Santa Barbara, CA; Santa Maria, CA; San Luis Obispo, CA - HDTV - Page 26

As I understand it, Cable company's are required to broadcast local channels in HD even for analog-only subscribers. These local signals are broadcast using quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), which I believe many TVs do not include a QAM tuner. So count yourself lucky you have a QAM tuner.

I guess the short answer is, these should be HD versions of analog channels found elsewhere on the dail. You probably won't find other QAM channels, but enjoy what you have.

Cool, thanks for the info!

Back in March I spoke w/KEYT. No plans to upgrade their SB tower to improve signal. I don't recall getting an exact answer why, but there aren't plans to upgrade. I don't think the benefits outweigh the costs from a business perspective. I think originally they had problems with getting sufficient power, but it's a small amount of viewers not reached by their signal, so it's probably not worth the investment. (It reaches AG, but not quite to SLO.)

However, I understood that an upgrade of channel 57 to digital is very, very cheap. Channel 57 is intended to feed Paso Robles, but after speaking with KEYT they were happy to know I can receive channel 57 on the outskirts of SLO. Thus, they could hit the SLO market over the air with a digital upgrade to Channel 57.

I see an application on the FCC site for a digital translator construction permit on Channel 31 for KEYT (K57BC station), so perhaps it's going through soon. It makes sense for them to convert in February since most people should have the equipment for digital by then (or else they lose all of their non-relay stations.)

Good to hear PBS will broadcast digital. I hope that means we'll get the multicasting KCET stations.

I hope also that KEYT's digital upgrade will occur and allow for multicasting, since I can't get the SB feed (or at least I don't want to upgrade my equipment when I'm not quite sure that I can get it). I will wait to see what happens to Channel 57 in February before investing more time or equipment.

KCAL HD, MTV HD, SPIKE HD, VH-1 HD, and MLB HD coming to Cox as early as December 1 per my latest cable bill.

Cool! Thanks for the update

Since the question was about what's happening to Fox Channel 24, did you know that KKFX (Fox) is being multicast with KCOY (It's channel 12-2)? Also, CW network is being multicast on NBC (Channel 6-2).

Great to see KCAL HD there. Hopefully they do it right, and transmit it unencrypted (clear QAM).

Since the LA and SB DMAs get their HD Locals from the same satellite, it should be a no brainer to deliver it here. Can someone with DirecTV HD Locals take a look?

It's nice to get Laker road games in HD now. Has anyone checked to see if it's coming in unencrypted? I tried the other day, but wasn't able to find it on my HTPC.

I am not getting PBS in HD, and in fact have never had a local station PBS from D*. In this DMA D* users have the national feed

Yeah, just tried it now and couldn't pull it in on my PC. I assume it is encrypted. I got the frequency off the cable box:
KCAL-DT is at 783 MHz (ch. 122 I believe), PIDs 108/109 for video/audio.

Cox, come on. KCET-HD is unencrypted here, KCAL-HD should be as well.

With the switch to digital just over 2 weeks away, I was wondering what other people are expecting to occur on that day. From everything I've heard, the following will happen to TV signals on the central coast:

1. NBC's (6) analog transmitter on Cuesta ridge will be turned off. I also believe they will increase the signal strength of their digital signal.

2. CBS's (12) analog trasmitter east of Santa Maria will be turned off. I also believe they will increase the signal strength of their digital signal.

3. ABC's (3) analog trasmitter north of Santa Barbara will be turned off. I also believe they will increase the signal strength of their digital signal.

4. The ABC repeater on Cuesta ridge (57) will have to change as channels 52-69 are being deallocated for TV use. But how it is changing is less clear. I've heard about 1) moving the analog signal to another channel and B) replacing the analog signal with a low-power digital repeater. Or maybe we are getting both? The FCC database shows a "construction permit" for a low-power digital repeater, but will it be finished in time?

5. The PBS repeater on Cuesta ridge, I've heard they are going to replace the analog signal with a digital repeater (and indeed a "construction permit" has been filed with the FCC). But will it be completed by Feb. 17th? Since this is a repeater station and not in the eliminated area of the spectrum, they don't technically have to do anything with this channel.

Has anyone heard any other news regarding local channels?

According to the FCC database, all three are full-power already and will see no increases.

- Trip

Just as an update, here's what I was able to tune in unencrypted with the digital tuner on my TV on COX Santa Barbara:

Tuned Channel,COX channel,Callsign,Description
103-2,2,QVC,Quality Value Convenience Network
103-3,3,KEYT,KEYT
103-4,4,USA,USA Network West
111-2,5,CW,CW Plus
104-7,6,KSBY,KSBY
111-9,9,KCAL,KCAL
111-10,10,KCET,KCET
104-11,11,KKFX,KKFX
104-12,12,KCOY,KCOY
104-13,13,MYRTN,KEYT DT2
103-15,15,KTAS,KTAS - Telemundo 33
103-17,17,CMAC,Cox Cable Ch.17 CMAC TV
104-18,18,Local,COX Community City TV Ch.18 Cox Communications
104-19,19,CITYGL,City of Goleta
104-20,20,CCH,County Channel
104-21,21,EDACC,Santa Barbara Channel Ch 21
104-22,22,CNN,Cable News Network
104-41,41,LIFE,Lifetime Television West
104-42,42,MSNBC,Microsoft NBC
70-43,43,TELEFU,Telefutura - Pacific Feed
107-44,44,AZTECA,Azteca America Network - West Feed
107-45,45,SPK,Spike TV West
107-46,46,TWC,The Weather Channel
107-47,47,CSPAN,Cable Satellite Public Affairs Network
107-48,48,CSPAN2,C-SPAN 2
107-49,49,truTV,truTV
109-96,96,TVGN,TV Guide Network
109-100,100,LO050B,Leased Access - Cox
121-110,110,TBN,TRINITY BROADCASTING NETWORK
86-111,111,EWTN,Eternal Word TV Network
83-411,220,BOOM,Boomerang
83-9,701,HDPPV,High Definition Pay-Per-View
114-3,703,KEYTH,KEYT HD ABC
83-2,706,KSBYHD,KSBY HDTV NBC
111-100,710,KCETHD,KCETHD PBS
84-5,711,KKFX,KKFX FOX
83-3,712,KCOY-HD,KCOY-HD CBS
115-13,901,MC,Music Choice: Sounds of the Season
115-36,902,MC,Music Choice: Today s Country
115-37,903,MC,Music Choice: Classic Country
115-17,904,MC,Music Choice: Bluegrass
115-23,905,MC,Music Choice: Hip-Hop and R&B
115-22,906,MC,Music Choice: Classic R&B
115-21,907,MC,Music Choice: R&B Soul
115-14,908,MC,Music Choice: R&B Hits
115-25,909,MC,Music Choice: Rap
115-26,910,MC,Music Choice: Metal
115-16,911,MC,Music Choice: Rock
115-30,912,MC,Music Choice: Arena Rock
115-29,913,MC,Music Choice: Classic Rock
115-27,914,MC,Music Choice: Adult Alternative
115-56,915,MC,Music Choice: Alternative
115-15,916,MC,Music Choice: Retro-Active
115-24,917,MC,Music Choice: Electronica
115-28,918,MC,Music Choice: Dance
115-31,919,MC,Music Choice: Lite Hits
115-32,920,MC,Music Choice: Adult Top 40
115-53,921,MC,Music Choice: Hit List
115-51,922,MC,Music Choice: Kidz Only!
115-33,923,MC,Music Choice: Party Favorites
115-34,924,MC,Music Choice: Showcase
115-35,925,MC,Music Choice: 90s
115-39,926,MC,Music Choice: 80s
115-38,927,MC,Music Choice: 70s
115-40,928,MC,Music Choice: Solid Gold Oldies
115-44,929,MC,Music Choice: Smooth Jazz
115-45,930,MC,Music Choice: Jazz
115-46,931,MC,Music Choice: Blues
115-20,932,MC,Music Choice: Reggae
115-43,933,MC,Music Choice: Soundscapes
115-41,934,MC,Music Choice: Easy Listening
115-55,935,MC,Music Choice: Big Band & Swing
115-42,936,MC,Music Choice: Singers & Standards
115-54,937,MC,Music Choice: Show Tunes
115-48,938,MC,Music Choice: Contemporary Christian
115-47,939,MC,Music Choice: Gospel
115-19,940,MC,Music Choice: Classical Masterpieces
115-18,941,MC,Music Choice: Light Classical
115-49,942,MC,Music Choice: Pop Latino
115-50,943,MC,Music Choice: Musica Urbana
115-57,944,MC,Music Choice: Salsa y Merengue
115-52,945,MC,Music Choice: Mexicana

Hope this helps,

Phil/TW

The White House wants your opinion on The DTV Delay ACT Bill
President Obama wants to hear what the public has to say, you can comment here

http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing_room/dtv_delay_act/

Too late. The bill has already passed.

No it hasnt the pres still needs to sign it or veto it.

We've been Dish customers for a number of years and have HD DVR. Upset, thought, that Dish doesn't have local channels or PBS in HD. No word when or if that's going to come.

Tried to see DirecTV quality at Costco but most channels were blocked as higher than TV-PG. What little we saw in HD looked awful.

No great fan of Cox and would prefer not to go there.

Questions: 1.) is DirecTV any better than Dish in our area? 2.) If I invest time and money in putting up an antenna for HD/DTV, will KEYT and the others look any better than they do on Dish? 3.) I'm on a ridge above Goleta with a pretty clear view toward L.A. so will I be able to pick up HD signals from there? 4.) Am I wrong in avoiding Cox?

Thanks!

Here's what I know at this point:
Dish Network has HD locals scheduled to go online in March (next month). I would stick it out with them. DirecTV is more for the sports enthusiast in my opinion, and Dish is probably more for the anti-cable person, like me. As far as the OTA channels go, none of the transmitters have plans to increase their power levels in the near future. I'm in Arroyo Grande and can currently get KSBY @100%, KCOY/KKFX @75%, and cannot get KEYT because of terrain problems. A high gain antenna on a second story can get you KEYT in our area, but it's not guaranteed. DirecTV already has our locals in HD, so you could always go for that, but if you're already Dish, I'd wait.

I agree with giant25. I read that our locals are already uplinked to Dish's new sat at 129. They just have not gotten our spotbeam going yet.

Neither Dish nor DirectTV have PBS (KCET) HD, so you might want to try an antenna for that.

Feb. 17th has come and gone. Even though local stations didn't have to switch on Feb. 17th, the local major stations all announced they would switch. Here's what I've noticed so far today:

1) Analog NBC (6) is gone.
2) Analog CBS (12) has been replaced by a repeating message telling people to buy a converter box.
3) Analog ABC repeater (57) is just gone.

#1 and #2 are as expected, but #3 is wrong. According to KEYT's webpage the SLO analog repeater should not have been affected. According to the FCC DB K57BC will be moving to a digital transmitter at channel 31. But as of now I can't find ABC anyhwere (I ran a full digital/analog rescan). Does anyone else have ABC in SLO? I hope it's back in time for Lost tonight!

Freezer,
I spoke with KEYT regarding their plans for the switchover. They don't have any plans to upgrade their SLO repeater anytime soon, even though there is a permit listed. At this point, you're out of luck for getting KEYT over the air unless you can get it from Santa Barbara (I know someone who gets KEYT from SB with a 6 ft long Radio Shack special on the second story in Arroyo Grande, but I can't get it in AG). You might try calling KEYT and asking again, and maybe enough calls will get them going, but it sounded like they didn't want to pump any money into it. I was told that 95% of the Central Coast population is already covered by cable or satellite and would not be affected by the transition. Not sure if it's that high....

Actually, they have to do something. The FCC has mandated that channels 52-69 are to be evacuated. That was to occur on Feb. 17th, but deadline got pushed back to June 12th as well. So the question remains, are they just going to move the analog repeater to a different channel number, or at the same time are they going to switch the signal from analog to digital? I think those of us in SLO county need to call/email and request the latter.

Low powered stations (like the 57 translator) on 52-59 can remain on the air until the new spectrum owner tells them to get off.

- Trip

Freezer, they don't have to do anything other than shut down the repeater eventually. What I was getting at is that they don't have any plans to upgrade their SLO repeater to digital. It's not like they can flick a switch and ouput a digital signal on it, there are hardware changes and $$ involved that they don't need to spend. Most coverage maps will show the entire SLO area being covered by the Santa Barbara signal, even though we know that's not realistic without a serious antenna setup. I'm just telling you what I heard out of KEYT's mouth, so please call them at 805-882-3933 if you'd like to get an update or make a case for upgrading the repeater. Good luck and let us know if you get any info.

I'm on antenna now in San Luis Obispo, but am considering Charter's $9.99 basic cable offer. I of course am going to want to tune in clear QAM but am not sure if the "basic cable" filter (only channels 2-26 are included) will filter out the clear QAM frequencies or not.

I figure getting this question answered over the phone might be near impossible so I wondered if anyone on the forum has any experience receiving clear QAM with just the basic 2-26 package in SLO. Anyone? It'd be nice to have HD-FOX and HD-PBS, along with analog KCAL for $10/month.

The clear QAM channels are all above 74. Here is my list:

ABC 78.13
CBS 103.1
FOX 103.5
NBC 104.5
PBS 104.1
TBS 75.1

That said, they may use a notch filter to cut out 27-74. Why not try it and see? I don't think there is a long term commitment.

Ya, I think I'm just going to go for it and see what happens. $30 for install, but no contract. The sales guy just didn't have a clue about QAM. It's amazing how little sales people know about what they're selling.

Its not just the sales guys. I asked a cable co installer what channels were availabe in clear QAM. He had no idea what QAM meant. When I clarified it to "unencrypted digital" he still did not know. All he "knew" was "you need a box for HD".