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Raleigh, NC - HDTV - Page 499

post #14941 of 15105
11/17/12 at 3:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jspENC View Post

Try this and see if it helps... http://www.silicondust.com/support/channels/

Put in your zip code.

 

 

Nope. It just has a lot of UNKNOWNs..

(It doesn't say whether those are known unknowns or unknown unknowns, either.)

 

Face it, TWC has no business incentive to make receiving unencrypted digital signals easy for its customers.

It makes tons of money by charging monthly rental fees for its STBs.

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post #14942 of 15105
11/18/12 at 5:04am
jspENC, thanks for the link. I will take a look to see if I can pull anymore in, but I went & picked up a cheap antenna @ BB yesterday.
I agree w/ Veedon about TWC & I'll see if I can get the OTA stations where I live so I don't need to deal w/ TWC for these.
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post #14943 of 15105
11/18/12 at 9:27am
use www.tvfool.com to get a good idea on what you should be able to receive. For most of the Raleigh area - aim towards Clayton (east side of Clayton, that is) - as most all of our stations are there.
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post #14944 of 15105
11/18/12 at 1:40pm

I was surprised to see that there is a PBS station, WBRA (Blue Ridge PBS), broadcasting on RF 3.

According to the FCC coverage map, it now has quite a large coverage area, but not quite as far south as the Triad.

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post #14945 of 15105
11/18/12 at 1:49pm
WBRA is one of about three dozen low-VHF full power stations in the country.
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post #14946 of 15105
11/18/12 at 1:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ProjectSHO89 View Post

WBRA is one of about three dozen low-VHF full power stations in the country.

 

Do VHF-LO signals work better in mountainous areas?

I know that in most large cities, the stations that were on VHF-Lo for analog broadcasting chose to move to a UHF channel for digital broadcasting.

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post #14947 of 15105
11/18/12 at 1:54pm
Somewhat, but nobody's going to have an antenna up to watch just PBS with nothing else!

Most people in the area where I grew up had upper-VHF only antennas, since the local stations were on 7-10-13. So when things went digital, those people now get just WSET 13-1 plus WBRA 15-1 scans in but does not decode.

- Trip
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post #14948 of 15105
11/18/12 at 1:59pm

Well, there must be a big difference between VHF-LO and VHF-HI.

Around here, WTVD on RF 11 comes in strong with most antennas.

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post #14949 of 15105
11/18/12 at 2:03pm
With an indoor antenna at my parents' house, 79 miles from Poor Mountain and 53 miles from Thaxton Mountain, I see most of the Roanoke/Lynchburg stations (7/10/13/21/27, 38 is iffy). WBRA is a no-show without the roof antenna, not even present on the spectrum analyzer on the indoor. On the roof antenna, it is the lowest-quality signal (other than WEFC) by 10 dB, with a dedicated low-VHF antenna. Strength-wise, it is on-par with the others, but the noise floor some 20 dB higher than the other bands really kills the SNR.

This may help you visualize: http://www.rabbitears.info/specan/home/

- Trip
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post #14950 of 15105
11/18/12 at 3:15pm
Low VHF tends to diffract more readily over terrain, so some broadcasters in mountainous and very rural areas picked those allocations believing that they would be better able to serve a wider area with less transmitting power. The problem, as Trip pointed out, is the greatly elevated noise floor down in the low-VHF band.

High-VHF is less noisy, but less effective in diffracting over terrain. UHF spectrum is even lower noise and is much more line of sight than are the lower frequencies.
Edited by ProjectSHO89 - 11/19/12 at 4:42am
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post #14951 of 15105
11/18/12 at 4:19pm
Strictly speaking not an HDTV question, but please bear with me: TWC just notified basic subscribers in Raleigh that several analog channels (C-Span, CMT, OWN, VH1 Classic, Discovery Fit & Health, Lifetime Movie Network, TruTV and Golf Channel) are going digital as of Dec 4, 2012. The mailing implied that C-SPAN would be clear QAM but said nothing about the other seven. I assume this means that the other seven will go either encrypted QAM or SDV. Can someone confirm or elaborate? And is this beginning of the inevitable migration of all analog channels, except possibly the bottom ones, to encrypted QAM or SDV?
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post #14952 of 15105
11/18/12 at 5:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by xyzzy-wizard View Post

Strictly speaking not an HDTV question, but please bear with me: TWC just notified basic subscribers in Raleigh that several analog channels (C-Span, CMT, OWN, VH1 Classic, Discovery Fit & Health, Lifetime Movie Network, TruTV and Golf Channel) are going digital as of Dec 4, 2012. The mailing implied that C-SPAN would be clear QAM but said nothing about the other seven. I assume this means that the other seven will go either encrypted QAM or SDV. Can someone confirm or elaborate? And is this beginning of the inevitable migration of all analog channels, except possibly the bottom ones, to encrypted QAM or SDV?

I got the same notice in the mail too. Looks like they will slowly migrate to an all hidden digital format that will force the sheeple, I mean people to have some sort of device they give you to allow you to pick up the channels. It said the digital adapter was free until 2015. Then it would be .99 cent.
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post #14953 of 15105
11/18/12 at 6:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by xyzzy-wizard View Post

Strictly speaking not an HDTV question, but please bear with me: TWC just notified basic subscribers in Raleigh that several analog channels (C-Span, CMT, OWN, VH1 Classic, Discovery Fit & Health, Lifetime Movie Network, TruTV and Golf Channel) are going digital as of Dec 4, 2012. The mailing implied that C-SPAN would be clear QAM but said nothing about the other seven. I assume this means that the other seven will go either encrypted QAM or SDV. Can someone confirm or elaborate? And is this beginning of the inevitable migration of all analog channels, except possibly the bottom ones, to encrypted QAM or SDV?

here is the low down:

No the channels will not be SDV! they will be privacy mode encrypted if they are not in the limited/broadcast tier which means they will be available with DTA's and digital boxes this means that all of the limited and expanded channels will now be broadcast linear fixed and not SDV for the SD versions. HD versions of the locals are guarenteed and will be available on the DTA's but the HD versions of the expanded channels are not and will likely stay SDV for now.

TWC was getting away with SDVing the digital simulcast channels but not anymore with the introduction of DTAs!
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post #14954 of 15105
11/18/12 at 7:07pm

I'm not sure that everyone means the same thing when the use abbreviations such as DTA.

To me a DTA is a digital-to-analog converter that is needed only for analog sets (sets that do not have digital tuners).

 

What TWC was saying in its notice is that it is getting rid of the analog versions of those eight channels and will now only provide digital signals for those channels.

Yes, if you have an analog set, you would need to have a converter to convert the signal to analog.

But even if you have a digital set, you're going to have to do something to deal with the fact that seven of those eight channels will be encrypted.

You won't use a DTA, strictly speaking, but you will have to get a small device that decrypts the digital station so that your digital QAM tuner can tune it.

 

TWC will eventually eliminate all of the analog channels, and when they do, they will have the FCC's approval to encrypt all of the digital channels.

That's when they will raise the rental fees for the decrypting devices or maybe even make everyone rent a full-fledged set-top box.

 

I bet the reason that TWC is leaving C-SPAN as a "clear" QAM channel is that it doesn't want to tick off congress.

 

Frankly, those eight channels are not very popular, so some people who don't get a decrypting device might not even notice that they are gone.

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post #14955 of 15105
11/18/12 at 7:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by veedon View Post

I'm not sure that everyone means the same thing when the use abbreviations such as DTA.
To me a DTA is a digital-to-analog converter that is needed only for analog sets (sets that do not have digital tuners).

What TWC was saying in its notice is that it is getting rid of the analog versions of those eight channels and will now only provide digital signals for those channels.
Yes, if you have an analog set, you would need to have a converter to convert the signal to analog.
But even if you have a digital set, you're going to have to do something to deal with the fact that seven of those eight channels will be encrypted.
You won't use a DTA, strictly speaking, but you will have to get a small device that decrypts the digital station so that your digital QAM tuner can tune it.

TWC will eventually eliminate all of the analog channels, and when they do, they will have the FCC's approval to encrypt all of the digital channels.
That's when they will raise the rental fees for the decrypting devices or maybe even make everyone rent a full-fledged set-top box.

I bet the reason that TWC is leaving C-SPAN as a "clear" QAM channel is that it doesn't want to tick off congress.

Frankly, those eight channels are not very popular, so some people who don't get a decrypting device might not even notice that they are gone.

Okay what you are describing is a DTA and no there is no translation between it and a QAM tuner once you hook it up is not active unless you use a a/b switch. There are two DTAs that TWC has:

1 for SDV tuning for Cable Card devices
1 for tuning limited basic/expanded basic channels and these have no return path to the cable company they are one way devices.
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post #14956 of 15105
11/18/12 at 8:39pm

OK, here is what is a bit confusing.

 

Back when analog broadcasting ended in 2009, people who received analog transmissions OTA and wanted to continue using their analog-only sets had to hook up these things that were called "converter boxes" or digital-to-analog converters. Some people called those things DTAs (for digital-to-analog), but they had nothing to do with the cable company. They were for turning digital broadcast signals (ATSC) into analog signals that the set's NTSC tuner could handle.

 

OK, now move ahead to 2012. Now TWC wants to phase out analog cable. So it tells its analog subscribers that some of the channels will now be digital-only and will require what it calls a "digital adapter".

 

So my question is this: How does a "digital adapter" from TWC differ from a digital-to-analog converter box that somebody may have already purchased for OTA use.

 

Does TWC's "digital adapter" serve several purposes: 1) decrypting the encrypted digital signal, 2) serving as a tuner for the unencrypted digital signal so that it can be viewed as a digital channel on a digital set, and 3) converting the unencrypted digital signal to analog so that it can be viewed on an old analog set?

 

And how does the "digital" adapter from TWC differ from a full-fledged set-top box?

 

Obviously, if a person has a digital set, there would be no reason to convert a digital signal to analog.

 

Set-top boxes are really annoying. They take up too much space and use too much energy.

Are TWC's digital adapters any less annoying?

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post #14957 of 15105
11/18/12 at 11:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by veedon View Post

OK, here is what is a bit confusing.

Back when analog broadcasting ended in 2009, people who received analog transmissions OTA and wanted to continue using their analog-only sets had to hook up these things that were called "converter boxes" or digital-to-analog converters. Some people called those things DTAs (for digital-to-analog), but they had nothing to do with the cable company. They were for turning digital broadcast signals (ATSC) into analog signals that the set's NTSC tuner could handle.

OK, now move ahead to 2012. Now TWC wants to phase out analog cable. So it tells its analog subscribers that some of the channels will now be digital-only and will require what it calls a "digital adapter".

So my question is this: How does a "digital adapter" from TWC differ from a digital-to-analog converter box that somebody may have already purchased for OTA use.

Does TWC's "digital adapter" serve several purposes: 1) decrypting the encrypted digital signal, 2) serving as a tuner for the unencrypted digital signal so that it can be viewed as a digital channel on a digital set, and 3) converting the unencrypted digital signal to analog so that it can be viewed on an old analog set?

And how does the "digital" adapter from TWC differ from a full-fledged set-top box?

Obviously, if a person has a digital set, there would be no reason to convert a digital signal to analog.

Set-top boxes are really annoying. They take up too much space and use too much energy.
Are TWC's digital adapters any less annoying?

the adapter a pretty small they have technicolor adapters for sets that are not HD and Cisco HD adapters for HD sets. They are probably about the size of two decks of cards laid back to back and two stacked on top of each other.

the main benefits are that some of the HD channels that are encrypted such as ESPN HD and TNT HD will now be available with a digital adapter if your system has them non SDV.
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post #14958 of 15105
11/19/12 at 7:25am
How can you tell right now what channels are SDV? I can sort of guess by how some of my HD channels look, and I can tell you that the locals look just as good with cable as they do with my antenna at my location. I think all but a couple of them are SDV. The ones in 1080i definitely are.
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post #14959 of 15105
11/19/12 at 8:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jspENC View Post

How can you tell right now what channels are SDV? I can sort of guess by how some of my HD channels look, and I can tell you that the locals look just as good with cable as they do with my antenna at my location. I think all but a couple of them are SDV. The ones in 1080i definitely are.

rule of thumb locals are not SDV! you can pretty much know that most digital channels are SDV except for the very popular ones and locals. TWC in some areas has been using SDV to deliever the digital simulcast of expanded channels and even some of the limited basic digital simulcast.
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post #14960 of 15105
11/19/12 at 10:26am
Given the scenario, therefore, that all channels historically in the Basic tier -- other than C-SPAN and the OTA broadcasters -- will go encrypted over time and that some of them could even wind up in SDV, the only future-proof choice for subscribers who don't want a TWC STB is to buy a CableCard device (e.g. the HDHomeRun Prime) that includes a USB interface for TWC's SDV unit. Right?
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post #14961 of 15105
11/19/12 at 4:50pm

TWC has different names for its tiers (at least the analog ones) than most cable providers have.

The most basic tier and the very cheapest one is called "broadcast cable", which they only offer because federal law requires it. Then the expanded tier that tosses in all of the other non-premium analog channels is called "basic".

With either of those tiers, you get both analog and digital versions of the local stations.

 

Now, what difference does SDV (switched digital video) versus not-SDV make?

Isn't SDV just a way of giving the cable company flexibility in the way that it feeds channels into subscribers' homes?

What practical difference does it make for the subscriber whether the system is SDV or not?

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post #14962 of 15105
11/19/12 at 7:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by xyzzy-wizard View Post

Given the scenario, therefore, that all channels historically in the Basic tier -- other than C-SPAN and the OTA broadcasters -- will go encrypted over time and that some of them could even wind up in SDV, the only future-proof choice for subscribers who don't want a TWC STB is to buy a CableCard device (e.g. the HDHomeRun Prime) that includes a USB interface for TWC's SDV unit. Right?

no the channels below 100 are actually moving off of SDV if they had the digital simulcast version in the SDV channel pool. The DTA's cannot tune SDV frequencies so it would defeat the purpose to have them if you can't use them the DTA's have the ability to have a return path for the Cisco 170HD but the FCC won't allow it to be used.

From what TWC did in Rochester NY I believe we might see the standard channel HD versions come off of SDV once everything is digital because they have Fox Business HD available with the DTA's along with ESPN HD and TNT HD.
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post #14963 of 15105
11/19/12 at 7:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by veedon View Post

TWC has different names for its tiers (at least the analog ones) than most cable providers have.
The most basic tier and the very cheapest one is called "broadcast cable", which they only offer because federal law requires it. Then the expanded tier that tosses in all of the other non-premium analog channels is called "basic".
With either of those tiers, you get both analog and digital versions of the local stations.

Now, what difference does SDV (switched digital video) versus not-SDV make?
Isn't SDV just a way of giving the cable company flexibility in the way that it feeds channels into subscribers' homes?
What practical difference does it make for the subscriber whether the system is SDV or not?

The ability to watch your locals without a box or the availability of DTA's.

Oh and Locals will never be SDV because the stations would have a fit if they found out they weren't on all the time and not to mention the FCC could get involved.
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post #14964 of 15105
11/19/12 at 7:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kevin120 View Post


From what TWC did in Rochester NY I believe we might see the standard channel HD versions come off of SDV once everything is digital because they have Fox Business HD available with the DTA's along with ESPN HD and TNT HD.

 

You mean TWC might actually do something customer friendly for people who like digital channels, especially ones in high def, but don't want to have a set-top box? It would be nice to have ESPN in high def, with only a small digital adapter, but considering how much money ESPN charges cable systems based on the number of subscribers, I would even more like to see TWC offer an affordable digital package even if it does not include ESPN.

 

Maybe TWC will have to be nice to people for a little while as it pulls the plug on analog cable.

After all, that is the time when people could consider jumping to satellite.

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post #14965 of 15105
11/29/12 at 9:39am
I know this is a bit off topic here, but I have been having problems with our TWC DVR box for a while. I replaced our old HDC8240 (I think) we a Samsung box and things were a little better at the beginning. But now, it seems the box is really acting up again.

Sometimes, it doesn't record a show at all (says recording conflict or channel not available). Sometimes, we have trouble tuning to a channel, like ESPN (1500). Any thoughts if I should once again look for a new box?

Francisco
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post #14966 of 15105
11/29/12 at 10:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by fmoraes View Post

I know this is a bit off topic here, but I have been having problems with our TWC DVR box for a while. I replaced our old HDC8240 (I think) we a Samsung box and things were a little better at the beginning. But now, it seems the box is really acting up again.
Sometimes, it doesn't record a show at all (says recording conflict or channel not available). Sometimes, we have trouble tuning to a channel, like ESPN (1500). Any thoughts if I should once again look for a new box?
Francisco

Not off topic at all. smile.gif (at least I don't think so) wink.gif

I would exchange the box. Is it ventilated enough? I know these boxes get very hot and that may be part of the issue is it is too hot. Is it near a heat source? I have a Cisco HD box, and it will get very slow changing channels and freeze up at times, but everyone I talk to about these boxes has the same problem, and I believe it is the software, (the on screen guide and menu display software) more than the box itself.
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post #14967 of 15105
12/1/12 at 12:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jspENC View Post

Not off topic at all. smile.gif (at least I don't think so) wink.gif
I would exchange the box. Is it ventilated enough? I know these boxes get very hot and that may be part of the issue is it is too hot. Is it near a heat source? I have a Cisco HD box, and it will get very slow changing channels and freeze up at times, but everyone I talk to about these boxes has the same problem, and I believe it is the software, (the on screen guide and menu display software) more than the box itself.

I believe the box is well ventilated. It is on a shelf with nothing around it, with open space around it. I also think it is the software but convincing TWC about it (I am a software developer, so I know well about bugs in software) it near impossible. It is frustrating to pay for a service and have this quality delivered. The old SA code we had before Navigator was so much better and more stable. I don't even have PIP anymore, which is frustrating (new better box but no PIP?)

Francisco
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post #14968 of 15105
12/5/12 at 5:51am
Anyone know the status of the D* discussions w/ Capital Broadcasting? What is the likelihood that we loose WRAL/WRAZ come 1 Jan?
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post #14969 of 15105
12/5/12 at 7:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by EricRobins View Post

Anyone know the status of the D* discussions w/ Capital Broadcasting? What is the likelihood that we loose WRAL/WRAZ come 1 Jan?

I know that they're a family owned and operated company that will fight for what's fair for them and for the viewers like us. Now, back to your thread!
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post #14970 of 15105
12/5/12 at 9:23am
Ok, so I recently cut the cord. TWC just became too much for me to handle. I bought I Mohu leaf and I've plugged it up, pointed it towards the window and tried a few different areas to get stations. The only ones of note I've gotten to work are PBS, CBS, CW and FOX.

I'm not sure how to read this and figure out how to get ABC/NBC(which tvfool says I should be able to get)....Is there a common pitfall I'm most likely up against? I live in downtown raleigh on Glenwood and in a condo building(2nd floor) FYI.

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