San Antonio, TX - HDTV - Page 102

That is great to hear that TW is upping HD channels. I hope the quality at least stays the same.

Channel 1350 is where I originally signed up. It said something like (Free Preview, press select to purchase.
Purchase Price $00.00).

NBC's Nightly News does that now if I understand your point. Seems like they fill in bars on the sides of the 16x9 screen rather than stretch the pic.

On the topic of news, will CBS evening news go to HD anytime soon or is that prevented by Katie's contract?

That's great news, Allen! I've tracked your problems since your very first post on this thread, since I am close to the same distance. Another point on your quest: When I lost my preamp due to a lightning strike, of course I had to lower my mast and install the new one. Upon re-telescoping the mast, I straightened my yagi vertically and got another 10% on signal strength! I'm sure that's not a problem with your big multi-bay rig, but it was a shock to me that just a tiny down-slant would attenuate that much.

Glad to have you happy, finally. I'm running signal strength in the 90's now and often 100% on channels 4,5 and 29 with 12 very adequate as well.

Just wish the local PBS had something in the UHF range that I could receive. I think it was Jerry that mentioned that most of the locals though would be switching to VHF HD some day in the future. Hopefully that will make things even better for us far fringe guys.

It appears that TWC is adding 4 channels, but unless you are a Starz subscriber, I doubt you will receive the Starz channels. I have the HBO channels and don't want to pay the extra for Starz. I'm even thinking of letting HBO go b/c I don't watch any of its original programming and for movies Blockbuster online is superior.

Thanks for the observation. When the tower guy put up my XG-91 I asked him about pitch. The XG actually has a mount that is meant to be adjusted for pitch alignment. But he mumbled something about won't make much difference. I'll never now know if it would have. But actually he would have needed a good digital UHF antenna meter which he did not have. There is one for $200 that I really wanted to buy but didn't. A bit too much for one time use.

If its not obvious the antenna is hooked into my two computers, not the TV. They do all the recording and now I can timeshift again.

I just started to play with a little loop/rabbit ear antenna up here in New Braunfels and read something about frequency changes after the switch. I think KSAT (ABC) is the one we have to worry about.

FROM:

DTV tentative channel designations for first and second round.

Current DTV Channel(Freq)/Tenative Channel Designation

KABB 30 same uhf 30
KENS 55 uhf 39
KLRN 8 vhf 9
KSAT 48 uhf drops to vhf 12
WOAI 58 uhf 48



I can not get PBS up here, but I am not sure they are putting out much power. Maybe someone can confirm KSAT move to vhf and if KLRN is at ~full~ power and if we will lose any more channels to the vhf side? After all, the chart does say Tentative.

KLRN will move to channel 9. We will keep the same power level at first and try for an increase after things settle down. Our lawyers told us to wait for the increase because the FCC is not approving many changes at this time. I hope to go from 8.32K of power to 39K.

Sounds like an exciting time! Wish I'd kept my huge channelmaster VHF antenna. 39KW should reach us on ch9 I'd think.

I just noticed golf channel in HD on 168 never notice this before anyone no when this was added

Think I saw it yesterday or the day before when looking for the new TBS station. I normally stop at NBCHD so I hadn't noticed it yet. I don't know what the name of the network is though.

[quote=petegon;11822100]KLRN will move to channel 9. We will keep the same power level at first and try for an increase after things settle down. Our lawyers told us to wait for the increase because the FCC is not approving many changes at this time. I hope to go from 8.32K of power to 39K.[/QUOTE

Thanks for the confirmation.

Looks like I will be ok with only my little rabbit ears

Just wondering if anybody knows why the Texans game isn't in HD on KENS 5. It's in HD on KEYE 42 from Austin.

Destrada, I know what happened and I will post the same reply here that I have given other KENS-DT viewers for the error on Sunday's Texans-Dolphins game:

"My face is red. Although the Texans-Dolphins game was in fact delivered in HD, an oversight in scheduling caused the game to be broadcast in SD instead. Please accept my personal apology to you for our failure to broadcast the game in High Definition. The individuals who missed their cue have all been counseled. I am making a commitment to you and all other KENS-DT viewers that we will never miss another HD event again. I shall personally see to it that every HD event on the schedule makes it to air.

Please accept my personal apology and my commitment to superior service in the future."
I also fielded some 'phone calls on this game, so I know we really dropped the ball. No matter what, it is best to 'fess up and admit we did not get it right.

Once more, I apologize for the mistake.

Does anyone know what in the world is going on with KSAT's HD feed? It seems like every primetime show over the past week or two has had some serious cutouts and audio dropouts. They'll switch to the SD feed sometimes, then back to HD. It's annoying, especially when you record shows, then miss key moments because the audio drops. At first I thought it might be TWC, but I switched over to the OTA and it was the same thing. What gives, and will it be fixed soon, or should I switch all of my recordings over to the SD feed?

I'm currently a TWC subscriber, but the addition of so many HD channels on Directv really has me tempted. From a cost perspective, I don't think I would save money by switching, but I don't know what other differences there may be from your experience. I'm assuming I could retain Roadrunner on TWC if I drop everything else.

Does Directv add on all the taxes and fees that TWC has on their bills?

I thought I would own the Directv boxes, but it refers to a lease. Is that perpetual? I think if a box goes out, I have to pay to replace it. Right?

I can't find any definition of "standard installation" on the Directv site.

If I read the Directv site correctly, any HD version of a regular, non-premium channel that is included in my package is automatically included as long as I pay the monthly HD fee.

I know the issues with TWC, including how slowly they are reacting to competition, but what are the downsides or big pluses on Directv?

Anything else I should consider?

The PQ on the DirecTV HD channels is much better with less compression.

Yes, you can drop everything except the high speed internet.

DirecTV does have some taxes and fees. Haven't done a direct comparison between the two though.

The DirecTV boxes are leased. If the box breaks, DirecTV will replace it. There might be a small shipping charge. The HR20 DVR is turning out to be a great box. There is some open beta testing going on over at DBSTalk.Com that allows users to set recordings over the internet. Very slick.

Noticed the same problem. It totally ruined the show Carpoolers last week, as I missed a good 1/3 of the dialog. Pretty much ruined tonights episode as well. When I watched it, there was almost constant pixelization, then audio dropouts, then switch to SD, then back to HD with dropouts...

Horrible!

I noticed that when there is a double header on KENS, the first game is not HD. Is there a reason for that or will both games be broadcast in HD in the future? Thanks

I just emailed KSAT asking about their prime time HD problem. Lets see if I get a response.

I was watching the 6:00 news on KSAT and they were saying that there was a problem with the satellite. It was getting interfearance when it was picking up the HD signal. That's why it would pixelate and go out. They said they are having their engineers working on it, but they will have SD until it is corrected.

RE: KSAT HD problems.

Just received a reply from KSAT and they said that they are experiencing technical glitches from the new digital feed from ABC and that they are trying to correct the problem ASAP.

Please see my reply to Destrada, above. Both games will be HD this Sunday.

Occasionally CBS will send us a game that is not delivered in HD; last Sunday that was not the case.

I was watching Steve Brown the other night on KSAT and he held up a light bulb about 10" long and said the bulb was close to the transmitter/receiver and it was going bad. It took the technicians several days to figure out it was the source causing the digital signal interruption. Since then, I have not seen any problems, so hopefully he is right. Thanks Steve Brown, your the man in the know

Jerry, thank you for the response. I live in Lockhart and am fortunate enough to receive CBS from Austin and San Antonio over the air. I don't prefer one over the other. I just go to whichever one is closer to where I'm surfing. Due to my location, however, I do get Austin stations stronger than San Antonio.

I especially like it when you guys or KABB show different games than your station counterparts in Austin. I have my own mini Sunday Ticket.

I've got time warner SA, and when I got home today after work the TBS HD channel is "unavailable". WTF? All the other HD channels work. Anybody else experiencing this?

TBS HD is available now. But they are showing a movie in stretch mode. The only real HD I've seen on this channel, so far, is baseball. KSYM is totaly useless. No HD.

What is the point of the ksym channel I have yet to see an hd programming on this station the only thing that I think that it might be good for is the spurs.

They told me last year that starting with this season they would be broadcasting their Spurs games in HD. I haven't had a chance to see if they are carrying any pre-season games to verify.

HI all,
First post, I'm a newbe but have been in the electronics industry for over 30
years but am confused when I look at the antenna suggestions on antennaWeb.

This is what I see on AntennaWeb after giving my street address in universal city.
DTV Antenna
Type Call Sign Channel Network City State Live Date Compass Orientation Miles From Frequenc Assignment
* yellow - uhf KABB-DT 29.1 FOX SAN ANTONIO TX 168° 18.4 30
* yellow - uhf KSAT-DT 12.1 ABC SAN ANTONIO TX 166° 19.9 48
* yellow - uhf KWEX-DT 41.1 UNI SAN ANTONIO TX 165° 18.3 39
* yellow - uhf KVDA-DT 38.1 TEL SAN ANTONIO TX 165° 18.3 38
* yellow - uhf WOAI-DT 4.1 NBC SAN ANTONIO TX 167° 19.9 58
* green - vhf KLRN-DT 9.1 PBS SAN ANTONIO TX 185° 16.1 8
* red - uhf KHCE-DT 16.1 TBN SAN ANTONIO TX 165° 18.6 16
* red - vhf KCWX-DT 2.1 CW FREDERICKSBURG TX 01-09 330° 44.1 5
* red - uhf KENS-DT 5.1 CBS SAN ANTONIO TX 167° 19.9 55
* violet - uhf KMYS-DT 35.1 MNT KERRVILLE TX 270° 35.5 32

ABC, NBC and FOX are all about 19 miles away and the antenna suggestion is "yellow", a small multi-directional unit.

CBS looks to share the same antenna location with ABC and NBC (all are 19.9 miles away at 166/167 degrees) but the recommendation for CBS is red, medium directional unit which is 3 steps up
from the Yellow?
What am I missing? I'm assuming that the stations are transmitting at the same power and they appear to be at the same location.

Anybody have any ideas why the "red" recommendation for CBS but "yellow'
antenna for the rest?

Just about the only tv we watch is on CBS and I would like to break the TW
connection. I don't want to put up a lot more antenna than I need to get the job done but also don't want to buy one that is not up to getting CBS.

I'm interested in the digital HDTV signal only, we don't watch any Std Def tv anymore so analog is not a concern.

Second question:
Is the channel mapping for SA finalized yet? From what I've read, I think
that only PBS may still be on a VHF with everything else on UHF.

Thanks in advance.

Jacob,
first, KENS-DT shares a tower with WOAI-DT just east of Elmendorf, Texas. We are 3/4 mile from KABB-DT and about a mile from KSAT-DT. All of the DTV stations are operating with nearly the same amount of power, (800 - 1000 Kw) so the antenna that works for one of us should work for all of us. From Universal City I would use a small directional UHF/VHF combo antenna if I could find one. A medium Directional (red) UHF/VHF antenna will afford better gain in the direction it is pointed and better resistance to multipath.

I have no idea why the antenna selector recommends a red antenna only for KENS, unless you have two-story buildings or obstructions nearby in the path - but that will affect all stations, not just KENS.

Next, the final DTV allocations for San Antonio were announced a while back. Coolriver shared this data on some of the local DTV channels in his October 3 post:

KABB 30 same uhf 30
KWEX 39 uhf 41
KENS 55 uhf 39
KLRN 8 vhf 9
KSAT 48 uhf drops to vhf 12
WOAI 58 uhf 48

You can look up other DTV allocations here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=823166

I added the KWEX info since KENS will operate on their interim channel after Feb. 18, 2009. As you can see, there will be quite a bit of coordinating going on. KLRN and KSAT both will return to their VHF channels. KCWX, which already is difficult to receive in San Antonio, will move to DTV channel 5 (VHF,) but it is questionable as to whether we will be able to receive the DTV station here.