Raleigh, NC - HDTV - Page 8

They are then using the same channel as currently in Charlotte (280) - wonder what the reason for the one week delay is....

On another note - InDemandHD is supposedly to start test broadcasting in mid-July and be on air in september for full - since TW inked the national agreement with them I hope your friend will get a memo about that going on air soon

mhdiab,

As soon as I hear anything I'll let you know.

Hello, folks:

I'm just getting into HD in the RDU area, and wanted to say hello and solicit any advice from locals. I am a TWC subscriber and a road runner user, so I'm strongly leaning to using TWC to receive HD signals.

Question: What is the possibility of TWC offering HD STB's that include a DVI output, and when might they be available?

How do other TWC subscribers rate their cable-based HD offerings?

Should I consider OTA and an antenna? How much should I expect to spend for such a setup, and will it offer clear advantages to getting HD via TWC in the Raleigh area? I live in 27612.

Thanks in advance!

Dan

Raleighwood,

I used to have Time Warner Cable and had no complaints on the HD channels. I've got DirecTV and get my local HD stuff OTA. It's hit or miss and varies day to day. If you have TWC already, by all means, stick with them. My parents just got a HDTV and they have TW and couldn't be happier with the offering.

Supposedly TW will be getting Discovery HD in the next couple weeks.

Also, one advantage of TW for your locals HD over OTA is you'll get the demo loop on PBS. Currenly OTA, the local PBS station (UNC-TV) always seems to multicast several SD channels, rather than show anything HD.

Raleighwood - I am in Charlotte and not Raleigh, but as I understand the services are very similiar. I got confirmed by TW (in Raleigh actually) that they should be putting on Discovery HD very soon - this week? the guy continued on by stating that ESPN-HD was next, but his counterpart corrected him and confirmed what is on this forum - FSN is coming next and indemandHD and not ESPN-HD.

I am very happy with TW - the main reason is that I get several HD channels without any extra costs since I have had the digital package before. Maybe my monthly are a bit higher than satelitte etc, but I have no equipment fees and that way when things gets settled within the next 12 months I can decide to keep cable or go with Dish / Direct......simple and I don't feel that I really miss anything by not having OTA - only WB and UPN aren't broadcasted in HD by cable here

Hello all,

You'll note that I am NOT in the Raleigh DMA, however when I turn the Winegard Ghostkiller with 30db amp on the roof and conditions are in the least bit good, I can get the following:

WRAL-HD
53-1 CBS
53-2 News

UNC-TV
59-1 PBS
59-2 PBS-HD
59-3 PBS Kids
59-4 PBS You
59-5 PBS APB

*Note: I cannot switch between the subchannels on 59 without it freezing, forcing me to reacquire the signal.

Now when conditions are really good, I can also get these:

UNC-TV
39-1 PBS
39-2 PBS-HD
39-3 PBS Kids
39-4 PBS You
39-5 PBS APB

WRAY-DT
42-1 SAH

WRAZ-DT
49-1 FOX (1080i)
49-2 FOX (480i)
49-3 Weather

WTVD-DT
52-1 ABC (720p)
52-2 ABC (480i)
52-3 Radar

WNCN-DT
55-1 NBC (1080i)
55-2 NBC (480i)

WLFL-DT (Yes, WLFL-DT is receivable when conditions are good)
57-1 WB (480i)

Plus I can get several Richmond and Greensboro, plus I got WSOC-DT the other day.

I watched ID4 last night on FOX49-1 until 9:30 when I lost it.

*Note: I cannot receive WRDC-DT or WRPX-DT due to WBRA-TV and WFXR-TV, and I think it sucks that I cannot get UPN digitally because of that, and they need to put UPN digital on 57 and WB on 27.

- Trip

Thanks for the info, folks.

General question: when can we reasonably expect regular cable channels like History Channel, Food Network, etc. to begin broadcasting in HD? I guess it depends on each network's schedule and wherewithal... But is there any real info out there about when we may begin seeing the transition? I know about the digital deadline coming up in a few years, but clearly the govt. won't shut down networks that fail to comply or anything...

ESPNHD will be great when it arrives! What is InDemandHD? A PPV HD movie channel?

Above I stated my friend from my local TWC office said DiscoveryHD will be added July 8th (tomorrow) to the Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville area. Well, sometime this morning they added the name and channel # to the websites city channel listings. You can check your city listing at the link below. DiscoveryHD wasn't listed on there yesterday.

http://www.twc-nc.com/cf/line_ups/index.cfm

Well, I woke up and checked and sure enough, DiscoveryHD had been added to my TWC guide. I watched a little of Great Canadian Rivers this morning and it looks great. I'm getting it from the Fayetteville hub which is part of Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville devision so Raleigh and Durham should have it now too.

Dave's Home Theater "It's finally done. Time to show-it-off" Party/Meet
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How 'bout Saturday August 2nd at 7pm for another Home Theater party.

Here's what I've put together to show off.
- Ceiling Mounted Barco CRT
- 6.1 Surround System - Yamaha Receiver and Wharfedale Pacifics mainly.
- Aura Bass Shakers
- HTPC, TheaterTek, Radeon 7500
- TimeWarner Cable Box 3200HD HDTV Receiver
- Custom Cherry Home Cabinetry with 80x45 homemade screen - my own design and build.
- Lutron 4 Zone Lighting Control
- Automatic blind control
- Xantech Infrared distribution system
- Home Theater Master MX-500 remote control.

It's not as well integrated as it should be and I've got a few cosmetic final touches, but I'd love to show it all off and get all your "here's how you coulda-shoulda done it better" ideas. (Be nice, I've spent a year on this thing).
Bring your favorite reference DVD and I'll supply munchies and beer/wine. For obvious reasons, I don't want to post my address on-line along with my equipment list (it's in the West Cary area). If interested, (no commitment necessary), send me a Private Message for directions.

Any idea on a timetable? My parents just got their HD TV and Discovery won't get watched much if ever in their household, but the three listed above will.

Does anybody know if WRDC-DT UPN 28(27.1) out of Raleigh has raised their power? I noticed lastnight and this morning their signal strength here was hitting 79%. Before lastnight it's never gotten above 35%. Usually it fluctuates between 0% and 15%.

Again lastnight and this morning WRDC-DT UPN 28(27.1) out of Raleigh was hitting in the 70's % range. Heck due to tropospheric ducting WRDC-DT UPN 28(27.1) WRAL-DT 5(53.1) out of Raleigh both were hitting on a steady 100%. And I'm 76 mile south of the towers.

I've never gotten UPN OTA. Hmm, I'll rescan my channels tonight.

Currently, as my antenna is pointed, I'm getting ABC, CBS and Fox OTA. I still have yet to be able to find WB for Smallville, nor have I come across UPN.

Tropospheric ducting, Daryl? Man, am I out of MY league. You guys are hard friggin' CORE, man.

keefer37,

I still get the week 0 to 15% fluctuations from WLFL-DT UPN 22(57.1) and my toshiba dst3000 needs atleast a 37% signal to get any audio/video. I'm quite possitive WRDC-DT 28 has indeed increased to full power cause their signal strength reading is still maintaining equal strength with WRAL who is at full power and basicly near each other(same block I think they call it tower alley? outside of Garner?).

Raleighwood,

Hehe, tropo ducting has to do with the weather causing RF signal to travel closer to the ground at farther distances making it possible for people to receive tv and radio signal better much farther away. The following link graphs the expected tropo ducting a couple days ahead with color levels. The brighter the color over your location the better the reception possibilities. Ham radio operators use this info all the time for loooooooooong distant comunications. I can't explain it more technically, sorry. I'm a rookie.

http://www.globalserve.net/~hepburnw/tropo.html

I must agree--WRDC-DT DOES seem to be much stronger than WLFL-DT now--though not as strong as WRAL-DT. Very noticable here in Charlotte Co., VA, where analog channel 27 had prevented ANY reception of it until last night (although WFXR-TV has been on low power for over a week).

- Trip

Does anyone know if the SA 3250HD will have DVI enabled? Also does anyone have the SA 3250HD yet?

Same block ? - Try "SAME TOWER" !

WRAL, WRAZ (both analog and Digital)
WRDC (Analog and digital (I think))
WLFL (Digital) are all on the same tower

WTVD (analog and digital) and WNCN (17 -analog and digital) are on their own towers not more than .5 mile away from WRAL's tower.

So if this is true, why do I get no signal, or crappy signal from 17? Is it a matter of power, rather than distance?

Analog 17, or Digital 55 ?

It may very well be a signal strength issue, an interfernce issue. Let me check another site tonight (and I'll post the URL so you can check your location) that should be able to shed more light on this.

The digital (HD) channel, which my HD Tuner remaps to 17-1 I believe.

Thanks. I appreciate it.

Ok - I checked the site www.ardman.net - the digital channel IS slightly weaker than the analog at my zip code. It's probably the same for your place.

HeHeHe I knew they were close to each other.

I called "Romeo," the CE at WLFL/WRDC, and he said to write letters--lots of letters--to WLFL/WRDC to show that there is demand for digital TV. He said that they replaced a fiber line to WRDC-DT, that being the only change other than what I believe he said was a temporary test with higher power. *can't remember*

- Trip

I'm new to all of this. Please go easy on me.

I live in Cary and just got a HDTV with tuner. I'm looking for advice on what digitial channels I should be able to get, what resolution they broadcast in, what I need for an over the air antenna, whether Direct TV's HD package is worth while and any other advise you all can offer.

Right now, I am picking up a few digital channels with rabbit ears, but I have no idea if I would get more with a roof top/attic antenna. I receive UNC-HD with a strong signal, but there's nothing on. I heard this channel is supposed to be awesome for quality. Any ideas?

Thanks,

David

howada,

Unfortunately, as it is, UNC-TV isn't broadcasting a HD signal from what I understand. The PBS loop that is availbe via TW Cable is breathtaking, but alas OTA, they don't broadcast (PBS that is).

You should be able to get the three networks, most likely Fox, and maybe UPN and WB.

I totally love the DirecTV HD package, mainly for Discovery and ESPN, though so far, there isn't a whole lot of content on ESPN HD. HDNet looks great too BTW.

Howada, go to www.antennaweb.org . There you can put in your address and the enigine will give you an idea of what type of antenna to use and what stations you can get. My guess is you can definitely get away with an attic mount since you are in Cary.

Has anyone heard about the SA 3250HD coming in yet to raleigh. Wasn't it supposed to come out in the 2nd week of july.
Thanks