Colorado Springs, CO - HDTV - Page 12

I've been watching KKTV-DT for the past hour or so, so it is up.

What receiver do you have? It won't let you see digital signal strength?

I'm using the Panasonic HDS20. It has a signal strength for the DirectTV antenna, but nothing I can find for the OTA antenna.

Oh. Weird.. does it give you an option to select the source of the signal?

My E86 gives a seperate option for all 3 satellites and Digital OTA.

Well, I moved my antenna into the attic above the garage, but still no luck receiving KXRM digital 21-1. I have 77% on KKTV-DT, so my connection, placement and antenna are OK. It could be due to the stucco getting in the way. ?

Is anyone on the north end, say north of Woodmen, receiving 21-1?

Can someone confirm for me that they are broadcasting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with no blackouts?

I also hope that maybe they're not yet at full power. Otherwise I might have to bite the bullet and go buy a TERK-55 or one of the big ugly antennas... Guess I won't be seeing Tuesday's All-Star game in widescreen.

I'm not that far north (Powers & Stetson Hills Blvd), but I get a signal for KXRM in the mid 80's using a Terk TV-55 in my attic.

So does Fox digital have the All-Star game on in 16x9 480p right now?

Yes, they do. Looks a lot better then the cable/OTA analog version, especially since it's wide-screen. The further the camera is from what it's looking at, the worse it looks, but it's still pretty good. Makes you appreciate HD that much more.

I'm currently at a 93 signal for kktv, and 100 for Fox.

I'm just about ready to finally pull the trigger on an HDTV reciever. Right now I'm leaning toward buying a Samsung TS160 w/ 3lnb dish for $559 + $30 shipping from www.mini-dishes.com. What do you guys think, it looks like a pretty good buy to me. Adelphia says they're going to have HDTV cable by the end of the year, but I have a hard time beleiving them.

I'm also not sure about them having HD.

I know a couple people who got their system from mini-dishes.com and they had good experiences. Looks like a pretty good deal.

drvais,

Could have been worse--at least Belgium has other qualities to divert your attention from HDTV (beer, travel, food, etc.)

Hopefully you've got a good DVD library to hold you over.

I wouldn't worry too much about damage. As long as you have the original box and make sure the movers note the condition properly before packing it you should be OK. If you are military, USAA offers an insurance rider to cover replacement cost if the government depreciates the set.

Unfortunately, the only thing you could watch on it would be DVDs due to the broadcast format difference (PAL vs NTSC)

Jeremy, that is a good deal, a little better than when I was buying the Samsung TS160 about 2 months ago. I still do need to figure out why sometimes the unit doesn't display a picture upon powering up. Happens mainly after a few days of staying in standby/off mode. After unplugging the power cable and plugging in again, it always works. I saw something about this on the net somewhere but I need to look for it again and see if there's a fix. This model does have a ton of great features though.

It seems impossible that Adelphia could get up to speed on HD that soon. I guess we'll see.

Time to go set up the Terk TV-55 antenna I just bought. Don't know why I'm paying $99 just to get KXRM/Fox when I currently get KKTV/CBS with the Radio Shack helix antenna. I guess football season on Fox is almost here.

drvais, sorry to see you go. You've contributed a lot here, obviously.

KKTV-DT may not be advertising that they are on the air but the National Association of Broadcasters is. See the link below:

http://www.nab.org/Newsroom/PressRel/Releases/3503.htm

Roy

I also noticed TitanTV is now listing KKTV-DT and KXRMDT as up and running.

I check pretty often and tonight is the first time it has listed them. Seems a bit weird since fox still seems in the 12-12 testing mode.

ABC has July 31st listed... that's in time for MNF... I wonder if they have had any progress since KKTV is going along with broadcasting.

Well, it's all over now. I just caved in and bought a Samsung TS160 w/ dish and installation for $500 from expertsatellite.com. Pretty good deal I think, but boy I sure do give in easy!

What do you think I need to pull in OTA stations? I'd like to get an inexpensive indoor antenna if possible. That Rat Shack double bowtie is cheap, but really looks crappy. I guess I could hide it behind my TV if that will work.

Now I have to play the waiting game - 3-5 days for delivery, then a few days for the installer to come. I can't wait to see bugs in HD!

I'm also really excited about MNF, Vaggeto. That makes ESPN, CBS, ABC, and eventually FOX with HD football. This is gonna be sweet!

Drvais, maybe you should get a DVHS to bring some HD content with you. You could show the Belgians what HDTV looks like and become their God. (Or maybe not)

I'd love to record some HD, but with an E86 the only way is to pay $1500 to have 169time.com mod it to output with firewire.

Jeremy... the Stealthtenna worked great for me. Which area are you in? How's your line of sight to the towers?

BTW: You don't need an installer! You could do it yourself if the installer takes too long, it's not very hard. You could even have someoneh old it still in the right direction and watch a bit of HD :-)

I live just off I-25 and Rockrimmon. I've got a great view of Cheyenne Mountain. The mountains don't block the satellite signal do they? There is a small hill just outside my apartment, but you can see the mountains over it still. The stealthtenna is an outdoor one, right?

I was planning on doing the installation, but I figured I'd let them do it since it's included. My main issue is how I would get the cable from the outside to inside my apartment. I wouldn't be surprised if end up turning my nieghbor into a satellite holder so I can get a peek of HD.

When I get my stuff delivered, should I call directv to get programming, or wait for the installer to do it?

Actually, the dish won't be pointed at the mountains. It will be pointed to the East of them. Easiest way to see where it will be pointing is look around at a few houses while driving, and you'll see some dishes around. Also, don't forget before you have programming and you have your box you can use a cheap antenna and try to get some OTA CBS HD.

Well, my equipment will arrive Friday, and it is getting installed on Saturday. I'm looking for an antenna for OTA now. It looks like RCA has the ANT1020 and ANT1030 (amped), and both got decent reviews. Zenith has one that got good reviews, it's just a matter of finding one. (Maybe CC or Sears) Since I'm in the "yellow" for antennaweb.com, just about anything should work, right?

Any UHF/VHF antenna will work fine, just stay away from the Terk crap that has been talked about and ridiculed (especially the "clip-on" dish type) on these forums quite often. Don't be fooled by "HDTV-Ready" antenna claims, any UHF/VHF antenna will work great. I use a small Recoton multi-directional amplified antenna (I'm in Briargate) and it pulls in the stations with no problems.

Damn...

On another note... has anyone seen the PBS commercial advertising DTV and HDTV? I forget the two names who sponsor the commercial... but it's good to see something on it. Too bad we don't even have a digital signal that they're advertising from them yet.

I agree with Dan, try the cheap non-Terk antennas first. I'm still using a $30 Radio Shack helix/dipole antenna, and am now getting both KKTV-DT and KXRM-SD at 77% strength way up here almost to Monument.

Does anyone know the hours of Fox's digital broadcast? I thought someone said it was 12 hours a day - which 12 hours is that?

Interesting that Fox's digital programming is 4x3, not native 16x9 or stretched to 16x9. I was told the All-Star game was broadcast 16x9, but the baseball game of the week last Saturday afternoon was 4x3. My Samsung tuner won't stretch a digital signal to widescreen; maybe all tuners are like that. Gotta be vigilant about avoiding burn-in...

I have noticed a few shows in 16x9 format. They were "fox widescreen" and looked pretty good but of course not as good as true HD. I expect several of their weekly series this fall to be widescreen.

I would like to find a site that shows which of their shows are 16x9. HDTV magazine doesn't list it because it is not true HD.

My tuner, an Integra it910s which is a combined big dish and ota tuner, can stretch 4x3 digital material. I don't know about others. It would be nice if KXRM would add colored vertical side bars to reduce risk of burn in for customers who can't stretch.

Roy

I think almost all stbs can stretch 4x3 content to16x9. You need to go to setup and tell the box your TV is a 4x3 tv, and it will fill the screen.