Cleveland, OH - TWC - Page 83

I know others on the board have reported success with Adelphia and a QAM tuner. I have a PC board (pcHDTV) that I have now configured to receive QAM. I get the basic channels over QAM (WKYC,WUAB,WEWS,WJW,WOIO and BARK) but none of them appear to be in hi-def, even for shows which are supposed to be. For instance, tonight on NBC law and order was supposed to be in HDTV, but I only got a resolution of 704x480, roughly 480p. I have not seen anything at a higher resolution. I know the card works since OTA I can get 1 channel on a good day at 1920x1080.

Also, I'm not sure entirely how the frequencies are working, but thy are showing up as:

51-3 WKYC
51-4 WOIO
51-5 WEWS
51-6 WUAB
51-8 WJW

Are these all lumped into one big channel with all the SDTV feeds for the regular cable boxes?

I have not officially signed up with Adelphia for hi-def anything. Do I need to? Can you do that without getting a set-top box which I don't want and can't use?

Can the other individual who got Adelphia QAM working please respond with what QAM frequencies you are getting these channels on?

Thanks.

On my Mitsubishi, the QAM tuner has the channels as follows:
WKYC-DT 105-3
WEWS-DT 105-5
WJW-DT 105-8
WVIZ-DT 113-1
WOIO-DT 113-2
I have broadcast basic cable only, and have no set-top box. These channels appeared without me doing anything as far as signing up. And my bill is still under $10 per month. I have not scanned in a few days, but have not seen WUAB-DT yet.

Also just to note, Adelphia doesn't charge anything for the local HD channels. Even without getting the HD package, you'll receive the local HD's.

Adelphia doesn't offer WUAB-DT yet, so I'm sure you won't be able to get it through QAM.

Perhaps, but it does make sense to watch for it. Adelphia just signed on with sister statsion WOIO, so it would make sense to expect WUAB to be next in line. And it would also make sense for it to show up on QAM even before Adelphia officially makes it available, just as WOIO did. Maybe one day they'll just drop it in at 113-3.

Well, whatever they do it will probably be hush hush until they actually do it. handsworth usually has a heads up on these things but he hasn't mentioned anything about WUAB as of yet.

I have an LG box that I can set for OTA or QAM. I scanned the cable this afternoon and found the following channels:

105-3 WKYC HD
105-5 WEWS HD
105-8 WJW HD
113-1 WVIZ HD
113-2 WOIO HD

There were intermittent dropouts on 113-1, and two thirds of the screen would occasionally turn green on 113-2.

There was a race on FOX, and on channels 102-1 through 102-7 there were seven alternate camera angles from within different cars. Also, 84-11 through 84-14 had several different basketball games, all with the ABC logo in the corner.

I also found music only stations on 93-21 through 93-45, and some PPV movies in progress on 104-1 through 104-8.

I tend to get better picture quality OTA, so I don't check the cable very often. A couple weeks ago it looked like they had taken the analog feed of all the local stations, converted it to digital, and sent them out on another channel. I did not see this when I scanned today, but it is probably what you found.

It used to be 19 you could count on to screw up HD, but now days it seems to be 5 not flipping the switch or otherwise messing up the HD feed.

First half of Desperate Housewives tonight in lovely SD stretch-o-vision. This is at least the 4th ep of DH (plus a couple eps of Lost) they've messed up the HD feed for at least half the episode in the last 2-3 months. Surprising they would have so many problems with their highest-rated shows.

Maybe it's time to "move" to an ABC O&O market

WEWS has had switch flipping problems before. Remember the Automatic Switch to SD at Midnight for Monday Night Football, anyone? They did this at least two weeks that I saw. There must be a timer somewhere...that they don't have set correctly!

So what was up with CBS tonight? CSI: Miami was pretty much unwatchable with severe dropouts in both audio and video through the entire 90 minute show. Was the problem at WOIO, or at Adelphia, or was it local to my neighborhood? Did anyone else have the same problem?

It was fine through Adelphia in Shaker Heights.

Las Vegas was ib stetch-o-vision for at least part of the show. They may have fixed it at some point, but I had turned to CSI.

Oh no. Not again. Haven't seen it yet but I did record it.

My wife is getting more and more upset about these kind of things happening. I'm afraid she's going to start pushing to just watching these shows on digital only.

CSI was good-to-go OTA, way down here in South Portage Co. In fact most of the winter CBS OTA has been great. Did they fix something?

Do you happened to know the exact frequency for, say, 105-3 ?

It would make sense that if you're going to have problems on one of the 113 subchannels, you'd have the same problem on all of the 113 subchannels. It's a single data stream carrying multiple channels. I didn't check the PBS station when I was having all those problems with CBS, but there's a good chance that the same phenomenon was occurring.

Hey guys, nice forum. I'm a very fresh noobie to HDTV and recently purchased a MyHD MDP-130 HD Tuner for my PC. In case you guys don't know, this tuner is a QAM tuner as well as an OTA tuner. I currently reside in Shaker Heights and am currently subscribed to adelphia's DTV package. I was wondering what channels I would be able to get through the QAM tuner (I'm assuming all the local channels)? Also is it worth it for me to buy an OTA antenna as well?

As far as the OTA antenna choices, I've read a lot about the Silver Sensor as well as the Radio Shack 15-1880. I have to go with an indoor antenna as I live in an apartment. Any recommendations on either of these antennas? Would it be better to get a Silver Sensor and buy an amplifier with it instead of the Radio Shack one? I've noticed a couple of Shaker Heights members, so I would love to hear what you guys use for OTA reception. Thanks in advance for the help.

Welcome!!

I've always found that the OTA is just a bit more crisp than Adelphia's locals. Not sure if it's a bit rate issue with Adelphia or what, but the OTA definately seems to have a bit more shadow detail & lighting detail. The other HD channels on Adelphia vs. Dish Network look about the same. Of course it also depends on how good your TV is as to how much difference you'll see. Adelphia's local HD's are fine, just not quite as good.

As for the antenna, I have both a Silver Sensor & the Radio Shack copper double bow-tie antenna. I've found the Radio Shack to be a bit better than the SS. Neither were great for getting NBC in, but all others came in with the Radio Shack. Not sure if it's the model you are speaking of, but the classic one was a copper colored double bowtie.

Hey, thanks for the reply. The radio shack model I'm talking about is the $50 that can receive both UHF and VHF signals. It also has a preamplifier built-in.

Here is a link:
Shoot, I can't post any links because I don't have enough posts yet!
but if you do a google search for "# 15-1880" it will take you immediately to the radio shack antenna. A couple of guys on the MDP-130 thread recommended this model, but I wanted to see if there were any Clevelanders with experience on good indoor antennas.

Thanks for the tip about OTA vs adelphia qam. There is a radio shack just down the street, so I think that if they have a good return policy I will go try this antenna out. As far as the Silver Sensor, are there any local stores that sell it or do I have to order online pretty much? Thanks again for the info and keep it coming guys

It all depends on your location & sight line to the towers as to which antenna works best. I'm out in Twinsburg with a far, but direct shot at the towers. I had a UHF/VHF antenna with preamp from Radio Shack before the copper bowtie & what I found is that it didn't pull in the stations any better than the $17 bowtie. Get both & see which works better & return the 'loser' of the two. I wouldn't waste the money on the silver sensor as for me, it was worse than the cheap RS antenna. I'm currently using the Channel Master Stealthtenna which is a small outdoor antenna with about a 3 foot span. It has been used by some people inside as well since it's relatively small. It's by far the best antenna I've used aside from huge yagi antennas.

I can't tell everyone here how thrilled I am to actually have found that there are fellow HD and AV techies like me in Cleveland. I always knew there were others around (and I've been reading the AVS forum for two years now), but I never bothered to see if CLE had a local message thread. Of course for me, this kind of neuron - disabled move is not uncommon.

Please forgive me as I am a bit of a noob (at least at posting to AVS), so if I am posting some of this in the wrong place or am too long - winded, I'm sorry in advance...no harm intended. I *do* think that the best advice for me, though, is local.

I have a couple of questions for my fellow NE Ohio HDTV and HTPC gurus out there. First, let me describe my system (I am sorry, but I don't do well with model numbers and am not at home to look them up...I can get them if needed, but will post what I know right now):

Note: CV = Component Video (not composite), DA = Digital Audio (not Digital to Analog Converter)

I have two main 'viewing rooms'. The first is our Family room; for the FR I have:

A Sony 65" CRT RP HDTV

A Sony HD DirecTV receiver (DVI out to the display & TOSLINK to TOSLINK switcher)

An Onkyo Receiver / 5 Disk DVD player (CV out to CV switcher, TOSLINK in from TOSLINK switcher)

A Sony 400 DVD "jukebox" (CV out to CV switcher / SPDIF to DA converter (Radio Shack TOSLINK <-> SPDIF, then TOSLINK to rec.)

A Sony 400 CD "jukebox" (direct TOSLINK out to TOSLINK switcher)

A JVC HM40000 DVHS (CV to CV switcher, TOSLINK to TOSLINK switcher)

A Zenith DVD player (SPDIF out to DA converter then TOSLINK to TOSLINK switcher, CV to CV switcher)

A Radio Shack remote controlled AV Switcher (with TOSLINK inputs and a single TOSLINK output) that I use just for the DA TOSLINK switching capabilities (TOSLINK out to rec.)

A (can't recall brand name - Japanese) remote controlled AV matrix switcher (with *broadband* HD CV inputs and dual matrix-ed outputs) that I use only for CV switching (CV then to display)

A Sony PS2 (for the kids...and me sometimes ) with CV to CV switcher, TOSLINK to TOSLINK switcher, Ethernet in from Wifi bridge (to home wireless network)

Bose (I know, I know) (?300) front speakers for front, Bose center channel speaker, (?200) Bose rear speakers (5.1 setup)

Sony 200W powered sub-woofer.

Sony AV3000 programmable remote control.

A Monster "Stage 2" power conditioner

A 2000 W UPS (mostly for noise filtering - not all components are on the battery)


Whew! OK, as I mentioned, I also have a home wireless network (801 g/a) and the above setup also has an IR to PLC (Power line carrier) receiver to control room lighting via a whole - house X-10 system (Activehome Pro).


Now, for the second room (Game Room, basement family room) I have:

A GE 52" CRT RP HDTV (basically an RCA) - "El cheapo" display (Best Buy for $850 before the holiday w/discounts) - Only has a single CV input.

A Sony 6.1 DTS ES / DD EX receiver

An RCA (new) HD DirecTV satellite receiver (from same dish as the Sony in the Family Room) with CV out to CV switcher and TOSLINK out to TOSLINK switcher

An ADS CV (out) HD Video Processor / De - Interlacer / up-converter (9 inputs - 3 CV, 3 S Video, 3 Composite Vdeo)

A Liteon DVD recorder / player (CV out to CV switcher, SPDIF to DA converter then TOSLINK to TOSLINK switcher, s video in from sat. receiver and RL analog audio in from sat. receiver)

A JVC HM 30000 DVHS (I have a large collection of DVHS titles...so the JVC players come in handy) (CV out to CV switcher, TOSLINK out to TOSLINK switcher)

Another (also cheapo) DVD player (CV in to HD up-converter, TOSLINK in to TOSLINK switcher)

Another Sony PS2 (same as above - CV to CV switcher and TOSLINK to TOSLINK switcher, another wifi bridge)

Matched 6.1 Onkyo speaker system and 150W sub-woofer

Exact same RS TOSLINK switcher and CV switcher as with the Family Room System

Another Sony AV3000 programmable remote control

X-10 IR receiver (like above...for lighting control)

Monster Stage 2 power conditioner and UPS identical to above (UPS here is connected to the HTPC below)


In addition, this system has a new HTPC setup:

Gateway 825 HP Windows Media Center 2005 PC - 3 GB RAM, 1.2 TB total HD (1 250 GB HD, 2 400 GB internal HD's, 1 150 GB External USB 2.0 HD), Intel Pentium 3.6 GHz processor, ATI X700 Pro Video Card (with CV output to ADS Video Processor), Analog Audio out from integrated Intel HD Audio Card to Multi - Channel Input (5.1) on Sony receiver, 1 DVD / CD player, 1 DVD / CD Burner (DS / DL DVD Burner), Misc. PC accessories

This PC also is connected to the home wireless network via a second 801 a/g router with a 801 g access point (to pull in internet from the main router, cable modem in another part of the house).

This PC also drives the Activehome Pro Interface for home automation.

The DVHS is also connected to the HTPC via Firewire

Currently, the TV input to the HTPC is output from the RCA sat. receiver via S video and RL analog stereo inputs.

Project currently in progress: I've already purchased an HP Media Center Extender for the HTPC and am planning on connecting it to the Family Room (Sony 65" Display) system so that we can access the HTPC content on the main (Family Room) system. This will communicate with the router wired to the HTPC and should be able to stream audio and video (basically) seamlessly. Hopefully, this will be done over the weekend.




OK! I've you've followed all of that, then maybe you can help to answer some of my questions. Obviously, (much like many of you) I've invested a lot into these systems and would like to take them to the last logical step - HDTV HTPC.

Of course, many of you are already aware of the problems with this: It is impossible (without spending $1000 or more for a 169 time setup) to get HDTV into the HTPC via firewire (or any other arrangement). The only exception is: COX HDTV Cable!

Here is my plan: I already subscribe to Cox for HS Internet....I am considering keeping the DirecTV system but add COX HDTV service to the game room (HTPC) system. I will then be sure to get a STB with Firewire output and run this to the HTPC *and* the JVC DVHS. This should (under MCE 2005) allow me to record HDTV (from Cox) and transfer unprotected content to the JVC (for archive).

Here are my questions:

1 - Does anyone have Cox HDTV in the Cleveland Area (probably a dumb question)? If so, does anyone have a STB with firewire output?

2 - Have you been able to record HDTV content to either a DVHS unit or HTPC with the STB?

3 - What STB do you have?

4 - What STB am I likely to get from Cox (what are my options)?

5 - What problems am I likely to run in to by trying to use the Firewire output from the Cox STB to either my HTPC or JVC DVHS?

6 - Should I just quit and take up a new hobby (like drinking)?


For those of you who have lasted this long, I appreciate your attention. Any help on the whole "Cleveland Cox / HDTV STB / Firewire to DVHS or HTPC" will be immeasurably appreciated. I promise to give back now that I know you all are here!


Thanks in advance!

Now we know why the electronic retailers did so well this past year - Rayovac bought their entire inventory ^_^.

Sounds like a very nice system, welcome to the club.

I got a bit of a headache from his post so I'm opting for drinking.

ROTFL. ha!

Off the bat, the trouble you may have with the firewire & cox cable box is that it might not have firewire!

-Todd

LOL!

Yeah, I suppose that could be a problem...I guess the fact that cox won't have any idea about what I am saying when I tell them that I "need a STB with IEEE-1394 or firewire output and you (cox) are required by the FCC to make this available to me" is also probably going to cause some trouble.

:{

Of course, that's why I was hoping that another Cleveland Cox subscriber who stops by here from time to time (and who happens to have HDTV service and a STB with IEEE-1394) would have some insight.

I do know that on the cox CLE site that it describes the Atlanta Scientific (?) stb which (based on the schematic) seems to have firewire...but then again, it also gives hookup instructions with a different Motorola box (5100 maybe?) that clearly has no compressed video output of any kind.

So, it's starting to look more like the "drinking" option....

Thanks for the help...er...encouragement!



Ray

LOL! That is *precisely* how I feel!

Actually, though, with the exception of one of the displays (the RCA), the Radio Shack components, and some miscellaneous cables and such, I got most of the components via the internet (which is probably why so many "tech" stocks are making a comeback (LOL)! and then some also at a real honest to goodness "mom and pop" tv shop in Parma.

We've accumulated this stuff over the last 2 to 3 years...and it's amazing how one part leads to another...which leads to another....which leads to another...

Which reminds me of another question: when we got the first display (and the satellite receiver) it was early 2002 and there was already digital programming on most of the major local networks (at least CBS 19, ABC 5, and NBC 3) and some HD programming. Who was the first in NE Ohio to actually broadcast digitally and who was the first with HD programming?

Just curious.


Ray

If they use the Scientific Atlanta 8300, it has HDMI. Won't that work for you? from their website:

HDMI 1.0 Digital Audio/Video Output with HDCP Copy Protection
Provides superior uncompressed digital video and audio quality in a simple, user-friendly connector. HDMI provides the optimal, secure connection to an HDTV set. HDMI is backward compatible with the DVI 1.0 video interfaces using the HDMI-to-DVI converter cable.



-Todd

Oh gosh, no! Even if I could interface with HDMI *in* to either DVHS or a PC, the uncompressed nature of HDMI would make trying to record anything basically impossible.

If I can recall correctly, MPEG-2 compression of 720p (which should be the most data - intensive) is something like 12 GB per hour of material. With compression ratios (again, off of the top of my head...so don't quote me) of something like 10:1, even *if* I could grab HDMI uncompressed content I would fill one HD with one movie.

The unit that I am referring to is the 3250HD, which I found here:

http://www.cox.com/support/digitalca...f/sa_equip.pdf

It clearly shows that IEEE 1394 is available on the unit and even details the merits of the connection, but (of course) it doesn't say if cox provides the firewire model as the de-facto standard or if it needs to special - ordered, etc.

Anyhow, I am preparing myself for the reality of having to actually speak with *technical support* at cox. God help me!

Ray

Geeze, Ray. I can't understand 1/2 of what you say. How in the heck do you think technical support at the cable company is going to be able to help?

Good Luck.

Well, here's hoping they provide the box you need. As another thought, I checked the cox website & it appears they also have the 8300HD DVR. I have this box as well & it does indeed have a firewire port. since it's a DVR, you'd be able to record right on the box. I'm not sure if the firewire port is enabled yet on mine (Adelphia), but if so, you can then use the VCR feature to record that DVR'd HD program through the firewire. That is all asuming that the firewire is setup & the box will do the VCR copy deal through the firewire. It may be that the VCR copy feature will work only via componant output. I'm not at all sure. The other option is just live with the recorded content being on the DVR itself. The 8300HD provides an option for an external SATA HDD so your storage would be unlimited.

good luck.

-Todd

Well, I'll speak v e r y s l o w l y and be sure not to use big words!

LOL!

Ray