Greensboro, NC - HDTV - Page 106

Yes its true, most of the game was not in HD on WXLV due to a receiver problem. At the beginning of the game there was some jittery audio on the SD and HD receivers. After rebooting them the HD came back up with other problems. It was fixed at about 5:53PM.
Zane

^ And yet you want TWC to pay extra to carry your digital signal.

I agree. ABC 45 is a complete joke. I am more shocked when it broadcasts correctly than when it doesnt. TWC should never pay them extra.

Was the Panther's game in "Fox Widescreen" today?

Yes it was and it looked terrible.

But at least you CAN see it now!!

I thought it looked quite good as upconverted, and I'm viewing on a 133" screen. So long flight back for Mr. Gamble ?

Joe

Yeah, it was certainly better than the usual SD, but nowhere close to the great HD we're used to.

I am thankful that our local station is running at full power and we no longer have to get the OTA signal from Charlotte, but Fox's HD coverage of Panther's and Saturday MLB games is not very good. Today's upconverted signal was almost as good as their regular HD, which is not good. I hope they are working to improve it, but there is no comparison between FOX and all of the other network's coverage of HD sports. (ABC, NBC, CBS, ESPN, and even TNT) Their coverage of special events (MLB All star and Playoff games) is better, but the week to week coverage is far behind the others. I understand that not all of the cameras are HD, but it seems like they would use an HD camera for the main Full-Field shot for the NFL games. Some of the close-up angles look OK, but none of the wide shoots look any where close to HD. I have not seen any difference between the picture from Charlotte or Greensboro, so I am assuming the poor PQ it is coming from the Main Fox feed. Their regular Network TV Shows look terrific, it is only their sports coverage that is so poor. It kind of follows with how bad the Panthers have played so far, I am hoping that both can improve as the season goes on.

I had the TV sound down and the audio from the radio up for the game and the radio guys couldn't believe they would use that play when they did. They admitted it was in the playbook but never thought they would use it. Fox later took the blame for it when the radio guys interviewed him post game. Fox didn't come out and say it, but you got the impression that play will not be part of the playbook anymore.

Maybe I've just gotten lucky, or maybe its because I didn't get into OTA HD until fall of 2005 and I was not watching through a lot of the growing pains of the OTA stations, but my experience with ABC 45 HD OTA has, overall, been very good. The only problems I have experienced has been with their audio. Now granted, that was during the Super Bowl and some of the bowl games last year which was annoying. I TiVo a lot of primetime ABC shows and never seem to have problems. The occasional, opps we forgot to switch back over to HD after a commercial happens, but I've seen that with many of the other local stations too.

One thing that I do find interesting is the whole stalemate between ABC 45's parent company and TWC. It reminds me a bit how AOL's content was developed during its reign atop the internet world in the 90's. During that time, content providers were paying AOL to have their content on AOL. I worked for a company then that was considering a contract in the millions just to have our content on AOL. We were out-bid by a competitor. In this scenario ABC 45 would be paying TWC to have its HD content on their HD tier. Since the .com bust, there seems to be a bit of a role reversal. AOL is now paying people like WebMD, just to name one, to provide content that is only available on AOL. I guess AOL finally got smart and realized that with broadband people would not need AOL. The difference in this case would be that there are other means to get the ABC 45 content.

I don't know if this is similar to anything that has happened in the broadcasting industry or not and the members that are part of the broadcasting community could better answer that question, but I find it interesting that the same concept or even business model seems to be carrying over to many different communication mediums.

Now, does that mean I am in favor of what TWC is doing? No. Does that mean I am in favor of what ABC 45's parent company is doing? No. I think they are both being stupid and the only people that are losing out are the TV watchers. The TV watching community is bound to get annoyed enough to go to OTA or D*. Not that it is a bad alternative, its just different than what they currently have. I do find it interesting that they were able to come to terms with D* without any problems.

Just some thoughts of my own

I just bought a CM 3221 UHF 4 bow tie outdoor antenna. From East Charlotte I can get WFMY-DT with a very good signal. WXLV-DT comes in but the signal is in the red and goes in and out. Eventually I want to get the antenna higher but I have to wait till there are some strong arms around here!

itms1022...

I'm interested in hearing the latest on the HR20. Are you able to get local HD channels already? I thought Oct. was the soonest we were able to get HD locals. Anyway, let us know what you think.

I should (assuming all goes well with the installer) have two HR20's by Wednesday afternoon. I will be glad to give some info after I'm up and running. I know the OTA tuners are not enabled yet (October per other forums) and October as well for locals over the satellite. Foxeng--do you have any "inside" info on the timeline for DirecTV that you can share?

If you want the latest on the HR20--check out DBSTalk.com That's where you'll find it.

Bill

Does anyone else think he was throwing to the referee by mistake? I replayed several times and I'm convinced he saw the referee out of the corner of his eye (remember--they were in white jersey w/black & blue trim) and that affected his throw--started that way and then couldn't correct his motion

Bill

What's the total price tag on your future install? (If you don't mind me asking). I'd like to have an idea of what to expect when I order the new stuff.

I've heard that they are going to swap out the HR20s for a HD-TIVO for no charge. Can anyone who has a HR20 confirm or deny this?

So far the HR20 has been pretty good. I have no complaints. There are no locals yet, but I am ready for them. I am using a PJ with 110" screen, the HD pictures are AMAZAING...

If you have any specific questions on the HR20, let me know, I will do my best to answer.

Hey fellas, hopefully someone can help me. I have TWC with the Pace 550P STB, i used to be able to access a blue menu screen by pressing the "Display" button on the front panel, this doesnt work for reason. nothing happens when I press display button when the machine is on/off regardless of what channel it is on.(wether that matters or not) I see people mention that if U press and hold the "#" button it should bring it up but all that does is let me choose normal.zoom modes, (pressing and holding or quick pressing.... Basically I want to set the box to passthrough and I cant do it. I can change to 420I 420P 720P and 1080i with some button combinations on the front but no pass. any help would be greatly appreciated. sorry for the lenght. thanx in advance.

Donniewb420 ,

Welcome!

I know that TWC "upgraded" the Pace box back in June - it messed up a bunch of things for folks that had them. I finally went to the DVR SA 8300 .

Not at all--I called the retention department (800-824-9081--they can make the best deals) three or four times in the last 2 weeks with no luck. They claimed the HR20 wasn't in their system yet.

I called again last Friday the 15th and got lucky. I got an offer to upgrade one of my HR10's and swap the other for $99 each. (One I own--they aren't getting it--ever!! The other is a lease I got for $19.99 a couple of months ago--I want to keep it too, but it's not a deal breaker.) The CSR said I should be able to keep both if I wanted to keep it active anyway. The best part is that one of the earlier reps had put a note to give me a $150 credit when I was able to order a HR20. I didn't even remember that part, I guess being nice really does pay off. I also got 4 months of the HD pack for free.

So--(2 X $99) - $150 - (4 X $10) = approximately $25 after tax. I did have to pay the $200 up front on a credit card, but not a big deal to me. My $150 credit has already posted--so no check to DirecTV this month and a little one next month!

I'll let you know Wednesday if all goes well with the install and if I was able to keep both HR10's. I assume as long as I keep it activated, DirecTV will be happy to let me keep paying $5 lease fee/mirroring fee on it.

I would like to get some of the basic installation stuff out of the way b4 the installer comes out. I got a spool of high quality RG6 and plan on running my own coax and moving my dish location due to some tree issues. The main reason for this is I want the job done nice and clean and I'd rather not have the D* guy at my house all day. Anyway, I know that the new AT9 dish requires a 2" outside diameter mast. I'd like to go ahead and setup the mast in my new location that way all the installer has to do is put the dish on it. I've heard that 2" outisde diameter pipe is hard to come by for some reason. Does anybody know where I could get a pole mount that size around here?

Thanks.

PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS PART. The alignment of the AT9 is CRITICAL. More so than the older 3LNB dish. If the mounting pole does not set properly, they WILL NOT USE IT and will install their own. Even if it is set correctly, D* may NOT let them use it. It has to do with liability in the future.

I guess that means they are going to have to dig the hole and set the mast in some ready-mix? My only location where there is not a tree issue is a small spot in the front yard next to an old fence that is in no condition to attach a dish to.

I thought D* severed all ties with TiVo?

They recently extended the TiVo contract until 2012 I believe it was.

Please remember that the AT9 is a heavier dish than the 3 LNB and with 5 LNB's to align, with 2 of them KA band, it is a nightmare to set and get running. It is not for the faint of heart. In the past if your post was off a hair, you could live with it. With the newer dishes that use both KA and Ku, that post has to be exact in all three planes and have to be a certain size and mass to support the AT9 in all weather conditions. And yes, they will set it in Ready-Mix. They have to if they are to keep that dish still in all weather conditions from sun to ice with wind. It will move around enough to knock the KA band out if not careful.

If D* was to accept a post that was consumer installed and something happened to it, then D* would be responsible for service on that post and if they have to keep sending people out on service calls because the post isn't the correct spec or in the wrong place, they lose money. That is why they are not allowing self install on the AT9.

I have seen the video (I have have a copy of the files) for the installation of the AT9 and it is more complicated to set up than the 3 LNB dish and may be beyond most DIY types. The new smaller version, when available, may make it DIY'able again. The biggest headache is to be sure you have a clear shot of 20 degree of sky to cover all 5 birds from 99 to 119 and that is harder than you might think and it may not be where you think it is. In my own case, I know I have 4 of the 5 from my present dish location. The 99 position is an if and they may decide they need to put the AT9 somewhere else.

Thanks for the info Foxeng. I've done a lot of research on the AT9 and have seen the video as well. I'd hate to have to try and dial that thing in. As far as seeing all 5 birds and predicting a good spot for a dish I found this tip on the net somewhere and I figured I'd share it:

1. Use a plastic protractor and drew the elevation angle on a piece of paper.
2. Then fold the paper, like a little tent, and scotch taped it to a level.
3. Finally, tape a compass on the level and by holding the level like a rifle, you can see exactly where to (or where not to) aim your dish.

Oooh! That might make me reconsider D*. But E* has all the HD! Now if I could just get TiVo + lots of HD from the same provider.....

Any idea of when those may be out? Last I heard they were going to use up all of the larger ones before they start shipping the smaller versions. Has anyone heard any different?