Champaign, IL - HDTV - Page 156

Hey all,

It's been a bit since I posted anything but in case anyone is keeping score or whatever you want to call it, I just wanted to say that I am no longer the Assistant Engineer for WRSP WCCU WBUI television.

I guess mostly I didn't want anyone thinking I had abandoned the feedback here or anything with no more replies.

This was not by any fault of myself or the station, I have simply moved on to better opportunities.

PS, I have no idea if the Bears Preseason games will be in HD or not this year.
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Josh Miller begin_of_the_skype_highlighting*****end_of_the_skype_highlig hting

No HD tonight on the Bears/Chargers game on Fox 27.1? The picture looks like crap.

Sorry, Stan. Definitely HD in Chicago on WFLD-DT 31 (32.1).

WCCU should be ashamed of themselves. I saw their OTA feed and it looked as bad as some of the MNF broadcasts in the 70s. Thank god I have access to WFLD...I feel bad for the Crapcast customers (and those who don't know how to get WFLD) in the WCCU market. I'm a STH and i for one will be calling both the Bears and WFLD in the morning to lodge a complaint regarding WCCU. I highly doubt they will be happy to hear what this backwoods hick operation is doing to their product. (Yes, I remember Josh's explanation last year about the quality but really, that's not a valid excuse in this day of government mandated digital signals.)

Edit: It's nice to know that they actually do care. When I talked to WFLD they said they couldn't do anything since they are just middlemen for the broadcasts. The team wasn't happy at all and said they'd take address the issue with WFLD. Did anyone by chance use a TV capture card to record the game on thier computer? I'm thinking a snapshot of how bad the quality was would go a long way to forcing a fix to the issue. I'm hoping if it's an equipment issue (as Josh suggested last year) that perhaps they'll yank the rights from WCCU and offer them to WAND who should have the equipment now that they've done their upgrade.

Once again, Fox does not show the Bears game in HD. To add insult to injury is the "HD" logo on the screen in the top score bar.

The SD picture looks like ass.

Fox is lame, as usual.

At this point I'm just going to buy the Hauppauge PVR and transfer the WFLD HD feed from my sat DVR to the computer. I feel bad for you guys that are stuck with WCCU on Comcast and don't have the option to grab the Chicago feeds. I never asked but I may call my contact with the organization this week and see if there is anything in the contracts tying them to WCCU or if they could go to WAND next year. Perhaps if a lot of us start complaining they'll consider making the switch (if they can contractually.) I suspect that the last thing WCCU would want is to lose the preseason broadcasts since they essentially set up their advertising (and advertiser's rates.)

Not sure how it used to be but I remember Green Bay would have their preseason telecasts on WFRV which at the time was an ABC station. It's not like they HAVE to go with a FOX affiliate.

I just hope they get this Comcrap stuff figured out before the regular season starts. Otherwise I'll be on the horn with Direct TV.

It's not Comcast's fault...it's WCCU that is living in the stone ages. Like I said, unless you have sat where you came figure out a way around being stuck with Champaign locals you're at the mercy of WCCU and the other minor league stations in the area. If I remember from Josh's post last year, it has to do with WCCU not having the ability to retransmit a feed received from another station....they can retransmit (passthrough) a feed from the national feeds. So the Bears will be on WCCU in HD once the regular season begins and thankfully for you guys they don't have a 3pm game so you won't miss kickoffs. (Still can't believe the idiots at WCCU didn't have to/wouldn't cut away to it.)

Thanks msajeff for the update. Lets just hope who ever is picking up the regular season games will have the retransmit capability.

SD does look terrible on any plasma or LCD. It takes an old CRT TV to make SD look decent. I have yet to see SD on any flat panel look good.

It also looks horrid on my normally sized computer monitor. At this point I don't really care. Like I said, I have access to WFLD and have a HD PVR capture device that's being delivered tomorrow.

On another note, WAND is still looking awesome via our PC's QAM tuner. I jusst wish their end of commercial break weather spots were updated to HD so that it wasn't such as abrupt cut to the network HD feed of SNL and SNF.

the reality is, bears fans will still watch the garbage picture

the tv stations are in it for the money, and then the glory. more than likely the pre-season package costs a bundle, leaving little for upgrads as it is. spending that kind of money on 12 hours of programming in one year would be silly.

the only way to fix it is for viewers with the nielsen boxes and books to not watch it.

yeah, it is too different sets up equipment to do both, although they share a path

the syndicated shows have to be recorded, and then replayed through automation with local ads and what not, a significant upgrade.

the local broadcast stuff needs HD production and local ingest capability along with output


i too would rather have the top notch syndicated programming in HD rather than the high school news, but it is a step, and a more marketable one for the stations

Capped the Comcast local feed in case the storms screwed with the satellite. (Thankfully it didn't!) I may be thinking it was worse than it was in week 1 but tonight's broadcast seemed a bit better on WCCU.

WEIU was showing the movie The Mighty Wind in 1:78 to 1 HD and it looked great.

I have just disconnected my cable and now I have only OTA. I had the OTA digital feed for CBS out of Springfield (channel was 49-2 or something) off a DirecTV receiver from my antenna in my attic at one time.

Now Looking at TVFool I have no CBS channel available in the Springfield area. It looks like I will need to get a preamp or amplifier to get WMBD out of Peoria.

Ideas from anyone?? I live about 12 miles north of Springfield.

Thanks

You need to look for WCFN-DT 13 (49-1). It may have My Network TV listed as its affiliation on TVFool.

- Trip

CBS-HD is STILL on WCFN-DT 49-2, but is on RF13. It's actually a very strong signal, (MUCH stronger than when it was on RF53) so I'm very surprised you can't pull it in - even being 12 miles north of Spfld.
Is your attic antenna a UHF only - if so, that may be your problem, particularly being in an attic. (attics DO cut down on signal considerably, depending on house/roof construction)
Also, do you have it pointed properly - it should be pointed toward Mechanicsbug, since that is where the WCFN tower is (along w/WICS & WRSP)
An amp might help, but the antenna still needs SOME signal to amplify - if you aren't getting squat at the antenna, you're only amping noise.

FYI - this past weekend I just installed a Winegard HD7078P V/U outside antenna in an attic down in Chatham & I had NO problem pulling in WCFN-DT - matter of fact, it pulled in EVERY local channel (including WILL-DT) & WITHOUT any kind of amp.

Thanks
Yes my antenna is UHF (4 Bay 4221). When I had a preamp on I had no problems getting WCFN. (My preamp shot craps). What is weird I can get WEEK on the backside from this antenna.

I am not sure if I can fit that 7078 in my attic although the WAF is not important now the SO is no more I guess I can just drop the sucker in the front lawn.

Again, that was probably BEFORE WCFN switched to RF13 - if it was still on RF53, it WOULD probably still work. WCFN did not switch to RF13 until June 2009 & your current antenna was NOT made to pick up VHF freqs.
Also, did you actually totally REMOVE your pre-amp out of your downlead - if it broken, it will not pass the TV signals properly.


Not really weird, as you're actually probably getting it more off the side than back. (if you are pointing it toward the Spfld stations, Peoria would be straight north of you off the side of the antenna) All of the Peoria stations are actually fairly easy to pull in north of Spfld.


Well that's a tad low for good reception. But seriously, having it outside the house would be best.
But, if you insist on the attic, here's an equivalent Winegard antenna that will get you all locals, sans the VHF low band elements. (ch 2-6) Since those are the widest elements, this newer antenna is more narrower than the 7078:

http://www.winegard.com/kbase/upload/HD7695P.pdf

You might be surprised to find that you might be able to pull in WILL-DT yourself. (it's on RF9)

Also another tip - since you are so far north, it should NOT be hard to pull in the Peoria-Bloomington stations. Since your bow-tie isn't really suited for all the Spfld locals, simply turn it toward the north & you should be able to get the P/B channels. Run a separate coax to your set from the new antenna for Spfld & use an A/B switch to switch between the 2 antennas & WALLA - you now have locals from BOTH markets!

Wow ...where is the embarrassed emoticon when you need it??? *Thanks* for all your input Dishrich. I thought for sure the channel came in as 3-1...omfg. Of course you said 49-2 several times and I couldn't get it through my thick skull. 49-2 comes in at about 80% signal strength. woohooo

Thanks for the suggestion about an A/B switch but I have a Windows 7 Media Center that is being fed by an Averco Dual tuner (QAM) and a dual tuner HDHomeRun. (I just added the HDHomeRun plugged into the antenna in the attic).

I miss DirecTV but this setup is working out great.

I have had cable tv for 28 years but never had a cable box. I just hooked up my Comcast basic settop box (not digital adapter) to my digital DVD player with coax and the DVD player to my digital HDTV with QAM tuner with coax, also. I also have a HDMI connection from my DVD player to the HDTV. I even hooked up the left, right and video connections from the settop box to the DVD player, also.

Before today with just the Comcast coax cable from the wall to my DVD player and coax from the DVD to the HDTV and with the HDMI connection between the DVD and HDTV, I was able to get the local channels (CBS/WCIA, ABC/WCIS, NBC/WAND, and the PBS channels) in high definition.
Now with the box I cannot get the the local channels In HD. I called Comcast and got someone in Louisiana and she said that I have to have a high definition box in order to get the local channels in HD.

1. Is this true?


2. Obviously, I can unhook the Comcast box and go back the old way to get the HD local channels but not be able to get channels 24 through 72 after Comcast does their switchover in November and December for our area. As Comcast has stated that you will not need a box for the basic channels (2 to 23) even after December, although I wonder if that will change in the future. Is there an alternative to get the HD local channels and still get channels 24 to 72 on my HDTV?

I thought about splitting the cable coming out of the wall and send the signal straight to the TV and the other to Comcast cable box. Then i would watch channels 2 to 23 on the HDTV and channels 24 to 72 with my DVD player. Althought the last time I tried to spilt the signal between the TV and the DVD player without the Comcast cable box, the signal was good on the TV but snowy on the DVD player.

Any help would be appreciated as I don't want to pay Comcast $8 a month for HDTV that I already had.

Thanks

Well first of all, hooking a cable box to your DVD player makes no sense at all to me, so I haven't a clue what you're trying to accomplish here. (I've also never heard of a "coax input" on a DVD player, either ) It sounds like you're making it more complicated than necessary - if your DVD player has an HDMI output, that is ALL you should need to the TV.

Bottom line - if you don't want to spring for the HD box, then your only alternatives are:

- If your TV has an extra A/V input (yellow, white & red inputs), split the cable, then run 1 output to the cable box, the other output to the TV ant input. THEN, run an A/V cable from the A/V outs on the cable box, into those A/V inputs on the TV. You can then watch the local HD's on the TV tuner, then when you want to watch cable channels, switch the TV input to the A/V input above for the cable box, then change channels on the cable box. Since you can change TV inputs on the TV remote, you don't even have to get out of your chair to change between the cable box & straight cable feed.

- If your TV does NOT have an A/V input, then split the cable, then run 1 output to one side of an A/B coax switch, the other output to the cable in on the box. Run the TV out on the cable box to the other side of the A/B switch. You'll have to put the TV on ch 3 when you flip the switch to the box output - then use the TV tuner when the switch is flipped to the straight cable feed.

As far as not needing a box for 2-22, I don't see this lasting forever, either. CC has already eliminated ALL analog channels (including limited basics) on a few systems, & is looking to eventually expand this to other systems. So far, they HAVE kept the limited basics on CLEAR QAM (NOT encrypted) on these systems...

First of all, thanks Dishrich.

Second, when I was referring to making coax connections between devices, I was referring to the Comcast cable and the AR cables that you buy at Best Buy which may be considered RG-6 cables now instead of the old standard 75 ohm coaxial cable.
Third, I should have said DVD recorder instead of DVD player. The Comcast manual says to connect the cable from the wall outlet to the settop box first and the box to the DVD recorder second and the DVD recorder to the HDTV. I would think you would want to do that anyway if you want to record any TV shows.

I tried my way first to get the local HD channels and it did work. I tried your way and it works better. The only possible downside with your way is that with connecting the left, right and video cables from the settop box to the HDTV, I am left with connecting the settop box to the DVD recorder with the RG-6 cable to the output and input terminals, respectively. However, for recording purposes I don't know if there is much difference usually the RG-6 cable versus the A/V cables.

Thanks for the future information regarding channels 2 to 22.

I have to say I am not excited about paying Comcast an extra $8 amonth for HD when I have been geting it for free for 3 years. I realize I would get all the channels in HD for $8.

In all seriousness, I would be happy to buy you lunch sometime or 1/2 hour of consulting time for your help if that is allowed on this website.

Jim, check your PM if you would like some more assistance...

A couple other tidbits I'll add - for our purposes of discussion, "75 ohm" & "RG6" cable is one & then same - bottom line, it's the RF inputs/outputs that you are speaking of - & now that you are telling me it's a DVD recorder, THAT makes way more sense.

Yes, both recording & viewing programming out of the digital box will look better, & sound better (& in STEREO), out of the A/V outputs than using the coax (ch 3) output. As you can see, there is ONLY 1 set of A/V outputs on those digital boxes. While you could put a Y adaptor on the L/R audio outs, the video will probably degrade if you try this on the video output. There are inexpensive A/V distribution amps that take a single A/V output & split it 3-4 ways, which would be the correct way to do it.

If you don't want to do this, then another way to do it - run the A/V outputs from the digital box directly to the A/V inputs on the DVD recorder. Then, using the HDMI cable from the DVD recorder, you would have to leave the DVD recorder turned on & on the line input that the digital box is connected to, in order to watch thru the digital box out to the TV.

Of course, you can't use the RF out on the digital box to the TV, since you are also wanting to run the straight cable directly to it for the local HD - but you could run both if you put an A/B switch on the coax input to the TV. (1 side to the straight cable, the other side to the RF output on the digital box)

I got to be honest with you, while I am NOT making a sales pitch for Comcast in ANY way, you really should consider getting one of their DVR's. You would be able to actually record in HD (your DVD recorder obviously does NOT do this), have 2 tuners to record 2 shows at once, while still watching a 3rd pre-recorded show, skip commercials on pre-recorded shows, & obviously get the rest of the HD channels that are part of your cable pkg. You set shows directly off the guide with 1 touch & they automatically record with the guide listing data, so if shows change dates/times, the DVR follows along.
You can also hook up your DVD recorder very easily to the DVR & copy any shows you want to keep off the DVR to DVD. (the DVD's will NOT be in HD, of course)

After having a DVR for a few days, you'll wonder how you lived without one!!!

This is more or less the case. The preseason games come from an independent provider, the regular season games are provided by Fox. Getting the HD feed would require extra receivers and switching equipment since the Fox network HD is all handled by a special network setup.

This goes for the syndicated content, which also, as you mentioned in the next post would require special video servers.

W33AY-LD on channel 33 is now on the air. What's on the mighty 4 kilowatt station?

HSN.

- Trip

Nice to see Comcast finally coming through some new HD channels for our system. I like having more choices, although I really have to search to find them. I wish all the HD channels could be put all together.

Irritated that WAND and WICD won't invest in graphics for HD. WAND was showing the SNF game in SD. To make matters worse, their graphics for school closings was running right over the network graphics showing the score of the football game. I had to rely on the announcers to let me know what the score was.