Indianapolis / Terre Haute / Lafayette, IN - HDTV - Page 5

WooHoo, new HD channel ! I'm getting 100% signal strength up here in Kokomo which is a great sign for the future. They are showing one of the Travels in Europe shows in HD right now too (2/18 7:45p). Looks pretty good, not quite HDnet quality level but good none the less.

It looks like they have the WFYI channel on 20.2 and HD demo loop or something on 20.1.

I just saw the feed myself and it is very nice. Am I to assume the "HD Loop" runs all the time? I hate having poeple over at odd times and no HD content to demo. This would be much welcomed if it is.

A little after 8:00 it switched to the Nova show which is on regular WFYI now. Quality isn't very good for it though. It is widescreen.

Yea, I noticed that as I flipped back from ABC Programming during the commeercial breaks. Nothing like the shots before 8 PM I saw.

Hey Kevin - did you ever give any thought to starting a Kokomo HD Users Group? Any interest?

Due to the nasty weather we are having lately I have the tower down to the 30ft level.DT-21 is fluctuating from 50 down to 28,with dropouts,caused more by interference from FT Wayne analog 21,than lower antenna height.It has been pretty stable at 50-55 with no drops.If I raise the tower to 50-60ft,it'll come in at 68-72,on the DTC-100.

WNDY is still totally unwatchable,with interference from WLKY-32.I did catch it when WLKY was off the air,and the signal went to high 80's and stable.

It would be interesting to know what's causing your weak signal on DT-21.Maybe a small antenna you could move around easily,like a RSDBT,would work.


Alan,
If you can get that 4228 up where the Combo is now,it should work much better,especially if you use a good preamp with it.I'm curious as to your reception of WKPC on DT-17?

I have the CM 7777 preamp for it. Someone else also mentioned a preamp for the ant on the tower and there is a CM preamp on it (not sure which model altho it is a CM).

How are you raising and lowering your antenna? What are you using? That sounds interesting.

My recept of WKPC is nada. Don't even think I get a blip on the meter. EDIT: I just remembered... I get a fuzzy analog at 17. I think it is a lower power station out of Salem.

I'm gonna have to see where Greensburg is... I assume you get the Lousiville stations? If so look for WAVE and WLKY (DT47 and 26) to be on this Friday (so I have been told). During their tests they've been rock solid 100% on the meter.

Thanks for the info.
AlanH

The tower I use is the T-160 model.
http://www.alumatower.com/new/towers1s.html

Antennas are horizontally stacked Televes Pro Range 75's,w/Ref5006 preamp coupler.

http://www.stardubai.com/telacc_act_coupler.htm

I'm not surprised you can't get DT-17.I can rarely get it,for the same reason.I think those two towers are only 20 some miles apart.DT-55 is mostly reliable,and have locked onto DT-47 a couple times.I'm right at 70mi north of Lou.The limiting factor with receiving the Lou DT's(with the exception of 55) is [will be] co-channel interference on 26,8,47,49,17.It's gonna be a crowded mess for a long time.

Knowing how much aluminum trussing costs, I am afraid to ask... but.... how much are those towers?



55 is not reliable here at all. As a matter of fact, I've never had it viewable except for the two higher power tests that I know of. In that case it did have enough for a lock but just barely. 37-44 on the meter if I remember correctly. During the day of the Super Bowl (high power that day) reception did improve into the evening to where it was decent with a little pixelation and only a couple of bad breakups. That was before my DST 3000 upgraded to firmware 5099. Not sure if there were any reception tweaks in the firmware or not. (When I say 'lock' I am referring to the recever being able to display video/audio).

I do get a reading fot DT8 but never viewed. It has sometimes been high enough for a lock BUT 8-1 is mapped to Indy so I haven't bothered with DT8 (if I punch in 8-1 my receiver tunes to DT9 in Indy).

The tests at DT26 and DT47 have been my only consistent locks. I do get readings at other channels but not enough for a lock.

Cincy NBC and CBS stations have come in a few times high enough for a lock.... altho sometimes I don't even get a blip there. Also caught 50-1 (ABC viewable... might've been Dayton(?).

I can almost always get signal at DT08 (Louisville?), DT 09 (Indy), DT25 (Ind), DT46 (Indy), DT49 (Louisville), DT53 (Indy) DT55 (Louisville) and DT 56 (Indy) ... but rarely enough for a lock.

I have had all the above listed Indy channels lock in before (except 56). I'm surprised I see anything off of 53 with their power that low but I have watched 53-1 and 53-2 on a couple of different (late) nights recently... with good results even. As a matter of fact, DT53 has been my most consistent lock from Indy when I've gotten enough signal to lock. IOW... once it locked they didn't drop in and out at all. Of course the next morning the signal had fallen back. Dt25 and 53 have been my most likely stations to receive (Not counting WAVE 47 and WLKY 26).

My analog ch 4 reception is very good. Now that I think of it, best reception on ch4 (ant location) is east of the other Indy channels. Meaning the ant isn't looking directly into the hill and tress behind me like it is for the other Indy stations.

I guess the good part for me is that I am on a hill ...and the southern view is good. Eastern view is pretty good as well. The bad part is that I am not on TOP of the hill.

...So.... one of those crank up towers planted further up the hill behind the house... hmmmmmm


I suppose first priority should be to get the CM 8 bay UHF ant on top of the tower I have... somehow. The higher the better.


Looks like it. Any and all tips are appreciated.

AKH

I finally got approval from the fiance to get a STB, but now I am having confilicting thoughts about going OTA or getting HDTV service from comcast. I would appreciate some feedback from people to help me in this decision. Thanks.

If you're in the Indianapolis area, I think the only options on Comcast are HBO, Showtime, NBC, and CBS (maybe). Of course, HBO and Showtime are premium channels.

If you go with a STB, you get ABC (2channels), NBC(2 channels), CBS(3 channels), PBS (still in the early stages-2 channels), UPN, Fox, WB. I almost forgot WHMB (religious), has 2 channels. Maybe I'm just prejudiced because I have a STB

Sorry about HD last night folks. CBS sent new HD receivers to us, then immediately needed to update their software. The updating process got slightly bollixed up as I was out for two days with the flu. Things are back in shape now, and I'm awaiting the last device which will allow us to do the Grammys in 5.1 surround this Sunday.

Regards,

Tom Weber
WISH Engineering

Tom,

Thanks for the great information. It's good to know you all are paying attention and are generous with the info we are looking for.


-mike

Can someone explain me what STB means? I know, I'm a newbie!

Is this through a satellite dish? or is it the Over the air receiver? I currently have comcast and I would like to know what my options are. Does anybody know the total amount comcast charges for adding a motorola 5100? also, can I have a regular digital box in one room and a 5100 in another one?

thanks!
Jorge

STB: Set Top Box. These are for OTA (over the air) signals. You can buy a STB that recive HD signals from both the air and sat, or one that only recieves OTA signals. I am sorry I can't really answer your Comcast question because the quote they gave me was for upgrading from analog cable. I don't currently have digital cable. I do believe that you can have the Moto 5100 in one room and a regular digital box in another. You might want to contact Comcast in reference to your pricing question. They will give you a complete quote for what you want. Hope this helps.

Hey, folks, late this afternoon I changed over to the 5.1 channel Dolby encoder box (so far using 2-channel mode). It has different delay characteristics than the 2-channel only encoder. I've approximately set the delay to about where it needs to be, but any feedback on audio/video advance/delay (lip flap) will be gratefully accepted - even more gratefully if you can specify whether your comment is on CBS HD or our upconvert (I have some ability to adjust those independently.).

I'm supposed to have the last necessary device for 5.1 surround, in the morning.

Thanks in advance and regards,

Tom Weber
WISH Engineering

After complaining about their coverage of The Daytona 500 (was not shown in WS due to THEIR decision to show weather related info and they could not do both) I must have been added to WXIN FOX 59 information mailing. Thought members of this Group would find the below interesting.

Just a note to all DTV viewers:

Both WXIN-DT 45 and WTTV-DT 53 are now transmitting program guide
information. You should see guide information on 59-0, 59-1, 59-2 and/or
4-0, 4-1, and 4-2 (depending on which signal you can watch). You should
also see channel description information if you scroll over to the channel
number (at least that's how it works on an RCA receiver). There will be
guide information available for 9-12 hours into the future.

If anyone notices that the guide information is not working on their
particular receiver, feel free to reply and let me know what kind of trouble
you may be having. If you are having trouble, check to see if you have
guide information on 8-1 and 8-2; that will be an important fact to know.

Also please let me know if you now can't watch 59-1 or 59-2 (or 4-1 or 4-2),
or have lost audio or some other basic problem. As many of you know, we
work on the encoding and multiplexing equipment, strange things can happen.

Thanks for all of your help in making DTV work like it's supposed to.

Rick Poling
RF Supervisor
WTTK-TV 29
WTTV-TV WB4
WTTV-DT 53
WXIN-TV FOX 59
WXIN-DT 45

That's a very good possibility,and it's just as likely that Fox-32 from Chicago could be blasting in from the backside.They're closer by around 30mi,and have much higher antenna height-1500+ft.

Alan,
These towers are very handy,but costwise they're a little salty-2K-up.Bought mine used from a ham in Mobile,Al.They are popular along the coast because of the corrosion factor,and the ability to lower antenna arrays,or lay them over completely on the ground,in high winds.

I see WAVE DT-47 is coming in much better this evening-70-76 on the DTC.Strangely enough,DT-55 is almost non-existent at a solid 28.Go figure.

I do not have channel guied information for WISH nor WXIN or WTTV. I get 59.1-2, not 4.1-2 and am using a Sony HD100 box. Does anyone know if there are any upgrades or something I would need for my receiver to get the channel guides?

That's not as scary as I expected.


I'm seeing lots of things popping in and out tonight. I would assume your cincy reception should be pretty good tonight. They are coming in here ...altho I am watching IU play so havent had the chance to really scan the channels.

AKH

I received a personal note from Rick a few days ago citing their need to serve the public per FCC regulations. While I didn't give him any "crap" back, I didn't think there was anything worthy on the storm during the Sunday afternoon during the race.

My Toshiba didn't get any guide for 4-1 or 4-2 even tho DT53 was coming in fairly strong this evening/morning.

53-1 mapped to 4-1. 53-2 did NOT map to 4-2. Also, 53-1 and 53-2 were identical (WB4) and not WB4 and WXIN59 as I've seen before.

As far as 8-1 guide info.... I'll get that whether or not I even have an OTA ant hooked up... I'll get it via satellite (as long as my zip code is in the Toshiba).

-AKH

Below is reply and my response to WXIN (59) & WTTV (4) Survey on adding Guide Information from Rick Poling, Supervisor. Don't get confused my name is also Rick (Moore) He thinks the NASCAR Race was in HD but we know better. Thanks to Forms like AVS we know more than most of the employees that are supplying services to us, it appears. Kind of like DVR's most of us have, but no one else understands. Sad but true, but some communications are better than none.

Thanks for your response. This email got mixed results, some say everything works fine, some don't. You have pictures and sound on both 59-1 and 59-2 now, correct?

It doesn't surprise me that some receivers would have to do a new channel
scan after I changed out the multiplexer. Even though the output is
basically the same except for adding some more guide PID's.

The guide info we transmit will be the same thing that the newspaper has.
We FTP it from a source that collects guide information for places like
newspapers. I have not investigated the ability to update the information
in real time, but I'm sure it could be done, but I don't know if it's worth
the effort. Usually you would want to change this due to a shift in a live
sporting event, and I can tell that during a live sporting event the
operator isn't going to care what schedule he is transmitting.

I caught a lot of flack over the race Sunday. The viewer comments have been passed on to management.

As far as Pacers' games in HD, that's probably a long way off. As far as
NASCAR, I don't know if they have anymore planned this year or not. If they do we'll carry them.

You also mentioned 5.1 audio. FOX just began sending it to us. It takes at
least 2 more pieces of equipment to get this from the satellite receiver to
the HD switching equipment, then I'm not sure how I'm going to switch it
(too complicated to explain). So, I'm thinking about it, but I have no
guidance from management yet on when they will buy the equipment. Since we are currently designing a new studio, I hope by then we'll be 5.1.

Thanks for your input.

Rick

-----Original Message-----
From: Rick Moore [mailto:Rick7580@msn.com]
Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2003 8:58 PM
To: Poling, Rick
Subject: Re: WXIN/WTTV program guide information


Thanks for the info. This may be why last night @ 10 P.M. I couldn't find
59-2 due to up-dating. Gave my Wife a shocking look when watching the Pacers I switched to the HDTV receiver and on 59-02 was a black screen. I found WTTV on our Local DirecTV channel 4, just in time. That was a good game thanks to Reggie, and could have been much better if they had won.

Thanks to DVR's we watch what we want and when. Came home after the Game had started but had recorded it till only 10 P.M. then NYPD on (6) and Kingpin (fantastic in HDTV) on 13.

Have a complete "Home Theater" with Toshiba 65" HDTV, Onkyo Receiver
TX-DS898 with seven channel sound (Energy speakers). Use RCA DirecTV
DWD490RE receiver(Ultimate TV) with dual-tuner video recorder and a Hughes E-86 HDTV receiver. Great set-up but still need a HDTV recorder that may be available later this year.

Per your info I just up-dated the Hughes HDTV Receiver for OTA program guide on 59-1 and 59-2. I do now have your Guide for 59-1 WXIN, but still just show "Regular Schedule" for WTTV. Maybe it will show up in the future and no big deal @ present with the great guide info from the other receiver that has 14 days in advance and is upgraded daily. I fall back on The Star, but the down-loaded guide is usually always right to the minute.

Hope FOX gets with it and goes 1080 HDTV. Once you have it you watch
programs that in the past you may not have, due to the picture quality. I
have a Internet print-out for each week showing HDTV shows (HDTVGALAXY) and use it for programming viewing. Needless to say FOX is not shown but CBS, NBC, WB (not shown here yet in 1080?) and ABC with 720p). Also HBO-HD, Showtime-HD, HDNET & Discovery-HD, but again no FOX!

Was a poor decision not to show ALL of the Daytona 500 in WS due to the
weather. It was in DD5.1 wasn't it?

Do get to watch the Pacers play the Nicks on Tuesday April 15th on DirecTV
(198) in HDTV thanks to NBATV!!! Did get All-Stars Games and Knicks and
Lakers in HDTV this past Sunday, and again it was fantastic.

Any chance that someday a NASCAR Race or Pacer Game could be viewed from WTTV or WXIN?

Again, thanks for the up-date.

CSI got off to an ugly start at my house. The switched to the HD feed after Survivor brought an exceptionally loud static sound. There were lots of pixelization issues with the opening scenes and opening credits. The sound did corrected itself but there have been lots of drop outs. I hope the next 55 minutes go better.

I believe the sound went back to normal cause they switched off of the HighDef Feed. It looks like normal definition to me.

g

Yea, the HD feed was switched off. I didn't notice that as I started typing instead of watching.

The "green filtered" sceens are still breaking up really bad.

Yeah I am getting breakup too.... but what else is new

g

Lost the sound at the Wendy's Commerical, lost video at the SBC commercial. I am hopefull Sunday's Grammys goes way better...