Tucson, AZ - HDTV - Page 14

cdrobot here is some info you may find useful lifted from a comcast post in the pc-dtv forum:

Thanks for the info. I checked my cable box settings and they are correct. I called Comcast and was told that the reason I have a black border on all four sides of the image is because "that's the way Fox is broadcasting it."

If any one gets a chance, check and see if Lost is in HD tonight (wednesday) at 7pm on KGUN (ABC) and post to let me know, it could be the deciding factor for me to get HD or not. No use in having the hardware if theres nothing good being broadcast here. Thanks

That it is.... Scheduled, anyways.

I have recently been unable to view KAUT/KAUS channels 6-2 and 27-2, I receive 6-1 and 27-1 one fine. Does anyone get channels 6-2 or 27-2?

Lost wasn't shown in HD on KGUN-DT last night.

Does anyone have an e-mail of aperson I can contact at KGUN that might be able to tell us when they will be able to show HD with some regularity?

I receive 6.2, but it depends on the time of day.
During the day, KUAT broadcasts 6.2, 6.3, 6.4 & 6.5, all in SD.
In the evening, they broadcast 6.1 in HD

Apparently, KUAT has suspended simulcasting their regular program schedule on their DTV channels when also broadcasting HD.

They are not related. The operation of one has nothing to do with the other.

John,

I check this morning and still get no signal on 6-2 or 27-2. Do you get anything or has KAUT/KAUS suspended their local Digital simulcast?

Thanks,

Mark

The SD channels are alive and well on 6-2+. KUAS (27-) is HD only now, so there is no 27-2. That's 6-2 yes (daytime only) and 27-2 no.

John

FOX in Tucson is still SD only. Most of the rest of the planet is getting FOX HD broadcasts now. I called the chief engineer (in Phoenix at ch 3) and he said Belo Corp is still negotiating with FOX. They have all the equipment. About a month ago I posted what the problem is....FOX network HD is in 720p but Belo is standardizing on 1080i. They have the equipment to convert but apparently it needs FOX approval. Their statement to me a month ago of about 30 days is now blown and indefinite (surprise!). As a football and baseball fan I am very disapppointed.

Calling KMSB in Tucson is useless. They have a skeleton operation. Everything is done at channel 3 in Phoenix.

I have Comcast and they have Fox HD (in SD of course) but they have no information (nor do they seem to care).

Maybe, anyone on this form that wants to try to help can call channel 3, KTVK, in Phoenix and complain. The Engineering Director is Jim Cole. His phone is 602-207-3369. Please post here if you get any info.

Hello all! What's working, and what isn't? Any high points, or things to look out for?

I'm curious if anyone in Tucson has tried pointing their antenna NNW towards Phoenix to try to pick up KSAZ-DT (FOX 10.1)?
I live in the far North Phoenix valley, and have no problems receiving some of the Tucson digital channels (KUAT 6.1-6.5, KTTU 18.1), others intermittently (KVOA 4.1-4.2, KMSB 1.1), and rarely (KOLD 13.1).

Here in Avra Valley, I can pick up most of Phoenix, as well as nearly all of Tucson's digital stations, and yes, I can get 10.1 and 10.2. 15.1,2,and 3 are sketchy sometimes, but I can get them most of the time.

I saw this antenna at Sears.

Having an ERP of just over half a megawatt helps

KOLD bad again???

Today (Sat) KOLD is dropping out about half of the time. I noticed the signal level seems low even when it is on. Is anyone else having problems?

Media reporter's column in the Sunday paper reported that KMSB's HD problems would be resolved "any day now".. FWIW..

So I'm new to this HD stuff. Working on putting up an antenna for my new Hitachi HD TV. Question #1: How do I know if a program is being broadcast in HD? #2: Why aren't the HD channels published in the Sunday supplement? #3 How do they expect us to know where to tune? #4 What is the minimum signal strength necessary to get HD? My initial efforts today were yielding around 30.

Appeciate any and all advice!

Found Best STB for HD OTA !!

My first STB was the Dish 811. It could hardly receive anything. Then I got a Samsung SIR-T151. It was much better. I could get all of the local HD stations most of the time although some of the signal levels were very low. I had to rotate my antenna depending upon whether coming from Bigelow or Tumamoc (not unreasonable). KOLD in particular was only about 20%. My best station KGUN was about 50%. I just posted yesterday that KOLD was dropping out. So I decided to try to do better.

I have read that the LG boxes are the best and LG has a new 5th generation chip. OLD FOGEY, who posts here, has the LG 3100A and is happy with it. I found out that LG has a replacement, the 4200A. I then read some discussion in this Forum about whether the 4200A has the 5th generation chip. I guess, surprisingly, it does not. I then read that the chip is in the USDTV receiver. USDTV is a startup (not in Tucson yet) that claims to have OTA cable. In any event, it has an OTA receiver that can be used without subscribing to USDTV. Walmart sells it for $200 (with a 90 day return policy). That was too tempting not to try. So I bought it and it works perfectly. Most of the stations are at 90% level. Even KOLD is at about 70%. I have absolutely no dropouts all day, and this is at a time when my Samsung couldn't pull it in. I don't even have to rotate my antenna. I even get the Spanish language stations, which I believe are from the Tucson Mountains, while my directional antenna is aimed in the opposite direction. Tomorrow I am going to see if I can get the Phoenix stations. Wow, this is great!!

So anyone out there with an OTA STB that is not getting everything, try the USDTV. You can always return it.

I'm using an LG LST3510A OTA tuner out in west Tucson, I'm just north of Tumamoc hill (1 Mile), Bigelow is 41 degrees from the house and 21.5 miles away, the Tucson Mtn towers for UPN(18.1) and Tel(42.1) are 271 degrees and 6.3 miles from the house. PBS, of course, has a great signal, without even redirecting the antenna, around 75 to 80 percent. The Bigelow towers give me a minimum of 66 percent(the antenna is directed towards these stations). The Tucson Mtn. towers also give me a signal of 66 percent. I'm using a regular antenna that I think I paid 25 dollars for 5 or 6 years ago. BTW, this unit is also a great upconverting DVD player. I'm running a DVI to HDMI conversion cable to the television. KOLD was weak yesterday(Saturday) but back to normal today. Hope this info helps.

Thanks to all for your comments. Got the Radio Shack anntenna up today in the wind and am getting 65-68 readings on 6-1 and 6-2. So TelleTubies are coming in just fine.

Still nothing on 4-1 or the other broadcast stations. When I key in 4-1 it pauses then 4 comes up. Does that mean they're not broadcasting at 4-1 at that time?

Still haven't seen any HD on our new HD set. So waiting for that magic broadcast.

Ah, high definition at last! The football game last night looked amazing! No NBC yet as the signal level is still in the 20's, even though the transmitters are all in the same place. Don't understand that. Hoping some minor antenna movement will raise NBC while not zapping PBS and ABC. No CBS yet either.

Has anyone in the Tucson area tried the Winguard MS2000 (WIN770)?
Results??
What antenna sems to work best here, any comments?
aztjc

I have just recently noticed that KUAT 6-2 is no longer on after 8:00 PM. If this is true how do you watch the local PBS shows on a digital channel after 8:00 PM.