-DT UPN 28 ERP 215 kW not OTA
WPXT-DT WB 4 ERP 10 kW not OTA

Roy Oulette (unknown position)

Our frequencies and power levels did not pass Canadian Coordination so we do not have construction permits for either station. I'm not sure when we will be able to put a digital carrier on the air. We have now entered goverment "red tape" land with the proviso of cross-border relations.


WGME-DT CBS 38 1000 kW ERP OTA STA 500 kW ERP

Craig Clark (Chief Engineer)

We provide a grade A signal into Portland. Our coverage is 65+ miles in all directions.
We are a CBS affiliate. We pass the full 1080i HD feeds from CBS. We do not manipulate the HD feed meaning no local content at this time. As for HD "Local" I have no time table from our owners when we willoriginate HD or even up-convert. We are 1 of 65 stations in our group,we are in line for an up-converter the next time they are purchased.
Hopefully this year. (A)t the end of the digital transition "2006" we will switch our DT on channel 38 to channel 13. We will operate at full power from that point on.

The DT is on the air 4 PM - 11:35 PM M - F Weekends Noon to 11:30. If there is a sporting event in HD we make every effort to put it on the air.


WMTW-DT ABC 46 1000 kW ERP OTA STA 501 kW ERP

Amy Picucci (Program Coordinator)

Programming on WMTW-DT channel 46 is currently a digital simulcast of the ABC 8 WMTW analog signal from 8-11 pm Monday through Saturday and 7-11 pm on Sundays. These hours will increase in April 2003 to 12 noon to 12 midnight, seven days a week.

We anticipate providing HDTV (High Definition Digital, 720p) pass through of ABC network programs sometime in 2004.

WCSH-DT NBC 44 1000 kW ERP OTA STA 500 kW ERP

No Response

From Titan TV, On air 24/7, passing high definition feed when available

WCBB-DT PBS 17 27.9 kW ERP OTA

No Response
From Titan TV, the main channel is off air between 1:00 AM and 6:00 AM while the three subchannels are 24/7. The listings on Titan TV do not show high definition; however the Maine PBS website says that it occasionally offers high definition shows during prime time.

WMEA-DT (PBS) 45 50 kW ERP OTA

No response. According to TitanTV, WMEA just has the major PBS channel; according to the Maine PBS website, it should have the same subchannels as WCBB-DT. All other comments are the same.

WPMX-TV to be WPFO-TV (Fox) No digital assignment

To be FOX some time this year.

Cable Television:

Adelphia Cable does not carry High Definition at this time.

Time Warner Digital Cable carries HD Showtime and HBO (East and West). They currently plan to carry Maine Public Broadcasting when they launch and are evaluating the Discovery Channel and other High Definition offerings.

This is off topic, but does anyone remember back in
the 60's when WMTW used to have the weather report
from the top of Mt. Washington? They'd switch
to a black and white camera, and Marty the transmitter
technician would read the report. At the end, he would
crack this wacky ear to ear smile that would just send
myself and my parents into fits of laughter.

former Saco Maine resident,
Ron