Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD - HDTV - Page 114  

I'm in a condo in Arlington, and having difficulty getting the OTA networks with my silver sensor due to the location of my unit. Can't easily put an antenna on the roof, so I'm wondering about the possibility of getting the Comcast HD basic and using it in conjunction with my HD DirecTivo. Is anyone else doing this? Is there a way to easily put this together? (or do I need to use a separate input on the plasma to take the feed from the SA3250?). Another motivating factor is my wife's exasperation with losing the signal from the dish during heavy rain, so having the $13/month cable would also be serving as a backup...

Thanks!

I received a letter today from COMCAST re: several additional channels. The new HD channel is WBDC. Effective date is June 30.

I can receive WBDC on my MYHD PC HDTV card and my HD TIVO but it is weak. My understanding is that they have been at low power while getting on line.

Does this mean that they are going to full power on June 30?

No, it means they will be on DNeily's comcast system on June 30th

are you trying to avoid paying comcast the rental fee for the HD cable box? Like was said before, you can have both at the same time, they would have to be on separate HD inputs on the tv (or via a switchbox). I'm not sure how you think you could 'combine' the two signals?

I guess I was trying to come up with a way to pull in the HD networks through the cable, but then pipe it through the HDTivo. Sounds like it won't work, as the cable box already has the tuner in it, and the input on the HDTivo is looking for raw signal. I'll try a different antenna to see if I get better results. Thanks.

I have my CM 4221 install scheduled with Fairfax Antenna tomorrow. Will be nice to be able to watch OTA HD with out having to get up and adjust my SilverSensor every 5 minutes! Only 3 more months till NFL on Fox in HD!

Gipper, let us know how FA does for you... I've heard there has been some staff turnover, and a recent report on an install will be informative (especially when you are getting the same equipment I have! :) ).

And, for a further update on the D* HD LIL channels..., for those not watching the news in HD Programming, it now looks like D* may be contradicting themselves and us that had 'decided' that they weren't committed to it.

See http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...34#post3875934

I think I've given up trying to predict what D* is gonna do, but this development looks interesting. I like having OTA for things like weather radar, but would love having D* to have HD locals for being more competive with cable.

Please keep us informed how the installation goes and I am looking to get the installation done in the future myself.

I will give a full report on Friday! I hope the personnel turnover that leesweet has brought to my attention doesn't affect their reported great service...

I can't tell you how funny that is because I had been doing the same thing for a year. And why does it seem like reception is good until something good is on? I had to adjust my radio shack double bow tie during the Superbowl with a house full of guests. (Very tacky) Fairfax Antenna did my install a week ago today and I can't tell you how good it felt to watch the 600 on Sunday or CSI this week without getting up once. The only problem I have is when the installer was at my house I could pick up the big four with great signal strength but I was disappointed about not getting PBS. Starting almost the next day I have had great PBS reception and no WJLA. I picked up 7-1 better with the radio shack antenna.

The SilverSensor actually served it purpose, which was to allow me to watch the Masters in HD when I first got my Mits WS-65413. I can only get CBS (not very well lately) and NBC (pretty strong lately), which is pretty surprising since I am way out in South Riding and the TV is in the basement! I understand about having to adjust the antenna when you have a group over to watch an event. I invited my neighbor over to watch the NCAA Basketball Championship and the reception was terrible due to high winds!! Pretty frustrating.

With your install, did you have a second RG6 line running to your TV for the OTA antenna, or did FA diplex your Sat line?

How much did u end up paying to get the install?

I am sure however these antennas, even if on the roof must be getting affected by bad weather, heavy rains, etc, right?

So far, my CM4221 has not had a quiver, even with all the t-storms and the like. If you'll look back a bit, Sasha_J has a good pix of his rig, which is a CM4228 (twice the antenna, literally!), a CM rotator, and a wireless antenna, which went through Isabel without a whimper.

Every time I watch 'red blobs' on WJLA 7.2 I think "that's it" for the OTA, also, but, I'm getting used to it. :D

As for signal strength, in the strongest downpour so far, I've not seen any meter level drop on the STB from a clear day. (I think 40 miles of rain horizontally to an OTA transmitter isn't like beaming down from a sat through the rain clouds at all!)

Not really. You don't get rain fade like you do with a dish.

Gipper,

Get a rotator for fine tuning. You won't regret it.

Thats nice to hear. A prof installation costs around $300, right?

There was already a second line.

I'm a bit confused about the marketing of different amplifiers for antennas. I understand that the "distribution amp" is when you're splitting to different TVs at the end. But what about the pre-amp? Is it just to overcome long line lengths, or will I see an improvement if I hook up a CM 7775 to my silver sensor that's on a 10 foot coax?

Thanks!

Hi all!

I live in Leesburg and am considering switching from Adelphia to DirecTV due to Adelphia's lack of HD channels. But I want to get the HD local channels as well.

Has anyone switched from Adelphia to DirecTV in my area (Loudon county) and if so what has your experience been?

If I get a good OTA antenna (e.g., from Fairfax antenna), will a get as good or better picture for my local HD channels from Leesburg compared to Adelphia? Does the DirecTV receiver allow me to get local OTA HD channels?

thanks much!

rob

mallu2u - thanks for the PM response!!

It looks like you were right, there is no way to hook up an pre-amp to this antenna; at least that's what I was told from RS. I guess I am gonna have to go with a roof mount, but I will wait until it gets closer to football season to do that. I want to pick up FOX for their NFL coverage this season. Actually, I did pick up FOX for about 30 minutes last night, but then it was gone. I'm not sure why :confused:

happens to me as well Flyer. Fox comes and goes for me as well. Even NBC has started doing that to me now. Does not come at all. Earlier never had an issue. Guess er gotta live with it until we get a roof antenna. I am not sure who is most competitive regarding the antenna install. Hard for me to cough up over $300 bucks for the antenna!

I did (see an improvement), but it was only a few percentage points and it was for a 50' run. It was a much bigger improvement to go from a SilverSensor to a CM4221.

It was the first time that I ever picked up FOX. NBC never goes out on me and I hope it stays that way. I had another thought about the roof mount antenna; I have D* and when you sign up for their HD package don't they also include and OTA antenna with new dish etc? Does anyone know what type of antenna they provide? I hope it's not one of those antenna's that clip onto the dish, from what I have read they do not work very well.

Rob,
How many HD channels did Adelphia have? D* has around six. Local HD is much better OTA. The digital broadcast of 4:3 material will knock the socks off any cable provider in the area. Also, I have a friend with COX near Fairlakes and they don't give him the digital FOX because it isn't HD and only broadcast the others when HD is being broadcast. FOX's widescreen 480p is still waaayyy better then FOX on cable. I'm not familiar with how D* works with OTA, I have Voom. They upgraded me to the Wineguard 8800 no questions asked and I am enjoying FOX, ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS(WETA), and PAX. Unless you have your heart set on Sunday Ticket I would recommend looking into Voom if you are looking for the most HD available. The main drawbacks of Voom are that there are a few popular SD channels missing and the Voom exclusives can get a little old after a while, if you watch a lot of TV. If you are looking strictly for HD content then Voom, IMO, is the way to go. Although you may find it a little lacking as your sole provider, I get basic cable included with my HOA fees.

Thanks for the reply Wasch! I am thinking about Voom as well with the main downside being that my kids' favorite channels are the MTV and VH1 24 hour music video channels which I don't think Voom has. It has the basic VH1 and MTV but not the 24 hour ones, at least as far as I can tell. I also like the fact that DirecTV has a HD Pay Per View Channels and is supposedly coming out with an HD DVR soon.

But it does sound like moving away from Adelphia, with its lackluster choice of 4 HD channels (two locals and HBO and Showtime), and moving towards either Direct or Voom is an obvious choice -- better digital reception on SD channels and more HD choices with a better picture. Seems to be a no brainer decision. Only choice then is between Voom and Direct.