Buffalo, NY - HDTV - Page 231

Now, if I can only get the damn thing to integrate with my WinTV 7 software...

Anyone have an idea why my OTA DVR now shows channel 9 (CFTO) on both 9-1 and 70-1?

According to the Canadian website, CFTO has been doing some weird stuff lately. It ended up on 9-4 on my TV a while ago, and guide data was gone.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3dcc4937834dc6be

I need ideas... in the past month or so we lost wnyo and wivb, only getting them rarely or rotatng until wkbw and wgrz are gone. Wkbw and wgrz are staying solid. Tried replacing cables to the antenna.Preamp trouble? But why only on 2 channels(??)

I never read anything about transmitter moves...

 

Could it be a multipath issue? Do those problems arise with rooftop antennas or only for attic and indoor antennas? It's the two stronger signals,WNYO and WIVB that are having problems, while the weaker signals WKBW and WGRZ are OK,right? Maybe the pre-amp amplifies WKBW and WGRZ just enough so that you can receive them, but the reflected multipath signals from those stations are too weak to cause tuning problems. But for WNYO and WIVB both the direct signals and the reflected signals are strong enough to be detected by the tuner and that causes tuning problems.

IDK.. I'm pretty far away and used to have both WIVB abd WNYO pretty solid without moving the antenna

tshaff09;
According to what you posted, you are in or near Chili. Is that correct?
The Rochester market is below Attic Hill being halfway between you ans them. Also, being 57 miles from the Boston Hills makes a very long reach for both of these reasons. below is a Google map of the path between you and them. Zooming in at 400' elevation, the path (red line) gets broken SE of Attica which tells me it is a ridge that might be the culprit.

Your question is puzzling since you say WKBW isn't affected. Considering they are neighbors, both by location and frequency (RF channels 38 & 39), makes it more of a mystery.

Thanks Bruce. I have been getting these pretty reliably since they went digital. Could be something around here, but why only the 2 channels? just puzzling

The CFTO mis-channel ID is spreading. It just came up as 9.4 here.

This thread has been pretty quiet for a while.
Hope you all survived the holiday and are on your way to a prosperous 2013.

I recently bought a ZBOXHD and have configured it as a DVR using Windows 7 Media Center. It worked out so well, I sold my DTVPal DVR.
There is one minor problem that showed up recently so I thought I'd share it in case anyone else in the area is also using Media Center.
There is no guide data for channel 41.1, 41.2, 67.2 and 67.3.
It was there a few weeks ago but has been absent now for about 10 days.
I submitted a trouble report to Zap2It (the data provider) about a week ago. The guide is correct for those channels on their website.
I was hoping if others had the same issue they could also submit a trouble report so it moves up the ladder at Zap2It.

It appears CFTO has stopped providing TVGOS data (listings) as of last Wednesday.

Anyone confirm or deny this?

Any of you guys in the Buffalo area now recieving CITS on ch-36 out of Hamilton. They turned up the juice from 20 KW ERP to now over 400 KW ERP as of today. I noticed a major signal improvement at my end.

I was receiving it before. Absolutely of no interest here.
When is CITY upping power? I wish they would swap with CBLTF. What a colossal waste of RF. I doubt there are many French speaking Canadians in the lower peninsula outside of the GTA.
What's the latest with CHCH and the ill fated move to RF 15?

BTW, TVGOS from CFTO did die per my last post when I stated it did. Great while it lasted.

We will be moving from the Rochester area to Hamburg in June. Where we are building both FiOS and TW are available. I have had TW (Multi-Room) for years and am relatively happy. Our daughter in Maryland has FiOS and, frankly, I prefer the User Interface on TW to FiOS (guide not loaded with advertisements and there are no "traps" to upgrade to Quantom.

Does anyone here have experience with both? What are the pros and cons of each? I realize that in some areas the TW infrastructure is burdened with Aldelphia era problems, but I'm going to be in a new area, so would expect TW service there to be pretty solid.

In the end, the choice will depend on who offers the best deal - but I'd like to go into negotiations fully informed.

Another possibility would to go satellite and get Internet from TW or FiOS (again, depending on who gives me the best deal).

BUT, one advantage of TW is that a long term contract is not required.

FWIW; WBBZ has finally started to provide PSIP data for program listings on their main and sub channel. Very long overdue, especially considering it is a FCC requirement.

The sorry state of program data in this market is a real problem, specially considering the availability in other markets (mostly larger). The 12 hour requirement doesn't seem to met, depending on time of day, let along going out even a few days. There is no reason why a weeks worth can't be maintained. If you would think about it, the same amount of data is entered in in a weeks time any way it is done. If a full week would be populated, then each day enter the programming for the 7th day, it all amounts to the same amount of data entry.

I had bought a Hauppauge 950-Q USB tuner a couple of years ago to hook into my laptop and use Windows Media Center as a DVR as well, but didn't really use it all that much. After having recently come upon an XBox 360 (and not being a video gamer at all), I decided to set it up as a Windows Media Center Extender and play around with it. I also noticed that Global (41.1 & 41.2) still has no guide data. CITY (57.1) doesn't either, but then again, in browsing a few forums, I'm apparently the only one in Western New York who can receive the channel.

CITS actually shows a fair amount of secular programming, like The West Wing at 8pm. Then even rebroadcast a classic hockey game during the NHL lockout.


That's an urban myth that's been spread around the internet and of course what you read on the internet must be true! CITY is what it is for the foreseeable future. The allotment provides for higher power but there's no obligation for a broadcaster to use 100% of it.


There are actually quite a few. Many Quebecers and those in other French speaking areas outside of Quebec move to Southern Ontario for work. The french language school system in the city of Toronto is over capacity.

They are approved to change channels, but not obligated to. Pretty sure they know about the WBNF issue of RF 15 which is causing them to wait. The original RF 15 allotment for Hamilton was directional AWAY from Buffalo/NF.

It was a rhetorical question. Someone needs to tell CBLFT that. The key word there was "few". Throw me a percentage.
Edited by videobruce - 4/5/13 at 7:37am

CBLT/CBLTF are public television, aren't they? I would imagine that has lot to do with why they have and use a higher signal.

Their taxpayers fund the excessive signal and pay the higher utilities.

I misread your previous post Bruce, Yes, you are correct in that the French speaking people of southern Ontario are clustered on the north side of Lake Ontario. Not so many on the south side (a.k.a. the Niagara Peninsula). So yes, in theory 25.1 could go to a lower power allotment and not affect very many people at all. But all the other channels that could benefit with a higher power allotment are all owned by Cable and Satellite companies so there's no interest there in pleasing OTA viewers.

That's why I used the term "lower peninsula". They don't need anywhere near the ERP they are using to cover the GTA. Waste or RF, electricity and it puts more of a burden on all the other stations that are crowded up top to deal with those levels of RF in such a confined area.
CATV ownership of OTA stations should never of been allowed. It's a conflict of interest.

Like Comcast ownership of NBC (& it's owned stations)?

I've had TW and currently have FIOS. Picture Quality is much better on FIOS - less compression. All subscribed video channels are active in FIOS, there is no switched digital video with channel unavailable messages like I had with TW. The ads are a bit annoying, but OK. I believe that they don't require a 2 year commitment on some of the new packages.

More bandwidth, no analog, brand new technology. Of course i will (should) be better. Ads?? What and where?
You list Buffalo as your location, there is no FiOS in the city of Buffalo. Which suburb are you in?

Thanks for your response. I'll be checking into offers next month.

Regarding Picture Quality: Really?? Where are you located (your comments about "channel unavailable" on TW point to node problems in your neighborhood)?

The thing that most people do not realize is that as soon as that fiber enters the house it is converted into RF video - no different than ordinary cable. The modulation scheme is QAM and the QAM specs are IDENTICAL to that used by TW and other cable systems. From a practical standpoint, the number of HD signals per QAM is independent of the feed to the house (hybrid cable or fiber).

That being said, the decision on how to pack those QAMs is up to the video distribution company (though there are some FCC restrictions on degrading quality of OTA stations). It could well be that Verizon has made the decision to NOT put 3 channels on a QAM (2 HD channels on a QAM fit with no added degradation of signal).

Another issue is that apparently Verizon has been backing off in their support of FiOS (the cell phone business is more attractive).

You mean they haven't gotten rid of the yet?

This year is going to be my 10 Year Anniversary for HDTV!!

Maybe I should celebrate with a new HDTV.

IIRC it was in August.

(I think you need to update the line under your username. )

Looking for antenna installer in Finger Lakes region.