Montgomery, AL - HDTV - Page 17

Hey guys...

Thought I'd drop in and say hello... hope you all had a Merry Christmas... also hope you will have a Happy New Year.

All is going well down in Luverne. WSFA still looking questionable at best with the HD... but we enjoy the Directv HD... it always looks pretty good.

tomtb2

Are you talking about audio dropouts or where the picture freezes periodically?

I haven't watched a lot on NBC the past few days, but I don't recall any problems with what I have watched.

If anyone needs any commscope RG-11 coax I have two different kinds to sale for cheap! The first kind is F1177TSVM (Tripleshielded, 77%braid, Brightwire for corrosion resistance, Groundwire) the second is F1177TSEF (Tripleshieded, 77%braid, PE jacket for underground use, Floodant for waterproofing) This very expensive coax that CATV companies use. I got a great deal on this stuff so get it while its here. CHEAP! Let me know, I don't live to far from Montgomery

Does anyone have any idea when Knology will add NBC HD and Fox HD to their lineup?

Does anyone know if or when Charter is going to offer HD channels besides ESPN, HBO, Showtime, Disc, and HGTV?

Guess not

Hey All-
An update on WAKA-Dt, as we've been down doing a bit of work today:

The CH-55 DT antenna and transmission line have been hung and are completing final testing.
The 3 tube, 1 megawatt digital transmitter will be delivered soon.
The digital microwave has been installed and is operational.
Expected delivery of the CBS HD receiver is mid-late February, and we will pass the CBS HD & 5.1 on day one.
The encoding gear is currently operational here in Charlotte as WOLO-DT, once the new WOLO gear arrives we will begin system installation.

We'll keep you posted as to the actual on air date..somewhere around spring or so as there is a tremendous amount of work left to do.

For those who don't know, the tower is located off CR12 near Gordonsville..
Right beside the WNCF tower.

bdfox18doe

Thanks for the update.

We're looking forward to getting CBS in High Def.

If you're going to be in the area for a few days, let us know. We can take you to dinner one evening.

Thanks for the offer..leaving late this afternoon after a trip over to selma unfortunately..We'll keep you posted..

Sounds good. The fact that the tower will be near the WNCF tower sounds good (was afraid it might be away from the other stations towers)--should be able to get all the digital channels without moving the antenna. Hopefully, CBS will be carrying SEC football again this fall.

Uhh..we've never said BEFORE March madness, which is doubtful at best.
Tho I wish, that's a bit optimistic!

There is a "rumor" today (Jan 21) that WCOV and Knology have reached an agreement for carriage of WCOV-DT, and that Knology is looking for ways to get the last NFL playoff game (Jan 23) on. That's all the information I have at the moment.

I can add a little to your rumor. Channel 905 FOXHD is now live on Knology.

I was hoping for the NCAA Tourney in HD but at least I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Keep the updates coming and at least we're going to have College Football in HD next Fall!!!!!

I just found out today that Voom satellite sold its Rainbow 1 satellite to Echostar. Don't know what's going to happen with my satellite service with them, but did want to check into other alternatives.

I still have Brighthouse cable TV (digital, but not HD), but my understanding is that they do not offer a DVR type of recorder for their very limited HD service. Does anyone know if the firewire port on their HD receiver is active and if there are any compatability problems with the available hard drive recorders?

Also, with cable services that have HD channels, are the SD channel analog or digital?

At least with Knology and Charter, the sub 100 channels are all analog. I'm assuming Brighthouse is the same. I need to call them. I'm moving to Wetumpka soon and they are the cable that is available. Their website didn't mention HD PVRs like the one I have with Knology. I was planning on going back to Dish Network and using an antenna for the local HD stations. If Knology would get NBC HD going, I could take down the antenna at my current house.

The only deciding factor that leans me back toward satellite is the analog channels you're asking about. They really look bad on Knology when compared to Dish Network's broadcast of the same channel (and I can get a real UPN station).

[quote]Originally posted by JimP
[b]I just found out today that Voom satellite sold its Rainbow 1 satellite to Echostar. Don't know what's going to happen with my satellite service with them, but did want to check into other alternatives.

Well, looks like Voom has new life with the purchase by Tom Dolan and others.

Hey Stan,

Just saw that over at satellite guy. Good new for sure.

Hope they figured out a way to keep it going.

Hi Jim, Hopefully, Voom will be around to give some competition to D* and E*. If D* continues their "HD lite" policy and Voom does appear viable and comes out with a goood HD DVR, I might be tempted to put my HD Tivo on E-bay and make the switch. (Now that CBS HD is on the horizon, I am thinking about taking down my parabolic eye-sore and putting up a much less obtrusive antenna--I've tried to swing my parabolic around to face Montgomery but it's a real pain--you need a stepladder to get to the top antenna mount, and I am not going to get on a stepladder on my roof peak. Right now, I get everything but Fox with an indoor antenna--silver sensor.)

Stan:

With any luck at all, you'll be able to get CBS with the silver sensor.

A step ladder on top of the roof peak, no way. Hope its not as dangerous getting it down.

Don't know if it would do you any good, but you're welcome to my 20' extension ladder.

A while back, Voom announced that their DVR was due out in March. Don't know if with all the changes with Voom, that its still on track. I hope to get one as soon as its available. The published specs stated that you would be able to record 2 streams while watching a third. I'm running across more and more instances of multiple shows I'd like to record at the same time. One stream to play back at a later date because I'm watching another show and the second stream to record because I fall asleep during commercials and awake 2 hours later having slept through it all. A multiple stream HD DVR is just the ticket. lol

Jim, Thanks for the offer. I have a good ladder so getting on the roof is not a problem. To take it down I think I'll just disconnect the guy wires and pre-amp and then disconnet the mast from the roof mount and let mast and antenna come down togather. I thought I might be able to loosen the bottom two antenna mounts and be able to move it around enough to get the locals, I can't get it quite far enough around. Interestingly, I can get a pretty good signal from WNCF where I moved the antenna , but not the other channels. I think I may try the square shooter. I e-mailed Solid Signal and
they recommended I try it.

Well, I got my new antenna up (I went with the Wingard 8 bay double bow tie). I'm using the pre amp that I used with my old antenna (blonder tongue). Interestingly, I can get great signals for WSFA and WNCF but, if I get a stable signal on PBS I have problems with the other two stations. Was hoping I might get WCOV but no luck. I might need to try a new pre amp. The blonder tongue is UHF/VHF. I might need to try a UHF only.
I'll experiment later on. I've had enough going up and down a ladder for a while. The main thing I wanted to do was get a stable signal on WNCF as I was getting a lot of dropouts and total drop offs with my silver sensor
and with my parabolic in the position it was in. I accomplished that.

Any news on WAKA??? I was interested in hearing if a more firm date might be available on when the HD will be rolling out.

The WAKA-DT transmitter has been delivered and is being installed.
The encoding gear has been delivered and is being configured and racked
up here in Charlotte. No On-Air date yet, as there is still a tremendous amount of work to do, and WAKA isn't my/our only project on the plate.
We'll keep you posted.

WCOV has been off the air since early this morning (2/21) due to a power surge that damaged their transmitter. Could be back on sometime 2/22-23 depending on when parts are received.

Thanks for the info. I thought that they might be down since I wasn't getting anything on my receiver's signal strength meter.